Conservatives need to adopt liberal tactics in order to change the views of the American people. Conservatives need to counter the negative message presented by the lame street media with a more positive staging. Liberals have for years and years presented a steady drumbeat that conservatives were less than human and conservatives have sat around crying foul and have done nothing to counteract this message.
The favorite liberal tactic is to launch a massage intimidation campaign against the advertisers of conservative media outlets. The liberal goal is to stop advertisers from advertising on certain programs. Progressive henchmen have taken this tactic to a new and disgusting level. Unions and other large groups of thugs have shown up on the doorsteps of those that they wish to intimidate! Intimidation is their favorite tool. Liberals constantly scream and carry on as if the world is about to end and the compliant media repeats word for word the liberal message!
These tactics are part of the liberal playbook and they use it often and in a variety of ways. Liberals will discredit anyone who speaks out in opposion to their agenda by comparing them to the lowest elements in society. Liberals will label them as murderers, uninformed, violent, racists, uneducated, Nazis, or members of the KKK! Have you ever noticed how every liberal parrots the same message and thought of the day! This is because they have a daily plan and no liberal is allowed to deviate from that plan.
The really ugly part of this tactic is the fact that the liberal lame street news media follows this same liberal tactical script. . You can see it daily in the news media when they assassinate anyone who disagrees with the liberal issue of the moment, some are worse than others but the message does get through!
A large number of the democratic rank and file falls for this message because they refuse to take a close look at anything. If they read or hear it in the news media or hear it from the democratic leadership then it must be true! They really believe that the party is for the common person because that is what they are told by their union bosses and party bosses, and we all know what pillars of society they are.
Conservatives must start to develop their own tactical playbook and they might want to copy some liberal tactics, such as, launching their own intimidation campaigns against the advertisers in the liberal news media. The Tea Party could be very effective using this tactic! Advertisers will react to these threats just like they do when democrats have used them in the past. When I was a democrat I was very aware of this tactic being used all the time however, when I left the democrats I never saw conservatives or independents use this tactic. Looks like we have arrived at a point in time where conservatives need to become activists or the thugs will win!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Radical Progressives!
As a recovering former democrat I really fail to understand why more democrats refuse to see the light and leave the party to become Independents. I guess they really believe that the party is for the common person in society. What a joke, the only thing that the party cares about are the votes, everything else is the cost of doing business. For example, democrats believe that they can get the female vote by supporting the woman's right to choose to have an abortion and it does not matter to them that on average there are about 1.5 million babies murdered each year, and to democrats it is only the cost of doing business. Democrats also believe that they can get the poor and working poor's vote by pouring money into their communities, however, democrats don't want them in their communities or schools. To the democrat elite this is only a cost of doing business and they are the first to leave for the suburbs and gated communities and private schools!
I have known many liberals who consider the poor, the uneducated, blacks and other minorities, and the handicapped as second class citizens. These liberals have a hated for anyone with different view or opinion than themselves and in general are very negative about everything around them! These liberals can sometimes be vindictive and very difficult to talk to or deal with. When I try to discuss any social topic with them and try to get them to understand a reality that they apparently can not grasp, they respond with the typical liberal response of name calling, getting angry, or some other form of violent outburst. As a result I have given up trying to discuss anything political or social because a liberal apparently has a genetic defect or a mental disorder. This is too bad since I still have many liberal friends who still believe the propaganda.
I understand the mentality of the progressive liberal democrats because they are the reason that I left the party. The radical progressives started taking over the democratic party back in the 1960's and now after 50 years there are NO common sense democrats left. In other words the democratic party is not the party of your father and grandfather. The NEW democrats came from the radicals who were involved in the Viet Nham protest violence who conned a large number of college students that their protests were all about freedom from Big Government. What they were really about was the destruction of the United States from within and the formation of Big Government with these radical progressives in charge!
Students like his Oneness Barak Obama became a firm believer in this doctrine and hid behind a cloak of secrecy to become elected to a government office. Now that the cat is out of the bag all of the slimy groups are now showing themselves and proudly holding up their posters and flags for all to see. You won't see this information coming from the Lame Street Media but you can find it on the internet by going to several liberal websites.
The radical progressive democrats have a game plan that they have used very successfully with the aid of the liberal news media. Tea Party activists should copy the radical's game plan and use it as a way to discredit and overcome the radicals and the compliant liberal news media. In the future I will try to explain some of the liberal propaganda methods that they have successfully used over the last 50 years. These methods were used when I was young and dumb and believed the democratic propaganda. Many of these devices are very simple and are not very difficult to use by a conscientious group such as the tea party.
I have known many liberals who consider the poor, the uneducated, blacks and other minorities, and the handicapped as second class citizens. These liberals have a hated for anyone with different view or opinion than themselves and in general are very negative about everything around them! These liberals can sometimes be vindictive and very difficult to talk to or deal with. When I try to discuss any social topic with them and try to get them to understand a reality that they apparently can not grasp, they respond with the typical liberal response of name calling, getting angry, or some other form of violent outburst. As a result I have given up trying to discuss anything political or social because a liberal apparently has a genetic defect or a mental disorder. This is too bad since I still have many liberal friends who still believe the propaganda.
I understand the mentality of the progressive liberal democrats because they are the reason that I left the party. The radical progressives started taking over the democratic party back in the 1960's and now after 50 years there are NO common sense democrats left. In other words the democratic party is not the party of your father and grandfather. The NEW democrats came from the radicals who were involved in the Viet Nham protest violence who conned a large number of college students that their protests were all about freedom from Big Government. What they were really about was the destruction of the United States from within and the formation of Big Government with these radical progressives in charge!
