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Milton J. Madison - An American Refugee Now Living in China, Where Liberty is Ascending

Federalism, Free Markets and the Liberty To Let One's Mind Wander. I Am Very Worried About the Fate of Liberty in the USA, Where Government is Taking people's Lives ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue." -Barry Goldwater-

Saturday, November 27, 2010

It is possible to balance the budget of the leviathan if we want it....

Sheila C. Bair - Will the next fiscal crisis start in Washington?

Sheila Bair, probably one of the most competent people in the US central government today when it comes to financial matters, has this to say about government expenditures and worries that the next financial crisis will come from an engorged on debt Washington D.C.....
Retiring baby boomers, who will live longer on average than any previous generation, will have a major impact on government spending. This year, the combined expenditures on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are projected to account for 45 percent of primary federal spending, up from 27 percent in 1975. The Congressional Budget Office projects that annual entitlement spending could triple in real terms by 2035, to $4.5 trillion in today's dollars. Defense spending is similarly unsustainable, and our tax code is riddled with special-interest provisions that have little to do with our broader economic prosperity. Overly generous tax subsidies for housing and health care have contributed to rising costs and misallocation of resources.

Unless something is done, federal debt held by the public could rise from a level equal to 62 percent of gross domestic product this year to 185 percent in 2035. Eventually, this relentless federal borrowing will directly threaten our financial stability by undermining the confidence that investors have in U.S. government obligations. Financial markets are already sending disquieting signals. The cost for bond investors and others to purchase insurance against a default by the U.S. government rose markedly during the financial crisis, from an annual premium of less than 2 basis points in January 2007 to 100 basis points in early 2009, before falling to the current level of 41 basis points.
On entitlements: The nation will not be able to pay for the healthcare and monthly retirement checks of these baby boom seniors despite collecting taxes and making these promises to these people for their entrire lifetimes.
On defense: The nation will be unable to pay (we should be unwilling to pay unless it is in our interest) for the defense of every other western and developed society on the planet.
On market values of government debt: As the debt piles on, the cost of insuring this debt against default has risen. At 41 basis points, this implies that it costs and people are willing to pay, $41,000 per year to insure $1 million of debt with the full faith and credit of the US central government.
Subsidies: Tax subsidies on housing and healthcare will continue to miss-allocate resources to these sectors and away from other productive investments leading to lower long-term national wealth creation.

The financial markets will never tolerate the US central government borrowing so much money and this will precipitate a financial crisis unlike any one that we have ever seen in modern times barring war.


Sheila C. Bair - Will the next fiscal crisis start in Washington?

Al Simpson speaks out against debt committee critics, political climate

The debt commission, formed by the socialist Obamessiah, is dead on arrival as people both receiving and expecting government handouts are loath to give up what they have 'earned' over a lifetime. Too bad that these funds, that they supposedly paid in and have been 'earned,' righteously claimed by those that want their handouts not realizing or not caring that these funds actually do not exist and they are demanding payment even from those people that are even less capable of paying these bills.

Simpson, rightly quips....
"We had the greatest generation -- I think this is the greediest generation," he said.
I think that American seniors and all others that somehow have convinced themselves that they deserve such things as free healthcare and a monthly stipend are nothing but parasites and it is about time that they are identified as what they are.

"I've run out of beans!"



"More beans!"

Al Simpson speaks out against debt committee critics, political climate

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Newest TSA search techniques revealed.......

Mis-attributed to Abraham Lincoln.....

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

-JH Boetcker-
The quotes were published in 1942 by William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister. He released a pamphlet titled Lincoln On Limitations, which did include a Lincoln quote, but also added 10 statements written by Boetcker himself.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

One of the funniest SNL skit.....



Since this one....

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Backlash against the TSA has more to do with excessive intervention in people's lives than the simple proceedures deployed by these airport workers...

If Obamacare is constitutional, we have experienced the demise of limited government. If the government can, among other things, command citizens to purchase health insurance of a prescribed shape and size, you can bet it will be using this power in a variety of (other) unpleasing ways in the future. It's just a matter of time. As the Tea Party folks recognize, it's time to take a stand.
From here. The central government through these kind machinations have effectively gained total control over your lives.

