Getting Fired Up

Where is the point of no return, folks? When will we draw the line? When and where are the primary questions. How, I believe, will be the invention borne of necessity.

I can't speak for the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of being bullied.
Let's be clear - these problems have been brewing for a long, long time, under the watch of both Republicans and Democrats. The status quo is unsustainable, and the kind of disregard for and mockery of the sentiment of the citizenry under the Obama-Pelosi regime is simply the last straw.

There is a line in Batman Begins, by the villain, no less, that goes something like: "Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

Bullies do the same thing. They feed off of their weaker opponent's refusal to retaliate. And I mean this in the very largest sense, beyond your prototypical playground scenario.

I have lived many bullying scenarios, those in the obvious school house settings, and others in less obvious scenarios. None are fun, all leave scars, and not always do you realize you've been the subject of bullying until after its too late and the damage has been done.

Make no mistake, America: those of you at odds with Washington, with what they are doing with our country and how they are spending our money with reckless abandon, you are just beginning to feel the early phases of what it feels like to be bullied. Mark my words - it is going to get far worse before it gets better.

Our political leaders have been operating in vicious cycles, bloating our government with unnecessary involvement in our lives in the hopes that it will act as a bribe - a bribe for your vote. Think about it - every election cycle, Republicans and Democrats alike stand before you telling you everything they are going to DO for you, which is code for new entitlements, new regulations, new programs, more government.

I have repeated these words of Thomas Jefferson ad nauseum and will continue to do so: "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."

And it isn't just entitlements - it is his belief that Uncle Sam somehow knows better than the rest of us, i.e. regulations. I just heard on Fox News Radio recently that the FDA is looking into forcing food companies to gradually decrease the amount of salt in processed food. Sounds good enough on the surface, lowering our collective blood pressures. Yet what right does the government have to make that decision for us?

There are many people who are ardent supporters of smoke free restaurants, among other public places. Wonderful - then vote by frequenting your favorite smoke-free establishments. Under what circumstances should a government have the right to tell a business that they can or cannot allow smoking?

Where, America - WHERE - will we ever be able to draw the line? Our Republic, if we can even still call it that, is in extreme trouble.

Do we simply want to be an entirely socialistic nation? If so, fine. Keep your mouth shut. Keep voting in the same ritualistic fashions, regardless of your political perspective and allow the Federal Government to sink their fingers deeper and deeper into your lives. Let people on both the right and the left make you out to be a kook on the fringe, crawl under a rock and just be quiet as you sign your life away.

We are a large and varied populace. We have different views, different wants, different needs - the pursuit of happiness can mean many different things to the many different people that make up this great nation. That's why achieving "equality of condition" is simply not realistic - whose perfect condition will have people achieving? Yours? Mine? Richard Simmons'?

A friend from college recently pointed out his disappointment with a group on Facebook that was essentially wishing for the death of President Obama. He stated that while he was no fan of George W. Bush, he criticized similar comments about that President. We allow the political establishment to disregard political activists as irrelevant when we engage in these most crude and rudimentary forms of discourse.

It is time, America to figure out just exactly what it is you believe. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am tired of being ignored, and I'm tired of being bullied. As the great orator Popeye the Sailor Man once state, "I am what I am and that's all I am."

Learn the facts. Substantiate your claims. Stay true to who you are and don't believe the nonsense, no matter which direction it's coming from.

We have to begin engaging in real discourse. Our elected officials seem unable to do it, so let's prove that we can.<

Grab your spinach...it' is time to roll up our sleeves.

Did I Miss Something?

I was just at a Tea Party on April 15th, and I'll be darned if I didn't miss the part about rounding up all the Socialists I could find and locking them up in camps. Did anybody catch this? Could you fill me in?

All I know is that Bertha Lewis - CEO of the Organization Formerly Known as ACORN (I hear Prince is assisting them with the creation of a new "symbol" that will be their title) - says that bad times are coming. By, gosh, if I didn't think that bad times were already here!

Recently Seen in My E-mail

Poor kid.  She thinks its bad when her pacifier is missing.  Wait until she learns that her financial future is so bleak.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words matter, just ask Bill Clinton.  I had never fully appreciated the complexity of the "be verbs" before this infamous exchange from Slick Willy the Wordsmith:

It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true.

