The Bacus Health Care Plan

Like it or not, this is what you may get if you don't speak up:

Like other versions of ObamaCare, the Baucus Plan proposes to:

• Impose an Individual Mandate. All Americans will be required to purchase health insurance designed by special interests, lobbyists and Congress. Americans who elect not to fall in line will face a penalty of up to $3,800.
• Impose a De Facto Employer Mandate. Although not described as an employer mandate in the legislation, the Baucus Plan will require employers with more than 50 employees to pay a $400 tax for each full-time uninsured employee.
• Mandate a 'Healthy' Lifestyle. The Baucus plan will provide Medicaid and Medicare patients with incentives for healthy living, as defined by the federal government. Of course, this means that the federal government would directly encourage and discourage American lifestyle choices.
• Instruct Doctors on Best Practices. Under the guise of encouraging cost savings, the Baucus Plan proposes to create an "Innovation Center" which will instruct doctors as to how they should work together in the treatment of their patients.
• Punish Hospitals for Readmitted Patients. In an effort to control cost and ensure quality, the Baucus Plan proposes to pay hospitals 20% less if a patient is readmitted to the hospital. Of course, this proposal will instead encourage hospitals to keep patients longer and discourage patients from returning for care after they are released.
• Tax Expensive Plans. The Baucus Plan will impose a 35% excise tax on insurance which exceeds $8,000 for individuals or $21,000 for families.
• Ignore Tort Reform. Despite the widespread belief among the American public and the medical community that tort reform would save billions of dollars and reduce the practice of defensive medicine, the Baucus Plan addresses the subject of tort reform only long enough to meekly express concern through a "Sense of the Senate" resolution.
• Undermine Health Savings Accounts (HSA). The Baucus Plan would limit the amount that employers and employees can contribute to HSAs. Moreover, the Plan would double the tax penalty on individuals who withdraw HSA funds for non-medical expenses.
• Deplete Medicare. Millions of America's senior citizens will see a significant reduction in the quality of their health care coverage. Roughly $500 billion in Medicare will be transferred to younger Americans and Medicare Advantage will be destroyed completely.
• Push Americans to Public Insurance. The Baucus Plan will cause millions of families to move from private coverage - where they currently enjoy broad access - to Medicaid and S-CHIP - where they will enjoy limited access. Moreover, millions more will lose their employment-based private coverage and instead obtain insurance in an artificial market (an "Exchange") in which insurers have perverse incentives to underprovide to the sickest patients.

Click on title about to see what you can do about it.

HAPA Concert at the Great Park

Superb Hawaiian music, hula dancing and guitar playing last night. These YouTube videos do not do it justice. It was the largest crowd ever for the free Saturday night concerts - 4,000 in attendance.

Double Header Concerts

There's nothing like two free concerts on a Saturday evening. First Debi and I attended the last of the summer concerts on the lake in Woodbridge Village. It was The Rat Pack tribute group featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. We packed wine and a lite dinner for the event.



Then it was off to the Great Park for Niyaz, a taste of Persian music. There was standing room only as Irvine has a large Iranian population.

17 Hippies Concert

The newly evolving Orange County Great Park puts on these free concerts in August and September. The OC Great Park is on the site of the old MCAS El Toro. (Marine Corps Air Station) There are also free tethered baloon rides.



The 17 Hippies is a group from Berlin. They play a selection of French tunes, English ballads and other internation songs in a genre tah I characterize as a mix of hillbilly and gypsie.

Foreign Health Care Experiments

Dr. Anne Doig, the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association, said her country’s health care system is “sick” and “imploding,” the Canadian Press reported. Ouellet (current President of the CMA) has said that “competition should be welcomed, not feared,” meaning private health insurance should have a role in the public health system. "(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now — if it keeps on going without change — is not sustainable,"

So, the single payer Canadian system is failing. Mr. Obama said in 2003 that he favored a single payer system. Recently he said that he never said he wanted a single payer system. This is a continuation of the lies that are coming from Washington in spite of Mr. Obama's campaign pledge to change the way things work in Washington.

The highly touted French system - which resulted in the death of Princess Diana - is running a 50 billion deficit which is not sustainable.

This is where were are headed folks, if we allow the liberals and socialists to create a government run health care system. Speak up now to your Senators and Congresspersons or shut up and take it in the wallet and your physical well-being.

The Health Care Debate

The battle against the socialist health care bill is heating up. Today the topic was the rumor that the bill contained a provision that elderly people would be forced to have a discussion with their doctor about their plans for end of life care, leading some to believe that the bill was authorizing euthanasia. The liberal counter attack corrected the rumor that the provision only provided that doctors would be reimbursed for having an optional discussion about end of life care. So now all was alright with the bill and its benign provision.

Or was it? Think about it. This is exactly the tenant of the liberal big government agenda - control over your life. Can you imagine the government delineating all of the things that a doctor is allowed (paid for) to talk to you about. What about all of the things not mentioned in the bill? Since the doctors will not be paid for them, you will not get that advice. Shouldn't doctors be able to make their own decisions about discussion with patients?

Email you legislators and tell them you don't want government control of health care.

Thoughts on Health Care

Most of you don't know that only 17% of people in America don't have health insurance. Why don't you know this? Because your government and the liberal media doesn't want you to know it. When they say that 47 million are without health insurance it sounds like a big problem. Is a problem that affects 17% of the population a big enough problem to spend more that 1 trillion dollars and turn over your health care decisions to the federal government - to risk the financial security of future generations?

Next - what we are all calling health insurance is not insurance at all. Ask Andy, he will confirm this. Insurance is to spread the risk of catastrophic risk. When you buy auto insurance you don’t expect it to pay for oil changes do you? When you buy home insurance you don’t expect it to pay for the annual cleaning of your furnace do you? The fact is that you hope you never have to collect on your auto or home insurance because that would mean you have experienced a catastrophic loss. What everyone calls health insurance is just prepaid medical care plus an insurance component for the catastrophic risk. Why is everybody entitled to prepaid medical care? Only in a socialist state would this be a tenant of the government supported programs.

So, what is the answer to medical care in this country? Firstly, the federal government has no business being in the health care business or even health care regulation. There is nothing in the Constitution that allows or permits this kind of intrusion into your life. Any such regulation is the exclusive purview of the states - unless, of course, the country wants to prosecute a Constitutional amendment. Second, a mandatory insurance plan like Massachusetts has and similar to what most states have for auto insurance might be a better solution if one is needed at all. But, this should only be for catastrophic medical risk, not prepaid medical care.

