Health Care Ala Obongo

John Stossel produced a segment on Cnada's healthcare system.
This is what we can expect eventually if Obongo, Pellosi and Reid have their way.

It seems that Canada's public healthcare has gone to the dogs since you gotta be one to get quality health care within a reasonable amount of time,

Some Things Don't Change

There is a story in Google News that a census worker was found hanged in a Kentucky forest with the word "FED" written on his chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and occasional teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment.

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word "fed" was written on the dead man's chest. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word.

We don't know if this is a suicide or a homicide and I pray that this is not a trend with our census workers. The census is mandated under Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the US Constitution and no attempt should be made to defeat the execution of this clause.


However there seems to be a historic trend in resisting attempts by the government to gather information about its citizens (we are citizens, not subjects) which I think is very healthy - to a point. Listen to the resignation of a census taker in the very first census taken in 1790.

"Sir: I beg to report that I have been dogbit, goose-pecked, cowkicked, briar-scratched, shot at, and called every 'fowel' that can be tho't of. I have worked 12 days and made $2. I have had enough and I beg to resign my position as a census taker for Crittenden Township."

So wrote Roger Waite to a marshal of census enumerators for the State of Vermont on August 24, 1790 – the year of the first national census of the United States.

The enumerators - as they were called - sometimes took their lives in their hands.

Many had never been enumerated before and were naturally suspicious of strangers coming around asking questions. Others, remembering the biblical reference to the head count for purposes of taxation at the time of the birth of Christ, often displayed a downright unfriendly attitude. Then still other citizens, recalling the plagues that befell the children of Israel following the enumeration made by King David, also refused to cooperate.

So when the enumerators persisted with their questioning, they were often lucky to get by with just a dog bite. In a sparsely settled area in Pennsylvania, there is one instance of an enumerator being killed.

There were various other reasons on the part of the population for the reluctance to answer questions, but in a 1909 publication issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, it is written that the most potent factor was the widespread belief that the census was connected with taxes.

Why Do We Labor?

I suspect I work as hard as I do for the same reasons that motivate most of you; I work to support my family, my church and my community (police, fire, etc.). And every now and then daddy gets himself a new firearm. Once every seven years or so I replace my vehicle. No more.

Due to intrusive, immoral and illegal government intervention, the average tax independence day for all Americans is August 12th.

In 1997 it was July 3rd.

We now all work for the government.

Happy Labor Day.

Got Dem Car Clunker Union Blues

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Four of the top five models sold so far under the U.S. “cash for clunkers” program, aimed at boosting the auto industry, are made by foreign automakers, according to Transportation Department data.

Ford Motor Co.’s Focus was the top seller, followed by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Corolla, Honda Motor Co.'s Civic and Toyota’s Prius and Camry, data from the department showed today.

Looks like the United Auto Workers are not gonna get another heavy dose of taxpayer relief as eighty percent of the top models are not American manufacturers. The Obongo administration is also not releasing the data on this program either. Over 150,000 requests for clunker rebates have been received so far from auto dealers but we don't know how many were for Ford vehicles.

This could be embarassing for Obongo and his Circus Czars. American consumers could be reacting to the unprecedented federal takeover of automobile manufacturers and the blatant support of UAW pension funds with taxpayer money. I would really like to see the numbers on these rebate requests.

I bought a Ford last year for myself and a Chevy for my wife the year before. I will never own another Chevy or Chrysler after this years corporate buy out. Ford did not receive one, but they still employ UAW workers and I doubt that I will allow the UAW to build another car for me.

What Are You Paying For The Bail Out?

The following is available from the Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2007, Publication 55B, Washington, DC, issued March 2008.

In 2007 the US government collected 2.4 TRILLION dollars in taxes.

That's $2,396,290,997,000 - look here and select table #1. Look at the net collections after $295 billion in refunds.

Of the $2.4 trillion:
a) $368.5 billion came from income tax paid by corporations - 15.4%
b) $1.17 trillion came from income tax paid by individuals - 46.6%
c) $838 billion came from employment taxes (payroll tax such as FICA) - 35%
d) $26 billion came from estate (death) and gift taxes - 1.1%
e) $46 billion came from excise (gasoline, etc.) taxes - 2.0%

So let's figure that half of the $700 billion Wall Street Bail out is going to be funded by us, individual tax payers.

