What did the turkey say to the turkey hunter?
"Quack, quack, quack!"
If the Pilgrims were alive today, what would they be most famous for?
Their ages.
Why shouldn't you take turkeys to church?
Because they use fowl language.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
First I get my copy of Sarah Palin's book and now I learn that Jimmy Buffet has a new album coming !! Woooowhoooo!
Scheduled to be released on December 8th. Get your early copy here.
president Zero, Our Hero, has announced he is almost, kinda sortof, working hard, thoroughly reviewing, taken enough trips, attended enough parties, (okay, one more), and may be ready to arrive at a response to the request of General Mc Chrystal delivered over 100 days ago for some more troops.
The world awaits...........*
(* not really)
Why, say it ain't so!
Longtime readers know the olde Rumbears position on man made GlowBall Warming. It is, has been and will continue to be a hoax. I have read the books and written inumerable musings on the failing thereof. So much so that I tired of the topic. Well, it's back. Recently, hackers accessed the files of the leading scientists supporting GlowBall Warming and found evidence of fraud. Literally, they have been cooking the scientific data to get their desired results. It's a fraud, a hoax.
......revealed by a thousand or so emails, documents, and computer code sets between various prominent scientists released following a leak from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in the UK.
This may seem obscure, but the science involved is being used to justify the diversion of literally trillions of dollars of the world’s wealth in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by phasing out fossil fuels. The CRU is the Pentagon of global warming science, and these documents are its Pentagon Papers.
Don't take my word for it. Go read the e-mails. Threats to withold submissions for peer review, attacking those scientists with contrary opiions, and destroying data that supports the position that man made GlowBall Warming does not exist.
Here are three things everyone should know about the Climategate Papers. Links are provided so that the full context of every quote can be seen by anyone interested.
First, the scientists discuss manipulating data to get their preferred results. The most prominently featured scientists are paleoclimatologists, who reconstruct historical temperatures and who were responsible for a series of reconstructions that seemed to show a sharp rise in temperatures well above historical variation in recent decades.
……………
Secondly, scientists on several occasions discussed methods of subverting the scientific peer review process to ensure that skeptical papers had no access to publication.
……………
Finally, the scientists worked to circumvent the Freedom of Information process of the United Kingdom. Nowhere is this better evidenced than in the email reproduced in full below (minus Dr. Jones’ contact details):
From: Phil Jones
To: “Michael E. Mann”
Subject: IPCC & FOI
Date: Thu May 29 11:04:11 2008
Mike,
Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4?
Keith will do likewise. He’s not in at the moment – minor family crisis.
Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same? I don’t
have his new email address.
We will be getting Caspar to do likewise.
I see that CA claim they discovered the 1945 problem in the Nature paper!!
Cheers
Phil
Andrew Bolt says other emails discuss suppressing data. East Anglia University's Professor Phil Jones wrote in 2005 that "If they ever hear there is a freedom of information act now in the UK, I think I'll delete the file rather than send it to anyone."
"Obviously some of the world's top climate scientist, ones most involved in developing this theory, involved in a massive collusion stretching from America to Britain in trying dodge, fiddle with data, destroy data when others try to check it, sceptics try to check it," says Bolt.
Lies, damnable lies.
My old pal JD Hayworth is apparently looking at a run for the Senate seat currently held by the RINO John McCain. You remember him, he was the one dragging down the Palin/McCain ticket in the last election. Recent polling has JD in a statistical dead heat with the the RINO McCain.
John McCain may have been the GOP's national standard-bearer just a year ago, but now he's in electoral trouble at home. And this time no one can claim it's because of Sarah Palin.
A new Rasmussen poll shows the Arizona Senator in a dead heat with potential GOP primary challenger J.D. Hayworth.
I say Run JD, Run!!! Time to rid the Senate of this old fossil from Arizona and bring in someone who will put America first!Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Did ya go to a celebration? Honor those Vets? Pay your respects at the Tomb of the Unknowns? Salute the flag?
Guess who didn't? Yup. president Zero, Our Hero.
Good luck finding this photo....anywhere.
Okay, Okay...it was an Aerostar.
Many of you (2) wrote and wanted to which plane was that I was talking about in the last entry. You know the one about that whore Mary Landrieu.
