BloggeRhythms 7/31/2102

As I sat typing yesterday’s entry, listing the events in Bill Clinton’s past that will surely come back to haunt the incumbent if he really allows him a key position in the Dem convention, I must admit I was truly confused. The only conclusion I could reach was that the incumbent feels desperate to the extent that he’d accept someone so toxic in trying to save his cause, and had run out of all other options. After all, if nothing else, these two truly not only hate each other fiercely, but Willy slams the POTUS every chance he gets.

And then, an hour later the truth finally hit me, because I’d taken the case as presented without thinking through how something this foolish could happen. But, in fact there’s a good explanation that makes just about absolute sense.

By now, it’s surely clear that Joe Biden’s a liability that can’t be afforded, unless they can find a way to tape his mouth closed. So that means he’s probably toast the next time around. However, there’s another person who could not only fill the slot handily, but by now’s probably more popular than the candidate himself, and her name is Hillary.

So, I guess the fact is that the incumbent really doesn’t want Bill around at all, but when he approached Hillary to beg her to help him, she likely said he’d have to showcase Bill or take a hike and likely lose the White House, so he caved to her wishes.

And, as for me, I just wanted to go on record and score a few points for perception, ahead of most others who haven’t figured the scenario out yet.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios  

BloggeRhythms 7/30/2012

In keeping with a consistent pattern of poor decision-making, the incumbent’s come up with another whopper. Whereas it’s been announced that Bill Clinton will play a significant role at the upcoming Dem convention, including delivery of a major address. 

I perceive this to be a campaign mistake because it provides the opposition an opportunity to highlight Clinton’s past, which he seems to have managed to bury or downplay in the last couple of years because he’s been relatively harmless to adversaries.

Beyond the likely rehash of Clinton’s foibles, it will also surely be pointed out by Republicans that he favored temporarily extending all of the tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, including the Bush-era rates, which put him at odds with the president. Though he later apologized for those comments, the cat was long gone from the bag.

Along the same lines he stated that Romney was certainly qualified to be president, and supported his successful business record.

However, it’s Clinton's own history that presents the incumbent a problem because of the many past events that will now be dredged up such as Bill’s impeachment by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in December 1998.

Then there was the mysterious disappearance and death of Deputy White House counsel, Vince Foster, as well as the Whitewater scandal and jailing of close friends, James and Susan McDougal, while other situations lurk in the background such as those known as Travelgate and Filegate.

Aside from the preceding there’s the 1994 sexual harassment case brought by Paula Jones which resulted in the following decision: "As a consequence of his conduct in the Jones v. Clinton civil suit and before the federal grand jury, President Clinton incurred significant administrative sanctions. The Independent Counsel considered seven non-criminal alternative sanctions that were imposed in making his decision to decline prosecution: (1) President Clinton’s admission of providing false testimony that was knowingly misleading, evasive, and prejudicial to the administration of justice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas; (2) his acknowledgement that his conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct of the Arkansas Supreme Court; (3) the five-year suspension of his license to practice law and $25,000 fine imposed on him by the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas; (4) the civil contempt penalty of more than $90,000 imposed on President Clinton by the federal court for violating its orders; (5) the payment of more than $850,000 in settlement to Paula Jones; (6) the express finding by the federal court that President Clinton had engaged in contemptuous conduct; and (7) the substantial public condemnation of President Clinton arising from his impeachment."

Consequently, in view of what might happen if Bill Clinton is actually chosen to play a major convention role, perhaps the party leaders might reconsider and bring in some folks who have less baggage to bear. And two names that come to mind are Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/29/2012

The past two days I’ve highlighted Mitt Romney’s overseas trip, predominately because I think it demonstrates his intention of functioning as the type of world leader the POTUS is supposed to be.

However, as I’ve also previously mentioned, his simply traveling to foreign destinations has already helped Israel in particular immensely already, despite that he’s not yet been elected, nor might not even be.  

This morning he gave what I thought was a powerful speech in Jerusalem, where among other things, he stated that he’d respect an Israeli decision to make a unilateral military strike against Iran aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear capability, and that he has a "zero tolerance" policy toward Iran obtaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon.

But, the part I find most intriguing is that his trip has forced the White House to respond quickly, and to amend a policy that has always seemed to me be one that tries to straddle the fences between the warring nations of the region, and playing both sides for political gain.

In that regard, Defense Secretary Panetta is right now on his way to Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan whereas problems exist in each of those nations. And I think that trip was spurred by Mitt Romney, forcing the administration to attempt reassuing those nations of its concern and support.

And that’s why I’m repeating my observations of the past two days about leadership and its demands. Because leaders are people who make decisions, stand behind them, and most important, fully intend to carry them out, which is the complete reverse of those who pander, wheedle and whine in search of votes. Therefore, simply by his actions, Romney’s accomplished more to inspire the Middle East in a week than has almost an entire term of the current administration.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/28/2012

If it’s true that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, what words can describe those who have absolutely none at all? Are they simply total ignoramuses or even denser than that? And, as far as ignoramuses go, I think Nancy Pelosi either heads the top of any list, or worse, will use the guise of stupidity to make incredibly insulting comments.

According to Daniel Halper of The Weekly Standard on-line, in an interview with Al Hunt of Bloomberg, when asked if Jewish voters would support the president in the coming election, she replied "I think he’ll win the Jewish vote when the facts get out. You know, as many of the Republicans are using Israel as an excuse, what they really want are tax cuts for the wealthy. So Israel, that can be one reason they put forth."