Traveler John Tyner made famous the phrase, "but if you touch my junk, I will have you arrested" as he explained that he was concerned about privacy. It seems as if the American government holds nothing personally sacred and feels that it is necessary to touch people's genitals. There are just no limits as to what the American central government feels that it has the right to do. There just are no limits any longer.



As the leviathan in Washington interjects itself in nearly every aspect of one's daily life, people feel like they are becoming more-and-more detached from their own government and no longer have the personal liberty to choose and to pursue their dreams. The overlords in Washington, also feel compelled through hard leftist politically correct thinking to inspect in airports even those that pose absolutely no risk to other travelers and to go through these silly time consuming and costly processes so as to not perchance 'offend' some group.

As a result of this massive shift towards leftist political orthodoxy emanating out of Washington, typical Americans just do not have the time nor inclination to play these silly games. So they are striking out at interface between themselves and the US central government and this is the unfortunate front-line TSA worker.

This is not about airport security, its all about Americans feeling like a serf to Washington centralized authority and that government being beholden to both silly political correctness and exact opposite authoritarian affirmative action benefiting some supposed perceived discriminated group leveled against typical law abiding hard working Americans.

Some pictures that I have taken from around the world....

Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Taiwan.





A must see video on a U Chicago thinker...



As government continues its increasing role in everyday transactions, we have to consider what right the government has to seize property or value from people. This fellow has spent a life of scholarship dealing with these issues....
Few legal scholars have blown as many minds and had the tangible impact that Richard Epstein has managed. His 1985 volume, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain is a case in point. Epstein made the hugely controversial argument that regulations and other government actions such as environmental regulations that substantially limit the use of or decrease the value of property should be thought of as a form of eminent domain and thus strictly limited by the Constitution. The immediate result was a firestorm of outrage followed by an acknowledgment that the guy was onto something.
From here.

The US will default on its debt.....

The current economic crisis is the result of government tax policy that encourages spending over savings. The resulting debt build-up totalled 350% of GdP but it may not be a meaningful number.

Increasing entitlement spending will accelerate the process of transferring debt problems from the economy to the federal government.

Here.

To prevent an unending upward spiral of debt would require huge spending cuts or tax increases. The IMF report doesn't suggest that those be made immediately, because doing so might cripple the fragile economic recovery. But the report does argue that without these adjustments, government debts could become unmanageable.

To show the size of needed changes, the IMF performed one final exercise. It estimated the spending cuts or tax increases needed over the next decade to return a country's debt-to-GDP ratio to 60 percent by 2030. For the United States, the changes would amount to 8.8 percent of GDP. In today's dollars, that's about $1.2 trillion and roughly a third of the existing federal budget. But again, some other countries would face even larger adjustments: 12.8 percent of GDP for Great Britain, 10.7 percent for Spain, 13.4 percent for Japan, 11.8 percent for Ireland, and 9 percent for Greece. For France and Germany, the required changes would total 6.1 percent and 3.4 percent of GDP, respectively.
From the leftist Newsweek, here. An you foolish people that think that there will be Social security retirement income or healthcare available to you from the government, you are in for a very rude awakening. And if you do somehting so stupid as save for the expenses as a retiree, then you will be the one that will lose the benefits first!!!!! Ha ha ha.

http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/2/us-debt-levels-are-fine-debt-to-gdp-chart-is-wrong-and-meaningless

http://thedanashow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/picture-9.png

http://thedanashow.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/picture-9.png

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S. | FP Passport

I have of very strong thoughts on this but the principle one is that Soros must be dealing with a very severe case of demented senility. He is just making another argument for the weak concept of the authoritarian 'benevolent dictator'. This school of thought looks at performance of the dictator in a very limited time frame or limited portfolio of problems without considering the issues associated with being stuck with this dictator well after the strong armed solutions are no longer are needed. Authoritarian governments have 2 big weaknesses; First, they shun or eliminate new ideas and fresh approaches and assign them to prisons, exile or caring for pigs. Even benevolent dictators do not tolerate dissent and this is very true in China today. Second, a nation is stuck with the approach that this dictator uses for solving problems. These are typical ideological solutions and this approach is applied for decades to every problem.

