Say it ain't....SO

Our value and beliefs are assaulted every day from ever nook and cranny of our society, special interest groups, state and federal government. It's gotten to the point where I don't want to turn on the TV or read the news each morning…..Today's assault comes from the YMCA (meaning: Young Men's Christian Association) a 166 year old organization that emmigrated from England to our shores along with the multitudes of young Christian men. So one of these local organization decided to not have open house and Santa Claus this year, which was their tradition, for the young children in their area. Now guess what else they are doing….They are dropping the "MCA" from the "YMCA." Now the organization is called the "Y" so not to infer they are a Christian organization, which the operations committee feels would make it a much warmer and friendlier place. So they believe.

After reading about this "Y" decision I drove to Memphis to pick up my wife at the airport. Not busy as usual…. TSA folks seem to be behaving well… However I noticed there wasn't a Christmas tree. Maybe there never was a Christmas tree in the airport terminal. I don't know but what was in the lobby was a seven foot tall Menorah. Under the Menorah was a plaque giving the history of Passover for the "Children of Israel while in bondage in Egypt.

I don't want to say more about any of this because I doubt our readers would appreciate my ranting and use of certain expletives.

No matter what you hear or see in the media the vote on extending the "Bush" tax cuts does not have a critical time line. The press and the Dems would have us believe that all taxes will rise on January One. Yes, the cuts are supposed to end but Congress can and has on many occasions passed laws and made the new law retroactive back to the first of the year...No big deal...

Is the Senate going to pass this "tax cut" bill….(Don't you just love it when they are about to raise taxes they refer to their actions as a "tax cut?")…and YES they will pass the bill…..Why would we even suggest such a thing?

The Senate has attached mucho new spending to the bill which amounts to hundred of millions of dollars. So the game is this: If the more conservative members of the Senate want the tax cuts to stay in place they will have to vote for more spending also. Come January the liberal senators who lost their seats will not come back and the more conservative new members will show up hopefully committed to their campaign promises. In the House the GOP and new ones, hopefully, conservatives members will control the house . (So it may be a good thing for the bill not to pass in this session of congress but I wouldn't hold my breath.) Certainly our three Musketeers (OHN) would be disappointed.

ONLY in Congress….Our Social Security is going broke so they tell us and the only tax "cut" the President or the Dems in congress could find to cut is the SS withholding by two percent for the next year or so…..AND the two percent would be on the employee's side of the withholding. It a piddling amount of money but this money would have gone into the SS fund. This way some percent of the two percents is going to find its way into the general federal coffers.

Changing gears….Worrying about how this congress votes is just a waste of time because they and their votes are predicable. Consistent, harmful, predicable.. (CHP)

I have been talking to people as well as searching the 'net' for ideas people have come up with that will help fix the economy and the government. (People meaning 'not elected officials'. There are numerous newspapers and blogs around the country that have invited individuals to send ideas they feel will be helpful. Most of the ideas that I read had to do with needing to change things our government has done. Cutting taxes, spending, regulations, social programs, etc. All of the ideas have merit and many of this ideas are kicked around at Tea Party meetings and on the news programs nightly.

What was most interesting was how many people responded. Behind most of the ideas was government was too big, too many taxes, too much control, and the majority felt both House and Senate were untrustworthy culprits. Control them, change them, undo the wrong things they have done and our world would be better. Makes sense. All of the suggestions and ideas make sense and all seem doable.

However, I didn't stumble across one new idea. Maybe we don't need any new ideas. The thinking could be that until we try the suggestions on the front pages or the lead story in the nightly news and see the results why bother to look for something new to try…Good argument…BUT the ideas finding their way into the "lead news stories" no matter who comes up with them aren't being done. Aren't being tried…Du...Well why not?

If we believe our elected officials' actions along with big business actions caused the economic woes, we only have to notice that these are more or less the same elected officials and business leaders we had before the crises. The second thing we need to note is these elected officials are still in office because the voters in November in their districts voted to keep them in office. So to say to them "fix the mistakes you have made," their retort will be, "What mistakes?" The idea that government will fix government or that governments can or will correct their short comings is just a notion that, at best, brings about a wry smile.

American Enterprise Institute

A political polling report published last week by the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI) captured the attitude of the American public towards government.

In short: cynicism and uncertainty across the board is a widespread trend.

Among the report’s findings is the fact that a record number of respondents believe government cannot solve the problems it tackles. Not only that, but most Americans now believe the government runs its programs poorly, and the performance is getting worse instead of better. Moreover, about 45 percent think government is a threat to personal liberty.

One of the polls analyzed in the report, in fact, revealed that 50 percent of Americans would be happier with a smaller government with fewer services. That number has also risen significantly since President Obama took office.

Seems someone came late to the party...This organization is located in Washington and this poll's NEWS would make you think there is a special Black Ops group within the TSA who 'tasking' is to prevent any information, ideas, wishes, dreams from American citizens finding their way into the vast base of elected officials, multitudes of bureaucratic departments as well as the organizations, such as AEI, that cohabit that small parcel of land.

Now that AEI has this new and confusing information what will they do with it?

We note this poll and AEI because there is a belief with many Tea Partiers that everyone knows government cannot solve the problems they create and knows that government runs programs badly. Seems clear to us but just look at the number of citizens who do their voting on the other side of the ballot. Educating, informing, inviting, and encouraging this other larger group is where the Tea mission work needs to focus. We need them or we cannot change the congressional numbers enough to meet the Tea Party goals.

The WikiLeaks is not just going to go away…..Assange is still in jail…More documents are being released…A Grand jury in Virginia is hearing a federal plea to indict him…Big to-do in Italy today over what these documents had to say about their Prime minister. The parliament gave him a vote of confidence today. So he won't lose his job. Some documents had military information in them….Here is what Gates had to say:

Defense Secretary Gates made the following point on this:

“Now, I’ve heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets. Many governments — some governments — deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, most because they need us. We are still essentially, as has been said before, the indispensable nation.”

Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest….

Not the slightest hint of remorse or any form of apology in this statement that I can see...I wonder if we have heard the last on this matter….

Another snippet of news:


Tea Party Patriots

Tea Party Patriots Statement on Ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson
Washington -- Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin, national co-coordinators of Tea Party Patriots released the following statements today on the ruling by U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson on the unconstitutionality of ObamaCare:

"This is a great victory for the American people, the rule of law and the constitutional principles of individual liberty and freedom, " said Mark Meckler, national co-coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. "Although this ruling has a long journey before it reaches the Supreme Court, we are confident that this massive congressional mistake will continue to be found unconstitutional."

"It is difficult to imagine a more massive repudiation of ObamaCare than the recent November election, however, this ruling adds tremendous judicial weight to the votes cast by the American people," said Jenny Beth Martin," national co-coordinator of Tea Party Patriots. "ObamaCare is unconstitutional, and we are confident that the Supreme Court will ultimately protect the American people from a reckless congressional mistake.

We hope so also but the road to the Supreme Court will take a long time. This Judge put nothing in the health bill on hold…..

So ObamaCare can continue on it schedule.

Ron

Docnick37@gmail.com

http://theoxfordteaparty.blogspot.com/

PS: Last year at this time many of us were getting notices from Social Security informing us that there is no inflation therefore we would not be getting any increase in SS payments…. (Medicare deductions went up so I assume that doctors, etc.. were experiencing inflation.) At that same time Congress gave themselves a five thousand dollars raise to cover their "increased cost of living." Many of us are getting the same notice from Social Security this year informing us there is zero inflation therefore no "Cost of living adjustment" again this year. Let us watch and see if Congress creates a pay raise for themselves.