Does Obama include himself in the draft proposal?

"But it’s also important that a president speaks to military service as an obligation not just of some, but of many. You know, I traveled, obviously, a lot over the last 19 months. And if you go to small towns, throughout the Midwest or the Southwest or the South, every town has tons of young people who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s not always the case in other parts of the country, in more urban centers. And I think it’s important for the president to say, this is an important obligation. If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some."
Link

It's bad enough that the military has been forced to be a laboratory test tube for gender equality. Apparently he forgets that these young people have chosen to enlist, since we have an all volunteer, outstanding military. Young people in metropolitan areas have the same opportunity. And has he ever really looked at the data? Is he aware that rural schools have higher graduation rates than the city schools of Detroit or Cleveland or Columbus, and our military requires people of higher achievement? There are probably 25 year olds in the military who have more "leadership/executive" experience than he does. Does he know that the young people in the military are better educated and wealthier than a comparable group of young people in the civilian population? Or is he just again showing his elitist, liberal, smug opinion of people who choose to serve in the military, combined with his "clinging to guns and religion" bias toward fly-over country Americans.

. . . each year shows advancement, not decline, in measurable qualities of new enlistees. For example, it is commonly claimed that the military relies on recruits from poorer neighborhoods because the wealthy will not risk death in war. Our review of Pen­tagon enlistee data shows that the only group that is lowering its participation in the military is the poor. The percentage of recruits from the poorest American neighborhoods (with one-fifth of the U.S. population) declined from 18 percent in 1999 to 14.6 percent in 2003, 14.1 percent in 2004, and 13.7 percent in 2005.

. . . in the most recent edition of Population Representation in the Military Services, the Department of Defense reported that the mean reading level of 2004 recruits is a full grade level higher than that of the comparable youth population.[8] Fewer than 2 percent of wartime recruits have no high school creden­tials. Table 2 shows the breakdown for the educational attainment of the war­time recruit cohorts. The national high school graduation rate taken from the Census 2004 ACS is 79.8 percent." Link "Who are the recruits?"

Opposing evil and doing good are essential obligations

"Some argue that we should not focus on policies that provide help for pregnant women, but just focus on the essential task of establishing legal protections for children in the womb. Others argue that providing lifeaffirming support for pregnant women should be our only focus and this should take the place of efforts to establish legal protections for unborn children. We want to be clear that neither argument is consistent with Catholic teaching. Our faith requires us to oppose abortion on demand and to provide help to mothers facing challenging pregnancies."
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

"Barack Obama and John McCain differ on many important issues about which reasonable people of goodwill, including pro-life Americans of every faith, disagree: how best to fight international terrorism, how to restore economic growth and prosperity, how to distribute the tax burden and reduce poverty, etc.

But on abortion and the industrial creation of embryos for destructive research, there is a profound difference of moral principle, not just prudence. These questions reveal the character and judgment of each man. Barack Obama is deeply committed to the belief that members of an entire class of human beings have no rights that others must respect."
Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University

Joe Biden My Time

USAToday finally mentioned his speech warning us that Obama would be tested (he did this in 2 planned speeches, so I guess it doesn't qualify as a gaffe, which is usually unplanned) on 5A today (5 days after the fact), but they never quoted him or gave any details. The reporter only referred to "test" predicted by Biden, assuming I suppose that there was no need to report his alarming message. In the same article, the writer devoted 2 paragraphs to McCain's World Series comments.

Then I turned the page to 6A and at the bottom there was a tiny article on Palin

The Alaska governor raised the idea of a "looming crisis" in response to Democratic rival Joe Biden's remark at week-end fundraisers that obama would face a generated crisis within 6 months of taking office.

Well, yes, Palin did respond, but he's the one who caused the puzzlement--is he just a gossip and is reporting what he's been told? Does he think our 7 years of no attacks under Bush has been a fluke? I still didn't see any mention in WSJ, although James Taranto covers it in the online version.

I truly think Joe Biden is a scary dude! On the one hand, he seems to be saying negative things about his running mate, but on the other he appears to also be stupid, and this from the party that is so critical of Palin's intelligence and abilities. And on the flip side, McCain doesn't seem to know what to do with this--maybe he and his writers were as stunned by stupid as everyone else and haven't found an appropriate response.

The Education Debate--the transcript

Last night the candidates had stand-ins at Teachers College, Columbia University to debate their positions on education. This is a rough draft.

"Your opening question is how would Barack Obama differ from John McCain as an education president?"

The Obama representative LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND after saying we need more investment in early childhood education and healthcare and teachers’ salaries says: “So we have fallen to 35th in the world in Math, to 15th in terms of college access. And we are at a graduation rate that has been stagnant for 40 years, and others are pulling ahead.”

Call me crazy, but I think we’re talking content here, not healthcare. Drill, drill, drill is probably what's working in those other countries. And concerned parents. The best example is Cleveland and Columbus that have lower graduation rates than the district of the family in Appalachia (DeRolph v. State of Ohio) that sued the state for more per-pupil money (and won) a few years back. Now they have more computers and nicer buildings, but it didn't change the outcomes--which were already better than the big city schools because of parent involvement, not healthcare, not buildings. Now the increased property taxes they have to pay to keep up the schools is hurting their communities.

The McCain representative LISA GRAHAM KEEGAN points out McCain's support for charter schools in a bipartisan effort that included Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich and that Obama opted out of the effort, although he himself had been sent to private schools by his single mother, something Democrats deny other people‘s children.

I think the strongest case for charter or scholarship schools is that liberals, even in good districts like Springfield, VA (DC suburb) choose private schools for their kids. These schools recruit a very select, acceptable “diversity” element to look good. Keeps out the riff raff their kids might face in public school. What stops them is they are joined at the hip with teachers' unions.

Here’s the transcript, and I think the moderator was much too talky, so maybe it’s good that I didn’t get the audio (I think you can register to hear it).

Sexy Criminals

I didn't remember what Bernadine Dohrn looked like, but one of my coffee shop friends who eats a cinnamon roll every day and is a decade younger than me told me she was "hot," 'cause he remembered. He grew up in working class Philly and says that in the 60s when he was in a rock band and would pick a girl up for a date, she would either start taking her clothes off in the car, or start rolling a joint. So I guess he had an eye for "hot." Today she's just another old lady with a past, but does look good in the preview below. Here's a review of The Weather Underground, and I suppose you can get it at your public library, since they really go for that sort of thing. Barack, btw, wasn't 8 years old in 1995 when he sought out Ayers as a mentor for his career in Chicago politics. This review is from NYT which really digs the fun stuff of terrorism and calls it smart and solid, now that 9/11 has faded a bit from memory.

''THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND,'' directed by Sam Green and Bill Siegel (unrated, 92 minutes). This documentary tells the story of the Weathermen, a splinter group from Students for a Democratic Society. This terrifically smart and solid piece of filmmaking lets the former members of the Weathermen, now on the downside of their 50's, speak into the camera and reveal a bit of their personal histories as well as what the peace movement meant to them. The documentary is also packed with some of the most powerful images of violence of the period, like a bound Vietnamese being shot in the head at point-blank range and the bloody bed of the Black Panther Fred Hampton after he was killed. Voluble and charismatic, the film's stars -- the members of the group determined to overthrow what they considered to be a criminal United States government that waged the Vietnam War and targeted groups like the Black Panthers -- spent a lot of time in the media spotlight. Young, white and articulate, figures like Bernadette Dohrn, Bill Ayers, Mark Rudd, Brian Flanagan and Naomi Jaffe were clearly very sexy criminals. That exuberance and incentive has been captured by the directors. Mr. Green and Mr. Siegel have made a film of passions, and they establish a context that shows what a turbulent period the late 1960's were, slyly contrasting the peace-and-love vibe with events of the time. The film doesn't let its subjects off the hook, despite apparent sympathies toward their politics (Mitchell). The preview.

Why Obama never mentions the Annenberg Challenge

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge, $49 million recruited by Bill Ayers, another $98 million added by the city, "(CAC) was an abject failure - their own research, which [Ken] Rolling recently tried to prevent the public from seeing - concluded the effort had "no effect" on student outcomes; and, of course, while sharing a fox hole with the unapologetic former terrorist Bill Ayers in the Chicago School Wars is harmless if one is planning, as Obama was at the time, on stepping into the shoes of the late black Mayor, Harold Washington, it is altogether a different matter when one is running for President of the United States." Global Labor and Politics

Chicago received $49 million from a $500 million endowment by Walter H. Annenberg, the billionaire publisher, for school reform efforts nationwide, and the city added $98 million in matching funds for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a philanthropic campaign that financed enrichment projects at a third of the city’s 600 schools.

