Monthly Archives: January 2012

State of Ridiculousness

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The President’s State of the Union is always painful to listen to, especially when we have a Democrat and everything is spend! spend! spend! I seriously wanted to smash the TV 85 times last night…once for every applause interruption. The only nice thing I can say is that Michelle Obama looked like she lost a couple pounds….which she needed to do. 🙂

The entire transcript can be found here. But let’s go through a few of his high (read:low) points:

“We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world”….heroes. Yes. Safer? Maybe. More respected? Doubtful. Over the course of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq we have only alienated allies or caused conflict in other countries.

“Americans had a chance to share – the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.”
-This still happens today, under the same circumstances you state, Mr “0”…if you work hard.This country was not based on handouts and up until the New Deal legislation, millions of people made it on their own without the help of the government. You are given the chance, what you do with it is up to you and ONLY YOU.

“We can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”
-We all know what he’s referring to….TAXES!! But his statement is ridiculous. If the goal is “fairness”, how is me paying a larger share of taxes for 20 people who don’t pay at all fair? How is my increased student loan interest fair when I will eventually pay more because others take the loans knowing they’ll never pay them back. How is it that my medical costs are higher even when I have insurance because they are overcompensating for the illegals who receive free care? THAT’S not fair and there’s nothing I can do about it (which is also not fair!).

“Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories.”
-Not by any help from you O! They didn’t take the bailout money and they’ve always been dedicated to American values. Please don’t try and take credit for this.

“First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home….First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.”
-Son, PLEASE!! You talk about fairness and equality, except for businesses? Businesses should have the freedom to practice and produce wherever it is most cost efficient and shouldn’t be taxed more because of WHERE they are producing. You’re overstepping your bounds, Mr. Oblahblah. And stop redistributing money, let Master Lock fend for themselves.

“And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.”
-Where is that money coming from? More subsidies? More taxes on the upper class?

He also announced the creation of the Trade Enforcement Unit and Financial Crimes Unit. Super. More units to do what other Departments are already designated to do (but won’t or can’t do)… Which in turn means more government jobs, more costs and more oversight.

Finally, and I’ve spoken about it before: higher education. “So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can’t be a luxury – it’s an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.”
-Not everyone is meant for college. Not everyone should have a higher education. Some are meant for trade schools and other focused jobs. This creates diversity. Giving away post-secondary education makes it less meaningful for those who work hard and pay for it. Also, The cost of tuition continues to rise because so much of it is subsidizes and reduced. What do you expect universities to do? They can’t operate for free. Next you’re going to tell me it’s important that everyone have a law degree, a Masters or a PH.D.

Basically, it was all a big campaign speech so while on the campaign trail, Obama can say “I TOLD REPUBLICANS TO DO _____ AND THEY DIDNT” or “America needs me to finish the job”. I can’t wait for the primary season to be over so that the nominee can debate and debate and debate Obama until he is blue in the face….because he hasn’t done squat. And the proof is everywhere. I do have confidence in his ability to be a one-term president.

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Today on the House Calendar…

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Some interesting bills on the House floor today….

Most intriguing and irritating to me:
HB 424 – “Superior Court Clerks’ Retirement Fund; death benefit for members; provide”.
This bill would extend the $5,000 death benefit that Superior Court Clerks receive to both active AND retired persons. The original legislation and existing code only designates the $5,000 benefit to those who die while serving. Now, the $5,000 benefit is payable to someone who has retired from the position and then passed away.

The problem with the Bill? It’s wasteful spending….they’re only doing it because the money is there. Further, if someone is retired, they are receiving retirement benefits/pensions and in the event of a death, the benefits –up to 50%– are transferred to the spouse. Why are we just giving away more money? “Because we can” is not an answer. Why not use the money on something a little more effective. Better yet…SAVE THE MONEY.

Some days I feel like they are just writing legislation for kicks and giggles…there are a lot of useless initiatives!! Some other Bills up today:

—HB 295 addressing the Georgia State Employees Pension and Saving Plans and the transfer of accrued benefits.

—HB 683 in regards to garnishment proceedings as a result of the Supreme Court of Georgia’s approval of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee Advisory Opinion in 2010.