Slick Willy's latest bit of literary witchery was a calculated ad hominem attack directed toward the tea party movement.  In a speech sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Clinton inferred that the anti-government movement could lead to another Oklahoma City bombing.  Of course, Slick Willy is too well... "slick" to say that verbatim, but that is not really his game.

I'm sure it will come as a shock to no one that this is part of the progressive game plan to take the wind out of the grass roots anti-big government movement.  I note a companion piece on the Center for American Progress website by Bishop Gene Robinson.  Robinson worries that Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and conservative Christian groups may engender hate among less stable members of society.  The obvious conclusion is that the message is suspect because of this perceived hate mongering.  I am quite sure that Robinson's "holocaust" and "Hitler" reference was not intended to be suggestive though, aren't you?

Lets be honest here, it is the extremists on both ends of the spectrum that everyone is concerned about.  However, concern over federal government government expansion being an indicator of growing socialism is a valid rational concern.  Worrying that over-logging a forest could lead to an environmental catastrophe can also be a valid rational concern.  Neither plotting a violent anti-government action nor spiking a tree are rational responses to these examples.

Keeping a close watch on all extremists is only prudent.  Needlessly restricting impassioned speech is un-American.  Sticks and stones may break your bones, but Words Matter.

Beware of Global W... and Other Long Tricky Words

In case you did not catch the poster boy for the CNN brain trust, Rick Sanchez, check out this insightful analysis about volcanoes:

...when you think of a volcano, you think of Hawaii and long words like that. You don't think of Iceland. You think it's too cold to have a volcano there.

The last I heard, volcanoes are related to plate tectonics and faults in the earth's crust.  Then again, I'm no geophysicist.

If you plan to travel to Arizona, Florida or Nevada this summer, be sure to scan the horizon for belching smoke and flowing magma.  Its scary to think that all this global warming may trigger a rash of volcanoes.  If you decide to go skiing in the Rockies next winter, be on the lookout for glaciers.  Above all, be extra careful that you don't
believe everything you hear or read. 

Wow

Not political in nature - I just thought this photo was incredible. As you might assume, this is a shot of the smoke and ash that is currently lording over Iceland.

Now I've never been to Iceland, but from the looks of things those mountains must typically tower over this small town. And yet, there they stand, dwarfed by that massive cloud.

Incredible.

Over-Privileged and Unhappy

Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.  ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Today is the day we pay for that privilege, or as Raph has pointed out, that 53% of Americans pay for that privilege.  I, for one, am pretty sick of being over-privileged.  All things being equal, I would just as soon be underprivileged.

Around the country, the over-privileged are gathering today to protest being over-over-privileged.  And why not?  According to the Tax Foundation, we live in a country where this year the average American had to work until April 9 just to earn enough to pay all his or hers tax obligations (i.e., Tax Freedom Day).  Further, consider this additional snippet of cheery news from the Foundation:

If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working until May 17 before they had earned enough to pay their taxes…

We live in a time where erstwhile and appointed cabinet members, congressmen, and spoiled celebrities uh… “forget” to pay their taxes.  We are made to bail out billion dollar companies, including the financial backbone of America, because they can not manage their own business.  The burden of health care has now further saddled the average tax payer for the foreseeable future.

It is not a happy time for the over-privileged, and we must either take it or take action.  I’ll let Bluto take it from here.

Figures

Remember last week when Regular Bros informed you that 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax?

Well, according to a new Gallup poll, about 45% think that the amount of federal income tax they pay is "about right."

Figures.

As a quick sidebar, I notice that this same poll shows that 3% of Americans actually believe they pay too little federal income tax. That means that there are over 9 million Americans who believe they should be paying more taxes.

On that note, Brohica and myself would like to launch a new service here on Regular Bros. If you are one of the 9,271,966 Americans that would like to pay more taxes, simply shoot us an e-mail and we will be glad to unite you with a fellow citizen who would be happy to let you pay some of their taxes.

Just a little something selfless we'd like to do to help make America a happier place.

Happy Birthday Mr. Jefferson!

Today is the birthday of one of the most influential shapers of American political thought, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was in my mind a free thinker, which did not always endear him to his contemporaries. Yet without Jefferson’s influence, I wonder how different our country might be today.

