Obama has proved himself to be the golfingist president.  He has played more golf in his 18 month presidency than any other president played during their entire terms.  He plays even when the world thinks he ought to instead intend to business, leaving the tee times open for members.  He plays when Michelle is out with the kids, and plays when Michelle is home with the kids.  Yep, he’s an enthusiast of the game of golf.  Wouldn’t you like to know what those who have played a round with him would say about his golfing ability and strategy while navigating the obstacles?   What do the secret service agents think of his behavior and manners on the course?   They’ll never tell, as they are professionals doing the job of protecting our president, but it’d sure be interesting to hear them chat among themselves. 

 

Does he think of how the game of golf applies to the course of life?   Does he ever think of the rules and . . . golly ghee whiz. . . how sports are governed?   George Allen wrote a book titled “What Washington could learn from the World of Sports”, and I recommend it to Obama in particular and to all politicians and the bureaucrats running the country too, and our judges could learn a thing or two from the analogies.   Hey, it’s a good read for anyone.

 

Playing a round of golf is a game of navigation, a game of avoiding the hazards for the purpose of getting to the goal set before you in the least number of attempts.  The rules are clear.  They are the same for everyone.  The starting point is the same for everyone.  The goal is the same for everyone.   The obstacles affect everyone the same way.  No discriminating rules in golf, or any other sport for that matter.  No favors here or there. 

 

Put a diverse foresome together on the same tee and the rules apply evenly, the obstacles apply equally.  That’s fairness.  The maintenance crew is not out there moving ponds, trees, bunkers and the tall grasses so one player has it easier than the others attempts to avoid those obstacles.  The rules committee is not changing the rules during the round favoring one over another.  You’re on your own against the course and the best navigator wins.  You may think the other is there to intimidate and distract your “shots”, but there are those unspoken rules of governing that too.   Things like “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” keep the players acting in sportsmanlike conduct during the event, like remaining quiet and still while the other is playing his shot. 

 

Baseball has umpires.  Football has referees.  In tennis they are called referees too, and professional golf uses officials.   Unlike the other sports golfers are their own scorekeepers.   Golf officials are called upon by the golfers themselves to rule on a particular situation the player finds himself, not wanting to violate a rule and have to impose a penalty on himself.  Recreational golfers, like Obama and the rest of us at the local course must call penalties on ourselves according to the rules.  If one tries to circumvent a rule to save a stroke, like kicking a ball back in bounds, the others will eventually shun that rule breaker, never ever wanting to play with that person again, ever.  Nobody likes a cheat. 

 

Such should our law makers act.  So should the president of the US be thinking when any law is put forth on his desk considering that his job is to make sure all the rules (regulations) apply to all citizens, insuring that the new rules do not hinder the individuals navigation through life. 

 

 

The country does not need to create another federal agency when the federal debt is over the $13 trillion mark and climbing at the rate of over 3 million dollars a minute.  That’s $4.3 billion added per day.  Your share of the federal government debt is $42,800 and climbing by the minute.  Not a small sum in my neck of the woods.

Can it be paid off?   Ain’t no way.  Only once in our history has the US been debt free.   So what’s all the fuss about.  It’s natural for the federal government to operate in the hole.  Right?   We’ve all taken it for granted that it must assume debt because of the unexpected that will happen just around the corner.   Things like a war, or a hurricane wiping out a community, a tornado tearing up towns, or a flood like Katrina devastating millions.  Then the feds must act to alleviate the suffering of the people, which causes a drain on resources.   And we expect them to do their best protecting we the people.  

But this debt is not because of natural disasters, and just a small part of it is because of wars.   It’s the daily spending and expansionary programs that hurts.

We can and should hold the elected people accountable for this humongous debt.  But do we?   No, we just keep on putting them back into office election after election. 