Last year 138.9 million individuals filed income tax (Table #2). Of course many of these were joint returns for married couples. This translates to the average income tax paid per return was $17,252.66. Of course that's doesn't mean anything; I paid nothing close to that and you the reader probably didn't either. If you did, well God bless you!

Using the IRS Table 1.1 for 2007 returns we can see just what our income tax burden was based on Adjusted Gross Income groupings. For there then it is possible to extrapolate what percentage of the $700 billion bail out you will pay based on what range your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) falls into.

Directions: under the section "All Returns: Selected Income and Tax Items" select Tax Years: and pick 2006 - this is the latest year available and will lead you to the spreadsheet named 06in11si. You can do the math too because, quite frankly, I don't trust myself after the per capita bomb in my previous post. I almost never make mistakes like that.

We'll use the 46.6% of all income tax collected from individual tax returns as our bench mark. That percentage (46.6%) of $700 billion is $326.2 billion.

The total 2006 individual income tax after credits was $1.023 trillion ($1,023,916,399,000 - this is a bit different than what the IRS says it collected in 2007 but it probably involves other things such as interest, fines, etc.).

Based on those numbers, the following spreadsheet is posted using Zoho which allows you to import and embed Excel type spreadsheets in blogs. What is really exciting is that this is an interactive spreadsheet - it allows you to input changes.

What I have done is produce a spreadsheet that allows you to see approximately what the GREAT WALL STREET BAILOUT OF 2008 will cost you depending on how what your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is.

This is how it works. I have taken the 2006 IRS figures for AGI for the number of returns, amount of income taxes paid and what each AGI grouping will pay depending on their percentage of total income taxes paid. Then I divided that by the number of returns for each AGI grouping to arrive at how much each individual in that grouping will pay (Average Cost of Bail Out Per Individual Return).

If the cost of the Wall Street Bail Out changes to, say, $1 Trillion, and the percentage to 50% , just enter those values into the top ranges, cells B2 and B3. The Average Cost Per Individual Return will also change (rows 56 to 74), indicating how much it will cost you based on your AGI. Remember to input percentage changes as a decimal equivalent, i.e .48 (point 48) instead of just 48, or else you will get the wrong percentages.

This is probably a little too simplistic but it should serve as an indicator as to just how far the politicians are going to ram this bail out up your ass.

If anyone has a better idea on how this should work, by all means try it out yourself and let me know.



Note: One problem with this is that I cannot figure out how people reporting zero AGI still paid $57.7 million in income tax - unless these are penalties, fines or other forms of income that fall into a different category. Perhaps these are people financed by George Soros who have to figure out a way to account for all the money they have donated to Obama.

I'm Really Really Ticked

The more I think about it the more pissed off I get.

Those sons of bitches in Congress want to give away $700 billion as a reward to gross incompetence, greed, and probably every other evil even slightly related to ineptitude and we're supposed to go along with the program.

For the first time in my adulthood I got pissed enough to send emails to everybody, even to retiring Rep. Jim Walsh and the two Democratic senators of this State - Schumer and Clinton - yelling at them at how pissed I am and dontyoudaregiveacenttothosecrooks.

I yelled at them for shoving their thumbs up their asses while this pot was boiling for the past few years.

I am so sick of the current crop of politicians running around like Chicken Little screaming "Wall Street Is Falling!" Wall Street is not the entire US economy. There are banks right here where I live that are doing just fine because they don't get involved in high risk investments.

And it is high risk investments that have soured that is the cause of this mess.

I have spent most of my adult life trying to avoid debt. My wife and I scrimped and saved and just plain did without for the first twenty years of our marriage - living on a cop's salary and whatever I did on the side wasn't easy but we did it.

Our home mortgage was paid off in sixteen years. I helped my kids through college with cash - no loans - by busting my ass. The only debt we owe right now is two car loans. We have no oustanding debt for plastic - if it can't be paid for at the end of the month we don't buy it.

