All You Need to Know before Voting in the Mid-Term Election

Recently, I was sitting in the waiting area of a famous medical facility in Phoenix, Arizona, and overheard two women discussing a recent debate between their candidates for the U.S. Senate, Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Kyrstin Senima. These women were discussing things like which candidate was more persuasive, more forceful, seemed nicer and most sincere. In the end, their votes likely will center on personality.

I wanted to jump up and scream: “Don’t you realize that none of these things are important and the future of this country hangs in the balance!”

Sadly, most people still select their candidates the way a seven-year-old selects her Barbie Doll. The most attractive usually wins. When the candidates are equally attractive, or not at all attractive, it is about which one makes them feel more comfortable or would make the better friend. Continue reading “All You Need to Know before Voting in the Mid-Term Election” →

Cleaning out the Rats in Government

This week my husband smelled a foul odor in the area around his vintage sports car which he keeps under raps in our garage. He removed the cover and lifted the hood to discover a big fat rat with a nest full of babies. There is no telling how much damage could have been done if he had not made that discovery and quickly dealt with the problem.

However, this was nothing like the rat we discovered in the California state legislature when it was revealed that Republican Sen. Anthony Cannella of Ceres provided the margin of victory needed by Democrats to pass a $5.2 billion dollar tax increase, ostensibly to repair the states road and bridges. This included a gasoline tax hike of 12 cents a gallon which hurts poor and middle class working commuters. It will give California the 2nd highest gas tax in the nation and likely the highest price at the pump due to California’s distance from the major refineries and a requirement by state air regulators that further increases the cost of gasoline for our state.

For his vote, Cannella, the rat, received a half billion payoff for projects in his district that have nothing to do with fixing potholes. They were designed to give him something to crow about to voters when he seeks higher office in a state heavily dominated by Democrats. Continue reading “Cleaning out the Rats in Government” →

Why Obamacare must Go

The first order of business for the new Congress is the repeal of Obamacare. The American people demand it. The only people who seem to be happy with Obama’s signature achievement are those who are rich or getting it for free, or nearly free.

Dig a little deeper you will find that the bleeding-heart liberal rich with their on-call concierge physicians or so-called Cadillac plans are the only ones truly happy because they are unaffected. Those who get Obamacare free through the expansion of Medicaid, or nearly free, have found it is a trap because fewer and fewer doctors are willing to take these patients. The doctors who do require long waits. It’s call rationing which is a hallmark of socialized medicine or Obamacare-Lite, as the case may be.

For the average guy or gal, Obamacare has been a disaster. My cousin Lori is a case in point. As an adjunct college professor she was informed that she would no longer be eligible for company health benefits for 2017. The college then offered her the ability to self-pay through Obamacare. Continue reading “Why Obamacare must Go” →

The Obama Legacy: Broken Promises and Lies

In 2004, Barack Obama came onto the stage at the Democrat National Convention as the party’s candidate to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate and wowed the country with his keynote address. Less than three years later, he was campaigning to be president of the United States with a lot of promises and a message of “hope and change.”

Though Obama remains a popular figure, the overwhelming majority believe that he has placed the country on the “wrong track.” Those who even remember his promises, now know they were empty.

In his final days at the White House, I made a list of his most memorable broken promises or outright lies — one for each year he was in office.

1. “If you like the (health care) plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your Continue reading “The Obama Legacy: Broken Promises and Lies” →

USA on Slavery’s Slippery Sloap

The average life of a democracy is 200 years. Our country has outlived its expiration date largely because it is a democratic republic with a constitution that guarantees our citizens certain inalienable rights and a government with three co-equal branches, each with checks on the other two.

We are now seeing those basic rights eroded by an aggressive Supreme Court. We also are seeing those checks and balances upset by an equally aggressive president and a Congress that is reluctant to use the power at its disposal.

Furthermore, the financial stability of this nation has been undermined by our elected representatives who have learned that the best way to stay in office is by spending our money and doing favors for their supporters.

As a result, our economy is at a near standstill and we are mired in debt. China is bullying us, but we owe so much to that communist country there is really nothing we can do about it. This has to stop before it is too late because, as the Bible says, “The borrower is the slave to the lender.”