When the interviewer then added, "That’s why some of the Republican Jewish supporters are really active," she responded, “Well that’s how they’re being exploited. And they’re smart people. They follow these issues.”

So, as I interpret her comments, what she really believes is that many Jewish Republicans don’t really care that much about Israel at all, but are entirely focused on tax cuts for themselves and simply using Israel as a cover for their selfish goals and greed. And then she compounds that slight with another, by stating that they’re very “smart “ which is less denigrating than saying “cunning.”

In conclusion, however, maybe I’m being too harsh on her whereas it’s possible she really respects the intellect of Jewish folks because most seem so much smarter than herself. But then, if that’s truly the case, she’d have to have the same opinion about almost every soul on earth, because regardless of their religion, just about every human being alive is more intelligent than she is. 

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/27/2012

Lacking credentials in foreign affairs, Mitt Romney’s presently in London, the first leg of a three nation overseas trip. He’ll then continue on to Poland and finally Israel, all three destinations perceived as allies treated poorly by the presidential incumbent.

I mention this today because of articles in Politico and Reuters on-line, stating that on the eve of Romney’s weekend visit to Israel, the president’s scheduled to sign the “U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act,” which expands military assistance to the country.

And what this new agreement says to me is that although he’s not even been elected, and perhaps may not even be, Romney’s already done more for Israel than the incumbent has in the past three and a half years. Because, if it weren’t for Romney’s decision to travel to Israel, I believe it’s quite possible that the president might never have signed the new agreement at all, whereas he’s never been a real friend of Israel and can’t stand Benjamin Netanyahu altogether.

And so, as it’s often said, one of the demands of leadership is the ability to get things done. And the best leaders use every tactic, idea and strategic measure to accomplish their goals. And whereas Mitt Romney's now shown he perceives it’s critical to both the U.S. and Israel to remain the strongest of allies, I believe that in simply taking this overseas trip and forcing the incumbent's hand in the process, he's now proving to Americans of Jewish persuasion that he’s one of the best friends Israelis can ever hope for.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/26/2012

A politician who can’t be reelected, due to term limits, is often referred to as a ”lame duck.”

According to Wikipedia on-line, the phrase was originally coined in the 18th century at the London Stock Exchange, referring to stockbrokers who defaulted on debts, and then later employed to also describe one’s leaving elected office.

I thought of the description today, however, in reference to New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, with one minor adjustment. Because I think, as ducks go, lately he’s been sounding more like “Daffy.”

Appearing on "Piers Morgan Tonight," he talked about banning sales of certain types of guns and ammunition, saying "I don't understand why the police officers across this country don't stand up collectively and say we're going to go on strike. We're not going to protect you unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what's required to keep us safe."

Now, I assume that even the mayor knows that the police are prohibited from striking by law, and was likely just trying to make his point. Nonetheless, this is the second time in just a few days where he’s raised issues that may make good sound bites, but don’t come anywhere near solving the issues.

In his case for banning super-sized bottles of soda, for example, I think the prohibition has nothing to do with folks losing weight, whereas weight loss only occurs when people themselves decide to diet. And until they do, no bans of any kind of caloric intake is going to matter because they’ll simply find another source of gluttonous satisfaction. 

And, similarly, as had been said by many others before myself. Guns don’t shoot people, people do. Consequently, it isn’t the guns that are the problem, regardless of type or power, it’s those that use them illegally that need to be stopped. However, that would require some effort, intelligence and thought, which is why taking weapons away from everyone is the easy and preferable way out for incompetent politicians.

So, as I sit here and review my preceding thoughts, I think a much better way to likely please a major segment of law-abiding and responsible people would be a ban on Bloomberg’s public speaking.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/25/2012

Another name was recently added to the list of Democrats finding fault with the administration. This time it was Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said at a forum on Monday that “the White House has to understand that the disclosure of classified information is coming from its ranks.” Although she added that she didn't believe the president had leaked information.

And, then yesterday, she retracted her comments by stating that she really didn’t mean what she said and “regretted” having spoken.

I mention this today because this case resembles so closely that of Cory Booker, Newark's, mayor, who also soon took back a favorable comment about the incumbent’s competition which led me to an interesting suspicion.

Today, the world’s full of lawyers and even those who aren’t get plenty of legal insight from the myriad programs on TV taking place in the courtroom. And from those shows we all learn how attorneys manipulate questions and statements which they know are out of bounds, yet they still say them out loud so the jury can hear them and then, they quickly retract them. But, by then it’s really too late, because retraction or not, everyone now knows their real intent.

So, I’m pretty sure that that’s exactly what’s going on here. Because no matter where or when politicians take back their original words, due to party pressure or presidential displeasure, the original comments aren't forgotten and that's what sticks in the minds of the public.

Consequently, if you add up all the recent negativity about those in the White House coming from party allies and supposed supporters, one has to wonder who’s next to jump ship. And perhaps that’s why Mitt Romney left the country to visit overseas friends. Because he doesn’t have to worry about gaining supporters in the U.S. whereas the incumbent’s doing that for him all by himself.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/24/2012

A friend and I used to meet quite often at the end of the day, for a refreshment or two, and during those times, we’d discuss the news and significant events taking place in the nation and world.

And whereas we both devoted reasonable time to obtaining and digesting a great deal of input from a wide variety of sources, we were usually quite well-informed. So much so in fact, that there were many times where things discussed between ourselves was a beat or two ahead of significant media interest, but then later became headlines. And that caused us to joke about our conversations being overheard or electronically tapped.  What’s more, it’s that same approach that often forms the basis of my daily entries here.

