To The Metal

Bill Clinton: “This shouldn’t be a race. The only reason it is is because Americans are impatient on things not made before yesterday and they don’t understand why the economy is not totally hunky-dory again.”

I can already see one of the first mainstream media talking points of a post Obama news cycle taking shape. Just as the failings of the current administration are constantly laid at the feet of it’s predecessor, so shall the successes of a Romney administration be laid at the doorstep of Obama. We will endure the remainder of the final Obama budget and policies, Romneys policies will take effect, the economy will improve, and instead of crediting Romney the media will credit Obama, and wistfully wonder just how awesome things would be if we impatient Americans were only smart enough to have voted for Obama. The truth here is that even in our instant gratification society we are patient. We have waited 4 years for a President, allowed a community organizer to act as a placeholder until he arrived, and quite frankly we are all extremely tired of standing still and waiting for a real President to arrive.

We do understand why the economy is not all “hunky-dory.”  It’s called a 35% corporate tax rate.  It’s called an administration and congress that hasn’t passed a budget in 4 years.  It’s called nearly $6,000,000,000,000 in new debt over the past 4 years with no end in sight.  With no solid answers on what will happen with tax rates, spending, or what the real fallout of the so called “Affordable Care Act” will be as it slowly takes effect, nobody is willing to take the risks that are necessary to improve things.  Nobody can predict when and if the bleeding will stop with big government politicians at the helm.  While Romney’s economic proposals may not be as extreme as a Libertarian such as Gary Johnson – in all likelihood should he win the election we will see an immediate bump in the economy as there is no question he is business friendly.  Businesses, big and small, drive the economy – and the American people drive those businesses.  This isn’t trickle-down economics, it’s flood-gate economics.  With courage and faith in America we will truly begin to pull ourselves out of this mess, the flood gates of opportunity will open as soon as the government starts to get out of our way.

Opportunity is stronger than “hope and change,” and it is stronger than any unemployment check or food stamp credit.  We don’t need more time for the current administration’s policies to improve things, we need more opportunity so we can improve things ourselves.  I agree with that 47% statement Mitt Romney made, even if he doesn’t anymore.  I don’t see it as being a criticism of the people who fit into that number, I see it as a CHALLENGE to them.  Obama is counting on your continued support, he is counting on your inability to survive without entitlements, he has no reason to provide opportunity as long as you provide him with dependency.  The challenge lies in whether or not you possess the ability to cast aside those entitlements and rise above your present hardship when the opportunity to do so comes along.

That 47% statement was a cold, calculated reality check that we needed to hear.  The media can and will spin the next 4 years in Obama’s favor whether or not he wins.  Regardless of the victor, the outcome of the next 4 years is up to YOU.

Matthews Likens Paul Ryan’s Pro-Life Views to Sharia Law

It’s impossible these days to not see how the media has made itself a big part of the narrative when it comes to discussions of Conservative vs Liberal ideology…  Networks that offer a left-leaning pro-Obama spin are the model for a perfect fusion reaction, as they generate more rhetoric than they consume from the administration.  Networks that don’t follow the ‘company line’ – aka Fox News – are widely criticized and mocked despite the fact that from a ratings standpoint they still wipe the floor with every other network and cable news outlet.

While it may just another case of Chris Matthews going off the deep end again because the chill is gone, this is the first time I’ve personally seen a pundit along the lines of Chris Matthews imply that there is anything wrong with Islam.  Think about it, from day 1 with Obama, both his administration and its cohorts in the MSM (main stream media) have been very hesitant to criticize Islam.  When Chris Matthews reaches into his limited vocabulary to label dissension and chooses “Sharia” instead of racist, sexist, Nazi, etc…  The significance cannot be ignored.

The tide is turning folks, ever increasing instances of MSM pundits and reporters beyond the confines of Univision and Fox News asking tough questions of Obama.  It’s only going to get louder before the wave finally crashes with a Romney victory and inauguration.  The media will have established that they can still ask tough questions.  They will justify the predictable vilification and media obsession with knocking down a Romney administration based on the handful of questions they asked at the end of the Obama administration.