Well it was a model 601 "Ted Smith" Aerostar says my logbook. Fast, sleek and handful to fly. Like flying an arrow. We used it when we had to move freight...fast. Had some issues with the fuel delivery system and that is what led to our unscheduled landing at what they now call TYS. (GOOGLE) I wrote about it sometime back. Here ya go......
....lost the right engine later that year with a full load of freight southbound out of Columbus, oHIo. Declared an emergency through ATC and by the grace of God found ourselves over Knoxville, TN. We could not stay in the air and were downbound at 800 feet per minute. Unable to feather the dead one, it steadily windmilled. Circled the airport and ran through the checklists. Busted over the fence, threshold in sight and just as we thought we had it made....hit an owl in the left engine. The cowl exploded and the plane turned rapidly to the left. Unique view of the runway out of my side window. With two pilots stomping on the right rudder and we "landed". Rolled out and came to a stop. Egress was, as they say, expedited. I threw up. Captain Murray, well, he was a Captain. Towed from the active taxiway to a hanger. Dispatch was called. Mechanics were called. We flew that bitch home later that night. Sans cowl bits. Same old whore in a torn dress.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Were just haggling over price at this point. But make no mistake, you and I are paying her. Thanks Mary!
“I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it,” Landrieu told reporters after her floor speech.
Well good on ya Mary! At least we know when the next cloture vote comes up it's just a matter of price. Here's a link if you want to pay her direct. Otherwise just bend over and wait.
I feel a story coming on. Like to here it? Well, here it go.........
Back in the old flying day of the Rumbear we had this nasty old plane that all of us had been on, in and spent countless hours around. Hard to control yet fun to fly. Fastest plane in the fleet. Sleek, twin engines that would get you to flight levels in leaps and bounds. Yet, a mess on the inside and out. Well, the owner finally made enough $$$ on the leaseback to take it out of circulation for a while and clean the old girl up.
The plane came back on line with a new paint job, new TBO's on the high powered twins and a fine looking interior. We were all impressed. Couldn't wait to take her out for a blow around the patch, as they say. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm. So Captain Tom Garretson takes her aloft for the days scheduled run and returns to my ramp late that evening. I walk out to greet him and ask in my innocent can't wait to get this thing aloft sense "So what ya think".
"Same old whore in a new dress."
Crestfallen, I later made a flight or two in the plane and had to begrudgingly admit ole Tom was right. She was dressed up, looked good and had all the right looks...still flew like a lame duck in a wind storm. The Mary Landrieu of our fleet.
Well, the bottom fell out of the GlowBall Warming crucible the past few days. My buddy Chris has the gore E details (get it? ) over at his great site. Seems some hackers tapped in to the scientific vast GlowBall Warming computers in the UK and guess what. They lied. They cheated. You got duped.
While we wait for the liberals to
Now, we here at the Chronicles are a classy bunch. Far be it from us to say I told you so. But sometimes.....well, you bring stuff on yourself. So
I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so.I told you so...........
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Hard to think about my dad and not smile about Uncle Bud. (He is 3rd from the right) My Uncle, the Socialist from Canada. Go figure.
Fond memories ...Told me some good stories of my dad. Hell, I even let him drive my Porsche ...once. Another time he visited me in SF....we had a spirited discussion on politics over a bottle of cheap rum in a run down hotel on Lombard Street. As I recall, dinner in Chinatown followed. Then again, maybe it was two bottles of rum and we skipped dinner.
As a former member of Parliament his cohorts had the opportunity to get up and speak on his passing. What they said is below. The link I had on this is no longer any good. So I will print it in it's entirety here.
The House met at 1332.
Prayers.
MEMBERS' STATEMENTS
Hon Bob Rae (Premier): Mr Speaker, I wonder if I might have unanimous consent to make a statement about the passing of a member of the House.
The Deputy Speaker: Is there unanimous consent? Agreed.
1350
BUD GERMA
Hon Bob Rae (Premier): Yesterday, the Deputy Premier and I were away from the House attending the funeral of Bud Germa, who was a member of this place from 1971 to 1981. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few words about him.
Bud Germa was born in the Sudbury basin. He joined the armed forces, the RCAF, in the Second World War. He came back to Sudbury and worked as an electrician for Inco. He then went into municipal politics. He was elected to the federal Parliament in a by-election in 1967 and he was elected to the provincial Legislature in 1971. He was defeated in the election of 1981.