Also, these people do not consider the soft underbelly of authoritarianism and that is manifested in the compromising of individuals rights. I heard testimony from a man from Singapore in my church group that served 7-and-a-half years in Chinese prisons for tax problems that he had nothing to do with. It was basically imprisoning a person to extort money out a large multinational corporation. This just illustrates China's rule by law instead of what we have become accustomed to, 'rule by law.'

I have written about this weakness in the benevolent dictator and its twin brother socialism here and here and here.

Soros: China has better functioning government than U.S. | FP Passport

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Dilbert.com

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Middle class children suffering rickets - Telegraph

When going out for periods of time in the sun, its not just required to slather on sunscreen. Sunscreen will cut down on ultra-violet light waves that can burn the skin, but also reduces the vitamin D that is so critical to one's health.....
Middle class children in the south of England are suffering from the '17th century disease' rickets as parents cover them in sunscreen and limit time outside in the sunshine, a leading doctor has warned.
This is the kind of discussions that we have had at home. No need to put on sunscreen late in the afternoon. No need to do it either when exposure time is limited.

Middle class children suffering rickets - Telegraph

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Quote of the day.....

When a Liberal runs for national office he or she lies to you. When a conservative runs for office he or she has no trouble telling you honestly what he or she is going to do.

-R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator-
From here.

We Told You So, Obamacare is scam

As we have heard over-and-over from the socialists in our midst, healthcare is fierce moral urgency that has been sold to us on many fronts. Some have wrongly argued that it is for poor people when this is just absolutely silly since the poor's healthcare is already provided under Medicaid. Others argue, that somehow, completely against historical experience, that government will mystically figure out how to redistribute the goods and services of healthcare cheaper, a simply ludicrous assertion. Its astonishing me that people put this kind of faith in government. Another aspect argued as to why government has to insert itself directly in the middle of our health choices and decisions, is that there are loads of people that are suffering and presumably dying, theatrically, sometimes in total agony, since they are excluded from receiving healthcare due to their pre-existing conditions.

So, given that there are these legions of suffering masses of people out there, we are now being told that these unfortunate many have NOT felt that their situations are urgent enough to actually get the healthcare that they so desperately need, is available through these new programs and as we have found that only....
Combined federal-state enrollment is merely 8,011 nationwide as of November 1, according to HHS.
Let this sink in. WE are shifting 100's of billions of dollars of healthcare spending, rules, commissions and massive bureaucracy to serve.... 8,011 people. And this figure is relative to the estimate by our brilliant US Government that 375,000 people would have been signed up by this date with further expectations that an additional 400,000 or so per year will be added to the roles. So, our busy at work US Government has fallen short of their expectation by about 97.8%. If this is any indicator of
1. How knowledgeable they are on the supply and demand for services supposedly as critical as this and
2. their ability to actually get the goods delivered,
we are in store for a disaster of biblical proportions.

For decades we have had to hear frothing at-the-mouth socialists argue and whine incessantly that government has to be involved in the business of healthcare. Now that we finally have gotten a socialist in the Whitehouse and this coupled with a gigantic majority in Congress, these dreams have become a reality and are being forced down the throats of a reluctant America. This will end up being a complete and total nightmare. But the silver lining will be that finally the American people will hopefully realize that central governments are incompetent in economic affairs and this economic interference typically hurts regular Americans. Additionally, I dream that this failure will cause the people to defund the profligate and incompetent government out of many facets of American life, leading to greater opportunity and long-term prosperity.


