Chuckmeister Unleashed!

bin Laden's Dead, but the AQMD Lives...

2012-02-07T13:18:00.001-08:00

Do you know who…or what…is the AQMD? If you're from Southern California, you're likely aware that this bureaucratic acronym stands for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Sounds innocuous, right? Wrongo, oh smog breath. These are the unelected cronies of various cities and counties in our piece of the once-golden state, or current or former members of the Assembly or Senate, or just highly-placed political insiders, or perhaps well-healed donors who wrangled these high-paying jobs just to screw with your puny little unimportant lives. There are currently 13 members of the Board of Governors of the AQMD, and together they decide whether or not the air is dirty, and if so, what's causing it, and then whether or not to go after the purported culprits with the full power and authority of the State of California and all their law enforcement options. They can tell us to stop whatever they think we're doing that they've decided is bad. And if we don't, they can fine us. Or imprison us. In short, there's basically no upper limit to their power over our little lives. And, once again, they are APPOINTED!

It used to be that you could take your car to a local shop and have it repainted. Or have the bumper rechromed. Or have your furniture sanded down and revarnished. No longer. The AQMD has legislated these mom and pop businesses out of existence. Sad, to be sure, but the victims have been relatively few, as has the overall impact on our lives, up to now, at least. But now they've gone just a wee bit too far.

State air-quality regulators just passed sweeping new auto emission standards this past week that include a mandate to have 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on California roads by 2025 (emphasis mine). The AQMD board unanimously approved the new rules that require that one in seven new cars sold in the state in 2025 be an electric or other zero-emission vehicle
(once again, my emphasis). The plan formed by these ivory tower pinheads calls for a 75 percent reduction in smog-forming pollutants by 2025 and a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emission from today's standards (I got tired of adding emphases, but I could have, and maybe should have).

I might mention that today's standards for vehicle emissions are over 1,000 times more stringent than those in effect in 1974
(okay, I reverted to my previous predilection for serial emphasis). According to Mary Nichols, Chairman of the AQMD Board of Governors, "Today's vote…represents a new chapter for clean cars in California and in the nation as a whole. Californians have always loved their cars. We buy a lot of them and drive them. Now we will have cleaner and more efficient cars to love." God bless her micromanaging little soul. There's just one problem. The technology to develop such vehicles does not exist. And, according to automakers, is not likely to exist by the time 2025 rolls around. But sadly deluded, but "proud," Mary seems to think she can force it into existence by simply mandating it. Poof! It will happen! And if it doesn't, somebody's going to jail!

Mary's little pronunciamento also fails to recognize another factoid. Californians don't like weenie little piss-ant electric or zero-emissions cars. And they're not buying them. The Chevy Volt, the brainchild of our Redistributor-in-Chief, was originally projected to sell 10,000 cars in 2011 and 40,000 a year by 2013. They sold less than 7,000 Volts last year. Have of those sold are still on dealers' lots, and half of the remainder were purchased by the Federal or state governments. It has been stated by those in the know that the majority of the remaining few hundred Volts were bought as a fourth or fifth car by wealthy lefty enviro-whackos so they could show their ass to their less environmentally-conscious neighbors. In fact, Chevy dealers are now refusing to take their Volt allotments, having learned that they cannot sell them. And yes, they cost $43,000 each. They are actually based on the Chevy Cruze platform, which costs $18,000. Think of the Volt this way: you'd be buying a Chevy Cruze with a $25,000 battery. The good (or bad news, depending upon your particular perspective), is that you get a $7,500 tax rebate from the Feds for buying this little piece of crap. Put another way, your neighbors will have some of their hard-earned tax dollars redirected your way by the Big Redistributor as a D.C. bribe for buying this car. Makes you feel all squishy, doesn't it?

Oh, and by the way, the Volt has a tendency to spontaneously combust a week or two after a side impact accident. Every one of them, so far. And all have been total losses. In order to sell cars in this country you have to crash them to determine just how badly they fare when squished. In the Volt's case, they squished okay but later caught fire due to battery leakage. Green energy turns into a nice bright orange, it seems.

But it's not just electric cars that are falling short of customer expectations. Even the vaunted Honda Civic Hybrid has left some buyers feeling shafted because the promised 50 or so miles per gallon has not materialized. In fact, roughly 10,000 Civic Hybrid owners have joined together in a class action suit to get some moolah back from Honda. It seems 50 mpg is more like 40 in the Real World, or even less. Just last week a nice Southern California lady named Heather Peters successfully sued Honda because her Civic returned only 30 mpg. The judge in her small claims court suit awarded her $9,867 in damages! Clearly, this "green" agenda we've been having stuffed down our throats leaves a lot to be desired.

So, you say, no biggie. I'll just go across the border into Nevada or Arizona or Utah and buy my new F-150 pickup or Suburban. Ummm, not so fast. You won't be able to register it in California. In fact, there's some talk that the AQMD may OUTLAW all non-complying vehicles a "suitable" period after these new regs kick in if enough Californians don't voluntarily submit to this tyranny and head on down to wherever they have to go to buy these overpriced, underperforming, tiny and tinny little cars.

Not to worry, says the Board. The happy new owners of these wussy cars will save enough on gas to more than pay for the additional $6,000 premium they say you'll have to fork over. I'd like know what kind of air – or other substance – they've been breathing if they actually believe this patent B.S. It'll be three or four times that premium amount, or even more, and it will take 20 or more years to recoup the investment, if it can be recouped at all. The batteries on these turkeys shoot craps after 8 or 10 years and cost a fortune to replace. And, by the way, getting rid of them requires a call to your local HazMat team. Nickel Metal Hydride, the key component in many of these batteries, is a serious pollutant, both to mine and to discard, don't you know. Maybe you could just quietly drop the depleted battery in the dumpster behind your nearest supermarket. If, of course, it didn't weigh 1,200 lbs.

The stats are clear: An average of 5.6 businesses each employing over 100 people are leaving California every week (no more emphasis required). This little AQMD should serve to increase that number markedly…

African Americans for Obama

2012-02-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE*

You'll be very pleased to learn that today, February 2, 2012, President Barack Hussein Obama just announced the launch of his new website, African-Americans for Obama. Yes, you read that right.

Since Obama garnered more than 95% of Black votes during his 2008 campaign, and since his popularity among this previously monolithic group has been languishing rather markedly since then, he's put together a little revenue-generating scheme to help finance his reelection campaign. Yep, they're not happy with their leader. Seems that Black unemployment has nearly doubled since he assumed the mantle of Redistributor-in-Chief. And those receiving food stamps among the Black community have also increased by nearly 50% in the same period. So, he's asking members of his race to send along some cash so he can beat the white guy come November. It's African American History Month, don't you know, so when would be a better time to try and fire up the very foundation of his base? After all, any white candidate would do the same, right? Right?

Be sure to visit http://www.africanamericans.barackobama.com/ for more information about this rather stunning, and to me, breathtaking, move. (*NOTE: I was informed by several of my loyal readers that this website is incorrectly listed. It should be http://www.barackobama.com/african-americans/. Funny. The link I provided earlier was taken directly from our TelePrompTer-in-Chief's own press release. It seems he can't get that right either...). You can learn more about how to get involved…from learning how to organize your fellow Blacks (after all, he WAS a Community Organizer) to becoming a Congregation Captain. According to the press release, Obama wants to thank you in advance for all your efforts on his behalf.

I wonder how long it will take for the so-called Mainstream Media to actually report this? If they ever do…

760 new California Laws - Did you need them?

2012-01-19T13:19:00.001-08:00

I wish to hereby become one of the very last to wish all of you throughout the free (and maybe not-so-free) world a very warm, healthy, happy and prosperous New year! Only by so doing may I gain your rapt attention and convey some important information you need to better lead your life during Twenty Twelve.

Those of you who live in California, let me first express my condolences. From the once "Golden State," California has been tarnished almost beyond belief by a 40-year long assault on your freedoms by a series of otherwise unemployable educated fools who have infested the Statehouse and corrupted our laws. It was no different in 2011, during which the brain-dead types in Sacramento passed more than 900 new laws. Fortunately, our perennial Governor Jerry Brown only saw fit to pass the ones that benefitted his union backers. That would be a total of 760 new laws! Did you think we really needed 760 new laws? I didn't. But we have them. And some of them are so ridiculous as to be laughable. And notable. Hence this artful and informative review.

In addition to the one I discuss in-depth in my award-nonwinning blog at http://chuckmeisterunleashed.blogspot.com, here are a few others to mull over as you watch your investments wither away. So, settle in, pour yourself a glass of good Zin and wonder what these turkeys must have been thinking – or smoking – as they voted for this crap.

Senate Bill 929 by Senator Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, mandates that children must be fastened in a safety seat and in the back seat while riding in a car if under the age of eight. You can avoid going through this little nanny-state exercise if the kiddies are at least 4'9" in height. The old law was 6 years of age with no height requirement. Now, I have to wonder just how this new pronunciamento will be enforced, and how it will be received. Will the gendarmerie be equipped with measuring tapes? If a back seat occupant appears to be of short stature, will you be pulled over and forced to "assume the position" while the public servant in blue dutifully measures your passenger while trying to keep a straight face? And how about the kid who just graduated from a kiddy chair as a six year-old and is now in middle school having to once again crawl into the back and a safety chair while being transported to school? That's gotta' do a lot for their self-esteem, crawling out from that contraption in front of their school chums. And what if the passenger happens to just be short? Costa Mesa's mayor happens to be, umm, vertically challenged. I would guess he would have to stand on tippy-toes or insert some serious lifts in his shoes in order to make the height requirement (no slumping, please!). Will he be harassed as he drives to work? And what of those who fall into the category of midgets or dwarves (I can use those terms…I'm proudly politically incorrect). Can you give them a lift to the grocery store without running afoul of the law? Maybe we need an entirely new – and unionized, of course – police force whose job it will be to track down and arrest short folks. Think of the revenue this could generate for a state that's completely bankrupt? And spending more borrowed money every year?

Assembly Bill 144 by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena (there's that "D" again), makes it a crime to now "open carry" an unloaded but completely visible handgun. Despite the fact that 40 other states have passed or are passing new and very liberal concealed carry laws, and that the crime rates where this has occurred have plummeted, Deep Blue California has taken an entirely different tack. Portentino thinks open carrying of handguns "…only belongs on a Hollywood movie set, not on Main Street or Starbucks." God bless his micromanaging little soul, if he has one. You cannot obtain a concealed carry permit without the permission of your county sheriff, and most California sheriffs are lefty sympathizers who will not grant such permission. The criminals are very happy about this fact, and no doubt donate to those sheriffs' reelection campaigns. Second Amendment supporters vow to begin openly carrying unloaded rifles and shotguns until such time as the NRA is successful in overturning this blatantly unconstitutional and outrageously stupid new law.

Senate Bill 39 by Senator Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima (is this "D" thing becoming a trend?), prohibits '…the import, production, manufacture, distribution or sale of beer to which caffeine has been directly added as a separate ingredient at retail locations within the state." Despite the fact that distributors have already pulled all such products from their shelves, the weenies in Sacto still felt it important to make this law. I can see it all now. "Put down that Corona and that double mocha latte and come out with your hands up and nobody gets hurt!"

Senate Bill 514 by Senator Joe Simitian, D-Pala Alto (yes, it's a trend), bans anyone under the age of 18 from using a tanning bed in our sunny broken state. I gather this was to reduce the potential for skin cancer among the young. Presumably they are too stupid to know how to protect themselves, and God knows we can't permit their parents to exercise their parental prerogatives. We need the State to be our nanny. Yes we do.

Assembly Bill 353, Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles (this is becoming ridiculous!), prohibits the impounding of vehicles at sobriety checkpoints if the driver's only offense is not being licensed. Cedillo states that some cities have used this little contrivance as a revenue-generating measure (say it ain't so!). Cedillo, you may recall, is the one-note politician who, for every year for the past six, has submitted legislation to provide drivers' licenses to illegal aliens. Having been continually unsuccessful in that endeavor, Cedillo can now feel all warm and fuzzy about sending illegals on their illegal little way without having to recover their cars from the impound lot. Kind of makes you wonder why you bothered to get a license in the first place, doesn't it? Maybe should simply tell John Law you don't have one the next time you get pulled over. Maybe you should tell him you're here illegally. That would kind of make it hard to write a ticket, wouldn't it? Tell him you're Pablo Gonzalez from Cuernavaca. You don't have to thank me. That's why God put me here.

And finally, for this little exercise, we'll feature Senate Bill 48, Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco (of course he'd be a Dem…he's from San Francisco). Openly gay and loving it Mark Leno has forced into existence a law which makes California the first state (and hopefully last) in the nation to require public schools to teach the contributions of gays and lesbians. Leno's law requires that these folks whose "roles and contributions" contributed to our society must be included in California and U.S. history lessons. It bans instructional materials judged to reflect adversely on gays or particular religions. So now your kids will be instructed in the sixth grade (!) that LGBT's (that's lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) are really nice folks who have contributed much to our society. As if anyone had suggested that they hadn't. Shouldn't we add the Irish to this list? How about Jews? Ukrainians? Albinos? Those with Tourette's' Syndrome? Is this micromanagement to the "inth" degree? Do parents have a choice about whether their kid has to undergo this nonsense? Yes. Pull your kid out of public school before they begin to walk and talk and act like Joe Biden…

And so it goes, people. A New Year, and new laws. My favorite is still last year's law that forced you to euthanize your gerbil before feeding it to your python. As if pythons like to eat dead critters. Now THAT was a really good California-style law.

Happy Holiday!

2012-01-16T10:47:00.001-08:00

Do you know what President Thomas Jefferson, inventor Thomas Alva Edison, President James Adams, General George S. Patton, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, General John "Blackjack" Pershing, President Harry Truman, WW1 war hero Sergeant York, inventor George Washington Carver, President Ronald Reagan, inventor Benjamin Franklin and WW2 war hero Audie Murphy have in common with Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Nothing. Martin Luther King, Jr. has his own holiday. The others don't…

Part Two...

2012-01-09T11:16:00.001-08:00

An acquaintance of mine who could be described as being of the, ahem, liberal persuasion, took umbrage with my most recent posting. It seems he's convinced that I was being discriminatory against illegal aliens with my admittedly snarky commentary. He thinks I shouldn't have singled out for scorn those who shouldn't be here. Perhaps he thinks I should be more inclusive in my condemnation of those who break the law, So, in consideration of this weenie's whining, I am now going to expand my posting to include others who shouldn't be doing what they've been doing, and should be arrested for doing it.

Since illegal aliens, whether brought here at one month old or just a few years ago, are here illegally, they should be prosecuted and deported forthwith. They are criminals. And to not do so creates a vacuum into which other law breakers will be drawn. It also fosters a general disregard for the law. Perhaps you don't wish to consider them as criminals, but they are. Don't like my broad-brush characterization? Change the laws. Until then, let's call this spade a spade (oh, I'm sorry…can I still say that?) Those who were brought here and attended our public schools for at least three and up to twelve years, should not be eligible to attend our California colleges at in-state rates, much less with public financing. I have a nephew from New York who is attending Santa Barbara City College. And he's paying out-of-state tuition, which is about three times that enjoyed by Californians. And he's an American citizen. What's wrong with this picture?

But if you, like my commie, pinko, dumbass, liberal acquaintance, believe I'm being discriminatory, I now expand my definition of this classification to include other criminals, including the following:

Shoplifters

Petty thieves

Check kiters

Welfare cheats

Identity thieves

Dope dealers

Spouse beaters

Drunk drivers

Bail jumpers

If I overlooked any classification of those guilty of misdemeanors, and illegal aliens are guilty of misdemeanors, I apologize. But you get the picture. If you're a criminal, you should be prosecuted. Not rewarded with financial gain for having perpetrated a crime, or had one perpetrated on your behalf, and then gotten away with it. If you disagree with my characterization, your assignment is to provide a written essay to my nephew explaining your (flawed) rationale. Otherwise, pick on some other poor blogger. This one's too busy fighting for truth, justice and the American Way…

I'm Having a Bad Dream

2011-12-28T10:38:00.001-08:00

In a flurry of last minute legislative activity, Governor Jerry Brown, that perennial civil servant who will hopefully retire one of these days soon without ever having held a real, private sector job, signed into effect AB 131, the infamous "Dream Act." One of 760 new laws (!) this year advanced by those otherwise unemployable Sacramento politicians, that's the companion piece to earlier legislation he previously signed which provided access to private funding for illegal aliens to attend California colleges and universities as of January 1, 2012. This one, remarkably, but perhaps not surprisingly, provides public taxpayer money for that same purpose as of January 1, 2013, providing an effort currently underway to gather signatures for a petition drive to overturn this legislative overreach are unsuccessful.

That leaves me with a question. If you can't work in the U.S. of A. without proving that you're here legally, how does providing those here illegally with a college education who have already consumed at least three and as many as twelve years of lower-level schooling at a cost to the taxpayers of more than $10,000 per annum make any fiscal sense at all? So they go on to college at public expense and graduate and still can't legally find employment. Accept that then we, the taxpayers, are out even more of our hard-earned dollars.

I'm thinking that four years from now when the ink is drying on the sheepskins of a whole bunch of newly-minted illegal alien college graduates, there will be no other choice but to extend the term of the current liberal largesse. Since they will still be illegal and still won't be able to find work, but will be much better educated, perhaps we should provide them with a graduate degree as well. A nice MBA, maybe. Or a Masters in Social Work. After all, the only place they will then still be welcome is in the hallowed halls of academia. And then how about a doctorate? Yeah, that's the ticket. A doctorate would be nice, maybe in International Relations or Criminal Justice or Latino Studies. Because then they could become professors and continue to maintain their "legal" illegal status while teaching others what it means to be a very well educated shadow resident.

Is California a Great State, or what?

Paying Their "Fair Share"

2011-12-14T13:37:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm growing weary of waiting for all those rich people out there to finally begin paying their fair share. We all know there's a huge pot of money somewhere and the rich managed to somehow get there before the rest of us and took more than they deserved and now they won't give it back! And that must be true because they're the ones with the big houses and the big cars and the big planes and the big boats and we're the ones with the masters degrees in Transgender Studies and Medieval Poetry and no jobs and we can't pay our student loans! All we ask is that they finally cough up what they actually owe!

Oh, I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that the rich already pay the vast majority of all Federal income taxes. That the top two-tenths of one percent pay more than 20% of all taxes; that the top 2% pays 40%; that the top 5% pays 70% and that the bottom 47% of all wage earners pay no income taxes at all! Well, Mr. and Mrs. Know-it-All, I just don't care, and neither do the rest of the 99%ers. The rich need to pay more! Redistributor-in-Chief Obama and past, present and no doubt future Governor Brown (aka Civil Servant for Life) tell us so and we know they wouldn't lie to us, right? Obama is campaigning every day for wealth redistribution. "At some point you've made enough money," he's told us. "You've got to spread the wealth around. It's good for everybody," he told Joe the Plumber. Obama says the millionaires and billionaires, you know, those nasty folks making more than $250,000 a year (!), should pay more so the rest of us can continue to enjoy our perks and entitlements. It's working well in Europe, right? And Brown is even advocating a ballot measure for next June which would require a tax surcharge of up to 2% on all those who make more than a certain amount. No matter that California is already in the top one or two states as far as income taxation is concerned, and that the wealthy are leaving in droves. Well I say, why stop there? I mean, who's better at determining how to redistribute "excess" earnings? Those who earned it, or the Government?

Even though the "rich" are the folks who operate the businesses that hire almost everybody in America, I say in the interest of "fairness" they should be required to pay much, much more. After all, it's okay to extoll the virtues of capitalism and studying hard and getting ahead and keeping your nose to the grindstone, but once the rich have gotten that way, it seems reasonable to change the rules a bit and penalize them for doing so. Who the heck do they thing they are, anyway? So I say, if a little bit is good, more must be better. So why not simply tax everybody who makes more than a politically correct amount at 100% of their earnings? Pick their bones clean! Teach them a lesson! Punish them! Who cares that there would be no more new MicroSofts, or Apples, or Googles, or E-Bays, or Amazons, or McDonalds or Trader Joes, or Starbucks, etc., etc., etc. As Obama has stated, even if lowering tax rates would increase Federal revenues, he'd still rather bump up tax rates on the rich. We're talking fairness here, right?

Oh wait. I just put pencil to paper and came up with a simple fact: If we take 100% of the earnings of the 249,000 millionaires in America, leaving them without a single dime, we'd bring in a grand total of $1.2 Trillion into the Treasury. Or, put another way, two hundred billion less than what it would take to cover our increased Federal debt of $1.4 Trillion for just this Fiscal Year alone. Whoops! On second thought, maybe we should leave them with some of what they have earned so they can continue to operate their filthy businesses and keep on hiring those of us who aren't occupying someplace or other and making some of their evil profits so we can continue to buy big screen TVs and double mocha lattes and ugly little overpriced, plug-in electric weenie cars. After all, we've got to save the planet, right? Maybe we should just leave the successful alone to continue creating wealth in our society and finally decide to spend a little bit less as a country for a change. After all, when was the last time a poor person hired somebody?

Occupy Everywhere

2011-11-08T12:29:00.001-08:00

Has anyone besides me noticed that this whole Occupy Wall Street, and nearly everywhere else it seems, protest movement started just about a nanosecond after our Campaigner-in-Chief decided that engaging in class warfare was his one and only chance at reelection? With 9% unemployment, GDP growth stagnated, housing in the dumper and the Federal debt in the stratosphere, he realized running for reelection on his record obviously wouldn't work. So he fired up his TelePrompTer and started blaming Wall Street "fat cats" and banks and Congress and Republicans for his troubles, pitting Americans against Americans to cover for his own shortcomings. And to assist him in this effort he enlisted MoveOn.org, the Center for American Progress, SEIU, ACORN, the AFL-CIO and Congressional Democrats to join with him in a carefully orchestrated effort to retain power. Their bought-and-paid-for "Occupy" movements, which began in NYC, have now spread across the country. By their actions they hope to change the subject away from the abject failure in leadership that Obama and his Chicago crowd have visited upon America.

Unlike the Tea Party, which spontaneously rallied against unfettered government spending, massively increasing Federal debt and unwanted healthcare legislation, the "Occupiers" are protesting against something or other as yet undefined. My favorite Occupy Wall Street sign thus far stated: "We demand an immediate and unconditional change in a whole bunch of unspecified things!" And unlike the Tea Party, which was calm, considerate and clean, the Occupy movement is messy, dirty, anarchic and dangerous.

Since Obama cannot use success in the job as his platform for reelection, vilifying the so-called "rich" has become his default campaign strategy. You know, forcing the so-called "1%" to "spread the wealth around." Even though the top 1% pays more than 40% of all Federal income taxes, he says "They need to pay their fair share." Huh?

I just love these protesters. Beating drums all day and night, smoking dope, defecating on police cars, raping and pillaging and setting fires and blocking entrances to businesses, they have been led to believe by their keepers that the rich have somehow stolen their money and their future. They are making their lefty supporters truly proud.

The Occupiers have trashed NYC, Atlanta, D.C. and now Oakland. There have been thousands of arrests, serious property damage, numerous assaults, untold economic costs, a severe disruption to the residents and businesses around the encampments and every reason to believe it will get far worse. And who has publicly endorsed the Occupy movement? Here's a short list: President Obama; the Republic of North Korea; the American Nazi Party; Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam; Revolutionary Guards of Iran; Communist Party of China; Michael Bloomburg, Mayor of New York City; Industrial Workers of the World; V.P. Joe Biden; David Duke; Hugo Chavez; the Black Panthers (original); Nancy Pelosi; Hezbollah and the Socialist Party USA (various sources).

If an organization is known by the company it keeps, or by those which endorse it, the above list of supporters says more about the Occupy movement than anything else I could mention.

Open Carry

2011-10-25T11:08:00.001-07:00

We can all thank God that the silly season is finally over in Sacramento. Yep, 760 new laws were passed by those otherwise unemployable legislators up there and now they've all gone home. Did you really need 760 new laws? 760? Didn't think so. And now our perennial civil servant, Gov. Jerry Brown, a man who will hopefully soon retire after an entire career completely devoid of ever having held a real, private sector job, has gone about approving some and vetoing others. And, like in previous years, many if not most of these laws were laughably ludicrous, especially when fixing our State's broken fiscal condition should have been those politicians' primary, if not only, focus.

But one of those that was passed, and then signed into law by the Guv, attracted my special attention. Assembly Bill 144 bans the open carrying of an unloaded handgun. Now we know that the open carrying of firearms by law-abiding citizens has been necessitated and provoked by California's unfair concealed carry laws, which allow citizens from one county to apply for and receive a permit while neighbors in the next county over are denied that same basic Constitutional right in an arbitrary and capricious manner. Kind of like the difference between Riverside and Orange counties, as an example.

Let me say that again. Apply for a concealed carry permit in Orange County and the Sheriff will issue a polite rejection. She came to us from up there in that vast wasteland toilet called Los Angeles, where packing hidden heat is verboten. Of course the Crips and the Bloods and every other gangbanger there is armed to the teeth, but allowing the average taxpaying citizen a means of self-protection? No way. And then there's Riverside County, just a short drive away. Make an application to the Sheriff and, assuming you're an upstanding citizen devoid of any felony convictions, you'll walk with a permit. So now, with the passage of AB 144, no more open carry in our once-Golden state. Why is this a problem?

27 little words comprise the 2^nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. I'll hereby cut to the 14 meaningful words writ therein: "…the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Hmmm. According to my handy dandy little dictionary, "bear" is defined as: "To shoulder, carry, take, have, show, display, exhibit and present." I'm guessing the majority party miscreants in Sacto either do not have access to a dictionary, or can't read, or, more likely, simply do not care that by their action they have willfully ignored – more accurately, shot the bird – to a rather important part of the document under which our nation was founded and is supposed to operate. And the consequences? I predict not too many days will pass before the National Rifle Association, perhaps backed with amicus briefs from the Attorneys General of the more than 40 states which shall issue concealed carry permits to law-abiding citizens (no option, political or otherwise) when requested, will file suit to overturn this stupid law. And they will win. And California will waste tens of millions of dollars in legal fees in a misguided effort to defend a piece of legislation that should never have been conceived, much less passed and signed. Of course, there will be one contingent of our population overjoyed at this bill's passage: Lawyers. In fact, I predict that this piece of legislation will come to be known as "The Attorneys' Full Employment Act of 2011."

Maybe it would be simpler if we just went straight from the 1^st Amendment directly to the 3^rd. Oh, and the 4^th and the 10^th have been causing a lot of trouble lately. Maybe we could get rid of those also…

Venture Socialism

2011-10-06T10:22:00.001-07:00

As a member of that minority group of Americans which actually pays Federal income taxes, I have a question: Can I deduct my portion of the Country's losses on the Obama Administration's venture socialism investment in Solyndra, Inc., from my income taxes? Or from losses on any of the other $38 Billion in "green energy" loan guarantees issued by the White House?

For those too busy earning a living to follow this shocking travesty as it unfolds, the Obama folks chose to guarantee with our money a $535 million dollar loan to this Silicon Valley solar chip manufacturer, even though the Bush White House refused to do so and his own Treasury, Energy Department and Office of Management and Budget officials counseled against it. And that loan placed the public, you and me, in an unprecedented subordinated position behind private investors in the event Solyndra went upside down. And upside down it went, as of August 30^th, declaring bankruptcy as of that date.

Now, the half of America that pays income taxes (does that mean we're finally paying our "fair share?") has watched one half-billion of their precious dollars go "poof" in an uncoordinated partisan flurry of activity to finally produce some of those so-called "green jobs" in time to create a little bit of positivity in advance of the 2012 general election.

So, I'd like to know if I can recoup some of that loss by declaring it on my taxes. Or as one of the ever-diminishing cadre of those who are actually pulling the wagon so that others can ride for free, do I not deserve even this small consideration? Or has half-a-billion dollars become such chump change that it becomes a rounding error? Loose change Obama could find between the cushions of his Oval Office couch, perhaps? Pardon me, but I'm growing a bit weary of this whole costly charade. How about you?

I Now Pronounce You...Divorced!

2011-09-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

Campaigner-in-Chief Barack Hussein Obama is at it again. He's such an ideologue that he just can't get away from his deep-seated, almost religious fervor to tax the "rich" into the Stone Age. Maybe that's because his mom was a devout communist, his dad a proud socialist and his step-dad a dedicated, militant Marxist. In any event, after nearly 3 years of his White House-sponsored class warfare, during which he has beaten the tax increase drum unrelentingly, he's just announced Stimulus 2 (or is it 3 or 4, or 8 or 9? I've lost count.).

After blowing nearly a trillion bucks of our money on a failed stimulus program in 2009, which created somewhere around ZERO jobs, he's asking Congress for another $447,000,000,000.00 (that's billion, with a "B"). He wants to create some jobs, knowing that if he doesn't, his own job is toast next November. And where is this money to come from? Our President, who's never managed anything except the Federal Government, if you can call that "managing," tells us $421 Billion of the total will come from a tax increase on, and the eradication of tax deductions utilized by, those nasty, evil "rich" people among us. "Rich," according to the Redistributor-in-Chief, are those individuals who make $200k or more per year as individuals, or couples making $250k combined.

Now, anyone with any sense at all knows that this level of income does not make one rich. Not even close. Especially in cities like New York or L.A. or most other large U.S. population centers. That's your average married fireperson and nurseperson. And anyone with any sense knows that more than half of the folks making this level of income own and operate small businesses, which are responsible for the creation of way more than 70% of all American jobs. And Obama has stated repeatedly that the very last thing you want to do in a recession is increase taxes on the folks who create jobs (!). And because most of these small business types file their taxes as individuals under Subchapter S of the IRS code, their wages are taxed as ordinary income just like the fireperson and nurseperson. They don't get the benefits of myriad deductions, even on money they may plow back into their businesses. So money picked from their pockets by the Feds is money not available to them to hire with, or expand their business with, or even pay their bills with. So Barry's America's Jobs Bill, if passed, will obviously result in fewer jobs, not more. But he either doesn't know this (unlikely), or doesn't care (quite probably), or is doing it on purpose so as to screw things up (almost certainly). Clearly, the Golfer-in-Chief won't stop until he's gotten his wish and hiked taxes unmercifully on those "miwwionaires and biwwionaires." You know, the ones making $200k/$250k a year.

And now we have Warren Buffett, America's second richest man and the Oracle of Omaha, joining forces with the TelePrompTer-in-Chief to convince the American People that the "rich" are under taxed. He's fond of saying that his secretary pays a higher percentage of taxes than does he. He's right. He pays 17.4% and she pays 30%. He wants his taxes raised so that he and his secretary are both hosed equally. What good ol' Warren fails to mention (an oversight, no doubt), is that his income is realized almost entirely from capital gains on investments, not from ordinary income like his secretary. And he fails to mention that the income he used to make those investments, which are now producing capital gains, was already taxed once as ordinary income, back when he first earned it. So Warren wants you to throw in with the Vacationer-in-Chief on the idea that taxing us twice and at the same rate is quite alright…once when we first earn our paycheck, and again when the pittance that's left over after we've paid our bills is invested at a risk in something that might possibly produce a return. It's called, I understand, the "Buffett Rule." Excuse me Warren, but isn't that double taxation? Do you think that's fair? And if you do, might I suggest you utilize the line provided at the bottom of your IRS Form 1040 which permits you to pay more than your tax liability would ordinarily be if the spirit moves you to do so. That might help you get over some of that Democrat guilt you're experiencing from making so damn much money.

So I, the Chuckmeister, a graduate economist, entrepreneur, humorist, gadfly, food and wine connoisseur, noted business consultant and blogger extraordinaire have a solution. I recommend all the successful married Americans who might get caught up in this commie, pinko, lefty, dumbass, progressive weenie trap proceed directly to their local shyster, bottom-feeding lawyers and file for divorce. Then, you and your significant other can earn up to $400 Grand together without getting reamed by the Speechifier-in-Chief's National Wealth Distribution Whether You Like It Or Not plan. Of course, unless America turns him out next November, he'll come back after us again and again like a rabid hamster until he's managed to trade the fruits of the labor of the productive to those who are less than in exchange for their ill-considered votes. But for the short term we can all put a "we dodged that bullet" smirk on our faces while shooting him the collective bird.

No need to thank me. That's why God put me on this Earth…

National Underachievers Day

2011-09-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

Folks, in less than two months another anniversary will be upon us. And although we haven't up until now, it's one we as a nation should all be celebrating. Please allow me to elucidate…

As everyone unfortunately knows, the elections' over and Barack Hussein Obama won. Congratulations Mr. Obama on your historic accomplishment. In recognition, I'd like to propose that November 4^th,the date you were elected, be forever proclaimed "National Underachievers' Day." No more must those who have heretofore failed to excel be relegated to the scrap heap of mediocrity. You have a new champion! Mr. Obama, with the possible exception of Millard Fillmore, is almost certainly the least qualified candidate for President in the history of our beloved Union. He boasts no private sector employment or record of success. He has no management experience of any kind, not even so much as a running the corner 7/11. He never met a payroll. He never signed a check on its face. He never hired or fired or held executive-level authority. While serving as an Illinois State Senator and during the 143 days (only!) he served as a U.S. Senator before deciding he was worthy of becoming a candidate for POTUS, he sponsored absolutely no major legislation. In fact, most of the time he voted "present" in order to avoid taking a controversial position on legislation. And, although he is Commander in Chief, he never served in our military.

So now, all Americans who could have, and should have, but didn't, work unceasingly to gather the experience necessary to be considered qualified for the Most Important Job in the World, are hereby vindicated. If you share our new President's qualifications, or rather the lack of same, you're just as qualified as is he. You should hold your collective unqualified heads high! In fact, it's not too late for you to launch your exploratory campaign for POTUS - 2012. With Obama's breakthrough, we could have any one of 50 million or so underachievers running for President next time. All they'll need is $1 Billion or so in donations from questionable sources like the unions, a "D" behind their names, a media that chooses not to ask any questions, difficult or otherwise, and the White House could well be theirs. Is America a great place, or what?

Micromanaging Outrage

2011-08-28T10:44:00.001-07:00

Critics of the Government's heavy-handed efforts to try and micromanage each and every aspect of our lives, including this author, are always on the lookout for ever more egregious examples of this attempt to try and sway those not as yet convinced. Well folks, I've finally found an example that will bring around to my way of thinking all but the most liberal, brain-dead, commie pinko weenies among us. And here it is…

I read the other day that the Obama Administration had produced 75 new major rules and regulations governing all or certain aspects of the way business in America is permitted to do business. And that those new rules and regs add a total of $38 Billion in additional compliance fees to the cost of doing business, for an increase of more than 138% in the past two and one-half years. Think of that. 75 major changes in just a tad over 900 days, or a new one every two weeks.

Doubt it? Remember no more drilling in the Gulf? Or in Alaska? Or off the coasts? The EPA decided that carbon dioxide is such a threat that it has mandated dozens of changes in environmental laws. Corn has doubled in price since more than one-half of all production now winds up in motorists' gas tanks. And new fuel mileage requirements of 56.5 mpg, although impossible to accomplish, are now on track for the very near future. It's now okay to be an illegal alien facing prosecution and deportation. They are now home-free with the new executive order signed by BHO just recently. No prosecution. No deportation. And even better (or worse, depending upon your political persuasion), state and Federal grants are now available to help pay for their education. And Barry's National Labor Relations Board just sued Boeing to prevent it from manufacturing the new 787 passenger jets in South Carolina. Keep making them in Washington State, the NLRB dictated, no doubt to keep its union thug backers happy. Think of that. The Government is dictating where an American business can do business. These are just a few examples. Sadly, there are many more.

The Dems couldn't get any of this stuff through Congress. But Obama decided he didn't need no stinkin' Congress. He just went around them and unconstitutionally declared these changes by fiat. Rules changes in health care and banking and farming and energy and the environment and food labeling and cancer avoidance and so on and so on and so on are now imposed on us all by a Government which knows no bounds. But even in the face of all this, I wouldn't have believed what Barry and the Chicago Boys conjured up. And I bet you'll have difficulty in believing it as well.

The Obama Administration is actually now setting new workplace regulations to assist foreign workers who fill goat herding positions in the U.S., including employee-paid cell phones and comfy beds. The Labor Department issued these new special procedures last week which must be followed by anyone who employees foreign workers to herd sheep or goats. It describes strict rules for sleeping quarters, lighting, food storage, bathing, laundry, cooking and new rules for the counters upon which food is to be prepared. It even describes in-depth what shall constitute an acceptable sleeping unit, including the comfort of the bed and the mattress. Try this, a direct quote from the new regs: "Wall surfaces next to all food preparation and cooking areas shall be of nonabsorbent, easy-to-clean material. Wall surfaces next to cooking areas shall be of fire-resistant material," the regulations say. Those who have doubted we are now firmly entrenched in a "nanny state" need to carefully consider the impact of edicts such as these. I wonder if those who currently operate herds of sheep and goats will decide that continuing to do so just isn't worth the trouble, or the additional cost.

When the Government tells you how and when and under what circumstances you can herd goats, is there anything in our lives they won't try to micromanage? Just remember this: The liberal elites just want to be left alone to live your lives. If that alarms you, keep it in mind next November. And if it doesn't, you should seek professional help. And soon...

NAALCP

2011-08-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

W.E.T. You know what that is, right? That stands for the White Entertainment Network. Never heard of it? Well, you've heard of the Black Entertainment Network, haven't you? So why isn't there a White Entertainment Network to go along with it? I don't know either.

And why, I ask, isn't there a National Association of Lightly Colored People to co-exist peacefully alongside the NAACP? Or a Congressional White Caucus? Or a group called "The Race" for white folks so can they feel just as good about themselves as Latinos do with "La Raza?" Or the American Caucasian College Fund? In fact, why do organizations emphasizing or lauding race exist at all? Isn't that in itself racist?

Somehow or other we have evolved (some would say devolved) as a society in such a way that our differences are emphasized instead of our similarities and commonalities. And those who profit from it most are the same ones who propagate its continuance. Black people need preferences to get jobs or home and car loans or to get into colleges and universities. We know that's true because poverty pimps like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton tell us so. All the way back to The Great Society programs conjured up by LBJ and his limousine liberal buddies of the era, we have pandered to the minorities so we could, in my opinion, assuage our collective white guilt over slavery. And in the process we've thrown trillions of dollars at problems such as hunger and ignorance and education and inner-city crime and high minority unemployment and teen pregnancy and multi-generational welfare recipients without any discernable improvement. Except, of course, an improvement in the pride lefties feel at having been able to (unsuccessfully) micromanage societal unfairness. One could make the case, I believe, that had we done nothing at all as regards attempting to correct racial inequalities we would be exactly where we are now, except we'd be a whole lot better off as a society financially.

Of course, the libs have ulterior motives behind their high-profile pandering. They want votes from those to whom they pander. And they get them. We were told the fact that Blacks voted to the tune of 97% for Barry Obama the last election was because of their "racial pride." But had a similar percentage of whites voted for McCain, wouldn't the leftwing media have labeled them as racist? Wouldn't they have been? Is your brain hurting yet?

And, by the way, why don't Asians get preferences on college entrance exams or loan applications or when they apply for jobs? After all, they're minorities too, aren't they? Maybe it's because they don't need them. They work and study hard and apply themselves and succeed without extra or undue assistance from any source. No Federal preferences are asked for and none given. In fact, one could argue they succeed in spite of being vilified by Blacks and Latinos who consider them unfair competition because they're so successful. And why, therefore, aren't Asians held up as role models by Blacks and Latinos? Why, indeed.

And lastly, pray tell where, exactly, is the "Black Community?" Black leaders and TV pundits routinely speak of this mythical neighborhood, and I'd like to know where it is. Is it near Watts? Or downtown Detroit? Harlem? Maybe somewhere in the South? And I'd also like to know if white people are permitted to live there. And if not, why not? By the way, have you ever heard of the "Asian Community?" I didn't think so.

So all you Blacks and Latinos out there, how does it feel to be treated like losers? How does it feel to be pandered to? How does it feel to be kept down by those of your race who can only succeed by making sure you continue to fail? Just think, if you were to somehow magically manage to pull yourselves up by the bootstraps and no longer need Jesse and Al to speak for you, what would they do for a living? And by the way, where exactly do I find The Reverend Jesse Jackson's church?

Did I mention that I'm proudly politically incorrect?

Obama TV

2011-07-29T11:01:00.001-07:00

NOTE: To all Chuckophiles, the following is a reprint from an earlier posting, brought back by (1) popular demand, and (2) absolute necessity.

I noticed something very strange last Thursday afternoon and 4:40 p.m. I turned on the TV and guess what? No Obama! He was nowhere to be found. Not on CBS or NBC or ABC or CNN or Fox. Not even on MSNBC, the marketing, sales and public relations department for Obama & Company, and the primary publicity subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee. Since I'm used to awakening each day to the soothing and dulcet tones of Mr. Obama as I crank on the Telly, and then seeing him give speech after speech after speech all day long, his very absence that fateful day was shocking! I was wondering if he was sick. Or maybe he was in some high level meeting planning to take yet over another segment of our rapidly-dwindling democratic society, robbing us of yet another freedom. Or figuring out which military program to gut. Or which union to give even more millions of our tax dollars. Or flying to yet another campaign stop in Air Force One (by the way, hasn't he worn out that airplane yet? Isn't it time for a new one?).

Think back. Remember when you could turn on the TV and not see the President of the United States? No, really. I mean he was nowhere to be found. And although it seems like eons ago, it was in actuality only a few short months back. Ahh, those were the good ol' days.

Now he's everywhere. From early in the morning until deep into the evening, he'll be delivering his Major Policy Speech of the Day, followed by a Town Hall meeting somewhere, and on to reading from his trusty TelePrompTer at a unionized plant that he single-handedly rescued from failure with tons of our money, and on to an address to a group of sycophant libs who slavishly lap up every word cascading from his highly polished mouth, and then on to another fund-raiser to amass even more millions with which to bash the Republicans. Or he'll be chatting with Letterman just before heading off to his umpteenth round of golf, or leaving for his fortieth vacation since assuming office, or scolding us for some real or imagined transgression or other, letting know it's really our fault for all the problems he faces. Is it me or is it All Obama All The Time?

So it hit me. Instead of all the networks having to cover the Energizer Messiah's every move and record his every word, why not have the Government simply take some more of our diminishing money supply and start the Obama Channel? Kind of like a reality show (but far less interesting), the cameras could follow him everywhere all day long. This would leave the other networks finally able to provide uninterrupted programming, sell their ad space and grow profits. Profits that he could then tax to the max. Just tune your DirecTV to channel 666. Of course, he could simply take over NBC, which is so in the tank for Obama they're selling His memorabilia in their Manhattan gift shop. And in the unlikely event that you finally have your fill of him, you could simply tune to any other channel without fear of having your airwaves and your attention span high jacked by the most overexposed public figure of our time.

Just a suggestion…

Corporate Jets

2011-07-12T14:21:00.001-07:00

Last week when our Redistributor-in-Chief gave his Major Policy Address of the Day, he mentioned six times that we had to do away with tax breaks for owners of corporate jets. Six times! He's spent us upside down more than One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Five Billion Dollars and he's worried about corporate jets? I got to thinking, what has this guy got against the folks who design corporate jets, and make them, and sell them, and service them, and work or around them, and maintain them and fly them. According to Federal statistics, the corporate aviation industry accounts for more than $150 Billion per year in gross revenues and equates to 100,000 American jobs. That's pretty serious territory, business-wise, so there must be something here I don't see that causes the Campaigner-in-Chief to want to hose them out of their goodies. Or is it just that good ol' Class Warfare so deeply ingrained in the Liberal Mindset. You know, in order to buy one of these expensive toys the purchaser MUST have stolen the money to do so from some poor person somewhere. Probably a Black farmer from Arkansas. Yeah, that's the ticket.

So I got to checking. Back in 2009 our Community Organizer-in-Chief came up with his Stimulus Package to right all the wrongs in America. $787 Billion it cost, but by the time the dust settled the actual price was nearly One Trillion Dollars! A piece of this little package was a series of tax breaks to get companies to make more corporate jets and advanced depreciation schedules to get more people to want to buy them. It's worth remembering that not one Republican in the House and only 3 RINO Republicans in the Senate voted for this bloated load of pork. So let's see now. Our Hopeychanger-in-Chief and his liberal weenies in both houses of Congress, which he controlled, dreamed up and passed tax breaks for corporate jet owners pretty much all by his lonesome, and is now railing against Republicans to try to browbeat them into eliminating them. Huh?

Consider if you will that the totality of the cost of the tax breaks in question equates to about $3 Billion Dollars a year. Contrasted against our current 2011 Federal budget shortfall of $1.65 Trillion, it would take more than 5,000 years to generate enough revenue from this piddling effort to equal our budget deficit for 2011 alone! Looking at it another way, screwing the corporate jet buyers would save a whopping 0.03% of this year's deficit. Can you say disingenuous? Do his liberal sycophants actually buy this load of crap? If they do, why do they? Are they truly that brain dead? Is anybody besides me paying attention to this stuff?

You're Just Too Damn Dumb

2011-07-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

Let me start with the Bottom Line: You out there in the digital universe. Yes, you. You are too damn dumb to be permitted to make decisions for yourself. There. I said it. Yes, Mr./Mrs./Ms./Other America, the Commie Pinko Liberal Dumbass Weenies (CPLDW) believe to their very core that the American people cannot and should not be allowed to decide for themselves where, when, how and under what circumstances to live their own lives. You think I'm exaggerating? Please allow me to elaborate:

Although I'd dearly love to lay everything that's happening squarely at the feet of our newly-minted Redistributor-in-Chief, in truth, pols in both parties have colluded to erode our individual and collective civil and Constitutional rights for the past 70 years. But the efforts of the Democrats since they took charge of D.C. on January 20, 2007, under the direction of Speaker Nancy ("You have to pass the bill to find out what's in it") Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry ("This war is lost!") Reid, and more recently under the aegis of the New Chicago Administration and with the complicity of state governments such as the spectacularly lame and feckless one currently operating in Sacramento these days, our rights have been under an assault of unprecedented proportions (Whew! 86 words. Long sentence!). Let me count the ways:

Shelly Obama has decided that we eat too much and of the wrong things. According to her, we should cut back on the fats and calories and drop some Elll Beeezzz. Yes, she of supremely large, Kardashianesque derriere feels comfortable in telling us what to eat and what to feed our kids. But, she freely admits that she just cannot stop eating Freedom Fries. Weenie. Just do what you're told. You're too damn dumb to do any different.

Mikey Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-Republican, ex-intelligent Mayor of New York City, believes that you shouldn't eat salt. So, he simply banned it from New York's restaurants. Oh, and trans fats too. And let's not forget, despite the 2^nd Amendment guarantees, he really, really doesn't want you to have guns. So much so that he sent two plainclothes N. Y. detectives on the clock to a gun show in Phoenix to try and buy some weaponry without background checks. In Phoenix! Hello! Phoenix isn't in New York, Mikey! Can you say nosey? Yep, go straight from the 1^st to the 3^rd, says Mikey. Right. Without Bloomberg you'd no doubt be gobbling handfuls of salt and swilling gallons of trans fats while working overtime to try and buy lots and lots of guns. Because you're too damn dumb not to.

BHO really, REALLY believes that five buck gas is quite okay. He's said so repeatedly. Check out YouTube and you'll find the video. He thinks that will cause us to feel all warm and fuzzy about "investing" in green energy so we can save the planet, presumably from Al Gore. You know what "investing" means, don't' you? That means taking tax dollars from those that produce and spending them by the bushel to try and jump-start the windmill/solar technology industry that has nearly bankrupted Spain. The Spanish say for every new "green" job created there during the last ten years, they've lost 4 and one-half regular jobs. Interesting. In the meantime, Barry has said you can't drill your way to energy independence, as if the rules of supply and demand economics have somehow been rendered ineffectual where oil and gas are concerned. Yet, he just decided to release somewhere between 30 and 60 million gallons of crude from the National Petroleum Reserve to help bring down prices, no doubt to help his fading reelection prospects. Can you say no clue? Can you say disingenuous? You don't understand all of this do you? That's because you're too damn dumb.

The Sacto boys passed a law last year making it a crime to feed a live hamster or mouse or rat to your pet python. You must now euthanize them so they feel no pain whilst your Boa gobbles them down. BTW, snakes don't want to eat dead critters. They prefer their meals to be kicking and screaming. And then they made it a crime to drive with your Teacup Chihuahua on your lap. All this while (mis)managing to spend $25 Billion each year for the past several they do not have. And now they want you to agree to allow them to extend temporary taxes for another five years to cover their shortfall. Right. And now, the good citizens of the People's Republic of San Francisco have outlawed Happy Meals and the purchase of any pet that flies, walks, crawls or swims. Yep, no dogs, cats, hamsters, snakes, birds, or even FISH! BTW, it's okay to buy a lobster to take home, boil up and eat, just not put it in a fish tank. Cruelty, don't you know. Tell me this all sounds very strange to you and I'll tell you're it's because you're just too damn dumb.

You love pickups and SUVs and really large, heavy cars. Ford has been selling more than 500,000 F150 pickups a year for more than 20 years. That's what you want and you should be able to buy it, right? Unfortunately, wrong! The TelePrompTer-in-Chief and the Boys don't want you to drive these vehicles, especially Fords, because Ford refused to take TARP money. They want you to buy little overpriced hybrid and electric weenie cars. So much so they'll give you some of your neighbor's money as a bribe to get you to buy one (invest?). Does that make sense? If you don't think so it's because you're too damn dumb.

In the final analysis, CPLDWs just want to be left alone to live your life, because you're just too damn dumb to handle the task for yourself. You need to be told what to eat, what to wear, what to drive, where to educate your kids and even whether or not you can own a pet. And don't you dare try to stop them! They get really nasty when confronted with common sense…

Anothony Weeeeeennnnnerrr

2011-06-04T11:37:00.001-07:00

Sung to the tune of the Oscar Meyer jingle:

Oh, I'm glad that I'm not Anthony Wei – ner,
That is what I'm really glad to say - ay - ayyy.

'Cause if I were Anthony Wei – ner,
I'd be a Commie, pinko, liberal dumbass, loudmouth,
Latte-sipping, limousine-riding, overpaid, undersmart,
Arrogant, disingenuous, fool with a Nepoleonic complex.

I just love poetry. Don't you?

Push Polling in Costa Mesa

2011-05-16T12:10:00.001-07:00

Work with me here while I pretend to be an actual reporter. Not a self-important, politically-incorrect pundit. Nope. An actual reporter such as they puke forth from "J" schools like the University of Missouri, from whence I emanated. I'm going to try to play against type from my normal nasty, snarky, snide, sarcastic, opinionated little self and do what my good friend the Pot Stirrer suggested and report on the facts as I witnessed them recently. So, fair citizen, sit back, open up a Bud, or the adult beverage equivalent of your choice, and let's consider the situation together…

For those of you who don't know, the Chuckmeister has been a happy, loyal and productive resident of the wonderful little city of Costa Mesa, California, for more than 35 years. Mrs. Chuckmeister, too, and all the little Chuckmeisters we've produced along the way. It suits me and my family just fine. Along with another 117,000 or so residents, it appears. Of late, Costa Mesa has found itself embroiled in a monumental controversy that threatens to tear our tight-knit little town apart. Some background for the unanointed out there in Digitalville…

Over the past few years the City has suffered diminished revenues due to a painful recession, which reduced sales tax receipts, and increased expenditures due to ever-escalating costs of operation. The biggest of those costs has been and will be employee labor and healthcare benefits, and the pension contributions that go along with it. Our city budget is down about 20% from its high a few years back and our costs for people is now consuming nearly 85% of all revenues. Data published by the City indicates that over 90% of our public employees earn more than $100,000 per year. A side effect has been a serious reduction in infrastructure expenditures such as for parks, curbs, gutters and street repair. We've burned through more than $30 million of our savings during the past five years and are now $1.5 million short in balancing the 2011- 2012 budget. The Bottom Line: Something had to be done.

The new City Council majority chose to attack the problem this past March 17^th by giving layoff notices to nearly half of Costa Mesa's 472 employees. This did not make those who received the pink slips happy. It made their union bosses even less happy. And, sadly, one of those employees chose to take his own life in the aftermath. It also angered a fair percentage of our citizenry, who believe that this action was taken precipitously and without sufficient prior discussion and planning. Since then there's been an ongoing war between the Orange County Employee's Association (OCEA), the union representing the laid-off workers, and the Council majority and City management, who are attempting to outsource the services these folks have been providing. The Union has since sponsored numerous events to try and change the Council's mind, which have on occasion resulted in picketing, yelling, name-calling, personal attacks and threats, as well as a very negative advertising campaign. A group has been formed to try and stop the layoffs, and another has been created to show support for the Council majority's decision. In short, it's a colossal mess and one not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

With this background now provided, let me tell you about a phone call I received last week.

A woman identifying herself as "Monica" was on the phone. She said she was calling from "California Opinion Research" and asked if I would answer a few important questions about a subject that may appear on the ballot during a special election this November. I agreed to participate. I was not expecting what then ensued.

It became immediately apparent that the questions the lady was asking me were clearly of a type known as "push polling." For those not familiar with this term, push poll questions are phrased in such a way as to elicit the desired response. The questions are designed to educate (or indoctrinate) the respondent so that the desired answer to the various questions will be given. An example of such a technique could be, "If you were told that your next door neighbor had stopped beating his wife, would you be a) very happy, b) happy, c) sad, or d) neutral in your feelings." The questions coming at me from Ms. Monica were nearly that transparent. And, by the way, I spent 35 years as a marketing, sales, advertising and P.R. exec, so I'm pretty well versed on the subject.

The poll in my opinion had been bought and paid for by the OCEA. I was even asked if I'd seen the Repair Costa Mesa ads appearing in the paper and on the Internet that they were proudly sponsoring, so I'm comfortable in drawing this conclusion. I answered in the affirmative, commenting that these Internet and newspaper ads were so ubiquitous they would be hard to avoid. Paraphrasing, I was asked questions such as, "If you were told that the top five executives in Costa Mesa paid themselves more than $1.5 million last year and were given more than $50,000 in car allowances, would you approve or disapprove?" A little research tells me that this salary number is inflated by about 300%. And, "If you were told your City's executives had spent $10,000 for carpeting in its executive offices, how would you feel?" We know, and the Union knows, that the carpet and other improvement to the CEO's office cost at most a few hundred dollars and were donated by some of our citizens who wished to make the new CEO feel welcome. And also, "If you were told that 18 city services were being outsourced and half the City's employees were being fired, but that the City's management continues to pay themselves lush salaries and perks, would you be okay with that?" Oh well, you get the idea.

Several questions later I was asked whether I approved or disapproved of the Council majority who voted for the outsourcing plan. I was asked to evaluate and approve or disapprove of each of the four Councilpersons in the majority, one at a time, and then asked if I would vote to recall any or all. I asked the caller if there was a question as to whether I would vote to recall the lone Council person who chose to vote against this plan, as inclusion of this question would tend to make the poll more balanced. I was told that wasn't part of the survey. I was then asked a series of questions about my age and educational level. Surprisingly, I was then asked to state my race. I inquired as to why she needed to know the answer to this question. The caller would not answer and continued to ask the question in a variety of ways until she became convinced I had no intention of answering it.

I then asked the caller where California Opinion Research was located. She said, "California." Cute. She would not supply the address or the city, nor would she tell me who paid for the survey to be conducted, although it was glaringly apparent which organization was behind this very misleading exercise.

I would warn my fellow Costa Mesa residents to be wary of the results of this survey if and when they're made public. By the push polled questions I was asked, they will most assuredly be found uniformly favorable to the employees' union and to their efforts to overturn the Council's outsourcing plans, and uniformly unfavorable to the Council majority's efforts, whether or not those efforts are misguided, to put our City on firm financial footing. They will likely use these suspect results in an effort to underpin a fall recall election geared toward the two members of the Council majority the survey indicates are most vulnerable. Push polling of this type is dishonest and should not be conducted by either side in this controversy. I recommend that the City immediately seek to conduct its own poll in an effort to accurately gauge the residents' actual opinions about this important topic in advance of the Union's possible advertising, marketing and public relations onslaught.

Four points in closing: First, Mrs. Chuckmeister received the very same call the next day, indicating that these folks are dedicated to reaching as many as possible with this little campaign. Second, those who have a negative opinion of union bosses and their tactics will have no reason to change their minds following this little exercise. Third, both sides of this food fight should be held accountable by the electorate and urged not to engage in this type of conduct. Fourth, I did a Google and Bing search on "California Opinion Research." My computer tells me it does not exist. Makes one wonder where those calls are coming from, doesn't it? The Union's offices, perhaps?

I don't know about you, but I'll make it a point to vote come November.

The Church of the Chuckmeister

2011-05-02T10:46:00.001-07:00

There may be some of you out there in Digitalville who remain unaware that the Chuckmeister is an ordained minister. Yep, it's true. It took lots of reading and study and living a good clean, moral life (uh, well, sometimes) to achieve this milestone, but I did it. In fact, I've been a Reverend for most of the past 25 years. I obtained this honor with the idea in mind that I might have to start my own church in order to avoid the nasty realities that President Jimmuh Carter was foisting on me and those of you who happened to be alive during his divisive, destructive and demoralizing turn in the White House. You know, like an energy crisis and interminable gas lines and 21% interest and 24% inflation and Iranian hostages and feckless incompetence. Like that.

But, as it turned out I didn't have to. I bought a piece of the Oakland Convention Center and some unreleased Willie Nelson records and a share of a Jojoba bean farm instead to lessen the unrelenting tax bite. Great tax shelters, those. It's an old truism that if you tax those who produce enough, they'll figure a way to keep some of that which they've earned, even if they have to get creative to do it. True then. True now.

But I've been a Reverend in good standing ever since. So, in addition to being a world-class salesman and marketeer, public relations wonderkind, advertising genius, star strategist, classy dresser and stellar professional pool player, as well as possessing a near encyclopedic memory for all things useless and a sense of humor second to none, I am authorized by whichever Democrat Weenie who happens to running California into the ground at the time to conduct weddings. In fact, I've done so more than 300 times over the years, including one of my own daughters, and as far as I know every single couple I've joined in Holy Matrimony are still married. That would be "as far as I know," which isn't terribly far. But I'm also permitted to conduct funerals and Bar Mitzvahs and the Blessing of the Harvest and Druid-style equinox celebrations Roman Bacchanalian soirees and other religious gatherings at will. It turns out that may finally prove helpful.

You may also be as yet unaware that certain religious orders are exempted from having to participate in our boy President's signature new legislation, the "Affordable Care and Screw America to the Wall Forever Healthcare Act of 2009." I'm not sure that's the exact title, but it's close. This little 2,700 page wonder (drop it on your foot and bones will be breaking, trust me) has come to be known as "Obamacare." It basically subsumes one-sixth of our great nation's economy, guarantees European-style socialist healthcare rationing, robs hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare and dumbs down healthcare service delivery to all Americans. All except the D.C. ruling class, don't you know. And the Health and Human Services Department, that bloated Federal organization that Barry has tapped to oversee this behemoth legislation, has thus far granted more than 1,200 waivers to nice folks wishing to opt out of it. Waiver recipients thus far include companies such as McDonalds, unions such as A.C.O.R.N., the AARP and even a couple of our United States. It truly makes one wonder why, if this piece of legislation is so damn good, why would be those who would wish not to participate? Good question. But that's for another discussion.

It turns out also that Obamacare exempts a couple of religious organizations from having to participate. Those would be the Church of Christ (Scientist) and the Amish Order. Why, you might ask? Well, the legislation doesn't state exactly, but we all know that the Church of Christ (Scientist) believes that you can heal whatever ails you with only the power of prayer. No doctors or hospitals needed, thank you. And the Amish don't cotton much to those newfangled things like electricity and cars and doctors. Good for them. Sounds to me like we have the makings here of the perfect way to give the finger to the Administration, HHS and the Government as a whole in one swell foop. So here's my plan…

Ta Da! I am hereby launching the Chuckmeister Church of Christ with Scientific and Amish Leanings (CCCSAL). This new church will have as its charter the belief that medical care obtained as a result of legislation stuffed down our collective throats by Commie Pinko Liberal Dumbass Weenies (CPLDW) is against God and all that is Holy. It also specifies that we should consider praying for the things we both want and need, and we should try getting around via horse and buggy and eschewing electricity whenever possible. BTW, with gas prices through the roof and no new power plants having been built in the past 30 years, we all may have to.

So, by way of this posting I'm formally notifying the Federal Government that my Church and all its members are hereby exempt from participating in Obamacare and anything like it that Barry and the Boys might up with subsequently come (remember, never end a sentence with a preposition!).

"So how do I join, Mr. Chuckmeister?" you might be asking yourself at this very moment. Very simply, just send me a check for $5.00 and I'll add your name to the Church roster and email you with proof so you can give the Feds the bird. Or, if you'd care to be a Minister in my holy quest to right all the world's wrongs, including the wrongs coming our way out of Washington on a daily basis, make it $10.00 and a self-addressed and stamped envelope and you'll be ordained. Poof! You'll receive a very nice (well, not terribly nice) certificate of your ordination by return mail. That's all there is to it. No regular Church services. No regular Church! No meetings, no requirements, no nothing. Just live a good, clean and moral life and obey at least 7 of the 10 Commandments routinely and you'll remain an adherent in good standing.

The Chuckmeister thanks you for your interest in this Public Service Announcement. Go with God, my child…

Gates, Jobs and Doggy Doo

2011-04-18T11:02:00.001-07:00

I begin this posting on April 18^th, Tax Day 2011, with a simple economic fact: Unless you operate a Ponzi scheme, or engage in armed robbery or some other form of actionable illegal behavior, you do not get rich by making others poor. Simple, huh? In fact, Sir Winston Churchill had a famous quote on the subject. He said, "Trying to make oneself rich by making a rich man poor is like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handles." An Englishman said that! It would be reasonable to assume that everybody, and I mean everybody, recognizes this pronouncement as fact. Reasonable, yes. Unfortunately, such is not the case.

As we learned from our Campaigner-in-Chief on April 13^th,during his most recent "Major Policy Speech of the Week," the wealthy in this country aren't paying their fair share. They need to pay more so that Obama can redistribute it according to his progressive agenda. After all, he said, they can afford it. No matter that the top 1% of wage earners in America pays nearly 40% of all income taxes. And the top 5% pay more than 70%. And the bottom 53% pay only 3% of all income taxes collected. Pay attention Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. America, 47% of Americans pay no income tax at all! In fact, many get a redistribution check from the Feds due to "Earned Income Tax Credits" and other exemptions and deferments. No, the "rich" aren't paying enough according to Obama, and he intends to almost (actually, not almost…not even close) balance our Federal budget in the next 12 years by imposing on millionaires and billionaires increased taxes while simultaneously reducing or eliminating altogether their onerous, unearned and unfair deductions which they should never have been granted in the first place by those evil Republicans. And by "millionaires and billionaires" he means individuals making $200k a year and married couples pulling down $250k per annum. That oughta' fix them. Oh, and by the way, talk about the "marriage penalty." Two people living together and pooling their incomes could earn $399,999 per year in total before being hit with Obama's new tax sledgehammer. Yet, two folks who are married can only earn up to $249,999. Is anybody out there paying attention but me?

So, in summation, those slimy capitalists are trying to keep too much of the money they've earned, and they need to be punished! Class Warfare! Those of you who believe this would be a good idea, consider the following:

80% of those earning $200,000 per year, the threshold at which one becomes "rich" according to Obama, operate small businesses incorporated under sub-chapter S of the income tax code. That means what they earn via their company passes directly through to them personally, and then they are taxed on that profit. If we as a country take more of the money through taxation these entrepreneurs earn, that will necessarily leave them with less to reinvest in their businesses, and less to pay those they might hire. In other words, the less they're left with the less they have to plow back into their businesses and, indirectly, into our Country. If that extra money is confiscated by the Government so that it may be redistributed according to some leftist ideology, it cannot be used to create the jobs we sorely need to get us out of this recession. Of course, those running things in D.C. who have never created a job, managed a business, signed a check on its face or struggled to meet a payroll, including our brilliant young President and 93% of the very nice folks in his Cabinet, seem to be ignorant of this fact. One should consider that if 100% of the incomes of all Americans earning over $250k were confiscated by Obama and Company, it would still not be enough to erase our 2010 – 2011 Federal deficit of $1.65 Trillion. In fact, it would take 134% of the incomes of those in the top tax rate to bring $1 Trillion Dollars into the Treasury,(1) still leaving us with a $650 Billion deficit. The tax burden of the top 1% of taxpayers now exceeds that paid by the bottom 95%.(2) Enlightening?

Oh, and by the way, 75% of all the jobs in America come from small business. A small business is defined as those with up to 250 employees. Three quarters, folks. 3 out of 4. Does raping the earnings of the creators and maintainers of these jobs make a little less sense now?

Bill Gates did not become a multi-billionaire by taking those billions from others. He became rich by creating something others want and are willing to pay for. Steve Jobs did the very same thing. He created wealth by creating value. And in the process he created jobs (Jobs creates jobs, get it?). Thousands of them. Don't want an iPad? Don't buy one. The guy who invented microchips got rich, and as a result, many, many tens of thousands of others did the same using that basic technology to create a myriad of other products and services. And our lives were improved in the process. And newly-created taxes gushed into the Treasury as a result. They still do. Snoop Doggy Doo earns millions by making a fool of himself. But he does not earn those millions off the labor of others. He makes it by uttering unintelligible (c)rap. When he makes money others don't lose it. So should Gates and Jobs and Doggy Doo pay more taxes even though they're already bearing the lion's share of all taxes paid? Obama says an emphatic "Yes." And those in his little downstream redistribution club agree with him.

Should Obama be successful in raising taxes on the highest income earners in our country, I predict that no additional revenue will be raised. In fact, less money should be coming over the transom than is presently being collected. Why, Mr. Chuckmeister, you might ask? The top earners among us didn't get that way by being stupid. Tax them too much and they'll do exactly the same thing they did while Jimmuh Carter was screwing up America. They'll involve themselves in tax avoidance schemes to minimize the tax bite. They'll invest in pieces of Jojoba bean farms, unreleased Willie Nelson records, wind and solar generation plants, art investment/depreciation programs and sale/leasebacks of government buildings, etc. Or they'll engage in bartering, trading something they have or make for something else they need or want, taking that transaction off the IRS radar. It worked then and, with the help of some able accountants, it'll work again. The Bottom Line is, lower tax rates and increase tax revenues. Reagan and Bush's 1 and 2 proved it. I hope the next president is smart enough to prove it again. And hopefully, soon.

I say Obama's position on this issue proves one thing for sure: Having an Occidental and Columbia and Harvard education and having worked hard for several weeks as a Community Organizer for A.C.O.R.N. signing up folks to vote Democrat does not make one a qualified economist. In fact, I believe it proves that this fellow doesn't even know what he doesn't know. But he has been given the keys to our lives and our Treasury by a bare majority of our citizenry. They will all feel better if some extra taxation is extracted from the productive in our society, just because the "rich" can afford it. And they want it. And they're going to get it. And just because they seem to believe that these folks got "rich" by luck or thievery rather than hard work and the willingness to take risks. Keep it up, all you lefties, and watch as those who are growing weary of being picked clean by our society's Professional Leaches vote with their feet and take their money and their jobs (no, not Steve) to Costa Rica, the Panama Canal or the Cayman Islands, leaving no one here in Astlan to create jobs and pay the bills but sign twirlers and Starbucks' Baristas.

Somebody ought to tell Obama that he's making a bigger fool of himself than Doggy Doo. Given that he's surrounded himself with ideologues even less qualified than he is, if that's at all possible, I somehow doubt that's going to happen any time soon.

Oh, and by the way, yes, the Chuckmeister is a graduate economist.

Calculations compiled by the Heritage Foundation from data provided by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Interal Revenue Service, 2008

Enhancing Self-Esteem, at a Stiff Price

2011-04-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

NASA's website states its "…mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautic research."

It used to be anyway. I think that its website should be updated a bit following revelations revealed in Charles Bolden's June, 2010 speech in Egypt. Mr. Bolden is NASA's Administrator and he was being interviewed by Al Jazeera TV on the one year anniversary of President Obama's Cairo speech. Mr. Bolden had some very interesting things to say about NASA's new mission. Bolden stated that he had been called in by Obama and told that "…NASA's foremost duty is to make Muslims feel good about themselves." He was told to help them boost their self-esteem. He was told to reach out to the Muslim world and honor their historic contributions in science, math and engineering. Bolden went on to state that "NASA is not only a space exploration agency. It's also an earth improvement agency." Well isn't that special.

It's good that NASA has this new task on its plate, because the Obama Administration has drastically cut its budget, which has resulted in the cancellation of virtually all manned space flights. That includes the development of the next rocket which was supposed to take mankind back to the moon. And now with the end of the Space Shuttle program in view, it seems NASA will now morph into a Muslim outreach program. I wonder how that makes the engineers and scientists working for NASA feel? I wonder how it negatively impacts the hundreds of thousands of jobs dependent on space exploration, many of them in California. I wonder if NASA now stands for National Arab Sensitivity Association.

And considering that the International Space Station was built using mostly American money and manufacturing, one has to wonder how we're going to send our astronauts back and forth? Fear not, good friends, we have the answer. Russia, that paragon of virtue, has offered to help. At a price, of course.

We have a contract with the Russians to rocket our folks to the ISS for only $56,000,000.00 per chair. And starting in 2014, the price goes to $63,000,000.00 per ride. I guess when you have a monopoly you can charge whatever you want. And we have a Government which, in a short-sighted decision, has given them that monopoly. I guess it costs less to improve Muslim self-esteem than it does to fire rockets into space. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer our continued investment in space exploration, even if it means that our Muslim friends have a little less self-esteem.

A Very Quiet Declaration of War. With Mexico?

2011-03-28T12:27:00.001-07:00

I think everyone who's been paying attention knows President Barack Hussein Obama is against the private ownership of weapons of any kind, and especially handguns. He's from Chicago, after all, a town which has effectively banned almost all guns for nearly 40 years. And so is Attorney General Eric Holder, ex-White House Advisor David Axelrod and ex-Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, all from Chicago. And although not from Chicago, so is State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton. And let's not forget the two newest Supreme Court Justices, Sonja Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Both opined during their Senate confirmation hearings the identical, and presumably coordinated, notion that private ownership of handguns is "settled law," and then voted against the private ownership of handguns at their very first opportunity.

Clearly, the folks running things in D.C. are anti-gun in the first degree. Sadly. And just last week Obama stated that we had to find "…some new way to verify at the point of sale that those who shouldn't be permitted…" to buy a weapon were kept from doing so. Some new way. I guess this law professor isn't aware there are literally hundreds of local, county, state and Federal laws which insure just that. Billy Jeff Clinton did his best to gut the 2^nd Amendment when he was POTUS, without success. But, unlike Obama, he didn't have virtually every Chicago pol working with him in D.C. helping him to do so. And as this is written Hillary is actively working with the U.N to enact a worldwide treaty to outlaw virtually all small arms. If passed, this treaty would, for the very first time in history, render our Constitution subservient to the United Nations and effectively erase our 2^nd Amendment guarantees. So what's Obama willing to do to try to do to steal even more of our liberties? You just won't believe it. Read on…

Hillary Rodham Clinton has repeatedly stated her belief that guns were being bought in the U.S. from complicit gun stores and smuggled into Mexico, helping to fuel drug cartel violence there. Mexico's President Calderon has agreed with her. So have Obama and Holder. So the question must have been, how do they validate this theory? Simple. In order to make sure this so-called "iron pipeline" really exists, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) allowed nearly 2,000 firearms over a 15 month period to go from gun dealers in the border states to straw buyers that were the accomplices of a gun runner ring set up by the ATF. In other words, in order to prove that guns were making their way from the U.S. into Mexico, they set up a program to make sure that guns were making their way from the U.S. into Mexico! They called it "Operation Fast and Furious." It was known internally as "Operation Gun Walker," because ATF agents were calmly watching the guns "walk" across the border.

Gun store owners repeatedly contacted ATF with fears that purchasers of multiple weapons, especially so-called "assault" weapons, were being transshipped into Mexico. They were told not to worry and continue selling these weapons. These straw buyers were under surveillance, they were told. And they were…by ATF, who watched as at least 1,759 guns, and as many as 3,000, made their way south. The ATF's plan, I surmise, and presumably the Administration, was to bust a drug ring or two and find loads of black rifles which would then be traced back to the U.S. gun dealers. This would provide "proof" that our laws were lax and should be seriously stiffened, unfairly harming honest gun dealers, perhaps putting them out of business, and further gutting the 2^nd Amendment. What they weren't counting on, I'm sure, was that two of these assault rifles were found at the scene of U.S. Border Agent Brian Terry's death on December 14, 2010. They were subsequently traced back to ATF Gun Walker sales. Others were found near the murdered body of Border Agent Jaime Zapata this past February. ATF has acknowledged that 195 weapons sold in Arizona under their surveillance have turned up in Mexico. Mexican authorities have said they believe that at least 150 Mexicans have died due to these guns.

So how do we know all this is true? It was reported on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. A CBS investigative journalism unit videoed gun sales taking place while ATF watched. They then observed these same guns being transferred from one car trunk to another, and then on across the Border. This evidence has caused an international furor, sparking investigations in both Mexico and the U.S. Mexico is more than miffed, considering they were not told in advance this action was to occur. Sen. Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa have launched investigations in their respective bodies, as have their counterparts in Mexico. Atty. General Holder has commented that this activity is simply "unacceptable." I would tend to agree. However, I'm fairly sure this whole fiasco wouldn't have happened without his – and likely the President's - direct authorization and knowledge.

Put simply, this activity was criminal, and those responsible should be indicted, tried and convicted. But worse is the fact that this action was a clear-cut Act of War on our neighbor to the south. Having this astoundingly stupid and illegal activity see the light of day, it makes one wonder what else our Government is doing to erode our civil rights. Considering those in charge in D.C. were schooled in doing things "The Chicago Way," I'm pretty sure there's nothing they wouldn't do to remake America according to their warped leftist sensibilities. Those of us who believe what the 2^nd Amendment's 27 little words have to say know we're in for a rough couple of years until we get a chance to rid ourselves of these ideologues. I fear for our Country. You should as well.

One Possible Solution

2011-03-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

I just had an epiphany. I conjured up a possible solution to the current impasse between the Republican-held governorships, Assemblies and Senates in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, and to an extent New Jersey and Florida, and no doubt others to come, and the public-sector unions in those states.

It seems that the majority of our states are constitutionally required to balance their budgets each and every year. And the recession has made it inordinately difficult to do so of late. We in California know all about that. Since Arnie the Governator promised to "blow up the boxes," California has somehow (mis)managed to go in the toilet to the tune of more than $150 Billion Dollars. That, by the way, is a reeeaaalllllllyyyy big number. But unlike in California, the new governors in the states above listed have begun making the tough choices necessary to save the billions they're upside down. In Wisconsin's case, Governor Scott Walker needs to find $3.7 Billion to balance his budget. And to do so, he's dead set on forcing the public sector union members, with the exception of cops and firefighters (one has to wonder why that exception), to cough up slightly more in individual contributions to help pay for their pensions and their health care benefits. But more than that, just like President Carter with Federal employees, he's planning to eliminate their ability to collectively bargain on anything but wages above any annual cost of living increase. The other states are taking similar measures to rid themselves of red ink. All three states have new laws in the hopper which will accomplish these objectives. The unions are not pleased. In fact, they've been picketing and chanting and singing and sloganeering all day, every day since this tussle began. They've turned the stately old WI Capitol Building into a trash heap, resulting in damages exceeding $8,000,000. It kind of makes one wonder just what these irreplaceable, hard-working, middle-class public-sector Americans do for a living which permits them to take two or three weeks off to protest. It seems to me there has to be an answer to this perplexing problem. And I think I've found it.

The public employee union members should simply convert to Islam. Voila! Instantly they would become sacrosanct and off limits. They would be beyond controversy. We would not be able to judge their actions or motivations, or criticize them in any way, because to do so would be hate speech. They would become a protected class, not to be besmirched in the slightest by the media or leftist zealots or those who revere political correctness. And even if they took that conversion to the maximum, embracing polygamy and stoning and wife beating and honor killings, we still wouldn't be able to complain, because that would be racist. If you doubt that, consider what's happening on Capitol Hill. Rep. Pete King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is conducting an inquiry into the growing radicalization of young Muslims. His critics consider this inquiry to be racist. He is being called a bigot and an Islamophobe. His life has been threatened. He's under 24-hour guard. And the dinosaur media is excoriating him for his "McCarthy-style" witch hunt against those nice young Muslims. U. S. Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee, D-TX, has even gone so far as to demand that the KKK be investigated right alongside the Muslims, because, once again, to do otherwise would be racist. How many acts of terror has the KKK carried out recently? Oh, never mind.

So all you public-sector union members out there, the answer couldn't be simpler. Convert to Islam and you'll be forever free to live high on the hog, scrutiny free, especially after you retire, at your neighbors' expense. You're welcome.

What Shuts Down in a Shutdown

2011-03-02T11:22:00.001-08:00

Government shutdown. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? We've heard from our young Community Organizer President that shutting down the Government would necessarily lead to Social Security checks not going out. Nor those to the military. And a halt to all Government services. San Fran Nancy ("You have to pass the bill to find out what's in it") Pelosi, our ex-House Speaker who now has to fly commercial, poor thing, repeated that allegation. And Harry ("This war is lost!") Reid, Senate Majority Leader, has offered up even more dire predictions about a Government shutdown. You know, Grandma eating dog food and crime running rampant in the streets. That sort of stuff. Well folks, I decided to personally look into this matter and try and separate the wheat from the chaff. What's the truth and what's blatant, partisan demagoguery, I wanted to know. And here are the results of my research:

We have in the good ol' U.S. of A. what we call "essential services." These are the services that are so important they may not be shut down. Ever. They include mail delivery. The 600,000 unionized mail carriers are exempt from shutdowns. Gotta' get those coupons and Victoria's Secret catalogues out to the folks. Air Traffic Controllers. These are the guys who learned from President Ronald Reagan in 1981 that they are so important that they may not go on strike. They did. He fired them. Their replacements are essential. They stay on the job. Or else. The military. Our Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard keep on working in the event of a Government shutdown and we continue to pay them. Medicare will keep on truckin' and keep on paying our seniors. So will the food inspectors. Can't allow any Mad Cow Disease to occur while our Congressional leaders are engaged in a wrestling match. Health care for our Country's veterans will continue on unabated in the event of a shutdown. Our Federal courts will stay open even if the Government closes so we can continue prosecuting the bad guys. And last but not least (pay attention here, Mr. President), Social Security will continue working like Santa's little elves, sending checks along to the old folks. The dog is safe from Grandma, it seems.

So what services would be curtailed if the Democrats persist in spending at record levels and the Republicans are unsuccessful in getting them to spend just a wee bit less? Well, no visit to Federal parks or museums for you. You wouldn't be able to obtain a new visa or passport. Pity. Toxic waste cleanup at 609 sites would be curtailed. Recruitment of Federal law enforcement officers would be put on hold until an agreement is reached. All Federal contractors in and around Washington, D.C. would be sent home without pay (ahwwww…). No new patients would be accepted for National Institutes of Health clinical research. And there would be delays in processing applications for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives applications (I'm afraid you'll have to wait to buy that Dynamite!).

Now I ask you, is this extreme? Considering the plethora of absolutely incredibly stupid laws pouring forth from Foggy Bottom of late, I for one am quite looking forward to a Government shutdown. Remember what Mark Twain said on this subject: "No man's pocketbook is safe while Congress is in session." Just imagine if there were a shutdown in Sacramento. Over the past decade or so our Assembly and Senate members have put forth, argued about and passed an average of more than 950 new laws each year. And the Governor has signed into law an average of half them. Some of my favorites include the Paris Hilton law from two years ago. It's now a crime to drive with your teacup Chihuahua in your lap. And last year's new law requiring you to euthanize a mouse, rat or Guinea pig prior to feeding it to your pet Python. While going upside down an average of $22 Billion Dollars each year for the past eight, these otherwise unemployable dimbulbs found time to worry about the mental health of a rat just prior to being ingested. It makes one wonder what benefits would accrue to us, the taxpayers, if the Feds and the State were to send our lawmakers packing for a few months. Write your Congressman/woman/other and let them know your feelings on the subject…

Cutting out the Middleman

2011-02-24T14:39:00.001-08:00

Everybody agrees our Country has a serious debt problem. The projected shortfall between revenues and spending is expected to grow to $1.625 Trillion this year. That's One Thousand Six Hundred Twenty Five Billion bucks! That equals all Federal expenditures just 14 short years ago. We are over $14.2 Trillion in debt, mostly to China, Japan and England. It won't be long before our debt eclipses our Gross National Product, which would put us in Greece and Ireland territory. That's not a good territory to find oneself. Not good, indeed.

So, I got to thinking. As a businessman, how I could use good business practices to reduce costs, or increase revenues, or both, without raising taxes and strangling the engine of productivity. And I think I've lit upon a rather creative solution to at least a piece of our problem.

We provide economic aid to scores of countries each and every year. Although it amounts to less than 1% of all spending, it's still a number in the range of $65 Billion per year, which is some pretty serious money. For instance, we send Egypt a care package to the tune of $1.2 Billion a year. Egypt. That's the same country which just ousted its dictator and replaced him and the constitution with some army generals. And within a few months, the army will likely be replaced by a mullah or two. But that's okay. Maybe they will be friendly mullahs. We like mullahs, don't we? It worked so very well in Iran, didn't it? But in the meantime, it makes no sense to me that we borrow money from China so we can send it to Egypt, and Jordan, and Chad, and Namibia, and Fiji and all those other countries. So here's the plan: We do what businesses do every day. We cut out the middleman. Everybody knows that doing so lowers costs and streamlines operations. We simply ask China to send the money straight to Egypt! Instead of laundering it through the Department of the Treasury and the State Department, and the Democratic National Committee, our inscrutable friends should send it straight to Egypt's army! We ought to be able to lay off hundreds, maybe even thousands of Federal public sector union employees who will no longer be needed to massage and redistribute China's money.

Oh, wait a minute. Considering that the Feds have added 200,000 new union employees since January 20, 2008, and appear dead set on adding more, the likelihood of any of them being laid off is somewhere between slim and none. And Slim, as they say, is out of town. Oh well, never mind…

Just Pay Separate Shipping and Handling...

2011-02-11T12:45:00.001-08:00

When was the last time you were in the hospital? No, I don't mean stopping by to visit Uncle Teddy who broke his ankle trying to kick little Jamal's soccer ball. I mean as an actual patient. Hopefully, the answer is never. But if it's other than that, you have my heartfelt pity and condolences. That's because I just got sprung from my own hospitalization and there's a story in there worth telling.

Those who know me are aware that I have a rather crappy back. An inherited tendency toward degenerative disc disease, coupled with an early career as a professional pool player (lots of bending over a hot billiard table), both contributed to the torture of a lifetime of back pain. Pain so severe that I underwent my first back surgery in 2004. My second was a year later. And now, after some 5 years, they opened me up one last time to complete the fusion from top to bottom. As my surgeon put it, "It's time to connect your ass to your appetite." Being always of good humor, I remarked that, at the very least, I ought to have good posture.

So five days in the hospital and another 5 in a rehab facility gave me tons of material to blog about. But the routine stuff about being continually awakened from a fitful sleep to be asked how I was sleeping, just won't do. No, I decided that with all that time on my hands I should be able to concentrate on other observations. And the one that immediately came to mind was late night television.

Let me tell you that the TV you get in your hospital room is nothing like the TV you dial up at home. For some reason, probably cost, there are usually only a couple of dozen or so channels in their offering, and that includes three in Spanish and at least one each in Vietnamese and Korean. And the others are a mixed bag of cable stuff from Home and Garden to the Oxygen Channel, whatever that is. At least there was Fox News to keep me informed, but little else worth watching. However, what proved so interesting to me were the commercials, especially those on after Midnight. I can't recall actually watching late night commercials before. But this time I got out a pen and paper and started marking down my observations. And so, dear reader, in an effort to spare you from the pain and torment of having to research this matter for yourselves, here is what I noted:

You need to buy gold. And you need to buy it NOW! There were at least 8 or 9 different companies pimping gold and they did so at all hours of the day and night. And to a man they let me know that gold is well on its way to $2,000 an ounce, or maybe even $3,000. And as the guy kept saying, "It's easy to buy, easy to hold and it's never been worth zero." Well that makes me feel better. I want to buy something that's never been worth zero, don't you? Of course, they didn't mention that they charge you a commission to buy it, a fee to store it, and another charge to sell it. And, unlike most other commodities, it doesn't by and of itself generate anything of value. But hey, a whole lot of people must be buying it because somebody's paying for all those commercials.

People must be buying their car insurance as a result of TV ads as well. Also, because there are just so damn many of them. You've got a talking Gekko pushing Geico, a chick in a white dress with an annoying voice talking up Progressive and a fellow from State Farm letting you know not to do business with those other folks. And like gold, it has GOT to be profitable in order to pay for all those 30 second spots. I'm hopeful that soon we'll be able to buy it after we have an accident, sort of like Obamacare will let us buy health insurance after we need it.

Hoodies were big a couple of years ago. You know, the flannel body suit you wear while sitting next your sweetie in front of the fireplace? Well now, the hoodie comes with footies. I guess next year they'll add gloves to the equation. And maybe then zip-on burkas for those of Islamic persuasion.

Those of you who have been screwed by Social Security can thank your lucky stars you have Binder and Binder. That the firm that'll take on your case and make the Feds pay up. But they could lose the guy who puts on his dull brown hat while saying, "We'll deal with the Government. You have enough to worry about." What's with that hat, anyway?

On the subject of unnecessary affectations, we have Frederick Cox, Founder of Tax Masters. He's the guy with the artificially orange beard who strangely looks off to one side while delivering his pitch. Why doesn't he look into the camera?

I want to know once and for all which is better: Is it Hoveround or the Scooter Store. What I do know is if they qualify you and Medicare fails to pay for your little motorized wheel chair, you get to keep it for free. In fact, with my back the way it is, that's the next call I think I'll make. And by "free," I'm guessing that just means my neighbors will get to pay for it. The redistribution of wealth, don't you know.

A nifty new little invention showed up on late night TV called the Robo Stir. You turn this guy on and stick him in your skillet. From there he starts stirring and stirring all by himself. You can do something else entirely and this guy just keeps on stirring. They say it's $40 in Europe but only $10 here. Oh, but you have to pay shipping and handling. Who besides me believes that the shipping and handling charge covers the total cost of manufacture of gadgets like this one, plus a nice fat profit margin? And wouldn't the Europeans get pissed if they found out they're being screwed out of $30?

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention J. G. Wentworth. That's the company that'll pay you off for your structured settlement. And their ad campaign is soooooo annoying, how could you ever forget these guys? "It's my money, and I want it NOW!" I just wish I had a structured settlement to get paid off from.

And last but certainly not least, there's MESOTHELIOMA! I don't know what percentage of the American population has this dread disease, but if it's in relationship to the number of times these ads run, it has to be a majority. I'm sure it a terrible disease to suffer, but it can't be much worse than having to watch these ads. And now we can add Accutane and Avandia to the list of drugs that these nice law firms will gladly sue over. Let's see, you take a drug for pimples and your leg falls off. Just call the law offices of…

There are others, but I don't want to bore you to tears, like I was. There's reverse 1^st mortgages, the Magic Bullet smoothie maker, Empire Carpet Company, a special ceramic knife that never needs sharpening, AARP Medicare supplemental insurance, etc., etc. After a few days of this I discovered the antidote. A sleeping pill! Just remember that if and when you are next admitted. It'll make your life easier.

Oh, and one more thing. If you'd like, you can usually get two of whatever ridiculous nonsense they're selling for the price of only one. Just pay separate shipping and handling. What a load of crap!

Leave Obamacare Alone!

2011-01-27T11:24:00.001-08:00

What is with those Troglodyte Republicans? They just voted to overturn President Obama's signature legislative success, the Affordable Health Care and Something-Or-Other Act. This is the one that gives free healthcare to 30,000,000 nice folks who just don't happen have any right at the moment. It also does a bunch of other stuff, because as you would expect you can tuck a lot into 2,700 pages without even half trying. But instead of just accepting their defeat like good little legislators – and it was a defeat, make no mistake, considering that not even one Republican voted for it – the House actually just voted 245 – 187 to simply overturn it. To make it like it never existed! How rude!

I mean, really! What's not to like about this fine legislation, which has come to be called Obamacare? Just because it takes $500 Billion Dollars from Medicare, that entitlement we all have paid into for our entire lives, and gives it to Obamacare, that entitlement that no one pays into at all, is that a reason, I ask, not to like it? The Democrats have told us that taking that $500 Billion from Medicare, which we all know is nearly broke, will make it stronger. I believe them, don't you?

And just because it enables you to keep your adult children on your health insurance policy until the age of 26, is that bad? Of course, some say that just gives them another reason to put off leaving home. And we know that several health insurance companies have already ceased writing health insurance policies for children as a result (profit mongers!), but we like it so it ought to be in there, right?

And it prevents those evil health insurance companies from being able to increase your premiums or refuse to insure you for pre-existing conditions. That makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, after all, so you contract brain cancer and Myasthenia Gravis and Multiple Sclerosis and gangrene. And dealing with all of that will cost a fortune, but we live in the "someone else pays" entitlement society, so why shouldn't someone else pay? Just because it would put insurance companies out of business, why should we care? They shouldn't be in business anyway. Health care is a right, isn't it? Let them all fail and then the Government will take care of health care. You know, like they take care of the IRS, the EPA, the EEOC and Amtrak and the Postal Service and the FDA. I mean, just because they can't find 20,000,000 illegals, they do a pretty good job of finding that one bovine out of millions with Mad Cow Disease.

And then there's the part about everybody you do more than $600 per year in business with will require you to issue them a Form 1099. That's supposed to raise another $19 Billion a year in revenue to help pay for all this wonderfulness. Oh, I know, they don't mention the billions of dollars and millions of hours it will take business to comply, but hey, they're businesses. Screw them. We don't care about businesses, do we?

Then there's the 159 boards and commissions which will necessarily be created with tens of thousands of bureaucrats to write all the regulations about who gets what care, and when. That should do a lot to lessen unemployment, right? And yea, I know, the legislation requires that another 16,000 IRS agents will have to be hired to run down all the scofflaws who simply refuse to follow the new rules. It'll be a fee, you see, for failure to comply. That's what Obama told us. Oh, wait a minute. Obama's Dept. of Justice is now arguing in the appeals courts it's a tax. Well, it's one or the other and those of us who won't have to pay don't really care, do we?

And the Chuckmeister doesn't want to hear from any of those Gun- and God-Loving right-wingers about trial lawyers fighting like Hell to keep tort reform out of Obamacare. After all, 99% of all their political contributions go to Democrats, and Democrats need the money to keep electing Obama and his minions, so let's leave it the way it is. "Loser pays" be damned. And yes, I know that England and France and Spain and Germany and Switzerland, etc., have all enacted "loser pays" tort reform, which has reduced the number of frivolous malpractice lawsuits by more than 80% in their countries, but like I said, the Dems need the money.

And one other thing. Yes, it's true that 729 American organizations as of this writing have petitioned to opt out of Obamacare, including the AARP and McDonalds and unions such as the SEIU. They really believe in it. Yes they do. After all, the SEIU gave Obama $60 Million they collected from the dues of minimum-wage immigrant workers who clean hotel rooms to get him elected so they really like this "progressive" legislation. They just need a little bit longer to read it. It's 2,700 pages, don't you know.

And what about Sarah Palin and her "death panels?" Of course, health care will have to be rationed, just like it is in England and Canada and Germany, and that rationing will necessarily mean that we won't get to see doctors when we need to see them and get the care we need when we need it, and it will no doubt result in premature deaths, and lots of them, but calling them "death panels" is just plain wrong! Maybe "Pre-Exipiration Consultations" would be a more politically correct term.

And giving 30 million people health insurance is nice, but what about the other 15 million who don't get it with this new legislation? I mean, like the illegals and those who would otherwise qualify but just can't sober up long enough or turn off Jerry Springer and get out of bed to go register for it? Maybe we can have some more laws next year to expand Obamacare to include these poor lost souls. After all, we don't pay for it, do we? It's free, right?

And then some right-wing knuckle-draggers want to dredge up the factoid that we might have a problem finding enough doctors and nurses to refer those 30 million new customers to. Without more docs and nurses there might not be anybody to see these newly-minted healthcare recipients, the evil Republicans chant. And it's woefully true, many more doctors are now refusing to see Medicaid/Cal patients because they get paid bupkus for their time. How much? Something on the order of one-third of Medicare reimbursements, which is roughly one-half of fee- for-service rates. Well, it's simple! Just make the existing doctors and nurses work harder and longer! After all, they're rich, right? And we let them keep their "Bush-era tax cuts for the rich," didn't we? So the very least they can do is work a few more hours a week, right? I mean, doctors in China and Russia and Cuba make just about the same as garbage collectors, and cutting these privileged folks down to size is a good idea! I mean, we're all equal, aren't we? Let's start acting like it!

And yes, I know that Obama guaranteed us that our health insurance rates would go down and that if we like our doctors we'd be able to keep them and if we liked our health insurance policy we'd be able to keep it. But hey, he's a politician, right? Politicians lie all the time, don't they? Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction, didn't he? Well, I just have to report that Medicare's independent economic expert, Chief Actuary Richard Foster, just testified before the House Budget Committee that, um, well, none of the above guarantees will be kept. At least that's better than lying about WMD's, right?

And let's finally dispose of the argument by all those nay-sayers about that analogy concerning health insurance and car insurance. Obama has told us repeatedly that we shouldn't complain about being forced to buy health insurance because people are forced to buy car insurance, and that makes it okay. Well, I have to admit it's true, the only people who have to buy car insurance are those who buy cars. No car, no car insurance necessary. And yes, I will admit that the only reason we buy car insurance is to protect those folks from the damage our car might do to them. So, it must be true that buying health insurance will help protect those folks from any damage our health might cause them. Sort of like, if I got drunk and tripped over somebody's leg in a bar and broke their foot, maybe my health insurance would pay for their medical bills. Maybe that's the way Obama and his czars should explain it. Yea, that's the ticket.

And while I'm on the subject, I don't want to hear any of this 14^th Amendment crap about being forced to buy something – anything - by virtue of simply being an American. I don't know about you, but I think this might be a really good deal, especially when it concerns products and services that the Government bailed out. Think of it this way. GM and Chrysler took TARP money. Ford didn't. Yet, the best-selling vehicle in America is once again the Ford F-150 pickup. Well folks, we have an investment in GM and Chrysler and I say if people don't buy their products, maybe we just simply outlaw Fords! Force everyone to buy a Government Motors car just like we now do with health insurance and Voila!, we get out money back. Don't thank me. It's why God put me here.

So, I don't know about you, but I'm all for leaving well enough alone. I have confidence in the leaders of the Democratic Party. I'm sure they wouldn't pass legislation and subsume one-sixth of our Country's economy if it wasn't good for us citizens, would they? Would they?

Just Hu's Picking up the Tab?

2011-01-19T10:27:00.001-08:00

Tonight the President and his staff will welcome China's President Hu Jintao to a State Dinner at the White House. It will be filled with pomp and circumstance and lots and lots of toasts and feasting and mutual congratulations about our two great nations. No doubt it will be quite a lovely occasion enjoyed by all. But I have one question which has yet to be answered by the Mainstream Media.

Just WHO is going to pay for HU's dinner?

It's well known that fully 40% of every dollar our Federal Government is spending these days is borrowed, mostly from China. In fact, they are our single largest creditor, owning some $900 Billion in our owzies. And it's well known we're up to $14.1 Trillion Dollars in Federal debt, and that debt is growing at the rate of $5.2 Billion Dollars per day.

That means that the cost of tonight's soiree will have to be paid for out of borrowings from somebody somewhere. And since it's likely that somebody will be President Hu, I'm wondering whether instead of Obama whipping out his Visa Card to cover the charges, wouldn't it be more expedient to simply pass the plate to Hu and have him pick up the tab directly?

You'll have to forgive me. I'm a simple guy who eschews wasted motion and believes in expedience whenever possible. Therefore, I say the "who" should be "Hu." Just thinking out loud…

A Massacre is a Terrible Thing to Waste

2011-01-11T14:01:00.001-08:00

A horrible massacre occurred this past Saturday morning at a "Congress on Your Corner" political rally in Tucson, Arizona. A crazed, pot-addled, Devil-worshipping, paranoid- schizophrenic, antisocial, anti-Semitic scary loser pulled out his Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun and shot U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the head at point-blank range. He then went on to shoot another 20 people, killing 6 as of the last reporting. Fortunately, a few brave souls in the crowd estimated at several hundred jumped the murderer, holding him down until the police could take him into custody. That would seem to be the end of it. In fact, it's proving to be just the beginning.

The Sunday morning "talking head" political programs were ablaze with the world-class spin being offered up. Jared Loughner, the 22 year old killer, was, they almost universally stated, a right-wing Tea Party member who was incited to take this unspeakable action by the exhortations of the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. His actions were the direct result of the hateful rhetoric so popular with those on the right, we were told. We have to tamp down this propensity for hate speech, they offered, or we will have many more such massacres. How do we do that? Oh, let's see now. Maybe we take charge of the Internet to insure "Net Neutrality," some suggested. Then we rejigger the First Amendment to prohibit inflammatory speech. And, most of all, we rewrite the Second Amendment of the Constitution to outlaw the private ownership of guns. Very predictable reactions from these knee-jerk lefty weenies. As ex-Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel once famously stated, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste." I submit they've now expanded this approbation to include stepping over the bloodied and twisted bodies of men, women and children shot down like rabid dogs to finally get their way.

Arizona has among the best, meaning least intrusive, gun laws in America. Any person over the age of 21 who is felony-free may buy and keep a firearm. So it is in California and most of our other states. But in Arizona last year they passed a new law making it unnecessary to obtain a permit to carry a weapon concealed. In fact, Rep. Giffords supported such laws, and is herself a concealed carry supporter. In California, as an example, it depends upon which county you reside whether you have this same right. Riverside County? No problem. Visit your local Sheriff and you'll walk away with a permit. Orange? Unfortunately, our Sheriff was schooled in L. A. County where only gang members are armed, so qualifying to carry concealed here is almost impossible. But back to Arizona. There's no reason why many or even most of the attendees at this political function on Saturday weren't armed. They should have been. And before this cretin could get off the second shot in front of that Safeway store someone in the crowd should have dropped him like a bad habit. Extreme?

Remember back to November, 2009. Maj. Hassan, the Army shrink who loved Islam and wanted American soldiers to die at the hands of homicide bombers started shooting up Fort Hood. He was armed with more than 250 rounds of ammo. You would think the last place a killer would wish to begin such carnage would be at a military fort. Yet, President William Jefferson Clinton, in an executive order signed into law in 1993, declared all military posts gun-free zones. The only soldiers armed at Ft. Hood that day were Military Police, numbering a dozen or so who generally guard the gates and knew nothing of the shooting by then underway. Maj. Hassan wound up taking four bullets from a pistol being carried concealed by an off-duty civilian female police officer who just happened to be shopping in the Post Exchange that day. Otherwise, this poster child for peaceful Islam would still be shooting up Fort Hood.