Students like his Oneness Barak Obama became a firm believer in this doctrine and hid behind a cloak of secrecy to become elected to a government office. Now that the cat is out of the bag all of the slimy groups are now showing themselves and proudly holding up their posters and flags for all to see. You won't see this information coming from the Lame Street Media but you can find it on the internet by going to several liberal websites.
The radical progressive democrats have a game plan that they have used very successfully with the aid of the liberal news media. Tea Party activists should copy the radical's game plan and use it as a way to discredit and overcome the radicals and the compliant liberal news media. In the future I will try to explain some of the liberal propaganda methods that they have successfully used over the last 50 years. These methods were used when I was young and dumb and believed the democratic propaganda. Many of these devices are very simple and are not very difficult to use by a conscientious group such as the tea party.
Friday, December 17, 2010
A recent e-mail message!
A recent e-mail message read as follows: I,for one am tired of seeing our tax $$ going to aid foreign dictators and contractors who skim off the cream. WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH? 'My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed.Since Congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq . This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short . The United Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there. The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list.
My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening. Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. THEN EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER It'll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hell holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption. Need help with a famine ? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France .
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth. Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France , and Russia . Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.
A special note to our neighbors: Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change. Mexico is also on List 2. Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple thousand extra tanks and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put 'em? Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now. We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska -which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, 'darn tootin.' Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America . It is time to eliminate homelessness in America .
To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys. We owe you and we won't forget. To the nations on List 2, a final thought : You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America .. Thank you and good night.' If you can read this in English, thank a soldier. (Please forward this to at least ten friends and see what happens! Let's get this to every USA computer!) Would this not be a great speech to hear? _____________________________________________________
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq . This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short . The United Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there. The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list.
My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening. Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. THEN EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER It'll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hell holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption. Need help with a famine ? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France .
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth. Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France , and Russia . Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.
A special note to our neighbors: Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change. Mexico is also on List 2. Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple thousand extra tanks and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put 'em? Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now. We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska -which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, 'darn tootin.' Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America . It is time to eliminate homelessness in America .
To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys. We owe you and we won't forget. To the nations on List 2, a final thought : You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America .. Thank you and good night.' If you can read this in English, thank a soldier. (Please forward this to at least ten friends and see what happens! Let's get this to every USA computer!) Would this not be a great speech to hear? _____________________________________________________
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The new House of Representatives
It is apparent that the new republican majority in the House of Representatives has much work that needs to be done and many voices that are giving them directions. However, these new representatives need to only listen to the voice of the people and complete the job that the people elected them to do. If they listen to the other voices and try to accommodate those concerns then the voters may vote them out in 2012.
The first order of business should be to investigate everything that has been forced upon the American people by the Obama government and at the same time cut the purse strings on all the spending that occurred! It is doubtful that everything that the house sends to the senate will get passed, however, that could and should become a 2012 election issue to use against the democrats and Obama.
The House republicans need to act less like liberals and refuse to use their methods, and above all do not give in to their socialist demands. The new members must be very aware of what the democrats will try to bate them with, having been a member of the democrat party before my eyes were opened; I know the tricks they will try. The republicans need to stay focused and force the democrats to vote against the bills that get passed by the house! Because of the results of the 2010 election it may be that a large number of democrats will vote for these bills in order to save themselves in the 2012 election.
I would hope that republicans begin to act like the representatives that the people want in Washington! Hopefully they will stop going along to get along with the democrats in congress. If they go back to that behavior then the people will replace them in the next election! The silent majority woke up during the past two years and they don’t plan on going back to being a silent majority ever again! Therefore, the politicians should be very cognizant of what the people are thinking and what they want to see done in Washington.
The democrats think that they are much better and smarter and able to take care of Americans and do what is best for them. This elitist attitude is what really got the Tea Party started in the first place, as a reaction to the congress and President in their ivory towers in Washington. The Tea Party members will be watching and those republicans who chose to go along with the liberals in order to get along will do so at their own peril!
The first order of business should be to investigate everything that has been forced upon the American people by the Obama government and at the same time cut the purse strings on all the spending that occurred! It is doubtful that everything that the house sends to the senate will get passed, however, that could and should become a 2012 election issue to use against the democrats and Obama.
The House republicans need to act less like liberals and refuse to use their methods, and above all do not give in to their socialist demands. The new members must be very aware of what the democrats will try to bate them with, having been a member of the democrat party before my eyes were opened; I know the tricks they will try. The republicans need to stay focused and force the democrats to vote against the bills that get passed by the house! Because of the results of the 2010 election it may be that a large number of democrats will vote for these bills in order to save themselves in the 2012 election.
I would hope that republicans begin to act like the representatives that the people want in Washington! Hopefully they will stop going along to get along with the democrats in congress. If they go back to that behavior then the people will replace them in the next election! The silent majority woke up during the past two years and they don’t plan on going back to being a silent majority ever again! Therefore, the politicians should be very cognizant of what the people are thinking and what they want to see done in Washington.
The democrats think that they are much better and smarter and able to take care of Americans and do what is best for them. This elitist attitude is what really got the Tea Party started in the first place, as a reaction to the congress and President in their ivory towers in Washington. The Tea Party members will be watching and those republicans who chose to go along with the liberals in order to get along will do so at their own peril!
Friday, November 5, 2010
State retirement systems
JUST A RETIRED THINKER!
