At Least One Thing That's GOTTA GO if we Taxpayers Bail Out the Big 3.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/17/A01-351179.htm

Holy schneike! This article was written in 2005! Do you know what it documents? The UAW "Job Bank" program. What is the "job bank", do you ask? It's very simple. People who are not currentlymaking cars or car components are in a "bank" of employees who still earn money.

The article illustrates the situation for Mr. Ken Pool who is "works" at the Ford Michigan Truck Plant. "Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits."

Essentially the Big 3 carmakers and Delphi (the major U.S. auto parts supplier) were estimated to pay $4.1 billion to the pool of laid-off workers. The idea was to discourage the manufacturers from outsourcing their jobs or to hire new cheaper employees to replace more experienced and expensive employees. However, this means that (IN 2005!!!) almost 12,500 employees were being paid by these same manufacturers even though they weren't working in plants, assembly lines, or whatever.

The UAW has managed to strong-arm the U.S. auto industry into a untenable position. If the auto manufacturers don't agree, then the UAW will strike and cripple a vulnerable industry. If the auto manufacturers agree then they must take on a burden that damages their competitiveness against foreign car companies who do not suffer from the same contract restriction. If I were the UAW, I'd be very seriously thinking about that right now, because their policy is about to kill the "golden goose".

As a U.S. taxpayer I can only say that unless this program is terminated, fuggedaboudit (<== New Yorker for "forget about it"). I will not have ANY of my tax dollars used to pay people that are being kept on the payroll by a foolish or worse yet, corrupt labor union.

Unbelievable.

Dallas Independent School District Knowingly used False SS Numbers to Pay Employees.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/111408dnmetdisdsocials.3d93dbc.html

My comments are in boldface.

Doug Phillips, TEA's director of investigations and fingerprinting, said his office believed the district had stopped the practice because there was no evidence that it continued. He said Thursday that he didn't know which laws forbid issuing fake Social Security numbers. "Didn't know which laws forbid issuing fake Social Security numbers?!?" Are we kidding? Only ONE agency has the authority to issue Social Security numbers. It's called the Social Security Administration, a department of the United States Federal Government.

"We just knew it looked bad and smelled bad," Mr. Phillips said. "That was the first time we'd ever heard of that one." Mr. Phillips, apparently this issue has been happening for at least three years and maybe longer.

Mr. Phillips said it created "a mess" in a state database. He said teacher applicants who don't have a Social Security number can receive a temporary identification number, which begins with a "P," from TEA until they get one from the federal government. Part of the purpose of a Social Security number is to identify the person's Federal account that receives Federal (and State) tax witholdings, as required by both Federal and State laws. How in the heck did you people expect to adhere to these regulations?

The DISD-issued Social Security numbers began with "200" – a prefix assigned to people in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Phillips' office noted that many ended with sequential numbers. Nice. I wonder how many people in Pennsylvania are having inflated income reported, which could push them into a higher tax bracket.

The investigative report also found that the district hasn't been turning in "new hire" forms to the Texas attorney general's office, which uses the information to find parents who haven't paid child support. Failure to provide the forms to the attorney general can result in a $25 fine for each employee. The district doesn't know yet whether it will have to pay any fines. This speaks for itself. The DISD is clearly and intentionally violating the law here.

Ms. Olson said new processes have been put in place to address problems noted in the report, including making crosschecks with the Social Security Administration. Yeah, sure. And my grandmother was a test pilot.

"You can't just arbitrarily issue Social Security numbers," she said. "Even if your intention is good, it's not legal." Well, something I can agree on.

As long as employers in the U.S. think they can continue to flaunt the immigration and payroll laws this problem will persist. Those who perpetuated these policies should be severely punished.

We are Pushing the Russians too Hard

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_re_eu/eu_eu_russia_missiles

France's President Nikolas Sarkozy, who is a very pro-Western, pro-America ally, has made it very clear that he questions strongly the actual effectiveness that the proposed U.S. missile defense installations that are being installed in Czechoslovakia and Poland.