 

So, we the people are responsible for this.  Huh?  You say.  Yes, we are.  We the people keep re-electing the ones who have added to this debt by piling on one pork barrel project after another, expanding the reach of federal power way beyond any common sense reading of the constitution.   What do we do?  We’ve applauded these people when they bring home the money for some “worthy” project in the home district.  The local news broadcast these projects as good news for the community, good for the local economy, long waiting for this and needed for that.  And then we the people send them back to Washington to get us more tax funded projects.  

Them days should be ending right now, this year, this November and then again two years from now, and repeated every two years from now on out.

How can the debt be kept from increasing?   Duh.  Stop spending more than taxes bring in.  Economics 101 calls it a balanced budget.

So, to get matters under control, a balanced budget amendment to the constitution would be a good place to start.

Second, stop creating new offices and new agencies.  Stop it immediately.  No new offices should be created under any other federal agency.  Put a freeze on new hires for new positions.   No new positions in any agency.  Just stop expanding the federal government.   Why should our federal government get away with creating a budget deficit so huge it’s unimaginable?   So huge, it is pushed off as impossible to do anything about.

We got to start somewhere.  Start with stopping the newest expansion.

“In June 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined together to form the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an unprecedented agreement to coordinate federal housing, transportation, and environmental investments; protect public health and the environment; promote equitable development; and help address the challenges of climate change.”   White House Blog.

A new bill ( S-1619 Livable Communities Act of 2009) was just passed out of committee that would create a New Office (the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC) under the current Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).   Introduced and sponsored by Chris Dodd (member of congress since 1974).

The purposes of this Act are–

(1) to facilitate and improve the coordination of housing, community

development, transportation, energy, and environmental policy in the

United States; 

(2) to coordinate Federal policies and investments to promote

sustainable development;

And 7 other purposes.  Read the PDF

This one must be stopped.  Read the bill and keep in mind that when any federal office or agency is created, it never goes away, it just keeps getting larger and larger with increased far reaching powers.   The Fedzilla gets bigger with more control.  It would be a good prognosis that 20 years from now this new office will have thousands of federal workers shuffling papers and telling local communities where and how to expand the city, even reaching out to the small 300 people bergs all across America.  The local mayor and council will have to get approval from the feds to zone land for building a new housing development.  Why, those homes must be energy efficient, they must be in a sustainable affordable planned community with bicycle trails, mass transit availability, schools within walking distance, shopping within a bike ride, parks for recreation meeting the goals of “healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or suburban”

 

They are the experts after all.  What do we know about building people friendly sustainable communities?  

 

We the people must put a stop to the spending habits of congress and the executive branch as well.  No new agencies.  Incumbents must be put on notice and sent back to civilian life ASAP.

 

There’s not a better program for young boys in this country than the BSA.   They teach kids the basics:

“On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

A scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.

On this the anniversary of the scouting program, the president of the US as honorary chairman of the organization is expected to appear, give thanks for all the good work the scouts do, and encourage the kids to reach out and be the best, not only for themselves but for their neighbors.  But however, our current president will be seen on the “View” instead of honoring the scouting program and fulfilling his obligation.  Instead, Obama is sending a video.

Hmm?   The View?  What can these ladies do for him?   What can he do for the View?

My advice to the scouts would make the occasion a voluntary assembly, and spend the time sharpening their knives.  But they are better than that.

Included in the economic stimulus bill of 2009 was this little gem: tracking your BMI, or to put it in more obtuse terms, your just plain obesity fat rating.

Last week, the effect of a little-noticed subsection of the 2009 Economic Stimulus Bill was revealed by Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Under section 3001 of the Stimulus Bill (on page 116 of 407), a new HHS Department was created called the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (HIT). The Stimulus Bill specifically gives the recently appointed head of this department, Dr. David Blumenthal, the objective of “utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014.”  Read on. . .

Seeing the opportunity to seize more power for her department, Secretary Sebelius, working with Dr. Blumenthal, released their “Standards and Certification final rule,” an expansive 228-page declaration of authority where, on page 61, they expound on their power to monitor every American’s body mass index, or BMI — a measure to estimate healthy body weight. 

Ah, so what?