Bud passed away over the weekend after a long struggle with cancer. I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about him beyond the simple description of the chronology of his political career.
I did not in fact serve with him, though I was the leader of the party from 1982. Of course, I got to know him extremely well because he remained politically active until the very end of his life. Those who served with him -- and I know there are some members present who remember him vividly from his time in the House. He was what I think one could describe as a political original. He was someone of great passion, verve, good humour and blunt speech.
He was not someone who either minced his words or chose to phrase them in particularly flowery ways. His eloquence stemmed entirely from his experience and from his sense of the people he represented. He cared deeply about the people of Sudbury and the Sudbury basin. He cared deeply about the people he worked with and for. He cared passionately about their health and their safety and their position in our society. He cared very, very deeply about this province and about Canada.
I said that Bud Germa was a man of great and good humour. It is not, I think, possible for me to express in quite as pungent and direct a way Bud's humour, certainly in the current political climate, but I would say that Bud's commitment to being straightforward and his commitment to service was not a grim or onerous task for him; it was one that he took up with gusto and with a great deal of vigour and with a great deal of joy.
He was a tremendous partisan debater in this House at a time when night sittings were a regular fact of life rather than a two-week exception at the end of a session. He was known to everyone as a tremendous participant in debates, particularly in the periods of the minority governments between 1975 and 1981, when debates and votes were constant and were very closely argued.
I know that other members will want to say a few words. I had a chance yesterday, together with the Minister of Finance, to raise a glass at the Nickel City Hotel at about the time question period was due to start yesterday as we were reflecting at the end of the funeral on his commitment to ordinary people, on his sense of passion and compassion for them and on the enormous joy that he took in public service.
All of us will miss him. I shall certainly miss him. To his family, many of whom we were able to meet yesterday -- to all of them -- we wish our very best and our sense that this is, of course, a sad event, but it's also a moment in which we celebrate a remarkable life of service for the people of the province.
Mr James J. Bradley (St Catharines): I rise on behalf of the Liberal caucus to express, as well, to the family and close friends of Bud Germa our remorse and our sadness at his passing last weekend.
It was just last week that I was chatting with some of the Sudbury members about Bud Germa, asking about his health, because I know that, particularly in recent weeks, he has had great difficulty in his battle with cancer.
It's interesting that, when I say "a battle with cancer," Bud Germa was never a person who would give up. I was reading an article from the Sudbury Star on February 23 of this year. One of the comments that Bud made himself with his usual candour was the following: "The prognosis is not terminal at this point. It's going to have to get me, because I'm not going to give up." That probably exemplifies Bud Germa and what he was all about.
Bud Germa, to me, was always what I expected in a New Democrat. He was perhaps a stereotypical New Democrat from northern Ontario, where I was born a number of years ago in the city of Sudbury, and the causes he fought for were causes that were dear to the people in that area, particularly to workers who worked in difficult circumstances relating to health and safety in the area. He was a very grass-roots individual. He had little time for theory and academia. In fact, he once referred to members of his own party who were more the people relying on theory -- and I can't remember the first part, but academic something heads, and I can't remember what it was. But that was terminology he used on that particular occasion.
Bud Germa, as I say, was a fighter. He was a person who represented his constituents well at the municipal level, in the federal Parliament where he served for almost two years after winning a by-election and of course in the Ontario Legislature, and even after he left the Ontario Legislature he was still a force to be reckoned with in his community.
Always the people who are closest to people like Bud Germa have probably the most relevant things to say about them. One I was reading was by Ron MacDonald, who is a staff representative with the United Steelworkers of America. He had a couple of things to say about him which I think really point out what Bud Germa was all about.
He said, "Germa stood out from most politicians because what you saw is what you got," and how true that was. He also said: "When he believed in something he fought for it. You didn't have to agree with his position, but you knew he didn't have a hidden agenda. He wasn't slick or polished and there was nothing devious about him."
That, I guess, says it best, perhaps better than anyone of us could, and I thought it was most appropriate that subsequent to the funeral, the report I had was that many of his friends proceeded to an establishment in Sudbury which was well known to many people in the area. I was too young, of course, to ever be involved with it, but I know that many people in the Sudbury area have heard of the Nickel City Hotel. Bud would have been delighted that, subsequent to celebrating his life and paying tribute to him as he passed, the congregation then moved to the Nickel City for the wake.
