We Buy Votes! Contact Joe Biden and the DNC.

Joe Biden and the Democrats are actually going forward with their insane idea and the most “in your face” bailout in history. They’re effectively telling every responsible American taxpayer that ever took out a loan, be it student loan, mortgage loan, car loan, or signed on to any debt and the PAID OFF the debt, that they need to buck up and help pay for new debts they never signed on to.

You, me, and every other hard working stiff will now be paying for the student loans of millions of people who willingly signed their names to contracts to put the extra cash in their pocket they needed to pay for college, but now feel it too burdensome to uphold their end of the bargain and pay off their loans. The desperate Democrats are all too willing to take your money and mine and buy themselves some votes for the November mid-terms.

I have a lot to say about this and most of it requires language my mom would slap me for using. Then I saw a post on Facebook by one of my favorite people, Mike Rowe, which summed up this boondoggle better than I ever could.

I encourage you to share this on your social media. Copy and paste it. I don’t think Mike or Charlie will be too unhappy if this goes viral. Charlie Cooke wrote this for the National Review and you can also read it there. I also encourage you to go to Mike’s website and support his foundation.

The Democrats and Joe Biden are out of control. It’s time for all of us, regardless our political views, to stand together against foolish and harmful policies like this one.

—-

Mike Rowe 

I work hard on this page, (not as hard as I could, perhaps, but pretty hard), to avoid the politics of the moment, and comment only on topics that impact the foundation I’m proud to run – a foundation that awards work-ethic scholarships to individuals who choose to forego an expensive, four-year education in favor of a skilled trade.

When I do weigh in, I try to acknowledge both sides of the argument, and make my points with as much respect as I can muster. Today, however, I can see only one side. Today, I can find nothing to respect in the President’s decision to transfer billions of dollars in outstanding student loans onto the backs of those people my foundation tries to assist – the same people I’ve spent the last twenty years profiling on Dirty Jobs.

With that in mind, I’m not going to write the piece I just sat down to write. Instead, I’m going to share the attached article from Charlie Cooke, who writes better than I do, and shares my disdain for what just happened. If you share our disdain, then please, share this post as well. This decision is without question, the biggest pre-Labor Day slap in the face to working people I’ve ever seen.

—-

BIDEN’S STUDENT-DEBT BONFIRE IS A CLASSIST MESSAGE TO THE UNCREDENTIALED: SCREW ‘EM

By Charlie Cooke

A few moments before I sat down to write this piece, I opened the door to six guys in blue shirts who had come to my house to replace our air-conditioning units. The Florida weather being what it is, I’ve seen some of these guys work on our air conditioners before, and they’re as skilled and knowledgeable and conscientious and hard-working as you might expect. The company they work for, which is local to North Florida, was started by a guy who chose to forgo college in favor of taking out a small-business loan to strike out on his own. Most of the technicians who work for him didn’t go to college, either. They took a different path. And, well . . . what absolute chumps the president has just made of them for that!

Squirm if you like, but that’s the truth of the matter: As of today, the six air-conditioning technicians in my house are on the hook for college loans that were signed for, spent, and enjoyed by other people. Confirming the measure today, President Biden announced that any American who has both college debt they vowed to repay and an individual yearly income under $125,000 (or a family yearly income under $250,000) will be given up to $20,000 by the Treasury — which means by you, and by me, and by everyone else who pays taxes in America.

Why? Well, that’s the question.

The answer can’t be, “because that’s what the relevant law anticipates or requires.” As of yet, Congress has provided no authorization for the executive branch to arbitrarily write off some of the money that borrowers owe to taxpayers. As of yet, Congress has passed no rules that allow down-on-their-luck presidents to throw money at people for political gain. As of yet, Congress has given no instruction that if the president’s friends might like a little more cash, he can raid the Treasury to give it to them. Certainly, Congress has set up a loan program. But the deal there is rather simple, all told: First you borrow, and then you pay back what you borrowed. There is no mention of “forgiveness” days or of “help” or of rolling Chekhovian jubilees, and by pretending otherwise, President Biden is making a mockery of his oath to uphold the Constitution.

