A few weeks ago I postulated about how much damage the lame duck session of Congress would inflict on the American people (Duck Duck Screwed). Like my Amazon Wish List, liberals had their own, more costly wish list that we would have to pay for. Many of these items were specifically not brought to the floor prior to the election as they were vote killers and would have likely precipitated an even more lopsided win by Republicans.
This posting is a quiz based on recent news stories and will test your ability to discern the correct answers to the questions. Good Luck!
Are you smarter than politicians?
Question 1: Senator John McCain and Senator Tom Coburn recently released a report, Summertime Blues, detailing some of the worst cases of wasted tax dollars. We have almost become immune to these types pet projects that scream WASTE! I don’t know where Sen. Coburn stands on the issue of earmark, but Senator McCain has been steadfast in his fight against them and has refused to participate and we should celebrate his efforts. One of the items on the list was a mere $712,883.00 to build a machine that tells jokes. Here is the test. Which of the following is the machine?
So why does the average American accept economic policies that are bound to bankrupt this country? Logic tells us in our personal lives tells us that if we spend way more than we make we incur debt. Anyone who has ever had a loan or a credit card balance knows that there are interest charges on that debt which must be paid on a monthly basis. When we still keep spending beyond our means our debt increases and so does our monthly payments which a greater percentage of goes to pay the interest on the debt.
Sorry this is not a baseball post. Those of us living in Pittsburgh with the hapless Pirates; holders of the longest losing streak of all professional sports (17 years and counting) don’t talk about much about professional baseball. Our president gave his first pitch at a State of the Union speech and apparently did not hit the strike zone. I confess to not watching as I could not bear to see Ms. Pelosi popping up every 30 seconds, Obama’s use of the words “I” or “me” a gazillion times or his unusual speech pattern whistling his S’s. The fact that he is on television every 17 hours giving a speech did not weigh in his favor either. I played tennis on our Wii (I achieved “Pro” status during his speech).
Emboldened by the folks who released the data and e-mails creating the Climategate scandal (except for the United States) someone has accessed White House computers and has found President Barack Obama’s Christmas List. Rumor is that Obama is still a Christian even thought he had to be guilted into putting up the White House nativity 
scene. The list was partially released to The Garlic web site who leaked only one of the items on his list.
Based on recent Rasmussen presidential polls, most Americans are thinking he is more naughy than nice so the jury is still out on whether he will get this gift.
Personal Finances: My wife and I have amassed some decent credit card debt by spending more money than we had available, or deficit spending. Since we are blessed with a good credit rating, the banks are always willing to raise our credit limit. They are just so nice about that. Rather than take advantage of those nice folks’ offer, we are in the process of reducing that debt through a number of means. We are going to have to spend less, sell some investments, and restructure some debt, but should have it eliminated within the next three months. Although it will be hard, but we feel that there is a need to eliminate this debt.
As we approach the Christmas season many of us look inside ourselves to consider how we can help our fellow man. This is truly a time of giving and Americans are more generous than most other nations. I am not just talking about aid given by the federal government, but donations by average people who often open their pocketbooks when others are in trouble.
I read a heartwarming story about an organization that received nearly $3 million from Americans to help reduce their debt. Unfortunately their debt is fastly approaching $8 trillion. If you have guessed that the organization is the United States and the Treasury Department accepts gifts. This is in addition to the taxes we are all forced to turn over.
A series of events over the past few months have made me consider the logic of third world politics. I am not talking about killing people or imprisoning detractors. That is what happens in places like Cuba, China and Iran. What I am thinking about is the prosecution of the prior ruling party by the new ruling party.
Many of us were abhorred by the possibility that Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, is open to investigating and prosecuting members of the CIA for alleged torture of Islamic terrorists. That sickened me to think that this administration would politicize the folks who have kept us safe for over seven years. This was strike one.
Unfortunately for Minnesota, they are recently most known for having a former boa-wearing wrestler as a governor and a tax-evading, “comedy” writer as their newest senator. There is a bright spot withing the land of 10,000 lakes beside Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and she is Representative Michele Bachmann.
Rep. Bachmann first appeared on my radar when she spoke out strongly about the 2010 census. The federal government has a constitutional authority to conduct a count of the number of citizens:
Debate is still raging over Democare. I am thinking that “Democare” may be more descriptive than Obamacare as we need to chain this legislation to all of the Democrats. Let’s pin this to them like a tattoo. Unfortunately, the left is still pushing a vigorous agenda of big government and big spending and wealth spreading. Lest you are relaxing as Democare has taken a hiatus (you know it will be back) here are some of the other socialist agenda items that you may have missed:
