Uh, no, you don't-really

From a WSJ headline "More States Look to Raise Taxes". As I read through the article, what impressed me, negatively, was how few states were going to balance their books by cutting spending. There are a few who will try to do it by cutting some spending and raising taxes, but raising taxes is the main thrust. Here in Minnesota, our state budget has increased 100% . At the State Central Committee meeting in December, I offered to help Governor Pawlenty dry up that $5-6,000,000,000 in red ink. I told him all I needed was the projected budget, a neon highlighter , a pot of coffee and viola'! At least $6,000,000,000 in savings before noon. And that I'd supply the coffee. And the highlighter! He said he'd mail the documents. I never saw them, even with a follow-up email. But, the point is that there is fat in every single state budget. But notice where the cuts are highlighted-" With the size of our budget gap, we are looking at a situation of closing down our courts, releasing prisoners and cutting the school year by as much as a month..." The very things that governments are required to do are the first things cut (except that school thing- one less month of left wing indoctrination and debasing of America and a possible extra month of part time work will help some families and the local economies. Plus the reason schools are hit is to force parents to scream for more money).
So, when non-essential programs are truly cut ( not just the rate of growth) there will be trail of sobbing witnesses, telling the whole litany of why their right to your money is more pressing than your evil, greedy, uncompassionate desire to keep what you've earned to provide for your family (I inadvertently left out that you're heartless too).
If these politicians had a spine, all state budgets would and could be balanced in a couple of hours.

I had no idea!

His messiahness BHO is truly amazing.
Here is what he's accomplished in just the first half of his first hundred days:



Truly, truly stunning!!
What more can this guy possibly in the next half?
Well, we'll certainly know soon enough.

I love the old ads....

From Hot Air:

The original:


The recently updated:



We so often hear (ad magna nauseum) the left's concern about"the children".
Well, what say you now MoveOn.org? What say you now?

Salient quote

From the Patriot Post:

"The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves. A truth's initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was believed. It wasn't the world being round that agitated people, but that the world wasn't flat. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic." --author Dresden James

I reflected on how the Founding Fathers would be received today.
Poorly I imagine.
Quite poorly.

Also, go subscribe, get the recent Patriot Post (3-30-09) and read how Mark Levin describes the descent from a "soft tyranny" to a "hard tyranny".

If you don't hear the canary hit the bottom of the cage, how about an eagle?

I've written many times about the looming financial disaster called Social Security and Medicare. The head of the Dallas Federal Reserve has calculated the amount of money we need to put aside today is $99,000,000,000,000 to meet future outlays.(BTW, that $99,000,000,000,000 figure increases $4,650,000,000,000 each year according to Dr. Walter E. Williams). I've written that Bernie Ebbers went to prison for running MCI/Worldcom the same way Congress and the Treasury have run Social Security/Medicare. I've also written that when the "surplus" goes away, that will become the opening shot in an inter-generational civil war.
How does Social Security/Medicare work?
Poorly. Here is a simple explanation. One note: the money the SS Admin lends to the treasury is spent. It also goes on the books as an "asset" or "revenue" which it is not, rather than a "liability" which it is. In other words, the SS Trust Fund has nothing but IOU's in it, the Treasury is cooking the books and the annual deficit has been made to look a lot lower than it is.
Most analysts predicted that we had 6-8 years before the surplus went away. It appears that that date has already arrived (for a real scary laugh, go down in the article and read how the now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, predicted in 2002 that the chances of failure for Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac were less than 1 in 3,000,000. Oh, and Mr. Orszag is now the man in charge of the federal budget!) The most optimistic forecast is that the surplus will be gone in 2 years.

I can not begin to tell you how incredibly concerning this development is.

Excuse me...did I just hear squeaking gun carriage wheels across Charleton Harbor?

Dear Mr. Hannan...

Now, this is really speaking truth to power...



Now, if he's over 35...but, he's not a natural born citizen of the United States. Drat!
Well, maybe a run for Senate then... I'll be emailing Mr. Hannan and asking if he's ever considered Stateside residence and politics.