I mention this today because while perusing Drudge on-line, I came across an article from the  Financial Times by none other than Pat Buchanan titled, “America needs no more neo-imperial nonsense.” And it seems to me that, although Mr. Buchanan included many more specific examples to support his case, his point was just about exactly what I wrote here yesterday. That, if nothing else, our leader's primary obligation is to the U.S., not foreign nations, and if those in office did what they were supposed to in utilizing our own resources, we’d still be fine even if the rest of the world went belly up.

And so, perhaps, since my friend and I no longer hold the sessions we used to because things do tend to change, I’m now carrying on our former tradition by myself. And that’s fine with me except I’d really like to find out how the likes of Pat Buchanan found out where I chill out, and if he’s going to use my stuff…why didn’t he at least pick up my tab?

That’s it for today folks.

Adios 

BloggeRhythms 7/23/2012

Watching the major stock markets plunge this morning makes significant sense to me, because I haven’t been able to grasp why they’ve remained so high in the first place. And that’s because the U.S. economy’s been stagnant for quite some time now.

Block traders and other huge movers of funds, however, march to their own drummers, buying and selling for their very own reasons making investing little more than a daily crap-shoot for little guys like me in the markets. Nonetheless, even though my perspective’s quite narrow due to limited access to hard information, I thought the “experts” rationale for today’s sell-off was well off the mark.

Apparently, most pundits believe major investors are concerned about potential increases in the debt problems in Spain, causing today’s market hiccups here at home. Yet, I don’t agree with their conclusion. And that’s because I suspect money-managers are fearful of our own nation’s problems, which now show significant signs of getting worse.

As every day goes by, our deficit grows larger with no signs whatsoever of lessening anytime soon. We’re still dependent on foreign oil, which affects businesses' costs significantly more than it should, simply due to political pandering. Add to that the bloated obligations to overblown pensions and benefits, draining additional funds from the system, and profits reduce or disappear altogether.  

And then there’s my favorite topic of late, the new health care tax which is becoming clearer each day that passes. That legislation by itself is now causing businesses and investors to seriously cut back on growth projections significantly.

Therefore, as I interpret this information, the thing that stands out most to me is that until there’s a change in direction from the top, whether it’s a new approach by those now in office, or an elected future replacement, the U.S. economic situation won’t likely recover at all. On the other hand, though, I doubt it would really matter whatsoever as to what went on in Spain, or any other foreign nation, if our own problems simply were fixed right here at home.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/22/2012

With the shockwaves from Colorado still reverberating across the nation, it seems there’s little else being noted by the media, and that’s certainly not surprising at all. However, as I mentioned yesterday, there’s now a growing drumbeat for gun control which, frankly, disturbs me.

While I certainly have the same sense of loss, grief and perplexity as that displayed by anyone else aware of the tragic occurrence, I also realize that, as far as what’s known up to now, this was a unique situation perpetrated by a lone, deranged, gunman with his own horrendous agenda.  But nonetheless, there are those who believe that because things like this happen, everyone else should be deprived of their right to bear arms.

And that brings me to my question for today which is: Why is it that in almost all circumstances, politicians and government types always seek to bring everyone down to the lowest imaginable level while rarely, if ever, desiring to see standards and measures go up?

Consequently, every time something bad or tragic occurs we never hear about ways to improve folks understanding, knowledge or capabilities, we always hear the reverse. So, when things go on that infringe on others or their rights, no one ever attempts to educate the offenders, instead what’s sought is more prohibitive laws and curbs on everyone’s freedoms, regardless.

And I guess in it’s own way, this weekends  tragedy’s pointing out for us again how far things have sunk in general as far as leadership goes. Because the first reaction of most government types is to politicize the issue and try to personally gain rather than to respect the intelligence, maturity and understanding of everyone else.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/21/2012

Responding to the unconscionable tragedy in Colorado, NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg once again called for gun control, demanding that such weapons should be immediately made illegal.

And although I know little about the subject and consequently can’t comment with expertise, I do know enough to express an opinion about guns in general.

First and foremost, I truly believe that whatever legislation is enacted, it will likely keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens but not the crooks, illegals and psychos. And that says to me, most folks will become far easier targets in general.

However, not really knowing the statistics on guns I looked them up and found on wiki.answers.com that per the Center for Disease Control’s latest figures from 2005, 30,694 firearm deaths occurred across all races, all ages,  and both sexes in the United States. 

I then got the population count from the Census Bureau 2012, 313,980,558 folks, which means that even though the firearm statistic may be stale it’s still likely the total of deaths is still considerably less than one percent.

So, in view of the preceding numbers I have a suggestion for Mayor Bloomberg and all those politicos who agree with his position on guns.

Whereas most of the population doesn’t have, nor can they afford body-guard protection, yet certain pol’s think most folks should not be able to obtain weapons, and whereas this nation is founded upon a premise that all citizens are equal in every way, then on the day that all the guns are relinquished by the citizenry, all protections for all pol’s should be simultaneously removed as well.

And just in case there are some pol’s out there who believe that they’re entitled to protections and refuse to give them up, they should immediately be removed from office and replaced with someone with enough guts to walk around unarmed and unprotected like everyone else.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/20/2012

Today’s news is logically dominated by stories and reports about the heartwrenching shooting in Colorado, however, it’s really not the type of subject I have the knowledge, experience or credentials to comment about. So, I’ll just express my condolences to those who suffered such tragic losses and move on to something else.

And that something else for today is once again, Nancy Pelosi, who  I believe must hold some kind of record for reaching levels of political posturing so low they’re actually pretty funny.   