I recently read an article by Dick Morris about how the states will all face a fiscal crisis similar to Greece. This crisis is going to come to the United States next year via the vulnerable state governments of California, Michigan and New York. Look for these states to descend once more on Washington DC with their tin cups seeking additional federal subsidies, disguised as stimulus payments. But...with Republicans in control of the House they will meet a frosty reception on Capitol Hill. While Obama will try to pass the subsidies, the GOP will turn them down. The American people - from the other 47 states - will ask why they should reward state irresponsibility with federal dollars.
Faced with a cutoff of additional federal aid, these state legislatures will be unable to avoid bankruptcy. From there, the fiscal crunch will extend to states throughout the nation and the reduction of state expenditures will assume critical importance at just the time that a slew of Republican governors and state legislators - who have pledged not to raise taxes - will take office.
A key focus will be on reforming state pension systems. The recent crash of 2008-2009 cost the average state pension system 30% of its assets. Already, this crunch will force legislatures to slash current spending on education, highways, law enforcement, etc. to accommodate the needs of their pension systems.
Unfortunately, even though the market was crashing, the pension systems had to keep sending out checks. The result is a shortfall will take 25 years for the average state to make up for the losses they sustained in the few months of the crash and in the two years since. And, should the market crash again (think: Obama's economic policies and their impact) then the states will find they have to contribute more and more to their pension systems.
Enter a bold new proposal introduced by Utah State Senator Republican Dan Liljenquist for a massive overhaul of his state's pension system, a bill which was passed and signed into law in March of this year.
The Utah reform changes the pension system for public employees to a fixed defined state contribution so that the state has no longer to raise or lower its contributions to the retirement fund in response to the market fluctuations in the return these funds earn on their investments. It fixes the state contribution each year at 10% of the employees' salary whether pension fund investments are doing well or doing poorly.
If the investments are tanking and earning too little to sustain the guaranteed benefits, the state would not be obliged to pay more than 10% and the employee would have to make up the difference out of his or her salary. If the investments were doing well, the state would still invest 10% annually and, if this sum came to more than was required to meet the guaranteed benefits, the state worker will get to invest the difference in a personal 401 (k). The worker would not be permitted to borrow against his 401 (k) and would have to invest the funds according to parameters set by the Utah Retirement System so that the savings are not squandered. Each state employee would also have the option of opting out of the state system entirely. In that case, the state would just forward its 10% annual contribution to the employee's 401 (k). This system will start covering all new state workers after July 1, 2011. Existing workers are grandfathered in under the current system.
The Utah bill will allow the state to begin cutting its contributions to the pension system after seven years. For that to happen if they do not pass this reform, it will take twenty-five years.
States throughout America - and their taxpayers - need to study the Utah system and work to pass it in their states. Cut payments now or get soaked later...that's the choice for our states and their citizens.
Thanks to Dick Morris
I recently read an article by Dick Morris about how the states will all face a fiscal crisis similar to Greece. This crisis is going to come to the United States next year via the vulnerable state governments of California, Michigan and New York. Look for these states to descend once more on Washington DC with their tin cups seeking additional federal subsidies, disguised as stimulus payments. But...with Republicans in control of the House they will meet a frosty reception on Capitol Hill. While Obama will try to pass the subsidies, the GOP will turn them down. The American people - from the other 47 states - will ask why they should reward state irresponsibility with federal dollars.
Faced with a cutoff of additional federal aid, these state legislatures will be unable to avoid bankruptcy. From there, the fiscal crunch will extend to states throughout the nation and the reduction of state expenditures will assume critical importance at just the time that a slew of Republican governors and state legislators - who have pledged not to raise taxes - will take office.
A key focus will be on reforming state pension systems. The recent crash of 2008-2009 cost the average state pension system 30% of its assets. Already, this crunch will force legislatures to slash current spending on education, highways, law enforcement, etc. to accommodate the needs of their pension systems.
Unfortunately, even though the market was crashing, the pension systems had to keep sending out checks. The result is a shortfall will take 25 years for the average state to make up for the losses they sustained in the few months of the crash and in the two years since. And, should the market crash again (think: Obama's economic policies and their impact) then the states will find they have to contribute more and more to their pension systems.
Enter a bold new proposal introduced by Utah State Senator Republican Dan Liljenquist for a massive overhaul of his state's pension system, a bill which was passed and signed into law in March of this year.
The Utah reform changes the pension system for public employees to a fixed defined state contribution so that the state has no longer to raise or lower its contributions to the retirement fund in response to the market fluctuations in the return these funds earn on their investments. It fixes the state contribution each year at 10% of the employees' salary whether pension fund investments are doing well or doing poorly.
If the investments are tanking and earning too little to sustain the guaranteed benefits, the state would not be obliged to pay more than 10% and the employee would have to make up the difference out of his or her salary. If the investments were doing well, the state would still invest 10% annually and, if this sum came to more than was required to meet the guaranteed benefits, the state worker will get to invest the difference in a personal 401 (k). The worker would not be permitted to borrow against his 401 (k) and would have to invest the funds according to parameters set by the Utah Retirement System so that the savings are not squandered. Each state employee would also have the option of opting out of the state system entirely. In that case, the state would just forward its 10% annual contribution to the employee's 401 (k). This system will start covering all new state workers after July 1, 2011. Existing workers are grandfathered in under the current system.
The Utah bill will allow the state to begin cutting its contributions to the pension system after seven years. For that to happen if they do not pass this reform, it will take twenty-five years.
States throughout America - and their taxpayers - need to study the Utah system and work to pass it in their states. Cut payments now or get soaked later...that's the choice for our states and their citizens.