He said "Deployment of a missile defense system would bring nothing to security ... it would complicate things, and would make them move backward,"

In my opinion: If the Europeans do not feel that this system is going to make Europe safer, then what the heck are we installing the things for?

I'm going to go with the French on this one. Let's stop antagonizing the Russians right on their front door and scrap this system.

Well, Some People Are Just Sore Losers.

So I'm listening to the Glenn Back radio program today (November 7, 2008) and he's talking about the great U.S. Constitution and the way our system is setup with regards to the bloodless revolution we have every 4 or 8 years when power is transferred peacefully from one administration to another. He also spends some time talking about the fact that even for those of us (including yours truly) that voted for the OTHER candidate, Barack Obama won't be the Democratic President, but he will be the President of the United States. His point is that he will be OUR president. That means he is also MY president.

A couple of days ago I wrote in my blog about this very subject. I said ...'my prayers will waft to heaven; "Dear Father, let Barack Obama be President for all of us. And Dear Father, let the American People accept him as the President of all of us."'

So of course, right after Glenn gets done with his monologue, the first caller says that Glenn is confusing and upsetting him. When asked why, the caller says that Glenn has been spending the last three months demonizing Senator Obama, drawing attention to his association with Bill Ayers, Reverend Wright and Louis Farrakhan, as well as talking about his extremely liberal voting records (what little there is). The caller then states that President-elect Obama can never be HIS president and that he cannot support him. Of course, Glenn Beck pretty much went nuts on the guy and GOMP'd him (GOMP = "Get Off My Phone!").

America, you need to get this through your head. Every four years the U.S. Citizenry gets to poll for who they want to represent them as their President. Some people vote for this guy, while others vote for that guy, and still other vote for that OTHER other guy. At the end of Election Day, one of those guys gets more votes than anybody else. If he gets over 270 Electoral College votes, he get's to move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in about 80 days. Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Liberals, Libertarians, Greens must all support this president and claim him as their own. That doesn't mean that I'll kowtow to a vast shift to the left by a Democrat President that rubber-stamps everything sent to him by a Democrat Congress. Where necessary, I will LOYALLY OPPOSE him. But where he needs my support in matters of civil responsibility, national security and other issues that are appropriately the responsibility of the Federal government, I will support him. And no matter what your political affiliation is, YOU SHOULD TOO. He is OUR President.

Morgan's Musings while Majorly Medicated: it lives!

Morgan's Musings while Majorly Medicated: it lives!

Fairness Doctrine: The Dems are either stupid or disingenuous.

Read all about it. On Fox News, Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY) made the following statement:

“The very same people who don’t want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air. I am for that… But you can’t say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That’s not consistent.”

I do not wish to be rude, but are you b.s.-ing me??? How can anybody, especially a United States Senator possibly equate political speech in the radio forum with pornography? How in the heck does one do pornography on the radio, anyway?

I'd like to clarify the following for the Honorable Mr. Schumer. First, pornography isn't political speech. I am confident in my belief that the Founding Fathers of our nation weren't thinking of dirty magazines or filthy nudie shows in movie houses and cable TV (or whatever forums for this kind of thing that they had in 1790) when they added the First Amendement to our Constitution. But I am equally confident that political expression and especially the voice of peaceful political dissent is precisely what they had in mind when they were writing the First Amendment. Which is to say that you have the right to express your political views without fear of unwarrented search/seizure, incarceration or corporal punishment, so long as you are not advocating outright armed rebellion against lawful government.

I will support the Fairness Doctrine if and ONLY if it is applied to all forms of media. That would include radio, satellite radio, broadcast television, pay TV (cable and satellite), newspapers, news magazines AND the Internet. But if it is narrowly applied only to radio, the only forum in which the liberal media does NOT have a majority of influence (heck, not even a modicum of success, look at "Air America" for what I'm talking about), then I will be confirmed that now that the Democrats are in power that they want to squash and silence the voice of conservatism. And that I will not stand for.