I find it astounding that bad guys have a better chance being shot down in a Texas Wal-Mart than they do in a Texas Army fort.

I say arm everybody. And especially arm our Representatives and Senators and their staff members. Don't you think it might make a prospective evil-doer think twice about his proposed actions if he knew he'd likely be dead before he could get off the second shot? Good luck to Rep. Giffords and the others who were so needlessly assaulted in Tucson. Bad luck to Jared Loughner and anyone else who chooses such a course of action. And bad luck to the media who seeks to place the blame for the actions of the Loughner's of the world where it doesn't belong…

Turning Over a New Leaf

2011-01-08T10:21:00.001-08:00

Gasoline just zoomed past $3.00 a gallon nationally, and over $3.40 here in California. And when that happens, as it does every couple of years, the hot topic of cocktail conversation tends to turn to more efficient automobiles. But unlike previous gas price spikes, it's no longer "…do I buy a Honda Civic instead of a Chevy Tahoe?" Now it's "…do I buy one of those new-fangled hybrids or even an all-electric vehicle?" And at first blush, there would seem to be little in the way of negatives to so doing. Even Motor Trend and Car and Driver just anointed the Chevy Volt as their Car of the Year. And surely these fine magazines wouldn't give their blessings to less than stellar efforts, would they? Umm, yes, in my opinion, they would. And here's why…

It should be noted that the concept of all-electric vehicles is not new. In fact, the earliest vehicles were powered solely by electricity. American and French manufacturers were producing electric cars as early as the 1890's. And the reason they didn't catch on and become the industry standard back then is the very same reason they will fail this time around as well.

First of all they are expensive. The new Nissan Leaf, an all-electric just debuting at your local showroom, stickers at $32,780. Vehicles in the same class available from a couple of dozen different manufacturers are priced in the $16 - $18,000 range. But wait, you say. What about the $7,500 you get back from the Feds and the $5,000 returned to you from the State? Wouldn't it make you feel just dandy to have your neighbor drive up in one of these new-fangled devices and realize that YOU helped him pay for it via your tax contributions? If these buggies are so desirable, why, I ask, should the gnarly hand of government prove necessary to coerce you or your neighbor into buying one? This same bribery is under way with the new Chevy Volt, an electric-internal combustion hybrid due in showrooms as this is written. Priced at $41,000, the Volt will cost about $33,500 after government rebates. The Volt sits on the Chevy Cruze platform, a nice little economy car which generates about 36 mpg highway and boasts a base price of $16,800. Imagine how many miles you'd have to drive at the higher relative mpg these cars offer in order to make up the difference between the Leaf's and the Volt's window price and the much less expensive machines upon which they are based. This is nothing more nor less than the Government picking winners and losers. Our masters in D.C. have decided it's a good thing to use our tax receipts to incentivize us to buy and operate these alternative vehicles, whether it is or not.

It was just reported in the L.A. Times that utility companies are working feverishly to build a network of charging stations which might (emphasis mine) enable an 80% charge in as little as 25 minutes. Until or unless that happens, buyers of the Leaf and other electrics are no less limited in range than if they had a really long extension cord dangling from back window. The net result is "range anxiety" which will I submit will never go away. Then there's the investment one must make in order to establish a home charging station. By the time all costs are in, you can figure on at least $2,000 in charging equipment, inverters, fees and permits before plugging in at the end of the day becomes a possibility. And what happens when tens of thousands of Southern Californians all plug in at the same time? Is a blackout at night when it's black out, just in time for prime-time TV viewing, in your future? And who, by the way, decided that the Leaf gets the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon? It uses no gasoline, so why not 200 mpg? Why not 1,000? The Leaf's mpg is very simply a marketing ploy foisted on us by the EPA and the DOT. But once you've driven the Leaf that 73^rd mile, its reported range, I'd bet you'd be willing to give a fair chunk of change for a real car and a gallon of ordinary petrol.

And then there's the batteries. Those who've decided to do their part and help save the planet (puleeeeze!) by buying a Leaf or something similar need to know that the raw materials for the batteries they use were strip-mined in Canada and China using techniques that are among the least eco-friendly imaginable. These batteries weigh several hundred pounds and have a limited life expectancy. And the technology is so new no one knows just how long they will last. And what do you do with them when the time comes for a replacement? They will pose a major problem in terms of disposal as recycling is not possible. And what happens if you're in an accident and the first-responders need to whip out their trusty Jaws of Life to extricate you from a mangled mess of steaming steel? The jury's still out as to whether they will choose to do so, as many believe a nasty electrocution could well result.

And finally, where do those who choose this type of vehicle think the electricity they need to recharge actually comes from? Half the power plants in this country are coal-fired. The remainder are powered by natural gas or nuclear. No new nukes have been built in the last 30 years, and none are on the drawing board. And since it's generally believed by the greenies that coal is to be shunned as a future power source, don't plan on any new coal plants being built either. So it's quite likely that the electricity you have to have before your new tomorrow's-technology Leaf coasts to a stop might be as hard to find as a Simon Cowell compliment. Electricity is not hanging out there in the space waiting for us to reach out and grab it. It has to be manufactured and we have to factor in the cost of doing so in order to know the real price of acquisition, ownership and operation of the new Nissan Leaf or others of its ilk.

We're sitting on oil and gas reserves at least equivalent to those in the Middle East. We can't get at them, of course, because that might wound Mother Earth and cause the ecology-conscious among us to get all woozie. Even so, from a pure dollars and sense standpoint, there's really no comparison in terms of the cost of ownership and operation between an ordinary predictable, efficient, proven and reliable internal combustion vehicle and any of the shiny new alternatives like the Volt or Leaf.

Oh yea, back to the magazines. So why, you ask, would Motor Trend and Car and Driver salivate to the extreme about these cars if there's so very little to like about them? Simple. They're in the business of selling advertising. And who buys advertising in automobile magazines? Car companies. The same car companies who are being forced by the Feds to build overpriced cars we don't need, don't want and cannot be made to buy. The Chuckmeister, dear reader, has spoken. Only time will tell how prescient he proves to be…

A Resolution Kept

2011-01-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

'Twas about a year ago when I decided that ordinary New Years' resolutions were a colossal waste of time. You spend hours deciding what to resolve, and then several tortured days or weeks trying to keep those resolutions before throwing up your hands and giving up in disgust.

No more, I decided. Instead, I, the Chuckmeister, decided I'd make and keep two relatively simple resolutions: One, I'd try to gain ten pounds, and Two, I'd start a blog. Gaining a few LLL BBB's shouldn't be too tough, I figured. I have been plagued with a bad back for years so my exercise level is nil and my caloric retention level is quite high. As to the blog part, I thought that might be quite a bit tougher. But my friend Geoff West, who just happens to be a blogger extraordinaire and purveyor of "A Bubbling Cauldron," a blog of some considerable repute and influence around these parts, suggested to me that I had a lot more to say than there was ink at the local paper to print it. So, I took a deep breath and began to compose my first entry. January 6th, 2010 it was, and I haven't looked back. Since then I've posted some 47 times on every subject I thought worth the trouble. I'd like to say that each and every one of those blog entries was incise, pithy, well reasoned and breathtakingly lucid. I'd like to say that, but I can't. What I can say is that each and every one gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I pushed the "Publish" button, sending my humble thoughts out on an Internet mission in search of a reader somewhere - anywhere. And rest assured, dear reader, I take my responsibilities seriously. These ramblings of a troubled mind will continued unabated well into the future if the Great Gods of Electrons prove willing.

So, fellow carbon-based life forms, I send these thoughts along to you with the hope that your 2011 proves happy, healthy, productive and enjoyable. And remember, never take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive...

The Death Tax Should Die

2010-12-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

The Bush-era tax rates live on! Despite the very best efforts of those of the Democrat persuasion to raise tax rates on the "rich," they were unable to do so. Their rationale was that the "rich" had no right to keep the money they earned. They should forfeit it, I guess, so that those less "rich" could enjoy its redistribution. And you know what "rich" is. That's anybody who makes more money than you do. Thus, the rates that have been in effect for nearly ten years will continue without change. Notice there will be no tax cuts for anybody, including the "rich." Just a continuation of the existing rates of taxation for two more years. But fret not. Two years from now we'll get to revisit this fight when the next general election rolls around. Don't know about you, but I can't wait...

But another aspect of this tax compromise (the Mainstream Media calls it a "compromise" when the Dems had no choice but to capitulate) is that the estate tax will go from zero percent to 35% on estates valued at more than $5,000,000. The Dems wanted 55% over $3.5 Million. The Republicans wanted the estate tax to be abolished once and for all. And so the compromise was one that neither side liked. And one that will once again be rehashed in a couple of years.

Let us take a look at this estate tax deal. You earn some money and you're taxed on it. You invest a little bit of what's left and realize a return and you're taxed on it. You keep investing and earning and you're taxed still more. Yet if your investments fail and you lose, none of that money the government confiscated from you in the form of taxes over the years is returned. So why, I ask, if for no other reason than fairness (WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW SOME OF THAT?), should your heirs be taxed on your estate when you die? And if a little bit of taxation is good, why isn't more better? Instead of 35% or 40% over a certain amount of valuation, how about a taxation rate of 75% from the first dollar? How about 100%? Would that be fair? Would that serve to benefit society? Or would it just make those who like to engage in class warfare feel warm and fuzzy all over?

The heart of an estate may well be a family farm or a machine shop or a couple of 7-11s. They may generate an annual income but may not have liquid assets sufficient to pay off the tax man hovering over the death bed. The farmer dies and his heirs have to borrow against the farm in order to satisfy the taxes. And what if the farm cannot generate enough profits to cover the loan payment? Then the farm has to be sold to make the Democrats and the IRS happy. And the farmer's heirs now have to start all over because of the redistributionist philosophy so warmly embraced by the lefties among us. The business is destroyed for no reason other than to punish those whose forbears were able to amass an estate. Does this make sense to you? It doesn't make sense to me...

Infuriating Phrases

2010-12-09T14:38:00.001-08:00

Are you as tired as I am of political speak? You know, the phrases pols use interminably to shovel their pablum down our collective throats? Whether left or right, liberal or conservative, or even independent, these elected preening elites and talking head pundits seem to always use the same catch phrases to make their points. Need examples? Here's a few:

"On the ground." This is usually used to describe what's actually happening where people live and work, or where soldiers are digging foxholes, or in the real world, as opposed to the theoretical and ethereal ivory tower hoped-for results, this phrase would go something like this: "Events are unfolding almost exactly as envisioned, because the successes "on the ground" bely the results correctly anticipated by our highly-qualified supporters and widely vilified by our Godless adversaries." It's simply a way to cap an argument with gobbledygook and sound like you know whereof you speak.

"At the end of the day." A politician or pundit rambles on and on for several paragraphs about this or that with some "on the one hand" and a little bit of "on the other hand" posits, creatively covering all the bases, and winds up with "…so, at the end of the day," we can expect such-and-such to likely occur. This means, I guess, that when all's said and done, the results should be as projected. Unless they aren't. In all fairness, President Clinton used a variation on this theme. His preferred paragraph capper was, "…when the last dog dies."

"Created or saved." This is the one which infuriates me most. The Obama Administration has, it says, "created or saved" 3.5 Million jobs since it stuffed the more than $800 Billion stimulus plan up our collective arses a year and a half ago. "Created," I can understand. But "saved"? The Plan was guaranteed to keep unemployment below 8%. And then it zoomed to nearly 10%. And has, as we're all aware, stayed there. So what's a politician to do? Simple. You just figure out how many jobs you need to have saved, an immeasurable quantity, don't you know, in order to stay in power, and that's the number of jobs you saved. Clever, huh?

"Going/Moving forward." This is pol speak for pay no attention at all to what just happened. Let's focus on the future. So if an elected official wishes to deflect your steely gaze from failed policies, wasted resources, missed opportunities, shaded truths and ethical lapses, he or she only has to say, "…and in summation, 'going forward…" to create a bookmark between the chapters of his bloviation. Don't look back, Mr. and Mrs. America, even though that's where my track record and every indication of what the future holds can be found. Absolutely not. Look only forward. Because that's where the (my) future lay…

There are many others. I'm sure you have some of your own. But let's all agree that we shouldn't need a Rosetta Stone to decipher what our employees in D. C. and Sacramento and even City Hall actually mean by what they are saying. Or, then again, maybe it's better that we don't actually know. At least we won't get sick to our stomachs that way…

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs...

2010-11-29T11:37:00.001-08:00

Did you notice during the election just ended that the Number One topic of conversation was jobs? It seemed that each and every politician vying for election – or reelection – was touting his or her ability to create jobs. "Just elect me," they all said, "and I'll create jobs." Did you believe them? Neither did I.

What's the deal with these political types? It's pretty obvious they don't know what they don't know. They seem to think there's some mysterious button you push, or bill you pass, or speech you give that creates jobs. Well, here's The Bottom Line: The only jobs government creates are government jobs.

Let's start with a simple fact: Only a tiny percentage of those who will read this have ever created a job, or ever will. That task is left to the entrepreneurs who risk their time, effort, energy and (often plenty of) money for one, and only one reason: They want to make a profit. Remove the profit incentive and opportunity and you remove the willingness to take a risk. And that risk-taking is what creates jobs if and when they're successful. Or, often financial ruin if they fail. And the Number One disincentive to job creation in our Country at the moment is the uncertainty over future tax rates.

The Bush-era tax cuts for the 54% of us who actually pay income taxes (notice I didn't say for the "rich") expires on New Years' Eve. Unless legislation passes between now and then, we'll experience the largest tax hike in American history. Income taxes will go up for everybody, and for some as much as 50%. Taxes on long term capital gains will go up from 15% to ordinary income levels. Inheritance taxes will go from zero to 55%. Does this make sense, especially in a recession? Of course it doesn't. So why are the Democrats so unwilling to extend those tax cuts for everybody, including the so-called "rich?" The answer is Class Warfare. And it's getting very, very old.

According to the Dems, couples making $250,000 or more per year are "rich." Let's see now. An Orange County firefighter and his R.N. wife would easily eclipse that number. Pay the current 35% tax on that income, plus California's up to 10% income tax, plus SSAN, SDI, FUI, Louie, Dewey and Huey taxes, plus property and sales and inventory taxes, and then throw in the mortgage payment and college tuition for Junior and Sis, and you're anything but rich. And if you're a small business owner who's incorporated under Sub Chapter S, you're paying taxes on your gross earnings before you can make corporate investments or take corporate deductions. These are the people who create jobs. These are the people the Democrats want to punish for being successful. These are the people who stand to lose if the Bush-era tax rates sunset. And then We the People will lose because they'll have less discretionary income left to create jobs. Does this make sense to you? To anybody? Oh yes, I forgot. It makes sense to Obama, the current majority in Congress and the DNC.

So here is my prescription for job creation. Ready? Make the Bush-era tax rates permanent for everybody. Permanent. Remove this uncertainty and get the government out of the way and jobs will miraculously appear, just as they did under Harding, Kennedy, Reagan and Bush. And then lower our corporate tax rates from 35%, the second-highest in the world, to no more than 15%. Why the corporate tax decrease? Something like $2,000,000,000,000 (that's trillion with a "T") in corporate profits which have been earned overseas are languishing over there to avoid the imposition of onerous U.S. taxes on them if repatriated. Allow it to come home without a nasty tax penalty and we'd be awash in capital. It's that simple.

What's that I hear? "What do you, The Chuckmeister, know about job creation, and why are you qualified to opine on this subject?" Well, dear reader, I happen to be a graduate economist and actually know whereof I speak. Plus, I've also created hundreds of jobs over my illustrious business career, unlike, by the way, Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Durban, Schumer, Clinton, Frank, Dodd, Dean, and dozens and dozens of other hopey-changey Robin Hoods currently prowling the Halls of Congress looking for some booty to confiscate.

Only 7% of those who serve in the Obama administration have prior private-sector business experience. That's down from 56% in the Bush era. We have Ivy League academicians and theorists trying to manage a capitalistic economy they abhor without the slightest idea of what they're doing. Maybe that's why my simple remedy to the enormous problems we face as a society is so difficult for them to understand.

The Lame Duck Congress reconvenes today. Let's see if the Ruling Party learned anything from the spanking the electorate administered on November 2^nd and decides to finally do what's best for our Country by making the current tax rates permanent. I'm not holding my breath…

2010-11-19T10:22:00.001-08:00

Where's Cindy?

Something struck me today and it wasn't a Mack truck. I realized that it's been months, MONTHS, since I've seen or heard from Cindy Sheehan. Just a couple of years ago you couldn't turn on the telly without seeing her smiling face. What a nice lady. She was picketing outside of the entrance to President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch. Or she was excoriating Congress with her anti-war rhetoric. Or she was threatening to run against Diane Feinstein for the Senate because Lady Di wasn't sufficiently anti-war. She was interviewed over and over and over by the broadcast and print media, stating over and over and over that "W" killed her son and that the war was unconstitutional and that we had to leave Iraq, and leave it right now!

And then there was Code Pink. Whatever happened to Code Pink? Medea Benjamin, the Pinko's founder, was chasing Cindy all around America, sputtering out anti-war sound bites at a furious, machine gun pace, each and every one caught on camera by the major networks. You could often find her picketing in front of the U.S. Army recruiting center in beautiful downtown Berkeley. Or leading a peace march down the Capitol Mall. Or getting arrested for her outbursts while Congress was in session. Where are these lovely people now? And why isn't the media continuing to put them on the front page of the newspapers and feature them on the nightly news?

Let's see now. Our new President guaranteed us he'd begin immediate withdrawal from Iraq as soon as he was inaugurated. Ummm. That's like two years ago and we're still there. Oh yeah, the "combat" portion of our military's mission has now been declared over. Funny what you can accomplish by giving an expeditionary force a less bellicose name. And the war in Afghanistan is still humming along, now deep into its ninth year. And it's doing so with about 30,000 more troops than when the Prez took office. Is Cindy or Medea picketing our new President? Are they marching on the White House or leading peace sit-ins at the Capitol? It seems the answer to that question is a big fat "No." Could it possibly be that the only reason that Cindy and Medea and their minions were picketing and fussing and fuming, and the media was gleefully lapping it up, was because there was a Republican inhabiting the White House? Do you have a better answer to that question?

The Day of Remembrance

2010-11-11T11:21:00.001-08:00

If you were born in America, you've already won the human lottery. You're luckier than 95% of the world's population, who may well have been born into poverty, suffering, hunger, oppression and political turmoil. And that luck you enjoy was bought and paid for by generations of our forebears who headed the call and fought for us on the battlefields of history as members of our nation's military. This is Veterans Day. Their day. And our day to remember them and the awful price many of them paid so that we can enjoy freedom.

Perhaps those of us who've had the honor to serve have a more acute appreciation of those who still do. The next time you see a member of the Armed Forces, please take a moment and thank them. Thank them for helping to keep you breathing free.

It's been said that, if you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a soldier…

I Don’t Feel Sorry for Californians Anymore

2010-11-04T13:23:00.001-07:00

I used to feel sorry for Californians, myself included. I felt sorry for them because, with the exception of a couple of years in the early eighties, our beautiful state had been hijacked by the brain-dead Democrats who had been running things in Sacramento for more than four decades. These otherwise unemployables have been uniformly choosing the wrong tax and spend and governance and regulatory policies for even longer than I've lived here (34 years).

They have taken the best public educational system and trashed it. From what was on a par with any public school education in America just a generation ago, we have to now feel lucky there's a Louisiana, a Mississippi and an Alabama, or California would rank last out of the 50 states.

Every survey of business leaders over the past several years ranks California in the bottom two or three states in terms of friendliness to business formation and operation. Maybe that's why so few choose to now relocate or open branch operations here.

Our income taxes are the third-highest in America. Our sales taxes are fourth highest in the nation. Public employee and cop and fire unions are so gargantuan they're strangling our cities and our state with an unfunded pension bomb that's ready to explode in our collective faces. It's to the point that we now work for them, not the other way around. How was that allowed to happen?

Our roads and bridges infrastructure is decaying before our very eyes. Our once-vaunted Central Valley agriculture, which has produced more than 10% of all fruits and veggies in the nation for decades, is now a depression-era dustbowl because some commie pinko weenie in a black robe shut off their water in favor of the Delta Smelt. What's that, you ask? It's a little Anchovy-sized fish that this judge preferred over suffering, drought-stricken, jobless people. So it lives, they die.

San Francisco won't let the ROTC into its schools, prohibits the military from filming commercials inside county limits and won't stop aggressive panhandling, but it will prevent its citizens from buying pets because they might abandon them. And now, San Fran has just passed legislation to prevent McDonald's from selling Happy Meals because they're deemed by the calorie police to be unhealthful. Amazing.

And these same liberal policies have turned Los Angeles into a third world-caliber toilet inhabited by illegal aliens and fourth-generation welfare recipients, sucking up our tax dollars like a Hoover vacuum cleaner on steroids.

So why do I no longer feel sorry for Californians? Because they absolutely refuse to change it. The election just concluded gave Golden Staters one more chance to fix some of our problems and prevent a few others. And what did you do, California? You blew it, big time. You reelected Jerry Brown, a guy who earned the moniker "Moonbeam" when he was the Guv in the seventies. He appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. She overturned 62 death penalty cases, every single one that came before her, including the Manson Family killers. He signed the legislation that permitted collective bargaining for public employee unions, which now threatens our State's very economic existence. He vehemently opposed Proposition 13 until it passed, at which time he decided to support it. Flip-Flopper? You decide. After he termed out he ran for and was elected Mayor of Oakland. He was so successful in this job the state was forced to take over their school system. And, he managed to also double their murder rate (one could argue he might have been even more successful if he'd have tripled it!) Then, as our illustrious Attorney General, he refused to defend Proposition 8 in the courts even though he was obligated by law and his oath to do so. And I don't care what you think about gay marriages. Prop. 8 made it illegal and good old 'Jer had a duty to defend us, the citizens of California against it, despite his personal views on the subject. The Attorney General, nor any sworn official, does not have the right to pick and choose the laws they wish to support. A pox on his house. And now, Jerry Brown will now likely live out his life without ever having had a private-sector job. Imagine. You get kicked out of the Jesuit seminary and then feed at the public trough for the rest of your liberal little, otherwise unprepossessing life. Astounding.

Then there's Barbara Boxer. You reelected her, too. After three terms in Washington, during which she earned the lowest possible rankings as to effectiveness, you sent her back for another six years. She's never had a real job either. Never met a payroll. Never signed a check on its face. Knows nothing about job creation. What she does know is that partial birth abortion is the preferred method. Oh, and she knows how to spend our money. She voted for tax increases 258 times during her ho-hum tenure. Even her home-town newspaper refused to endorse her, saying she was an ineffective and ineffectual senator and should be put out to pasture. And you decided to send her back. Either of Jerry's or Bab's opponents would have been preferable to these preening elite losers, but you decided differently.

Now let's talk the measures. You failed to pass Prop. 19, the pot legalization measure. That was surprising to me, because I assume everyone here had to be high on weed to have voted the way they did.

You voted down Prop. 23, our last and best hope to derail AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which Schwarzenwhoozits signed into law in 2006. That's the one whereby California decided to fix the world's climate problem all by itself, by rolling back greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, representing a 40% reduction. Of course, the experts say doing that would be impossible without taking every single car and truck off the road, but hey, nothing appears impossible to those nice folks in Sacto. And maybe the commute will get shorter once all the cars and trucks are gone. So, AB32 kicks in on January 1, 2011, and the next sound you'll hear will be the doors slamming shut on U-Haul trucks as businesses prepare to vacate Caleeeforneea. And they'll take at least 1,000,000 jobs with them. And your electric bill will double or triple after they go. The only ones left will be Starbucks baristas selling lattes to sign twirlers. I've said before and I say again, if you believe that carbon dioxide, that stuff plants breathe and you exhale, is a greenhouse gas, please stop exhaling.

And Prop. 25? Yep, it passed. That's the one that lets those Sacto lifers pass a budget with a vote of 50% plus one. No more 2/3rds supermajority needed. So the Dems can now pass a budget without a single Republican vote. You think taxes may go up? I do. And often. Why, I ask, do we even need a Republican party anymore? Truth is, we don't. That single-party parliamentary-style deal has worked so well in other countries, we should now formalize it for California. You know, like Cuba, and North Korea, and China and Russia. We're well on our way.

So, California, I no longer feel sorry for you. You did it to yourselves. You have turned our California into Greece, and now you've wasted your last, best chance to correct it before our Ship of State hits the rocks. We've finally reached the tipping point. That's where the statist, big government-loving weenies and the hand-out welfare crowd are able to vote themselves stuff at the expense of those few remaining folks who actually produce in our society. I still feel sorry for myself, for my family and for my friends. But I don't feel sorry for the rest of you who made this sorry likelihood possible. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

By the way, if you take a look at the red-blue map after it was updated following the election, which shows a sliver of blue along each coast and most of the remainder of our country in a bright, bright, all-American victory red, you'll have to ask; could it be salt air that's causing all this liberal craziness?