Thanks to Dick Morris
Thursday, June 17, 2010
I recently read an article by Ed Lasky entitled “How to Fight Back against Public Unions: A Primer”. Mr. Lasky is very concerned about the bloated salaries that Public Employees are now receiving and the fact that these jobs are growing beyond the ability of the public to provide the taxes necessary to pay for this monstrosity.
Apparently we have reached a potential turning point in the relationship of public employee unions and the electorate they serve. Over the past year, there has been a steady drumbeat of criticism focused on public unions and the havoc they have wrought on our public finances.
Governments from the local level to the federal are drowning in red ink. Our taxes are flowing to ever-voracious government workers (whose own ranks are growing steadily while the private payrolls shrink); they are better Compensated than private workers in comparable positions.
What is to be done? We; taxpayers, tea partiers and sympathizers, independents, Republicans, and Democrats need to come together and forge a blueprint to take back our nation. The inclusion of Democrats was deliberate, despite the fact that many Democrat politicians are in the pockets of public unions. AFSCME, the government employee union, has a political action committee that is the second-largest in the nation, and virtually all of its donations are to Democrats.
When liberal newspapers now report on subway conductors earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and takes editorial swipes at public employee unions and their greedy and self-centered leadership, the timing may be ripe for Democrats to come out of the closet and transform themselves from donkeys into fiscal hawks (see Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts in Los Angeles).
When that arbiter of popular culture "Saturday Night Live" makes fun of surly government workers, we may have reached a turning point. Hope springs eternal on the political front, but what can people power do to weaken the grip of public employee unions and restore fiscal sanity to our governments' budgets?
We are in a communications war where we have a voice. Public employee unions will spend millions to try to defeat measures to rein in their bloated salaries and pension benefits. They threaten even longer lines at government offices (and fewer of them), shorter hours at libraries, park districts cutting programs, and fewer policeman and firefighters. The list goes on and on of the plagues that will hit us if we dare take on public unions.
They never address high salaries, excessive days off, sick days being used because government employees are sick of work, or pensions being used to buy piña coladas in Pensacola. Government unions spend vast sums on this propaganda (and on lobbyists and political campaigns to elect politicians to put in their pockets), and the exact amount is now almost unknowable. Barack Obama, in the first few days of his presidency, issued an executive order shielding unions from disclosure rules requiring them to report how they spend union dues.
But facts can be marshaled that put the blame where it belongs. Public-sector unions and state debt go hand in hand; states with the highest per capita debt have the strongest public-sector unions, who have cut sweetheart deals with politicians. We should highlight how these unions have diminished our futures.
The American Enterprise Institute, CATO, Reason magazine, and the Manhattan Institute's City Journal have all been publishing columns on the problems posed by public employee unions. Their websites -- and that of American Thinker and sites such as Newsalert, who focus on this topic -- are readily available, are open 24 hours a day, and the information can be found easily and after a few seconds (unlike, say, at government offices).
The Center for Union Facts has a well-designed website (http://www.unionfacts.com/), and Pension Watch reports on the coming pension tsunami that will engulf America at http://www.pensiontsunami.com/. This brief video that touches on the fiscal crisis caused by public unions can and hopefully will go viral.
The Role of Leaders, we do have leaders who can rally taxpayers and, because they have a megaphone, broadcast the facts and rally taxpayers. One of these leaders is, of course, Republican Chris Christie of New Jersey. He is seeking to stop rampant public-employee wage growth. Revealing opponents' hypocrisy can work wonders.
Running against public employee unions has resonance with voters; the leader in the Alabama GOP primary for governor is a former college professor who is opposed to the unions. Use YouTube -- The People's Network Governor Christie has become a YouTube star, and the clips of his taking on public unions are the reason . This shows the value of videos in our new age of media. We can see gladiators fighting for taxpayers. They are instantaneous and cannot be censored by liberals in the media who pick and choose what to broadcast. Conversely, like all morality plays, there are villains, and we can watch them too, in all their glory.
One video that circulated recently showed an AFSCME union leader threatening Illinois legislators across the street as he demands more money for government employees. He ominously taunted them that AFSCME knew where they lived and could follow them home. (It's not so far-fetched when you consider that SEIU leaders protested in front of the home of a Bank of America lawyer recently. They owe the bank money and may have wanted their own bank-sponsored bailout. There is a new film genre: SEIU thugs at work.) Boston firefighters have done the same at Boston's City Hall. Protests are spreading -- and not just in Athens. Apparently, public servants are willing to serve only if they are vastly overpaid.
These protests should become part of the public record. In the era of camera phones and flip cameras, anyone can become a reporter. If Fox News won't run these clips, YouTube (the people's network) is available -- as are a myriad of websites.
Name Names: Barack Obama and his allies on the political left make a fetish of excoriating salaries of corporate executives. Well, turnabout is fair play. Taxpayers are paying some very high salaries to government workers, and giving them golden pensions to boot. There are a lot more of them than there are corporate execs earning high salaries -- and they rarely are fired (unless they whistle-blow during Obama's reign, as did Inspector General Gerald Walpin).
While taxpayers struggle with higher tax bills, government bureaucrats are doing quite well. Barack Obama may moan that this is the toughest year and a half that America has ever faced (a laughable claim from the president who called himself a "student of history" -- in that subject, he certainly does not merit a B-plus), it hasn't been so tough for those on the
government dole:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the last year the federal government added 86,000 permanent (non-Census) jobs to the rolls. And high-paying jobs at that: The number of federal salaries over $100,000 per year has increased by nearly 50% since the beginning of the recession.
Today, the average federal worker earns 77% more than the average private-sector worker, according to a USA Today analysis of data from the federal Office of Personnel Management.