Mr Norman W. Sterling (Carleton): Bud Germa came to this Legislature in 1971. I came here in 1977 and had the experience of sitting on the opposite side of the House in government while Bud Germa sat in these benches in opposition. I can remember sort of the first blush of Bud Germa. We used to sit late at night and I used to time my exit out of here so I wasn't going home on the same street as Bud Germa was, because I thought if there's one guy I don't want to meet on a dark Toronto street it's Bud Germa.
But I must say that over the ensuing three or four years I got to know Bud Germa a little bit better, and as the previous speakers have said, Bud did appear like a very tough guy on the outside and was very direct. Conversations with him on political structure and theories would be less than a sentence long and he would be very pointed.
Because he was pointed he did appear rough on the exterior, but when you got sitting down with him, I don't think anybody on any side of the bench or any political party could doubt his integrity and his real softness on the inner. He was really a Softee Toffee and probably wouldn't like you saying that, but the truth of the matter is that he was very generous in terms of his time, given particularly I believe to people who really needed it in his area, and people who really needed his help and came to him. He was probably the least selective of anybody in terms of who he dealt with and how he dealt with the problem.
1400
I know his good friends like the member for Nickel Belt, Mr Laughren, and Mr Martel, who spent many hours with him, both in this place and in other establishments, enjoyed the number of stories that Bud Germa had. Bud Germa had more stories about various aspects of Ontario life than anybody I know of.
He probably epitomized sort of the two extremes of politics. On the one hand, if you got him into an argument in this place about an issue, you couldn't get somebody who was more dogged, more determined, more stubborn about that, but on the other hand, you probably couldn't find a person in the Legislature at the time who was more good natured and better humoured than Bud Germa.
I think that when people who watch us on television from time to time see us laugh at an inappropriate time, the odd time that happens to us, because politics is a tough thing to live with when people are talking about passionate issues on one hand and then an off comment comes and we laugh at the inappropriate times, I think in some ways he represented that kind of dichotomy that we find in politics here in the province of Ontario.
I think Bud Germa did, as he would say, a hell of a job for his constituents in Sudbury. He was a guy who worked with his hands, who came to this Legislature and continued to represent the people who did work with their hands.
I want to express our sympathies and our appreciation, as members of the Progressive Conservative Party, for the contribution he made to this Legislature, to Sudbury and to the people of Ontario when he served them so well in this place. Our sympathies go to his family and his friends. We will all miss Bud Germa for his contribution and his good humour and his good nature that he brought so well to this place.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
So it's that time of year again where I share the olde reading list. Some good reads this year. I enjoyed "Spirit of Adventure" by Alvin Townley. He writes about Eagle Scouts and their adventures. Couple of books on the battle at Gallipoli….the Diggers are born and British arrogance is at it’s zenith. Currently reading "Going Rogue" by my favorite Ex Governor.
As an aside, I have again been perusing the writings of Anton Gramsci and Nicos Polantzas. A couple of commie bastards that originated and refined the “Cultural Hegemony” theories that Saul Alinsky tries to usurp. You want to understand president Zero and his minions? Bob’s your uncle. (Of course, we originally discussed this here)
2009
Success on the Step, The Kenmore Air Story C. Marin Faure (Good Re-Read)
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House By Jon Meacham
Best of Trial By ATLA Press
Spirit of Adventure: Eagle Scouts /Making of America's Future By Alvin Townley
The Scoutmasters Other Book By Mark Ray
Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised By Henry Robert III
Rules for Radicals By Saul Alinsky
Liberty & Tyranny By Mark Levin
The Spell of the Yukon By Robert Service
In the Event of My Untimely Demise By Brian Sack
Gallipoli By Alan Moorehead
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill By William Manchester (Gallipoli portions)
Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles By Mort D. Mason
In the Presidents Secret Service By Ronald Kessler
His Excellency: George Washington By Joseph J. Ellis
Going Rogue By Sarah Palin
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Local Man Claims Responsibility For Own Problems
In an odd exposé that has left the worlds of politics and academia abuzz, a local homeless person revealed yesterday that he only blamed himself for his failures. The incident occurred near the dumpster behind the Shop Rite store in Brooklyn, when Willard Kookish, formerly of 435 Subprime Lane in Nutly, NJ, casually told a reporter that "my problems are my own fault."
