To promote their policies….to promote their spending and entitlements, To promote the current administration and tell us how great a job Obama and his henchmen have done…To promote raising of taxes(again). As they denigrate the millionaires and Billionaires. The business owners and the wealthy, who already pay the majority of the taxes that fund the government (except , of course, for the deficit spending). As they promote the socialist policies of the Unions and pander to their base, most of whom are leeches takers rather than producers….As they tell stories about how poor people succeeded only with help from the government…never by hard work or by smart decisions. As they tell each other how they need more entitlements to help poor people and more social programs which cost millions for dubious (if any) results…. As they agree among themselves that they need to spend just a bot more of other peoples money and put the country just a bit deeper into debt…..

As they discuss and promote their new slogan….”Forward”.

The national debt tops 16 Trillion dollars.

That is, you realize, $136,260 per household.

The current debt (as of Friday)  is $16,015,769,788,215.80

Look at that number again.

And again.

It has grown from an (already horrific) 10.6 Trillion dollars at the end of 2008 to 16 Trillion today, less than 4 years later..

4 years. 6 trillion dollars. And for what?

Now, if we had actually gotten something for those dollars that we spent (but did not actually, you know, have), it might have been, if not a good thing, at least worth the larger debt. But what do we have for this additional 60% increase in an already terrible crushing debt?

Nothing. Obama and his ilk have enriched a lot of people most of whom are friends and campaign contributors… But what did the country get?

Yeah, I usually like dinner and at least a movie first too.

While it may not be the end of summer, the Socialist Holiday (Labor day) generally marks the end of the summer season. Kids, if not already back in school, will be soon.

Really, it is just a re-do of MayDay, except the socialist overtones are better hidden.

Think about this as you enjoy your burgers on the grill (or, if working, the holiday pay you are earning).

Socialist holidays….In the US. Sad, that. We should be truthful, and call it “Socialist Workers Day” or something…

Not that anyone remembers why it exists, except to give a 3 day weekend…

ETA:
Lyle agrees with me…and makes a few points which I didn’t

Seems that the Bureau of Land Management has decided that certain portions of government land can be (at least temporarily) a gun free zone. One wonders of the BLM is going to provide 24/7 security for each guest at the Burning Man Festival…

No word on knives, bats, sticks, scissors, rocks, bottles, etc though.

But firearms? They be evil. 

Is this legal? (not that I have time to go).

Layers and layers of editorial oversight.

Like these examples? (put down the coffee)

I thought about this all day Friday, after watching the big finale on TV….I liked the speeches at the RNC convention.

Rommney did a decent job. He said many of the right things. He stirred up the faithful, who were going to vote for him anyway. His sermon to the choir was an outstanding success.

But…..

He had no passion, no drive, and no fire in his belly. Ryan had a lot more, and Rubio rocked the house. Not Mitt though. I was, to put it bluntly, underwhelmed.

He didn’t convince me that he isn’t a different brand of statist.

He’ll repeal Obamacre and REPLACE it? With what? A different brand of Socialized Medicine? Rommneycare instead? Dude, really.

I didn’t hear him say a lot of things:…..

No promise to reduce the size of government. No promise to change the way we do government.
No promise to get rid of any government agencies. Not one. Not one single 3 letter agency. Or even reduce their size and reach…. ATF, DOE, Dept of Education, Interior or DHS or TSA or EPA (Especially EPA!) etc. No promise of fewer regulations for businesses. No promise of greater freedoms for the US Citizen. No promise of fewer (or lower) taxes.

I didn’t hear him say anything about the border, or illegal immigration. Or security for this country and the citizens who make it great. Nor any pro second amendment statement from him. Really, I heard a bunch of words but no meaning.

No, what I heard was an empty suit promising that we need him and his brand (R) of statism rather than the brand (D) we already have. Yes, it’d be nice to have Obama and his ilk gone from the White House….But I never heard Mitt tell me why he was going to be better. How he would fundamentally change the direction that this country is going. Yeah, he mentioned debt reduction, but never said how…..Higher taxes rather than reduced spending? AFAIK, he hasn’t said.