I recently read a story that suggested that Obama needs to reconcile his inner FDR and his inner Thomas Jefferson. What the …?? I can see the FDR, but the TJ eludes me.

In honor of Jefferson’s birthday, here are a couple of quotes that illustrate some obvious differences to me.

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
Thomas Jefferson

…the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Taylor in May 1816

I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
Barack Obama

A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, August 19, 1785

It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Barack Obama

The words “spinning in his grave” come to mind.

Government Knows Best

That Kathleen Sebelius...you know, it just goes to show that you don't get to be Secretary of Health and Human Services without having a formidable intellect. And by "formidable intellect," in this case, I mean an astounding lack of mental competency.

Apparently the FDA is working with food manufacturers to update nutrition labeling, including a new requirement that would force those manufacturers to place that label on the front of their packages! Read the story for yourself.

"Busy shoppers will be able to go into grocery stores and have some easy to understand information on the front of packages giving them quick data on what is a healthier choice," Sebelius is quoted in the article.

I know - picking up packages and turning them around is such a burden, not to mention strenuous. And don't get me started on actually having to read the labels. Couldn't they just put a button on the box, so when you push it, it tells you the nutrition facts?

Better yet - maybe they could just use a Flat Rate Box from the United States Postal Service and mail me my dinner! That way, whether we're having a garden salad or a soy meat loaf - if it fits, it ships!

Let the Regular Bros be clear:

You cannot legislate responsibility, no matter how hard you try. And no matter where you put the nutrition label, I'm still buying that delectable red velvet cake at Wal-Mart and devouring it in less than 24 hours.

Just try and stop me, Kathy.

Scary

I was tipped off to this story over at the Fox Nation. This kind of governmental power grab is very scary, folks, and should not be ignored. If unchecked, this manipulation of eminent domain will begin trickling down throughout the entire country.

Be warned.

The Hypocrisy of Maxine Waters

This video from Breitbart.tv says it all. BE WARNED: It does include angry liberals using ADULT LANGUAGE.

It Pays to be an American

I'm going to post an excerpt below from an article at Yahoo Finance that discusses, among other things, how 47% of all households pay no Federal Income Tax. Don't adjust your sets - that number is correct.

In this excerpt, you can learn how a typical family of four, making $50,000, using a married-filing-jointly status can actually turn a profit on their income taxes:

Here's how they did it, according to Deloitte Tax:

The family was entitled to a standard deduction of $11,400 and four personal exemptions of $3,650 apiece, leaving a taxable income of $24,000. The federal income tax on $24,000 is $2,769.

With two children younger than 17, the family qualified for two $1,000 child tax credits. Its Making Work Pay credit was $800 because the parents were married filing jointly.

The $2,800 in credits exceeds the $2,769 in taxes, so the family makes a $31 profit from the federal income tax. That ought to take the sting out of April 15.

Tax Day Tea Party

Tax Day Tea Parties are being organized all across the country. Americans have had enough of the spend now, ask questions later policies of their government. We are tired of the audacity our politicians have, assuming they can bribe us with services provided by our own tax dollars. Last time I checked, you can't be bribed with a dollar that was yours to begin with.

In my hometown of Aberdeen, SD, we will be gathering at Anderson Park on Sixth Avenue on Thursday, April 15th, to stand united and let it be known that we will not let our country go down without a fight. Click here to see the website for the nationwide movement. Click here to check out the Facebook page for the Aberdeen gathering.

The mainstream media will no doubt marginalize these gatherings, even though recent polls show that more Americans identify with the views of the average Tea Party activist than they do with their own Commander in Chief.

They will also mischaracterize the make-up of these gatherings, as though it were only White Americans with racism in their hearts. Yet that same study shows that the demographics of the Tea Party activists almost exactly mirrors the demographics of the country as a whole. Still, Black Conservatives are "called Oreos, traitors, and Uncle Toms."

Don't let your voice be marginalized. Find a Tax Day Tea Party in your area, be there and be heard. It is time to take this Great Country back.

"A noiseless course, not meddling with the affairs of others, unattractive of notice, is a mark that society is going on in happiness. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy." - Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Cooper, 1802