America could save $340 billion a year by aligning public wages to
private-sector rates: enough to fill the budget holes in states over the next two years. That is how vast the pay differentials are between workers doing comparable work: it just depends who pays. Politicians love playing with Other People's Money (ours). Yet the Democratic Congress is adding insult to injury by proposing to award government workers a big ten-year pay raise.
What recession? Of the top 25 richest counties in America, 11 are part of the Washington metropolitan area (that sucking sound you hear is your money being vacuumed up by politicians, right into the sinkhole of D.C.). Government is seemingly the only growth industry left in America. The problem is not just in Washington, but also prevalent throughout America, wherever politicians pay off public unions for their campaign support with our money. Why not name names of who benefits -- as does this taxpayer watchdog?
The Madison, Wisconsin bus driver pulling in $160,000 dollars The New York City railroad conductor raking in $240,000 a year In New York, bus drivers can take two months off of paid leave if a passenger spits on them because their contract characterizes this as an "assault." The second-in-command of the firefighters in New York has retired on a tax-free disability pension worth almost $250,000 annually for the rest of his life because he once hurt his knee. Prison guards in California can easily earn over $100,000 a year, but that is trivial compared to the prison nurse there who raked in over $270,000 last year. The former city administrator of Vernon, California earns a pension of $509,664 a year.
The horror stories never end. They should be publicized. One group in California has taken that message to heart. The website= californiapensionreform.com provides a searchable database for all public employees drawing six-figure public pensions. The concept can be cloned -- as it should be. Every government should have one. We should know who is responsible for this problem and shame them for frittering away our future.
Support politicians who run on a platform of cutting back the power of public unions. Publicize how the fiscal fates of neighboring communitiescan depend on whether one allows public unions to exist and the other doesn't (a county in Virginia has a healthy budget, while its neighbor in Maryland is mired in fiscal woes. Virginia does not allow public employees to unionize, while Maryland does -- and Maryland Democratic politiciansoutbid each other with spending promises to public employee unions).
If they are elected, hold them to their promises. While many state
constitutions protect pensions of government employees, they don't protect current jobs. Politicians should require government workers to bite the bullet, as the rest of us has. They are public servants, after all. Why not require them to chip in more to cover health expenses and pension benefits? Why not mandate that all new hires accept lower salaries and pension benefits that are more in line with private pay? And privatize... always privatize. Support politicians, such as Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who were in the forefront of privatizing what had been government functions.
There are reasons public unions oppose vouchers and charter schools and why all state and government employees loath the idea of privatization. They know a bad deal for us is a good deal for them.
If the situation is dire, our politicians can threaten the nuclear option: Throw cities or counties into bankruptcy to break contracts with public employee unions. Vallejo, California filed for bankruptcy, done in by public unions; the city has been successful in renegotiating these contracts.
The prospect of this tactic being used by other cities and counties has led to a reaction by Democrats in the state legislature to foreclose the future use of this tool in California.
A municipality declaring bankruptcy may be the only way to quickly cut through the Gordian Knot of foolish contracts that politicians and public unions have tied together. There would be serious ripples in the financial markets. But dire times call for dire steps. And we live in dire times that compel us to protect ourselves, because few politicians will.
Apparently we have reached a potential turning point in the relationship of public employee unions and the electorate they serve. Over the past year, there has been a steady drumbeat of criticism focused on public unions and the havoc they have wrought on our public finances.
Governments from the local level to the federal are drowning in red ink. Our taxes are flowing to ever-voracious government workers (whose own ranks are growing steadily while the private payrolls shrink); they are better Compensated than private workers in comparable positions.
What is to be done? We; taxpayers, tea partiers and sympathizers, independents, Republicans, and Democrats need to come together and forge a blueprint to take back our nation. The inclusion of Democrats was deliberate, despite the fact that many Democrat politicians are in the pockets of public unions. AFSCME, the government employee union, has a political action committee that is the second-largest in the nation, and virtually all of its donations are to Democrats.
When liberal newspapers now report on subway conductors earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and takes editorial swipes at public employee unions and their greedy and self-centered leadership, the timing may be ripe for Democrats to come out of the closet and transform themselves from donkeys into fiscal hawks (see Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's efforts in Los Angeles).
When that arbiter of popular culture "Saturday Night Live" makes fun of surly government workers, we may have reached a turning point. Hope springs eternal on the political front, but what can people power do to weaken the grip of public employee unions and restore fiscal sanity to our governments' budgets?
We are in a communications war where we have a voice. Public employee unions will spend millions to try to defeat measures to rein in their bloated salaries and pension benefits. They threaten even longer lines at government offices (and fewer of them), shorter hours at libraries, park districts cutting programs, and fewer policeman and firefighters. The list goes on and on of the plagues that will hit us if we dare take on public unions.
They never address high salaries, excessive days off, sick days being used because government employees are sick of work, or pensions being used to buy piña coladas in Pensacola. Government unions spend vast sums on this propaganda (and on lobbyists and political campaigns to elect politicians to put in their pockets), and the exact amount is now almost unknowable. Barack Obama, in the first few days of his presidency, issued an executive order shielding unions from disclosure rules requiring them to report how they spend union dues.
But facts can be marshaled that put the blame where it belongs. Public-sector unions and state debt go hand in hand; states with the highest per capita debt have the strongest public-sector unions, who have cut sweetheart deals with politicians. We should highlight how these unions have diminished our futures.
The American Enterprise Institute, CATO, Reason magazine, and the Manhattan Institute's City Journal have all been publishing columns on the problems posed by public employee unions. Their websites -- and that of American Thinker and sites such as Newsalert, who focus on this topic -- are readily available, are open 24 hours a day, and the information can be found easily and after a few seconds (unlike, say, at government offices).