Mr. Obama was nominated to the Challenge board and was elected chairman in 1995, said Ken Rolling, executive director of the group, which operated through 2001. Mr. Obama continued to teach law during his five-year unpaid tenure as board chairman, and he was twice elected to the Illinois Senate. NYT

I'm not sure why earlier in the NYT article the writer claims there's been a turn around, because I checked the annual reports and data sets of Catalyst Chicago, and although there were some improved teachers salaries, and some interesting things in non-red tape schools, I didn't see much else to write home about blog about.

And that's how silly you sound to value-life people. Barack Obama is deeply committed to the belief that

1. members of an entire class of human beings have no rights that others must respect


2. the smallest and most vulnerable members of the human family can be denied the basic protection of the laws


3. judges should be appointed who will support Roe v. Wade and even expand it


4. the grisly practice of partial-birth abortion is moral and right


5. a baby who survives abortion is not entitled to comfort care as she dies


6. making moral decisions about life "is above my pay grade"


7. the production of human embryos for use in scientific experimentation is not immoral


8. federal money to fund an alternative to embryonic stem cell research should be opposed.

All the above have been documented in his voting record.

Christians who think Obama's social policies will reduce the demand for abortion need to look again. Government never reduces poverty--it just expands the definition and broadens the base, taxing you more so there's less of a gap. We have far more programs in place than ever existed in the 1960s and 1970s, yet the abortion carnage continues in the millions in spite of welfare, WIC, S-CHIP, housing subsidies, school breakfasts, school lunches, summer lunches, Medicaid and a multitude of religious and non-profit organizations.

See Public Discourse

Elders to get a cost of living raise--maybe

The government giveth, the government taketh away.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn (WVLT) -- Social security checks are going up $63 a month for the typical retiree.

Nancy Walker, 87, lives in subsidized housing.
The additional $63 a month in Social Security will cause her to lose benefits.

"Means I'm gonna pay more for rent for one thing," Grace Lindsey says.
It will cost her rent to increase because her income's going up, her food stamps will decrease and she may not continue to receive 20% off Medicaid.

For all of you looking forward to Medicare, (health care and social security dwarf war costs), I had a better deal when I was working. I don't think Obama can make good his promises by just taxing the rich, so if that's your reason, think again. The Democrats took care of that last year by refusing to look into fraud in Fannie and Fred. Now the rich he wanted to tax are showing losses big time.

So, next? Step up, folks, it's just patriotic.

HT Dr. Helen.

My thoughts exactly

Yesterday I was browsing a number of college-campus, liberal websites. What handsome, adorable young people. And so bright, talented, and apparently, well-heeled. Far more so than my generation. Just like that houseful of students that invaded Columbus to steal our election during voter golden week. Much more fashionably dressed and better teeth than even the college students I used to hire in the 80s. Their parents have worked hard for them--private schools, braces and dermatologists--the best our capitalist system could buy. They are truly the spiritual children of the 1960s radicals, like Diana Oughton of Illinois whose headless body with both hands missing was found in the rubble of that Greenwich Village townhouse in March 1970 with Terry Robbins' torso, the guy from Kent State. They had enough explosives to blow up the city block, but only killed three of their own Weather People, a group founded by Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn. The unrepentant Ayers who say they didn't do enough to bring down the USA so they went into education.

Browsing the CampusProgressive.org site I noticed a review of the latest book about President Nixon, a man I never liked and never voted for, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America. However, he did significantly change our relationship with Communist China and the USSR, so I'm not sure why he isn't an icon of the left. Oh well, who can fathom them? In the review I noticed this conclusion--arrived at from a different angle than my own--but everything the left wanted in the 60s they got. The right can only plug the dike from time to time but the steady stream of their views washes over us constantly.

While his electoral strategy remains popular, the success of Nixon’s ideology remains an open question. The burning issues of the 1960’s—civil rights, women’s rights, and the political agency of young people—have resulted perhaps not in complete triumph for the left, but the left’s vision has prevailed.

The whole anti-war thing, then as now, was just an excuse to get drunk, do drugs and burn a few flags before getting down to business. The problem we face in the 21st century is not the specter of a growing right wing (i.e. popularity of talk radio of Hugh Hewitt and Rush Limbaugh, according to these easily offended youngsters), but that today's students have to stretch and bend the edges and the constitution that much more than their baby boomer parents and college faculty did at the same age. They all want to out-do Dad and Mom in being big, bad liberals.

The Education Debate

Last night the Obama and McCain advisors on education had a debate. Anyone see it? Will the video, for which you had to register, be made available to the general public?

For Obama
A former public school teacher [2 years in the early 70s], Linda Darling-Hammond, Palo Alto, Calif. is a leading researcher on how improving teacher quality helps student achievement, particularly for low-income children. A Yale graduate who earned her doctorate at Temple University, she has taught at Stanford since 1998. She led the redesign of Stanford’s Teacher Education Program to better prepare teachers to work in schools with diverse student populations. She and other professors helped found a charter school in Palo Alto, and she serves as vice president of the Stanford nonprofit that runs the school. Some education reformers have criticized her negative assessment of Teach for America, a popular program that puts recent college graduates in struggling schools after a few weeks of training. Darling-Hammond has said that no matter how bright and enthusiastic, a beginning teacher needs to have extensive training and certification. In 2005, she led a study that concluded certified teachers consistently produced stronger student achievement than Teach for America recruits in Houston.

For McCain
A one-time speech pathologist, Lisa Graham Keegan, Scottsdale, Ariz. began working on education policy issues as a state legislator and in 1994, was elected to the first of two terms as Arizona’s state schools superintendent. After helping to create a controversial test that set tougher academic standards for high school graduation, she took the entire test herself and posted her passing scores. Keegan, who has a master’s degree in communication disorders from Arizona State University, has served on education policy teams for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Soon after she joined the Education Leaders Council in 2001, the group amassed more than $33 million in federal grants for a program to help states and school districts meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The group came under fire after news reports in 2003 questioned its financial management. Graham Keegan resigned in 2004. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Education charged that the council wasn’t fully complying with federal regulations for spending. However, after subsequent audits, grant funding was eventually restored.

These bios came from the Catalyst Chicago web site, and it's not hard to pick out the bias, but it's the only place I found all the candidates. Plus, because this site has an archive, it is interesting to scroll through 1995-2000 reports on the Annenberg Challenge (the funds which Barack Obama distributed for various projects to improve Chicago schools) and see no progress or failure. There are other ways to track the careers on the internet, so this is just a taste.

Abortion and Obama

Except for the early days of the 70s woman's movement when I attended lunch talks in the OSU library and carried my poster down at the courthouse in support of the ERA, I've met almost no women who identify themselves as "pro-abortion." They always say, "I believe in a woman's right to choose," or "I wouldn't have an abortion myself, but I want other women to make their own decision." We generally don't say that about other laws that involve killing. I try to be consistent about life and death issues without lapsing into values clarification, the parlor game liberals like to play.

I don't support the death penalty even for the most heinous crime; I believe in certain health regulations like required vaccinations and safety codes, because the lives they save are more important than the rights you choose; I wouldn't have tobacco stock in my portfolio no matter what the returns; I believe good intentions sometimes have disastrous results--like removing DDT from the international market which killed millions of Africans; I believe communism in the 20th century killed more human beings than all other despotic forms of government combined; I believe the US government and its flipped coin the anti-war movement contributed to the deaths of millions of Vietnamese when we fled our responsibilities, and we're getting pay back now from the resurrected 60s radicals. So, am I concerned about a presidential candidate who is vigorously pro-abortion? As Sarah would say, You betcha!

"Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.

Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view.

. . . Senator Obama, despite the urging of pro-life members of his own party, has not endorsed or offered support for the Pregnant Women Support Act, the signature bill of Democrats for Life, meant to reduce abortions by providing assistance for women facing crisis pregnancies. In fact, Obama has opposed key provisions of the Act, including providing coverage of unborn children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and informed consent for women about the effects of abortion and the gestational age of their child. This legislation would not make a single abortion illegal. It simply seeks to make it easier for pregnant women to make the choice not to abort their babies. Here is a concrete test of whether Obama is "pro-choice" rather than pro-abortion. He flunked. Even Senator Edward Kennedy voted to include coverage of unborn children in S-CHIP. But Barack Obama stood resolutely with the most stalwart abortion advocates in opposing it."

What is going on here?

Spotlight on Campus Freedom

The Ohio State University gets a red light! I wonder who determines what is an unwanted flirtation? Or leering? If a drunk girl sits on a guy's lap at the campus bar, has she committed sexual harassment?