Read the rest here. A sad, sad tale......
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Bird strike on Cactus 1549. I have sailed with silver sea gods and flown with some pretty SH (Sierra Hotel) pilots. This guy has nerves of steel. Great reconstruction here.
Blessings to you and yours Cap'n. When called to act, you answered.
Bwwaaahhhahahah...jokes on us!
Zero, Our Hero just can't stop genuflecting in front of his contemporaries. They sure seem to like it. Michelle Malkin has the details.
Link. Click. 1162 days left.......
ACORN is suing the gubbermint, (AKA you & me) because we had the temerity to cancel their place at the public funding trough when employees were caught on tape working with a pimp and his main ho to get financing to bring underage children to work as ho's in America. In not just one but multiple locales across these United States.
The group’s lawyer, Jules Lobel, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights, views the Congressional resolution removing Acorn’s funding in the wake of an embarrassing scandal, as “… a classic trial by the legislature.” “They have essentially determined the guilt of the organization and any organization affiliated or allied with it,” Lobel added.
ACORN is the victim. Pulllleazzzze.
......Because he has been so worried about spending money up till now...
While President Obama’s decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial budget implications that are adding pressure to limit the commitment, senior administration officials say.
Dithering......What a pant load.
Did ya hear about this....
Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura secretly visited Fort Hood last night and spent "considerable time" consoling those who were wounded in Thursday's shooting spree, Fox News has learned.
The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.
I did not think so...
....class act, all the way.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Monday, November 09, 2009
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Don't know if you are following the America's Cup proceedings. I used to live and die by what used to be a semi every 3-4 year event. (Worked with America True when I was Commodore, hung out in downtown SF watching the races when I was supposed to be working, etc, etc.) Then the furriners got heavily involved and now they spend more time trying to jack the rules and sue in court than suits my needs. It is a sad state of the sport to have this fiasco be considered a premier event.
Be that as it may.......
The latest intrigue involves around one rich guy from the Bay Area spending millions to race against this other gazzillionaire guy from that bastion of sailing, uh umm, Switzerland. Bay Area guy sued in court in ...New York and won. This threw a monkey wrench in to the Swiss guy's plans to race against himself and be the winner...again. So Swiss guy, complying with the court to race by February 2010, builds an extremely fragile light air boat and announces the race site will be ........ off of Dubai. Dubai being a noted sailing venue, I guess, if your from Switzerland.
So...............back to court they went. Judge in New York last week took mere moments to rule against rich Swiss guy and say cut the crap. Race is still on in February 2010 but where? Prolly Valencia...but the court will rule on that next week.
In the meantime...
Rich Bay Area guy continues to train in San Diego. Which gets me to the entire point of this post....COOL photos! (clickphotoforbiggun) BMW Oracle lost their mast yeasterday in 10 knots of breeze while sailing just off the coast. $10M estimated loss. It's only money.
It was 30 years ago today that a mob of Iranian students scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, took 52 Americans hostage and began a lengthy standoff that humbled the most powerful country on earth.
That's right...that other abject faliure of a Democrat President, JIMMAH! (Carter), watched as the US was humilated by the Ayatollah. The current president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming to be a "student" was with the group that held the Americans hostage for 444 days. (The guy on the left of the blindfolded hostage in the photo) They were interrogated, made to fear for their lives and held in dark isolation during their imprisonment. JIMMAH! could do nothing to free them.
It was not until the election of Ronaldus Maximus that the Iranians came to their senses and released the hostages.
On January 20, 1981, 20 minutes after Reagan was sworn in as President, the American hostages were released by Iran into U.S. custody, having spent 444 days in captivity.
20 minutes!!!
ED NOTE: How long has president Zero, Our Hero, been "dithering" over the troop request for Afghanistan??
Watch for information on this little chapter of American history in the main stream media today...
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
The Silent Majority Stirs...
REPUBLICAN TAKES VA BY 18%...
REPUBLICAN TAKES NJ BY 5%...
NY: Hoffman [C] Owens [D]
Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore. Let the pendulum swing.
As Han Solo said to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars...."Don't get cocky kid!"