According to Jonathan Strong of Roll Call on-line, when questioned about why she and other top Congressional officials won’t release their tax returns, she “downplayed her previous demands for Mitt Romney to release his, calling the issue a distraction.”

And although as recently as Wednesday, she’d strongly urged Romney to provide further disclosure of his tax returns, today while maintaining Romney should release more documents because of “custom” and “tradition,” Pelosi said the issue was trivial compared with economic issues, saying “We spent too much time on that. We should be talking about middle-income tax cuts.” 

The issue came up due to a McClatchy News report showing only 17 of 535 Members released their tax returns when asked.

So, here we have another example of “leaders” who not only don’t live up to the definition of that word, they don’t even try. And instead of making even the slightest attempt to help solve their constituents problems, they point fingers instead, attempting to place blame on somebody else.

And that’s why when I see someone as worthless as the House Minority Leader hoist herself on her own petard, I find that my entries almost write themselves.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/19/2012

Three articles today underscore the state of the U.S. economy, and none of the news is good.

According to the Labor Department, Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000, while the prior week's figure was revised up to 352,000 from the previously reported 350,000.

Then, the National Association of Realtors claimed that Americans bought fewer homes in June than May, “indicating the weak economy could make a modest housing recovery choppy.” Sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.4 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million homes. That's the fewest since October.

And lastly, an article in The Daily Caller says “the Mexican government has been working with the United States Department of Agriculture to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. USDA has an agreement with Mexico to promote American food assistance programs, including food stamps, among Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals and migrant communities in America.”

So here we have unemployment increasing, home sales receding and the government looking for more ways to spend taxpayers hard earned money while the incumbent is out making speeches telling listeners that Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital indicates he’s bad for the nation.

And, as for me, I simply don’t get it.

Because the first requirement of the POTUS is leadership with a capital “L” and that traits been absent for more than three years. And not only that, virtually every decision’s been a wrong one to date.

So my question for today is, how long will the major media and totally misguided supporters allow this farce to continue unmentioned? And since today’s price of oil increased by almost three dollars a barrel, when will those same folks wake up and realize that this nation runs on fossil fuel, not on BS.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios,

BloggeRhythms 7/18/2012

After yesterday’s incredibly ridiculous presidential comment, giving government credit for all that entrepreneurial private enterprise has achieved in the nation, I thought we’d reached the bottom of the barrel of mindless babbling's. However, today another completely misguided suggestion by the administration has been added to those already desired or enacted.  
   
According to the Associated Press, the administration “unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students' achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.”

Now, while on the surface this headline sounds like a desire to improve education in critical subjects, thereby increasing the quality of education, the question I immediately asked myself was: “Why is this needed?”

And the answer’s obvious. The cadre of super teachers is needed because those already in place are worthless. And, what’s more, this isn’t news.

As anyone knows who’s been reading my entries for more than two years, the one subject I’ve mentioned most over that time is the continual degradation and decline in U.S. education. And, as recently as yesterday I pointed about how the incumbent himself might be lacking in basic knowledge, considering some of his uttering's. 

So now, in view of the terrible lacking's in our educational system and the already huge waste of money supporting that cause, instead of confronting the real problem, substandard teachers and overgrown layers of useless bureaucratic cyphers the geniuses in D.C. decide to throw even more good funds after bad.

However, at least today’s idea from the top does have a value, because it clearly refutes the comments made yesterday whereby an attempt was made to steal credit where it simply wasn’t due. Because, if nothing else, this new ridiculous idea proves that this administration in particular has no capability whatsoever to create anything useful at all.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/17/2012

Rethinking the incumbent’s inane remarks about government’s responsibility for all the nation’s businesses’ success, I tried to determine a rational reason for his saying something so totally foolish and drastically incorrect.

And after considering the matter, only two possibilities for his ridiculous comments came to mind, neither of which reflect very well on him, yet one might actually work. 

On one hand, it’s quite possible that he truly knows nothing about the history of the U.S., due to lack of education, because no one really seems to know where he came from, how or when. Therefore, perhaps he’s simply uninformed but still plows ahead with his version because that’s what he does in just about all other cases. And as anyone knows who bothers to read his comments on most subjects has learned, it’s quickly apparent he knows very little about almost everything he ever discusses anywhere. 
   
On the other hand, however, he may be taking a gamble with the issue, where the odds might very well be in his favor. Because, especially among those who attended public schools, they might believe his statement whereas they don’t know any better either, due to poor education or exposure to distorted historical data.

Consequently, the dumbing down of a considerable portion of the population via incompetent educators protected by unions and inbred truth-avoidance proliferation help to produce a voting group that’s so poorly informed they can’t see they'll likely be voting for their own ruination.

And, as for me, I usually try to end these types of commentary’s with the reasons for having some hope and presenting bases for why things should change for the better. However, for today’s subject, there simply aren’t any I can think of.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/16/2012

I’ve written many times in the past about how little the incumbent knows about the American system, free enterprise and especially about anything having to do with business. But, at this point he’s either put himself further out of touch with the mainstream, or has truly started to panic.

I write that today because over the weekend in Roanoke, Virginia he was quoted as saying, “If you’ve got a business - you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen,” meaning he believes government's responsible for all business success. And that's the total reverse of how the nation was built and actually works.

This nation was in fact founded by entrepreneurs who were sick and tired of working hard to produce all of those things needed by themselves and others only to find an overbearing government bleeding them dry via taxation. So they came here, seeking freedom and proceeded to lay the foundation for the most successful marketplace in the world.