"Sexual harassment is illegal. Inappropriate behavior includes: * Sexual jokes, innuendoes, gestures * Unwanted flirtation, advances, or propositions * Pressure for sex * Leering * Display of sexually suggestive objects/visuals * Display/transmission of sexually suggestive electronic content * Any unnecessary, unwanted physical contact * Sexual assault"

This page says OSU doesn't have a loyalty oath or an honor code, however, when I was re-hired in the 1970s, I'm quite sure a loyalty oath was required of employees--perhaps not for students, though. I know the Veterinary College had its own honor code.

Check your state's colleges and universities here.

Mandatory Fees aggravate conservative students

The fees that are tacked on to your child's college tuition may be going to support causes and policies you'd prefer not to underwrite--like women's studies programs, or bisexual social events. Here's a story in a Campus Magazine Online by CJ Ciaramella, Blog Editor for CAMPUS Magazine Online.

"The publication I write for at the University of Oregon, the Oregon Commentator, has been fighting the mandatory fee (known at UO as the Incidental Fee) for the better part of 20 years. In 1995, before Southworth and viewpoint neutrality, one of the members of the Oregon Commentator sued the State Board of Higher Education on the "freedom of conscience" grounds.His main objection was the previously mentioned OSPIRG, a political group that sends student money off campus for lobbying purposes. He lost, and OSPIRG still filches thousands of dollars from students. Coincidentally, the case was cited in Southworth.

Furthermore, the mandatory fee creates bad incentives in student government. For years now at the UO (and I'm sure other universities) student unions have maintained a stranglehold on the student government. With low voter turnout, student unions are able to swing elections to candidates that promise to keep the gravy train running. I won't even get into the instances of student government using I-fee money to send themselves to fancy conferences, throw parties (excuse me, "retreats"), etc."

Time to ask the university/college to explain the fees, don't you think? It's your money. Think ACORN with training wheels.

Fifty Largest cities graduation rate

The chart in today's WSJ shows Detroit at the bottom of the 50 largest cities with a graduation rate of 24.9; San Francisco is near the top with 73.1.

However, about 5 years ago the WSJ published an article, "Curse of the Creative Class" about creativity and entrepreneurship. There was a "Bohemian Index" created by one Richard Florida which showed that cities with a large gay population, many forms of entertainment and high tech companies, i.e., "the no-collar workplace" were very attractive to upwardly mobile knowledge workers and the "culture class." Guess who was at the top of that index? San Francisco, of course. The article continues about where the real growth was:

In 2001, a National Commission on Entrepreneurship study entitled "Mapping America's Entrepreneurial Landscape" ranked U.S. cities on how well they hatch high-growth companies. . .

Among major cities, Detroit--omitted from Mr. Florida's most creative cities--finished second in the commission's report, incubating about 50% more fast-growing companies than the average of all major cities, with a particular strength in nurturing high-growth manufacturing businesses. . .

The city that sits at the pinnacle of Mr. Florida's list, often jokingly referred to as the "People's Republic of San Francisco" because of its socialistic political culture, is the perfect example of what happens to cities that follow this heavy-handed governing philosophy. While San Francisco sports taxes higher than all but a few U.S. cities, and passes laws forcing business to boost wages, San Francisco's jobs economy has expanded at only one-fourth the rate of the national economy over the past 20 years.

Similarly, high-tax New York has been caught in a cycle of boom and bust that has produced no net job growth in 40 years. During the mid-1990s, the city briefly got back to basics when the Giuliani administration focused on fighting crime and cutting some taxes and spending, and--presto!--for the longest period since World War II, the city's economy outpaced the nation's. However, now that the city's political culture has veered sharply to the left again, with a mayor who declares that taxes don't matter to businesses or residents, New York is once again an economic slacker, having lost 200,000 jobs, or nearly 6% of its jobs base, in the current recession.

So isn't that odd. Detroit with a dismal graduation rate seems to be an incubator for manufacturing, and San Francisco with its over regulated vegans and heavy handed government, can't catch a break on growth.

The Coming Test

“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. This is the same Joe Biden who voted against the first Gulf War in 1990 because the US would sustain astronomical losses. So maybe we should just ignore his predictions. The same Joe Biden who voted for the Iraq War in 2002 and then took it back in 2007 when he wanted to run for President. So maybe he'll change his mind tomorrow on this threat.

Joe Biden-His-Time thinks President McCain wouldn't be tested in the first six months by these scenarios, but President Obama would. Why? Might be experience. Might be character. Might be age. Might be the stand on the Iraq War. Might be he knows something we don't?

For 22 years, Mr. McCain was an aviator in the US Navy. During the Vietnam War after a missile struck his plane in 1967, he was taken prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese. Five and a half years later, he was released. His naval honors include a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. McCain has also coauthored five books. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. He had two terms in the U.S. House and 4 in the Senate.

Mr. Obama began his career as a community organizer in Chicago and worked there for a foundation distributing money for education projects. He has written two books about himself and his ambition. He graduated from Columbia University in New York and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass. He is in his first term as a U.S. Senator, and served in the Illinois legislature.

Who knows what Joe Biden means when he rambles, wanders, wonders, and fumbles. But if Sarah Palin had said this, you can betcha it would be all over the papers and the cable channels. They would be screaming racist, bigot, fear-mongerer, stupid-in-lipstick girl-talk.

Barack Obama's relationship with the New Party.

The following appeared in the Post Journal written by Dr. Warren Throckmorton . I know nothing about either the publication or the author, but I had seen before that New Party had endorsed Obama (possibly the Illinois legislature web site).

"The New Party is a political movement aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America. The New Party actually endorsed Barack Obama's successful 1996 Illinois state Senate campaign. Obama, in turn, encouraged New Party involvement in his voter education and registration efforts. According to a 1995 issue of the Democratic Socialists of America newsletter, the New Party required endorsed candidates to sign a contract to have a ''visible and active relationship'' with the party. While the New Party's influence has waned, the Democratic Socialists of America remain an active movement.

What do the Democratic Socialists of America believe? Here is what the group's by-laws advocate:

... a vision of a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, feminism, racial equality and non-oppressive relationships.

Surely, we can all agree with the values of racial and gender equality and non-oppressive relationships. Free-market adherents believe in those principles as well. However, consider the group's support of income distribution. There, one can see the intellectual foundation for Barack Obama's answer to Mr. Wurzelbacher. Redistributing wealth, which is a foundational principle of socialism, is part and parcel of the Obama tax plan, even though Obama has avoided using the S-word.

And why not? Despite periodic, and hopefully temporary, interventions in free markets (such as is occurring in the financial sector), most Americans do not want to live in a socialist economy. We value the personal freedoms inherent in a free-market economy.

When the productive plumber protests that his tax burden will increase, Obama intuits the problem inherent in "equitable distribution." He says to his questioner, "It's not that I want to punish your success. ..."

Unfortunately, punished success is precisely the kind of mischief that successful Americans fear. Obama's desire to "spread the wealth around" may not come with malevolent intent, but, to be sure, such policies, which, again, are advocated by the Democratic Socialists, may result in inhibitions of initiative and innovation.
Rudolph Penner recently said on a C-Span call-in show that capitalism isn't perfect but it is better than the alternatives. Indeed, many have suggested that the current mortgage mess derives from well-intended attempts to spread the wealth around. In unraveling the causes of the housing bust, one finds multiple targets of blame. However, it seems clear that government policies which encouraged home ownership beyond a borrower's means were part of the chaos. In light of the federal government's inability to manage markets, it is a fair question to ask: Do we need more central planning or less?

"Careless, outrageous comments" says Obama

Gosh, you would think it was Sarah Palin who said Barack Obama's election will precipitate an international crisis instead of Joe Biden, that guy on the ticket with all the gravitas, good education and 30 years experience. Although if she had said it, the press would have called her a racist for noting his youth and inexperience.

Earlier Monday, Obama denounced the "say-anything, do-anything politics" of McCain's camp, but said "careless, outrageous comments" won't distract him from addressing the nation's ills.

I think BO's safe. The MSM has him covered. I checked the Columbus Dispatch, USAToday and Wall Street Journal today and there was no mention of Biden's gaffe (a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth).

When in doubt, blame the parents

Almost on cue, an older woman stopped at my table at the coffee shop this morning to tell me she liked my McCain-Palin button. "Everyone where I work is so young, they want everything given to them, so they think Obama is great," she said. "Lots of Ohio State students."

I had just finished the extensive summary of The Trophy Kids in today's Wall Street Journal.

