Bill Richardson is NOT the decider!

Governor Bill Richardson, who has the best commercial so far this election season, really stepped in it big time the other day. Richardson claims to be a creature that does not exist in nature: both a Red Sox and Yankees fan.

The Governor said, “My favorite team has always been the Red Sox,” he said, then added, “I’m also a Yankees fan. . . . This is the thing about me. I can bring people together.”

First Friday translation: I love the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s, and dine with each them regularly. (Take that, Hillary! Cubs and Yankees fan, my ass!)

If this is true, it is clearly a sign of the apocalypse. However, since it can not be true, we are safe. For now, this myth will ride off into the sunset on the back of a winged unicorn and be forgotten. Unless, that is, he starts polling more than the atomic weight of hydrogen.

We will not rest...until sometime Friday around noon

The new Democrat controlled Congress has been on the job since January 4th, and what a job they've done. Elected to do who knows what, they've pretty much followed through on that promise.

Leading by example. On December 6th, 2006, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was full of vim and vigor, ready to take the country in a new direction. "I have bad news for you," Hoyer told the Washington Post. "Those trips you had planned in January, forget 'em. We will be working almost every day in January, starting with the 4th."

Ever since then, Congressman Hoyer, Speaker Pelosi and their merry band of Democrats have been blazing a snail's pace across the nation. Actually, the only way they could move slower is by actually moving backwards.

Here are their accomplishments thus far.

They've passed 26 bill, 11 of which renamed buildings. Way to go there! Now people will have bad or confusing directions until every web based map program is updated to account for this legislative milestone.

They've also...well...They've taken some well deserved...They haven't done a lot, actually. But with a work schedule like they've had, they can't be expected to produce. Here's how their new work ethic translates into action.

After working the 4th of January, they took the next two Mondays off. (You can't work every Monday, otherwise people will start to expect it!)

Number of full weeks worked in January: 0. (Come on! There are college Bowl games to watch! That's like the people's business, since the people care about them. Look at the ratings!)

Number of full weeks worked in the new Congress: 7 out of 19. (If this were baseball they'd be well on their way to the Hall of Fame. Since this isn't baseball, they're just lazy.)

The "full" week of March 26th, they left at 10:00 am on Friday. (It was warm that day, tee times had to be honored over campaign promises.)

Number of Mondays worked: 14 of 20. (Monday's are a drag, who wants to work?)

Number of Fridays worked: 10 of 20. (Again, who wants to work on Friday? Plus, there is the added bummer of Monday being only 2 days away. You need time to prepare for that.)

Number of Fridays worked past 2:00 pm: 5 of 20. (Again, I ask: Who works past 2:00 on a Friday? Only those suckers who have jobs that require them to show up, do things, and produce. You know, the kind of jobs like voters have. Oh yeah, I guess we are the suckers.)

I encourage the lazy the run for office. Sure, the campaign will be a bit of drag, what with all the having to be someplace and talk to people and stuff. But if you get elected it's easy street all the way! Congress has become welfare with monogrammed shirts. Not that is was ever a bastion of work ethic, it's just that most leaders don't break such easy to keep promises so soon after taking office.

If at first you don't succeed, cry foul and change the rules.

I'm not normally one to be surprised by the actions of our liberal friends, but this is just a little too much. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi can't advance the radical left-wing agenda laid out for Democrats by moveon.org and other anti-personal freedom supporters who "own" the Democratic Party now fast enough and she's fed up. So, in the spirit of open and fair debate, she's decided to change the rules of the House to essentially shut up Republicans.

The Drudge Report is reporting the following:

"After losing a string of embarrassing votes on the House floor because of procedural maneuvering, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to change the current House Rules to completely shut down the floor to the minority.

"The Democratic Leadership is threatening to change the current House Rules regarding the Republican right to the Motion to Recommit or the test of germaneness on the motion to recommit. This would be the first change to the germaneness rule since 1822.

"In protest, the House Republicans are going to call procedural motions every half hour. "

I could use all sorts of analogies, throw around names like Mao, Stalin, etc., but it's not really needed. Sometimes liberals act in such a way that it speaks for itself, speaks to their mindset, speaks to their true intentions, that it requires nothing more than spreading of the word. So there you have it, spread the word...