I’m from the government and I’m here to help you maintain your ideal weight situation, so from now on we’ll be monitoring you, as the CDC experts have determined that your weight is just too much for your body frame, so we recommend you enroll in one of our sponsored weight reduction programs, free of course.  We’ll be in touch again next month to see how this is progressing.  Your doctor will process this information on your medical records also.  We are only here to help.  We do this to insure that all Americans are served fairly and equally without regard to race, sex, ethnic, religious, gender identification or legal status.   By the way, which group do you identify with?  Just for our records, of course, to insure there is no discrimination based on the previously mentioned groups, and to inform you that certain groups can get government assistance for fitness center memberships, and for adjustments to BMI index calculations based on race, gender, or sexual identification, because the experts have determined that certain racial groups have different ideal BMI’s.

39 new drilling permits have been issued this week in the north western part of North Dakota.  26 permits were issued last week.  517 new wells were drilled last year, and 553 wells were completed in 2008 with a success rate of 98%.   Huge.

So, what’s going on in North Dakota?  Read more of it Here.  and Here.

The U.S. Geological Survey called it…

 

They’ve found one of the biggest oil deposits of all time right here in our own backyard, and there’s even speculation that there’s enough crude in the Bakken area to get the US totally out of relying on Middle Eastern oil imports.

Eh.  Go get it boys.  Drill baby Drill.

Oh, but not so fast say the politicians.   And where is the main stream media, the ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN digging into this discovery of oil independence?   Why are they not broadcasting this stuff to the average Joe, fearful of the price of gas going through the roof because of the billions of oil floating in the Gulf.  Why aren’t the politicians grabbing the microphone and telling the people “don’t worry, we’ve got the oil independence situation all wrapped up with the new finds in the Bakken/Williston North Dakota area.”

They should be telling us that we Americans can have our oil and at the same time allow the alternative energy field to develop their products for consumer use.  We’re also talking job creation as pipelines need to be built to route the oil to the refineries, and since ND has just one refinery, more need to be built to refine those billions of barrels, and then truck it out of state to the consumer.  Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.  Oil, Oil, Oil.  Independence.

Why are the politicians not delivering this message?

Not their language.  Change is what they want.  Politicians want the end of fossil fuels.

That just does not make sense, does it?  Why do they do that to us?   Environmental wackos are in charge.  This is free market stuff and our current politicians think free market capitalism can’t be trusted to deliver the goods,  but of course government (the bigger the better) can be trusted to deliver the goods.  Wind farms must be subsidized by the government (taxpayers).  Solar panels subsidized by the government (taxpayers).   Hey.  Listen up you elected idiots.  If wind farms are the thing of the future, then let them prove it . . . . . on their dime, not ours.   If solar panels are the thing for every household in the future, let them prove it viable . . . on their dime, not one cent subsidized by our stupid economically illiterate politicians.    Go back a few years when wireless telephony made it’s introduction to the market.   Was it subsidized?   Go back even further when thousands of women lost their jobs as operators when automatic routing techniques hit the telephone industry.  Was the new technology subsidized?  Were the laid off operators promised unemployment benefits to last years until . . . ?

Drill, baby Drill.

While WH spokesperson Gibbs won’t directly answer questions, czar Obama is pushing the idea that raising and/or extending unemployment payments is an economic stimulus.  The thought goes something like this.  People are out of work with no cash coming in who have needs to feed the family and continue the contracts on the cell-phones and Dish network, would spend the government checks on feeding and clothing the family, maintaining the lifestyle while looking for work, and thus those people who are still working in those areas would see those businesses remain stable, and the workers be able to keep their jobs.  It’s put forth as a win-win situation.

However.

Where does the government get the money to back up those checks given to the unemployed?   I guess the people who are working should be so grateful to the feds for seeing that those who lost their jobs have income to spread around to those who are working and in business so that they can pay their taxes so that the unemployed can continue to spread the wealth of the others around.   The circle continues as the tax payers group gets smaller and the unemployed get larger until riots break out because the money coming in is much less than can be paid out.