Election Aftermath

2010-11-02T11:48:00.001-07:00

I understand President Obama has secured nationwide network time for tomorrow afternoon to comment on today's election and its anticipated aftermath. I have it on good authority from a D.C. insider friend of mine that his speech will start with, "A funny thing happened to me on my way to Mount Rushmore."

2010-10-14T12:16:00.001-07:00

Just Stay Home on Election Day

It's a fact that at least eighty million Americans who are eligible to vote are not registered to vote. It's a fact that less than one-half of all Americans who were registered to vote have actually voted in the last several national elections. And it's a fact that, notwithstanding the impact of the Electoral College, less than one-quarter of all Americans who could have voted elected the last four Presidents.

In view of these facts, I thought it might prove helpful to weigh in with my humble opinion on this important and timely issue. Rather than joining in the chorus of those hoping to create new voters from among the heretofore uninterested and complacent with only a couple of weeks until the election, I take the exact opposite approach. I suggest that those who don't make it their business to study the issues and form educated opinions about the myriad challenges facing our State and our Nation should stay home on Election Day. Those unconversant about our out-of-control Federal spending, or outsourcing of jobs overseas, or the mortgage meltdown mess, or privatizing Social Security, or the perennial, crippling spending and budget problems in Sacramento, or the interminable war on terror, or continued unacceptable levels of unemployment, or finally fixing illegal immigration once and for all, etc., etc., should simply stay home on Election Day.

I suggest that those who believe government creates any kind of jobs other than government jobs should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who want to increase taxes on the job-producing "wealthy," you know, the 5% who already pay almost half of all income taxes, should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who might choose to become involved only because of a single, burning, hot-button issue, like saving the whales or ending global warming (or whatever they choose to call it these days), should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who believe America owes them anything other than the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who believe in the forced redistribution of wealth from those who produce it to those who don't should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those college students who wouldn't know a W-2 if they tripped over it and who get all teary-eyed about "hope" and "change," should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who believe it's okay to hijack one-sixth of our economy on a strictly party-line vote late on a Christmas Eve with the intent of gutting what was the very best health care system on Earth should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who get their information about politics solely from watching TV ads from either party should stay home on Election Day. I suggest that those who can't decide between a candidate for Governor who created 15,000 jobs and one who managed to double Oakland's murder rate should stay home on Election Day. I, for one, am alarmed at the thought my vote might once again be marginalized by someone unwilling to educate and inform themselves on the issues, as have I. All good citizens should be as well.

So, I offer my thanks in advance to those with no business voting who decide to take my advice and stay home on Election Day. To all the others, I say, "See you at the polls on November 2^nd!"

Who Owns Your Money?

2010-09-30T15:39:00.001-07:00

Have you been following the ongoing kerfuffle in Congress over the Bush Tax Cuts? You know, the legislation passed almost ten years ago to reduce taxation rates across all income categories in a very successful attempt to spur growth in the economy and increase revenues to the Treasury? Like tax cuts almost always do? Well folks, those tax cuts sunset at midnight on New Year's Eve. If not extended in some form or fashion, what would then follow is the largest single tax increase in American history. And, given that Congress has just adjourned without action on this all-important matter bodes ill for everyone that draws a paycheck.

Congressional Democrats want to extend the tax cuts only for the so-called "middle class" and let them expire for the "rich." Rich, in this context, is defined by the Dems as those in the top 2% of wage earners. That's individuals making over $200,000 annually, and couples earning more than $250,000. Think of it as the income of your experienced fireman and the nurse he's married to. They're now rich, you see, whether they feel "rich" or not. Republicans want to extend the cuts for everyone. The President tells us we simply can't afford the $700 Billion it would cost us over 10 years to grant such largesse to those nasty rich people. Cost? There's no cost to leaving things exactly the way they are. And if cost is the issue, why aren't they focusing on the $3+ Trillion it would cost over the next decade to extend those same tax cuts for the middle-class? How, I ask, could it possibly cost us to allow those productive individuals among us to keep that extra money that they earn? That's the money with which they can invest and build companies and buy equipment and hire people. And yes, cars and houses and planes, which keep people employed building them. They are already disproportionately paying over three times the lowest tax rates. In fact, the top 2% already pay more than 25% of all income taxes. It seems to me that's punishment enough for being successful.

Where did all this class warfare come from? Why are the Dems on Capitol Hill so dedicated to penalizing the only folks who can reasonably get us out of this economic morass? I can come up with only one reason. They believe that all the money is really theirs, to do with as they see fit. And they believe they can spend it far better than can we. And redistribute it better, too, selectively buying votes in the process. It's been noted you can't make poor people rich by making rich people poor. Winston Churchill once remarked that trying to tax ourselves into prosperity is like standing in a bucket and trying to lift ourselves up by the handle. I close with one key question: When was the last time a poor person hired anybody?

A Lie Repeated Often Enough is Still a Lie

2010-09-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

I've grown weary of the constant drumbeat from the Administration and the Mainstream Media that this economic hole we're in was created by George W. Bush. Our new President continually states that he "inherited" the big Federal budget deficits and has to "clean up the mess" left by the Republicans. Although I risk sounding professorial here, please allow me to remind everyone that the President of the United States doesn't spend a single dime. He doesn't vote for expenditures, he doesn't allocate who gets what and he doesn't write the checks. As per our Constitution, which is all-to-often disregarded these days, all spending measures must originate in the House of Representatives and be voted into law by the Senate. Then and only then does the President sign them into law or choose to exercise his veto pen.

It bears repeating that the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress on January 20, 2007. That's nearly four years ago. Nancy ("You've got to pass the (healthcare) bill so we can find out what's in it.") Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and Harry ("This war is lost!") Reid, Majority Leader of the Senate, have worked hand-in-hand with Barack Hussein ("America is the greatest country on Earth. Join with me as we begin to fundamentally transform it.") Obama, POTUS, to grow our Federal debt from $9.2 Trillion amassed over a 230 year period ending with President Bush, to $13.45 Trillion today. More than $4 Trillion dollars of increased debt in just a bit over one and one-half years. And remember that then-Senator Obama voted for every single appropriations bill that he now oversees, and that now threatens our kids' future. Democrats are responsible for every dollar appropriated, every dollar spent and every dollar of increased indebtedness. Our Federal debt now equals more than 90% of our Gross National Product. By the time Obama leaves office, our debt will completely eclipse our GNP. That's Greek territory, folks. So if Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are threatening the very existence of the European Union, can our economy be far behind? Oh, by the way. Yes, I'm a graduate economist, so I actually do know a little bit about this subject.

Remember that the whole housing crisis was caused by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, Democrat leaders of their respective banking committees in the House and the Senate. They loosened requirements for home loans to the point where only a heartbeat was necessary to qualify. Then they forced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up the bogus mortgages. Then they cut up the tranches of mortgages into little pieces and sold them off as solid securities around the world. Tens of thousands of folks who should have never purchased homes soon started defaulting on their mortgages, driving home prices into the cellar. That's why we as a country and the whole wide world are in this colossal mess. This was a Democrat plan, a Democrat policy and a Democrat debacle.

So folks, as we head into the "silly season," don't be hoodwinked by those who attempt to evade responsibility for our sorry situation. Those who elect to vote on November 2nd for politicians who believe in more and bigger government, ever increasing taxes, borrowing and spending on a monumental scale, redistribution of somebody else's wealth, class warfare, government takeovers and bailouts and ever more onerous regulations which are squeezing the private sector into near oblivion, I invite them to do so. Pull that lever remembering you're entitled to your own opinions. But you're not entitled to your own facts...

Let's Poll the Judges

2010-08-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Have you heard that a U.S. Chief District Judge just declared Prop. 8 unconstitutional? Yep, that he did. Openly gay Judge Vaughn Walker, rather than recusing himself for not being - ahem - objective in the matter, stated on page 135 of his ruling, "Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis in which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians." He went on to state that the only rational basis for 7,000,000 Californians to have voted in the affirmative for Prop. 8 was their desire to keep gays as second-class citizens. Interesting observation, don't you think?

Is it just me or is this judicial activism thing way out of control? It seems like only yesterday that a judge overturned Proposition 187. 1994 it was, and one could argue that this judge's action has cost Californians billions and billions of dollars each and every year since. Then there was a Supreme Court Justice named David Souter who wrote the majority opinion in overturning a lower court decision in the case of Kelo vs. City of New Haven to rule that it's quite alright to take private property from individuals and give it to another PRIVATE concern, if that action is expected to generate increased tax revenues. Holy eminent domain, Batman. His opinion tortured the Constitution .almost beyond recognition. Now Sonja Sotomayor, a newly-appointed Supreme Court Justice, said during her confirmation hearings that the individual right of the people to keep and bear arms, otherwise known as the Second Amendment, is "settled law." In her first test of that under-oath declaration, she voted against McDonald vs. City of Chicago. No thanks to her, that basic American right was reaffirmed in this landmark case on a 5-4 decision. That too-close vote demonstrates vividly that our Republic is hanging, literally, by a thread. There are many, many more examples that could be cited, but hey, you get the idea...

It seems to me we're wasting tons of money, scads of manpower and loads of time voting on measure which may well be overturned down the line by somebody in a black robe. Maybe it would be a better idea to simply put together a list of all the thorny issues we as a people face. These could include abortion, religious freedom, offshore drilling, onshore drilling, drilling in general, corporal punishment, the death penalty, drug use and abuse, smoking in public, or smoking anywhere for that matter, universal health care, global warming, or whatever they're calling it these days, amnesty for illegals (oh, I'm sorry, Undocumented Democrats), forced unionization and the redistribution of wealth from the productive to the less than, to name but a very few. Then we could simply send this list off to all the state and federal judges for their exalted opinions. Once we've received their consensus from on-high on what's okay and what's not for We the People, we could simply implement those edicts from our ivory-tower overseers and eliminate this whole messy voting thing once and for all. Then we could change our national motto from "E Pluribus Umum" to "Welcome to Venezuela. Check Your Guns at the Door."

The Coming Unpleasantness

2010-08-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

What would happen if there was a country which...

...paid no attention whatsoever to the will of its people, choosing rather to do whatever the ruling class wished;

...would not secure or guard its borders, even to the extent of suing one of its own states for attempting to do so;

...raided the pocketbooks of the productive class unmercilessly, and then, due to issues of "fairness," redistributed that wealth to those who choose not to work for it;

...turned its back on the residents of one of its coastal regions in the time of crisis, preferring rather to keep its union members as solid friends and supporters;

...forced its citizens to, for the first time in history, buy something - anything - in clear violation of the Constitution upon which the country was based, that they did not want, did not need, could not afford and loudly protested against;

...continually lied to its citizens, saying whatever was expedient at the time simply to win votes from various minority constituents and greedily consolidate power;

...borrowed more than twice as much in the its leadership's first full year as the entirety of the federal debt amassed during the preceding 221 years and 43 presidents combined;

...grew government so massively in one and one-half years that, from a piddling 7% of the economy in the control of the government when the current administration took power, more than half is now owned or controlled by the union-backed executive;

...stiffed the corporate bond holders of a car company of their first-in-line position when a car company pulled the plug and then redistributed their constitutionally-guaranteed ownership to a union;

...worked tirelessly to redefine the 27 little words that guaranteed its citizens the right to keep and bear arms in an all-out effort to disarm and make serfs of the public;

...hired 37 "czars" who are unknown to its citizens and unvetted by its legislature, performed tasks known to no one but the executive but were paid entirely by the citizenry.

I submit that such a country would rather quickly find itself in the midst of a civil war. Except that this time, it wouldn't be between the north and the south. It would be between the states and the centralized government. Given that each and every day in this country could very well bring a new assault on freedoms, that day appears to be coming, and rapidly. In about 90 days the citizens of this country may vote to affirm this brand of leadership, or chooose to overturn it. We shall soon learn which...

You May Not Know...

2010-07-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

You may not know that this is the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. You may not know that this celebration is being held at Fort A. B Hill in Virginia. Some 46,000 Boy Scouts are camping out there under the stars for ten days to commemorate this momentous occasion, one that's near and dear to my heart. You may also not know that Sir Baden Powell founded the Boy Scouts, in England no less, way back then to teach the rules of manhood to what to him was becoming an aimless, shiftless group of youth. I think he did a very fine job. You may also not know that the 50th Anniversary of Scouting was held in a then-little known place ultimately named Irvine, California. It was held in a meadow off what was to become Jamboree Boulevard. Named, of course, for what had taken place in those environs.

You may not know that I was big into Scouting. I became a Cub Scout at 5 or 6. I progressed quickly to Webelos, and then on to Boy Scouts. From Tenderfoot to Star to Life and on to Eagle Scout, I rose quickly through the ranks. When I became an Eagle I had 44 Merit Badges, plus a God and Country Award with Oak Leaf Clusters. I was selected to become a member of Tribe of Micoseh, an honorary American Indian tribal fraternity (quite like the Order of the Arrow, if you're more familar with that). I was first a Brave (Brave Many Thunder Sticks), and then a Warrior and finally a Chief. In short, I was into Scouting. Big time. It taught me to be a good citizen, and a man.

So why to I take you through all these machinations? Because today our Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Hussein Obama, chose to do a stint on "The View," an ABC daytime TV show, rather than accepting the invitation from the Boy Scouts of America to address their gathering in Virginia. Hanging out with Joy Bahar and Whoopi and Babs to him was preferable and obviously more important than to hanging out with 46,000 fine young Americans on the 100th Anniversary of American Scouting. What else can I say? What else needs to be said?

Surf Fest at the Legion

2010-07-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

My Mom made the very best chili in the whole world. No, not an exaggeration. The VERY BEST! At least that's what I thought when I was coming up in rural Missouri. Once a month or so she would surprise me with a wonderful bowl of Missouri chili. And yes, there really was - and is - a Missouri chili. Just as there's a Pennsylvania chili, a New Mexico chili, an Alaska chili and an Ohio chili. Each state, in fact, has a unique style of chili and I think Missouri's is the best. Rich and thick, maroon in color, full of hearty beef and pork, lots of veggies, such as onions, bell peppers and celery, plus three kinds of beans, and heavy with chili powder and cumin. Just a little sweet on the tip of the tongue at first, with a clean mid-palate flavor, followed by a warm heat at the back of the mouth and throat. Yes, Missouri chili is by far the best. But unfortunately, my Mom passed away without passing on her recipe to me. So, for 20 years or so I pined for that wonderful chili, tasting all I could get from others, but enjoying them little, knowing not what to do about it.

Then one day I decided to exercise my Eagle Scout ingenuity and became proactive. I jumped on the computer and Googled "chili recipes." What popped up was a couple of hundred thousand of them! I spent literally months reading recipes. I ordered the International Chili Society's book of winning recipes back to Carroll Shelby's first competition in Terlingua, TX. I read each recipe trying to determine by its ingredients what it might taste like and how closely it might emulate Mom's chili. Finally I hit upon one that looked enticing; it was Steve Spurrier's "Chili for Ten." He had come up with this little gem while Head Coach of Florida State Football. I decided to put it to the test. I made it.

Wow! It was good! Not great, but very, very good. I made mental notes as to what I thought it might need to taste more like Mom's and then made it again. But my friends who had tasted the first batch grew in number. So I grossed it up to "Chili for 20." And did it again, with modifications to the amount and number of its ingredients, ever trying to improve it. I kept making more and more of it to satisfy my hungry fans, especially at my annual Super Bowl parties. The recipe grew over the years to enough for 30, then 40, and 50, and then to 60, 70 and 80. Finally I just threw out all the stops and started making enough chili to feed 100 guests in a pot the size of Rhode Island. And each batch got better and better. It was suggested I enter my creation in a local pub's chili cook off. I did. It won. I then decided I would retire undefeated. No more contests for me. Right...

Just this past weekend our local American Legion Post #291 hosted the second annual Surf Fest. For those of you who don't know, this is the only Legion in America that's right on the water in Newport Beach. It has its own yacht club and boasts about 6,000 members. It's pretty damn special to us, its members, and usually blows away guests who visit it for the first time. Its Sons of the American Legion's leaders came up with the Surf Fest concept to raise money for children's charities. It has all the ingredients for success: surf bands (Chantays, Surfaris, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jan and Dean Show, etc.), old woodies and hot rods, lots of food and drink, wonderful, sunny So. Cal. weather and a chili cook off! What's not to like? So, I decided to put my undefeated status on the pass line and entered.

There were 19 of us cooking that day. It was all "people's choice," so each chili was different from every other. But they were all the same in terms of the intensity and enjoyment of the cooks. We welcomed about 1,000 attendees and each eagerly went from booth-to-booth tasting the entrants' chili. Ours too. My wife, Elaine, and I arrived before 7:00 to set up our pop-up, tables, stove, etc and heat up our concoction. Two of my daughters and their hubbies showed up to assist. We started serving at noon and had to turn in our offering for totally blind judging at 1:30 p.m. Thereafter we served chili all afternoon until it ran out, listened to the great music and imbibed on the "lemonade" we had brought along especially for that purpose. A quintessential SoCal day.

Then the announcer took the stage. Steve Porter, a friend, boat captain, long-time member and Chief Judge of the Chili Society, and one-time winner of third-in-the- world, announced the winner of Best Booth. Then the Best Theme. Then he announced Third Place. Not me. Then Second Place. Not me again. I had my fingers crossed, not wishing to be blown out so publicly. Not to worry. Steve then stated, "We're never gonna' hear the end of this, our First Place Winner is Chuck Cassity!" The crowd erupted in applause! I thrust my aging hands high into the air. It felt great to have my creation recognized and to take home the trophy, which is roughly the size of a Major League baseball(!). I won't have to work hard to find a place to display it. It would fit almost anywhere. Oh, and by the way, a little cash came with it, but just about enough to cover the cost of the chili and entrance fee. But it was a great day and we all had a fine, exhausting and rewarding time. I might even do it again next year. Hey, even if I don't win, I'm still batting .667, right!

Memo to Dana: See kid, I can write a whole blog entry without a single political reference...

The Arabian Desert - The Final Frontier

2010-07-08T14:32:00.001-07:00

National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mr. Charles Bolden, NASA's Administrator, was recently interviewed by Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera, as you may know, is Osama bin Laden's favorite network and the outlet he uses to distribute his exciting cave-made videos. It's also the place where we first saw happy Palestinians dancing and shouting with glee as our World Trade Center towers were crumbling. Anyway, Bolden for some reason agreed to be interviewed by these "journalists." We were quick to find out why...

Bolden indicated to his interviewer that he'd been tasked by President Barack Hussein Obama to reorder NASA's priorities. A new mission to the Moon, you might guess? Noooo. How about Mars? No again. POTUS' Number One Priority, Bolden proudly proclaimed, was to lead an outreach to Muslim nations to make them "feel better" about their contributions to science and math and engineering. Yep, you read that right. A Dr. Phil-style "group hug" therapy session for one-fifth of the World's population to help them with their self esteem. Remember all the scientific breakthroughs the Muslim nations have achieved in science and math and engineering and space travel? Neither do I.

Why, you might ask, would this be NASA's job? Yes, WHY? If this is necessary, and I stress "if," wouldn't it be better delivered by the State Department? Maybe the Post Office could deliver this message. Well, since BHO has seriously defunded NASA, to the extent even that we'll soon go into space only by renting a chair on a Russian Soyuz rocket at the cost of $51 Million per round trip, NASA has very little left to do. Its braniest team members are leaving in droves. It even lacks the funding to perform routine maintenance on its core systems. It's in the process of moth-balling its space shuttles and can't afford to replace them. So, given that NASA doesn't have much to do, I guess the thinking was, hey, let's send them to the sands of Arabia to make nice with the sheiks. Therefore, I suggest we change NASA's name to NAMOA...the National Aeronautics and Muslim Outreach Agency.

One Hundred and Eighteen Days until November 2nd. I'm counting them down. I hope you are too...

Your 2nd Amendment Rights Reaffirmed

2010-06-28T10:19:00.001-07:00

Today is a RED LETTER DAY! The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its opinion on McDonald v. City of Chicago. And common sense prevailed. Finally.

The 2nd Amendment reads:

"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Seldom has 27 little words caused so much angst and anxiety, confusion, heated debate and outright torturing of meaning by those unable or unwilling to understand the written word. Those unaware of the controversy need to step back a bit and review history. To wit:

The 1st Amendment to our Constitution gives us all the right of free speech (plus other related rights). The 2nd gives us the right to keep and bear arms, no doubt to help us defend the Amendment just before it. It is no accident they were written in this order. But ever since the ink was drying on this hallowed document, those on the left have been trying to eliminate it, minimize it or simply change its straightforward pronouncement into something never intended by the framers. And they had a lot of sympathizers, including Stalin, Marx, Hitler, Pol Pot, Chavez and Castro, to name but a few. And because of this, those who love liberty and want to protect it have been working tirelessly to reaffirm it. That reaffirmation happened today.

For purposes of background, The Roberts Court passed down its landmark ruling on Heller v. Washington, D.C. in July, 2008. Heller, as you may remember, was a retired soldier, a D.C. cop, a private eye and a bodyguard. In these capacities he had the right to carry a weapon concealed. But due to D.C.'s arcane gun laws, he couldn't keep his handgun at home. He had to stop by Union Station and lock up his pistol in a train station locker each evening and then pick it up on his way to work the next morning. As stupid as this may sound, that was their law, and its been their law for the last 40 years. During that 40 years, I might add, their murder rate has increased more than 340%. So Heller sued, and with the help of the NRA, he prevailed. D.C.'s gun ban was overthrown.

By the way, you might be interested to note that two rather well-known people signed amicus (friend-of-the-court) briefs on behalf of D.C.; that would be then Illinois State Senator. B. H. Obama and then Chicago lawyer Eric Holder. That tells you all you need to know about their motivations and all you need to know about the regard they hold for our Bill of Rights.

So was the fight over? Not by a long shot (pun intended). A then little-known judge turned down an appeal on gun rights brought because of this ruling, stating emphatically that Heller v. D.C. applied only to "Federal enclaves." D.C., of course, is just such an enclave. All other cities, counties and states were not affected by this ruling, the judge stated. That judge was one Sonja Sotomayor, now a Supreme put there by B. H. Obama. You should know also that during her confirmation hearings, Sotomayor was asked if she'd gotten religion since the Heller decision. She stated emphatically that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental American right. We'll see...

Oh, don't let me forget to mention that as this is written, Elena Kagen is undergoing confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. This lady is no doubt very smart. But having never been a judge, she's woefully short of real-world judicial experience against which we can evaluate her prospective performance as a Justice. But one thing we do know. In the 1990's she worked with the Clinton Administration in its effort to eviscerate the 2nd Amendment. These efforts included banning so-called "assault weapons" (semi-auto deer rifles, as an example) and limiting the importation of certain guns they thought looked scary. In one of her more famous pronouncements, she stated that the National Rifle Association and the KKK were pretty much equal in terms of being a threat to the nation. "Bad guy orginizations," she called them.

Enter a retired black Chicago janitor named Otis McDonald. He lives in a downtrodden, inner-city project and feared for his life. He wanted to buy a gun to protect himself and his family. Due to Chicago's onerous gun laws (Chicago and its forty suburban cities outlawed handguns more than 30 years ago), McDonald was refused in his efforts to take advantage of his Constitutionally-protected rights. Youshould know that since this ban went into effect, Chicago's murder rate has increased 340%. 52 were shot just this past weekend, eight fatally. So much for outlawing handguns. With the assistance of the NRA, once again, McDonald sued. Now President Obama and Attorney General Holder, ever predictably, once again signed on backing Chicago. McDonald lost. They appealed. They won. Chicago appealed. It went all the way to the Supreme Court. The case was heard this past February. The decision was handed down today; McDonald prevailed on a 5-4 decision. Sotomayor, by the way, voted with the minority despite her earlier proclamations concerning the 2nd Amendment and the fundamental rights to our citizens it conveys. Can you say disingenuous?

And don't let anyone try to tell you that the words preceding "...the right of the people..." define or refine or limit or reduce the breadth of the 2nd Amendment. The words preceding the second comma is termed a "preamble." Remember that when the Bill of Rights was crafted there was no TV, or radio, or telegraph, or Pony Express, or telephone, or internet to inform the people. There were only a very few newspapers and only the people in the bigger cities and towns got the chance to read them. So our framers chose to give us "reasons" before the "rights" we were granted so we'd know out in the hinterlands what they were doing and why they were doing it. There are preambles before many of the Rights in the Bill, including the 4th, the 10th and the 14th. So, simply disregard everything before the stated right, including the whole militia thing, and you'll know what was intended. And that's not my take on the subject. That's the opinion of the majority of the Justices of the Supreme Court.