Please write to your Senators and Congresspersons and tell them to stop this insanity.

Debi Doing Dancing Queen

Debi Performing "Man! I Feel Like a Woman"

Debi performing "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" at the Echo Entertainment "Songs of Your Life" show at the Crystal Cathedral last Saturday evening. I missed the first 20 seconds while fumbling with my zoom. The quality is a result of my Sony Cybeshot camera. High quality DVD will be available later. Echo Entertainment is a non-profit organization that raises money to support military veterans. This is the third show that Debi has performed in.
There is a secret about this performance. See if you can quess.

A Reckless Congress

Click on the blog title above to see how the Wall Street Journal is weighing in on the Obama socialist health care plan.

Hummingbird Home

While trimming back the bougainvillea bushes I found this small nest. It had been protected by lots of branches above it that I had removed. It doesn't appear to be occupied. It is very soft like cotton. I believe it is a hummingbird nest.

Did You Know?

That the Obama health plan legislation will exempt Congressional members and Federal employees? Seems to me what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
That Congressional democrats are pushing for quick adoption for the legislation? So that you and others will not have time to understand the complexities of it before it is enacted?
It is reported that last night Mr. Obama said that he will allow you to keep your doctor. Who the hell does he think he is? The Constitution does not give the executive branch the power to limit my choices of personal service providers and then the right to grant exceptions. Will he also grant me the right to choose my baker and candlestick maker? The Constitution is not a living document except to the extent of amendments passed by Congress and the states. It cannot be amended by executive branch decrees, by court decisions or by Congress (without the approval of the states).
Stand up for your rights people. This president and congress are taking them away one by one.

Stimulus Impact on Jobs

Click on the title above to find out how many jobs the stimulus program has saved.

Let's look at the Great Depression which is being compared to this recession. President Roosevelt and Congress enacted a massive spending program for public works projects in 1932. By 1940 the unemployment rate was 15%, down from 22% in late 1934 but still higher than the 13% it was in 1932. The mass media wants you to believe that the New Deal got us out of the depression. It is a myth. It is also not entirely true that World War II got us out of the depression. Sure, unemployment dropped well below 5% during the war but a great part of that drop was the removal of hundreds of thousands from the employment rolls - they joined the military. It is a complex issue but most economists understand that the Great Depression was ended by the economic boom that occurred after the war. The recession we are in today is better compared to the one we suffered in the 1970's.

Ask yourself why your government is spending your grandchildren's future. The only answer I can come up with is to promote some great socialist manifesto that history has shown doesn't work. And, why is your government trying to convince you that health care (actually, lack of health insurance) is the next biggest problem that the country faces? Another socialist manifesto. Where is your government when it comes to Social Security? Nowhere to be seen.

From Rush Limbaugh

What do God and Obama have in common?
Neither has a birth certificate.

How do God and Obama differ?
God doesn't think he is Obama.
Liberals love Obama.
Obama gets better press.

This is the Vice President You Wanted

For those of you who voted for the Obama/Biden ticket and spent the campaign dishing Palin, are you now sure that the VP you elected is the right person to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency?

Earlier this week Mr. Biden commented that the new tunnel linking New Jersey with Manhattan would be a benefit for automobile traffic. Only problem is that the tunnel is only for trains. Gosh, I knew that and I am sure I don't read as many newspapers as Biden. And, why would a Democrat be happy about bringing more automobiles into New York City? One would think that liberals would favor mass transit. Perhaps he doesn't understand his political philosophy.

Also earlier this week Mr. Biden told a group of law enforcement officials that the Supreme Court nominee "has your back." Does he really believe that Sotomayor will care less about civil liberties and do whatever law enforcement wants? This is another major departure from his political philosophy. By the way, this comment was not reported in the mainstream media.

When you vote for charisma over competency, you may get unintended consequences.

Supreme Court Candidate a Member of La Raza

Click on the title above for the full story.
It is not surprising that a president who brings admitted tax cheats into his cabinet would nominate a racist and activist judge to the Supreme Court. Amazing, isn't it?

When is Racism Not Racism?

When it's affirmative action.
If a person nominated for an important judgeship were to utter; "I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a hispanic woman who hasn't lived that life," the nomination would be over and the candidate would slip into oblivion. However, the woman nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court actually did utter; "Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Is this the kind of impartiality we want in our courts?

The fact that she will get a "by" on this is another pure example of affirmative action and the harm that it can do to our Union. As for me, I have had enough of this affirmative action crap.

In Memory of John Ford

John Ford was the "F" in FDR Lawn Mowning, a small business that he, my brother George and Bruce Dapkins ran in their teenage years. John passed away suddenly on May 19 at his Maine summer home and today is his funeral service in Bethany, Connecticut.
Some pictures from the old days. Click to enlarge.

John & Janice's wedding. L-R rear: Bruce Dapkins, Dick Strong, George Rumbold, Joe Gordon, George Lemont.

Janice & John in the living room at Elmcroft

The gang during Christmas at Elmcroft

Bruce's Tempest with Janice & John in the back seat. George Lemont, George Rumbold and Bruce in the front. The FDR Pickup truck in the rear.

Our Founding Fathers Would Cringe

The appointment to the Supreme Court is on the record stating that the "Court of Appeals is where policy is made." She then caught herself, realizing that what she said was on tape and trying in a vane attempt to distance herself from the comment. She then goes on the say how a judge must think about a decsion and the ramificatioins it has on other matters. This is blatant activism in the judiciary. Welcome to the further errosion of your rights and our Federal system of government.



And get this, according to Judge Sotomayor, if your state or city bans all guns the way Washington, D.C. did, that’s okay under the Constitution.

Memorial Celebration at Crystal Cathedral

It was a NASCAR Memorial Day Sunday celebration at Crystal Cathedral on the 24th. The morning service was replete with the local VFW post posting the colors, patriotic songs, and the unfurling of a huge American flag about 50 by 100 feet up to the heights of the cathedral. After the service we were treated to a display of NASCA driver Blake Koch’s #21 and burgers by In-N-Out.

Car #21 is sponsored by http://www.godspeaks.com/
Andy will be pleased to know that it is also sponsored by: www.baybiodiesel.com


Debi posing with Blake Koch


We return for the evening serivce and I got this picture of the flag from the outside through the glass walls of the cathedral.