Jabba The Commie Cries Foul

Michael Moore, publicity whore, tragedy profiteer, and all around hypocrite (see the book Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy to see how Mr. Moore owns or has owned stocks in several of the companies and industries he claims to loathe, including Halliburton, while claiming publicly that he doesn’t own any stock because it’s “dirty money.”), is nailing himself to yet another cross; that of victim of an unwarranted government investigation.

I guess he’s never heard of the embargo against Cuba. More to the point, he doesn’t think rules apply to him (especially rules about caloric intake, apparently). Read the story yourself here, I can’t stand to look at his mug any longer than I have to.

The Mistake from Michigan claims he’s only trying to help 9/11 rescue workers with health problems by taking them to Cuba for state-of-the-art medical care, care they can’t get here because our health system is evil. Forget the fact that Cuba’s health care system is a complete mess, except where those high up in the Castro regime are concerned. Undoubtedly, this is where Moore took his cameras. After all, he wouldn’t expose his ideological brother (or father based upon age) Fidel as the evil, oppressive dictator he is. Why would he, it’s the same type of government Moore would like to bring to the US?

But this is what average Cubans (meaning those who can’t escape or don’t get thrown in jail for speaking their minds) go when they get sick. When you know the truth, Mikey is the true Sicko.

Anyway, back to the point. Moore is a giver, not really of his money (see the book referenced above), or his time (his college tour to save the US from the evil Bush regime banked an estimated $10,000 per appearance), but he does care about…well…something, he just has to. This quote is particularly heart warming, if it were true:

"I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me - I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until George W. Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide.”

Aside from the potential illegality of his trip (again, he thinks he’s above the law, or maybe just all the way around it), he didn’t take everyone he promised to take. He only took a few of those he asked, undoubtedly those who agree with him. The rest he left for dead, or to die, after raising their hopes.

He’s a disgusting human being who needs to be exposed as the hypocrite and tragedy profiteer he is. He is no martyr, and not just because there isn’t a cross made that could support his weight.

Two Americas...and both could fit in his house.

Forget the irony in the fact that John Edwards is currently building the largest home in the state of South Carolina while telling everyone about the two Americas, one rich, the other poor. And never mind that his wife is afraid of her neighbor, *gasp* a "rabid Republican," and one of them there poor folks he feels the pain of. He also wants to raise our taxes to pay for his health care plan, a plan that makes the Bay of Pigs invasion plans look like a smashing success, by the way. I say forget those things because Mr. Edwards is the gift that keeps on giving...

To show solidarity with the "average American" Mr. Edwards gets his hair cuts from Supercuts, a discount chain of hair salons scattered throughout the country. No, wait, I was wrong about that. He is out there getting $400 haircuts and paying for them from the millions he made as a trial lawyer...Sorry, wrong again. John Edwards is getting himself $400 haircuts, but he isn't paying for them, his campaign contributors are.

Now, as someone who routinely pays upwards of $18 for a haircut twice a year, whether I need it or not, I can't imagine what a $400 haircut looks like. But if I had to guess I wouldn't think one would require this much primping before a television interview.


Though, having owned 4 cars, 3 of which cost as much as one of his haircuts (the other was only $250), I'd image I'm not the best person to comment on such necessities.

One last question: The stylist says he and Edwards have been friends for years. Is the $400 price tag the "friend price?" If not, why not cut an old friend a little slack. If so, what the hell does it cost for someone who isn't his friend?

Given how expensive Presidential campaigns are, and how Edwards wasn't very close to the top in fund raising, those $400 haircuts could probably buy himself and all of his campaign staff their own Flowbee and still have money left over.

Update: Since some people don't seem to remember the Flowbee and think it isn't real, here you go.

And the band played as the Titanic sank...

The insanity of my home state of Michigan continues. Facing a massive budget deficit, the highest unemployment in the country, and the flight of major businesses (including Comerica bank), Michigan seems to have found the cure for all that ails it; even higher taxes and mp3 players for all kids!

President Herbert Hoover promised a "chicken in every pot" while running in 1928. Now, Michigan Democrats seem to be running under the slogan "An iPod for every kid." This editorial from the Detroit News explains their latest insanity, and how it will, well, be really, really stupid.