So folks, 219 years after the Bill of Rights was consecrated, you finally have the right to buy a gun anywhere in the 50 states, and keep it handy to protect yourself and your family. And not just from bad guys. The 2nd Amendment wasn't written solely to enable you to protect yourself from robbers and thieves and rapists and murderers. Rather, it was written for you to be able to protect yourself from those in the government who might engage in tyranny. And remember, this right of yours which was reaffirmed today was voted through by the thinnest of majorities, 5 to 4. What we were told today is that four sitting, left-wing ideologue Supreme Court Justices voted to strip you of your rights under the 2nd Amendment. They either cannot read, or cannot understand what was written, or, far more likely, they chose not to interpret what was written in a way that benefits us Americans as was intended. They want to pick and choose what parts and pieces of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights they believe have merit and worth, according to their political philosophies, and which should just be eliminated altogether. Elections have consequences, people. When you go to the polls in 2012, you're not just voting for a president. Because Presidents select Justices, you're voting to retain or lose the rights given you under our Constitution. Pick the wrong candidate and we could be France or even Venezuela by the time the dust settles. Think about it...

Murphy's Airline

2010-06-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just returned from a much-needed vacation to Michigan. Why Michigan, you ask? Perhaps because it's quite possibly the one state in America worse off than California. It would be tough to be worse, but God knows they're trying. But that's not it.

Some of you might know that my youngest daughter, Jennifer, just made a mid-course career correction. She decided she wanted to become a professional photographer and give up her Dilbert-style cubicle at Universal Music Group here in Hollywood. So, she dedicated most of a year to UCLA extension courses, bought a really cool camera and laptop with all the requisite PhotoShop software, practiced like crazy and made her way off to Mackinac Island, MI, where she's been hired for the season as Lead Photographer for the Grand Hotel. Never heard of the Grand?

According to Conde-Naste, the Grand is one of the 100 top hotels in the world. It's situated on an island 4 miles off the coast of the very tip of the northern Michigan peninsula on the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It's so far north they enjoy enviable views of the Northern Lights late in the summer. Think of a straight line between Minneapolis and Ottawa and you've got it. But this island is special for a number of important reasons.

Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island was first occupied by local Indian tribes (Huron, Chippewa, etc.). Then the French built a fort there to protect their fur trappers and traders in the late 1700s. The British then kicked out the Frogs following the French and Indian War. The Indians, it seemed liked the French a lot a whole lot better then they did the Limeys. So they played a little kick ball out front of the Fort as a diversion while most of their happy band of warriors stormed the battlements from the rear. Not a single Brit drew air following that encounter. Nasty fellows, those natives, especially when forced to give up French cuisine in favor of fish and chips.

Then came the Americans. After we made toast out of the English in the Revolutionary War, we took over. We ran the Fort and the Island until the 1840s, when the French came back for Round Two. They took back the Island without a shot being fired. Seems like they took a page from the Indian playbook and came in through the back side of the Island. All the American cannons were aimed toward the harbor, and the French sneaked up from behind. Sneaky bastards, the French.

Eventually we retook the fort when the French decided they weren't very good at this whole "war thing" and went on home to make wine, smoke cigarettes and eschew bathing. By the way, they're still not. Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris? Neither do they. They never tried...

Anyway, things pretty well just idled along on the Island from then on. The Grand Hotel was built in the 1870s. From a fairly inauspicious beginning, it was to become the largest wooden structure east of the Mississippi. Some of you may know that the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego has the honor of being the largest wooden structure west of the Big Muddy, so this gives you some idea of the Grand's size and import. And since there's no roads our bridges to the Island, a thriving ferry business developed. Both the Hotel and the ferries are still humming along. And then they decided to outlaw motorized vehicles from the Island in the early 1900s. They worried that those loud, smelly cars might scare the horses. And they have horses aplenty. About 600 saddle, pack and draft horses, consisting mostly of Percherons, pull freight wagons and tourist taxis throughout the season. No cars, no motorcycles, no lawnmowers. Lots of clip-clop, clip-clop, however. By the way, do you know what goes, "clip clop, clip clop, bang bang, clip clop, clip clop?" An Amish drive-by shooting. And as to Percherons, these fellas are BI - II - II - GG! They tip the scales around 2,000 pounds and are about half again taller than your average quarter horse. And they have lots of Percheron Poo also. Check out Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" Mackinac segment on YouTube if you'd like an up-close and personal report on horsey exhaust. Enlightening.

The Hotel is something special. 375 rooms. The longest covered porch in America (990 feet long). Enormous dining room that can seat more than a thousand at a time for Five Star gourmet meals. Dress for dinner? Please! The Esther Williams Pool is so large (more than 120 yards long!) it costs $20,000 per month to heat it up to 84 degrees during the season. Some of you may recall "Somewhere in Time," the Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour movie, that was filmed there in the 1970s. No? Rent it. You'll get a great overview of the Hotel and the Island. It's situated on 50 acres of prime view property, overlooking the harbor. It's expensive. But hey, when your daughter works there, friends and family discounts apply. So, we took advantage. We're retired, okay?

To get to Mackinac Island takes commitment. We boarded a red eye from LAX to Chicago. Then a commuter jet for the hour long trip to Traverse City, MI. Then we rented a car and drove the 100-plus miles to Mackinaw City, MI. Then took the ferry across the Straits of Huron and we were finally there after more than 14 hours of travel. But one thing we noticed upon first arriving. Elaine had her luggage. I didn't have mine.

Apparently United Airlines couldn't be bothered to honor Item # 3 on their website-listed Customer Commitments: To get your luggage to you intact and on time. And since dressing for dinner requires a coat and tie, and since my coat and tie were were still in my luggage in Chicago, we weren't able to partake in the formal dining experience we'd paid for that evening.

My luggage and I were finally reunited about 10:00 p.m. that evening when a guy named "Mark" finally delivered it. I wondered then and I wonder now how much it must have cost United to pay a guy to drive two-plus hours to bring me my luggage. I'm reminded of the old saying, "There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over." Oh well, misplaced luggage happens, even when you pay your carrier $25.00 per bag to make sure it doesn't.

Following a fun and relaxing vacation, we departed Mac Island last Saturday morning. We reversed the travel schedule. Drive back to Traverse City, turn in the car, board the commuter plane, return to O'Hare, hop on a 757 and return to LAX. There we discovered that - lo and behold - we once again had no luggage. Somehow United managed (or mismanaged) not to transfer our bags from the commuter to the big jet. So we drove home that night sans bags. At least, we thought, we'd get them early the next day, Father's Day, in time to celebrate the occasion with our family. We were wrong...

We got a call that Sunday morning that our bags had indeed been located (Whew!). And that they would be delivered to us sometime day. When, we asked? We were given a "window" of somewhere between 7:00 a.m. and 2;00 p.m. A seven hour window to drive two pieces of luggage from LAX to our home, a scant 35 miles? You could walk that distance, pulling our luggage behind you and make it quicker than that. We were, to put it mildly, not at all pleased.

A non-English speaker finally delivered our bags at 2:00 p.m. sharp. And I promptly wrote a letter to Mr. Glenn Tilton, CEO of United Airlines. I commented to Mr. Tilton that, if United persists in charging its customers $25.00 for each bag they check, they should at least pay rent of the same $25.00 for each bag they misplace or fail to deliver. Thus, I told Mr. Tilton, that he owes us $75.00. And until or unless we get the check, I told Tilton, we'll decline to darken United's door. If United is the only way to get somewhere from here on, I told Mr. Tilton, I'll just stay home. A fella' can only take so much abuse, right?

I'm here to report that a visit to Mackinac Island is a real hoot. You truly go back in time. And if you go there this summer, you just might be able to take advantage of the friends and family discount while my daughter is there. Call me. And that stepping over and around horse poo gives one considerable exercise. And also that the Grand is truly grand, just as the Great Lakes are truly great. The land is pretty flat, the people are very nice, there's fudge shops galore on the Island, the state government sucks and the food is marginal. But, all in all, it's a great horse-filled experience. If you choose to go, however, you might want to choose a carrier to you there other than United...

Sounds like...

2010-06-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Has anybody else noticed that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sounds just like Marge Simpson?

Let's Compare Immigration Laws

2010-06-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

President Obama recently invited Felipe Calderon, Mexico's El Jefe de Oro, to address a joint session of our Congress. During this speech he lambasted Arizona's recently enacted anti-illegal immigration law as being racist and unfair.

I don't now about you, but this is the first time in my memory that another country's leader had the temerity to trash one of our state in public, and the first time the majority Democrats in Congress gave somebody a standing "O" for so doing. Figuring that Senor Calderon wouldn't have the cajones to complain about our immigration laws unless Mexico's were above reproach, I did a little research on the subject. Here's what I came up with:

If you enter Mexico illegally you get two years' hard labor and are then deported. No passing "Go," no collecting 200 pesos. And if you break in again, it's ten years.

Of course, if you try to come in from countries along Mexico's southern border, such as Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, you'll face its army and a bevy of machine guns pointed in your direction. And they're known to use them. With extreme prejudice.

Assuming you come across legally, you'll then face a daunting list of conditions and requirements. You may not participate in any political action. You have no freedom of speech. You may not march, protest, wave signs and placards, or attempt to influence public opinion.

Mexican citizens are given preference in hiring over foreign nationals, even those with visas and proper documentation. Only citizens may serve in Mexico's armed forces, on airline crews, or at seaports and airports.

Members of both houses of congress and the Supreme Court must all be natural-born Mexicans. Immigrants - even legal ones - may not serve in the clergy. Foreigners, legal or illegal, may not own land. Any Mexican citizen may arrest illegals and their accomplices and turn them over the authorities. Foreigners may be expelled at any time, for any reason or for no reason.

According to their immigration laws, and these are direct quotes, you will be barred from entry if your presence "...upsets the equilibrium of the national demographics." You will not be granted legal residency unless you can prove that you and your dependents will be "...a useful element for the Country," that you will "...contribute to the national progress," and that you have "...the necessary funds for sustenance."

And once you finally get you visa, if you violate it, you're guilty of a felony, which gets you six years in the slammer, and it's not a nice slammer. There's more, but hey, space is limited.

Well now. Calderon must believe Mexico's immigration laws are far superior to our own. Otherwise he wouldn't have shot off his mouth. It makes sense then for us to start the process by adopting his. Then, with our most excellent friend and neighbor to the south, we can work toward a mutually beneficial compromise.

And while we're doing that, GO ARIZONA!

Proposition 14

2010-06-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

Soon our Governator will take that long walk down the Capitol hallway, shut the front door behind him, take a motorcade to the airport and fly his little Gulfstream back home to the Pacific Palisades. His stint as leader of the 8th (used to be 5th before he came to Sacramento) largest economy on Earth will finally (and THANKFULLY!) be over. Since he arrived on Caleeforneea's scene like a pudgy ex-body builder, our once Golden State has spent more than $80 Billion Dollars it didn't have, borrowing it as he did from our grandchildren and overtaxing it from the productive among our once-proud society. Can we all say in unison, GOOD RIDDANCE!

But Ahhnoolllddd leaves a legacy worth noting upon his overdue departure. He championed Proposition 14, which passed yesterday, June 8, 2010. It appears P.T Barnum was right; you can never go broke underestimating the intellect of the American people.

Simply stated, Prop. 14 changes the primary election process for congressional, statewide and legislative races, allowing voters to choose a candidate regardless of the candidate's or voter's political party. The two with the highest number of votes would appear on the general election ballot regardless of party. Sounds innocuous enough, doesn't it? Upon first blush, I would agree. But look a little bit below the surface with me, okay?

California is a red state with four or five blue counties. Unfortunately, those blue counties contain the majority of our 35,000,000 population. And those counties also contain most of unemployed, illegal, unproductive users among us who contribute little and take everything. They will vote their pocketbook. Or rather, they will vote OUR pocketbook. That means that about 40% of our registered voters are Democrats, vs. 28% Republicans. That means that going into an election, the conservative among us are up to 15% upside down before the first vote is cast. That's why Sacramento is dominated by Democrats. With exception of our Governor, who is a RINO (Republican in Name Only - how could it be otherwise, considering he's sleeping with Teddy Kennedy's niece), every other statewide office holder is a Democrat. Been that way for more than two decades. But we conservatives are an optomistic bunch. We pick our preferred candidate and suport them with gusto, just as the Democrats do. And then we have an election, and the Democrats always win. Well, at least we gave it the old college try. But that was then, this is now...

Startng next year, the top two vote getters will head off to the November elections. My expectation is that the top two vote getters will be Democrats. We'll have a choice between the really horrible Democrat who's running for his 13th term, promising to raise taxes on all those mean and nasty successful people to pay for more stuff for all the poor and downtrodden, and the less objectionable Democrat, who promises not to raise taxes quite that much, but raise them nonetheless. Can you say choice between negatives? Whoever crafted this piece of crap should be congratulated. He (or her) finally came up with an end to gridlock. With the death of the California Republican Party there will be no gridlock, because there will be but one party in Sacto. My guess is we can look back to the USSR if we want a peek at California's future. And just like the USSR, it will surely fail.

Hopefully I won't be around to witness it.

A Red Letter Day

2010-05-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

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...

Immigration Update

2010-04-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

I commented yesterday that the nice folks in Arizona ought to provide the illegals they capture with one-way bus tickets to San Francisco. That's because the commie pinko weenies in San Fran are going postal over AZ's new get-tough immigration law. They think it's just so very unfair to all those nice border jumpers. We should be more compassionate, they believe. To think. These AZ troglodytes actually passed a law that mirrors exactly our Federal laws regarding the approved and constitutional methods of detecting violators of our immigration regulations. The Feds have declared what they've done to be a crime. The state of AZ just did the same. And the room temperature IQ-types in San Fran don't like it at all.

But not just them. Our President-in-Training doesn't like it either. Neither does the Attorney General. I'm guessing that means it's a pretty good law. But lo and behold, today Mr. Rush Limbaugh offered up the very same suggestion I did. Send 'em to SFO, Rush said, with one-way bus tickets. This is absolute proof, I contend, that Rush reads my blog.

And if he doesn't, he should...

What Part of Illegal Don't You Understand?

2010-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

So Arizona pulled the trigger and passed the strictest anti-illegal immigration law in the Country. Starting in early July, cops who suspect someone is here illegally may stop them, ask for their ID's, and if they can't prove they're here legally, they get tossed in the slammer. If then found guilty they get six months to contemplate their actions, a $2,500 fine and deportation once their sentence is served. And not everyone is happy about it. One of AZ's own state senators called upon the nation to boycott his state. How quaint. But this very day San Francisco's City Attorney Dennis Herrera came up with an even juicier plan. Read on...

Everyone knows that San Fran is a "sanctuary" city. That means if you're there illegally no one gives a damn. Their law enforcement folks are banned from asking your immigration status. And it's costing the city hugely as a result. Now this guy Herrera is advocating that SFO policymakers boycott AZ and AZ-based businesses in every way possible. And some of the lefties in D.C. are calling upon the Prez to order ICE not to accept illegals the AZ folks snag. Well I have a better idea. AZ should simply provide all the illegals they catch with a one-way bus ticket to San Francisco. Problem solved. SFO gets more of the illegals they so love, AZ gets rid of its illegals and POTUS and his cronies can't do a damn thing about it. Simple, cheap and quick. What do you think?

Wine Trivia

2010-04-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

There's a good chance you may be sitting in a bar somewhere and get into a trivia contest for cocktails. And perhaps the subject will be little known factoids about wine. If so, and in the earnest and undying belief I was placed here on this ever-warming Earth to help enlighten my burgeoning flock, here's some tidbits to cram into your cerebral hard drive for just such an occasion:

Wine By Numbers:

400 vines per acre
4 - 5 tons per acre (2 - 3 tons for Pinot Noir)
160 gallons per ton
60 cases per ton
7.5 pounds per vine
2.5 bottles per vine
240 cases per acre
2.4 gallons per case
1 grape cluster + 1 glass
24 cases per barrel
288 bottles per barrel
416 cases per 1,000 gallons
10,000 grape varietals
20 of 400 oak vareitals used for barrels
50 - 60 degrees for wine storage
White wine served at 39 - 40, red at 59 - 60
Note: All numbers are approximations and vary by year and by varietal

In summation, dear friends, life's too short to drink cheap wine!

Sticker Humor

2010-04-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

Here, ladies and gentlemen, are three of the best and brightest bumper stickers I've come across in my never ending fight against communism, Marxism, socialism, and other freedom-robbing weenies of all stripes:

1. Eschew Obfuscation.

2. Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic and so am I.

3. Save the whales. Collect the whole set.

See, I can write something short, humorous and almost totally apolitical.

The Church of Chuck

2010-04-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

Have you heard that buying health insurance is now the law? It won't be long before you'll have to buy it or go straight to the slammer. Where, by the way, you'll get health care for free. Ironic, no? But I have an idea you may find appealing...

Some of you are aware that I am an ordained minister of the gospel. I became one back when Jimmy Carter was screwing up America and I thought I might have to start a church to avoid oppressive taxation. Turns out I didn't, but I've used my "man of the cloth" status a couple of hundred times since then to marry up nice folks and help defray my bar bills a tad. But then I heard that two types of folks are exempted from complying with this crappy new legislation. They are members of the Amish and Christian Scientist churches. Turns out these people have some sort of religious conviction against buying health insurance. Or, maybe they were scared by a heath insurance salesman. Who knows? But I'm one of those guys who never lets an idea for a new business go unmolested. So here we go...

Starting today, I'm hereby inaugurating the "First Chuckmeister Church of Scientific Christians with an Amish Leaning." All you have to do is get back to me with your request to join up, along with a donation of perhaps $5.00 to cover shipping and handling, don't you know, and I'll send you an email welcoming you to the flock. There will be no regular services (although maybe some irregular ones!), no rules except you don't have to honor the individual insurance mandate due to our deeply held religious convictions, and no actual brick and mortar church. No, you won't have to grow a beard or drive a horse and buggy. But from time to time I may send along an email with some words to live by. I'm considering some sort of tithing arrangement so I won't have to work anymore at all, but I'll get back to you on that.

So, brothers and sisters, join with me today and confound those lovely folks at the IRS. Peace be with you. I await your response...

Cross-Training

2010-03-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

As you may have heard, health care reform legislation is now the law. And a big part of it is that insurance companies may no longer reject you for pre-existing conditions. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease? No problem. You'll get insurance for the same price as your average 27 year-old Ironman tri-athlete. This serves those money-grubbing insurance companies right, don't you think? This new law should lower Big Insurance's outrageous 2.2% average annual pre-tax profit margins significantly, at least until they go flat broke.

But the really good news is you don't have to buy it until you absolutely have to have it. Oh, you'll have to pay a fine if you refuse to play nice and purchase it, but the fine will cost you much, much less than will the insurance. Considering this, it struck me that, for convenience sake, State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Blue Cross, etc., should simply cross-train ambulance drivers and EMTs as insurance salesmen. Then, after they scrape what'[s left of you up off the pavement following a crash, or collect you from your foyer after a stroke or heart attack, they can simply sign you up, lights flashing and siren sounding, while you're on your way to the hospital. Then, you'll be able to enjoy what used to be the greatest health care system on planet Earth. Assuming, that is, that there will be any doctors at the hospital to treat you once you've arrived...

Attorney Full Employment Act of 2010

2010-03-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Imagine how much less entertaining this whole health care reform deal would have been if we still had a representative form of government. If we did, the President and the Democrats in Congress would have read the tea leaves. They'd have realized that two out of three Americans don't support the legislation they just passed. They would have ditched it, preferring rather to come up with incremental, focused, targeted, bipartisan measures to reform the health care situation in our Country. But they didn't.

Instead they chose to unilaterally (without a single Republican vote) give us political junkies a veritable cornucopia of beyond-the-pale fodder to keep us front-row observers busy watching this once-in-a-lifetime political theater unfold. Sort of an "As the Stomach Turns" soap opera. Except, unfortunately, it's reality.

So now we'[ll get to see what happens when $526 Billion is cut from Medicare to make it stronger. If strangling an entitlement of money can make it stronger, I recommend cutting funding for welfare, food stamps and unemployment by a like amount. Let's see how much stronger they become. And then another $500 Billion in taxes will be extracted from the "rich." Um, I think that "rich" means you and me. And another $300Billion-plus will come from fines on individuals who choose not to buy health insurance because the fines are cheaper than the insurance. And from taxes on companies which choose not to insure their employees' health anymore because the fees would be cheaper than the premiums. All this to purchase health insurance that won't even kick in until 2014 at the earliest.

We'll get to watch another 100 commissions and councils and committees get formed to oversee this behemoth. We'll get to observe our unemployment rate go down as another 150,000 people are hired on our nickel to administer this massive bureaucracy, and another 16,500 will join the IRS to hunt down and jail the scofflaws who choose not to participate in all this fining and taxing. We'll watch as the Government nationalizes student loans, like it did the car companies, the investment houses, the insurance companies and the banks. Take a look at Venezuela if you want a preview of what could follow. And we'll get to see first-hand what it means to have one-sixth of our economy subsumed by those same nice folks who can't seem to figure out how to deliver our mail on time and on budget.

But there's one thing that's for sure. There are already 37 states ready to sue the Government to keep this monstrosity at bay (13 filed yesterday!). Their beef has to do with never in our Country's history have the Feds mandated anyone buy any goods or services until now. And for another huge gob of unfunded mandates foisted on the states. It's thought to be unconstitutional, oc course, if that matters to anyone anymore. I'm calling this the "Attorney Full Employment Act of 2010," because I foresee years and years of litigation to forestall or ameliorate this legislation's toxic effects, where the only ones who get over are the lawyers. At least SOMEBODY gets over.

I also foresee it would be a very good time for Democrat lawmakers to update their resumes. They're likely to need alternative employment come November 3rd. The good news for them is there's likely to be some openings at the IRS...

Dennis the Menace

2010-03-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

U.S. Representative Dennis Kocinich called a press conference this morning. He explained why, after having signed a commitment to never, ever vote for Obamacare, why he is now doing exactly that. Imagine. A politician breaking his word.

You know Dennis. He's the youngest Mayor in Cleveland's history. He's the guy who bankrupted it during his first term. He's the fellow whose wife is two feet taller than he is. He's the weenie that would make Karl Marx appear absolutely right-wing in comparison.

What did Dennis get for proving to America that he lies like a rug? A ride on Air Force One. Barry rode him to Ohio so he could be displayed like a circus clown to a group of lefties at a faux town hall meeting. This was all it took, apparently, to change his vote from principled opposition to slavish, feverish approval.

If this is true, I have an idea. 747s are really big airplanes. They routinely cross the oceans with 400 or more passengers. We know there's something like 245 Democrat congressmen/women/others. Hey Barry, why not simply load up all the Dems and take them on a nice little junket all around America. Fly them really low over the Grand Canyon. Maybe a tour of the Great Lakes. A nice pass over downtown Manhattan, while scaring the crap out of New Yorkers once again, could work as well. Ply them with expensive liquor during this trip and you'll have them panting like bloodhounds.

Then, once safely ensconced back in Foggy Bottom, they'll vote whatever way they're told by San Fran Nan and Dirty Harry. Health care reform will pass and we, the people, without further ado, can get about the business of throwing these bums out once and for all. I just hope it doesn't result in a revolution. Or maybe I do...

Health Care Reform in Brief

2010-03-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

For those who have been locked in a closet somewhere for the past year, please allow me to summarize this interminable, exasperating health care reform debate in the fewest words possible.

The Democrats want to take $500 Billion from Medicare and put it into the new health care plan. They say this will make Medicare stronger(!). Then they want to increase taxes on the "rich" by $500 Billion to help pay the rest of its Trillion Dollar-plus cost. "Rich," by the way, I think is anybody who makes more money than you do. Then they want to fine anyone who fails to buy health insurance and any business that chooses not to offer health insurance. Then they want to start collecting the taxes and imposing the fines and fees to fix this "emergency" immediately, but not offer any health coverage until 2014. Think of it as ten years of taxes and fines and fees to cover six years of services. And they say it will reduce the Federal deficit. Let's see now. When you collect scads of money and fail to pay out anything, how could it not? Andrew Ponzi and Bernie Madoff would be proud.

By the way, did you hear that the Prime Minister of Canada flew to Florida last week to get open heart surgery? No? Turns out he couldn't get services at home. He was going to have to wait eight months for the operation in Canada, by which time he'd have been toast. I kind of feel sorry for the Canadians. Once this travesty passes, they'll have nowhere to go. Of course, neither will we...

Lynching KSM

2010-03-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Psst! Are there any Mattel toy designers out there? If so, you're gonna' like this. I have an idea for a sure-fire winner toy that'll knock 'em dead this Christmas. Read on...

Have you seen the picture of Kalid Shiek Mohammed? You know, the one they took just after his capture? The one with him in white robes with a checkered red tablecloth headband, the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face and the bushy beard the size of New Hampshire? It struck me that this picture is just begging to be turned in to a new toy doll and game for the little tykes to play with this Christmas. I can see it all now. The doll will come in a kit complete with everything necessary to try KSM for planning the attack on the World Trade Center. No longer must we argue about whether he should be tried as a civilian and allowed to spew his hateful rhetoric in downtown Manhattan at the cost to our citizens of $200 Million a year, or in a secret military tribunal on Gitmo or some other Army installation somewhere. Nope. The kit will come with everything necessary for your little angels and their friends to conduct their very own trial for this murdering thug. And once they've found him guilty, which, according the President and the Attorney General, they most certainly will, a noose will be supplied so they can string him up without further delay or appeal. Won't it be fun for the little ones to tighten the noose around this guy's chubby fascist neck?