P.S. Read what Mr. Hannan has said about his three minute speech, that was ignored by the European MSM. Very interesting!
And a BTW, PM Gordon Brown was in the chamber as Mr. Hannan was speaking directly to him!

The rosy cheek hull thrusher v your children

A Clinton era appointed federal judge (Colleen Kollar-Kotelly) issued an injunction prohibiting citizens with a valid permit to carry to carry firearms into National Parks and wildlife refuges. Pres. Bush issued a decision to allow firearms into the National Parks where a lawful permit would allow a citizen to do so. The reason Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gives for the injunction? The Bush decision "failed to evaluate the possible environmental impact" of the ruling.
Oh.
So, what possible environmental impact would necessitate a 44 page ruling from Colleen? Well, I guess a decision process that Colleen calls "astoundingly flawed". 44 pages...
And what, pray tell, is the environmental impact of a bear attack on a group of children in a National Park? Or a bison charging a group of tourists? Will Colleen call the National Park Ranger Defense Hotline so the Rangers can come to the rescue of any citizen who obeys the law when confronted by one who does not?
Hhhmmm...probably not.
She'll be much too busy to be torn away from "Earth in the Balance" or the recent Brady Campaign recent email update. BTW, it was the Brady Bunch who was a party to the suit that brought the injunction from Colleen.

A picture and a bunch of words plus trillions of dollars

I joined Twitter a couple of months ago (www.twitter.com/AmendmentX). Two organizations I follow on Twitter are the Cato Institute (Cato Twitter link) and the Heritage Foundation- ( Heritage Twitter link). This morning I got a Tweet from Heritage that shows the Bush deficits v the Obama deficits via a graphic.
Here's the bad news:


The good news? Well, BHO promises to cut the deficit in half. So, as the article points out, BHO will quadruple the deficit, then promises to cut it in half. If he follows through on at least this promise, that means he'll only double the deficit.

Bumper sticker politics

Yesterday my Mom and I were coming back from the St. Joesph's Day celebration at Mama D's son John's restaurant Cafe Biaggio in St. Paul (see below). Traveling down 35W, there was a Ford Escape in the next lane with a number of bumper stickers on the back window:"Franken", "Obama" and "Wellstone". And at the left center of all those stickers was one that absolutely baffled me-"I Vote The Constitution".
My dismay and befuddlement vanished when I finally realized the bumper sticker didn't say which country's constitution he voted.

My Second Mother Passes Away

I read with so much sadness this afternoon that Mama D passed away yesterday.
Mama was a Minneapolis celebrity and restaurateur for four decades.
When I was a student at the University of MN, I went to the first restaurant she was associated with, Sammy D's, in Dinkytown. I had, of course, heard of Mama but had never seen her. I saw this short dark haired woman shuttling around the restaurant and into and out of the kitchen. I naturally assumed that she was Mama. She wasn't. It was her sister Connie. I found out on my third visit who that white haired woman was who talked to the dark haired woman all the time. That was Mama.

I visited the original Sammy D's (her son Sammy owned the restaurant) many times after. The original Sammy D's moved down the street to bigger digs then moved to St. Paul into the old Baker schoolhouse near Raymond and Territorial Rd. The name of the restaurant changed from Sammy D's to Mama D's, Sammy bowing to the inevitable fact that everyone was going to or asking about or referring to "Mama D's".

And the stories Mama could tell!

She told me that after her husband Gene died, she came back to Minneapolis to help Sammy in his sandwich shop. Sammy went on vacation and people would come in and see a sandwich menu but ask "Do you serve lasagna?" to which Mama replied "Come back tomorrow." Same question for spaghetti, fettuccine, veal or eggplant parmigian with the same reply. Sammy came back from vacation and his one page menu had become a two page complete menu! "Ma! What have you done to me!" he asked. So, he went back to a one page menu and then faced all the questions: "I brought my family/my office/my friends for the lasagna/fettuccine/veal/etc. What happened to..." And Sammy was taken kicking and screaming into the full restaurant business.