With Wall Street in turmoil and a financial system in crisis mode, companies are facing another major challenge: figuring out how to manage a new crop of young people in the work force -- the millennial generation. Born between 1980 and 2001, the millennials were coddled by their parents and nurtured with a strong sense of entitlement. In this adaptation from "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace," Ron Alsop, a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, describes the workplace attitudes of the millennials and employers' efforts to manage these demanding rookies.

Before reading the review I'd been in a "heated" discussion with a school teacher, about how much is expected of teachers when it is the home that is the problem. We'd segued into that from an even more heated discussion about how to remedy the inequity in women's pay (on which I completely disagree with her, even though we are both conservative Christians and both have children and are/were career women). I had just pointed out to her that Columbus is among the bottom five in major cities in the nation in graduation rates, with Detroit at the bottom. All the failing school districts are heavily into the failed policies of the Democrats and the teachers' unions.

It would appear that the adult off-spring of the successful Baby Boomer couples and the adult off-spring of the welfare moms have all grown up with a sense of entitlement, resisting all expectations that they might need to conform to someone's expectations, want to be tied technologically to their music and friends, and take comfort in an inflated view of their skill level and contribution.

It's interesting that these young people who are at opposite ends of the quintiles of household income will overwhelmingly be voting Obama. "Take care of me Mama," should go on their political badge and be their motto for living and contributing to society.

Politics at work

In an article about discussing politics at work, I noticed this comment by one Obama supporter:

I decided now that we're in the final stages of this mega-important event and because I'm more passionate about this election than I have been since JFK, I would wear my favorite candidate's campaign button," said Ms. Geissal, 58, a registered nurse from Monticello, Ill.

Let me do a little math here. I was 21 years old when I voted for JFK and she's 11 years younger than me. She must have been a very astute campaigner for a 10 year old. The How-to of politics at work can be found here.

I see JFK's name (initials) comes up frequently, regardless of the party. Even Rush Limbaugh speaks fondly of his tax cuts. Joe Biden made reference to him in his warning about an impending disaster which he guarantees will happen under President Obama. Generally, historians say JFK failed or flubbed when tested by the USSR. So why bring it up? However, that's not the memory it evoked for me. Senator Biden, I remember the assassination of JFK, I can go clammy just thinking about how we hovered over Fran's little portable radio at work, crying and praying, and then the terrible news that he was gone. I truly wish Biden would have left that name and memory out of his fear mongering threat.

I am wearing my political badge to the coffee shop, but I have already voted. Like the day I ran into the PUMA at the library, it opens the door for discussion.

The ad that makes Ohio's Governor swear in public

But it's all true. It's not even a smear. All of it's out there in Ayers book, in books about the "revolution," in the archives of the Annenberg Collection and in newspapers. This ad hardly uses any adjectives or adverbs, it is so low-key. If you were living back then, it was indeed a "reign of terror." Ayers and his wife were on the Most Wanted List. The reason they aren't serving time is the government used some shady tactics, but they weren't any less guilty--they've even admitted it. It's a badge of pride. So why is our Governor losing his temper in public about robocalls? Obama couldn't be where he is today without some pretty shady, rich white guys helping him, and the money continues to pour in and the origins will never be investigated by a Democratic Congress. Ayers isn't just another aging bald white man in a Cuba shirt, he's an unrepentant, hate-America terrorist.

Halloween

"Halloween is probably also the weekend to run over your legislators' records, so you aren't just using the voter guides sent out by your pet group (whether it's NRA or the Sierra Club) for that kind of thing. Particularly given the work Congress and Senate have ahead of them (passing laws, or--my preference--overturning 'em) in order to save the economy, we need to do our homework there. For the record, capitalism is better run by capitalists. And capitalism creates more jobs than any other system. So a few pro-business people in Congress and in your state capitols will help us enormously, given the times we find ourselves in."Little Miss Attila

I don't give a damn

said Governor Strickland, our former Methodist pastor governor elected to clean up after Governor Taft's riotous golf game misbehavior. Put your hands over the kids' ears.

“I don’t give a damn about Bill Ayers but I do care about the people of Ohio and the people who need leadership that will be concerned about them and their problems,” Strickland said. Politickeroh.com

He's upset about robocalls, but not Obama's friendship with his mentor Bill Ayers. Doesn't this seem a bit skewed? Has anyone ever been killed with a robocall, or building blown up? The unrepentant, domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, who hired Obama to help radicalize Chicago school children with bundles of money from the Annenberg Challenge, and then helped him launch his political campaign when Chicago schools remained mired in the muck. He, the terrorist, is no threat to the people of Ohio, but robocalls are?

Potty mouth.

I am Joe, and he doesn't mean Biden

I am Joe.

I shop at WalMart at least once a week. I take my own car, a Ford Taurus that I bought used, to Jiffy Lube. I’ve lived in the same suburban town all my life and I’m ten minutes away from the house where I grew up. My Sundays consist of two things: church and football. During hunting season my freezer is full of deer meat given to me by my friends who are avid hunters. I’ve been on Jeopardy and consider myself highly-educated, though I don’t have a degree. I’ve worked in a gas station, a hotel, a warehouse, and for most of my adult life, for two different police departments. I fix my own faucets when they leak and unclog my own drains. When I go out to dinner, it’s to Olive Garden or a good burger joint. If you pick a fight with my family or my friends, you’ve picked a fight with me. I roll my own smokes and like a good, cheap cigar from time to time. The wine I prefer doesn’t cost 50 bucks a bottle. It comes from Australia and I’m more likely to drink it with a hamburger as I am a filet mignon. I’ve never ordered “lobster hors d’oeuvres, two whole steamed lobsters, Iranian caviar and champagne” from room service in a hotel. Heck, I’ve never ordered room service from a hotel at all. Though I’ve never been a community organizer, I’ve served on the Board of Directors of two non-profit community musical groups, one of which I helped to start.

I don’t want nor do I need some handout from the Magic Government Fairy. I know better what to do with my money than any bureaucrat in Washington or any socialist goon who believes he was born to “change the world”. I’m sick and tired of people looking down their noses at me and mine because I don’t live the kind of life they believe I should be living. I’m proud to live in a country that threw off that threw off the old class system and says, even today, that you can live your dream if you’re willing to put in the work. I have no intention of letting Barack Obama’s Thugocracy or the media green rooms full of elitist snobs put an end to that “for the common good”.

Come November, I’m thinking that we’re going to find out that there are a lot more Joes out there. They’ve riled us up and, to quote Mal Reynolds, we aim to misbehave.
Little Miss Attila is Joe, too.

from Sundries Shack

Joe Biden does it again!

Maybe he needs Joe the Plumber to stop the leaks! Now he's promising us an international incident when Obama is elected. Holy Moly, and you Dems and Fems and faint hearted RINOs think Sarah Palin says strange things. If this is what 30 years experience gets you, maybe it's good that you're putting an ingenue at the top of the ticket.

"“It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. … Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you - not financially to help him - we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

[...] “This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It’s like cleaning the Augean stables, man. … There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don’t know about that decision’,” Biden continued . … Biden emphasized that the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is of particular concern, with Osama bin Laden “alive and well” and Pakistan “bristling with nuclear weapons.”

As the birthday card I just gave my son-in-law who likes to fish says: Holy Carp! Cover your basses! Look who you're planning to elect, folks. A man whose running mate doesn't know when to shut up about the possibilities for a reign of terror during his watch. It sounds like he hopes someone will take BO out so he can be president--the man no Democrat wanted for President.

Didn't we get into Afghanistan and Iraq because all during the late 1990s and immediately after 9/11 the Democrats constantly beat the drums about WMD and the dangers of Saddam? Go back and listen to the speeches of Kennedy, Edwards, Berger, Byrd, Clinton and others--they were hysterical--and I don't mean funny--while George Bush was minding his own business back in Texas thinking about domestic issues.

"As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Nancy Pelosi, December 16, 1998

Now, Nancy, here we go again.

Spasiba--спасибо

While shopping at two grocery stores, I was reminded of why we need immigrants--to keep American workers on their toes! The woman had a thick Russian accent and was extremely careful in her job--even fretted a bit about where the other sack of Honey Crisps were which she was sure she'd rung up (I think she wanted to bag them together). I could understand her English--and especially her big smile and helpful demeanor. She told me she was from a tiny area between Poland and Germany. Poland was part of Russia in the 19th century and was only briefly a country in the 20th before Germany invaded in 1939, so I'm sure many Russian nationals lived there. There wasn't time to sort out world events. She wasn't eager for me to practice my Russian--had to move on to the next customer, but that's OK.