—HB 713 which is the Quality of Basic Education Act. Essentially, this Bill requires a career education study in grades kindergarten through the end of 11th grade. (?????)

All legislation, past and present can be found on the Georgia General Assembly Website.

I encourage people to read legislation BEFORE it hits the floor so you can have an impact and voice your opinion to your legislators.

Lazy, good for nothin’ 20-somethings

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I was reading an article on the Huffington Post about what parents owe their children and it was just joyful! With a failing economy and high unemployment, it seems that many college graduates are forced to move back home. The article discussed the intense pressure a lot of parents feel to pay for their children’s college, graduate school, cars, weddings and home down payments. Like I’ve said before, the comments on the articles are more discouraging than the actual article because the views of readers really shine through.

Here are some of the more disturbing comments:
“I will owe my kid everything. A baby doesn’t ask to be brought into this world. Why would anyone? Except for a privileged few, the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Parents force life upon their kids. It’s their duty to ensure the quality and happiness of that life. Whether my child goes to medical school or ends up living their life in an institution for the mentally challenged, I can and will gladly pay in full for it. It’s not a question of who owes what to whom. It’s a question of taking responsibility for one’s actions. Procreation is MY action. I can choose abstinence. I can choose birth control. I can choose abortion. Creating life is my decision – not my child’s, not society’s. Why should anyone else foot the bill for it?”

“Parents who love their children give their children as much help as they can. If your parents don’t help you, please Google: Ultra Emapthy. The very first Google listing is mine. Become part of a family where people help each other. Michael”

“Parents don’t think they “owe” their kids? Fine. Then kids don’t “owe” their parents seeing their grand kids ever. Parents don’t think they “owe” their kids? Fine. Then kids don’t owe their parents when they’re adults finding them hospice, or Senior Citizens homes, or taking them in if some how they can’t manage. Parents don’t think they “owe” their kids? Fine. Then kids don’t owe their elderly parents any concern if mom and dad get duped by scammers who pray on seniors. They’ve got their own financial worries. Parents don’t think they “owe” their kids anything? Fine. Then when parents die the kid can just as easily demand the state bury their parents at state expense. Kids don’t “owe” parents burial. Parents think they don’t “owe” their adult children anything? Well they should’ve thought of that before they had kids. Your kids don’t stop being your kids just because they’re 30 or 40.”

What the?? Most right-minded people don’t believe anyone should foot the bill for anyone else. They simply want PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Do you really need that iPhone? Or that Louis Vuitton bag? How do you feel good about purchases like that when you can’t afford rent, utilities or school?

Nowadays, “children” can stay on insurance plans until they’re 26…that’s EIGHT YEARS PAST ADULTHOOD!! And whether you want to or not, when you apply for graduate schools, your parents incomes and credit is factored in when determining financial aid and student loans. We as a society don’t encourage self-reliance…we encourage dependence. And it starts way too young.

When will my generation learn that you can do it all? When will people stop being so lazy and work their way through school and stop relying on mommy and daddy? When will social programs stop reinforcing gifts and entitlements? It circles back to the notion that people my age think they are above bagging groceries or working at Five Guys to make ends meet. They would rather move home and collect unemployment than work a job they are overqualified for.It’s one thing to be in transition or to be getting started. But getting on your feet doesn’t take 5 years on mom and pops dime! I can assure you that when the recession is over, you will still be behind the people who worked their asses off to keep the train moving.

Tackling Tim Tebow’s Character

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I’m not a fan of the NFL- not because of the high salaries or the obsessive fans-but because of how so many of the athletes behave on AND off the field. And I normally try to stay away from blogs related to football, since I see and hear so much about it at home…but this is something that really bothers me: The Tackle of Tim Tebow’s Character .

His season is now over…but after a LONG, ANNOYING season of attacks, jokes [the tebowing website may be a joke, but its still mocking him and his beliefs] and anger about his faith in God. After Saturday’s loss, my Facebook was inundated with “Where was God during that game, Tebow?” and “Guess God didn’t have the Superbowl in his plans for you!”. None of this was anything new and none of it was anything I hadn’t read all season whenever Tebow “messed up”. It really got me thinking, though.