Classical Values :: We Told You So

Goldman Sachs Said to Stop Providing Clearing to Some Accounts - Bloomberg.com

Increase regulation has the side effect of increasing expenses. It takes more eyeball, more bodies on each piece of business to meet the new regulations. This is true in the banking industry but it is also true for every single business where increased regulation is foisted upon providers....
While the decision wasn’t a reaction to any of the new U.S. rules for Wall Street, it was partly in response to increasing regulatory scrutiny, one of the people said.
So for all of you people that consider regulation by the US government as necessary and net positive for American society consider these thoughts:
1. What measurable benefits are there to regulation.
2. Does the regulation actually provide greater benefits than costs and is it reasonable to make these cost benefit assumptions?
3. Is it acceptable that these increased costs be passed on to the customers, remember that someone has to pay for them.
4. Is it acceptable that the increased costs of regulation be borne by the smallest customers as is inevitably the case.
5. Does government actually have any idea what they are doing?
6. Will government be able to adjust the regulation as times change since they have been very slow or have not been able to in the past.
7. Is government actually doing this to 'prove' that they are involved in protecting people even if it is ineffective and this will only be proved possibly decades out.
Of course no one should feel sorry for the $1-5 million in asset customers of Goldman Sachs, they will move to other banking companies that will love to serve them as customers, but this is just indicative of what goes on in every company in the business and other industries when new regulations and these new expenses are foisted upon participants.

Take a look at the new requirements droppev upon foreign banks as to their American customer base overseas; these requirements have actually forced some banks to tell their American clients that they can no longer serve them and have closed their accounts and relationships. In Switzerland, some legitimate American businesses and people can longer conduct business or live since they are unable to open bank accounts there. Here in Hong Kong, the largest bank will no longer open local share trading accounts to American customers. So if you are a American passport holder, no need to try with HSBC.


Goldman Sachs Said to Stop Providing Clearing to Some Accounts - Bloomberg.com

Friday, November 12, 2010

Quote of the day.....

Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice. -Thomas Paine-

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

6. Sarah Palin - Newsweek

Ha ha ha ha. For all of you frothing at mouth political liberals that are deranged anti-Sarah Palin people; She made $14 million this year! One of the top 10 paid political pundits according to this Newsweek story. I just totally love this!!!!

6. Sarah Palin - Newsweek

Monday, November 08, 2010

Are you a Democrat, a Republican, or a Southerner?

Here is a little test that will help you decide.

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.

Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you...

You are carrying a Kimber 1911 cal. 45 ACP, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do?

Democrat's Answer:
• Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!
• Does the man look poor or oppressed?
• Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
• Could we run away?
• What does my wife think?
• What about the kids?
• Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
• What does the law say about this situation?
• Does the pistol have appropriate safety built into it?
• Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?
• Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?
• Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
• If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?
• Should I call 9-1-1?
• Why is this street so deserted?
• We need to raise taxes, have paint & weed day.
• Can we make this a happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.
• I need to debate this with some friends for a few days and try to come to a consensus.
• This is all so confusing!

..........................................
Republican's Answer:

BANG!


......................................

Southerner's Answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG ! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Click..... (Sounds of reloading)

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Click

Daughter: 'Nice grouping, Daddy!' 'Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?!

Son: 'Can I shoot the next one?!'

Wife: 'You ain't taking that to the Taxidermist!

Jasper Becker: China's Self-Defeating Mercantilism - WSJ.com

Mercantilism, whether it is practiced by China today, Japan in the 1980's or the direction that the American Democrats want to take the USA, it will not work and has caused economic dislocation and in some cases, war. Mercantilism is a form of economic nationalism and is preferred by those in positions of economic power to reduce competition. Mercantilists and mercantilism assume that wealth and monetary assets are identical and that one can effectively protect markets through legislation and border interdiction. Mercantilism suggests that the ruling government should advance these goals by playing a protectionist role in the economy by encouraging exports and discouraging imports, notably through the use of subsidies and tariffs respectively. The theory dominated Western European economic policies from the 16th to the late-18th century.

As explained here....
The Austrian lawyer and scholar Philipp Wilhelm von Hornick, in his Austria Over All, If She Only Will of 1684, detailed a nine-point program of what he deemed effective national economy, which sums up the tenets of mercantilism comprehensively:

* That every inch of a country's soil be utilized for agriculture, mining or manufacturing.
* That all raw materials found in a country be used in domestic manufacture, since finished goods have a higher value than raw materials.
* That a large, working population be encouraged.
* That all export of gold and silver be prohibited and all domestic money be kept in circulation.
* That all imports of foreign goods be discouraged as much as possible.
* That where certain imports are indispensable they be obtained at first hand, in exchange for other domestic goods instead of gold and silver.
* That as much as possible, imports be confined to raw materials that can be finished [in the home country].
* That opportunities be constantly sought for selling a country's surplus manufactures to foreigners, so far as necessary, for gold and silver.
* That no importation be allowed if such goods are sufficiently and suitably supplied at home.