At the other store, which usually has very well trained, polite staff, I got a young man about 25 who either hadn't been to bed yet after a big week-end, had rolled out "on the wrong side of bed," as we say, or thinks clerking is beneath him. I had to ask him several times to repeat his question, and then couldn't understand him when he told me the amount (good thing I checked the little digital thingy because he'd morphed the subtotal and the taxable total). There was a 60s Beatles song on the loud speaker, so I said to him, "That song is older than you," and he replied (I think), "Everything they play here is older than me."

What happens if you question Obama

A media circus.

The market and McCain

I notice when the point spread narrows (I think the latest is about 3-4), the market improves. Investors seem very afraid of Obama and his socialist tax plans. Imagine. No one wants to risk growing their business if they will just be taxed more for their efforts. Of course, it could go the way of FDR. The market was recovering in the early 1930s and then he killed the economy for the duration of the decade with his alphabet soup programs keeping up the high unemployment rate.

Fluff and fold

That's what I call some of the Christian writers on the market today. Wear it no matter where. Calvin, Luther and the Puritans--now that's starch and iron, pull it out of the closet to look and think your best. Straighten up and look 'em in the eye. Neither are wrong. All are saved. But I hear or read so much of the Fluff and Fold I get bored and put the basket away for another day. Often there is little about Jesus or grace. Just a new way to write a "to do" list as if the cross never happened. At Bible study on Saturday I watched a video for 30 minutes of a dynamo, well-known pastor from Chicago who didn't mention Jesus once in his Bible thumper about "faith" driving out "doubt." It was 99.9% Old Testament.

Here's a blend--a little starch, a little lycra. The authorship is uncertain, probably from a black preacher, but I found it in Anne Graham Lotz' book, My Heart's Cry this morning. When I googled the final phrase, I found another blogger using it today.

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith in Jesus Christ, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go 'til He comes, give 'til I drop, preach 'til all know, and work 'til He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me--my banner of identification with Jesus will be clear.

"I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ."

Now that's worth hanging a blog on.

What are we doing here, a Catholic asks

And all Christians should too.

"The truth is, the first thought that came to my mind [Alfred E. Smith Dinner with McCain and Obama] was a simple one: What are we doing here? If abortion really is what we say it is -- the gruesome murder of unborn children -- do our actions reflect that belief? And if those who support abortion are guilty of facilitating such a horror, how should we respond to them?

If this were 1855, would we be inviting pro-slavery politicians to take a break from a hard fought race, and share a laugh and a meal? As one who finds courage and inspiration in the example of the Radical Republican abolitionists, I just can't imagine it. . .

Maybe it's time we step back and re-evaluate some of our own traditions and habits to make sure they square with what our Faith demands. Should we be honoring or featuring pro-choice politicians (from any political party) at Catholic events? The bishops have spoken out against this as regards the universities, but what about Catholic functions in general? Should we have a common policy? In 2004, neither John Kerry nor George W. Bush were invited to the Alfred Smith dinner, owing to Kerry's support for abortion. That sounds like a fair approach to me.

Obviously, Jesus dined with sinners and publicans -- true. But he didn't give them a platform to preach to the faithful. That's the difference here." Deal W. Hudson

Wagging a finger at other institutions and organizations just got a whole lot harder.

America should follow the Little Red Hen

This one's good. Takes you back to some good stories--The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and the Little Engine that Could. Stories of thrift, hard work and how to handle the shiftless and the big bad blow hards.

In a couple of weeks, a large number of voters, likely even a majority, will go to the polls to choose a political Pied Piper to lead them to an America where everyone shares and hugs and plays patty cake in equal-size houses. Nolan Finley, Detroit News

Sarah's not as skilled at the dodge

The other three are much more evasive, but just more experienced at hiding from the voter, according the the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has gotten the most heat for being evasive in this season of political debates, but new research suggests that the contrast between her and the other top-of-the-ticket candidates has less to do with her lack of responsiveness than with the three senators’ skill at dodging questions without seeming to.

When she point blank told Gwen Ifill that she was going to change the subject--I almost cheered, because I've been waiting for a candidate, any candidate, to tell the press the question is either stupid or out of line, but apparently voters are so accustomed to the clever dodge and weave play

"Voters say they prefer candid politicians, but the experiments suggest politicians may pay a higher price for intellectual honesty than dishonesty.

“When (Palin) acknowledged the question and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ it was intellectually honest, but it alerted people that she was not going to answer the question,”

Top Tear Jerker movies

I think I'd agree with most of these, except I'm old enough to remember the Lassie movies and the original National Velvet.
1. Bambi (1942)
2. Ghost (1990)
3. The Lion King (1994)
4. E.T. (1982)
5. Titanic (1997)
6. Beaches (1998)
7. Philadelphia (1993)
8. Watership Down (1978)
9. Boys Don’t Cry (1999)
10. Steel Magnolias (1989)

However, this is the one that will make you weep buckets, Gallant Bess (1947). I probably had to be carried home. What's the saddest movie you ever saw?

Seen at Neatorama. I had to visit there because Laundress must still be sick from cleaning her basement. Her site was a one stop for the odd and unusual.

Penny wise and pound foolish

I don't live there, so I don't know why Illinois is in such tough economic shape. Democrats? Unions? High taxes on new business? Young people leaving the state? Illegals slurping up the social services? Obama's policies when he was in the legislature upping the ante for health insurance? All the taxes going to Washington, DC then riding the rails back to Chicago?

Anyway, we never got over to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House, which ranks 114th on the list of the AIA’s America’s Favorite Architecture. We love FLW's architecture, but the buildings don't wear well, and are horribly expensive to renovate and maintain. Now it's on the chopping block with other historic sites and parks and is set to close December 1. Not sure how they'll keep it from deteriorating.

I looked at the Democratic House web site, but they sure aren't taking any responsibility. Not sure it's been updated since March. Then at the party site, I clicked on press releases, but it was under construction. Couldn't find much except links to other Dem states.

They're just like the Ohio Democrats who took over in 2006. Same message, lots of promises, but absolutely no progress except in voter fraud and scandals in the governor's staff, both of which went up.

"With your help, we can build on the remarkable Democratic successes in the 2006 elections and retain our majorities in the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate

"About once a year we have the joy of experiencing Chicago traffic when we drive to Mt. Morris from Lakeside (otherwise we have a peaceful drive through corn fields and wind farms coming up from the Champaign-Urbana area). It's never any different--always under construction, with one overpass where I just have to shut my eyes and not look at all the broken concrete (I'm not driving, btw). The tolls go up and up and up; the traffic is like a moving parking lot no matter what time of day we go through. But here's where some of the money is going, according to the Governor's web site.

In an effort to reduce congestion, cut down on emissions and invest in Illinois jobs, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today unveiled a new Illinois Tollway Improvement Plan which will include the introduction of Green Lanes and interchange construction. Building on the successes of the Tollway’s current Congestion-Relief Program, the second phase – Tomorrow’s Transportation Today – is a $1.8 billion project designed to continue congestion-relief efforts, improve the environment and enhance mobility across Northern Illinois.

New words for increased taxes: invest in jobs, green as a prefix to anything, and relief. Oops. Almost forgot spread the wealth around.

How to push us over the cliff into a depression

"Most people now living have never seen a credit crunch like the one we are currently enduring. Ms. [Anna] Schwartz, 92 years old, is one of the exceptions. She's not only old enough to remember the period from 1929 to 1933, she may know more about monetary history and banking than anyone alive. She co-authored, with Milton Friedman, "A Monetary History of the United States" (1963). It's the definitive account of how misguided monetary policy turned the stock-market crash of 1929 into the Great Depression."

". . . firms that made wrong decisions should fail," she says bluntly. "You shouldn't rescue them. And once that's established as a principle, I think the market recognizes that it makes sense. Everything works much better when wrong decisions are punished and good decisions make you rich." The trouble is, "that's not the way the world has been going in recent years."

Fighting the last war.

Too pretty to stay inside today

Can't remember if I posted this poem here. Originally wrote it this summer for my other, other blog on retirement after an e-mail from . . . forgotten whom. . . oh well.

Song of the Other Sister
by Norma Bruce

Glucosamine chondroitin
maybe some ibuprofen
Viactiv with calcium
fish oil and Senior Centrum.

Ohioans need vitamin D,
build those bones for all to see;
Stretch and bend, wear socks and shoes,
Take a walk after the news.

Breathe deeply now, in and out,
wave to your friends give a shout,
life is good we can't complain,
but we'd settle for less pain.

Thursday evening I asked my husband how much he weighed because I wanted to see if he was "government approved."

"160," he shouted from his lounge chair in the other room.
"Oh, you've never weighed that in your life." I said.
"But I have my check up tomorrow, so we'll find out."
"Are you 5'8"?"
"No, I'm 5'9" same as always."
"Can't be. You're getting shorter." I said.