Not to worry, the Republicans will come in and save the day, right? They surely will bring some sanity to the logic vacuum that is the state capital, right? If only.In stead of acting like conservatives, they seem to have opted to be "Democrats Light." This strategy is famous for failing everywhere it's been tried and only served to elect Democrats.

To change to old saying slightly, those who don't learn from history are idiots and should go back to school. They certainly shouldn't be making policy. Maybe it's time for EVERYONE in the Michigan legislature to be "retired" by voters. That is if there is anyone left in Michigan in 2008 to vote.

Check out the story.

It sure ain't kosher

Pork Mountain, aka Capital Hill, has long been known as a secretive place when it comes to how and where our money is wasted, er, I mean spent. Thanks to Senators Coburn (R-OK) and Obama (D-IL), a little light is being shined into the dark areas of legislation where pet and pork projects tend to hide. This new website will finally allow you to see at least some of the pork stuffed into legislation passed by Congress.

Check it out.

My main complaint about it is you can’t search by Member of Congress to see their pig farms in one place, but it’s better than what we used to have, which was nothing.

Can't we all just not get along?

To say there is partisanship in Washington is as shocking as mentioning the fact that the sun rises in the east. But every once in a while the stars align behind an issue and people from both sides of the aisle put aside their difference and work together for the greater good. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened for a while in this town, and doesn’t seem like it will for a while still, even on an obviously obsolete and regressive tax on the poor like the telephone excise tax, aka the Spanish-American War Tax.

You remember the Spanish-American War, right? No, of course you don’t. No one alive now was alive during the 10 month battle with Spain to free Cuba (let’s not go into how well that worked out long-term). It was in 1898, when only the wealthy had telephones. Congress, looking for ways to fund the war, imposed a “temporary” penny tax on each phone call made to cover the cost of our efforts. Since it was rich people calling rich people, most people paid no mind to (or any part of) the tax.

Flash forward, the phone went from being a luxury to a necessity, rich and poor alike got phones in their homes, and the tax went on. Not many people were aware that the tax even existed, let alone that they were paying it. Even when it went from a penny a call to a 3 percent tax, most people were unaware. Who really sits down and studies their phone bill every month?

There have been several moves to eliminate this tax over the last couple of decades, but to no avail. The closest Washington has come to making this tax go the way of the Dodo was in 2000 when repeal passed both the House and Senate, only to be vetoed by President Clinton. (For the record, it was part of a larger bill President Clinton vetoed, not just the excise tax repeal.)

Since then it has taken a back seat to, well, everything else the government has been doing. Congress has never been known for their eagerness to allow us to keep our own money, it’s simply not a priority, and way too much fun for them to spend.

But the tax is back! Thanks to Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), there is a move in the House to eliminate the excise tax once and for all. Congressman Lewis realizes what any one who actually thinks about this out of date tax would realize; a tax once meant to soak the wealthy has become a tax that soaks the poor!

A phone costs the same for a rich person as it does for a poor person. And the wealthy are more likely, in this day and age, to have cell phone and use broadband Internet phones, or VoIP technology, neither which were dreamed of in the time of the Spanish-American War, and therefore are not subject to the tax.

Republicans are lining up to support Congressman Lewis’ bill, which, in a perfect world would fly through Congress like a hot knife through water. (I know the common saying is butter, but water takes even less effort.) But this is Washington, about as far from a perfect world as Dennis Kucinich is to being a viable candidate for president. (Not to be mean, but if he runs again in 2012 he will pretty much solidify his position as the Pat Paulsen or Lyndon LaRouche of the modern age.)

The Politico reported today that Democrats are hesitant to get behind repeal because, well, they love taxes. After having just passed what would amount to the largest tax increase in US history, you’d think they’d be less inclined to block repeal of a tax that hurts the poor, the people they always claim to care about more than anyone (while the cameras are rolling, anyway).

But all is not lost. The bill can live, and actually become law, if you make your voices heard! Got to www.house.gov and look up your Member of Congress. Call, email, send smoke signals, telegrams (if they still exist), pony express, to your Congressman. They’ll listen to you over and above anyone else because they’re afraid of you. You are the only one with the power to fire them. Sure, a lot of them will sell you out when they think or know you’re not looking, but if you let them know you’re watching they will behave the way they should, probably the way they said when they ran in the first place.