Another answer that won’t fly is, “To lower the cost of education.” As President Biden made clear today, this is a one-time deal, a lottery, a lightning strike. People who paid off their loans last week aren’t covered. People who will take out new loans after the policy has run its course aren’t covered. The problems in the system aren’t addressed. The colleges, and their endowments, are left unmolested. American culture’s increasingly credentialist presumptions aren’t altered. Within four years, overall debt will return to its present level.

With the stroke of a pen, the already-fake deficit savings within the Inflation Reduction Act will be wiped out. This isn’t a reform. It’s not even pretending to be reform. It’s a contemptuous, abusive, unbelievably expensive shot in the dark — the net effect of which will be that fewer people correctly calibrate whether college is worth it, fewer colleges change their offerings to meet market demand, and, because this sort of executive giveaway will now loom large as a possibility, fewer people feel the need to save for college.

It seems so arbitrary. Why does Biden not want to do the same thing for loans on trucks owned by plumbers? Why not for mortgages — which, given how heavily it subsidizes them, the federal government clearly thinks are worthwhile? Why not for credit cards or auto payments or mom-and-pop credit lines? The answer, I’m afraid to say, is disgustingly classist: Because Joe Biden and his party believe that college students are better than everyone else. Because Joe Biden and his party believe that college students are of a finer cut. Because Joe Biden and his party prefer college students to you, and they think that those students ought to be rewarded for that by being handed enormous gobs of your money.

Electricians, store managers, deli workers, landscapers, waitresses, mechanics, entrepreneurs? Screw ’em. Sure, college graduates make more money than non-graduates, and their unemployment rate is lower, too. But non-graduates don’t have access to the president, so they don’t matter. They’re tradesmen, the riff-raff, the great unwashed. They’re background noise, dirty-handed types, second-classers. They don’t deserve $10,000 in debt reduction. What would they even do with it? Go hunting? Give it to their church? Their role is to subsidize the superior people, and the superior people go to college.

Why did Joe Biden do all this? That’s why. Why was this what Joe Biden chose to break his oath to achieve? That’s why.

When it came down to it, good ol’ Scranton Joe sent cash from the sort of people he cynically pretends to care about to the sort of people he actually cares about: the privileged, accredited, self-dealing clerisy that his ever-dwindling political party now calls its base.

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Dear Adam Schiff, What is Quid Pro Quo?

Dear Mr. Schiff,

How exactly do you define Quid Pro Quo?

Is it simply “Get dirt on my opponents or else!” as you and the Democrats have decided? If that is indeed where you are planting your flag then President Trump is right, there is no quid pro quo.

If we look at the entire conversation in question it goes pretty much like this:

Mr. Ukrainian President, you’re newly elected and it looks like you’re taking your country in the right direction, but you need to know something up front. Your country lost 7 Billion dollars of our taxpayers money. Your country convicted two officials, one of which was the head of the anti-corruption bureau, for interfering in the 2016 presidential election by colluding with the DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign.

Now two of your Investigator Generals have been blocked by our State Department after they provided evidence to our Department of Justice regarding this collusion along with evidence of corruption surrounding oil and gas contracts that involved out former Vice President. You should look into that. We also have reason to believe the people who did all of that and made this corruption possible are still in your inner circle. So as a matter of national interest, I can’t give you any more money unless you can demonstrate you’re not part of this corruption but rather are dedicated to cleaning it up.

If that’s how you define quid pro quo Mr. Schiff then yes, that’s all on the tape of the phone call. That’s all in the transcript. IF THAT’S the definition then guilty as charged…

But that’s not your definition is it? Because that wouldn’t fly in a kangaroo court. Not even one run by you and Nancy Pelosi. In your tunnel vision world all you heard in that phone call was “get dirt on my opponent.” Fortunately a majority of Americans heard something quite different.

The conversation with the Ukrainian president which he confirmed, when taken in full context of the full conversation, is not “get dirt on my opponent.” Mr. Schiff believes cherry picking, paraphrasing, and redefining what was said equates what was actually said. It doesn’t.

The other problem is how the Democrats have convinced many Americans that quid pro quo is some new law that’s been broken… It isn’t. In fact the Obama administration was chided by the media for the same thing on numerous occasions leading one US newspaper to label Obama the King of Quid Pro Quo.  