My Mom and Mama had never met. Mama was going to speak at the senior retirement facility where Mom worked. As Mama got out of the car, Mom introduced herself as my mother, whereupon Mama hugged her and said how happy she was to finally meet her. As Mama delivered her speech to about 300 seniors with my Mom on stage behind her, Mama said "If I were 30 years younger, this woman would be my mother-in-law."

Mama's husband Gene, as he was dying from cancer, made her promise that she would not forget the poor and hungry, so every March 19th, St. Joseph's Day, she would feed any and all who came to be fed. After her restaurant couldn't accommodate the crowd she moved it to St. Lawrence Church. I volunteered for many St. Joseph's Days. Someplace I have a video of Mama D and me dancing a tarantella in the basement of St. Lawrence's on a St. Joseph's Day. So many rich memories as I read that last sentence...

And all were equal in Mama D's eyes. All.

My first spiritual mentor, Ralph, once said never to take away someone's dignity. And it was at a St. Joseph's Day Supper that I saw that lesson: She was an old woman. Short in a heavy coat on a fairly warm St. Joseph's Day. I had seen her before at the restaurant, but didn't know her name. Mama had posted a sign "One Plate Only" to ensure that there was enough food for all. This old woman had taken two and was juggling both down the buffet line. As I watched her from the kitchen, I was going to say something to her about the two plates. I would have been right. But my decision would have been wrong. And so I said nothing, but quietly observed that Mama's generosity and faithfulness to a promise she made her husband would result in my learning a lesson about dignity.

I also believe I was perhaps the only bachelor that asked Mama D out on "dates". I met Tony Bennett and Peggy Lee on one such outing.

When my Dad passed away in 1993, Mom was talking to Mama. Mama empathized with Mom's loss when Mom told how much she missed Dad and so often cried. And Mama told Mom "If tears would bring him back, I'd cry with you." One of Mama's favorite sayings "It's the old hen that makes the best broth" come to life.

As Mama got older, her memory was starting to fail her (she was suffering onset dementia) and she suffered from macular degeneration and didn't see well at all. But, if she didn't recognize you or remember your name, you would never knew as she treated you as a good friend she hadn't seen in a while.

It occurs to me as I write and reflect on my four decade relationship with Mama D, that when I met her in 1969, she was five years younger than I am today. What will be the legacy I pass on to those children and young adults in my life? I've had a exemplary tutor.

There is so much, much more I could write about Mama D, but let it suffice for me to say how much richer I am because Mama D was in my life teaching me wisdom, humility, kindness, compassion and mercy- personified.

Plus a couple of really great recipes!

Rest well Mama.

An audio interview. It was so wonderful to hear her voice again.

3-20-09 P.S. Tomorrow Mom and I will be going to Mama's funeral.
We plan to be there very early.

What the Constitutuion was meant to stop

In a little known story, it became apparent to me how freedom and liberty can be evidenced in small ways.
North Korea has just opened its first pizzeria. Seems the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, thought that North Koreans should "also be allowed access to the world's famous dishes." Damn decent of that fellow, I say. Damn decent!
Many customers have tried pizza for the first time in their lives. First time. And only because the Dear Leader allowed it. And ordering pizza is something you and I would and have never even given a second thought to-unless it's our watching the clock to see if we can get a discount or get it for free.
This pizzeria opened in a country where it's estimated that millions have died of starvation over the past few years.
This is what happens when power is concentrated and centralized. I've written about this before.
And the real crime here: there are tens of millions of voters who will see absolutely no connection, in any way, shape or form in even a remote fashion between the first pizzeria opening in Pyongyang and the decades long and the current disaster called Washington D.C. and the article I wrote over three years ago.
No connection at all.

And just to remind you of what lies in store for you, the loyal subjects of thos ewho know how to do it all:

What we always knew...

The Radical Left Wing Drive By Media (Rush's term) Great Conspiracy.