If they don’t, fire them. That’s the great thing about our Government; we get a chance to fire those we elected who do a horrible job, who don’t do what is best for the country, who don’t do what they said they were going to do. If only it we could apply that common sense logic to teachers! But that is for another entry.

Silly rabbit, working's for kids!

Remember all the hoopla about litmus tests every time the subject of federal judges comes up? Candidates and Senators climb all over each other to get to news cameras (even more so than usual) to out “non-partisan” each other about how they don’t have them, they simply want the best people appointed to the bench without regard to one’s party affiliation. Well this is Washington, and if you didn’t instinctively know that was a bunch of garbage, prepare your hungry brain because this story will give it some food for thought.

It seems the best person for the job is currently unemployed, or employed elsewhere, because Judge Charles Kornmann refused to step down as long as a Republican is in the White House. The problem isn’t that he’s not going to retire, he’s perfectly free not to, it’s just that he’s not going to be doing the job any more.

What does that mean? It means that the other two judges on the same court, both appointed by President Clinton (as was Judge Kornmann), have agreed to do most of his work so he won’t retire.

That’s a pretty sweet deal! For him, anyway. Not so much if you’re trying to get justice through the federal courts in South Dakota because your wait time will probably double what it normally would. But, hey, who cares? At least your case, when it ever makes it to that point, will be heard by judges with political agendas and not loyalty to anything as silly as the Constitution, or what’s best for the county.

Just so you don’t think Judge Kornmann is doing nothing productive all day, he is keeping his marriage together. He told the Associate Press this:

"One of the good things about the job is you don't have to retire unless you're senile. I think it's good for anyone to keep working, as long as you're healthy enough. That's a good fact about the job and you have an office to go so you're not driving your spouse nuts."

Isn’t that sweet? We taxpayers get to subsidize this guy having an office, not do his job, and not get on his wife’s nerves. It’s like we’re all his personal Dr. Phil.

I’m sure Senator Leahy will be holding hearings on how much of our tax dollars are wasted on this sort of political manure as soon as he’s done wasting our tax dollars to find out why 8 prosecutors, who could be fired by the President for any reason whatsoever, up to and including a dislike of their hairstyle, were fired.

Yeah, I’m going to start holding my breath now…

When Big(carbon)Foot(prints) Attack! Next on Fox!

Noted actor and Scientologist John Travolta has finally spoken out about global warming. He ain’t fer it, he’s agin’ it! Hope you were sitting down when you read that a Hollywood actor has weighed in on global warming. Wouldn’t want you to pass out and hit your head on anything, too, when you found out that he was taking the “brave” stand of joining the lemmings in the middle of the pack.

As an aside, don’t you just love it when someone is called brave for taking the “popular” stand? The Dixie Chicks were so brave the way the stood up to President Bush, weren’t they? No, they weren’t. They would be brave if the went to Cuba and told Castro to release, say, the librarians he’s been holding for years for daring to think differently. But they aren’t going to do that. It could be because they don’t know or understand what’s going on, but I think it’s more they don’t care.

Why should they? Lefties are looked upon a brave for saying popular things in a free society. Just because they say things like “This is the most oppressive threat to our democracy we’ve ever faced,” and the ever popular “We’ve lost our right to free speech to this oppressive regime!” without even a hint of hypocrisy or awareness of the fact that they are saying these things in public and to reporters who publish them all while they roam the streets free, thus directly contradicting the very words they just uttered.

There is no reward in liberalism for intellectual consistency. Michael Moore, et. al. (that means all those of his ilk on the Left, not a misspelling implying he ate all the food or anything) love and cheer policies like those championed by people like Castro, Che Guevara, Mao, Stalin, Chavez, and the like, so you don’t hear them condemn them. As long as you provide health care to your people you will be forgiven for the murder, torture, and starvation you’ve inflicted on your people that forced them to go to the doctor in the first place.

Hollywood and music industry’s award shows are huge “pat yourselves on the back” rallies filled with people who genuinely believe they understand the way the world works, and there is no problem we can’t hug ourselves out of. I’m not saying you have to have a Ph.D. on certain issues to know what’s going on in the world. But I will say this; it sure helps when it comes to knowing what to do next. It definitely gives someone more street cred than, say, a Grammy.

Enough about the industry in general, let’s get back to Vinnie Barbarino and his solution to global warming.