The ignorance displayed in this country regarding anything to do with civics is an indictment on our public school system and an advantage to the Democrats.

To the Democrats, This is Why You Lost

Every anti-Trump rant I’ve heard or read coming from Democrats of late has been filled with assumptive statements so lacking in evidence they do little more than identify them as someone who doesn’t deal well with disappointment and must therefore find a boogie man to blame. They will inevitably lump half of the U.S. population into a small and narrow-minded cube of extremism and hate simply because that half doesn’t see the world through their political lens.

That said, four years from now they may end up looking like prophetic soothsayers or just pathetic partisans doing the Chicken Little routine.

Truth is, we don’t know.

I didn’t vote for Donald J. Trump. I officially left the GOP in 1998 and live at the political crossroads of classical liberalism and classical republicanism. Above all I consider myself a constitutionalist and during the 2016 election cycle neither candidate was showing any indication they planned to govern by that document.

Hillary flaunts the law, Donald uses it as a billy club.

The two major parties couldn’t have chosen worse candidates had they just set up a huge wall of random photos and thrown two darts. In fact it’s quite possible they would have chosen excellent candidates using that methodology, excluding the photos of anyone currently working in DC or the Federal Government of course.

Democrats, you lost because your candidate was only slightly more dishonest, slimy, and unlikable than “The Donald” and you had no message for the nearly 100 million people no longer actively seeking employment (yes, that’s the number of unemployed people in the U.S. not even counted in our official unemployment rate) or those folks living in “fly over country.” You know, those people you look down on and crack jokes about while speaking with a hick accent?

The people you should be protesting, boycotting, or throwing Molotov Cocktails at are your own party leadership for believing dynasties are more attractive to the American voter than true public servants. Does anyone still know what the definition of a public servant is?

The Republicans, on the other hand, have been envying Democrat dominance for 70 years, and trying to become more like them for so long they forgot this nation is populated by people who are politically, fiscally, and socially conservative, but still believe in helping their fellow Americans who are down on their luck, still believe we must be good stewards of this place we call earth, and still love liberty and an uncompromised free market (classical liberals).

If nothing else this election should be a reminder of that relevant fact and rather than throw yourself on the ground kicking and screaming you won’t be a part of it, try stepping outside your political bubble and getting to know those people you’ve labeled so ignorantly and vindictively.

And to those of you on the Political Right standing with smug vindication on your pedestal of payback, how about coming down for a minute to listen, because the Democrats are feeling what you felt over the last 8 years. You can relate. So try a little more relating and less dissociating.

It won’t be easy, but it will be enlightening, enriching, and healing.

It might even lead to a more “united” states again…

The Silent Majority Decided to Speak Up

I don’t know John Goodwin. All I know is something he penned popped up on my Facebook feed and instantly grabbed my attention.

We’ve heard much from the left in this country about why Hillary Clinton lost the election to Donald J. Trump and it pretty much boils down to three reasons in their minds. WikiLeaks, James Comey, and racist uneducated rural America.

Their reasoning lays bare the stark and very real disconnect so many liberals (who live in the large metropolitan areas of the country) have with the rest of America or fly over country as they condescendingly call it and their inability to look inward or have any self-awareness at all.

I don’t know if Mr. Goodwin is a Republican, Democrat, Independent or some other party.  All I know is when it comes to the real reason for Mrs. Clinton’s defeat, he’s right.

Here is Mr. Goodwin’s spontaneous reaction to the election result and the protests that followed, as posted on his Facebook page. (Published by permission)

I haven’t posted about the election mostly because 1) I do this for a living and most of you don’t and 2) I understand why some people are scared and disappointed in the outcome and was showing some deference to my friends and family.

But now I am angry. 

Intolerant liberal elites still do not understand why they lost the election. You lost the election because you forgot that not everyone lives in big cities and along the coasts. You forgot that not everyone went to elite colleges.

And worse, you deride the people who didn’t and who don’t think like you. You make fun of people who eat at Applebees and shop at Walmart and watch NASCAR. You think they are lesser people than you and don’t deserve a voice or an opinion. 