The Fairness Doctrine made sense when commercial broadcast radio consisted of only three broadcasters and their affiliates; ABC, NBC, CBS. But now, with the huge proliferation of information portals the Fairness Doctrine in it's original form (radio only) is obsolete and inadequate. For it to be FAIR, it must impact all arenas of Political Expression. NOT JUST RADIO.

So I will get a chance to see the "Party of Change and Unity" in action. Their actions on this issue will speak louder than any conservative talk show host.

The Campaign is Over!

Huzzah! The United States has had a bloodless revolution! Congrats to Prez-elect Obama and the Dems!

No more political ads! Now all we have to do is look forward to two freakin' months of Christmas music and advertisements from every media source encouraging us to SPEND! SPEND! SPEND! for the Christmas Holiday.

Can we have another election?

A Historic Day for America

Nearly 150 years ago, a great Civil War divided the people of the United States as had never been before or has since. Although that great conflict did not start because of the issue of slavery, by mid 1863 with Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation of slaves, the Civil War became the ultimate referendum on whether a nation conceived by the principle that "all men are created equal" could stand while the institution of slavery endured. Many hundreds of thousands of American's died or suffered horrible injuries in that conflict, and the Abolitionists prevailed but with a terrible price.

Yet another 100 years would pass, however, before Jim Crow laws and segregation would die the mean and ignoble death that it deserved. And even today in the 21st century, Americans as a people must still continue the fight against those corners of our culture and society that would still judge a man by any criteria other than his character.

I am a Republican. I wanted John McCain to be my next president because I believe that he truly could have reformed Washington and even his own party from within. I still believe that his experience makes him a better choice when it comes to the security of our great nation in a world that is still a very dangerous place.

However, tonight my fellow citizens have spoken and their voice has made it clear that they want a new direction. And so history has been made. A man of color is now President-elect of the United States and in January the mantle of responsibility will be his. He will become the leader of the free world, with all of the perks and obligations that such a position is bound with. President-elect Barack Obama will be President of the United States. All of it. From Canda to Mexico, from Maine to California, and to all of our protectorates, provinces and territories.

I am proud of my nation. I am proud that Barack Obama has attained the highest office of the land. I don't agree with him politically or fiscally. I do not relish the next four years if he pushes a far-left agenda. But unlike many of my Democratic friends who never acknowledged George H. Bush as "their President", I will certainly embrace Barack Obama as mine. I will support him when he and I are in agreement and I will loyally oppose him when we do not. But make no mistake. He is President for all of us. I hope and pray that my conservative comrades will take the same wise course. I hope that we will help President-elect Obama truly represent all of us by taking the middle of the road. If he comes part way, so shall I. But I will not meet him on his end of the spectrum.

I expect that we will disagree on many things: The "Fairness Doctrine", Taxation, Universal Health Care, Military Policy, the Sanctity of Life, especially those with no voice of their own and the War. But I expect we will agree on things too. I believe in my heart that President-elect Obama truly wants a United States that is prosperous, where our people can be productive and innovative; where our children can have a chance to a better life than their parents and that our people are respected in the international community. I don't agree with him on how to get there, but I have no doubt that in his own way that he is patriotic. In some ways, much more patriotic than my "angry meat-eating gun-toting leather-wearing" self, for he has stepped into the glare of the public spotlight to serve his country in an arena that I have no stomach for.

As Barack Obama made clear in his victory speech, while today is momentous it is only the beginning. It's not winning the White House but with the help of the American People what he does with it that will be the stuff against which the historians of the future will judge our times. I pray that President-elect Obama can be the uniter that he claims to be. For all that we have been through for the last 21 months I still really don't know him very well.

Tonight, my heart goes out to him to congratulate him and his precedent setting, history making achievement. Tomorrow and every day thereafter, my prayers will waft to heaven; "Dear Father, let Barack Obama be President for all of us. And Dear Father, let the American People accept him as the President of all of us."