The Center for Union Facts has a well-designed website (http://www.unionfacts.com/), and Pension Watch reports on the coming pension tsunami that will engulf America at http://www.pensiontsunami.com/. This brief video that touches on the fiscal crisis caused by public unions can and hopefully will go viral.
The Role of Leaders, we do have leaders who can rally taxpayers and, because they have a megaphone, broadcast the facts and rally taxpayers. One of these leaders is, of course, Republican Chris Christie of New Jersey. He is seeking to stop rampant public-employee wage growth. Revealing opponents' hypocrisy can work wonders.
Running against public employee unions has resonance with voters; the leader in the Alabama GOP primary for governor is a former college professor who is opposed to the unions. Use YouTube -- The People's Network Governor Christie has become a YouTube star, and the clips of his taking on public unions are the reason . This shows the value of videos in our new age of media. We can see gladiators fighting for taxpayers. They are instantaneous and cannot be censored by liberals in the media who pick and choose what to broadcast. Conversely, like all morality plays, there are villains, and we can watch them too, in all their glory.
One video that circulated recently showed an AFSCME union leader threatening Illinois legislators across the street as he demands more money for government employees. He ominously taunted them that AFSCME knew where they lived and could follow them home. (It's not so far-fetched when you consider that SEIU leaders protested in front of the home of a Bank of America lawyer recently. They owe the bank money and may have wanted their own bank-sponsored bailout. There is a new film genre: SEIU thugs at work.) Boston firefighters have done the same at Boston's City Hall. Protests are spreading -- and not just in Athens. Apparently, public servants are willing to serve only if they are vastly overpaid.
These protests should become part of the public record. In the era of camera phones and flip cameras, anyone can become a reporter. If Fox News won't run these clips, YouTube (the people's network) is available -- as are a myriad of websites.
Name Names: Barack Obama and his allies on the political left make a fetish of excoriating salaries of corporate executives. Well, turnabout is fair play. Taxpayers are paying some very high salaries to government workers, and giving them golden pensions to boot. There are a lot more of them than there are corporate execs earning high salaries -- and they rarely are fired (unless they whistle-blow during Obama's reign, as did Inspector General Gerald Walpin).
While taxpayers struggle with higher tax bills, government bureaucrats are doing quite well. Barack Obama may moan that this is the toughest year and a half that America has ever faced (a laughable claim from the president who called himself a "student of history" -- in that subject, he certainly does not merit a B-plus), it hasn't been so tough for those on the
government dole:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the last year the federal government added 86,000 permanent (non-Census) jobs to the rolls. And high-paying jobs at that: The number of federal salaries over $100,000 per year has increased by nearly 50% since the beginning of the recession.
Today, the average federal worker earns 77% more than the average private-sector worker, according to a USA Today analysis of data from the federal Office of Personnel Management.
America could save $340 billion a year by aligning public wages to
private-sector rates: enough to fill the budget holes in states over the next two years. That is how vast the pay differentials are between workers doing comparable work: it just depends who pays. Politicians love playing with Other People's Money (ours). Yet the Democratic Congress is adding insult to injury by proposing to award government workers a big ten-year pay raise.
What recession? Of the top 25 richest counties in America, 11 are part of the Washington metropolitan area (that sucking sound you hear is your money being vacuumed up by politicians, right into the sinkhole of D.C.). Government is seemingly the only growth industry left in America. The problem is not just in Washington, but also prevalent throughout America, wherever politicians pay off public unions for their campaign support with our money. Why not name names of who benefits -- as does this taxpayer watchdog?
The Madison, Wisconsin bus driver pulling in $160,000 dollars The New York City railroad conductor raking in $240,000 a year In New York, bus drivers can take two months off of paid leave if a passenger spits on them because their contract characterizes this as an "assault." The second-in-command of the firefighters in New York has retired on a tax-free disability pension worth almost $250,000 annually for the rest of his life because he once hurt his knee. Prison guards in California can easily earn over $100,000 a year, but that is trivial compared to the prison nurse there who raked in over $270,000 last year. The former city administrator of Vernon, California earns a pension of $509,664 a year.
The horror stories never end. They should be publicized. One group in California has taken that message to heart. The website= californiapensionreform.com provides a searchable database for all public employees drawing six-figure public pensions. The concept can be cloned -- as it should be. Every government should have one. We should know who is responsible for this problem and shame them for frittering away our future.
Support politicians who run on a platform of cutting back the power of public unions. Publicize how the fiscal fates of neighboring communitiescan depend on whether one allows public unions to exist and the other doesn't (a county in Virginia has a healthy budget, while its neighbor in Maryland is mired in fiscal woes. Virginia does not allow public employees to unionize, while Maryland does -- and Maryland Democratic politiciansoutbid each other with spending promises to public employee unions).
If they are elected, hold them to their promises. While many state
constitutions protect pensions of government employees, they don't protect current jobs. Politicians should require government workers to bite the bullet, as the rest of us has. They are public servants, after all. Why not require them to chip in more to cover health expenses and pension benefits? Why not mandate that all new hires accept lower salaries and pension benefits that are more in line with private pay? And privatize... always privatize. Support politicians, such as Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who were in the forefront of privatizing what had been government functions.
There are reasons public unions oppose vouchers and charter schools and why all state and government employees loath the idea of privatization. They know a bad deal for us is a good deal for them.
If the situation is dire, our politicians can threaten the nuclear option: Throw cities or counties into bankruptcy to break contracts with public employee unions. Vallejo, California filed for bankruptcy, done in by public unions; the city has been successful in renegotiating these contracts.