You call them all names. Call them rubes and rednecks and morons. Call them uneducated and backwards.

I am not talking about the racists, sexists and bigots who reared their ugly heads this year. They are disgusting.

I am talking about the average people who work in manufacturing, own their own business or used to anyway. 

Have you ever been to a working farm for more than an hour to pick apples? Have you driven through South and North Dakota or Idaho and tried to understand the people who live there instead of mocking them?

Do you understand why people who live in states where 60% of the land is owned by the government might not want a bigger government. 

I didn’t grow up with money. Those of you who knew me know that. I grew up shopping at Zayre and worrying that I was wearing the wrong shoes to school and would be made fun of. A big night out for us was TGI Fridays or Ponderosa. I worked hard and went to college and grad school and have had some success, but I never forgot where I came from and I never looked down upon those who grew up like me and may still live in world where they work with their hands. 

Do you understand the damage Hillary Clinton did to her chances when she said “she was going to put the coal industry out of business?” If you live in New England or CA or a city where you don’t fully understand where your electricity comes from, that might sound nice. But you have never met someone who works in a coal mine or a coal-powered plant or a manufacturing plant that relies on affordable energy to keep costs down. And that message doesn’t just resonate with people who actually work in the coal industry. Every American who works in an industry that liberals hate or deride was impacted by that statement. “Is my job next?”

You want to tell a person who has spent their whole life working in a particular field that they have to retrain and find something new overnight. You want to tell someone who invests blood, sweat, tears and treasure into starting and growing a business that they should shutter it and do something else because you disagree with the industry they work in? 

I grew up hunting and fishing with my father and uncles and cousin. I have been around guns my whole life and understand the dangers and appreciate the need for caution and safety. Most of you haven’t been around them or used one for hunting or self defense. You judge those of us who have. Call me a gun nut? Tell us we cling to our guns? Have you ever met the people who work in the gun industry and work hard to make quality American products and you want to put them out of work too? 

Tragedies happen. And I have never cried harder than or longer than Sandy Hook. These things shouldn’t happen. But you can’t blame guns. Blame the people who pull the trigger. 

You backed professional protesters and anarchists over the police officers who put their lives on the line every day and whose families don’t know if they will be coming home for dinner or breakfast. I do not believe most of those victims deserved to get shot and I have sympathy for the families of those who died unnecessarily. But i respect the police and know how hard their job is. You think all police are bad and are intentionally targeting people. 

So, liberal elites. Stop making blanket statements about people. Stop telling people who think differently than you they are wrong. You have the right to be offended. People have the right to offend you. The government is not meant to protect you from being offended. 

Donald Trump is president in part because half of America was tired of being told that their way of life and their way of thinking was wrong. People are allowed to feel the way they feel – wrong or right. People can feel that illegal immigration cost them their job – wrong or right. They are allowed to think that way. People are allowed to be afraid of terrorism and feel unsafe. 

Keep making fun of the Robertsons from Duck Dynasty, who I count as friends, and the way they live their life. I have spent time with them and know they are the kindest, most loving people I have ever met. Their family life is what most people should strive for.

You think because they believe in God and enjoy hunting and wearing camo, they are lesser people. News flash, a lot of people live their lives like them. Let them. Don’t make fun of them.

Not everyone can afford a ticket to Hamilton. Some people want to watch football and listen to country music. 

Some people think Guy Fieri is a good chef and his food is delicious. 

People are allowed to enjoy shooting guns and hunting. 

People are allowed to seek comfort and joy in prayer and religion. 

You have the right to disagree and do your own thing. Stop judging and insulting and practice some of the tolerance you preach or you may never win another election.

 

Open Letter to Senator Orrin Hatch

Senator Hatch,

Over the years I’ve watched you drift into a place which seemingly no politician can avoid. It’s a place where lifelong political animals always end up. You are now firmly a part of the establishment politico of Washington DC.

The (R) by your name is meaningless. Your public actions and words appear to be different from your colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but in reality the difference is virtually indiscernible.