They soon found out that they needed some form of government to help keep things in order, and devoted some of their time to that effort, but it wasn't their job nor their career. And then, in time, as the nation grew it became necessary to establish a bureaucratic system to take on various administrative functions. However, through it all, entrepreneurs and those operating growing enterprises provided the funds and wherewithal for government to function, not the other way around.

Consequently, I think the incumbent ought to stop campaigning for a while and read a bit about the nation’s history. Because if he did he’d learn that government produces absolutely nothing, functions solely in support of the nation’s administerial needs and protections and as he should know better than anyone on earth, certainly doesn't make a profit.

And lastly, this nation doesn’t work for the government, never did and never will…it’s those in government that are compensated by taxpayers because the government’s supposed to work for them. 

That's it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/15/2012

Nothing much in the news today that’s really “new,” but I did come across an item on Fox on-line quoting the Associated Press that I thought was pretty amusing.

According to AP, “Democratic governors are accusing House Republicans of deliberately sabotaging the economy to help Mitt Romney oust President Barack Obama.” One of them, Governor Martin O'Malley, Democrat from Maryland said on Friday, “There's not a doubt in my mind that in their calculations, that they are hoping for the economy to slow before the election.They think that's their best shot at unseating the president."

Vermont Governor, Peter Shumlin, added “You have to ask the obvious question: How desperate and how far will they go to ensure this president gets defeated?"

In response, Michael Steel, aide to Speaker John Boehner, rejected the notion, saying “Democrats have not put forward any legitimate jobs legislation” and faulted them for blocking GOP efforts that could have resulted in faster job creation, noting that, “We have passed bills that would reduce red tape, repeal a health care law that is making harder for small businesses to hire, open up American energy resources, and - later this month - stop the largest tax hike in American history."

Now, as for me, I’ve been repeatedly mentioning for quite a long time the incredible stumbling blocks the Dems have created to impede economic growth and the strangleholds on businesses that lobbyists, unions and special interest groups have forced them to employ. 

But I still can’t find a better example of their audacity than one I’ve used before where a man shot both his parents, then asked for the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.  

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7//14/2012

The latest buzz about Mitt Romney’s coming VP selection puts Condoleezza Rice at the top of many pundit’s lists, and I’m sorry I didn't think of her as a prime candidate myself. Because she’s likely the best candidate of all of those supposedly in the running.  Her foreign affairs experience as “W” Bush’s Secretary of State alone rounds out a major lacking in Mitt just about perfectly.

However, aside from my agreement with the possible choice, I’m mentioning her today because of an item I read in the Wall Street Journal on-line wherein Conservative activist Bill Kristol “said he was ‘ambivalent’ about the idea of picking Ms. Rice, saying he has had some differences with her on foreign policy.”

He then went on to cite her high approval ratings in polls and said, "As a cold blooded political matter, you look at that kind of number and what she could do for me, and you have to be a little bit tempted if you were Mitt Romney."

And that’s where I stopped reading and looked his history up before starting typing because although I’ve never paid a lot of attention to Kristol who appears frequently on TV commentary panels, I’ve always thought him as condecending, elitist, smug, smarmy and exceedingly boring.

And what I found about him is pretty much in line with what I should have expected, because he’s been a journalist, editor and commentator most of his life with no practical experience whatsoever that I could find regarding what he comments about. And although highly educated in top rank schools, he’s never been a responsible policy or decision-maker, other than in his publishing business.

So here we have another case where some back-seat pundit with no practical knowledge regally comments about the qualifications of someone highly experienced, yet has no personal basis to draw on whatsoever. And, as for me, Kristol’s opinion about Condoleezza is just about the same as Pee Wee Herman critiquing Joe Namath’s Super Bowl win.

That’s it for today folks

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/13/2012

A short article in the Associated Press website this morning got my attention.

According to them, Bill Clinton says Romney's record as the head of private equity firm Bain Capital is fair game and taking a microscopic look at Romney's finances is "just as relevant as going over my record as governor when I ran for president."

He then states that voters "ought to make up their own mind" whether they support someone who apparently sought to minimize his federal tax liability by parking large sums of money overseas.

And that’s when Clinton’s own total lack of knowledge regarding finance came back to mind. Because as I recall he and his wife lost their life savings, paltry as it was, in the Whitewater scam when they were fleeced like sheep. He also fortunately chose to keep Alan Greenspan on as head of the Fed. However, I doubt Clinton himself ever actually understood anything told him about the money supply or whatever else Greenspan said.

But, coming back to Romney’s actions at Bain, I think the subject indeed should be publicized even more than it has been. Because it’s a very big plus for Mitt, whereas his reasons for parking funds overseas stem from ridiculous tax laws here that sorely need to be changed.

However, there’s also another aspect of the situation I believe voters ought to consider which regards basic intellect. Because if one works as hard as possible to build a financially successful enterprise and then simply hands the profits to the government without trying to minimize its exposure, exactly how stupid is that? Consequently, by demonstrating fiscal responsibility and doing what’s strategically best, Mitt Romney’s enhanced his credentials.

On the other hand however, if he wants to compare financial performance and success, I think Bill Clinton ought to measure Mitt Romney’s stellar record at Bain to the current administration which to date has lost taxpayers almost 16 trillion dollars and climbing. And that’s because, financially, that bunch of clueless clowns is surely a world class disgrace.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/12/2012

Found an interesting item on Ohio Senator, Rob Portman’s, website this morning. where he posted an analysis of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) final report on the cause of the the January 2001 projection of a $5.6 trillion 10 year surplus turning into an actual $6.1 trillion deficit over that time.