An opportunity for leadership by example

Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has suggested that the executives at AIG commit suicide over bonuses paid out. AIG has a loan, terms written by Congress (ha,ha,ha,ha,ha...). Total so far : $170,000,000,000. Congress has committed to spending of anywhere from $4,000,000,000,000-$7,000,000,000,000 (trillions, not mere billions). And Congress and the president are in a dither over a few millions?
My suggestion to Senator Grassley: you people under the Great Marble Dome think you can run businesses, banks, mortgages, car companies? Well, Senator Grassley, why not gather a contingent of your like minded Senators and Representatives and lead from the front? Show those AIG executives that those of you who can squander trillions can lead those who spend millions.

The wheels on the bus go "crunch, crunch, crunch..."

From Drudge-"Bonus Mess Depeletes Obama Capital".
OK, so the lefties at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and under the great marble dome are in a huff and outrage over bonuses at AIG. Did the greatest minds ever assembled who worked out the loan to AIG , well, how did they work out the loan provisions? What are the loan provisions? As there are a number of divisions in AIG, which divisions are involved? As this a LOAN, not a purchase, again, what are/were the strings attached with the loan? How about real businessmen looking over the terms? Are we to assume that the greatest minds ever assembled got it, well, wrong? There's no way BHO and the Congress get out of this one. They either didn't get it right (no surprises) or are going to try to cancel AIG contracts. They will certainly do as they have for decades- blame everyone they can see and take no responsibility themselves, unless it's in some self-serving way ("We thought we could trust AIG to do the right thing.")
The one big question I have is "Who gets thrown under the bus on this one?"
The same people that have brought you Medicare, Fannie and Freddie, the sub-prime disaster, Bernie Madoff, etc are the same people who now know how to run a multi-billion dollar international business.
Let them start with running their respective lunchrooms first.

Only because George Soros' money is not going to Air America

And the reason "conservative" talk radio is on the wane is because there is no left wing talk radio to speak of...duh!

It is because...

Over at Hot Air, my friend Ed Morrissey has a post about the Speaker of the House Duplicitous Majority Nancy Pelosi pleading that she is NOT partisan.
Oh. OK. Thanks for clearing that up for me San Fran Nan.
One of the commenters posted this about San Fran Nan's protestations:
"I am 'X' because I say I am 'X' ".
It reminded me of all the bills that the radical left passes with their anti-liberty, anti-Constitutional, anti-American agenda: "This bill will do 'X' because I say it will do 'X'. "
Any questions?

Moral equivalency

"I support the President but not his policies."

"I support the troops but not the mission."

We're all DOOMED!

I caught a part of Fox News Sunday this morning. Chris Wallace was interviewing Austan Goolsbee from the White House Council of Economic Advisors. His take: Tax cuts caused the economic crisis. They produced a weak recovery.
This man advises the President.
We now see the danger of surrounding yourself with people you chose specifically to tell you what you want to hear rather than people who tell you the truth.
I'll update as soon as the video becomes available.

Amendment X saillies forth on Amendment II

This evening, 14 March, your intrepid warrior for liberty and freedom will be on The Sue Jeffers Show on KTLK FM 100.3 tonight 5-7 p.m. Central Daylight Time. My friend Tim Grant, VP of AACFI (the firearm instructor organization where I am accredited) and I will discuss the 2nd Amendment, the Heller case, other cases, pending (and past) legislation and firearm instruction.
Listen live or via streaming audio.
See if I truly have a face for radio.

When Hell, or Lake Superior, freeze over!

I've always been appreciative of the way the left puts a smiley language happy face on evil. They always have a nice sounding name for a bill or program that doesn't,has never, will never and can never do what the name of the bill or law or program implies. But, the ardent enemies of liberty and goodness are tireless in attacking all that is good and free and worthy. So, when they're caught with their ideological pants down via language, they are adroit. Case in point: "global warming", after countless articles and scientific papers have proven it to be a fraud of the first order, morphed into "climate change". Lake Superior, the largest of the great lakes and largest lake in the world for surface area, feezes over completely about once every twenty years. Well, lookie here:


Lake Superior frozen over! NOAA captured this image of a frozen over Lake Superior having frozen over the last time in 2003.
Perhaps the new name the left will pin on this lame attempt to control people and economies will be "climate elasticity".
Thanks to King Banion and Janet at SCSU Scholars for this.