The latest example is your implicit endorsement of the dirty politics seen in Mississippi and other states during the recent primary elections. How dare you? How could you be a part of the slander and support the outright lies told to minority voters about other conservative candidates? Are you so frightened of the “Tea Party” that you would sell your soul to the Democrats this way?

I can’t adequately express the utter disgust I feel after learning of the gang of seven Republican Senators, including you, who supported racially charged attacks against other conservatives.

With a president and Democrat led Senate running America into the ground and down the track to a Social Democracy, you’d think you’d be focused more on their failures than trouncing fellow conservatives who truly want smaller government unlike you and your cronies.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/shameful-seven-307422/
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/conservative-groups-spend-fortune-attacking-republicans-n99861

Can Republicans get any more foolish? The Democrats have to be laughing one moment and counting their lucky stars the next. The political atmosphere is ripe for conservatives to take the Senate and keep the House, but if it means pseudo-conservatives like you, McCain, McConnell, et al, steering the ship, NO THANKS!

I was once a strong supporter of yours Senator Hatch. You no longer have my support. In fact I will actively campaign against you and use my journalistic training to spread the word about your metamorphosis into something that is far from conservative. The ruse is over.

We share a faith but I seriously question your adherence to it. Honest in all our dealings with our fellow-men. Can you honestly say you are? I don’t see how. But then, maybe you’re one of those Mormons who separates his “business life” from his personal life. I’ve run into too many of those in my lifetime. You and Senator Reid are poor examples of the faith you each claim to adhere to. We elected you to be a beacon of truth, even when the truth hurts your position. That’s what integrity is. That’s what you once had, but have forsaken, for the trinkets of power your many years in office have afforded you.

Our constitution now hangs by the very thread early leaders of our church spoke of so long ago. Yet you have done nothing to prevent it. You sit in your comfort zone and just go along to get along. Inaction becomes a form of action Mr. Hatch. You now represent the beltway. You no longer represent the citizens of Utah.

It is because of Republicans like you that I no longer affiliate with the party.

You cannot leave office soon enough.

Sincerely,

Doug Long

The Shameful Seven

Jaw dropper. That’s what I thought when I heard about the dirty politics being played in the recent Republican primary election in Mississippi.  I don’t consider myself politically naive but I guess, in some respects, I am. I may no longer be a registered Republican, but I still look to that party to uphold and advance the conservative principles I hold true and believe must be followed if the Republic is to remain intact.  I simply expect Republicans to maintain a higher standard. I was even more disturbed and disgusted by the negative and racially charged campaign ads Republican candidate Thad Cochran’s super PAC put out against his main opponent Chris McDaniel who has been championed by many conservatives and those who associate with the Tea Party.

Cochran’s campaign ran ads on radio, TV, and in print, which were distributed in heavily African American Democrat communities, encouraged Democrat voters to vote for Cochran while slandering McDaniel in the process. In Mississippi, Democrats and Republicans can cross over and vote in the other party’s primary IF they haven’t voted in their own party’s primary already.

It has become increasingly apparent that without this dirty political move Cochran would have lost the Primary to McDaniel.

Now for the really greasy, grimy, dirt.  Republican Senators, one of which represents my state, were implicit in the funding and creation of these slanderous and racial ads.  They will certainly claim no part of it, but then lying seems to be second nature for too many in Washington DC.

According to the Americans for Legal Immigration website,

Seven Republican senators have now been linked to the racial attacks against conservative Chris McDaniel in Mississippi.

The financial report for Thad Cochran’s super PAC was released earlier this week and contains two alarming details.

First, it shows the following seven GOP senators gave a total of $160,000 to Thad Cochran’s super PAC:

1. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) $50,000 (202) 224-2541
2. Bob Corker (R-TN) $30,000 (202) 224-3344
3. Rob Portman (R-OH) $25,000 (202) 224-3353
4. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) $25,000 (202) 224-5251
5. Richard Burr (R-NC) $20,000 (202) 224-3154
6. Roy Blunt (R-MO) $5,000 (202) 224-5721
7. Mike Crapo (R-ID) $5,000 (202) 224-6142

Second, it shows that the PAC then gave a similar amount to a liberal group to run racial attacks against Chris McDaniel.  These senators funded ads that urged Democrats to “cross over and vote in the republican primary” and claimed that a McDaniel win would be a loss “for race relationships between blacks and whites.”  They also helped pay for fliers that said, “The Tea Party Intends to Prevent You From Voting” and suggested McDaniel would roll back civil rights.  And perhaps worst of all, they helped pay thousand of dollars to Democratic activists to do so called “canvasing” to turn out votes for Cochran.  These seven Republican senators not only supported a 41-year incumbent who regularly votes with the Democrats, but they also funded a shadowy group to get Democrats to hijack the election.