WHY THE HELL SHOULD I PAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE"S MISTAKES/STUPIDITY??

I do not live like a high roller Wall Street financier. We stay strictly within our means. Right now I am afraid to call my financial advisor to see what happened to our 401k's.

And the politicians want me to pay for this bullshit.

I normally avoid all cussing, but I am beside myself...

Give The Taxpayers The $$$

I stopped by Texas Fred's earlier this evening and read his post from Pat at A Day In The Life - "My Personal Economy Recovery Plan."

Basically, the plan is this - why give those slobs in the AIG counting house $85 billion as a reward for greed, poor judgement and piss poor performance? Give us the money! Ourselves, the taxpayers, We Da Peephole!

Look at it this way, according to the 2008 Census abstrat, there are 214,692,000 people over the age of 19 in the US.

Divy up the 85 large and every adult 20 and over pockets $395,915.22 for doing nothing but breathing.

And if Congress is so eager to fork over $700 billion for all those bad mortgages, why not just give those same 214 million adults a cool three and a quarter million bucks each?

Let the financial institutions choke on those mortgages.

I also sent this to my congressman.

UPDATE
D0h - I'm an idiot. If I used the British notion of billion (a million million) instead of our thousand million I would have been okay. Instead of living "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" the best you'll do is a so so down payment on a new car, about $3,200. Thanks to Draven for picking this up.

Kiss My Royal Irish ,,,,

Remember what Mike Moran, the FDNY firefighter, said during the 9/11 memorial service?

Well, on Friday the entire nation of Ireland said the same thing to the European Union.

The long campaign to forge a new dispensation for the European Union descended into panic and uncertainty yesterday when Ireland turned its back on its 26 EU partners and voted down the Lisbon Treaty.

EU leaders in Brussels and governments across the union, particularly Germany and France, were stunned by the Irish verdict, which amounted to a huge vote of no confidence in the way the EU is run.

Erin Go Brea!

The referendum in Ireland was the sole popular vote in the EU on the grand plan to give Europe a sitting president and foreign minister, and reconfigure the way the EU is governed. The result left the project severely wounded, perhaps fatally.

The Irish voted by a 7% margin, 53.6 to 46.4, against the treaty, which has already been ratified by 18 EU countries and is expected to be endorsed by the other eight.

[...]Berlin and Paris moved swiftly last night to try to limit the damage, pressing Downing Street, according to sources in Brussels, not to make matters worse by abandoning Britain's ratification of the treaty, now in its final stages in the Lords.

Government In Action

From the Post Standard (11/29/07) page A-8:

Garden City, NY, A retired police officer filed a federal complaint Wednesday to force the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to drop its demand he return vanity license plates calling for the capture or death of Osama bin Laden.

Arno Herwerth, a 21-year veteran of the New York Police Department who retired as a sergeant, admitted he requested the "GETOSAMA" plates earlier this month to send a political message. He said he was surprised to hear, after receiving the plates, that the DMV wanted them back.

The agency, in a Nov. 15 letter to Herwerth, cited a regualtion that prohibits plates that can be considered "obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic group or patently offensive." Herwerth, 42, of Hauppauge, said in a telephone interview that it was important to him that the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror atacks, orchestrated by bin Laden, be remembered.

Oh come on. Does that mean that I can't get a plate that reads "THEALAMO" because some beaner will be offended? But I'll bet that the plates "GOABORT" are on some lib's car right now - no problemo.

What Motivates Government Change

I always thought that the 17th Amendment (Volstead Act - Prohibition) was repealed because the American people were thirsty. Not so, says Don Boudreaux in a very interesting read in Reason On Line.

The standard, schoolbook history of alcohol prohibition in the United States goes like this:
Americans in 1920 embarked on a noble experiment to force everyone to give up drinking. Alas, despite its nobility, this experiment was too naive to work. It soon became clear that people weren't giving up drinking.

Worse, it also became clear that Prohibition fueled mobsters who grew rich supplying illegal booze. So, recognizing the futility of Prohibition, Americans repealed it in 1934.