Turns out he was 156 and 5'9" so I guess we were both half right. Dr. Wulf says he has the body of a 55 year old. Must be all that dancing with the ladies he does (leads an aerobics class and he's the only guy). So now what do I do? I'm married to a younger man. How will I keep up?

A U.S. citizen should be able to:

If the citizens were more knowledgeable on these seven points, we'd have fewer problems and misunderstandings during the Christmas seasons, fewer misinformed school officials and better collections in our public libraries.

1. Explain the position that religious liberty is a universal human right, the preservation of which depends upon a reciprocal responsibility to respect that right for everyone.

2. Explain how the constitutional principles of religious liberty are the ground rules that enable people of all faiths and none to live together as citizens of one nation.

3. Explain the principles of religious liberty or freedom of conscience as found in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

4.Explain various interpretations of the constitutional relationship of religion and government in American political life.

5. Explain the significant role religion and religious belief have played in American history and politics.

6. Explain the relationship of religious liberty to the strength and diversity of religious life in the United States.

7.Take, defend, and evaluate positions on constitutional issues regarding religious beliefs and practices.

Finding Common Ground; a First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Education, on-line edition, “Appendix B, “A history of religious liberty in American public life.” The on-line edition has more material than the print edition, 1997, as well as an article from 2007 by the editor, Charles C. Haynes of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt.

Hilltop Lutheran

Although I’ve expressed some concern about our church’s relationship with the federal government through faith based initiatives, I have no reservations about our unordained (non-ordained?) pastor at Hilltop Lutheran and navigating around the rules of ELCA. He has a heart for Jesus and the people living in the neighborhood. Hilltop Lutheran serves a "transitional" community which 50 years ago was thriving and middle-class. Most of its members had moved to the suburbs. It became part of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church six years ago.

Hilltop‘s unorthodox mix also includes an unordained spiritual leader, Steve Scott, 51, a former lawyer. In the 70s, he worked with Young Life, an urban ministry for high-school students. He began preaching at the church two years ago and became its minister in November because of a "compelling sense that it‘s the right thing to do," he said. He can‘t perform marriages but can do most other pastoral duties. Full story in the Columbus Dispatch

Another one who escaped

Obama's fairness doctrine

The damage of Obama's slip up in talking to Joe the Plumber, and why the press is trying to take your eye off Obama and focus on an ordinary citizen working for a living for a plumbing company in Ohio, is that even the most undecided voter knows that "spread the wealth around" is socialism.

For some reason, the voters haven't caught on to the lie, "95% will have their taxes reduced." These are the same people who don't realize credit means debt and sale means spend. In this parable he's talking about reinstating welfare for millions; millions of people don't pay taxes, so they will get a tax credit, i.e., will be paid for not paying taxes. McCain has been really weak in demolishing this phony claim.

Also, voters don't seem to remember one of the most successful features during the Clinton years was the Congress forcing his hand on welfare reform. Oh! the Democrats moaned and groaned, they predicted horrible things, but the economy soared by putting people to work. And Clinton got the credit--about his only positive legacy. The "community organizations" immediately went right to work pushing the newly employed or low income into NINJA loans so they would have something to do when they took their clutches off the necks of the poor.

Also, voters in 2008 don't remember the promises Bill Clinton made about reducing taxes on the middle class during his campaign in 1992 (I voted for him, did you?)--took about a month when he told us that he really couldn't do that--we'd all have to pay more. Maybe McCain is too much of a gentleman to bring it up, but he could turn that one over to Sarah.

Someone, and I don't care if it is Governor Palin or Senator McCain, needs to tell the voters that when Obama hits up the rich for more taxes (because "it's fair" or "patriotic"), he is simply penalizing the investors. The truly rich will still hire the accountants and lawyers and buy their boats, houses, and travel, but there will be much less left to invest. I saw some figures on how much Cindy McCain has lost recently. You're not sorry? I am. That's money that won't create jobs. (And she won't pay taxes on her losses, remember, so we're hurt two ways). So tax rate for the top 10% goes up, but Joe the Plumber or Jane the Pharmaceutical rep may be 100% out of a job. Jobs are created by the rich, not the poor.

Bush certainly hasn't been frugal. He's thrown money at education like he was a drunken Democrat from Massachusetts instead of a recovering Republican from Texas. He's infuriated conservatives. But he knows the way to bring in more money is to reduce the tax rates--that really spreads the wealth. Our nation's unemployment was under 5% for most of the Bush years because of his tax cuts. And before the housing meltdown caused by Democrats failing to rein in Fannie and Fred, the market was at an all time high. Obama doesn't care. He wants your job--as long as some rich investor gets taxed more. If you are 100% unemployed, well good, it just gives him more opportunity to make you more dependent on him. Makes him feel good--or powerful--or both.

The Team Obama's treatment of Joe the Plumber is just a foretaste of what's to come.

McCain supporter attacked by Obamatite

Although the press reported some mean language at a McCain rally and the MSM was all over it, the Secret Service and police and people attending never heard or saw a thing. However, according to Pajamas Media, an irate Obama supporter attacked a McCain supporter holding a poster causing injuries and a police report. "The overly formal document doesn’t mention this important detail: the victim was a small, quiet, middle-aged woman wearing glasses, and the attacker was a loud, angry man who went into orbit at the mere sight of McCain campaign signs." Get a grip, folks. It's just our future. I don't watch the NBCBSABC news much. Have they been as good at tracking down this guy's license to assault, tax records, voter registration and divorce papers as they were with Joe the Plumber?

John the Plumber, not Joe

is making robocalls in Ohio according to Maggie Thurber, a radio talk show host in Lucas County keeping an eye on local, state and national politics. When you check the caller ID number, you get recorded B.O. I still think they're mad that Joe the Plumber was more articulate than Barack the Candidate.

The Junior Senator from Illinois on the issues

was elected on 11/02/2004, and began service in 2005. He immediately began to run for President. I looked at Project Vote Smart I browsed through a few topics that interest me--abortion, agriculture, commerce, environmentalism, but you may want to check others.

Prohibiting the Funds in S 1200 from Being Used for Abortions--Senator Obama did not vote. I think he does this a lot--sort of his political footprint--tries to make it small. However,

NARAL, Planned Parenthood, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association give him a score of 100. National Right to Life Committee and Illinois Federation for Right to Life give him a zero.

Americans for Tax Reform which believes in a system in which taxes are simpler, fairer, flatter, more visible, and lower gave him a zero in 2005 and a 5-15 in 2007 as he was moving closer to his goal of being the party’s choice (they gave McCain a 70). Citizens for Tax Justice which wants higher taxes for the wealthy and the closing of corporate loop holes, gave him 100 (they gave McCain a 50). National Taxpayers Union, which "Seeks to reduce government spending, cut taxes, and protect the rights of taxpayers." gave him an F, or a 6 (gave McCain a 78).

National Association of Government Contractors gave him a score of 100 (McCain a zero) as did the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (this endorsement begs for a comment about Chicago type justice, doesn’t it?) which gave McCain a 33. U.S. Chamber of Commerce which promotes human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility gave him a 33 and McCain a 100.

The Arab and Iranian interest groups are very savvy; they gave both candidates almost identical scores--very high. The NAACP have Obama 100 and McCain a 5--they will just never forgive him for not voting for the day off for MLK day, no matter how much he grovels.

Club for Growth gives Obama a 33 and McCain a 100; Americans for Prosperity give Obama 42.9 and McCain 100; John Birch Index gives Obama 18, McCain a 38. American Wind Energy Association and League of Conservation Voters give Obama 100 and American Land Rights gives him an 11.

I realize McCain is older, more experienced and has been reelected often, however, when the two pages (bio/resume) are compared side by side, the differences are stunning. The item on BO's very short resume you need to notice is The Woods Fund of Chicago, which sort of bundles all the funding and scary friends together in a neat package.

What happened to the $160 million Annenberg challenge?

Through Bill Ayers, Obama got a piece and had the opportunity to “spread the good(s)” in the 90s and launch his career in politics. Peggy Noonan doesn't get it. Do You? Do you really want Democrats controlling all three branches of the government with their Just-Us radical, anti-American social plans?

“[Bill Ayers‘] hatred of America is as virulent as when he planted a bomb at the Pentagon. And this hatred informs his educational "reform" efforts. Of course, Mr. Obama isn't going to appoint him to run the education department. But the media mainstreaming of a figure like Mr. Ayers could have terrible consequences for the country's politics and public schools.”