Monday, November 02, 2009
Often times conservatives are labeled as arrogant in an effort to detract from their message. Being confident in ones beliefs and using logic with facts to support those positions troubles those without any core values. The abscence of a center from which to base a viewpoint causes some to cast about always looking for an answer. Life is not about finding a right answer, it is about having beliefs and values that allow you to be grounded and comfortable with a position. Sometimes that position may not be popular, but the position has value as it comes from your core belief.
Uncle Rush illuminated this in a past editorial I was reviewing the other day.
I love being a conservative. We conservatives are proud of our philosophy. Unlike our liberal friends, who are constantly looking for new words to conceal their true beliefs and are in a perpetual state of reinvention, we conservatives are unapologetic about our ideals. We are confident in our principles and energetic about openly advancing them. We believe in individual liberty, limited government, capitalism, the rule of law, faith, a color-blind society and national security. We support school choice, enterprise zones, tax cuts, welfare reform, faith-based initiatives, political speech, homeowner rights and the war on terrorism. And at our core we embrace and celebrate the most magnificent governing document ever ratified by any nation--the U.S. Constitution. Along with the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes our God-given natural right to be free, it is the foundation on which our government is built and has enabled us to flourish as a people.
I can only add, amen.
WTH? How's the supply in your state? There is none out here!
Hope/Changey...how's that working for you?
When I questioned the livestock delivery company as to whether or not they could quickly move some donkeys. They agreed to haul ass.
I've never tipped a cow. Then again, one has never served me food.
Yesterday I accidentally swallowed some food coloring. The doctor says I'm OK, but I feel like I've dyed a little inside.
Great article in the Sunday LA Times By William Voegeli. He compares the different approaches to managing state functions using Texas and California as the focus. California does not fare to well.
THE GOLDEN STATE ISN”T WORTH IT
In America's federal system, some states, such as California, offer residents a "package deal" that bundles numerous and ambitious public benefits with the high taxes needed to pay for them. Other states, such as Texas, offer packages combining modest benefits and low taxes. These alternatives, of course, define the basic argument between liberals and conservatives over what it means to get the size and scope of government right.
Roger Simon chimes in …. “All our best intentions have gone to mush in a welter of competing, greedy interest groups.”
Today's public benefits fail that test, as urban scholar Joel Kotkin of NewGeography.com and Chapman University told the Los Angeles Times in March: "Twenty years ago, you could go to Texas, where they had very low taxes, and you would see the difference between there and California. Today, you go to Texas, the roads are no worse, the public schools are not great but are better than or equal to ours, and their universities are good. The bargain between California's government and the middle class is constantly being renegotiated to the disadvantage of the middle class."
The article caught the eye of John over at POWERLINE
But those higher taxes in California must be going somewhere. Why aren't they benefiting those many thousands of citizens who are leaving the state for greener pastures?
In what respects, then, does California "excel"? California's state and local government employees were the best compensated in America, according to the Census Bureau data for 2006. And the latest posting on the website of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility shows 9,223 former civil servants and educators receiving pensions worth more than $100,000 a year from California's public retirement funds. The "dues" paid by taxpayers in order to belong to Club California purchase benefits that, increasingly, are enjoyed by the staff instead of the members.
No doubt similar studies in other high tax states, like my home state of Minnesota, would show the same thing: taxpayers aren't getting anything in particular for their money, likely less than citizens in other states, but public employees are doing very well indeed. This explains why public employees' unions have become the Democratic Party's most loyal supporters, while those who are not on the public employee gravy train increasingly are packing up their belongings and moving to lower-tax states like Texas.
The debate, really, is over. High-tax states don't deliver a better lifestyle--not for taxpayers, anyway. One of these days, voters will figure out that the same thing holds true at the national level. Higher taxes may be OK if you're a public employee; otherwise, they're a dead loss.
Callyfornia…leading the way as an example of what not to be. I wonder if the Libtards will listen? I doubt it.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Frank Luntz has been polling....
2. “By an incredible 61% to 14% margin, more people believe scientists will discover life in outer space than believe the current healthcare plan won’t add a penny to the deficit.”
This is fostering MY hope and now it's time for some change. There are six other great bullet points in the article. (click) Mount up and ride to the sound of the guns. (they are over there in New Jersey, Virginia and NY-23)
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