Mercantilism, as we see from above is a nationalist and protectionist regime.

The biggest problem with mercantilism, as Adam Smith, David Hume and John Locke may have argued, is that it mis-allocates resources, keeps technological advances out, drives innovation offshore and creates a sclerotic business environment within the targeted product groups. And importantly, it forgets the monteary effects of supply and denmand as government interferrence creates excess supply of some goods or monetary supplies and shortages of other goods. These shortages and excesses change prices, value and changes in the businesses and other industries not targeted arguably creating little net national wealth effect. Wealth is only shifted from one party to another over the short term but can even lower aggregate wealth over a longer time frame.

China has been involved in continuous mercantilism interdictions since European explorers showed up on their shores around 500 years ago.....
The fabled land of Cathay was once the only source for the most desirable luxury goods in the history of world trade—silk, tea and porcelain. So it's curious that the Mongolian national dress is made from brightly colored silk, while the Chinese traditionally wore coarse blue cotton. Likewise, many people around the world say they drink "English" tea and not Chinese tea. And the finest "china" is made in European cities like Meissen, Germany, rather than Jingdezhen.

China's rulers sought to monopolize the production and trade in all these products. When they restricted trade, Central Asian nations like the Huns or the Mongols who controlled the trade routes turned to war. The "barbarian" tribes forced the Chinese to pay tribute in the form of rolls of silk. Or worse, some decided to overrun China and set up their own dynasties.
Additionally,

Jasper Becker: China's Self-Defeating Mercantilism - WSJ.com

Sunday, November 07, 2010

China tees up G20 showdown with US and outs the clueless and socialist American ecnomic policy.....

A Chinese deputy foreign minister has this to say about proposals made by the USA.....
that the US plan for limiting current account surpluses and deficits to 4 per cent of gross domestic product harked back “to the days of planned economies”.
China knows socialism and these kinds of dopey economic policies when they see them, since they tried them all already and have tasted the miserable failure.

And the USA is also trying desperately to unwind the the prosperity created over the past 50 years by accelerating government intervention in markets with the belief that it will make things better. Even the socialist Europeans know better than that....
But on Thursday and Friday, governments focused instead on the global impact of the Fed’s action. “With all due respect, US policy is clueless,” Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, told reporters. “It’s not that the Americans haven’t pumped enough liquidity into the market,” he said. “Now to say let’s pump more into the market is not going to solve their problems.”
I love this word "clueless" since it completely encompasses current US policy.

FT.com / China - China tees up G20 showdown with US

Saturday, November 06, 2010

The World from Berlin: 'Obama Comes Across as Cold, Arrogant and Elitist' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Germans calling anyone, cold, arrogant and elitist is absolutely amazing since this is exactly what they are......

The World from Berlin: 'Obama Comes Across as Cold, Arrogant and Elitist' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Bacon-Flavored Soda Sizzles Onto Shelves

J&D Foods, a company that specializes in all things bacon -- including bacon-flavored envelopes and the bacon Kevin Bacon sculpture that made headlines recently -- has taken the obsession one step further by coming up with a new drinkable pork product: bacon-flavored soda.
Probably not going to be a big seller in the Middle East.

Bacon-Flavored Soda Sizzles Onto Shelves

Friday, November 05, 2010

Peggy Noonan quite blunt but right on.....

On to the aftermath of the election. On Wednesday President Obama gave a news conference to share his thoughts. Viewers would have found it disappointing if there had been any viewers. The president is speaking, in effect, to an empty room. From my notes five minutes in: "This wet blanket, this occupier of the least interesting corner of the faculty lounge, this joy-free zone, this inert gas." By the end I was certain he will never produce a successful stimulus because he is a human depression.