Bougainvillea in Bloom

The bougainvillea is in full bloom now. You may be surprised to learn that the red color is not a flower or bloom. The red is the leaf of the plant. The flower is the little white things that can be seen in the second picture closeup. Soon I will be trimming it back quite a bit because it grows like a weed and it has very sharp barbs on it. The hummingbirds have been busy in the patio also.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

The Socialist are Taking Over - from the RNC

The Obama Democrats and their leftist allies at ACORN, the “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now,” are doing all they can to cement left-wing rule in Washington for good. Over $50 million in federal funding money has found its way into the hands of ACORN’s leftist activists over the last several years, but now the Democrats are about to make $8.5 billion more in tax-payer funds available to this radical group. All of this for an organization indicted just last week in Nevada, and charged with similar allegations in Pennsylvania, for paying money for fraudulent voter registrations in last November’s election. Minnesota Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s amendment to block indicted organizations from collecting more public funding passed unanimously through the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. But now Committee Chairman Barney Frank, far-left Democrat from Massachusetts, has decided he made a mistake by supporting the amendment, and will now offer his own amendment to restore ACORN’s opportunity of receiving billions of taxpayer dollars. “I did not read it carefully, and it was in the last minute that the amendment was accepted,” said Frank. “It is a deeply flawed amendment and I am opposed to it…” Didn’t read it carefully -- or just now realized what it meant for his pals at ACORN? Since ACORN’s efforts are all about electing leftist Democrats like himself, why would Frank want them to go unrewarded? It’s time we told Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama that we won’t tolerate using our tax dollars to pay off their electoral support machine.

Illegal Immigration Is Not A Crime - Huh?

Click on the link in the title above for another great example of how your Federal government is ignoring the laws of the United States. For the actual law that makes immigration into the United States without a visa a crime, see USC Title 8 1325

Protesting Higher Taxes Is "Unhealthy?"

Senior White house advisor David Axelrod said on Sunday that the TEA Party events, which were organized by the conservative group FreedomWorks, comes from a dissatisfaction with the economy that "can mutate into something that's unhealthy."
Of course, only a liberal socialist would think that exercising your constitutional rights could become unhealthly. After all, these people have been violating the constitution for decades.
Axelrod also seemed to be upset at the tax protests against the Obama administration on the grounds that Obama had "cut taxes for 95% of the American people." In the same interview he defended allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire and he tried to make the argument that this was not going to be a tax increase. So, Obama and the Congress give workers $15 more in every paycheck and then let all the tax cuts of the past eight years expire. The biggest of these is the lowered tax rates on capital gains, now set at 15% and due to reset to 20% next year. Next the liberals will argue that 95% of the American people do not pay capital gains taxes. This is simply not true because the capital gains rate applies to qualified dividends and capital gains distributions from mutual funds. Way more that 5% of Americans own stocks and mutual funds.
The fact of the matter is that given the outrageous spending proposed by the Obama administration, taxes will have to increase to pay for the excesses.

They're Coming to Get You Soon

Click to enlarge

Hillary - Lies and Damn Lies

On her recent trip to Mexico, SOS Hillary Clinton said in her customary liberal elitist speak, that the US was to blame for a lot of the drug war violence in Mexico and across the boarder. This is blaming the victim for the crime, a favored tactic of liberals. Then she went on to say; "And since we know that the vast majority, 90% of that [weaponry] comes from our country, we're going to try to stop it from getting there in the first place."
CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to the 90% figure while interviewing President Obama.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: "It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors ... come from the United States."
William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that "there is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States."
The problem with this 90% statistic is that it is simply not true. The real number is more like 17% according to statistics from the ATF when analyzed by someone without a political agenda. The difference comes from the number of guns traced to the U.S. Guns seized in Mexico that can be traced to the US are indeed found to have 90% origin in the the US. What you weren't told is that thousands of other guns seized in Mexico from drug gangs did not have a US origin and came from places like Russia, China, Guatemala, South America and - yes, get ready for this - the Mexican army.
Are you ready to take back control of your government from these nut cases?

The Face of Socialism

Click to enlarge

What we Learned in the Press Conference Last Night

Click on the title link above for a perspective on the goings on in Washington.

Speaker rants against immigration laws

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently told a group of both legal and illegal immigrants and their families that enforcement of existing immigration laws, as currently practiced, is "un-American."
Yes, this is the person on the right in the picture below.
She said to a group of illegal imimigrants: "You are special people. You're here on a Saturday night to take responsibility for our country's future. That makes you very, very patriotic."
I for one don't want illegal immigrants taking responsibility for my country after seeing what a fine job they are doing for their country of citizenship.
So, silly me for thinking that a congresswoman and the Speaker of the House should uphold her oath to protect the Constitution and laws of this country. I guess that principle just doesn't work in a socialist world now does it?
This woman should be impeached.

'Nuf Said

I told you so

Read the link in the title above. It says it all.
The executive branch is stuffed with ex-Clinton cronies and the democratic house is going to make you pay for pork projects with your future earnings.
I don't quite see the change here that the new President was supposed to bring. It is Washington politics as usual and the taxpayers get screwed as usual.
This is what you get for voting for a socialist that doesn't have any government or political experience.

Another Tax Cheat in the Administration

President Barack Obama picked former Senator Tom Daschle to lead his health reform efforts. How interesting that just before the announcement Mr. Daschle filed amended tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and paid $140,167 in additional taxes and interest. This resulted from unreported consulting income of $88,333, overstated charitable contributions of $15,000 and unreported income from the use of a car service in the amount of $250,000 from a close friend and business associate.
Way to pack the administration with thieves, Mr. President.

Politics As Usual

President Barack Obama issued new rules on January 22, 2009 which forbid a lobbyist who joins his administration from working on issues they were previously involved with.
The next day he appointed William Lynn, a 55-year-old senior vice president and lobbyist of the fourth largest US defense contractor, Raytheon, to be a Deputy Secretary of Defense. Mr. Lynn will be very familiar with the halls of the Pentagon where he will switch from being an influence peddler to a peddled official.
Way to go with the hypocrisy, Mr. President.