This popular belief is completely mistaken. Here's what really happened:

National alcohol prohibition did begin on Jan. 16, 1920, following ratification of the 18th Amendment and enactment of the Volstead Act. Speakeasies and gangster violence did become familiar during the 1920s. And Americans did indeed keep drinking.

But contrary to popular belief, the 1920s witnessed virtually no sympathy for ending Prohibition. Neither citizens nor politicians concluded from the obvious failure of Prohibition that it should end.

As historian Norman Clark reports:
"Before 1930 few people called for outright repeal of the (18th) Amendment. No amendment had ever been repealed, and it was clear that few Americans were moved to political action yet by the partial successes or failures of the Eighteenth. ... The repeal movement, which since the early 1920s had been a sullen and hopeless expression of minority discontent, astounded even its most dedicated supporters when it suddenly gained political momentum."

What happened in 1930 that suddenly gave the repeal movement political muscle? The answer is the Great Depression and the ravages that it inflicted on federal income-tax revenues.

Prior to the creation in 1913 of the national income tax, about a third of Uncle Sam's annual revenue came from liquor taxes. (The bulk of Uncle Sam's revenues came from customs duties.) Not so after 1913. Especially after the income tax surprised politicians during World War I with its incredible ability to rake in tax revenue, the importance of liquor taxation fell precipitously.

By 1920, the income tax supplied two-thirds of Uncle Sam's revenues and nine times more revenue than was then supplied by liquor taxes and customs duties combined. In research that I did with University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard, we found that bulging income-tax revenues made it possible for Congress finally to give in to the decades-old movement for alcohol prohibition.

Before the income tax, Congress effectively ignored such calls because to prohibit alcohol sales then would have hit Congress hard in the place it guards most zealously: its purse. But once a new and much more intoxicating source of revenue was discovered, the cost to politicians of pandering to the puritans and other anti-liquor lobbies dramatically fell.

Prohibition was launched.

Despite pleas throughout the 1920s by journalist H.L. Mencken and a tiny handful of other sensible people to end Prohibition, Congress gave no hint that it would repeal this folly. Prohibition appeared to be here to stay -- until income-tax revenues nose-dived in the early 1930s.

From 1930 to 1931, income-tax revenues fell by 15 percent.

In 1932 they fell another 37 percent; 1932 income-tax revenues were 46 percent lower than just two years earlier. And by 1933 they were fully 60 percent lower than in 1930.

With no end of the Depression in sight, Washington got anxious for a substitute source of revenue.

That source was liquor sales.

Jouett Shouse, president of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, was a powerful figure in the Democratic Party that had just nominated Franklin Roosevelt as its candidate for the White House. Shouse emphasized that ending Prohibition would boost government revenue.

And a House leader of Congress' successful attempt to propose the Prohibition-ending 21st Amendment said in 1934 that "if (anti-prohibitionists) had not had the opportunity of using that argument, that repeal meant needed revenue for our government, we would not have had repeal for at least 10 years."

There's no doubt that widespread understanding of Prohibition's futility and of its ugly, unintended side-effects made it easier for Congress to repeal the 18th Amendment. But these public sentiments were insufficient, by themselves, to end the war on alcohol.

Ending it required a gargantuan revenue shock -- to the U.S. Treasury.

So, if the history of alcohol prohibition is a guide, drug prohibition will not end merely because there are many sound, sensible and humane reasons to end it. Instead, it will end only if and when Congress gets desperate for another revenue source.

That's the sorry logic of politics and Prohibition.

It makes sense, doesn't it? Love of money is the source of much evil.

Big Weasel Goes To The Big House

Another anti-gun advocate says one thing and does another. Are we surprised?

From the LA Times.

The founder of an antiviolence group called No Guns pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal weapons charges. Hector "Big Weasel" Marroquin is accused of selling an assault rifle, a machine gun, two pistols and two silencers to undercover federal agents last fall.

But he needed this armament to protect his family, in case he decided to invade El Salvador.

