Further proof it's time to oust career politicians

Watching Meet the Press this morning just re-affirmed to me just how out of touch career politicians are with the American people.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, daughter of "Moon" Landrieu, the Mayor of New Orleans from 1970 - 1978, and the sister of the present Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu (Are you catching a theme here? Do you think the Landrieus are working on a family dynasty in Louisiana?), had the nerve today to slap the faces of every single American citizen when she decided to opine that we haven't done enough for New Orleans. The quote was, as follows: "Do you know how many houses all of the nonprofits have built? No more than 5,000 in five years. Do you know how many we lost? Two hundred thousand." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38893472/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts So, non-profits, and the charity and sweat-equity of millions of American people are not enough for Senator Landrieu. How absolutely appalling and insulting. How many of those five thousand homes did you and your brother build, Senator? None, I would venture to guess. How dare you minimize what the non-profits have done for the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana? Have you asked the residents who have actually benefited from those homes what they think? Or, would you rather have them languishing in those formaldehyde-filled trailers that FEMA (that you as part of the federal government) provided them with? Since those 5,000 homes provided by the good people of America through non-profits are not enough for you, why don't you just reimburse, out of your own pocket, all those non-profits, and the volunteers who gave their time and effort for the "paltry" number of homes they provided your City? You and your brother should be on your knees every day thanking the non-profits, those who donate their time and effort in building the houses and the Americans who donate the money so the house can be built rather than tearing them down for building "only" 1,000 houses a year.


Then Senator Landrieu had the audacity to say that "The mayor of New Orleans at the time was offered $5 million. That wouldn't buy them a, you know, loaf of bread for the week." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38893472/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts Are you kidding me, Senator? If you can't figure out how to spend 5 MILLION dollars in a wise enough way to "buy a loaf of bread for a week" then that goes a long way to explaining why you people in Washington keep robbing American taxpayers blind and wasting our money. FIVE MILLION DOLLARS would go an awful long way to building more homes in the area.

Once again, it's time to vote out these out of touch incumbents and career politicians, as well as would be "family dynasty" politicians, who admit they are unable to even figure out how to spend FIVE MILLION DOLLARS wisely enough to buy a loaf of bread. You, the American taxpayer, want to know where your money is going - it's going to fools who make foolish and reprehensible statements like those above, and who think that FIVE MILLION DOLLARS is worthless. Well, lady, I can surely spend FIVE MILLION DOLLARS more wisely than you can, as can the bulk of the American population. Time for you to find yourself another job where you can actually learn the value of money.

Then, the Senator also opines that what happened as a result of Katrina was not a "natural disaster", but rather a "man-made disaster. Well, of course it was - even the French, when they first settled the area, knew not to build in locations that were BELOW SEA LEVEL. But you folks in Louisiana thought that you could conquer mother nature, and you foolishly still think you can. Let me tell you, it is supreme arrogance and foolishness to continue to build below sea level and rely on levees to protect you. And, why, Senator, when you claimed it was a man made disaster because the levees failed, did you not bring up the fact that the made-made disaster actually resulted from the initial foolish decision to build BELOW SEA LEVEL? And now you are making that same mistake once again and expecting the American taxpayer to pay for it, as well as for the next time disaster strikes New Orleans (and it will). No levee is going to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, so, good luck with the next Katrina. I hope by then, the City of New Orleans will be smart enough to have an actual, workable evacuation plan in effect, because, if you had one for Katrina, it didn't work, in case you didn't notice.

I'm so glad I don't live in Louisiana - the Senator's comments today made Senator Dodd look like a genius.

Also, as an aside, in a separate segment of Meet the Press, Brian Williams spoke to DouglasBrinkley who recently published the book, The Great Deluge, which some of you may find of some interest. I have not read it yet.

Indicting Roger Clemens? Really?

What a waste of taxpayer dollars once again. Calling a A federal grand jury which today has indicted Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs while playing baseball. Really. Is this truly a good use of tax-payer dollars?

So what?! I don't care. Keep him out of the Baseball Hall of Fame if he violated their rules. Baseball has no place before Congress, period! The hearings themselves were a waste of time and money. But indicting Clemens for "making false statements" and "perjury" to Congress? Are you kidding me? How many times have members of Congress "made false statements" to the American people? If the Feds need to keep busy, well, start holding grand juries to look into the false statements members of Congress have made to the American people and let's start indicting some of them.

Ridiculous!

Another vacation at taxpayer expense!

In this economy, can anyone be so stupid to be so out of touch to go on yet another expensive vacation with the "glitteratti"? Apparently, the answer to that question is a decidedly loud YES!

I wish I could find an accurate count of how many vacations he's taken this year, but alas, no one seems to have compiled it. U.S. News and World Report is calling this the fifth vacation for the Obama family since July 2010 http://politics.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2010/8/11/obamas-plan-fifth-vacation-since-july.html and the eighth since the beginning of 2010. Still think he's in touch with the average American?