Just how far have we fallen down slavery’s slippery slope? Continue reading “USA on Slavery’s Slippery Sloap” →

What will Transgenders in the Military Cost America?

There are many ways to take down this powerful country:

Pack the Supreme Court with ideologues who ignore the Constitution
Dumb down public education
Increase the size and scope of government
Put more people on the public dole
Put the government in charge of healthcare
Over regulate and over tax businesses and corporations driving them offshore or out of business
Demonize the productive members of society
Refuse an international leadership role
Go back on your word to foreign leaders
Strengthen the country out to destroy us
Weaken the military

Most of these things did not begin with Barack Obama, but there is little doubt that he has picked up the pace. However, two events making the headlines this week should be enough to shake us awake from our political slumber: His bargain with Iran, which has empowered our sworn enemy and accelerated the arms race, and his decision on transgenders and the military. Continue reading “What will Transgenders in the Military Cost America?” →

How to Get Beyond the State of the Obama Union

President Obama delivered his 6th State of the Union message to a Congress which is now completely controlled by Republicans. In case you missed it, here is a brief synopsis:

“I fixed the economy (wages are stagnant and the work participation rate is a paltry 62.8 percent, the lowest since 1978) so it’s time to let the good times roll. I’m giving away free ice cream and we’ll make the rich pay for it. Now who wants free ice cream? “

Before you grab your dish and line up for a scoop, let me warn you. You may not get the flavor you want or need and, in the end, it will cost you more than you ever thought you would pay. Continue reading “How to Get Beyond the State of the Obama Union” →

“D-Day” for Republicans

“D-Day” is a military term used to denote the beginning of a combat mission.

There is a new D-Day coming. Let’s call it “Decision Day for the United States. It falls on December 11. That is the day the GOP must decide if it will accept the mandate it was given by the American people to lead or if it will run up the white flag of surrender to an unpopular but stubborn president.

If you have been paying attention, then you know that this is the day the government runs out of money. The timing is awful, two weeks before Christmas when most people are busy with the holidays and have checked out politically.

This timing is no accident. The price of liberty really is eternal vigilance. There can be no liberty without the ability to control a fair portion of what we earn which is slowly slipping away with each passing tax increase. And don’t kid yourself, if we don’t get the nation’s spending under control, more hefty tax increases are coming. It’s just a matter of time. Continue reading ““D-Day” for Republicans” →

Paul Ryan’s Tax on Travelers

The assertion by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray, that their budget compromise does not raise taxes is tantamount to Barack Obama’s pledge, “If you like your (insurance) plan, you can keep it.”

All of the above knew their statements to be bald-faced lies right from the get-go!

The difference is it took most people more than two years to figure out Obama’s charade, while most airline passengers already know the Ryan-Murray line won’t fly. Continue reading “Paul Ryan’s Tax on Travelers” →

So You Think You’ve Paid Your Tax Bill

Thursday, April 18, is Tax Freedom Day this year. That is the day when the nation as a whole as earned enough to pay its local, state and federal taxes. It’s five days later than it was last year, primarily due to the fiscal cliff deal that raised federal taxes on individual income and payroll. Additionally, Obamacare’s investment tax and excise tax went into effect.

That means that the average taxpayer will work 29.4 percent of the year, just to pay his or her tax bill. But not so fast, the Tax Foundation which runs these numbers does not include the amount of annual federal borrowing, which represents future taxes owned.

So you see, celebrating Tax Freedom Day would be like paying your family’s bills that come due each month while ignoring the amount you run up on those credit cards in order to meet all of your obligations.

This year, the federal government plans to borrow another $833 billion, but remember, that is best case. The year isn’t over yet.

If we add in the cost of all this borrowed money, Tax Freedom day will not come until May 9, which is well over a third of the year. Under the old feudal system which was practiced in medial Europe, the lords, who owned all the property, taxed the serfs 1/3 of what they produced and we called them slaves! Continue reading “So You Think You’ve Paid Your Tax Bill” →