How can these Republicans expect conservative voters to support them when they do such treacherous things to people in their own party?

Senator Orrin Hatch (R) Utah, is one of my senators.  There was a time when I supported him and I admit I voted him back into office each time he has run with the exception of his last campaign when I realized he no longer exhibited the conservative principles or backbone I expected from the man I had voted for so many times before.

Some will say, “get over it, that’s politics.”  I guess you could say the same to Caesar about the Ides of March, but it wouldn’t make the sting of being stabbed in the back any less painful.

 

Americans with No Abilities Act: See the Future – Be the Future

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate are considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many more Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Legislation is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

“Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society,” said California Sen. Barbara Boxer. “We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability (POI) to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing.”

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance.  At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons with No Ability (63 percent).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million mid-level positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance.  Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability (POI) into middle-management positions, and give a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the Americans With No Abilities Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, “Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?”  “As a non-abled person, I can’t be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them,” said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Mich., due to her inability to remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. “This new law should be real good for people like me. I’ll finally have job security.” With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Sen. Dick Durbin, “As a senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so.”

This message was approved by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama.

*A similar article appeared in TheOnion.com in 1998 but appears to be even more relevant today than it was back then.

Letter to AARP: Leave Me Alone.

If you’re 50 or older you get them too.

Letters from the AARP with membership cards.  Letters offering you deals, freebies, and an appeal for your dollars.

Personally I don’t care for organizations that say they’re one thing and turn out to be something completely different.  AARP happens to be one of those in my opinion.

They have devolved into a PAC for the left and Democrats and for years have been cleverly disguised as a non-profit 501(c)(4).

With that in mind I penned the following request to be removed from their mailing lists and not be bothered again.

Before you decide to join AARP, please do some research and study of their leadership, their political meddling, and the fact that they really aren’t a non-profit and they’ve been lying to seniors for years.  Click the image Behind The Veil: The AARP America Doesn’t Know and you can see the full report.

*************

To Whom It May Concern:

Please stop sending me mail and immediately take me off of your mailing lists.

I have no desire to become a member of AARP. Your organization does not reflect the moral, social, or political values I subscribe to.

When an organization’s primary mission is to sell a product (in this case health care insurance) and spends tons of money on lobbying and political contributions, it should not be eligible for tax-exempt status.  AARP has violated its 501(c)(4) status because it makes its money primarily from insurance industry royalties, with membership dues accounting for a mere 17%.

I have no desire for my money to go to Democratic causes, which I oppose.  While AARP itself does not give money to political candidates your employees do and overwhelmingly to Democrats.

The only reason AARP has continued to masquerade as a non-profit is due to political favors from friends on the left.  If conservatives gain control of the House, Senate, and White House, I expect that front to be taken away as it should be.

Lastly, the fraud perpetrated  on your current members through Obamacare is disturbing and disgusting.  You backed Obamacare simply because it put billions of dollars in your pockets as you benefit from the law’s changes to Medicare Advantage which will force many seniors right into your Medigap supplemental coverage.

You’re not an advocate for seniors; you’re an insurance company disguised as a non-profit. Wolf in sheep’s clothing would be another appropriate term.

By the way, why does AARP feel the need to meddle in energy policy in numerous states? Why have you bought into the scam known as man-made global warming?

How much is in it for you this time?

Good-bye and good riddance.