The prospect of this tactic being used by other cities and counties has led to a reaction by Democrats in the state legislature to foreclose the future use of this tool in California.
A municipality declaring bankruptcy may be the only way to quickly cut through the Gordian Knot of foolish contracts that politicians and public unions have tied together. There would be serious ripples in the financial markets. But dire times call for dire steps. And we live in dire times that compel us to protect ourselves, because few politicians will.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Democrats Election Plans
I recently read an article in “The American Thinker” by Jed Skillman that Indicates that the Democrats are already gearing up. They can't wait for the November elections to arrive.
One of the Chicago blogs, Marathon Pundit, ran an interesting post this weekend. Mr. Skillman didn't want to mention the writer's name and risk blowing his cover, but due to a DNC computer glitch, he received an invitation to attend an Organizing for America "training session" in Evanston, Illinois.
After checking the box marked "Yes! You can count on me!" said blogger returned his RSVP. Then, wearing what he described as a "subtle disguise," he arrived at the session, signed the guest list, and positioned himself in the audience to take copious notes.
The Covert Blogger is to be commended. He got in and got out undetected and filed an informative and enjoyable report. In the report are some interesting details and quotes, a few of which may benefit from a little further analysis.
For instance, in a brief description of the political landscape in Evanston, we are told that in the 2008 election, Evanston -- which is home to Northwestern University -- voted 87% for Obama-Biden.
That is an astounding percentage of voters even for an affluent liberal college town. But it is even more astounding when we turn that number around and consider the fact that this left only 13% to vote for the Green Party, Communist Party, or the Socialist Worker's Party.
According to the report, one of the hosts of the training session was the secretary of the Democratic Party of Evanston, Brian Miller. Miller told attendees that the DP of E has "a history of exporting our influence."
This was the purpose of the meeting. Under the name "Organizing for America," it is their stated objective to further export Democratic influence. Miller went on to describe the hundreds of Obama volunteers the group sent into Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa -- busloads of them.
Evanston, the blogger shows, is a major distribution hub of Leftist politics. Reading this part of the report, recalled the scene where the doctor looks out his window on the town square in the black-and-white version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and witnesses his fellow citizens loading pods onto trucks and into the trunks of their cars.
"We got it locked down" in Evanston, Miller told attendees. Then, Organizing for America regional field director, Brian Gorman asked attendees to consider the question, "How can I use the tools to take ownership of the community?"
One such "tool," apparently, will be the continued use of the sexual slur "teabagger." Democrats seem to take a giggly delight in saying it. It's like a dirty word in the mouth of a child. President Obama has been quoted using it. I still don't know exactly what it means, but get the idea that unless you're into whips and chains, it isn't good.
To drill attendees in proper usage, they used the term to refer to Republican Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady, never mentioning him by name. He was just the "The Republican 'Teabagger' running for governor."
Concerning the Left's dismissal of Bill Brady, so far the main thing the public knows about him is that he is asking where our tax money has been going for all these years. He's calling for an independent audit of the State of Illinois's financial books. Given the $12-17-billion hole in the state's annual budget and the estimated $77.8 billion in unfunded state worker pensions, this seems reasonable.
Yet the only thing Organizing for America had to say about Bill Brady is that he's a "Teabagger" and "a really bad guy." There was nothing in the report that indicated concerns over the current Illinois governor, Pat Quinn, a Democrat, who was Rod "Blago" Blagojevich's running mate just four years ago, back when Blago was cutting deals and shaking down charity hospitals. No worries there.
Notice, too, the use of the phrase take ownership of the community." Evanston borders Chicago on the north, and they speak the same political language. In Democrat-ese, "owning the community" means that if you got a problem with trash pickup, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you have a kid who needs a job, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you have trouble with delivery trucks getting ticketed for double-parking in front of your shop, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you need a block party permit, a one-day liquor license, or a building code violation overlooked, talk to the Democratic precinct captain.
Democrats own the community. They don't own the potholes or the crumbling infrastructure or the failing schools or the crime in the streets -- that part of the community taxpayers own. Democrats own just the parts with the "juice." Additionally, in Evanston they own the part that gets to decide how everyone else has to live and how much VAT they'll have to pay and whether mass illegal immigration is a good thing or a bad thing. They own the policy part.
As our clandestine blogger reports, Democratic strategy for the 2010 midterm elections boils down to this: They are going to quote-unquote "zero in" on those first-time voters who in 2008 went overwhelmingly for Obama. That's their plan. That's it. That, and the phrase "teabagger."
At this point, let me caution against over-confidence. The midterm election is by no means a sure thing for Conservatives, Libertarians, and right-thinking Republicans. We are all going to have to work with a will. But if this is the central strategy of the Democrats' plan to hold on to power, then they are in deep water. Obama won in '08 with 53% of the vote, which, outside of places like Evanston, does not give the administration much room to play with.
What this tells us is that the official Leftist Democratic agenda has peaked. It has gone as far as it can go at the ballot box and is now contracting. The reality of economic and world events has made it difficult if not impossible for Democrats to expand their voter base. Now they are forced to put their efforts into holding on to their old voters, especially those who were "new" voters two years ago. Most of those new voters in 2008 were inexperienced. And if they were young voters, then they were inexperienced, period.
Having this knowledge of the Democrats' strategy presents us an opportunity. When Conservatives, Libertarians, and Republicans volunteer to campaign door-to-door, we, too, will take the opportunity to "zero in" on those young voters. Many of them are not so inexperienced now. Many have awakened from the fog that was the Obama-Biden campaign of '08. Many now realize that our nation and the world face problems that can't be overcome with feel-good speeches of Hope and Change.
