A Red Letter Day

Today is a red letter day. Literally. Today America's national debt lurched past $13 Trillion Dollars. That's Thirteen Thousand Billion Dollars. That, folks, is quite a lot of money. That level of debt works out to just about $176,000 for every household in the U.S. of A. And, I'm here to tell you, that our debt will increase from now on at the rate of more than $100 Billion each and every month for the foreseeable future. Not good...

But before we talk about our problems, let's take a look at Greece. The Greeks are all pissed off because their parliament is engaged in a life or death struggle with spending. In order to obtain loans from the European Union to prevent default on its debt, it has to cut spending by more than 30%. But the people aren't happy with that quest. That's because they want to retain their 14 monthly paychecks every year. Yep, that's right. Their public sector employees, comprising more than 50% of the Greek population, get paid for fourteen months every year. And they want to continue getting six weeks paid vacation each year. And they want to still be able to retire will 100% of the average of their top two years' income at fifty years of age. Retirement at 50. Now, some members of the EU, most notably the Germans, aren't all that thrilled at shoring up the Greeks. That's because the Germans don't get full retirement benefits upon retirement until the age of 78. But Greece isn't alone in this quagmire. Spain, Italy and Portugal are in a neck-and-neck race to catch Greece in the "we're flat broke" olympics. And each of them will need a bailout if they're to remain semi-solvent.

So how does Greece resolve it's problems? America, the largest contributor to the International Monetary Fund, borrows $56 Billion Dollars from China to loan to the IMF. The IMF then loans One Trillion Dollars to the EU. The Eu then loans an initial $156 Billion Dollars to Greece. Experts tell us this is just the first installment. Many more such loans will be needed if Greece is to stabilize. Just so we're all on the same page, Greece has a national debt equal to 120% of its Gross Domestic Product. We're told that any country with a debt greater than 100% of GDP is circling the drain. America? As of today our debt is equal to 90% of GDP. And growing, as I mentioned at $3.3 Billion Dollars A DAY!

November 2nd is just around the corner. Remember, elections have consequences. I for one am hoping for change...

Let's be Consistent

The primary rationale used by a significant minority of our population to justify legalizing those who have deliberately violated our immigration laws by breaking into our country, is that they're doing jobs Americans won't do. They pick our fruit, mow our lawns, wash our cars, clean our houses and cook for us when we eat out, so they should be welcomed. And warmly. They're really nice folks, this group's thinking goes, and therefore they shouldn't be punished for willfully ignoring our borders and breaking our laws.

Using this same rationale, it seems to me we should all be applauding Arizona for passing SB 1070, a law intended to try to do for itself what the President, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security (who, interestingly, used to be Arizona's Governor), the Justice Department and the Administration as a whole have blatantly chosen not to do; secure our borders and enforce our Federal immigration laws. The fact that the aforementioned public officials are sworn to uphold these laws, and don't, apparently means nothing to the pro-illegal immigration crowd. Or, to the vast majority of the mainstream liberal media, for that matter.

So. to be perfectly consistent, a goal to which every fair-minded individual should aspire, it looks to me like this: Illegals: Doing the jobs Americans won't do. Arizona: Doing the job America won't do. Kind of has a ring to it, don't you think?

Arizona Here I Come

So L.A.'s City Council voted 13 to 1 yesterday to boycott Arizona because they chose to enforce a Federal law the Feds won't enforce. Mirrors it, in fact. Exactly.Word for word. Barry the First says it's misguided. He's the guy that won't enforce the Federal laws he's sworn to enforce. Interesting, don't you think? Eric the Red (Attorney General Eric Holder) says he doesn't like it because it's likely to cause racial profiling. And then he admits today in a Congressional hearing that he hasn't had the time to read all 10 pages of it. He's threatening to sue to overturn it, but he hasn't had a chance to read it. Also interesting, I'm sure you'll agree. And absolutely astounding. And sickening.

Well, I have an idea. Since San Francisco is boycotting Arizona, and now that toilet L.A. is boycotting Arizona, I've decided to boycott the boycott. I'm going to take a vacation this summer to Sedona. I hear it's a happening place. Crystals and pyramids and all that parallel universe stuff. Every time I decide to buy something, I'm going to find out if something like it is made by our dear overburdened and put-upon friends in AZ. And if it is, I'm buying it from them. And if it's made in L.A. or SFO, not happening. Not buying it. No way, Jose. That's a pun, there. No racial insensitivity intended. No bucks from Chuck going that way. Those weenies have chosen to screw with the wrong guy. I'm a one-man boycott machine. And I invite all the hundreds of thousands of people who routinely read my humble little blog to join with me in boycotting those latte-sipping, Saugivnon Blanc-drinking, limousine-riding commie pinko libs in Los Grungenous and San Give-me-Your-Moneynous until they get it right. Embrace Federal law or secede from the Union. And do it now.