The media has a job to inform the people, to report on significant events regardless of allegiance to any ideology or political administration.  They’ve failed at this job longer than I have been alive, the proof is in the ratings of these networks and the circulation numbers of their printed media.  There will always be a segment of our society that will watch the nightly news, read a newspaper or magazine, or take a story they read online as undeniable, unquestionable fact…  That segment isn’t getting any bigger folks, the writing is on the wall, the shouts of dissent are beginning to down out the mumblings of the sheep…  and Chris Matthews is  referring to Sharia law as a bad thing.

I wonder what they’ll do next?

Darden tests limiting worker hours as health-care changes loom

There’s been a lot of talk about what the effects will be of Obamacare as it slowly but surely rolls into effect.  The recent trend of mainstream media outlets actually doing their job for a change has begun shedding light on the parts that not even Nancy Pelosi read.

One aspect is that as of 2014, employers will be required to provide medical benefits for employees who work over 30 hours a week.  The story linked above highlights the possible direction that Darden (parent company of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and others) will take if the law is allowed to take effect.  Essentially, they will be adjusting the hours of their employees in such a way that those who didn’t get benefits before the law will still not get benefits after the law.

Now back in the early days of my career, one of my employers had a similar setup when it came to receiving benefits.  Their rule said that for an employee to receive benefits, they needed to work at least 35 hours a week.  There were many disgruntled coworkers who needed benefits, but couldn’t get them because they were consistently scheduled for less than 35 hours each week.  They most likely did this to keep costs down, which is why Darden is considering doing the same sort of thing.

This may make you say “What a bunch of dicks!” or “Typical greedy business!” and if that’s the case, please press ALT-F4 and close out your browser because you’re beyond help.  If you blame the business for this then you are a lemming, happily following Obama as he leads this country off the fiscal cliff into a utopian world of class warfare and ever increasing government control of private industry.

Complain all you want, but the undeniable truth here is that the decisions you see businesses make as a result of Obama and his policies are required for them to remain fiscally solvent.  They’re just trying to survive this administration and this economy.  Don’t let the tiny decrease in the unemployment rate fool you, it’s all smoke and mirrors.  Businesses need money to hire workers, to provide benefits, and this money comes from people willing to pay for their products and services…  Americans are still very hesitant to spend money on anything but the most basic essentials.  Increased consumer spending is usually a good sign of growth, unless the only reason it has increased is because the price of gas has gone up.  As a result of this administration’s policies, and the economy under the thumb of this administration – everyone is suffering.  America is suffering.

A business isn’t going to add new jobs today, at least not full-time jobs that can make that unemployment rate turn around, when there is an ever increasing stack of regulations and taxes headed towards them that add new expenses.  A business shouldn’t be required to provide benefits, all they should be required to do is provide you with a paycheck.  Normally, if you want to make more money, or if you want health benefits, you find a new job that provides both!  That’s not the mantra of the Obama crowd, they want you to go ahead and continue packing shelves at Walmart, or flipping burgers at McDonalds… Don’t you worry about your pay, or that you don’t get benefits – the Government shall provide (on the backs of future generations saddled with the debt).

Mark my words folks, if Obama gets re-elected and his healthcare plan goes into full effect you will see the Government crack down on businesses like Darden who are simply trying to survive his economic firing squad.  They’ll do it to rousing applause from the useful idiots in the media and those poor saps who think that the largest problem with this country is business, not Government.  They’ll punish these businesses with even greater regulations and more jobs will be lost as they simply try to survive.

4 more years to get the job done?  Here’s a thought Barry, QUIT.  I hear its real easy to get unemployment and food stamps these days.

This morning I was greeted with a “did you hear that Mitt Romney believes airplanes should have windows that roll down?”

My response: “Well I’m not voting for him based on his understanding of how airplanes work.”