It's time to pray for global warming

At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?"
To read the entire story, go here:
http://blog.mlive.com/flintopinion_impact/2009/01/its_time_to_pray_for_global_wa/print.html

Geithner Nomination Moves Out of Committee for Full Senate Vote

Your US Senate is about to confirm Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. The Treasury secretary is the IRS Commissioner's boss. Mr. Geithner has apologized to the Senate finance committee for his failure to pay self employment tax for calendar years 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. If you read the Senate finance committee's report (first 4 pages) and you are a tax professional like me, you cannot but draw the conclusion that Mr. Geithner knew about his obligation to pay self employment taxes. Here is the document:
http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb011309d.pdf
What is self employment tax? It is both halves of the Social Security and Medicare payroll tax that employees pay. If you are self employed, you get to pay the employee half and the employer half for a total of 15.2% of net self employment earnings.
Do you really want the cabinet level post that heads up the IRS to be a tax cheat? Should a person with his professional stature really be doing his own taxes? I think that this shows an irresponsible character flaw. If you believe as I do, write to your Senators and ask them to vote against his confirmation.
http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

More on Executive Orders

You might have already seen or heard the news conference that the President held for the signing of the executive orders. If not, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGEyODB3tks
In the video you can see the President hemming and hawing and actually asking a White house consul questions on how things are going to be implemented. At one point, if you listen carefully, you can hear the President repeating the words verbatim from this White House lawyer. This clearly shows the President's lack of experience. If President Bush had been repeating the words of some advisor in a news conference, the main stream media would have been all over it. Does this President get a by because his is black, a liberal, or inexperienced? You choose.
Now, it is one thing to make fun of a politician for his lack of preparation and eloquence, but image what this image looks like in the international arena. This is very embarrassing at the least to the world image of the United States.

It Begins

The liberalization of the United States has begun as promised by Mr. Obama.
In a sweeping move, your new President has signed an executive order requiring the CIA to adopt and use the Army Field Manual on Interrogation for all terrorists interrogations anywhere in the world. Those familiar with the AFMI claim that under this executive order your local police can use more severe interrogation techniques on you than the CIA can use on terrorists in Afghanistan. Furthermore, the AFMI is a public domain document that is freely available to the terrorists so that they can train themselves in counter-interrogation techniques.
Here is the AFMI: http://www.army.mil/institution/armypublicaffairs/pdf/fm2-22-3.pdf
Playing nice to bad people and rouge states is a hallmark of liberals. They think that negotiating with terrorist, dictators and perpetrators of genocide will bring peace and tranquility to the world. For the classic example of this, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_for_our_time
It is my opinion that you should all start to practice prudence in public places, including air travel. I believe that our safety will soon begin to be compromised by the liberal agenda. Did you know that about 60 detainees released from Gitmo have returned to terrorists activities? The head of al-Qaida in Yemen is a former Gitmo detainee. Under your new President it is likely that many of the remaining detainees will be placed into prisons in the United States - prisons where their colleagues living freely among you (because our boarders are not secure) will be able to take hostages in exchange for release of the detainees or drive fuel laden trucks into the gates of such prisons. Oh, and these enemy combatants (prisoners of war) will be given the benefit of civil and criminal justice rather than military justice.
Is this what you intended when you voted for Obama?

Christmas Past - Christmas Present

When George and I were growing up at Elmcroft we used to have small Christmas trees in our rooms to entertain our cats. These little trees were decorated with small round ornaments which the cats would make quick work of. Two of the little trees were planted by the swimming pool. They are now about 50 feet tall. Click on picture to enlarge.

Doing My Part for the Economy

I finally got around to spending my stimulus payment. I decided to spend it on new granite counter tops for my kitchen. It was time for the 1980's style white ceramic tile to go with all of its problems of keeping the grout line clean. The porcelain sink had a big ding that was just about to rust through. You figure out which are the before and after photos. Click on pictures to enlarge.

California Election Results

The little red spot down south by the coast is my home county of Orange. We couldn't hold out for the capitalists against a sea of blue.

Self-ism

If you ever wondered what this nation is really all about and its place in the world, this is a must listen audio clip. This clip defines the difference between socialism and capitalism.
Bryan Suits is a radio talk show host in Los Angeles. He served as a member of the Army National Guard in Operation Desert Storm, Bosnia and Iraq. As a Lieutenant, he was decorated with a Bronze Star and awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat during his last tour of duty in 2004-05. He honed his broadcast style when Tony Snow (later White House Press Secretary) called him in Iraq to describe life in the war zone on his syndicated show each week. Bryan has his history accurately placed into the present. He uses satire and humor to get his points across. Enjoy...(This audio is 31 minutes long)


Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

This is a dangerous man

Senator Obama believes that the courts should do more to effect economic change in the country. Specificaly, to help with his plan of redistributing the wealth. This is a very dangerous and radical position that would create another legislative branch of government with the power to unilaterally impose their will.

The Fox in Charge of the Henhouse

Starting next January.
Watch this: http://www.jibjab.com/view/253615
And if you want a sampling of the electorate that will probably put the socialists in control, listen to this clip:
http://beltwayblips.com/video/howard_stern_interviews_obama_supporters/

Another Opinion on the Obama Tax Plan

The writer argues that Obama’s plan to raise taxes on households making more than $250,000 will raise taxes on most small-business profits in America.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11670.html

I Told You the Storm Troopers Were Coming

'Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes' home Thursday to ask her if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently unhappy Hughes was rude during a phone conversation the two had. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cell phone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."[her husband and children overheard this conversation]
(Hughes is referring to a "born alive" Illinois bill that did not pass in the Illinois state Senate in 2005 and had previously been opposed by Obama because he said it undermined Roe v. Wade, according to FactCheck.org, a non-partisan organization. A federal version of the bill, which Obama said he would have supported, passed by unanimous consent and was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2002.)'

In an interview on a Los Angeles AM station, Hughes said the secret service agents asked her what her opinion and thoughts were on Senator Obama. Fortunately she had the prescience of mind to remind them that her thoughts on any matter were none of their business. She gave them the true facts and that is all they were entitled to.

Now, we don't know if the Obama volunteer intentionally misinterpreted the conversation or not. Nevertheless, you can be certain that socialists want to control your life and monitor your behavior. Will visits by Federal agents become more commonplace under a socialists government?

The Socialists are Coming

We are now on a path to becoming a completely socialist state. Unfortunately, the alternative is not very appealing but if you thought government was disfunctional now, wait until the socialits take over in force. If you thought medical care was expensive, wait until it is free to see how expensive it can really get.