Take it as a guarantee. When you come to the door of those "new" voters of the '08 campaign, you will find that many are now open to discussion. Let us offer thanks to the Covert Blogger for this valuable reconnaissance.
One of the Chicago blogs, Marathon Pundit, ran an interesting post this weekend. Mr. Skillman didn't want to mention the writer's name and risk blowing his cover, but due to a DNC computer glitch, he received an invitation to attend an Organizing for America "training session" in Evanston, Illinois.
After checking the box marked "Yes! You can count on me!" said blogger returned his RSVP. Then, wearing what he described as a "subtle disguise," he arrived at the session, signed the guest list, and positioned himself in the audience to take copious notes.
The Covert Blogger is to be commended. He got in and got out undetected and filed an informative and enjoyable report. In the report are some interesting details and quotes, a few of which may benefit from a little further analysis.
For instance, in a brief description of the political landscape in Evanston, we are told that in the 2008 election, Evanston -- which is home to Northwestern University -- voted 87% for Obama-Biden.
That is an astounding percentage of voters even for an affluent liberal college town. But it is even more astounding when we turn that number around and consider the fact that this left only 13% to vote for the Green Party, Communist Party, or the Socialist Worker's Party.
According to the report, one of the hosts of the training session was the secretary of the Democratic Party of Evanston, Brian Miller. Miller told attendees that the DP of E has "a history of exporting our influence."
This was the purpose of the meeting. Under the name "Organizing for America," it is their stated objective to further export Democratic influence. Miller went on to describe the hundreds of Obama volunteers the group sent into Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa -- busloads of them.
Evanston, the blogger shows, is a major distribution hub of Leftist politics. Reading this part of the report, recalled the scene where the doctor looks out his window on the town square in the black-and-white version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and witnesses his fellow citizens loading pods onto trucks and into the trunks of their cars.
"We got it locked down" in Evanston, Miller told attendees. Then, Organizing for America regional field director, Brian Gorman asked attendees to consider the question, "How can I use the tools to take ownership of the community?"
One such "tool," apparently, will be the continued use of the sexual slur "teabagger." Democrats seem to take a giggly delight in saying it. It's like a dirty word in the mouth of a child. President Obama has been quoted using it. I still don't know exactly what it means, but get the idea that unless you're into whips and chains, it isn't good.
To drill attendees in proper usage, they used the term to refer to Republican Illinois gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady, never mentioning him by name. He was just the "The Republican 'Teabagger' running for governor."
Concerning the Left's dismissal of Bill Brady, so far the main thing the public knows about him is that he is asking where our tax money has been going for all these years. He's calling for an independent audit of the State of Illinois's financial books. Given the $12-17-billion hole in the state's annual budget and the estimated $77.8 billion in unfunded state worker pensions, this seems reasonable.
Yet the only thing Organizing for America had to say about Bill Brady is that he's a "Teabagger" and "a really bad guy." There was nothing in the report that indicated concerns over the current Illinois governor, Pat Quinn, a Democrat, who was Rod "Blago" Blagojevich's running mate just four years ago, back when Blago was cutting deals and shaking down charity hospitals. No worries there.
Notice, too, the use of the phrase take ownership of the community." Evanston borders Chicago on the north, and they speak the same political language. In Democrat-ese, "owning the community" means that if you got a problem with trash pickup, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you have a kid who needs a job, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you have trouble with delivery trucks getting ticketed for double-parking in front of your shop, talk to the Democratic precinct captain. If you need a block party permit, a one-day liquor license, or a building code violation overlooked, talk to the Democratic precinct captain.
Democrats own the community. They don't own the potholes or the crumbling infrastructure or the failing schools or the crime in the streets -- that part of the community taxpayers own. Democrats own just the parts with the "juice." Additionally, in Evanston they own the part that gets to decide how everyone else has to live and how much VAT they'll have to pay and whether mass illegal immigration is a good thing or a bad thing. They own the policy part.
As our clandestine blogger reports, Democratic strategy for the 2010 midterm elections boils down to this: They are going to quote-unquote "zero in" on those first-time voters who in 2008 went overwhelmingly for Obama. That's their plan. That's it. That, and the phrase "teabagger."
At this point, let me caution against over-confidence. The midterm election is by no means a sure thing for Conservatives, Libertarians, and right-thinking Republicans. We are all going to have to work with a will. But if this is the central strategy of the Democrats' plan to hold on to power, then they are in deep water. Obama won in '08 with 53% of the vote, which, outside of places like Evanston, does not give the administration much room to play with.
What this tells us is that the official Leftist Democratic agenda has peaked. It has gone as far as it can go at the ballot box and is now contracting. The reality of economic and world events has made it difficult if not impossible for Democrats to expand their voter base. Now they are forced to put their efforts into holding on to their old voters, especially those who were "new" voters two years ago. Most of those new voters in 2008 were inexperienced. And if they were young voters, then they were inexperienced, period.
Having this knowledge of the Democrats' strategy presents us an opportunity. When Conservatives, Libertarians, and Republicans volunteer to campaign door-to-door, we, too, will take the opportunity to "zero in" on those young voters. Many of them are not so inexperienced now. Many have awakened from the fog that was the Obama-Biden campaign of '08. Many now realize that our nation and the world face problems that can't be overcome with feel-good speeches of Hope and Change.
Take it as a guarantee. When you come to the door of those "new" voters of the '08 campaign, you will find that many are now open to discussion. Let us offer thanks to the Covert Blogger for this valuable reconnaissance.
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