One Happy Dog Speaks

I have posted similar items in the past but it is always worth repeating… in the hopes that someone who has the money and the influence can help make this happen:

*Congressional Reform Act of 2013*

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.

2. Congress (past, present and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. The Congress, along with the President, Vice President, and other White House personnel should all rely on the salary WE, the people, pay them for their vacations, hair cuts, etc..(Like the people they serve and represent.)

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.

The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

You can find the following information on the White House site http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/28/presidential-memorandum-presidential-determination-respect-child-soldier

But I’m going to repeat it here:

SUBJECT: Determination with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008

Pursuant to section 404 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) (title IV, Public Law 110-457), I hereby determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to Libya, South Sudan, and Yemen; and further determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive in part the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to allow for continued provision of International Military Education and Training funds and nonlethal Excess Defense Articles, and the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of U.S. origin defense articles; and I hereby waive such provisions accordingly.

You are authorized and directed to submit this determination to the Congress, along with the accompanying Memorandum of Justification, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Now I know I am not ‘with it’ when it comes to politics until election time… but I put in bold what bothered me… in the actual act it talks about waiving the act… but here is one of the criteria:

the government of such country is taking reasonable steps to implement effective measures to demobilize child soldiers in its forces

Really, Libya, South Sudan, and Yemen have shown steps to get rid of child soldiers? Really? I’m starting to wish I lived in another country… though I love the USA and just wish this nonsense would stop. Maybe, just maybe I’m reading it wrong… any input?

This was sent to me via email and I found it to be accurate as it was written by Robert Hall from Snopes.com…

I wish my ability to write and express these sentiments were this good… It is how I have felt for the last couple of years… I did have a good friend remind me that none of this was backed up by facts. And he was correct. Yet it is amazing how much I feel these things until I realized it is because “I” have been effected by them. I have felt the frustration of being ‘stereotyped’ and unable to get support because I was a white female with a job. I can’t imagine what it would be like as a man.

I have friends that are LEGAL immigrants and then I have watched things happen in our community because of the illegal immigrants. I have watched the tolerance change and what can and cannot be said. It scares me. I watch how I am paying our mortgage but if I had let it slipped I would have been able to get government handouts and wonder why I bother. Then I am scared again because that thought actually passed through my brain. Ok, read this and you’ll understand better.

This should be required reading for every man, woman, and child in the United States of America.

“I’m 63 and I’m Tired”
by Robert D. Hall

I’m 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked hard since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes.” Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I’m tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Al lah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but thinks that Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I #@*# sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers,” especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, “Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military…. Those are the citizens we need.

I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheadedDaniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the ” Illinois Combine” of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet.

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor.” The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m real tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to see the world these people are making. I’m sorry though for my granddaughter.

Robert David Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served 5 terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

Sometimes I read things around the web that say it so much better than I could…

Like the new Sin Tax they are considering in Florida. Take a look at THIS POST to see Bou’s take on it.

And while I usually think Ogre is on the edge, he has an excellent POST HERE, that makes me envision Senator Palpatine on his way to become Emperor Palpatine and his change of the Senate Guard to the Red Guard. Follow the link he has… it goes to the Washington Post…

It is hard to be positive when all you read makes you shudder. Because there is so little you can do to change the direction of it. Yep, this stuff bothers me.

Seems that this health care package deal is causing an uproar in our county. The Congress Representatives are actually holding meetings about it. It is getting front page news. If they weren’t at inconvenient times for me, I’d go. But tomorrow at 9:30am I still have my youngest with me and so it goes with the rest of the meetings.

They have a ‘true/false’ section in the paper along with the meeting announcements… one of them says “I just want to assure you we’re not talking about cutting Medicare benefits” and the answer is Half True. Uhhhh. Is it true or not? Sorta like being half pregnant. Does that mean people need to get more Medicare supplement plans?

What about this one…

“A provision in the health care reform bill for end-of-life counseling for seniors is not ‘entirely voluntary.’” And the answer in the paper is … False: If you don’t have to do it, it’s voluntary.

Someone just shoot me now. Between my children and what I see happening to my future. Ugh… Ok, don’t shoot me, but this is getting beyond ridiculous.

Sigh…

I remember learning this phrase to mean that the government is watching you. I looked it up on wikipedia and they said this:

Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence – where the ruling elite (‘the Party’) wield total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.

In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase “Big Brother is watching you”, which is the core “truth” of the propaganda system in this state. Big Brother’s physical characteristics are intended to resemble Joseph Stalin[citation needed], although in the film his moustache more closely resembles Adolf Hitler’s.

Which everyone laughed and talked about how that is not the USA. We are getting much closer to that than you can possibly believe. My mom called me about a news show she watched late last night. It mentioned how the government was asking people to send information on getting ‘fishy emails about health care’. I thought she was joking with me. I told her I would look it up. This is a quote from our WHITEHOUSE Government site:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Now this is under the guise of we just want to stop ‘disinformation’. Doesn’t this sound familiar to you yet? If you really want to stop the disinformation then use the same tools to send out the right information. If that is not enough, use some of that money you seem to have tons of and have the President give a ‘Fire Side Chat’. Make sure that you get it on all major networks, and advertise that he is going to give out facts about the health care.