So I really don’t know why I should vote for Mittens except for the fact that he isn’t Obama. I really would rather vote FOR someone rather than AGAINST someone else. Why should I vote for Mitt and just get a different heel on my neck? A different hand holding the whip. A different way to spend my money on different people and companies and sectors of the economy and a different way to  reduce my freedoms. A different brand of statist? We already tried that last time, and got GWB, who never vetoed any spending and grew the size of government…admittedly less growth than Obama, but still a great deal of growth…and spending and debt. Let us not forget that he gave us the DHS and the TSA.

Seems to me that the shit tastes the same no matter if it is on a sandwich made from rye or white and what kind of cheeze on the shit sandwich makes little difference either. …..It’s still a shit sandwich. And shit is shit. Which is the choice we have here. Shit on rye or shit on white. But still shit.

So really, aside from “anybody but Obama” why should I cast my vote for Mitt? Do you really think he’ll do less damage?

Fail. 


So they are doing work at an interstate exit I have to drive past on my way to work.


Normally, not a big deal, except that this morning, one of the stoplights was not working. The drivers entering the intersection were, actually, doing a pretty good job of dealing with it, pretty much treating the now uncontrolled intersection as if it were a  4 way stop. Traffic was flowing pretty good, but still…


I pulled out my cell phone and called the Indiana State police 800 number. No joy, I kept getting connected to Indianapolis rather than the closest post.  “No big deal”, says I, “I drive right past their office and can stop and let them know….”


So I did.


I pulled into their lot and, just to be sure that I was legal, disarmed and walked into the office. Good thing too.


A snarly looking man opened the window and said “What do you want?” ….Nice greeting. Oh well….


“Just thought that I’d let you know that the stoplight is out about a mile from here…..West side of the highway. Maybe you can call someone?”


“Nope. Call County. We don’t deal with that.”

“Perhaps you could call them? I don’t have the number…” I suggested.


“Nope, You call ’em”


With that, he closed the window and walked away.  Nice. I successfully restrained myself from knocking on the window to ask him why he was being a total dick or other such questions, and walked out the door


So I left the building, googled the county I was in for the Sheriff’s number, called it, and let them know that the light was out. The dispatcher was polite, thanked me, and said she’d inform the right people. 


When I drove past the area about an hour later, the lights were working again. Seems that the County folks take their job seriously.


Now: the Indiana State Police no longer “Serve and Protect”, but their mission statement is:

1. The protection of life and property will be our primary focus.
2. We will uphold and defend federal and Indiana state constitutions and enforce all laws.
3. We will address crimes and offenders with diligent, conscientious and proactive initiatives.
4. We will ensure public safety on our roadways with vigorous and directed traffic enforcement.
5. We will assist the public and all police agencies at any time and in any manner possible.

So I have this employee. Nice kid. Nice guy overall. He works hard for me, and does a decent job.

But he never has any money. Always broke, always behind.

Today, he asked me if it was legal for the ATM at the convenience store to charge $5 for each transaction. He was complaining that they had just raised the charge from $4.

I asked him why he didn’t use the banks ATM, as that should be free.

“Too far out of my way.” he replied. “I gotta go 6 blocks off my route to work…that takes 10 minutes. makes me late for work”

“Leave earlier”, I replied.

“I just hate having to spend $5.00 every day to get my money,” he said. Ignoring the suggestion.

“How much do you get every day?” I asked.

“$20” he answered.

“So you spend $25 a week to get $20 per day?” I asked. “25 % of your cash for ATM fees?”

“Yep”

“So get a $100 on Monday, and save the charges. That’s saving you $20 a week”

“Can’t do that…if I did that, I’d spend it all in one day”.

Some people just screw themselves. He’s spending $25 per week to have access to his $100. Because he can’t control himself.

And he wonders why he is always broke. 

Seems that George Zimmerman gets a new judge.

Good.

I still don’t know if he is innocent of murder, or just having defended himself. I haven’t heard enough facts to make a decision. And I realize that, and am waiting to hear the facts.

And that is the difference between me and Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. .

I, personally, think that the Judge Lester should be removed from the bench as unsuitable to adjudicate anything more than parking tickets.

Or perhaps a bigger subsidy.

Whatever. The Volt still isn’t selling. So they are “temporarily halting production“.

Gee, who would have guessed that the public doesn’t want a cramped, sluggish, expensive car with a 15 year payback (based on fuel savings to catch up with the price you (over) paid vs any other mid sized sedan) that rides poorly and has little cargo room?

Who’d have thought?