However.  There’s a part within the human being that is lazy, and if that lazy attribute is encouraged and fed, it will grow and grow into a giant blubber balloon that will pop only by a catastrophe of sorts.

Imagine what the unemployment rate would look like if unemployment benefits were universally $150,000 per year. My guess is we’d have a heck of a lot more unemployment. Common sense and personal experience indicate higher unemployment benefits will make unemployment less unattractive and thereby increase unemployment even in the Great Recession.   

Let’s not reduce the incentive to find work. A federal tax holiday is a better way to cut the high jobless rate.

Mr. Laffer ends his article with the idea of instituting a federal tax holiday for 18 months.

Any government program that would reduce unemployment has to make working more attractive for both employer and employee. Since late 2007 the federal government has spent somewhere around $3.6 trillion to stimulate the economy. That is a lot of money.

My suggestion would have been to take all $3.6 trillion and declare a federal tax holiday for 18 months. No income tax, no corporate profits tax, no capital gains tax, no estate tax, no payroll tax (FICA) either employee or employer, no Medicare or Medicaid taxes, no federal excise taxes, no tariffs, no federal taxes at all, which would have reduced federal revenues by $2.4 trillion annually. Can you imagine where employment would be today? How does a 2.5% unemployment rate sound?

Sounds good to me.  And then during the process, eliminated forever the payroll tax, eliminate forever corporate taxes, eliminate forever the IRS and install forever the details of the FairTax.

Let’s not forget, that come November, incumbents of the House and Senate need to be retired, sent back to civilian life.

What a way to fight a war?  Is the US in this thing in Afghanistan to win the so-called war against Islamic radicals, or to just make it look like we’re making an effort to fight terrorists?

The State Department confirmed that the Taliban continues to receive “protection money” when asked about the House report, which includes December 2009 testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton told a Senate panel, “one of the major sources for the Taliban is the protection money” for safe passage of U.S. supply convoys.
“Taliban continues to extort protection money as a source of revenue just like via the opium trade,” Darby Holladay, a spokesman for the State Department, the government agency that oversees U.S. civilian forces in Afghanistan, told CNSNews.com.  Read it all and weep.

As this news comes out, I go with the latter, that this country of ours is not really interested in winning the war against Islamic Terrorists.   Why are we there?  For what?  We’re just spending billions, for what?

Our State Department OK’s the payment of “protection money” so that our supply trucks can make it through enemy territory to bring supplies to the troops, so that they can walk through towns trying to make nice, insuring that no civilians will be harmed, so that “insurgents” appearing to be innocent civilians can pick off our troops if they don’t get their protection money.

Heck, they already know when we’ll be pulling out.

If the US tried to defeat Hitler in this manner, we’d all be speaking German, and Israel would be owned by Iran.

Read also:

Mark Steyn: Learning the rules of an unengaged president

Worse Than a Nightmare   By BOB HERBERT

We can’t win this war as it’s being fought, meaning that the Islamics would never cry for peace, never give up, they would never plead with us promising to never invoke terrorist acts ever again, they could never live peaceably alongside the Jews and Christians, and would never allow the west to put our guys in charge submitting to our ways of peaceable co-existence, of living and let live, of causing no harm to others, of respecting and obeying laws and accepting the notion that “all peoples are created equal, that they all are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

This is a religious war.  Islam against the world that is not Islam.  When will we the people hear this from the media or from our politicians (who by the way, are elected by us).

As part of the promise to reform the health care industry in this country, On June the 11th, the year of our Lord 2010, the Obama administration has, by executive order, established the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council (Council) for the purpose of providing “recommendations to the President and the Congress concerning the most pressing health issues confronting the United States and changes in Federal policy to achieve national wellness, health promotion, and public health goals, including the reduction of tobacco use, sedentary behavior, and poor nutrition;” 

The Council will have 4 1/2 years to report back to the president a detailed analysis that:

(c) contains a list of national priorities on health promotion and disease prevention to address lifestyle behavior modification (including smoking cessation, proper nutrition, appropriate exercise, mental health, behavioral health, substance-use disorder, and domestic violence screenings) and the prevention measures for the five leading disease killers in the United States;  (emphasis is mine)

According to one CDC report the five leading causes of death in the US is said to be: heart disease, cancers, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and diabetes.