Do NOT ask me to turn in my neighbors and friends. Basically that is what you are requesting when you want me to send you information about emails I receive. Have you no memory of history? Don’t you remember reading about how in Nazi Germany people were encouraged to ‘turn in their neighbor’. Or Stalin with his style of communism? You are saying to yourself it is not the same. But how did it start? We remember the worst of history… did it start as something as simple as this? Where does it stop? And when?

While I have been worried about how much of a socialist government we have become, this new item scares me and what future my children will have. Stop this now. It is WRONG. I don’t have the answer at my finger tips, but I am open to suggestions. I am not sure if sending a ton of emails to that address complaining about the health care reform is the answer or getting a group together to fight it. I do NOT want us to start ‘turning in each other’. Not when there are so many other options available. Get the word out. Let’s make this wrong for our government to do in our country.

My mom sent me a link to a video of a woman speaking about the 2nd Amendment. Her name is Suzanna Gratia-Hupp. Sigh. I hate watching videos. I’m the world’s worst at taking the time to see them. But if my mom sends me one… I guarantee I watch it. I am very glad I watched this one. I want my kids to see this when I get older… I hope it is still on the net for them. This woman uses a story to help emphasis her reasoning… but the reasoning is still exactly how I feel. It’s just over 5 minutes. Take the time to watch. This may be more important than you think…

If you want to skip most of it, fine… but make sure you watch the last minute… right around 4 minutes 40 seconds…

This is my ‘scrapbook’ but also my diary. Hence, I want my boys to understand in the future why I voted for McCain. Tater has been questioning me on it lately and here are my answers….

1. Obama may lower taxes for some, but cause our national debt to go up (from the Tax Professor):

Obama, who casts himself as an out-of-the box, post-partisan politician, has put together a fairly conventional Democratic tax plan. Despite McCain’s recent claim that Obama would raise taxes for all, it turns out that middle-class families would do better under Obama (who would cut their taxes by $1000 in 2009) than McCain (who would cut them by only $300). Obama’s generosity comes at a price, however, He’d raise the national debt by a staggering $3.3 trillion over the next decade, and that includes more than $900 billion in promised revenue raisers that Tax Policy Center could not verify.

That was one of the issues that made me go for McCain. Of course I like the McCain military stance better than Obama’s.

However, I do not like Obama’s health insurance direction:

*
Barack Obama will make health insurance affordable and accessible to all:
The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.
*
Obama will lower health care costs:
The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.
*
Promote public health:
Obama and Biden will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

Again, where does he think this money is going to come from? We are already in debt as a nation, he is putting us further and further into debt… why? Here is someone from the NYTimes who did some numbers on it:

Mr. Gruber finds that a plan without mandates, broadly resembling the Obama plan, would cover 23 million of those currently uninsured, at a taxpayer cost of $102 billion per year.

I could continue writing but I think my kids will get the idea in the future. I believe in saving money and doing your best to stay out of debt. I did quite well until I got married the first time. Then I let my husband put us $15k in credit card debt. I did NOTHING to stop it. But I did do something to fix it. After we were out of debt, we ended up divorced.

With my hubby now we have gotten into debt twice. Why? Because I had a hard time saying no to stuff for the kids. I was VERY guilty of spending money on them that we didn’t have. I wasn’t the only one. That problem has been resolved. Even now I am having the kids divide their allowance on Fridays. 70% goes to them, 20% goes to future savings and 10% goes to charity.

I am afraid of what our country will look like in 15 years when they are ready to be out on their own. I can only try my best to teach them about money. I pray and hope that I make the right decisions for their sakes. Because it looks like those folks who work hard for their money are going to be sharing a whole lot more of it with those that don’t… and it is going to be harder to convince my children that working hard is the right answer when you still get stuff for doing nothing. Understand, I believe we should help those in need… Which is why we save for charity, which is why at Christmas my kids have to go through their toys and decide which ones are in good enough condition to give away to others less fortunate… but I don’t believe that is for the Federal Government to do… sigh…

Off my soap box. Understand this… these are my views and you are welcome to share yours even if they are not the same. Even point out what you see as incorrect in my assumptions… However, if you get nasty, you will be banned.

Went to the doctor’s for the kids. They have upper respiratory infections and sinus infections. They are now on antibiotics. Phew. They went to vote with me after we dropped the medicine off at the pharmacy.

Must say they were well behaved! Well, except for the one time Tot decided to shake the booth. When you are trying to connect two sides of an arrow, a shake can be a pain. But it is done!!!

My mom sent me this… I found it humorous (and fixed the math)…

*Bar Stool Economics* Our Tax System Explained:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’ Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would
each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $12 instead of $18 (33% savings).
The tenth now paid $52 instead of $59 (12% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. ‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $7!’ ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I got’ ‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’ ‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’ The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.