This is from Vinnie himself: “I'm wondering if we need to think about other planets and dome cities.”

He really did say that. I couldn’t make that up. Well, I could, but I wouldn’t because it just wouldn’t sound believable. But the possibility of sounding crazy doesn’t seem to bother the star of such films and “Battlefield Earth,” “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble,” and the “Look Who’s Talking” series.

Nor should it. I’m giving him grief here, but he actually stepped up and admitted he’s a bit of a hypocrite on the issue, so big ups to him.

You see, the star of “Get Shorty” (which actually is an excellent movie) admits that he thinks something should be done about the “problem,” he continues, “I'm probably not the best candidate to ask about global warming because I fly jets.”

He’s being a bit modest there, he doesn’t just fly them, he owns 5 of them, including a personal 707. The picture in the story I linked shows his house, but looks more like an airport without the threat of a TSA cavity search.

And he flies everywhere. Nothing wrong with it, you just probably shouldn’t start talking about something that, were it true (which it’s not), you would be one of the largest individual causes of.

So, JT, I’m going to let you off the hook since your little story allowed me to rant against both The Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore. Just don’t make a sequel to “Wild Hogs” and we’ll be cool.

Tuesday afternoon quarterbacking

I'd call it Monday morning quarterbacking, but it's been so long after the fact...And most of this seems like anger rather than reason. This story from the AP inspired this post.

Bloggers on the Left (check out this post, and other posts by the same (I wish I could use the words bitter moron, but I shouldn't, so I'll just go with) guy at this hate website) act as though Rudy Giuliani was simply in the right place at the right time on September 11th, that anyone could've held the city together that horrible day, it just happened to be him. Nothing could be more wrong.

There have been many moments in history where the right time and place converged with the wrong people and the wrong thing happened. Anyone remember Neville Chamberlain giving away Europe? If there had been the right person at that right place and time, someone with, say, a backbone to stand up to Hitler, who knows how history would've played out? Instead we got a few months of peace in our time, unless you lived in one of the areas Chamberlain ceded to the Germans, then you got war early.

I understand the anger and hurt feelings, as much as anyone who wasn't there could, but it seems misdirected and, dare I say, political.

Rudy is not simply the harmonic convergence of tragedy and microphones, he turned that city completely around from what it was under Koch and Dinkins. Crime, taxes, and welfare rolls slashed, Times Square taken from a place where you ran risk of a social disease if you inhaled too deeply, to a place where families pose for pictures. New businesses and jobs that come with them replaced barren wastelands; the city was cleaned up, graffiti wiped away.

Giuliani is much more than the "one trick pony" his political opponents try to paint him as, he is a leader who has demonstrated time and again the ability to bring about positive change to a place many had written off. He gave New York more than a face lift, he gave it a blood transfusion with full organ transplants.

Don't believe me, or don't really think the change was that dramatic? Go rent any movie set in New York made in the 80's this weekend. There will be a scene, there always is, set in Times Square, or some other recognizable section of the city. Then watch one made in the last 10 years. Compare the New York of Fort Apache, The Bronx to the New York of even an episode of NYPD Blue. If you don't see a difference, you aren't looking.

The Giuliani mystique is not a media creation, it is more than luck, and is certainly not myth. It is the result of the right place and time intersecting with the right person. History is littered with people who never rose the occasions with which they were presented. But history is made by those who did. Even before his heroic leadership of September 11th, 2001, Rudy Giuliani had risen to the occasions presented him. Without that tragic day, he would still rightfully be regarded as the man that saved New York, only instead of from a terrorist attack, it would've been from itself.

So as the media continue to throw mud, dig up past "scandals," make an issue of his personal life, remember what he has done, all that he has done. Before he was "America's Mayor," he was New York's Mayor. And he did a damn fine job at it.

All we are saying…Is give facts a chance.

The second coming of Al Gore juggernaut knows no loyalty to the truth, which isn’t that far off from the first coming when he was an elected official. Never one to let the facts stand in the way of a good story, or even common sense, Gore is planning a massive, world-wide day of music to raise awareness of the greatest myth since the Roswell UFO crash; global warming. I say common sense because he’s planning concerts on every continent including Antarctica. That’s right, Antarctica! He’d have larger attendance on Gilligan’s Island, and probably actually damage the environment less if he did.