Actually I thought the worst thing you can say about a president: that he won't even make a good former president.
Ack. I have always looked upon the Obamessiah as humorless individual and one that believes in his own deserved elitism. This is not a man of the people.

Here.

Government spending as a percent of GDP.....

State and local government spending as a percent of GDP has been rising dramatically in recent years and this will inevitably cause some governments to default on their obligations......



The US federal government, that I call the leviathan, is to somewhat to blame for the troubles at the state and local levels since much of the spending increases at these entities have been forced upon them by unfunded federal mandates. But they have also created their own problems by promising too much in the form of pensions and medical benefits and these obligations will not be able to be paid.

Having a look at the federal government spending as a percent of GDP, one can see that despite it hovering at around 20% for last several decades, this spending has taken a nasty turn for the worse as this spending has risen to around 25%. It will be very very difficult to reverse this increasing spending trend as entitlements with such programs as Social Security and Medicare will only increase as the first babyboomers collect their payments that they are entitled to after spending their working lives paying into them.



All of this will prove to be an unmitigated disaster as it will prove to be impossible to extricate the nation from its promises and obligations made over many many decades.

You can play with the numbers, download them, check the sourcing if you like, here.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Not just another typical lily white crowd of political supporters....





Harsanyi: Enlightened tyrants - The Denver Post

"Progressivism is the belief that we have too much freedom with which to make too many stupid choices." Of course, the thinking goes that enlightened Democrats know what is better for you than you do. The concept of the 'benevolent dictator' is juvenile and seeks to force a minority position or belief upon a free thinking people. Hopefully the resounding defeat of the statist Democrats in yesterday's election will stop the hard left Marxist shift that has been experienced in the US in recent years.

Harsanyi: Enlightened tyrants - The Denver Post

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

The Ranch Hand.....

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife. She was a very good-looking woman and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand.

Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk.

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching.

For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well. Then one day, the rancher's widow said to the hired hand, 'You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels.' The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night.

One o'clock came, however, and he didn't return. Two o'clock and no hired hand. Finally he returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him. She quietly called him over to her.

'Unbutton my blouse and take it off, she said. Trembling, he did as she directed.
'Now take off my shoes.' He did as she asked, ever so slowly.
'Now take off my stockings.' He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her shoes.
'Now take off my skirt.' He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes as they glowed in the fire light.
'Now take off my bra..' Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.

Then she looked at him and said, 'If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired.'

Monday, November 01, 2010

“Ronald Reagan, Extremist Collaborator” | The New Ledger

This is the year of the extremist....
This year, there is scarcely a Republican running in a competitive race who has not been called “an extremist” by his or her opponent, and the opponent’s allies. Often those allies have included the media. These charges are often accompanied with a claim that the allegedly extremist Republican is not like Republicans of previous decades. It is true that some of the fiscally conservative Republicans on the 2010 ballot are different from their spendthrift predecessors. But one thing that has not changed in politics is the charge of “extremism.”

When Ronald Reagan first ran for elective office, Governor of California in 1966, the opposition attempted to tar him as an extremist. Reagan was running against incumbent Governor Pat Brown, father of the 2010 Democratic California gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown. Notwithstanding the extremist charges, Reagan won the election, and served two terms as California Governor, and then two terms of President of the United States. Let’s take a look at that the use of the extremism issue in 1966 campaign.
Yes, fiscal conservatism is extremist and that therefore means that anyone that balances a budget is an extremist. Its as if the Socialist Democratic Party thinks that what normal people and businesses do every day; Live Within Their Means, is an extremist position.

“Ronald Reagan, Extremist Collaborator” | The New Ledger

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JOEL KOTKIN ON OBAMA’S MISTAKE: Suburban Nation, but Urban Political Strategy. The connection be…

This really gets it all.....
That America elected a grown man with the politics that I had as a 18-25-year old stoner, America-hating, Fidel-admiring, “democratic” socialist was more than a little surprising to me. Positively freaky-deaky.
Ha ha ha. He fooled you!

Instapundit » Blog Archive » JOEL KOTKIN ON OBAMA’S MISTAKE: Suburban Nation, but Urban Political Strategy. The connection be…