These socialists will use any method to gain control of the government and society. You have now heard of the ulta-left group ACORN. Have you heard this from CNN?
"A subsidiary of the group was paid $800,000 by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign to register voters for the 2008 primaries, and ACORN's political wing endorsed Obama back in February. But Obama's campaign told CNN that it "is committed to protecting the integrity of the voting process," and said it has not worked with ACORN during the general election."

The storm troopers are coming. The brown coats are coming. If you are opposed to the degradation of our society you need to act and act now.

Pandering or Ignorance

In politico speak pandering means lying. It is saying one thing to one group of constituients and saying the opposite to another group. One of those has to be a lie. But, when it comes to politicians it is sometimes difficult to discern if a statement is just pure ignorance.

My Obama and Mr. Biden seem to be running against George Bush. Here are some paraphrased statements by Mr. Obama and my take on them:

"The financial debacle we are in is a verdict on eight years of failed economic policy."
No, banking and lending deregulation started in the late 70's and continues today, promoted by both political parties.

"The subprime lending meltdown is an indication that families have been under stress the last eight years"
No, it results from families being given loans that they cannot repay. Risk management in lending used to take economic cycles into consideration.

"We need 21st century regulation for 21st century conditions."
No, we need a return to basic lending principles that do not entice the poor to take on debt they cannot ever have a chance of repaying. We don't need change here, just a return to the basics of financial regulation and oversight that both political parties abandoned many years ago.

The Obama Tax Plan

Let's try to understand what the Democratic tax plan really means but cutting through the double talk that most of the electorate cannot understand.

"Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase."
The key phrase to interpret here is "no family." This means that single individuals and perhaps those married couples without children will see a tax increase.

"Families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990s."
The key phrase here is "tax rates." It doesn't state that these "families" will not pay more taxes, only that their tax rate will be rolled back (increased) to the pre-Bush tax cuts. This is a tax increase but you can see the slick words that can make people believe there will not be a tax increase for these families.

"Obama will ask the wealthiest 2% of families to give back a portion of the tax cuts they have received over the past eight years to ensure we are restoring fairness and returning to fiscal responsibility."
This is a classical socialist mantra - that the money you earn belongs to the government. That any tax reduction is really the government giving you money. The real truth is that the money you earn belongs to you. Keeping more of it after taxes is not a benefit that the government bestows on you.

"In fact, dividend rates would be 39 percent lower than what President Bush proposed in his 2001 tax cut. "
This is double talk for dividend rates will go up.

"...his tax relief for middle class families is larger than the revenue raised by his tax changes for families over $250,000."
In this sentence, "changes" means increase. People making over $250,000 are the most likely to reinvest in businesses that will create jobs. Obama is saying that we don't need that job creation stuff.

"Fairness" is a phrase that socialist use that means those with more should pay more. Here are some statistics from the IRS on individual tax returns from 2006:
Those with adjust gross incomes of $200,000 or more pay 53.2% of personal income taxes.
Yet these people represent only 4.4% of all tax returns filed. Yes indeed, 53.2% of the taxes are paid by only 4.4% of people.
The average tax rate for those same people is 25.9% of AGI. The average tax rate for those earing less than $200,000 is 11.8%. Yes, indeed, the Obama middle class has a tax rate is less than half of the upper class.
I don't quite understand where the fairness is in all this. Isn't that enough "fairness?" I guess I just don't understand the definition of fairness.

Words to Use

Feel free to use the following words to send a message to your elected representatives in the federal government. I am sending this to my elected officials and to the leader of the house and senate.

"You incompetent politicians should get off your high horse and stop acting like you are saving the country and your constituents. You are responsible for this financial melt-down in the first place. Republican and Democrat alike, Legislative and Executive branches together decided that it would be a good thing to allow home ownership to those who could not afford it. Beginning with Jimmy Carter in 1977 and continuing in the 1990s and the early part of this century, Congress pushed mortgage lenders and Fannie/Freddie to expand subprime lending. And, the subprime lending fiasco was more than a minor relaxation of existing credit guidelines. This lending was a wholesale abandonment of reasonable lending practices in which borrowers with poor credit characteristics got mortgages they were ill-equipped to handle.
You have implemented Socialist principles into a Capitalist system and anyone could have told you that it would not work. If you want Socialism to be the core principle of this country then go for it and see how quickly you get kicked out of office. But, don’t try to mix the two.
You have failed the American people and now you act like you are saving us. The way to save us is to own up to your failings, apologize, ask for forgiveness, and resign. You should be ashamed of yourself.Let the market react as it will. Allowing incompetent politicians to spend $700 billion would be irresponsible on the part of the electorate."

Message to Senator Dodd of Connecticut

After listening to the press conference just now on the bail out package, I sent the following message to Senator Dodd:
"You are pathetic. You stand up there thanking all your colleagues for this bail out package. I like the rest of your constituency know the real truth. Both Democrats and Republicans alike in the legislative and executive branch of the federal government brought about this mess. Liberals and conservatives alike have spoken often in the last ten years about giving home ownership to people who cannot afford it. This has been a despicable strategy for garnering votes that has now come back to bite those same voters. Instead of thanking your colleagues, you should be apologizing and admitting your failures to the electorate. You should be asking for forgiveness. The people cannot trust their elected officials."

Getting the Word Out

http://www.antiquehomesmagazine.com/property.php?listing=117442
New posting on Antique Homes Magazine.

Life Vest

Can you Trust Congress?

The democratic presidential candidate seems to be blaming the republican party and the Bush administration for the present economic problems. The first thing you should know is that you cannot trust that this man has the knowledge or experience to understand that current economic situation. He recently appeared at a speech in Florida to speak on economic policy accompanied by a bevy of ex-Clinton economic advisers. Is this going to foster change in government? Aren't we done with the Clinton people yet? Third, on the weekend talk show circuit this man was asked what caused the mortgage meltdown. He response was, "many factors contributed to the current situation." "May factors?" He doesn't know. Or, he isn't willing to tell the truth. But he is willing to blame republicans. This is the definition of pandering.

Let's look at the history of deregulation. The first deregulation bill was proposed by president Jimmy Carter and passed by the Congress under his watch. The result was the Savings and Loan crisis. You can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis

Then, you can read about how the democratic controlled congress failed to heed the warnings of Greenspan in 2005 and failed to pass legislation to curtail the excesses of the mortgage lenders. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSKSoiNbnQY0 If the link goes dead, I have the full article to send to you.