Marroquin, 51, of Downey, is a onetime member of the 18th Street gang who founded No Guns in 1996.

The 18th Street gang is one of the most violent criminal organizations to come out of the City of Los Angeles in the past forty years. It spans several states and crosses international borders.

No Guns received $1.5 million from the city as a subcontractor on anti-gang efforts, but its contract was canceled last year.

The same people who were advocating for Tookie Williams must have hired this jackass to run anti-gang activities. It's like hiring a child molestor to babysit your kids.

But isn't this a lovely business model? Check it out.

1) You sell guns to the gangs that you were hired to eliminate.

2) When the gang shoots people with the guns you sold to them, you go back for to the idiots in City Hall and ask for more money to run your anti-gang gig because the gang problem is getting worse.

3) Then you sell more guns to that same gang because now their people are getting whacked by the friends of the people of the other gang they whacked so they need more guns to whack them back.

Sweeeeeeeeeet.

And the liberals say that the tobacco industry is dangerous.

Marroquin is charged with three counts of manufacture, distribution and transport for sale of an unlawful assault weapon, along with one count each of machine gun conversion and possession of a silencer. He remains free on $260,000 bail.

Now where do you suppose he got that kind of money to put up for bail? Sure, California taxpayers, who else? And who supported this knucklehead?

His champions included former state Sen. Tom Hayden.

This just gets better and better.

But some law enforcement officials believed that Marroquin was a front man for the Mexican Mafia prison gang and that NO GUNS was a facade for illegal activity and a channel for public funds.

One was Richard Valdemar, a retired sheriff's sergeant and expert on gangs who led an investigation that resulted in the first federal racketeering trial of Mexican Mafia members; it resulted in the conviction of 13. Valdemar said the Mexican Mafia has a long history of using anti-gang and drug rehabilitation groups as fronts to acquire public funds.

"This is a major part of their operation," said Valdemar, whom Marroquin unsuccessfully sued for defamation of character in 2002.

Valdemar said he and others voiced these concerns to the Sheriff's Department and the city of Los Angeles.

Hee! Hee! The cops knew what was going on with these so called advocate groups, but did the City listen? Did the Sheriff's Department listen?

Oops.... who is the Sheriff? Is he the guy that completely ignored a court order and released Paris Hilton after three days in the slammer? Oh, that Sheriff.

Nevermind.

As part of its gang intervention efforts, the city through its L.A. Bridges program contracted with Toberman Settlement House, a Harbor-area social services agency, which in turn hired NO GUNS in 2003.

Bill Martinez, director of gang intervention programs for Toberman, said NO GUNS was hired because it was the only group in South Los Angeles working with Latino gangs. Over the next three years, NO GUNS collected more than $1.5 million in city funds as a subcontractor.

Marroquin's organization was contracted to help find job training for gang members and to mediate cease-fires, said Angela Estell of the city's Community Development Department.

I wonder what kind of training the Latino gang members received? Based on Marroquin's past experience, let's see what he has to offer.

Marroquin and his family have a long history of run-ins with police.

In 1998, Marroquin was tried and acquitted on illegal weapons charges. At the time, he was on probation for brandishing a gun at sheriff's deputies who had gone to his house three years earlier in response to a domestic disturbance call.

In 2001, the charred body of Hector Romero, the boyfriend of Marroquin's daughter, Charleeda, was found near Wrightwood, Valdemar said.According to several Marroquin family members, Romero was playing Russian roulette and shot himself to death.

They allegedly drove the body to the Wrightwood area of San Bernardino County, where gasoline was poured on Romero's crotch and ignited, said Valdemar, who participated in the investigation. San Bernardino sheriff's homicide
detectives eventually filed the case as a suicide and charged Charleeda Marroquin with mutilating a body, Valdemar said.

During the investigation, police searched Marroquin Sr.'s house and found knives and police batons — a violation of his probation — as well as 18th Street gang writings. Marroquin was charged with a probation violation.

Valdemar said his last contact with Marroquin was in 2003, when Marroquin moved to Cudahy. He said Marroquin began taxing Cudahy gang members and drug dealers, claiming authority from the Mexican Mafia.