The CBO now says that “tax policies enacted a decade ago are responsible for just 16 percent of the swing from surplus to deficit.” And beyond that: Since only 1/4th of the tax cuts went to upper-income earners, just 1/25th of the decline from surpluses to deficits resulted from those cuts. 

Portman also noted that: “Given that CBO does not take into account any of the positive impact of tax cuts on investment, savings and economic growth, the percentage was actually even smaller than the 1/25^th estimate.”

The CBO report also shows that “new spending and net interest” were three times as responsible for the deficits as the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts – and 12 times as responsible as the upper-income portion of the tax cuts.

However, even more interesting to me was, a second CBO report saying that in both 2008 and 2009 “the highest earning 20% of taxpayers paid 94% of the TOTAL income tax burden -up from 86 percent in 2007, and 81 percent before the 2001 tax cuts.

Therefore, higher-income Americans have already been paying a bigger and bigger part of the total tax burden under the so-called “Bush tax cuts,” and it looks to me like the administration seeks to have them pay it all. And whereas they’ve succeeded in just about killing the economy altogether, it may be the only revenue source they have left.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/11/2012

I’m not so sure I buy the administration's demand that the “rich” must pay their “fair share” in taxes, because I have no idea whether or not they already meet that criteria. And, without an individual taxpayer audit, no one else knows either. I do know, however, that approximately 60% of the population pays no taxes whatsoever and isn’t expected to in the future.

But, it isn’t the administration’s constant whining and demand for successful folks money that bothers me so much, it’s the concept of their premise itself that drives me nuts.

Because in most cases, those who are being hounded for money have received it as a result of accomplishment, yet those demanding it are total failures, which to me turns the American concept upside down. And I think if you told the Founding Fathers, who came and  built the nation because the British taxed them unconscionably, that the cycle was repeating itself tax-wise, they’d start loading their guns again.

But what’s even worse is the reason the nation now needs the funds at all. Because it’s the result of gross ineptitude, immaturity, and a total lack of understanding of the nation’s economy that are the cause.

So, here we have a situation where so-called “leaders” without an iota of governance capability have broken the financial back of the strongest fiscal system known to man. And having amassed almost 16 trillion dollars in debt, still need to more to pay for their mistakes. Yet, their tag line is that the successful have to pay their “fair share.”

Thus I have only one question for the demand that successful folks pay even more than they do now to cover incompetent’s mistakes. I’d really like to know what the losers plan to do after they’ve tapped all the winners out.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/10/2012

Clicking a headline on Drudge this morning “Brad Pitt's mom in fear after slamming Obama” sent me to an article by Jack Minor of WND on-line.

The author quotes Jane Pitt as writing that Barack Obama is “a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage” in a letter to the editor of Missouri’s Springfield News-Leader.

I mention this not so much about the hostility in much of the reaction from readers, because there’s always anger, vitriol and dispute between those having differing opinions and beliefs. In fact, as an article, the material's probably not even worth reading at all.

But what caught my eye, and caused me to mention the situation today is the inclusion of reader’s comments at the article’s end.

As I read the threats, slurs and outright stupid babbling of the dissenters I realized that these slugs are dumber than stones. Nowhere did I see any mature, rational, or even dimly thought out responses. Instead I read:  “Brad Pitt’s mom, die,” “F— you, brad pitt’s mom, the gay community made your kid a star, you whacko,” and “Brad Pitt’s mom is a dumb c—.”

So, I guess, it’s articles like these that reflect some of the reasons that our nation’s in the morass that exists. And especially why so many folks are having trouble finding employment. Because if the childish way these examples have expressed themselves actually indicates their intellect, they’re fortunate if they can tie their own shoes.

Nonetheless, I doubt that these imbeciles will have much impact in the coming election, because its highly unlikely they’ll remember the date or be able to find the voting booths.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/9/2012

In The Wall Street Journal on-line, Andrew J. Coulson writes that “Since 1970, the public school workforce has roughly doubled—to 6.4 million from 3.3 million—and two-thirds of those new hires are teachers or teachers' aides. Over the same period, enrollment rose by a tepid 8.5%. Employment has thus grown 11 times faster than enrollment. If we returned to the student-to-staff ratio of 1970, American taxpayers would save about $210 billion annually in personnel costs.”

In justification of the huge increases in hiring of “educators,” Stanford economist, Eric Hanushek, has shown that better-educated students contribute substantially to economic growth. He argues that “If U.S. students could catch up to the mathematics performance of their Canadian counterparts, he has found, “it would add roughly $70 trillion to the U.S. economy over the next 80 years.” So, he concludes that, “if the additional three million public-school employees we've hired have helped students learn, the nation may be better off economically.”

Mr. Coulson then posted what he calls "long-term trends" of 17-year-olds on the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress. Used for four decades now, they show “stagnation in reading and math and a decline in science. Scores for black and Hispanic students have improved somewhat, but the scores of white students (still the majority) are flat overall, and large demographic gaps persist. Graduation rates have also stagnated or fallen. So a doubling in staff size and more than a doubling in cost have done little to improve academic outcomes.”

So, what this data says to me is that it isn’t the number of people involved in teaching that matters, it’s the quality of their performance that counts. Because, otherwise we wouldn’t have a case where the teaching rolls have significantly increased (11 to 1) yet the quality of education has gone down dramatically.

And in all due deference to Eric Hanushek, it doesn’t matter what Canadian mathematics performance results are, because we happen to live in the U.S. where all you have to do is watch folks try to add or subtract without a calculator to realize they’re all hopeless on their own.