But, the question is can we trust Congress? Here's my take. The Republicans want their big banking buddies to have less regulation. Conservatives and libertarians believe in this stuff and generally, less control over business by government is a good thing. However, there needs to be a balance especially when it deals with capital markets that have wide-ranging impact. The democrats believe that their low income, working class constituents should be able to enjoy home ownership even if they can't afford it. They would prefer to tax the rich and give the money to the poor to buy a home. This is the liberal philosophy. So, here we have both parties working against common sense and the result is that the economy falls into despair.

The answer is that you cannot trust Congress. You need to vote these people out of office, Democrat and republican alike. The ones who created and want to continue this level of deregulation. Now we have a Secretary of the Treasury proposing a multi billion dollar bail out of the financial services industry. This man used to be the CEO of AIG folks. Where do you think his loyalty is? In four months he will be out of a job and looking to get back into a big paying job in the very industry he is trying to bail out. He stands to make a bundle from helping his buddies. You have to assume that he doesn't give a damn for your well being. Speak with your vote.

Vice-Presidential Nominees

A certain rocket scientist that I know who happens to be my daughter asked my opinion on the Republican Party vice-presidential nominee.
My answer is; we’ll have to wait and see.
This is the second time in history that a woman has been nominated to one of the major political parties as a vice-presidential candidate. The first time was in 1984 when Democrat Walter Mondale, the vice-president under Carter, teamed up with Geraldine Ferraro to run against Ronald Reagan. Mondale/Ferraro lost in a landslide to Reagan partly because Mondale promised to raise taxes and argued that Reagan would also raise taxes while promising not to. Is history repeating itself here? Just to remind those students of history out there that did not live through this era in adulthood, the Reagan presidency ushered in the era of deficit spending and tax cuts that brought about the longest sustained period of economic growth in history and simultaneously brought the tiger of inflation under control.
So, the liberals and liberal media seem to be now on the defensive. The attacks on this woman vice-presidential nominee are endless, going to the core of gender stereotypes.
For me, I don’t care about gender or race. I look to qualifications and platform. So, one question might be; “is a governor qualified to be president?” Well, Reagan was previously a governor of California and in addition to his economic accomplishments, he was instrumental (with others including the Pope) in bringing about the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism in Russia. On the other hand, we have Jimmy Carter the former governor of Georgia, a one-term president that history mostly refers to as the most incompetent president in the modern era. However, he had one thing going against him from the start – he is a liberal democrat. He couldn’t solve the oil embargo and his military spending cuts were punctuated by a failed mission to rescue hostages in Iran – Operation Eagle Claw on April 24, 1980. It could be argued that the lack of military funding contributed to the helicopter mechanical failures of the mission which caused it to be called off. During the extradition of the forces from the rear clandestine air base in Iran, a helicopter crashed into a C-130 resulting in the death of eight American troops.
So, back to vice-presidential qualifications. Other history shows us that ultra-qualified candidates turned out to be incompetent in office while non-qualified candidates made history. Disclaimer: Don’t use anything I say to influence your vote decision. Go with your intuition.

More Pandering on the Right

Here are the promises of Senator McCain in his acceptance speech and my comments that you have all been waiting for. Well, there were more like beliefs than promises. Probably a safe strategy since I, like most of the electorate don’t believe in any politician promises.

“We’re going to change that [instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies]”
Sounds like a good idea but I am not hopeful that any politician can break the oil cartel. Carter couldn’t do it.

“We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets.”
Something John Kennedy believed in also.

“We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench.”
Here’s one that is completely opposite to what the liberals in control of the Democratic Party believe.

“We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans. Government that doesn’t make your choices for you, but works to make sure you have more choices to make for yourself.”
Definition of a Republican. Democrats don’t believe this.

“I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.”
Ok, I’m for that. Studies and experience has shown that when capital gains tax rates are raised, tax revenues go down. When Senator Obama was presented with that information when he was asked about his plan to raise capital gains taxes, he response was that raising capital gains rates was only fair. This is a clear indication that he is not interested in raising government revenues, but only in redistributing the wealth.

“Doubling the child tax exemption from $3500 to $7000…”
Let’s hope this doesn’t cause more illegal alien anchor babies.

“We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition…”
I don’t see this happening. Schools are controlled by liberals and their unions.

“We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much…”
Not much chance of this happening either.

“Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power.”
Yea, I’ve been wondering about that also. He and Pelosi have their heads in the sand if they really believe we can become free of foreign oil in ten years.

There is a resounding void in his speech on anything to do with immigration. Yet, we know that McCain believes in amnesty. He joined with that ultra-liberal Ted Kennedy to sponsor an amnesty bill. Fortunately, it was defeated by an up swell of public outcry. This is something to watch out for no matter who gets elected.

Elmcroft Website is Up

www.elmcroft.info
I created this website for linking from various advertisements I plan to post on Craigslist and Antique Homes Magazine. Yes, it is rather crude but I think it will get the job done.

More Democrat Lies

On the Sunday talk circuit Senator Biden claimed that this is the only time we have instituted tax cuts during a war. I guess Joe is not a student of history. In 1964 the Kennedy tax cuts passed by Congress created the largest percentage tax cut in the history of the nation. Does anybody know what else was going on in 1964?
By the way, does anybody else get the feeling that these democrat liberals are going down in flames? They seem to be on the defensive now and Obama seems to be running against George Bush. Somebody needs to remind Obama that Bush is termed out.

Summer Closing Down

Well, in Woodbridge anyway. Last evening was the last concert on North Lake in Woodbridge, ending in a traditional Southern California style with a Beach Boys tribute band. Then it was on to the new Orange County Great Park just a few miles down the road still in Irvine to see a great performance by Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, the nine-time all-Ireland fiddle champion and her all-Irish band. Did I mention that all of these concerts are free? Not even a charge for parking. And you can bring your own picnic food including alcohol and seating. The Orange County Great Park concerts continue through September 27. Check out the schedule.
The Orange County Great Park is being built on the old El Toro Marine Corps Air Station which has a rich history in the defense of our nation dating back to 1942. We attended some spectacular air shows at the base during the 1990's which drew an attendance of about 300,000 except for the last one in 1997 during which 2 million people attended. We were there in 1993 to see the pride of the air force F-118 roll out onto the runway and awe the crowd with spectacular aerial maneuvers. It was also that year that we witnessed the crash of the F-86 Sabre Jet.