Sergio "Checo" Villa, a local gang leader with his own mafia ties, objected, Valdemar said. Villa put together a crew to kill Marroquin, which included a gang member who was a Sheriff's Department informant, he said. Fearing that the informant might kill Marroquin, Valdemar said he told Marroquin of Villa's plans.

"He thinks I'm going to kill him," Valdemar said. "I said, 'I'm not here to hurt you. But you're in trouble. They're going to kill you.' He's says, 'It's just a misunderstanding.'

"Several days later, Villa was shot dead on a street in Cudahy, according to a county coroner's report. The homicide remains unsolved.

This guy is just a fount of wisdom to gang members. And what's this tax crap?

Tax collection is another area of criminal activity where 18th Street is well established. Typically, in an area that is claimed as territory by 18th Street, gang members will collect a tax from any business: legitimate or criminal. The potential taxpayers include street vendors, shop owners, prostitutes, and drug dealers, as well as the businesses which exist in the neighborhood.

Members of 18th Street then threaten to kill any individual who refuses to pay the tax. In 1994 alone, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office prosecuted 30 murders that were the result of hits made by 18th Street gang members for failure to pay taxes.

When the Mob did it, it was called extortion. Well, that's the Left Coast for ya.

Anyone wanna hire Big Weasel as a tax consultant? Or a fire prevention specialist?

Our Government In Action

In one way or another I have been involved in government bureaucracies for well over three decades. I just read about the latest TSA debacle and I am again underwhelmed with how some bureaucracies handle their responsiblities.

The problem here is how the TSA views the safety and security of their employees.

In a statement released Friday night, the agency said the external -- or portable -- hard drive contained information on employees who worked for the Homeland Security agency from January 2002 until August 2005.

This sounds suspiciously like an exterior USB drive that can store hundreds of gigabytes of data - a rather cavelier means of storing your personnel information.

Who in their right minds would keep this kind of employee information on a storage device that you can unplug and simply walk away with? It makes no difference if the office area was restricted to authorized personnel only. This device is no more than a big thumb drive waiting to be scooped up and put in someone's brief case or purse.

Why wasn't this information stored in a secure environment where access is controlled not only by physical limitations but also through electronic means on a need to know basis?

I use secure systems every day and I am amazed, astounded, dismayed, incredulous that this could happen in an agency allegedly devoted to national security.

Somebody, probably more than one, in the TSA leadership needs to have their head(s) forcibly removed from their ass.

But perhaps the TSA is merely following accepted federal standards for secure data systems.

In 2000 we had the Los Alamos caper with removeable hard drives containing nuclear secrets disappearing from vaults. They were later recovered tucked behind a copy machine. Allegedly this is a common area for hard drives to gather when they are lost and afraid. Ever since then I routinely examine the areas around our office copy machines for the poor little guys.

Here is a partial list of some of the more obvious shortfalls in the way our government handles sensitive information. The first 22 items are from this year alone...

Mexico Is Now Calling The Shots

WorldNetDailey has a story on the role the Mexican government played in the prosecution of two Border Patrol Agents. This is not good news for el Jefe in the White House.

The Mexican Consulate played a previously undisclosed role in the events leading to U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's high-profile prosecution of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who are serving 11 and 12 year sentences for their role in the shooting of a drug smuggler, according to documents obtained by WND.

Agents Ramos and Compean were not the only ones caught up in the targeting information provided by the Mexican to US Attorney Sutton.

And Mexican consular officials also demanded the prosecution of Texas Sheriff's Deputy Guillermo "Gilmer" Hernandez, who subsequently was brought to trial by Sutton, the documents reveal.

The Clintons used the FBI to collect documents on their political enemies. Bush uses the US Attorney to throw cops in jail. What the hell?

Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas – among a number of congressman who have fiercely opposed the prosecution of Ramos and Compean – told WND he has "long suspected that Mexican government officials ordered the prosecution of our law enforcement agents."

"Mexico wants to intimidate our law enforcement into leaving our border unprotected, and we now have confirmation of it in writing," Culberson said.