Ask yourself this. Would you miss them?

Success is so 1980's...

Remember when success was lauded? When investing one's time, effort, energy and money to start a company or invent something or come up with a new and improved way of doing things with the hope and expectation of making a little money was viewed positively? When taking a risk and betting against failure to create some jobs and improve society and get ahead personally was considered the American Way? Remember when Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and Malcolm Forbes and Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie and Fred Smith and Roger Penske were universally admired? When they were revered and emulated? Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore.

Now, with the headlong rush by the President and both houses of Congress to redistribute wealth from the "haves" to the "have-nots," it appears that the tipping point may have finally been reached. That's the point where more than half of the Country is living off the confiscated largesse of the minority. That minority consists of the folks who actually create jobs, work hard, produce wealth and pay taxes. And even though they're taxed ever greater percentages of their income as it increases, effectively punishing them for their success, thus leaving them with less to invest and build factories and hire people with, they've become objects of scorn by the easily-led, unproductive masses.

Consider this: The top 1% of wage earners in America pays more than 44% of all income taxes. The top 5% pays 73%. Remember when then-candidate Obama promised to give 95% of all Americans a tax cut? Maybe his Harvard education didn't teach him that the bottom 40% of all wage earners pays no income taxes at all. Or, then again, maybe he did. Yet, they get to vote for those who promise to take money from the folks who earn it and redistribute it to those who don't. Doesn't this cause a disincentive to those who might take a chance and start a company, knowing that if they succeed they'll be picked clean by greedy politicians seeking to curry favor with their constituents? Why should anyone work 16 hours a day, struggle to make payrolls and workers' comp. premiums, continually fight through myriad confusing and often conflicting rules and regulations and fees and mandates and restrictions, and then face confiscatory taxation if they're among the fortunate few to actually succeed? I submit it's finally become apparent to me they shouldn't. I don't know about you, but I've been pulling a wagon full of those hankering for a free ride for far too long. I've concluded it's time to stop pulling and hop in with the rest of them.

The hot topic these days in Washington is creating jobs. They just don't get it. The only jobs government creates is government jobs. Ask yourself this: When was the last time a poor person hired anybody?

A Little Too Convenient...

Is there anybody else besides me who thinks it was just a little too convenient that the oil rig in the Gulf exploded when it did?

I don't mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist here, but let's review the facts:

FACT: The POTUS zigzagged to the right in an effort to woo some Republican support for his Cap & Tax legislation to cure global warming that isn't occurring by agreeing to open up some areas for offshore oil exploration. Notice he said "exploration," not "drilling."

FACT: Predictably, all of the ecoloons immediately cried foul. The commie pinko weenies at America's Oceans, the Sierra Club, PETA, the ACLU and every other group devoted to having us give up our cars and ride bicycles instead starting squealing like stuck pigs. They even threatened to withhold financial support from the Prez and his cronies.

FACT: The day before Earth Day, April 19th, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded, sending millions of gallons of crude gushing to the surface from over a mile deep. To date no one knows for sure what caused it.

FACT: Along with Arnold and nearly every other pol who had previously been on board for more drilling, the TelePrompTer-Reader-in-Chief immediately withdrew his support for new drilling.

FACT: The POTUS is now off the hook with his super far-left backers, who have resumed their never-ending demonization of anyone wishing to punch holes in the Earth and all conservatives nationwide.

FACT: There are 3,500 oil platforms operating in our coastal waters. This is only the second time in 40 years that a major spill has happened at an oil platform. And this time it happened at exactly the right instant to benefit The Administration and its lefty sycophants.

An accident? You decide?

Keeping Lawyers at Bay

I heard today that the American Immigration Lawyers Association has cancelled its plans to hold a meeting in Scottsdale, AZ in September. It seems the 11,000 lawyers who are members of this organization are boycotting Arizona because of the tough immigration law it passed a couple of weeks back. They don't seem to agree with this state's having criminalized what has been a Federal crime for more than 58 years. It's okay for the Feds to pass laws like this one and then not enforce them, they seem to think, but not for a state overrun by illegals. They're now talking to L.A., that sanctuary city, about moving their little convention to that toilet up north from us here in the good old O.C.

And then it hit me. All we have to do to make lawyers scatter like so many cockroaches when you open the refrigerator door is to pass laws criminalizing criminal activity. Write your elected representatives and advocate for each of the other 49 states to pass laws mimicking AZ's. If that's the only way to get rid of lawyers it seems to me it would be worth whatever the cost...