Why the title?

"Pioneers take the arrows"

Oh, wait. I should be upbeat and taking arrows doesn't sound like an upbeat thing to say.

So, let me amend that statement.

It was courage and vision that led the pioneers to leave behind a comfortable, settled life and trek West to begin a new life in a new place. Many of those from the East that went West found a strength within themselves that they didn't see while they were in their old life. Instead of being one of those that just kind of went along with the others in the old life, they became leaders and visionaries in their new lives.

The sentiments of that last paragraph come from a favorite author, Louis L'Amour, in many of his books. So, I can't really say that it is an original thought from me. However, what he said is truthful.

Welcome to being a pioneer. Look ahead and ignore the "barking dogs" that give you negative opinions and comments. Louis L'Amour also spoke of the barking dogs.

In some of his stories, it was usually a father or older man telling a young boy how it was that when the Westward bound Conestoga wagons rolled through towns, the dogs came out to bark at them. His character then told the young listener that the barking didn't stop the wagons from going on to their destinations.

Following the advice of the Louis L'Amour characters, may we all forge ahead with our plans, after carefully considering all consequences and leave the "barkers" behind.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Washington Liars and Deceivers

I’ve finally gotten around to the rant about Congress and the inability to function as adults. Many of them are also outright liars, intent on deceiving the American public. Pardon the numerous links, but I do wish to prove my point. Prior to pillaring the Democrats, allow me to admit that there are deceptive Republicans as well, some of them in leadership roles in Congress.

This last week has seen the wrangling of the House and the Senate in Washington, D.C. with the President proving to be a liar as well. It has all been about passing a “tax cut extension” which technically isn’t really a tax cut. According to the story below from Jake Tapper of ABC News, hardly a news source that is always supportive of conservatives, the recent passing of a 2 month extension is unlikely to be properly implemented because of the short length of time it would be in effect. Jake Tapper’s story is here.

Earlier in the year, even Obama was pushing for a 1-year extension. Well, this last month, the House passed a one year extension. However, because of political reasons, the Senate didn’t want to pass that one, possibly because of the Keystone LX pipeline from Canada down to the Gulf area. So, the Senate passed the 2-month extension instead, so that they could still go on vacation or whatever and the President suddenly forgot all about his desire for a 1-year extension and signed onto the 2-month one and even berated the Republicans for not passing that shorter extension.

As for the tax cut, it is basically an extension of the lowering of what is taken from wages for Social Security. Yep, you read right. Everyone is pushing to help defund Social Security with all this, mostly because the Congress has been negligent and corrupt. Since before the 2010 election, Congress has failed to pass a budget, even though it is a requirement.

It wasn’t until the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives that a budget was passed in the house. Even after that has been accomplished, the Senate still refuses to pass a budget. That story from Townhall.com is at this link and a story from FOX News is at this link, although the FOX story is a few months earlier.

That it is hard to find these stories in the main stream media is not a surprise. As far as I am concerned, most of the media is fully in the pockets of the Democrats and do all they can to protect Obama and their “buddies” in government. I think that the media should be required to put a “dollar figure” on the value of the news or non-news that it does and be required to list it as campaign donations to the Democrats.

Now, to another point in this rant, why was it that the President didn’t want to make a decision about the Keystone XL pipeline until after the elections in 2012? Well, he has a quandary. One of the Democrat’s special interest groups is the environmentalists, who do not want the pipeline to be built. (Incidentally, why not build this pipeline since this country is already criss-crossed with pipelines?)

On the other hand, another special interest of the Democrats is the unions, who do want the pipeline built because it will mean jobs for its members. So, Obama wants to put off the decision on the pipeline because he wants campaign funding from both groups, but if he alienates either of them with a decision, then he could lose that funding. By delaying a decision until after the election, he would be getting funding from both groups since they would hope to influence his decision.

With the pipeline issue, regardless of which way he decides on that, one side or the other will be alienated. Thus, it is obvious that Obama is deceptive. With the extension that was passed, Obama is supposed to make some decision within 60 days on the pipeline. Only time will tell if they can find some wording in the agreement or extension that would let him wiggle out.

While the media and the Democratic Party leaders want to deride the “tea party” movement and the representatives in both houses of Congress that were elected due to that movement, it is that movement that best offers a chance of getting the country’s fiscal affairs in order.

How about we start with a budget from the Senate? How about a constitutional amendment requiring the government to balance the budget EVERY year, just as numerous states already do. The best way of balancing is to cut spending by government. It is a proven fact that with true tax cuts the revenue to the government increases, so if taxes were cut, or the FAIR tax or flat tax implemented and spending cut, things would get better in a hurry.

Sadly, so many in the country today swallow the lies and deceptions of President Obama, the Democratic Party leaders in the Congress, and the main stream media. More people need to be educated about economic matters before the November elections of 2012. Then, after Obama is defeated and the Republicans take over the Senate as well as the House, we need to hold the feet of the Republicans to the fire so that they will do the right things for the country.

2 comments:

  1. I also found it interesting that the media never mention the 27% cut in Medicare that would have been implemented if the payroll tax bill is not passed. This will impact more people and businesses in more ways than most folks understand. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jcyE00UHpsoo7hlRu-EFsrglgslg?docId=2357e576af71473fbdc8c55362ac7703

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  2. Jerry/Carol,

    You are right, of course. There isn't any way that I could touch on all the nonsense that is involved with any of the bills/programs that Congress and the President are pushing. I get the feeling that my posts are long enough as they are, and to make them longer would really drive off any readers.

    While this blog is more for me to "practice" writing as a benefit for my photo book than anything, I would like for it to be interesting for readers as well.

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