Lack of Experience

One more big error from the Obama acceptance speach. I'm not suggesting that Senator Obama made this error. His error was in hiring advisors that lack knowledge and experience in fiscal matters.

"I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow."

Now, I would estimate that about 0% of all small businesses and start-ups are subject to capital gains tax. Capital gains tax is a tax on the gain or loss from the sale of capital assets held for more than one year. So, what is a capital asset? Well, real estate (land and improvements), machinery and equipment, furnishings, and stocks or bonds of other corporations. Would you think that any start-up business would be looking to make capital gains on these types of assets? Just to clarify; any business that buys and sells such items as its primary business is not engaged in capital assets. They are selling inventory. So, if your business is developing land into residential homesites, you are selling inventory, not capital assets. The profit from such activity would be ordinary income, not capital gain.

Is Senator Obama the kind of person you want to be running the executive branch of the US Government? Perhaps we should wait until he has a better grasp for fiscal matters.

More Political Pandering

I have read with interest the acceptance speech of Senator Obama and I thought I might just point out some of the pandering contained therein. The oratory contained no less than 16 promises. I doubt that if elected President he could bring about even 10% of them. It will be interesting to see how many promises Senator McCain makes because he won’t be able to bring about any higher percentage.

It is interesting to note that Congress of which both Obama and McCain are members have not been able to effect the changes they are presenting us. Of course, it is well know that Senator Obama has spent his entire short Congressional career running for President.

Considering that most of his speech was finding fault with the Bush administration and trying to tie McCain to it, here are his quotes and my comments.

“[Tonight] more of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet.”
Congress passed the laws to de-regulate the banking and mortgage industry.

“[Tonight] more of you have … tuition that’s beyond your reach.”
Liberal universities set their tuition fees. Of course, the liberals would like to take more money from the rich to subsidize tuition.

“This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.”
I’m not quite sure what the Bush administration has to do with this woman’s illness.

“We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets…”
Surveys show that most of these veterans choose to sleep on the streets.

“Why else would he [McCain] define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year?”
Senator McCain never so defined the middle-class. He did say that a rich person might be defined as someone making that amount.

“How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans?”
Senator McCain has consistently proposed keeping the current tax cuts for individuals while you have proposed raising taxes.

“How else could he offer … a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?”
Investing in equities is not gambling. In fact, most investment managers agree that retirees will run out of money if they don’t continue to invest at least 40% of their portfolios in equities. Let’s see what kind of investments Senator Obama uses.

“For over two decades, he’s [McCain] subscribed to that old … hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.”
Well, that was the philosophy that John F. Kennedy subscribed to. And, it worked.

“In Washington … what it really means is … Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps – even if you don’t have boots.”
Oops, something Senator Biden believes in.

“We measure the strength of our economy [on] … whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job.”
This waitress can probably already do that. It’s called FMLA.

“Businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs…”
Well, maybe that’s what the responsibility of a business should be in a socialist economy. In a free-enterprise economy, businesses have a responsibility to their shareholders to make a fair return on investment. Creating jobs is a by-product of a successful business. This, folks, is the true mantra of a socialist.

“[John McCain said] no to renewable fuels.”
You mean those renewable fuels that are driving up the cost of food worldwide. Another liberal debacle of trying to manage the economy.

“Drilling is a stop-gap measure.”
Maybe, but why are you so against it? Perhaps you think we should keep importing oil from unfriendly nations.

“I will find ways to safely harness nuclear power.”
“Duhh – we already do that.”

“[I] made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.
How come your buddy Clinton didn’t do that?

“[McCain] won’t even go to the cave where he [bin Laden] lives.”
And, just where is that cave, Mr. Obama? And, why haven’t you gone there?

“We are the party of Kennedy.”
You mean the Kennedy that put through the biggest tax cut in this nation’s history and successfully turned around a recession? By putting more money back in the hands of the people? Something called supply-side economics? The fact is the democratic party of today is not the party of Kennedy. What have you liberals done with that party?

“Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe.”
I’ll take that challenge. Democrats won’t keep us safe! Carter made disastrous military spending cuts. Clinton consistently avoided dealing with the terrorists. Clinton’s secretary of state said that we “are not the police of the world.” I guess Clinton believes that we should just stand by and watch people being oppressed and killed.

“I will end this war in Iraq responsibly.”
But not with dignity or victory.

“I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons...”
I didn’t know the Bush administration stopped.

“Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.”
So, we should keep anchor baby illegal alien mothers in the country but not let them work. By the way, any illegal alien mother can take their anchor child back home to her home country.

SPRINGSTEEN

The Woodbridge Community Park hosted Josh Tanner and his SPRINGSTEEN tribute band to end the summer concert series put on by the city of Irvine. The audio is not so good on my little Sony camera but it was an awesome rock concert. Most of the bass is supressed. Also, it was getting quite dark as they played Born in the USA past 8 pm.
The first video is the north end of South Lake as I was walking from my home to the Woodbridge Community Park. Tht structure out in the lake is a gazebo.

When is Fuel Not a Fuel?

Jason Grumet is the energy advisor for Mr. Obama. Recently I saw an interview that Mr. Grumet gave in which he claimed that we "need to promote alternate fuels for automobiles like electricity."

Now, Mr. Grumet is probably a smart man and maybe he just misspoke. Or, perhaps basic science and the laws of thermodynamics are not his strong suit.

So Mr. Grumet, it may come as a surprise to you but electricity is not a fuel. This goes to the core of how we use energy to move people from place to place.

From Wikipedia: "Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. An important property of a useful fuel is that its energy can be stored to be released only when needed, and that the release is controlled in such a way that the energy can be harnessed to produce work."

Electricity is a form of energy but it is not a fuel. Electricity is a flexible form of energy in that it can be transported and stored as an electrical charge with high efficiency.

So, for those of you who may have been misled to think that powering your automobile with electricity will result in less fossil fuel being burned, just what fuel will be used to generate that electricity? Currently about 95% of all electricity produced in this country comes from fuels like oil, natural gas and coal. Most of the remainder comes from solar, nuclear, and hydroelectric. Switching to electrically powered vehicles does not, in and of itself, reduce reliance on oil or reduce the production of carbon dioxide as a by-product. It would seem that Mr. Grumet does not understand this concept.