Doug Long

Thelongversion.com

@thelongversion

Related articles

• Conservatives Flee Marxist-Controlled Radicals at AARP (directorblue.blogspot.com)
• What do you do with AARP junk mail? 8 ways to send an unforgettable message [pics] (twitchy.com)
• As ObamaCare Continues, Many Seniors See AARP As Mouthpiece For Liberal Policies (downtrend.com)
• Behind the Veil, The AARP America Doesn’t Know

The Politics of Gerrymandering or Vice Versa

Democrats and Liberals and Progressives (OH MY) are up in arms over a rule change by the House Republicans.

Late in the evening on September 30, 2013, the House Rules Committee Republicans changed the Rules of the House so that the ONLY Member allowed to call up the Senate’s clean CR for a vote was Majority Leader Eric Cantor or his designee — all but guaranteeing the government would shut down a few hours later and would stay shut down. Previously, any Member would have had the right to bring the CR up for a vote.

This is what we’ve come to in Washington DC politics.  The division between the two major parties has become so large and so corrosive that neither will work with the other.  Rather than even try they simply look for ways to get around whatever impediment the other side puts in their way.  In other words, they gerrymander the system to get what they want when they want it.

It happens on both sides and its wrong in either case.

But we can’t let Liberals squawk about this rule change without reminding them of the underhanded tricks, procedural gimmicks, and gerrymandering that took place when Obamacare was voted into law without a single Republican vote in 2010, even though the Senate did not have the super majority it needed to ram it through.

Here is the story behind that gerrymandering fiasco.

How Obamacare Became the “Law of the Land”.

You may recall the Democrats in the Senate weren’t able to pass their version of the Healthcare law because all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives.  So the Senate found a bill that met those qualifications: HR3590, a military housing bill.  They took that bill and basically stripped all the language out of it and turned it into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which we now all know as Obamacare.  Dirty trick number one.

Oh but It gets better.

At the time the new fangled HR3590 was passed and moved to the Senate, the Democrats had 60 Senators, just enough to pass this gerrymandered bill.  However, after that bill passed the Senate, Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy died.  In his place, Massachusetts elected a Republican, Scott Brown, to replace him.  Now the Democrats no longer had the super majority needed to rubber stamp the Healthcare law, Obama’s signature legislation.

That meant, if the House made any changes to the bill, the Senate would not have the super majority to push the bill through without Republican help and Republicans were not on board with Obamacare.

So the Senate Democrats made a deal with the Democrats in the House with no input from any Republicans.  The House would agree to pass the Senate bill without any changes, IF the Senate agreed to pass a separate bill by the House that made changes to the Senate version.  This second bill was called the Reconciliation Act of 2010.  It made some detail changes and added some language to the bill.  You scratch my back I’ll scratch yours.  Dirty trick number two.

So the House passed the PPACA, the Senate bill, and their Reconciliation Act.  Making the PPACA ready for the President’s signature, but the Senate still needed to pass the Reconciliation Act from the House.

Confused yet?

Now remember the Senate only had 59 votes to pass the Reconciliation Act since a Republican, Scott Brown, replaced Democrat Ted Kennedy.  That meant in order to pass the Reconciliation Act the Democrats in the Senate had to change the rules.

They declared (because they were the majority and could) that they would use the Reconciliation Rule to pass the Reconciliation Act — the Reconciliation Act and Reconciliation Rule are not the same thing but the irony is simply amazing!

Stay with me.

The Reconciliation Rule was only used for budget item approvals to allow budgets to be approved and passed by a simple majority vote of 51 Senators rather than the usual 60 super majority.  The Reconciliation rule had never been used nor was it ever intended to be used to pass legislation of the magnitude of Obamacare, but that wasn’t about to keep the Democrats from getting their way come Hell or high water!  So they used this obscure rule with some very liberal interpretation (pun intended) to pass the bill.  Dirty trick number three.

Both of the “Acts” passed both houses of congress and were then signed by President Obama.  All done by Democrats without a single favorable Republican vote.  To quote Democrat Representative Alcee Hastings of the House Rules Committee during the bill process: “We’re making up the rules as we go along”.  They certainly couldn’t have passed this law without doing so.