Yes, Barry - i'monvacationagain - Obama is heading to Martha's Vineyard for yet another vacation, but all is not happy in Obama land. Apparently, his t-shirt sales have fallen:

"One barometer of the plunge in excitement has been the sale of Obama-themed T-shirts, which designers had been banking on after the craze of last year. Clothing labeled with the president’s name sold by the thousands, helping to salvage a tough economic year for the island.
But this year’s T-shirt sales are much less brisk, merchants say.
“Last year, Obama gave you goose bumps, but I don’t think you’re going to see that this year,’’ said Alex McCluskey, co-owner of the Locker Room, who sold more than 4,000 “I vacationed with Obama’’ T-shirts last year. But so far this year, he said, his hot item is T-shirts of former President Bush asking, “Miss me yet?’’" http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/18/vineyard_buzzes_less_for_obamas_second_visit/

I understand the bottom of the t-shirt says "How's that hopey-changey thing workin' for ya'?" I know it's not working so well for me. I'm still at no vacations for this year - how about the rest of you?

And before any Obama defenders come rushing to his aid - he gets a vacation allowance from taxpayers and we taxpayers foot the bill for all the Secret Service and the logistics of his every move, so don't even try to say that they pay their own way! "n addition to his salary, the President gets numerous expense accounts including:

* General account ($50000)
* Official expenses of the White House office
* Entertainment expenses
* Separate entertainment expenses for official presidential functions
* Traveling expenses for the president and anyone traveling with him (above and beyond the free limo, helicopter, and airplane rides)

In addition there is an account designated for "unanticipated needs" which is not to exceed $1 million per year. These unanticipated needs include anything for the furtherance of the national interest, security, or defense, including personnel needs and needs for services. Basically if the President is over-quota for anything listed above, he can dip into this money." http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1478184

Just a quick sigh of vast relief and thanks!

As an unaffiliated voter, I am forced unfairly, through the improper use of my tax dollars, to pay for the primaries of political parties, but I am unable to vote in those primaries. This, I believe is an unconstitutional use of tax dollars for special interests, especially in light of the fact that more than half the registered voters in Connecticut are unaffiliated, or, as we prefer to call ourselves, independent. After all, we, the people, do not pay for conventions for the political parties, and the primaries are nothing but extensions of such conventions. The political parties are private entities and should be forced to reimburse the state for the use of state and municipal voting facilities. After all, making taxpayers pay for political primaries is akin to making taxpayers pay for union elections. It's absolutely senseless. But, I digress (please contact your representatives about this - although you, like me, probably won't get anywhere, since you will be trying to convince party hacks to actually put the needs of the people over the pocketbooks of their own political parties. . . . ).

In any case, back to the title of this entry - to the folks who voted in the Democratic Primary - thank you so very much for not voting for Ned Lamont to be your candidate for governor. Between the two candidates (and only between the two candidates, because there may be others out there more qualified), I do believe that you chose wisely, so thank you.

I'm sorry to learn that Justin Bernier lost the Republican primary for the US Congressional Fifth District for Connecticut, but the important thing now is to get Chris Murphy out of the House of Representatives, because, in my eyes, he does nothing but represent the Democratic Party and its and his own interests over the interests of the people whom he is actually supposed to represent.

In other words, folks, let's vote the career politicians OUT this November! Our Founding Fathers never anticipated career politicians, but instead, ordinary citizens who would serve their districts/states for a term or two and go back to their lives, not folks who would vote themselves pay raises and mooch off the backs of hard working Americans by providing themselves with the best health care our money can buy, and serve until they die in office. We, the people, however, are partly to blame for this, because we re-elect them. It's time for us to wise up and start enforcing our own term limits by voting out long-term incumbents (gee, my spell check wanted to change incumbents to incompetents - perhaps it knows something I don't?????).

What a surprise!

Today's Associated Press headline on Yahoo News reads: "Obama says he deserves a grade of 'incomplete'". http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100801/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_incomplete_grade Well, what else would we expect from the man who as an Illinois State Senator voted "present" rather than Yea or Nay on almost 130 occasions. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22335739 See also http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/mccain-obama-2.html

And, Mr. President, it's not just the economy upon which you deserve a poor grade. You deserve an "F" in my book for ignoring the will of the American people in just about every issue that has come before you.

Stop the borrowing, stop the printing of money, cut back on the entitlements and balance the budget. Oh, and there is that little border situation: Secure the border and deport the illegal aliens. Think of how many jobs that simple task would create for our country! And, while you are at it, since you and Mr. Holder claim to have law degrees and be admitted to the bar somewhere, how about taking the "enforcement" part of the Executive branch's duties seriously and actually enforce our laws, rather than failing to enforce them for "political expediency". After all, as the official White House web site states "The power of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress . . . . Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress." Last time I checked, we had border security and deportation laws on the books, thanks to the Congress, so start doing the job you were elected to do and start enforcing the laws as they stand. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch Additionally, as attorneys, you and Mr. Holder are also "officers of the court" and should behave as such. On both these counts, again, in my opinion, you deserve and incomplete at best, an F at worst.

It's time to strive for excellence, instead of just striving to be "better" than your predecessor whom you seem to blame for all the nation's and your woes.

And, a happy 13nth birthday to someone who will never read this blog. :-)