But then again, if you established a merit system for teachers whereby they had to produce improved results or else, the unions wouldn’t have any members left at all. So they’d likely burn all the schools down rather than comply.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios 

BloggeRhythms 7/8/2012

According to Tony Lee, on Breitbart on-line this morning, the unemployment rate dropped in every state that elected a Republican governor in 2010. His article included the following chart:

Kansas - 6.9% to 6.1% = a decline of 0.8%

Maine - 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6%

Michigan - 10.9% to 8.5% = a decline of 2.4%

New Mexico - 7.7% to 6.7% = a decline of 1.0%

Oklahoma - 6.2% to 4.8% = a decline of 1.4%

Pennsylvania - 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6%

Tennessee - 9.5% to 7.9% = a decline of 1.6%

Wisconsin - 7.7% to 6.8% = a decline of 0.9%

Wyoming - 6.3% to 5.2% = a decline of 1.1%

Alabama - 9.3% to 7.4% = a decline of 1.9%

Georgia - 10.1% to 8.9% = a decline of 1.2%

South Carolina - 10.6% to 9.1% = a decline of 1.5%

South Dakota - 5.0% to 4.3% = a decline of 0.7%

Florida - 10.9% to 8.6% = a decline of 2.3%

Nevada - 13.8% to 11.6% = a decline of 2.2%

Iowa - 6.1% to 5.1% = a decline of 1.0%

Ohio - 9.0% to 7.3% = a decline of 1.7%

In contrast, Lee points out that, "On the other hand, the unemployment rate in states that elected Democrats in 2010 dropped, on average, as much as the national rate decline and, in some states such as New York, the unemployment rate has risen since January of 2011.”

So, whereas the president refuses to try to repair the nation’s economy, choosing  to simply accept the anti-business demands of the lobby’s that put him in office, he’s traveling the nation, babbling and blustering slurs regarding his opponent and sounding like a spoiled four year old instead. And rather than accepting the responsibilities of his office, he prefers to stick his tongue out, wiggle his ears and spout personal slurs as a brat would.

In the meantime, however, the seventeen leaders who’ve done their best for their states and constituents by actually trying to get something positive done, are quietly showing by their successes what real leadership's all about. And since the coming election will depend greatly on the economy, I sense that next November the ousted incumbent will look back and regret that he never tried to learn an iota about it.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/7/2012

Evidently, the president received some real blow-back on Friday. At his second campaign stop, following a dismal June jobs report, he called the faint job growth "a step in the right direction."

However, later that same day at an afternoon stop in Pittsburgh, he dropped the line and stressed instead the work that remains to be done to remedy unemployment.

I mention this because I believe that when listening to politicians, one has to very carefully parse their comments in order to grasp their true meaning. And in this case, I’m sure that what the incumbent originally stated was likely what he intended. Because, what he didn’t point out clearly was whom the directional step was good for.

Consequently, in this case I think there’s a very good chance that he feels stagnant unemployment helps his cause since he favors as much governmental control as possible. Therefore, the more folks there are collecting unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps and whatever other governmental doles exist, the better for him.

So, in conclusion, since the incumbent desires a nation wherein the most citizens as possible are dependent on him and his party for sustenance, I reiterate my original thought. Because in regard to the number of folks still unemployed, yesterday was indeed a step in the right direction for him.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/6/2012

If the coming presidential election truly depends primarily on employment, Mitt Romney’s surely going to unseat the incumbent.

I know that because according to the U.S. Labor Department “The economy has added just 75,000 jobs a month in the April-June quarter. That's one-third of 226,000 a month created in the first quarter. Job creation is also trailing last year's pace through the first six months of 2012.”

The unemployment rate itself remained unchanged at 8.2%.

However, although the numbers themselves bode badly for the administration, the odds are that they’re going to get far worse. Because it’s extremely doubtful the trend can be reversed.

During the last quarter, most businesspeople thought that SCOTUS was going to overturn the president’s new health care law, thereby improving their outlook. Now they’re still stuck with the problem. There was also some hope for progress for the Keystone oil pipeline construction, heading toward toward lower costs of fuel. But that hasn’t happened yet and likely won’t occur soon.

Add to those two huge anti-growth mistakes, the continuing trend toward strangling regulation, rising tax rates and ongoing attempts to redistribute hard-earned income. All of which clearly insure that the unemployment rate will rise some more in the coming months.

So, while pundits mumble and grumble that Republicans have no specific plans that guarantee future improved results, they don’t really need one. Because all they have to do is reverse or annul all that’s been done by the current administration and the nation’s economy will correct itself.  

That's it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/5/2012

Quoting the Associated Press, New York, on Tuesday, Chris Kahn  of Bloomberg BusinessWeek News on-line wrote that “Iran is again threatening to block a critical Persian Gulf shipping route in response to a European embargo of Iranian oil. Iran has sparred for months with the West over its nuclear program.”

Kahn then reports that “Benchmark U.S. crude added $3.91, or 4.7 percent, to end at $87.66 per barrel in New York. That's the highest price since May 30,” and that “combined with a big gain on Friday, oil has risen by nearly $10 per barrel in less than a week. (and) The national average for gas rose slightly Tuesday to $3.30 per gallon, the first increase in more than two months.”

I mention this while realizing that international hostilities should certainly be important to us, however, why should our gasoline prices rise when we possess more domestic oil resources than we’d know what to do with? Yet lobbies and special interest groups prevent us from utilizing them, despite unemployment’s continual unacceptability. Meanwhile,  we spend outrageous sums overseas, enriching foreign speculators and cartels that do absolutely nothing for us whatsoever.