The other day, after news broke that Romney had released more tax returns to satisfy the calls for a smoking gun more information on his wealth, I started to hear mutterings that his dissenters were complaining he’d paid too much in taxes on purpose.  When I realized that the mutterings were true – I started to wonder what these folks honestly expected…  Evidence of being a tax cheat?  More proof that he’s loaded?

I got the answer when I heard that the big question now is whether Romney took advantage of an IRS tax amnesty initiative in 2009 which would allow Americans who have undeclared offshore bank accounts (the much fabled Swiss Bank Account for example) to fess up and pay the taxes that they’d otherwise be evading.  My response?  “Has the IRS initiated an audit against Romney, or have charges been filed against him for tax evasion?”

Not even a letter from the folks who prepared his taxes or the former commissioner of the IRS is enough to satisfy the conspiracy theorists that I will refer to now as “Taxers” or the “Taxer movement.”  Romney is a bright guy when it comes to money, and the move to release this information a mere 40+ days from the election is brilliant…  Not only has he paid his taxes, he’s done what pretty much every wealthy Liberal critic has been unwilling to do and voluntarily pay more taxes than are owed (instead of demanding that the Government take more from the rich).

Now we’re not talking about seated politicians who are prosecuted for tax evasion but manage to keep their seat as well as the backing of party leaders… this is a wealthy GOP presidential candidate who has a history with knowing how to generate and maintain wealth in an economy sorely needing his expertise, running against a well hyped candidate whose record is anything but successful.

My guess here – is that Romney will release the full 2009 data within the next 40 days, and that it will likely show he did not partake in the amnesty program…  I’m certain the Taxers will come out with another ‘Gotcha!’ moment, but like the folks who still insist 4 years later that Obama’s birth certificate should be a focus of debate, most folks will see the evidence and move on.  Romney is wealthy?  Big whoop.  Next thing you know, the Obama campaign will report that a tomato is actually a fruit.

Crazy world folks, crazy world.

http://www.ijreview.com/2012/09/16780-obama-you-cant-change-washington-from-inside/

I’m sure there is more meaning to his words, a truer, deeper meaning, that my pea-brain can’t comprehend… but Obama seriously said “You can’t change Washington from the inside.”

So in 4 years he’s gone from “Yes, we can” to “No, I can’t.”  Honestly though – there may be some truth to what he said… He can’t really change Washington… but the country and the world can undeniably be changed.  Unemployment numbers that only drop when people stop looking for work, national debt soaring past $16,000,000,000,000.00, government control of industry, you name it.  All that change… all from Obama.

I tell ya, if Obama wins, I don’t know how he’s going to recover from the damage left behind by the previous term.  Will anyone seriously be able to blame Bush if after another 4 years nothing has improved?  Eventually, responsibility needs to be taken by, and blame assigned to – the people who voted for Obama.

Washington can be changed, as was proven in 2010 when the Democrats lost control of the House.  We’re talking a classic David and Goliath tale here and as much as I’d love to vote for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, I don’t see that he has a snowballs chance in hell of winning.  I’m not even sure of Romney/Ryan will be able to trigger the change that is required, all I know is that Obama and the current Democrat leadership needs to go.  As fucked up as the move during the RNC to keep the Libertarian movement off the state was… someone somewhere calculated that the only candidate threatened by a strong Libertarian voice on the national state was Romney.  As much as I support the ideas and proposals from Johnson and Paul – the only way to defeat a force like Obama with his absolutely dismal record – is with big names and big money.

I would LOVE to see more attention on the Libertarians.  I would LOVE to see a candidate that has a real chance to reach the presidency… But to do that they need to exponentially increase their efforts and get their message out by any means necessary… it’s going to take an unstoppable force to face the seemingly immovable object that is the political establishment in Washington – and IMHO – they simply aren’t there yet.  The best time for them will be in challenging a Republican incumbent, not a Democrat, and most certainly not Barack Obama.

We can change Washington, the country, and the world – perhaps even for the better – for now, I’ll have to settle for Romney/Ryan.