People annihilated Tebow because he thanked God for the ability to play the game. (This quickly spun out of control into accusing Tim Tebow of thinking “he was God” and “God made him win games”…neither of which were ever said.) Meanwhile, other athletes in the league can choke women, skip out on child support payments, smoke and possess massive amounts of marijuana, drive drunk, sexually assault college girls in bathrooms, and shoot themselves in the foot and it’s all swept under the rug. The NFL dishes out a small fine and the player is back to being a celebrity. But, Tim Tebow is crucified (no pun intended) for thanking God.

What kind of organization allows a strong, brave, outwardly faithful member to be mocked, week in and week out? When did we become a nation that mocks a person who prays? And what happened to all my liberal friends…where is the acceptance? The tolerance? Do different rules apply because it has to do with God, the Christian God, the faith in which this country was founded and evolved so as to ensure freedom of religion and speech and made it so each player can be paid $300,000+ yearly and you can pay $75+ a ticket each week or watch it on your fancy TV with the NFL package that you pay for monthly from your job in a capitalistic society? That God? I just want to know when the faithful became the bad guys….

What a messed up industry. What a messed up society.

Girl Scouts: Stay Away

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Since I was a Girl Scout back in the 90’s, things have changed. A LOT. The Girls Scouts have been plagued with bad publicity for accepting funding from and partnering with Planned Parenthood, releasing statements through the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, formulating a “radical feminist agenda“, the “optional” use of God in the oath,  and more recently the inclusion of a transgendered child into a Colorado troop.

Now, before we move on…let me be clear about my irritation about the transgendered children in the Girl Scouts.
1. The child is 7 (as many of the newly inaugurated members are). Personally, I think that is extremely too young to be making significant life choices regarding gender and sexuality–things most children don’t know about at age seven.
2. IF for some reason, the parents of this children felt strongly that their child needed to dress and live as a girl, though genetically and physiologically a boy, why draw attention to the child by insisting this child partake in a GIRL’S organization.
These ideas make me wonder how much of this is a setup, how much of this is a publicity stunt on behalf of the parents and where the actors are trying to steer this fiery bus.

My opinions aside, the recent controversy has not gone without a response.

A California teen recently posted a YouTube video expressing her disdain with the direction of the Girls Scouts. Having been a member for 8 years, she is calling for everyone to boycott Girl Scout Cookies. Why you ask? It seems that the Girl Scouts are now allowing transgender children from kindergarten through twelfth grade to join the organization. “If the child identifies as a girl and the parents present the child as a girl, Girl Scouts will welcome the child”, the organization stated. Don’t you think this is making a mockery of the organization that USED to represent good community-based values? Still not convinced? Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis without proof or verification of gender. Would you like your little girl going on overnight camping trip with boys, or young men? And you know soon enough there will be male troop leaders, in an effort to be more accepting. Or better, males living life as females for troop leaders. How about sharing bathroom facilities (since these children are now identifying and acting as girls). All that aside, don’t you think this will open the door for a whole plethora of questions that your child may not have been exposed to? Her video is below:

If you search for the topic, you will see an extraordinary number of videos in response to this young lady’s message, with ones including attacks on her figure, her heritage and her values. Classy.

You can read more on the overall issues here.

It seems that Girl Scouts USA is just another progressive organization aimed at destroying family values, distancing children from faith and instead, indoctrinating young girls (and now boys!) with advanced and complicated values at way too early of an age. I’m sad to see that a previously positive organization has been infiltrated in this fashion.

Boycott the Girls Scouts. Boycott the Cookies. (Besides, Keebler makes ‘generic’ Thin Mints, Samoa’s and Tag-a-longs anyways).

Our Government Is Not Legitimate

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Last night, I solemnly began my Public Finance class that addresses metropolitan fiscal issues, past, present and future. I thought the class was going to be bad, but I had no clue what I was in for. As my teacher, who has immigrated here from another country (note: this would be fine if he’s aid teacher was not shredding the liberties of America) spoke on socialism, big government and The need for every kind of social program, I began to sweat, choke and have heart palpitations.

He explained to us that the functions government are:
ALLOCATION- to levy taxes and assess fees. It’s important to assess fees when taxes fall short. (speeding tickets, tag fees, license fees, etc.)