It would be interesting to know what is the true efficiency of the different fuels and forms of using the energy produced thereof to move humans and goods. For instance, what is the true energy cost of buring oil or coal? How much energy is consumed to locate it, extract it, transport it, process it, and deliver it to a vehicle? I could argue that wood might be the most efficient fuel when considering all of the other energy costs. Ultimately, the market should give us a guide as to the true cost of a fuel. When I was involved in the nuclear energy marketplace, I always wondered when the breakeven point is reached in terms of net positive energy produced from a new nuclear power plant. Consider all of the materials, work and services that goes into producing a power plant and all of the energy consumed along the way. When is the energy payback reached?

So, Mr. Grumet, before we can allow the government to mandate that all of our vehicles use electricity as an energy source we need to see where that energy is coming from. Your boss doesn't think that the use of nuclear energy is in the mix.

No Contest

For your reading pleasure:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=303952351194789
Update: As of 8/20/08, three days after the event, McCain is leading Obama in the poles by 5% up from even before the event and an Obama 7% lead in July. Reason and logic quite often prevail.

Yes, I do Have a Life

Every other week on Saturday evening there is a concert on the lake in Irvine. Actually, North Lake as there are two lakes in Woodbridge Village. I understand that some of you may think that these are just big ponds but we call them lakes.

http://www.wva.org/

Two weeks ago we had the Orange County Philarmonic Orchestra. This past saturday evening it was The Ho-Dads, a great roak-n-roll group: http://www.hodads.com/ Click on "Videos" to see some of their music.

The tradition is to bring some wine, cheese and other snacks. It's very much like the band concerts on Cape Cod except here we have ducks and geese flying overhead instead of gulls.

Windfall Profits Tax

The presumptive Democratic presidentail nominee has suggested a windfall profits tax on the big oil companies. He further advised that the revenue from this tax would be used to pay for another stymulus payment individual taxpayers.

So, let's analyze how much proft the oil companies make. At the left are three representative big oil companies. Notice that only ExxonMobil has crept over the 10% net profit mark in the last ten years. Next, we can see the net profit for Microsoft during the last ten years. It looks like it has averaged about 30% during that period.

So, whom does the Democratic nominee suggest is making windfall profits?

Prediction: The price of oil will be below $60 within 18 months.

Celebrity Politics

This will be the first of many political rants as we enter the final run for the presidential election. The democratic candidate seems to be fine tuning the art of pandering that democrats are so well known for.

"I was merely trying to express my delight at Obama's commitment to his campaign in every aspect and his interest and his support (in) his surrogates and his staff and his fellows, and how wonderful and refreshing that is."

This quote was uttered by one of many celebrity airheads that seem to favor the liberal agenda, none other than Scarlett Johansson. Yes, indeed, an important aspect of a president is his commitment to his campaign and lackeys. Never before has a candidate been committed to his campaign. Brilliant logic. Never mind that policy stuff Scarlett. I guess you can't quite grasp things like the economy, energy, and security. With spokes people like this and their minions that will follow them, Rome here we come.

Bathroom Upgrade

I finally got around to installing the new shower door and spray nozzel. The old door has a rotted rubber gasket on the frame that was leaking and growing mold. I bought a framless door. Naturally, it wasn't easy. Some of the grout needed to be replaced and the anchors were a problem since the tile is place on a mud wall. So, it took me most of Saturday and Sunday morning.

And, no, there isn't a toilet in the shower. It's a reflection from the glass.

The World is Upside Down

The other day there was a middle-age man in a suit standing at a bus stop at 6:45 AM. This is just not right. After all, standing at bus stops is only permitted for cleaning ladies in the late afternoon as they return home to their barrios.

Then there was this chubby guy riding a bicycle of all things, along a main road between the industrial city of Santa Ana and the residential/professional city of Irvine. He was wearing a brand new velour sweat suit. I guess he doesn’t understand that these roads as just for motor vehicles. Bicycles are for the parks on the weekends.

How about the people walking along sidewalks during rush hour? The injustice of it all! They create a nuisance for us SUV drivers trying to make a right hand turn as they actually have the nerve to use a crosswalk.

I must have seen several of these Vespa-like scooters out and about during rush hour. I try to run them off the road but they scamper about between the rows of vehicles as if they have some superiority over us traditionalists. I’ll get one some day if I just keep trying.

Then I hear there are people actually using old vegatable oil to run their vehicles. Make it stop!

Now we can see the results of all this nonsense. In May U.S. drivers drove 9.6 billion less miles that in the previous May. That’s about $2 billion loss in revenues for the oil companies. Now you see who is driving who off the road. I say abandon the bus stops, bicycles, scooters and walking shoes. Back into your vehicles you beatniks. Think what might happen to my equity investments in big oil. Think about my retirement. My children’s inheritance. Woe the injustice of it all.

Moderate Quake hits SoCal

A moderate earthquake occurred at 11:42 a.m. (PDT) on Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The magnitude 5.4 event occurred 3 km southwest of Chino Hills, CA. The hypocentral depth is 12km.
This is about 20 miles as the crow flies from my home in Irvine. The shaking was quite severe for about 15 seconds followed by a slow rolling motion for about 30 seconds. No significant damages.

Must be Global Warming

Today we had three tornadoes in Southern California. Train cars and big rigs were tossed around. Dogs went missing in back yards. We also had snow about fifty miles west of Palm Springs - not in the mountains but in the desert! Here in Orange county we had rain and a few thunder claps. Five miles east of here where the fire burned last year we had mud slides from a cloudburst. Two weekends ago we had temperatures near 100. So, is snow in Southern California in May caused by global warming? Seems to be counter intuitive. How about exceptionally hot weather in May? Perhaps it's neither. It may be just the normal variation in short-term climate. No, that doesn't compute because it doesn't fit any political agenda.

The Renewal of Life

Spring has arrived at Elmcroft and the goldfish have survived yet another winter. It must be so boring for them to live under the ice for four months without even a book to read. Pictures courtesy of Suzanne's children who had the pleasure of frolicking on the grounds during the warm spell during spring break.

Politics Goes on - Even in Death

As the executor of my mother's estate, the address of the estate is my home address. Somehow, these mailing lists seem to go on forever, even after death. Hillary is needing to raise $3 million in the next three weeks to match her oponent's Pennsylvania campaign. Unfortunately, the estate of Adelaide is not inclined to help because the executor has a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries. One of those duties is to be a part of preventing a tax increase for the beneficiaries.