And the most important point of all is, as every day goes by it becomes more apparent that the whole environmental issue is basically bunk, and the petroleum manipulation’s almost purely political. Consequently, I have to wonder when the majority of our population will wake up and demand that this problem be fixed.

Because, no matter who’s elected next time around, our paying two to three times more for fuel than we should isn’t only outrageous, the perps responsible for this rip-off should all be locked up as well.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/4/2012

Just a quick thought I had this morning about today’s significance. Because the Fourth of July is supposed to commemorate the nation’s gaining of independence from an intrusive, oppressive and overbearing government. Yet, the current administration believes in the complete reverse.

And while the rockets glare, fireworks explode and citizens celebrate their freedom from coast to coast, just last Thursday the biggest tax in our country’s history became law, soon to enlarge the already huge bureaucratic morass.

So, while everyone’s deluding themselves at barbecues, beaches, parades and picnics, their pockets are being picked for redistribution of whatever they’ve managed to earn for themselves.

But the saddest part of the day for me is the thought that if a new president isn’t elected in November, next year most over-taxed middle class types will likely need food stamps to buy their hot dogs.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/3/2012

As I’ve mentioned several times recently, it’s the little things in life that often get you. And that’s why an article by Ed Carson in, Investors.com, on-line caught my eye this morning. Because, while many savvy folks are up in arms over the massive new health care tax, the public’s still quietly getting fleeced due to other whopping financial travesty's made by the incumbent. 
 
According to Mr. Carson, “General Motors (GM) shares fell to a fresh 2012 closing low of 19.57 on Monday. The stock hit 19 in mid-December, the lowest since the auto giant came public at $33 in November 2010 following its June 2009 bankruptcy."

He went on to write that, “Normally you might say, tough luck investors. But this is Government Motors. The Treasury still owns 26.5% of GM, or 500 million shares. Taxpayers are still out $26.4 billion in direct aid. Shares would have to hit $53 for the government to break even. Those shares were worth about $9.8 billion as of Monday. That would leave taxpayers with a loss of $16.6 billion.

"But that's not the full tally," he says. "Obama let GM keep $45 billion in past losses to offset future profits. Those are usually wiped out or slashed, along with debts, in bankruptcy. But the administration essentially gifted $45 billion in write-offs (book value $18 billion) to GM. So when GM earned a $7.6 billion profit in 2011, it paid no taxes. Include that $18 billion gift, and taxpayers' true loss climbs to nearly $35 billion.”

In conclusion, the article points out that, “Of course, there's no chance that the administration will sell off its GM stake before Election Day. That would force Obama to recognize actual losses, which would remind voters that the bailout was a massive transfer from taxpayers to unions.”

So, as I’ve been noting for quite some time now, the best thing Mitt Romney’s campaign can do is to simply and surely educate the 20% of voters whom are independent. Because those folks aren’t going to hear the truth from a strongly biased liberal media. However, once the facts are exposed, all of which are correct, the administration will self-destruct vote-wise, resultant of their own misguided mistakes.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/2/2012

Lot’s of talk, hype, smoke and speculation building in regard to the SCOTUS decision on Obamacare, especially about the vote and opinion delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

As far as I can tell, everybody’s got an opinion, however, it doesn't seem to me that anyone really knows why the justice did what he did. And, until he retires and writes a book on the subject, I doubt anyone will. But, I still think the answer’s pretty simple.

Although there are some who believe he stretched the law, and others who think he overstepped his bounds completely, from the way his summary sounded to me, and despite that I’ve no credentials regarding legislation, it seems to me he took a literal, straightforward, approach and called it as he saw it.

I believe he was very clear in stating that as a law, the issue had no standing whatsoever. However, he rightly concluded that Congress indeed has the power to tax. And that’s exactly what Congress did, at the behest of the incumbent.

Consequently, this administration has imposed one of the biggest taxes in history, particularly on the middle-class, and as far as SCOTUS goes, that’s that.

So, now its left to the administration to live with the consequences of what they’ve accomplished, which is likely a political death knell.

Because while till now most opponents thought the bill had no chance, and didn’t really dissect it, now they will. And the early findings are so financially crippling to much of the voting public, I think it means that although the administration won the SCOTUS vote, they'll likely lose Congress and the White House next November.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios

BloggeRhythms 7/1/2012

Two quick head-scratching items this morning.

According to Fox News online “The White House insisted Sunday the consequence for Americans not having health insurance is a penalty fee, despite the Supreme Court ruling that it is a tax and said the debate on the Affordable Care Act should finally end.”

I think that’s a pretty amusing approach, first because even if you call the fee “Curly,” “Moe” or “Larry” it’s still a TAX and the administration certainly knows that. Secondly, I don’t think folks are going to care what the tax is called when they're forced to pay it, they’re just going to be mad as hell and vote for Romney. So, in that regard, the debate hasn’t even started.

Then I noticed an article from Reuters noting that “Oil surged on Friday in heavy trading to the fourth biggest daily gain on record, as a deal by European leaders to shore up euro zone banks triggered frantic short-covering by funds that had been riding crude's price collapse over the last quarter. Despite the sharp gains, both international benchmark Brent and U.S. oil futures posted their biggest quarterly declines since the fourth quarter of 2008 due to weak demand, ample supply and economic worries.”

What’s confusing to me about this one is that “weak demand, ample supply and economic worries” haven’t changed for the better, and in fact may now be worse. So why throw good money on top of existing losses which likely will get worse? 

However, the really horrible shame of the matter is that all us innocent victims will be paying for these bad speculating bets at the pump.

That’s it for today folks.

Adios