No one lives on Antarctica except scientists and penguins. Scientists aren’t known for their love of rock and roll music, and penguins much prefer country, so the concert at the Ice Palace (I doubt that will be the venue’s name, but what else should it be called?) will most likely have record low attendance and only bring bodies and garbage to the Earth’s South Pole.

It doesn’t make any sense, but then what about global warming does? They talk about the earth’s temperature rising by a degree, leading to massive melting of the all the ice on earth, higher temperatures, and drought. Now, I’m as much of a scientist as Al Gore is, which is to say not at all, but it would seem to me that if the earth is warmer, water would evaporate more quickly, and since the laws of physics and common sense dictate that, thanks to gravity, we can’t have oceans in the sky, that water will rain back down on earth. Again, I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure I heard once that rain makes drought go away.

But I hate fighting this fight on the terms the Left has laid out. Since the premise is a myth, any argument on those terms, no matter how logical, is irrelevant. When not bound by the facts, logic loses all meaning.

As Al Gore and other Socialists who are pushing their rejected and failed agenda by other means have said, “The debate is over.”

I don’t know about you, but that line brings to mind a teenager and their parents arguing over curfew, not serious scientific discussion.

But the global warming alarmists aren’t interested in serious scientific discussion, they are interested in action to save us from ourselves. We are, after all, dealing with a “fever” that needs attention. Forget the fact that the earth has had many fevers, many much worse than we allegedly have now. In fact, forget facts! They only get in the way and confuse the issue.

Every solution to global warming is what Leftist/Socialist/Communists have been pushing for, and failing overwhelmingly to get, for the last century. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? Or at least a massive coincidence?

Now back to our regularly scheduled rant.

Senator Inhofe (R-OK), fresh from questioning Gore for 15 minutes (15 minutes completely filibustered by Gore and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) where no real answers were given and Gore refused to stop personally polluting the earth, thereby killing us all) has blocked Al Gore’s plans to have the Washington, DC portion of his concert series on the US Capital grounds, and thank him for that.

It turns out that the National Mall is booked the day of Gore’s concert, and he needs somewhere to host it, so he thought his and his father’s old stomping grounds of the Capitol would be as good a place as any.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) was more than happy to accommodate, but Senate action is required, not just the Majority Leader’s blessing. That’s when Inhofe stepped in and blocked it.

This caused outrage that anyone would dare block Oscar winner Al Gore’s concert (just as an aside, Gore didn’t win an Oscar, the Director and Producer did. Gore was the subject of the documentary, not director or producer, so didn’t get one. By the (old) rules of the Academy, Gore shouldn’t have been allowed on stage. No one is allowed to accept an Oscar on behalf of someone else, a rule instituted after Marlon Brando refused his Godfather Oscar and sent an Indian woman up to tell everyone off.).

Outrage or not, the concert is blocked in the US at this point. Knowing Inhofe, I don’t thing he’ll be dropping his hold anytime this lifetime, so Gore will probably have to take his show elsewhere.

Too bad, actually. While I know the whole global warming myth is just that, a myth, and the rise in the earth’s temperature (mild as it is) is perfectly normal as part of the cyclical nature of sun, there are some good bands playing the show.

If it were free, I’d probably go. But there’s no way I’d pay for it. If I want to pay to be preached to by a bunch of liberal nut jobs about how humans, specifically Republicans, and capitalism are screwing up the world all day long I’d just listen to NPR.

But what are the opposing hitter's batting average?

The ERA is back! Not earned run average, it's the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution and it's back to save women from...well...not really sure. But doesn't it strike you as odd that this amendment is once again proposed on behalf of 51 percent of the country that has achieved damn near everything under the sun without it? Is it really needed? I had no idea I was allowed to oppress women simply because there isn't an amendment to the Constitution outlawing it. I kind of thought the Constitution applied to everyone, regardless of race or gender? I know, there are amendments dealing with race, but those were approved in a time when Democrats were still treating Americans who weren't white as though the South had won the Civil War and a message needed to be sent.

No such parallels exist with women, so do we really need this amendment? Is it just for show? Possibly. Senator Kennedy does have a lot to make up for to women. But I thought it was more likely a wider conspiracy, so I did some snooping around, and I think I found it. Could it be this story? Could be!