DISTRIBUTION- to redistribute the levied monies so that there is no income and living gap. He referred to it as “income maintenance”. That was a new term for me, but I plan to continue using it out of ridiculousness.

STABILIZATION- This is vague and so I’ll leave it alone-for now. But basically, stabilization is the efficient working of government and it’s programs. ( LOL)

Sarcastically, I raised my hand and said “If distribution is a function, then we have no need for the nonprofit sector. Isn’t the nonprofit sector supposed to bridge the gap between public sector and the private sector voluntarily?” My teacher responded by saying that the nonprofit sector is AN EXTENSION of the federal government and when you pay nonprofits, you’re paying the 3rd arm of government. Why don’t you try telling that to all the private corporations and citizens who donate to nonprofits.

Now, in Political Science 101 you learn about the legitimacy of government. In a democracy, government legitimacy derives from the popular perception that the elected government abides democratic principles in governing, and thus is legally accountable to its people. So democratic principles are derived from The Constitution and the abill of Rights, meaning, thats where these democratic principles derive. Where are allocation and distribution in The Constitution?

Until the 16th amendment was ratified in 1913, we had no federal income tax. Our country went 124 years before we had an income tax. It was not in The Constitution and it was not a priority of our Founding Fathers. So tell me, why do we have it? According to my professor, we need income taxes to provide social programs. Okay, so what page in the Constitution does it say we shall provide social programs? Oh. It doesn’t? Hmm…so TWO of the three stated functions of the federal government are unconstitutional and illegitimate. Interesting.

That is the most I’ve ever learned in a graduate class. Thanks prof!!

Hold the Applause….

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Did you happen to listen to or read Governor Deal’s ‘State of the State’ the other night? If you haven’t, you can read the transcript here or watch the speech here. It was interjected with repeated applause, ovations and cheers as the Governor spoke. And, it’s propositions we’re quite spendy.

Much appreciation goes to the Georgia General Assembly who balanced the budget in 2011 and funded many essential Georgia programs. Appreciation is the keyword. Not applause, not praise, not commendation. We are SUPPOSED to have a balanced budget. That’s is the job of the legislature: to ensure efficiency (as well as transparency, accountability and legitimacy) and delegate good use of our tax dollars. That being said, it’s great to hear that the rainy day fund increased 183% to $328 million and that in 2012, 10% of Georgia programs will begin working off a zero-based budget. (Why it’s only 10%, I’m not sure…I don’t know how any organization or business DOESN’T work off zero-based budgeting, but I’m not in charge).

That being said, I question a lot of the spending proposed for this year.
-$20 million for the need-based one percent program (1. The title is quite the oxymoron, and 2. For the one millionth time, Education is not a right).
-$111.3 million for enrollment efforts at technical colleges & universities. (People know what college is. So what is an enrollment EFFORT? Also, I don’t like efforts, I like execution when we are talking about implementation of hard-earned tax dollars.)
-$146 million to support enrollment efforts in K-12 (Isn’t schooling mandatory until age16? Maybe enrollment efforts aren’t the right words, but I’m not keen on spending money to promote something that is already obviously mandatory).
-$55.8 million to fund salary increases for teachers K-12
-Supplemental grants of an undescribed amount to support charter schools in an Amended budget and in 2013.
-$46.7 million for deepening the Port of Savannah to improve both transportation and infrastructure.
-$10 million for Accountability Courts to lower recidivism rates in the criminal justice system. (How? Again, what’s the cost of implementing this?)

I can appreciate the efforts to rectify the failing school systems across the state and to try and improve the overall quality of the State, but where is the data that shows how this money will help? And how much will it cost to implement new programs? What about oversight to ensure efficiency? Will we need more state employees for that? I’m not a fan. As I become more frugal in my personal life, I become more frustrated with spending on the local and state level (I have temporarily given up on the federal level).

And another thing… a true pet peeve of mine is praising and applauding our legislators and executive officers. I flashed back to a recent event where Johnny Isakson spoke. He received a standing ovation and people were chanting his name, defending him as he was being questioned by other constituents. Why stand? Why clap? Why treat them like celebrities? WE elected THEM. THEY work for US. It is a privilege to serve and they should thank the people for the opportunity to do so.