I don’t care what party you align yourself with, show me the integrity in that process. Defend the actions of the Democrats and President Obama. Some of you Liberals may have done so at the time the law was passed.  I don’t know how, but maybe you figured out a way that sat well with you. But what about now? Now that we’ve seen what a disaster the implementation of this law has become. Do you still defend the method of its passage? Do you still say Republicans should have been shut out of the process? That it was right to ignore their ideas and input on the law?

And now, as Republicans use the same dirty underhanded tactics to get what they want you scream foul!?!  Really?

What goes around comes around. The Republicans have figured it out.  They’ve finally succumbed to using the same political guerrilla warfare they seen used on them by Democrats for decades.  Principles be damned.  To Hell with integrity, decorum, and fairness.  Win at all costs.

That’s how we got here and it’s only going to get worse.  The power brokers on both sides in DC think they are “winning” while the rest of us are losing.

Big time.

Why the Immigration Bill is a Slap in the Face to Equal Rights

It’s hard to hold back the feelings of revulsion as I watch the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, talk about equal rights and civil rights in conjunction with the immigration bill being crafted on Capital Hill.

He hits on all the key “buzz phrase talking points” like; mechanism to earn citizenship, coming out of the shadows, a matter of civil and human rights, equal opportunity…

Sounds reasonable until you realize this man has no clue what the definition of civil rights or human rights even is let alone equal opportunity. But it sounds so reasonable…

No matter what kind of reasonable vocabulary they attach to the immigration bill, as it stands today, it is nothing more than amnesty for 11 to 20 million illegal aliens. Depending on whose numbers you agree with.

How can amnesty from justice for those who willingly and knowingly broke the law be equated with civil rights?

I guess first you have to understand what civil rights do? Civil rights insure protection from discrimination so all of us can have an equal chance to make the most of our lives. Civil rights however, DO NOT insure protection FROM the law.

When have we as Americans ever in our history sought to reward those who break our laws? How does earning citizenship in any form begin by sneaking across the border and living off the books? That, in my understanding of principle and what’s right, is simply stealing from those who abide by the laws.

And what about those who are currently in line to become citizens of this nation, who have done it the right way? What about those who have spent thousands even tens of thousands of dollars to gain entrance into this country as a legal US citizen? HOw can they possibly see this bill as an “equal rights” issue? What’s equal about one person paying their way and another getting a freebie? This is nothing but a slap in their face and a mockery of the process they so patiently went through.

While I can sympathize with the plight of the person or family who illegally entered the United States because they realized the system in their own country simply did not work and they desired something more. But disregard for the law by those who would break it and those who are supposed to uphold it creates a level of disrespect for law altogether. Until our own government respects the laws that are on the books, how can we really expect anyone else to respect them?

We don’t respect our own law. We haven’t placed a value on citizenship. We haven’t placed a value on being here in this country and being a citizen. The people crossing the borders illegally are not people coming here because they want to be Americans or because they want to assimilate. Nobody’s talking about teaching them the principles of being an American and from what we are seeing in their actions and words they don’t want that.
There was a time when the majority of immigrants to this country came here for the principles of freedom and liberty and the desire to become Americans not hyphenated-Americans.

Joe Kerry is an example of that type of immigrant. Joe’s family came to the US from North Korea. They loved the American principles they had heard about and longed for. Joe doesn’t speak Korean. He can understand it but he can’t speak it because his parents would not teach it to him. They said, “you’re going to speak English and you’re going to be an American and you’re going to make something of yourself.”

What has happened to that culture? No one is holding up our melting pot culture.

You are being misled by many of your elected representatives about this immigration bill. If you want to know why you’ll need to go no further than the end of the money trail. It leads to big business who is in bed with this big government and want to continue the flow of cheap labor that comes with immigrants who can’t speak the language but are willing to do whatever they can to feed their families. This goes to the heart of many of our political problems today. Big money is being dangled like a carrot and Republicans and Democrats alike are so addicted to the big business bucks that they are willing to toss principle aside and make believe no one will get hurt.

But they are lying to themselves just as surely as they are lying to the people of this country. This bill as written by the gang of 8, will hurt not only every law-abiding citizen, but it will eventually hurt those who are at the crux of the legislation. The immigrants. If amnesty is not written out of this bill this country will change in a way no one is prepared for or would wish for.

Mark my words.