So, Mattel people, give me a call and I'll be pleased to license my "killer" idea. Just a small royalty is all I ask. Later on, once the market's been established for terrorist dolls and games, we can move on to the Badmood Amadinnerjacket edition. I Thought you'd like it...

Let's Compare Media

2010-03-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what the media in the U.S. and Venezuela have in common? Quite a lot, as a matter of fact.

The media in both the U.S.A. and Venezuela are house organs for their respective administrations. Both report exactly what their presidents want them to report. Both extoll the virtues of their fearless leaders. Neither would ever report anything controversial, or defamatory, or even accurate, so long as that tidbit of accuracy could detract in the least from the glorius plans and strategies of Obama/Chavez.

There is a difference, however. In Venezuela, Chavez has achieved his hegemony over the media via the force of arms. He's nationalized the media, ousting management of radio and TV stations that didn't toe the company line. He's jailed dissident reporters and columnists who refused to kowtow to his dictates. It's reported he's "disappeared" many former critics who failed to fall into line with his Marxist revolutionary views. In short, in Venezuela you either report what Chavez wants you to or you never report again. Or in some cases do anything again, for that matter.

In the U.S. it's the same, but just a little different. Our fawning, sycophantic media so love this transformational, post-partisan, water-walking messiah that they would rather stab themselves in the eye with a #2 Ticonderoga than to report something - anything - that could be construed as even remotely negative. Were they to do so they'd lose their invitation to Beltway cocktail parties. No, they must only report the news that casts an aura of Heaven-sent goodness on our new president. And the reason they do so is because that's the way they were trained. The profs at our vaunted J-schools are nothing more nor less than aging, tie-died, summer-of-love, Haight-Ashbury hippies straight from the sixties. And the minions they've puked forth over the years to guard our freedoms as members of the fourth estate are for the most part their polished, brainwashed progeny. Only now they have patches on the sleeves of their tweed jackets, sip lattes and drive Volvos. Any wonder why the news we get via the media is only the news they want us to know? The New York Times' century-old motto is "All the news that's fit to print." It should be changed to "Some of the news we've carefully selected that benefits the liberal agenda and allows us to pretend to be unbiased, but just between ourselves we know better...wink, wink."

Need proof? Last April 15th the very first Tea Party was held on the Mall in Washington, D.C. ABC reported that "several hundred" showed up. NBC reported that "...estimates of as many as 7,500 were in attendance." The London Mail reported the party drew somewhere between 1 - 1.5 million. Either the Brits can count better than our vaunted journalists, or their agenda was to diminish the protest by minimizing the turnout. Even on 3/27/10 when a Tea Party was convened in Searchlight, NV to excoriate Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the Senate, the old media reported the turnout as follows: NBC = "Several dozen." ABC = "Up to several hundred." Actual attendance? Somewhere between 8 - 9,000. There are hundreds of other examples I could draw upon to make my case, but you already know the truth; dinosaur media bias is rampant. And it's not going to change until its purveyors run out of customers to watch their newscasts and buy their newspapers.

Last week during Anderson Cooper's evening news hour it was reported that 25,000 in a key demographic were watching. 25,000 in the whole of America! We're well on our way...

Gutting the Second Amendment

2010-02-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

You know you live in the wrong state when each and every year the dimbulbs in Sacramento conjure up another 900 or so new laws. Fortunately, whichever governor we happen to have at the time usually vetoes about half of them. But that still leaves more than 400 new laws we must cope with each New Years Day. Does anybody out there believe we need 400 new laws each year?

One of my favorites from '09 was the Paris Hilton Law. That's the one that makes it a crime to drive with your pet on your lap. Thank God that's taken care of. With annual $20 Billion shortfalls in our State budget protecting pets from their owners is a really high priority. One of the more ridiculous from the 2010 batch is the new law requiring you to humanely euthanize your rodents before feeding them to your pet Boa Constrictor. I'm NOT making this up! These laws are foolish, of course, and are listed simply to give the reader an insight as to the level of intellect, or lack of same, so prevalent in the Capitol these days. Must be something in the air.

But there are other laws forced upon us that are seriously flawed. Laws that impinge upon our freedoms. Laws that are anti-business. Laws that are patently unconstitutional on their face. Laws that should never have been introduced, or passed, or signed into effect. One such law is Assembly Bill 962.

Our action hero governator signed AB962 into law last October. It calls for sweeping new controls on the sale of handgun ammunition in California. When it takes effect in February, 2011, it will mandate that those wishing to purchase ammunition for handguns must jump through some serious and unprecedented hoops. First, one may only acquire ammo from a certified ammunition dealer. A classification, by the way, that does not exist as of this writing. No more Internet orders or UPS shipments will be permitted. You'll have to fill out a Federal form requesting permission to purchase. Permission, by the way, which may not be granted. Your thumbprint must be attached. This form will be provided to the Feds and included in a national database of ammo purchasers (if the Feds know who has the ammunition, doesn't that mean they know who has the guns?). The dealer must remodel their stores at their own expense to make sure ammo is kept out of their customers' sight and reach. And, you'll be limited to 50 rounds of ammo per month. Yep, that's right, 50 rounds. Oh, and if you want to get rid of your ammo after you've purchased it, too bad. It will be a felony to give it or sell it to anyone, including members of your own family. To do that will require the dealer to become involved once again to handle the transfer. More forms, more thumbprints, more fees, more nanny state controls on our freedoms.

In 46 of our fifty states you have but to walk into a gun dealer, put down your money, undergo a background check and walk out with a handgun. Or two or three or four. Not so in California. One pistol per month. No more. Forty of our United States permit concealed carry of firearms. Not so in California. You must petition your county's sheriff for permission, which is almost never granted. Just yesterday a new Federal law kicked in permitting the carry of weapons in national parks. The 2nd Amendment guarantees you that right (what part of "...the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" don't they understand?). But California is going in the opposite direction. It seems that liberals believe that it's no longer necessary to take our guns from us. They'll just do their best to prevent us from acquiring the ammunition we need to use them (maybe we can beat burglars to death with them). And in doing so they are also screwing the residents of our state out of the tax revenues which would result from their sale. Does anyone think that hundreds - perhaps thousands - of Californians won't be taking a trip to Nevada or Utah or Arizona soon to buy their ammo in whatever quantity they wish, while also saving the CA State sales taxes on those same purchases?

Those who advocate that the 1st Amendment's right of free speech is absolute are often the same as those who do their very best to gut the 2nd Amendment. I've got a question: Isn't limiting the access to ammunition for those desirous of exercising their 2nd Amendment rights the same as limiting oxygen to those desirous of exercising their 1st Amendment rights?

I leave you with this thought: 100,000,000 American owners of 200,000,000 guns didn't kill anybody yesterday. But more than 1,000,000 times per year they successfully defend themselves and others from burglars, rapists, carjackers, killers and various other bad guys. Does it make sense to arbitrarily limit their ability to do so by reducing their access to ammunition? It does if you're one of the bad guys. Or a feckless, bloated, has-been actor turned failed politician.

The Obama Channel

2010-02-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Remember when you could turn on the TV and not see the President of the United States? No, really. I mean he was nowhere to be found. And although it seems like eons ago, it was in actuality only a few short months back.

Now, he's everywhere. You crank up the Telly upon awakening and there he is, giving his first speech of the day to some group somewhere. As the day wears on he'll be conducting a press conference or reading his TeleprompTer at a town hall meeting or lecturing school children on the perils of obesity. Later, he'll be having a nice chat with Letterman or jetting off on vacation or playing a few rounds of golf or scolding us for some transgression or other. Is it me, or do we have All Obama All The Time?

I have a suggestion: Instead of all the networks having to send legions of reporters and camera crews all over the place trying to keep up with The Energizer Politician, why not simply create The Obama Channel and follow him through the day. Kind of like a reality show, but far less interesting. And if you've had your fill of him for awhile, you could select any other channel without fear of having your airwaves and your attention highjacked by the most overexposed public figure of all time.

Oh, wait a minute. MSNBC has already done that. Never mind...

Department of Hyphenation

2010-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

A few months back I suggested in the pages of the Newport-Mesa Daily Pilot that our new President-in-training could make a significant dent in the unemployment rate by appointing more czars. It appears Mr. Obama must read the Pilot as he's since appointed another three dozen of them. But it seems to me there's still more areas of our lives without nearly enough government control and influence. So, I've come up with another recommendation for czardom. Here goes...

As an English/Irish-American, I would like to personally congratulate Mr. Obama, the first openly African-American on his ascension to the throne of President of the United States. I say "openly," because there may have been previous presidents with a little African in them. And as we learned from Halle Berry's acceptance speech at the Academy Awards a few years back, if you're even a little bit Black, you're Black.

My lovely Polish/Lithuanian-American wife wishes to add her congratulations as well. So does my staunchly Democrat Russian/Jewish-American attorney. I asked my German/Austrian-American butcher what he thought about it. He said something about the country of his birth having produced an accomplished orator in the past, so to him, no big deal. My Mexican-American yard care guy, whose company is called "Lawn Order," I think, didn't seem to get it either. Of course, his English is somewhat compromised, so the lofty platitudes continually emitted at flank speed by our new President don't seem to find a receptor site within him. Not so with my openly gay Swedish-Danish-Welch & Irish/Morman-American hair stylist and his obviously black African-Presbritirian-American partner. They think Obama is cute.

But through my poling efforts on this issue I had a true epiphany. No matter how rich or poor one is (Obama was so poor his family couldn't even afford an apostrophe!), I've come to the conclusion that everyone deserves a hyphen of their very own. Not just African-Americans, but everyone. Even native American Indians deserve their very own hyphen. Would we call them American Indian-Americans? So, in addition to lowering the level of the oceans and healing the planet during his first term, as he promised during his 6/3/08 speech, I suggest he create the Department of Hyphenation and appoint a czar to run it without delay. Then, at very little cost to the taxpayer, every -American could enjoy the benefits of a hyphenated existence. True equality, after all, means everyone should be able to play the victim at one time or another. I volunteer for this exalted post as Czar-in-charge and will begin issuing hyphens just as soon as the White House calls. You're welcome.

Gun Free Zones

2010-02-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about the shooting at Fort Hood. he was wondering how a soldier was able to kill 13 people and wound another 30 on a military installation. Why, he asked, didn't one of the soldiers simply whip out his pistol and shoot the terrorist bastard when he started blazing away? The answer is simple. And alarming.

In March, 1993, as one of his first actions as President, Billy Jeff, by Executive Order, declared all U.S. military installations as "Gun Free Zones." He made it virtually impossible for our armed forces to be armed. No possession of personal weapons for self-defense allowed. A Second Amendment carve-out. If that sounds oxymoronic, it is. Especially the "moronic" part. The only armed armed forces members on military installations are Military Police. And they are few and far between. In fact, the hero in this tragic story was a civilian police woman who happened to be passing through. Were it not for her, this Islamic extremist terrorist would still be murdering his comrades-in-arms.

The Bottom Line: You stand a better chance of being shot while engaging in an act of terrorism in a Texas Wal-Mart than you do on a Texas military base.

Elections have consequences. This was just one of them. Now, don't you feel better and safer?

Robin Hood is Alive and Well

2010-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

I live is a very nice area of Costa Mesa called Mesa Verde. If my neighbors and I got together and decided that one of the folks living in our community was much better off financially than are we, so much better off that it just wasn't "fair," and we decided to pull a gun on him and relieve him of some of his wealth, which we then redistributed to those of us who participated, that would be called Grand Theft. We could be hunted down, arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated. Flash forward to Oregon...

Yesterday the good people of Oregon decided via a special election to raise income taxes on the "richest" Oregonians to 11%, the very highest marginal rate in the nation. Even higher than tax-happy California, New York and New Jersey. Those "rich" Oregonians make $125,000 per year or more and their neighbors think that's more than they need. They think those wealthy people can "afford" to pay more so that the rest can live more comfortably. And because they can afford it, according to the majority, they should be forced to cough it up for the good of the proletariat. This is Grand Theft without the messiness of all that arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating thing.

I heard a radio interview yesterday with the president of the largest employer in Oregon. He stated that his company would be relocating post-haste from the land of Robin Hood to some other business-friendlier state. Not surprising news, if you are blessed with common sense. Something that's in woefully short supply these days.

When the populace decides that they can vote themselves stuff at the expense of the minority, you have the beginning of the end of democracy. And it can only end badly. Businesses will flee, jobs will be lost, tax revenues will decrease, unemployment will skyrocket, property valuation will tank and property taxes will bottom out, the same trends we're seeing here in California. Apparently the citizens of Oregon couldn't bring themselves to look across their border and learn from the mistakes made in Sacramento. They're now destined to repeat them.

Stealing from the rich doesn't benefit the poor. After all, when was the last time a poor person hired anyone?

Good Veeno!

2010-01-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Do you like wine? I don't mean the stuff that comes in a box or what you get for two bucks at Trader Joe's. I mean the really good stuff. The stuff you buy for that really special occasion or that somebody gives you when they come a'callin. Most folks tend to think really good wine has to come from Napa or Sonoma, or maybe France, and has to cost a lot of money. NOT TRUE! Some of the finest wines in the world are available to you just a short drive away. The Santa Ynez Valley is located just north of Santa Barbara. There are nearly 100 wineries located in the Santa Ynez-Los Olivos-Solvang-Buellton-Lompoc-Santa Maria area. Most of them feature tasting rooms and offer samples of their best efforts for only a few dollars total.

Some wonderful Rhone varietals are produced there, including Granache, Syrah, Rousanne, Marsanne and Viognier. Some great Pinot Noir is handcrafted in the Santa Rita Hills (that small area between Hwy. 101 and Lompoc). Also great Chardonnays there too. Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot are produced further east in the SYV where the summer temps can reach 110 degrees or even higher. This area makes a great 3-day, 2-night trip. You can relive the movie "Sideways" and pick up some great wines in the bargain.

Just to the southeast of O.C. is the Temecula Valley. It gets short shrift from the cognoscenti, but deserves a better shake. They've been making some really good wines there for more than 30 years. There are 36 wineries in Temecula as of this writing with another 30 or so on the drawing board. Of that number there are at least 10 that can rival anything produced in California. Really good Zinfandels, Cabs, Merlots, Syrahs, Viogniers, Chards and Sauvignon Blancs are produced in Temecula by some very good growers and winemakers. It's just an hour portal-to-portal, so you can be tasting in no time. A good day trip would be a winery, some lunch in any of several great restaurants, another 2 or 3 wineries in the afternoon, and then some gaming at any of four area casinos. Great accommodations, too! Over the coming weeks and months I'll be adding some helpful hints on where to go and what to do in both area of the Golden State's wine growing regions. My wife and I take frequent trips to both areas and have some insights to share which can make your visits more productive and enjoyable. Happy to share.

By the way, a "veeno" is just like a "wino." Except the wines cost more...

Health Insurance Profits

2010-01-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

Remember early last year when the whole Health Care Reform thing got started? Then the town hall meetings and Tea Parties with the angry old folks erupted. It turned out that dog just wouldn't hunt. So the nice people who run things in D.C. decided it was time to retool the message. Voila! "Health Insurance Reform" was born. That worked a lot better. You know, demonize those Armani-clad, grossly-overpaid fat cat healthcare executive pirates sitting atop their lofty perches in those green glass skyscrapers for the unconscionable profits their industry was reaping at the expense of the elderly, the poor and the infirm.

Interestingly, the reliably progressive Associated Press chose to post a fact check note on October 24th on just how profitable these companies really are. According to the AP, the healthcare industry ranks number 35 out of 53 in the Fortune 500 for profitability. The average profit they earned in '08 was 2.2%. That compares, as example, with Big Railroad, which earned a 12.6% profit. HealthSpring was the best performer in healthcare insurance with 5.4%. You should know that the makers of Clorox Bleach and Coors beer did better than that. UnitedHealth Group, one of the most profitable in health insurance at 5%, was able to trounce Jack in the Box restaurants which made only 4%. Clearly the health insurance industry is way too profitable to be permitted to retain those egregious earnings.

I urge you to contact your Congresspersons and demand that they immediately adopt the Public Option/Socialized Medicine/Universal Healthcare or whatever they may choose to call it next and put an end to the infernal pillaging and plundering by far-too-profitable Big Health Insurance before it's too late! Once that's over we can go after Big Burgers, Big Bleach and Big Beer.

By the way, don't you find it interesting that the AP's review wasn't considered important enough to be given reportage by the dinosaur media?

O. C. Unfair

2010-01-26T11:44:00.000-08:00

I was there. I attended (or, rather tried to attend) the auction on January 14th at the Orange County Fairgrounds. I arrived about 9:40 a.m.. for a scheduled 10:00 a.m. event, which wasn't early enough to secure one of the coveted 40 spaces allocated by the State to gain entrance to the Administration Building. Why, when you have 150 acres to play with, the Grand Thinkers of Sacramento chose to tuck the proceedings into a tiny space, is anybody's guess. Mine would be that they were attempting to minimize disruption from protesters who disagreed with this whole smelly auction process. And the crowd gathered outside vehemently disagreed with the process.

We were told we could dawdle outside and hear the proceedings on loudspeakers. Or we could trundle a couple of blocks away and watch it on CCTV in another building. 50 or so of us took them up on that option. Imagine our surprise upon arriving when we learned we could watch the auction unfold, but we couldn't hear it. No audio. So, we could either see it but not hear it, or hear it but not see it. How emblematic of the performance we've come to expect from Sacramento.

By the time many of us walked back to the Admin. Building the auction was over. Just like that, the hammer fell at a bid of about half the State's low dollar expectation. The Fair Board spent $30 Million over the past year or so in improvements at the Fairgrounds, and it "sold" for about twice that. Now the otherwise unemployables in Sacto must decide whether to accept this minuscule amount. If they do, they'll realize a gain of about one day's interest on our bond debt. Or they can reject it, bringing to an ugly end this ill-advised and ill-fated effort. In either case this saga will add a bold and enduring asterisk on the Guvernator's soiled legacy.

Arnold dropped a car on the Fairgrounds when he was running to unseat Davis. Something about "blowing up the boxes." On the 14th he dropped the full weight of the State on the Fairgrounds. Something about Fascism. Memo to the City Council: Proceed at flank speed with the initiative process to lock in current usage of our Fairgrounds. Let me know where to donate toward this effort. My check will be the first one received...

Do you the difference between the Boy Scouts of America and the California Legislature? The Boy Scouts have adult leaders.

Charnak the Magnificent's New Years 2010 Predictions

2010-01-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Each December 31st my alter ego, Charnak the Magnificent, bursts forth with predictions for the upcoming year. He has proven remarkably accurate in previous predictions, no doubt due to a hefty dose of common sense and a gullet load of fine Cabernet Sauvignon. Why an alter ego? He can get away with things I'd never be able to say in polite company. And, by the way, our friends at the Daily Pilot were kind enough to publish 15 of the 19 predictions offered up by Charnak, however many of the punch lines were snipped off like so much unwanted bris. And, by the way also, number 5. below has already more or less come true. This, therefore, will by my first real posting for the New Year, and will offer up the totality of Charnak's predictions for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

1. Having started every speech, email, Op-Ed piece and Facebook and Twitter posting with the phrase, "My Friends," John McCain, upon discovering that he has no friends, will make the solemn New Years' resolution to never use that salutation again.

2. I predict the new health care reform legislation finally passes both houses of congress in late February. Thank God! But wait a minute! The taxes and fees and fines will kick in or January 1st, but no one will get any new health insurance until 2014, or maybe 2015. Can you say Ponzi scheme? Didn't Bernie Madoff go to jail for something like this?

3. In his feverish quest to create jobs, not knowing that the only jobs government creates are government jobs, the President will force the passage of legislation requiring all restaurants to hire unionized government Calorie Marshals. These folks will compare the Body Mass Index of every restaurant patron with the calories of the meal to be ordered before allowing the transaction to proceed. predictably, over 500,000 restaurants will close within the first month.

4. Republicans, having been frozen out of all debate, discussions and influence by both house of the Democrat-controlled Congress, will decide to go home and get a real job for a change.

5. I foresee that Sarah Palin will be given her own cooking show by the Food Network. It will be entitled, "Moose: It's What's for Dinner."

6. Fox News will hire a female anchor who is neither gorgeous nor an attorney. I predict their viewership will drop by 20%. Those same 20% will give MSNBC a try, and all will immediately fall ill with what will be called "a stomach virus."

7. The crime rate in Chicago, which, as a direct result of having banned handguns, has been worsening annually for the last 40 years, will improve markedly during the New Year. That's because most of the really big Chicago crooks have relocated to Washington, D.C. to work in the new administration.

8. Cindy Sheehan will continue picketing outside G.W. Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch. No one will notice and no one will care.

9. Stung by criticism from the millions of critics of mandated health insurance and the ever-growing federal debt, who gathered to protest throughout the summer and fall of 2009, I predict the Obama Administration, over the objections of Tetley and Lipton, will outlaw tea. No tea, the thinking will go, no parties. Makes sense to me.

10. The latest seasonal blizzard on record will hit Colorado in July. I'm seeing drifts of 10 feet deep with all major highways and airports closed for several days. Al Gore will fly in on his thirsty Gulfstream 2 and offer this climatic event up as absolute proof that global warming exists and that we're all going to die a fiery death if we don't start riding our bikes to work. Environmentalists will burn a Chevy Tahoe in celebration, which will significantly pollute the atmosphere.

11. I predict that the partnership of Orange County and Costa Mesa will submit a competitive bid to buy the O.C. Fairgrounds. Unfortunately, before the bid can be opened Sacramento will have closed.

12. I predict a Force 5 hurricane will strike the Southeastern Seaboard in August. Congress will convene a committee to assess blame. They will determine it was George W. Bush's fault.

13. Owing to the 12,000,000 miles flown since Mr. Obama took office, and as a result of the alarm sounded by the enviro-centric eco-weenies, worried that he will single-handedly kill the Earth, I predict the U.S. Congress will pass legislation proclaiming that Air Force One emits no greenhouse gases at all, thus ending the controversy.

14. The ACLU will sue the Federal Government, contending that those who use the term "illegal alien" are guilty of hate speech. The President will agree and will issue an executive order banning this term. The new and approved description for this segment of our society, according to the President, will be "Undocumented Democrats."

15. Joe Biden will give a speech late in the New Year during which, for the very first time ever, he makes no gaffes or mistakes, and utters no malapropisms or non-sequiturs. The reporters who are present, having fallen asleep, will fail to notice.

16. Congress will stop messing around and finally increase taxes on the evil "rich" to 100% of their income. The rich will pack up their goodies and move to Panama, Costa Rica and the Cayman Islands. All remaining Americans will have then finally achieved total equality. They will all be equally poor.

17. Upset that the American people and choosing not to buy hybrid and electric cars manufactured by government- and union-owned GM and Chrysler, preferring rather to continue buying pickups and SUVs from Ford, the only company that didn't belly up to the bailout bar, Congress will simply outlaw pickups and SUVs, thus solving the problem forever.

18. Harry Ried, Majority Leader of the Senate, will lose his campaign for reelection. The final vote will be 2,874,328 to 1 (his wife will vote against him!). I predict he will be offered a job as a greeter at the new Wal-Mart in Searchlight, NV. There will be so many complaints about his dour, gruff and condescending demeanor he'll be unceremoniously fired within a week.

19. The last person will leave Detroit this year, and he actually will turn off all the lights.

Let's keep score and see how many actually come true! And remember, Charnak gets all the credit.

The Beginning of the Beginning

2010-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you have more to say then there's places to say it? As many others have found, including my good friend Geoff West, the only option is to start a blog. And so, one of my primary New Years' Resolutions is well on its way to being kept (the other was gaining ten pounds). Announcing "Chuckmeister Unleashed!"

I was given the name "Chuckmeister" by a German friend because I was pretty handy with a pool cue before my aching back began to get in the way. In fact, I played professionally for more than a decade before a wife, kids and a business took center stage in my life. And "unleashed" is what I intend to be when my offerings are no longer filtered through the politically-correct prism of newspaper editors.

I am not burdened by political-correctness, which I believe to be the single biggest threat America faces. Number Two is hypocracy, which is in abundant supply in Saramento and Washington, D.C. these days. And I intend to skewer those elected leaders who choose to squander our trust. No quarter will be given. This will serve both as an opportunity for me to vent and for the reader to gain insight into what may prove to be another - and potentially valuable - perspective on a subject or issue. I'll not take your readership for granted. I'll endeavor to write clearly and concisely to make my point, promising ever to do so with a little country humor thrown in for good measure. It's a brand new year. Let's experience 2010 together...