It's nice to know what you can and can't get away with. As long as you leave the borders wide open you have nothing to fear from the US Attorney's Office in Texas.

More UN Asshattery

I read this at LC BlackisWhite's site and tried to comment on it. The new blogger crap popped up and I lost the comment, the site and everything else (curse you Google) so I decided to bring it home and post it here. Thanks BisW.

We got harangued on Friday with a report from the UN that states we're all gonna die in ten years or 100 years or so from the melting snowcaps and cross dressing polar bears. Now these tree-tonguing nutbags are finally showing their true colors. From the Globe & Mail:

PARIS — Hundreds of scientists, business leaders, and non-governmental organizations have called for a new United Nations agency to manage the environment.

The new agency would transform the existing UN Environment Program, into “a fully-fledged international organization that is genuinely universal,” French President Jacques Chirac told delegates to the Citizens of the Earth conference, which was organized by his government.

If you thought Operation Rescue Helpless Rwandans was a debacle, just wait until the Fwench and their European compatriots attempt to rescue the whole stinking planet. This should be good for at least 400 million deaths. The existing UN Environment Program should be transformed into an empty suite of offices.

“We know that humans are destroying, at an alarming rate, resources and balances that have enabled them to evolve and are determining their future,” he said. “We must admit to ourselves that we can no longer afford to be idle and that the risks and dangers are exacerbated with each passing day.”

If you were thrilled by the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty, you'll be overjoyed when Chirac and his minions cob together another UN fiscal black hole demanding bribes financial support.

Thought the UN's Oil for Food Program was bad? Just wait until the UN's "Dialing for BTU's" takes off. The energy/pollution credits will be up for grabs to the highest bidder like an emergency emasculation kit at a Rosie O'Donnell auction.

There is no excuse for us to resist this environmental movement because, well, Chirac says so.

Delegates at the meeting said UN efforts to protect the environment until now have been ineffective because of a lack of political commitment and because there is too much red tape. Mr. Chirac said the new organization would be a “strong voice with universal recognition.” It would assess environmental damage, monitor various agreements to protect the environment, and promote technology to protect ecosystems.

He also called for an international declaration that would make the right to a sound environment a universal human right. [Emphasis mine]

And there it is. If it is a right, then it must be enforced. Our parochial Bill of Rights is not enough. More, much more is needed. And our Supreme Court has already put into play the notion that they must take into consideration international laws during their deliberations. Whether or not it takes root is another matter, but all that is needed is a few democratic administrations making appointments to the bench; this could be reality.

Key world polluters — including the United States, China, India and Russia — steered clear of the proposed new agency, while Europeans embraced it. A total of 46 countries agreed to pursue plans for the organization, and to hold their first meeting in Morocco this spring.

Without naming the United States directly, Mr. Chirac expressed frustration that "some large countries, large rich countries, still must be convinced." They are "refusing to accept the consequences of their acts," he said.

I'm not surprised that we have been labelled as "key world polluters." But who is the world's worst polluter? If you go here it is the Australians, if you go here it is Ireland, if you go here it is the USA, if you go here it is the Chinese. Japan is bringing up the #4 slot and India is also in the mix. Go ahead and tell a billion Indians or a billion and a half Chinese that Al Gore only wants them to flush once with their brand new toilet.

Chirac has found himself a cheese eating hand puppet.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, who was at the conference, said Quebec will support the new organization “whether Canada does or not.”

This putz has no authority to sign treaties. It's like Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer saying he's going to Russia to negotiate a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with Putin.

National Debt

The Skeptical Optimist has a great article regarding the national debt.

Tax receipts are continuing to grow significantly faster than spending, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. As a result, if these trends continue, the budget will move into balance on July 3, 2008.

Look at these great charts from the Optimist.

This will drive the democrats and RINO's crazy.
The reason for this? Tax receipts from a healthy, expanding economy are increasing faster than the interest on the national debt.

The trend could change if someone gets crazy. See what the Dems submit their first budget for the new federal FY starting on October 1, 2007.

And visit the Skeptical Optimist for straight talk on how economic policies affect the national debt.