In any event, the Constitution is too important to infect it with politically correct, unnecessary garbage. Men are men, women are women, and both are equal in the eyes of the law, as it should be. We don't need to reaffirm this obvious fact in our most important document. The only way men and women could be more equal is if men were forced to buy 30 pairs of shoes, or women were forced to survive with only 3. Neither would tolerate that, and, in the words of Martha Stewart, "That's a good thing."

Men and women are equal, but men and women are different. And, to quote the French, "I surrender!" Wait, wrong quote. I meant to say, "Viva la Difference!"

The Sheriff of Nottingham would be rightfully disturbed.

A great new study by The Tax Foundation found an interesting tidbit of information about not only who pays how much in taxes, but who the government spends most of it on.. It seems all those alarmist Leftists weren't correct after all when they said the Bush tax cuts (you remember those, right? Those pesky tax cuts that actually increased revenue to the government, spurred economic growth, and pulled us out of Clinton's recession!) would be like robbing from the poor to give to the rich.

Well, someone is suffering from serious economic dyslexia if they can read this study and still have the same impression. This is from the executive summary:

"Overall, we find that America's lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America's highest-earning households received $0.41. Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy."

It's clear from this study that Robin Hood was a complete sucker! He was out there fighting and risking his life to steal from the rich to give to the poor when all he had to do was vote for liberals.

The sky is staying where it is! The sky is staying where it is!

Not exactly the most attention grabbing headline, I know. That is why the global warming crowd gets so much attention, they know how to write a headline. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the rest of us, there is growing skepticism in the actual scientific community about the "science" behind the global warming conspiracy. (Did I really just call it a conspiracy? Yes, I did. Haven't you ever noticed how all the "solutions" to global warming just happen to be what liberals have been fighting for, and losing on, for years? Coincidence? Hmm.) The Great Global Warming Swindle is the latest salvo from those scientists who like their science based in facts, not the "4 out of 5 dentists surveyed" mentality of consensus driven hysteria popular these days with the Chicken Littles out there. It also gives plenty of credence to my use of the word conspiracy.

Check out the video, it's well worth the time it takes to watch, and much more interesting than a PowerPoint presentation. Oh, and it has those pesky things science used to be based on; facts. I would make one of those "inconvenient" jokes here, but they are about as played out as adding "gate" to the end of every so-called political scandal.

Enjoy

You simply aren't taxed enough!

It's always funny to listen to liberals talk about taxes, well funny and sad. See, to them taxes are money the government earns somehow, not money the government takes from you. What they leave you with is considered, to them anyway, uncollected income for the government. Remember back in the 90's when the so-called "surpluses" were happening all over the place and then President Clinton said he could give the people back their money and "hope" they "spent it right"? Just how absurd that statement was is the perfect example of how liberals view your money. You aren't entitled to more of it because you may spend it wrong. Government, on the other hand, knows exacly how to spend and track your money much better than you do. After all, $600 hammers hit nails in faster, therefore saving valuable nanoseconds when it comes to hanging pictures in Pentagon offices.

That said, for more than a decade there was a haven from the intrusion of government into commerce; the Internet. Buying online had both its advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage was that you had to wait to get what you bought and, in the case of things such as clothing, hope it fit and looked as good as it did in the small picture online. Small prices to pay for the convenience of being able to shop anywhere around the country and around the world, but a price to pay none the less. The advantage was no sales tax, i.e. saving money. Well, the government, much like the mafia, doesn't like the idea of transactions taking place without getting their cut. So they tried to impose their sales taxes on businesses that sell to their state residents, even if the company was located in another state.

Thankfully the Supreme Court said forcing companies to comply with 46 different state tax laws (yes, only 46 states have sales taxes) imposed an undue burden on these businesses, and struck down the effort. Never one to take "You can't do that" for an answer, many of the sales tax states banded together to form the Streamlined Sales Tax Project to simplify their sales tax collection policies to the point that they could "comply" with or get around the Supreme Court ruling. It's their money and they WANT it!

Washington state recently join this "Gang of 22." A local paper up there, the Yakima Herald, today is praising the decision to tax transactions of Washingtonians in the last, great free market. Their logic is typical big government liberalism, and they use all the usual buzz words like "fair."It's worth reading if only for a look into the "what's yours is ours" mindset. Check it out by clicking here.