Ayers is no education reformer

High noon for Noonan

It's too bad that print readers won't see the comments conservatives have sent to the WSJ about Peggy Noonan, who has been suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome for years, ever since she was left at the altar--wasn't even invited to be a bridesmaid after being a big wheel in the party. Now she's really shaming herself with tantrums about Palin. Readers aren't buying it. I sent a comment, but I'm no match for the pros. They're all pretty good, but this was one of my favorites.

Ms. Noonan writes, "In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics."

And here's what the press had to say about the Gettysburg Address, back in 1863: "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."

Voter fraud in Ohio

Here in Ohio we’re experiencing massive voter fraud. The Obamanation has so much money and so many volunteers we are being overwhelmed. Check out the Palestra blog for a story on "Mr. Smith," from Florida who had been living in Ohio 2 days (working for the Democrats, living with a host family) and registered and voted during our "golden" week.

A commenter explains why ACORN submits hordes of duplicate and obviously false names on voter registration forms.

The obvious phony voter registrations keep the election boards tied up trying to locate the obvious ones. The new voters with actual verifiable addresses are over looked in this process. In the mean time these organizations have rented houses in various voting districts so dozens of out of state and fraudulent voters have a local address to use for the actual voter fraud. Usually these places are dumps unfit for human habitation so the rent is cheap. With millions of dollars backing them and the stakes of putting their man in the White House, how many of these mail drops can they afford? It's almost unlimited. Once they show up and vote at the polls that vote can no longer be traced.

I know well the passion and idealism of the Democrats, young and old, student and retiree. I'm sure they see what they are doing--destroying our country through the ballot--as honorable and just. But they're just wrong.

Obama and ACORN

We know personally how much noise an acorn can make. We lived for 34 years in a house with a metal roof with a huge oak tree overhanging it.

"A common thread in many of the cases that [John] Fund spotlights [in Stealing Elections] is the shadowy presence of Acorn. Two and a half years after the debacle in Seattle, Washington’s attorney general indicted seven Acorn workers for their role in what he called “the worst case of voter registration fraud” in the state’s history. In St. Louis, eight Acorn workers pled guilty to election fraud this past April. On the other side of Missouri, in 2006, four Kansas City Acorn workers were indicted after officials deemed nearly 15,000 of their 35,000 registrations phony.

In the mid-nineties, Barack Obama ran Acorn’s Project Vote campaign in Illinois. He sued the state of Illinois on the group’s behalf in 1995 to implement the Motor Voter law. “After he joined the board of the Woods Fund,” Stealing Elections notes, “Obama saw to it that substantial grants were given to Acorn.” Senator Obama has championed Acorn’s legislative priorities in Congress. His presidential campaign even donated more than $800,000 to Acorn. Obama is the oak grown from Acorn, a group so proud of its association that it boasts “Obama Organizing Fellows” and runs a “Camp Obama” training event. While Acorn boasts of its Obama association, the candidate, of course, is more reticent. That’s because he well knows that many non-dead, non-animal voters would not find a close association with such a group a desirable quality in a potential president." Read the article at City Journal.

Running into a PUMA

I was leaving the library today and a woman in the lobby thrust a Ted Celeste ad at me that she had just picked up from the table. "Is this the Governor Celeste we used to have?" she asked. I just look like I have all the answers, but I could remember Dagmar, his wife's name, but not Governor Celeste's first name. "Oh, he had a lot more hair than that," I said. "Yeah, but in 20 years?" she said. So together we started running through names. "Go inside and ask a librarian," I said. "They love questions like that, then come back out and let me know." So I waited while she went inside. "Richard," she said when she came out.

We chatted a bit on the way to the parking lot and I flashed my McCain-Palin badge that was under my jacket. "Oh, so you're going to vote for a woman," she said, "So am I." We both agreed that we weren't all that thrilled with either Obama or McCain. "I was a Hillary supporter," she said, "She really had some good ideas. I'm just so mad at those Obama people for how they treated her." "Are you a PUMA?" I asked. But she didn't seem to be familiar with the word, but if ever there was an angry, disenfranchised Democrat, she was it. She just wants a woman in the White House. Then in four years. . . I told her I liked Palin because she was a Conservative and so was I. We chatted a bit and then said good-bye and walked to our cars.

The food stamp challenge

A Lutheran church in Seattle took the "Food Stamp Challenge," to see what it was like to live on a food stamp budget of $1 per person, per meal for one week. I blogged about one couple, Jason and Krista, at my other blog.

The present food stamp program began during Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s (there was a small brief program 1939-1944) and was expanded during the Carter years, and every administration since, including the Republicans. It is now a massive hot potato that no president or congress dare cut. Food stamps were never intended to replace the family’s food income, but to supplement it so they could have a healthier diet. This is the first fallacy of the “Food Stamp Challenge”--they were supposed to be supplementing a modest food plan.

However, the real motivation behind food stamps is/was to help farmers with surpluses. After WWII, our surpluses (huge expansion during the war) went to Europe to help them rebuild, but eventually they weren’t needed there and they had their own food commodity markets and trade. But our farmers were still raising surpluses. So subsidized food surplus was distributed to prop up agriculture, and to generate additional economic activity. It is supposed to be a type of stimulus for the economy--something Jason and Krista who tried the challenge didn't understand. Like many good intentions, it has created a type of dependency, poor planning, huge bureaucracy and frustration among the poor because it doesn’t do more. Every federal budget, food stamps now called SNAP, is expanded and more people and more programs are added.

According to the Cato Institute, “The largest portion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s budget consists of food subsidies, not farm subsidies. Food subsidies will cost taxpayers $55 billion in fiscal 2007 and account for 61 percent of the USDA’s budget. The largest food subsidy programs are food stamps; the school breakfast and lunch programs; and the women, infants, and children (WIC) program. The federal government as a whole has about 26 food and nutrition programs operated by six different agencies.“

The biggest distributor of these programs is "faith based and community" initiatives like our church, UALC, which participates in and works at the local food pantry (over 90% funded by the government) and the summer lunch programs (all government).

Update: I didn't know that the USDA also was in the business of providing mortgage money for low income families through a church chipping in the down payment, but it is. Story here about Mennonite Self Help Housing.

Off the reservation?

Leftists can't hack it. Blacks and women are not allowed to leave the reservation/plantation/basement/kitchen. Now the working class can't either. As soon as they discovered that "Joe the Plumber" from Ohio could speak better off the cuff and was more knowledgeable than the candidates, BO and Biden, they swung into action to destroy him. Checked his plumber's license. Nope. Checked his union membership. Nope. Checked his voter registration. Yes (although some got that wrong). Checked his taxes. Wow. Look at that! He like thousands of others, still owes Ohio money. No wonder he doesn't want Obama to raise his taxes. Just like they flew a covey of lawyers to Alaska to find dirt on Palin and her husband and children, they have launched a "destroy Joe" campaign.

Joe's American Dream: "was to have a house, a dog, a couple rifles, a bass boat. I believe in living life easy and simple. I don’t have grand designs. I don’t want much. I just wanna be able to take care of my family and do things with them outdoors and that’s about it, really. I don’t have a “grand scheme” thing. My American Dream is just more personal to me as far as working, making a good living and being able to provide for my family, college for my son. Things like that – simple things in life, that’s really what it comes down to for me. That’s my dream." Interview

Now Obama is lying on the campaign trail about what Joe said. I heard him this morning on the radio. "How many of you know plumbers who make a quarter of a million a year?" he said slipping into a little patois just to be authentic. Joe never said he earned $250,000 a year--he said he'd like to buy the business some day and not pay even more taxes under Obama's plan. Joe's a working guy who'd like to do better someday. Under President Obama, that's not allowed. Step back, working folk. Do the Obama blue collar, black face shuffle.

Pot to Kettle: Martin Nesbitt's tax liens (Obama's treasurer).

See Michelle Malkin who is tracking this.

Update: This comment #23 at Malkin was good: "Thank you to all the MSM hyper Obambi lovers and supporters. Thank you, thank you, thank you. In your zeal and hatred of the American workers you have kept Joe and his story in the news. This could very possibly be your Dukakis in the tank moment. With the race tightening up voters are hearing Obambi over and over again espouse his socialism and the thug-ocracy of the Obambi machine. Thank you again." Marshall Russ

The MSM has tracked down the truth and reported: His name isn't Joe; that's his middle name. Oh the shame and horror!

Our household income fell by one-half under Bush!

Of course. We retired during the Bush years. Eeek! And our insurance costs have gone up! Just like the leftist say. Yes, we're on Medicare, a government health plan and our costs have gone up! Not nearly as good or cost worthy as what I had at the university. And we're not the only ones, we're part of a million household trend. And it will only get worse, unless Obama decrees that the Census reports can no longer be issued until he's finished with the country. Whenever that will be.