To summarize it as I see it, a group of “experts” in the health and human services sector of society will determine the healthy lifestyle choices that selected groups of Americans should follow during the national coerced behavior modification program which will start immediately once a consensus is reached.

People, you have five years to live it up.

Here’s an observation.

I see the emphasis on certain politically popular lifestyle choice activities like tobacco use, overeating, eating the wrong stuff and lack of exercise, but where in all of this unconstitutional executive order is there any mention of the personal lifestyle choice that individuals make concerning sexual activity.  The president has left out of the equation the homosexual lifestyle that leads to HIV/AIDS.  And yet, the DHHS says that: “As of December 31, 2001, 467,910 deaths among people with AIDS had been reported to the CDC.5 AIDS is currently the fifth leading cause of death in the United States among people aged 25 to 44

Must be an oversight.

Touting the employment figures for May, Obama said “This report is a sign our economy is getting stronger by the day.”   The report for May indicated that 431,000 new jobs were created and 411,000 census workers were hired to finish counting those who had not notified the bureau of their race, their sexual identity and age information.

Let’s see then.  Those extra people employed to clean up the oil mess along the coast is then also good for the economy.  The feds also intend to hire 57,000 young people to work for AmeriCorps mentoring children, cleaning up parks or buildings and weatherizing homes for the poor among other activities. Some get a living stipend while they are working for up to a year. Most participants, who are predominantly 18 to 26, get about $11,800. 

Part time work for the government is good for the economy.  Workers who are employed by the government and paid from tax revenues by the people who work for a living.  Also known as redistribution of wealth.

“Citing his commitment to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), President Obama on Friday issued a proclamation declaring June 2010 “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.”  CNS News

Whoopee.  This ought to solve something.  These people (those who classify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender) should be proud.  Proud of what?   They are proud of the “diabolical, systematic agenda the gay community has meticulously carried out over the past thirty years.”

Obama is proud of those achievements too.  The LBGT folks are proud of their achievements of pulling the wool over the world, of getting government psychologists declaring gayness as a gene problem that these people can’t do anything about.  They were born that way.  They were born to commit sodomy.  They were born a male when they should have been born a female.  They can’t help themselves and that’s why they dress up in those weird costumes flaunting their sick behavior in public during those politically sanctioned parades of pride.

Along with sanctioning deviant behavior, Obama also wants to end the military DADT policies, which will promote open deviant behavior in the barracks, the showers and on the field of battle for all military personnel.   That’s an order private.

As your precious little girl needs to visit the rest room in the mall in Gainesville, Florida, she may encounter a male stud occupying the next stall or entering or leaving the ladies room at the same time.  You’re standing watch outside, you see a guy enter, you gasp and run inside to protect your daughter.  If you dare say anything to that person, you may be cited for a hate crime.  The law says it’s preventing discrimination.

How will you answer your daughters questions?

How do bisexuals classify their sex on drivers licenses?   On the census?  Passports?

Hey, you know what.  I don’t give a flip what you do in the privacy of your own home as that’s between you and the God who you will answer to some day, just as I will answer for my sins.  But when this activist group plans to change the moral fabric of the entire country, claiming a normalcy for gayness and a hate centered protest from us normal heterosexual Christians, then it’s going too far.   We don’t hate the sinner, we wish they would see a counselor who’d tell them the straight truth so they could get their life straightened out to overcome those deviant temptations.  Many former gays have gone straight and love it.

If you live in the central Illinois area, call upon a relative of mine, Kent Paris.   Kent has been counseling gays for over 30 years in Urbana, Il with connections to the Exodus Organization.

Kent has just released a book, “Means of Grace” centered on the counseling aspect for gays wishing to face the deviancy head on.   The book is available on Amazon.