Here's a lefty who just doesn't get it.

Wall Street Journal front page feature, the black McCains

Interesting isn't it, when Barack Obama has slave owners both in his African ancestry and his American white ancestry, that WSJ choses 2 weeks before the election to write about McCain's ancestors who owned slaves?

The first Islamic assault on African culture was the jihad that annihilated Coptic Egyptian culture and Greek culture in Northern Africa. Today these areas are Arabic and Islamic.

That was just the thin end of the jihad wedge. Over the next 1400 years, Islam took approximately 25 million slaves out of Africa. An Arabic word for African is abd, the same word that is used for black slave. Arabic has about 40 words for slaves. White slaves are mamluk. Islam took more than a million European slaves into slavery. The highest priced slave in the Meccan slave market was a white woman.

There is great deal of collateral damage when a slave is taken. A warring party attacks a tribe and when enough of the protectors are killed, the rest will surrender and become slaves. All of those who were strong enough to work were taken away in a forced march for days. But there are many who are left behind -- the young, the old, and the sick and injured.

Estimates vary, but from 5 to 10 people left behind died as the result of taking one slave. So for 25 million slaves, we have the deaths of 125 million Africans over a 1400-year period.

When the story of slavery is told in America, as in the movie Roots, the sailors get off the boats and capture the Africans and make them slaves. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

When the white slaver showed up in his wooden ship, he made a business deal with a Muslim wholesaler. Jihad was the machinery that Mohammed used, and his model worked well in Africa as slavers filled the slave pens for the same reason that Mohammed did it: profit. Whites only traded slaves with Islam for about 200 years. Islam was in the slave trade before and after selling to the West

.From every educational and personal achievement measurement, the black McCains and the white McCains seem pretty well matched in the 21st century, regardless of what transpired in the 19th century. We'll never know if the NGOs and western aid hadn't virtually destroyed African culture and propped up despots, 21st Africans would be doing as well as 21st century African-Americns.

WSJ news coverage is among the most liberal of all the MSM. It's difficult to tell sometimes if journalists or left wing social workers are doing the writing, because much of it belongs on the op-ed pages. Generally, the editorial staff and letters to the editor are conservative. I wonder, do the two cultures of this paper even sit together in the lunch room?

What housing crisis?

If there is a housing slump or melt down in my neighborhood, it would be hard to tell from the real estate ads in our SNP Upper Arlington News. If you are from San Francisco or the east coast, these may sound low, but for our neck of the woods, they are high. Plus, I'm familiar with some of these properties and I don't think they were anywhere near these prices 5 years ago. My comments appear after the double slash.

South of Lane. Wonderful 2 story in historic Old Arlington. Spacious living room and dining room. Hardwood floors, French doors, screened porch, rec room in lower level. Beautiful gardens. $498,500. New Price. // The key word here is "old." The important thing to notice is the agent doesn't mention bathrooms or garage--the photo appears to feature a home about 80 years old, so I'm guessing a 1 car garage and 1.5 baths.

Cottage style home. Charming 2-story in the Northam Park area. Great details, hdwd floors & built-ins. Generous size living & dining rooms. 1st flr den. 3 BRs, 2 full baths. Paver patio & deck. $398,000. // This is near our old neighborhood, only a bit older--probably built late 20s. From the photo I can see that the "den" is a filled-in porch with windows that don't match the original architecture, a frequent mistake in remodeling. These lots are very small, but with huge gracious trees (very expensive to maintain, btw). Landscaping looks way over grown--probably from early-90s upgrade and now is out of control.

Loch Lomond. Stately entrance to a limestone terrace. Private 1+ acre lot. Gourmet kitchen, open floor plan. 2-sty great room. 5BR, 5 full & 2 half baths. Terrific floorplan for entertaining. $1,475,000. // Not quite sure where Loch Lomond is but I think it is the northern edge of UA. From photo I'd guess a late 80s design from a catalog. This description means "this is a hard to heat barn"--you can square dance in the entry and fly kites in the great-room. The utility bills for houses like this could put a kid through college.

Desirable location. This beautiful 4 BR home is located in a prime UA neighborhood on the corner of Abinton and Redding. Recently renovated, the home features a gourmet kit w/granite counter tops, top of the line appliances & a wine cooler. Each BR is completely renovated, while new French drs lead to the extraordinary patio. Boasting new Pella windows, driveway, and exterior stucco, this home is truly a must see! $739,000.// We lived on Abington so I know this house--I think everyone who has ever lived there has remodeled it which might be why the price is so high. That sounds like a fab kitchen, but Redding Rd is a main thoroughfare through Arlington that cuts through what would be a very small area on the edge of Canterbury addition. Virtually no useable yard. If you have young children, I'd look elsewhere.

Yes, there seems to be 1) a lot of money still available, or 2) people not too anxious to move.

Global cooling suggested

Don't buy those funny light bulbs yet. The regular ones help heat your home. Old Farmer's Almanac is predicting we're going into a cooling period and they're not looking at fuzzy caterpillars crossing the road.

These factors—the cooling Pacific, the yet-to-cool Atlantic, and the historical reduction in recent solar activity—suggest that a staggered cooling period could continue. Absent from most headlines about global warming is a discussion of measures suggesting that the warming has ceased and a cooling may have begun. For example, deep-ocean heat content has not increased during the past five years. Looking at just one year, from January 2007 to January 2008, we find that satellite-derived atmospheric temperatures indicate that Earth was about one degree Fahrenheit cooler at the beginning of 2008 than it was at the beginning of 2007. The United Kingdom's Hadley Centre ocean and land temperature records show cooling in the last seven to ten years.

Are you government approved?

Check out this website and see! I am approved--my BMI was 22.46. But all these folks the government says are overweight:

OVERWEIGHT:
Barry Bonds: 6'2": 228 lbs: 29
David Boreanaz: 6'2": 218 lbs: 28
Tom Brady: 6'4": 225 lbs: 27
President Bush: 5'11": 191 lbs: 26
Nic Cage: 6'1": 210 lbs: 28
George Clooney: 5'11": 211 lbs: 29
Tom Cruise: 5'7": 170 lbs: 26
Matt Damon: 5'11": 187 lbs: 26
Johnny Depp: 5'7": 190 lbs: 27
David Duchovny: 6'0": 212 lbs: 29
Vin Diesel: 6'2": 200 lbs: 26
Cheryl Ford: 6'3": 215 lbs:27
Harrison Ford: 6'1": 218 lbs: 29
Brendan Fraser: 6'3": 234 lbs: 29
Richard Gere: 5'11": 187 lbs: 26
Ethan Hawke: 5'9": 172 lbs: 25
Hugh Jackman: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27
Lebron James: 6'8": 240 lbs: 26
Dale Jarrett: 6'2": 200 lbs: 26
Bobby Labonte: 5'9": 170 lbs: 25
Nick Lachey: 5'10": 180 lbs: 26
Karl Malone: 6'9": 259 lbs: 28
Dr. Phil McGraw: 6'4": 240 lbs: 29
Mark McGuire (playing weight): 6'5": 250 lbs: 30
Donovan McNabb: 6'3": 240 lbs: 30
Yao Ming: 7'6": 310 lbs: 27
Brad Pitt: 6'0": 203 lbs: 28
Keanu Reeves: 6'1": 223 lbs: 29
Cal Ripken: 6'4": 210 lbs: 27
Andy Roddick: 6'2": 197 lbs: 25
Will Smith: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27
Sammy Sosa: 6'0": 220 lbs: 30
Denzel Washington: 6'0": 199 lbs: 27
Bruce Willis: 6'0": 200 lbs: 29
Billy Zane: 6'2": 210 lbs: 27

Do American schools not graduate any physics students?

Does the Zhong Group at Ohio State University look a little unbalanced to you?

Older, male and Protestants lean toward McCain

Jews (78%), other (71%) and no religion (61%) are going for Obama big time. People over 45 are going 45% for McCain, with only 32% in the 65+ age group for Obama. Protestants are 53% for McCain. Males about 50% and single women are all ga-ga over Obama, 62% to 25%.

The one that really puzzles me is investors in a dead heat, 45% and 45%, with 11% undecided. Someone really doesn't understand economics or how we got this melt down. Or how the Democrats tried to block for the last year and a half (since they came into power) any investigation of the GSE's roll role in the subprime housing mess. See IBD poll as of yesterday.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/Polls.aspx?id=308947386648301

From the fraud we see in Ohio perpetrated by the Obama campaign, I doubt this poll will mean much.

What a first class education and 30 years experience will get you

J-O-B-S is a three letter word. Joe Biden.

I hope Sarah got a good laugh. I sure did.