Resistance is futile!

Cue "Twilight Zone" music...

SERIOUS QUESTION: The morning after Halloween, you find the heaviest piece of furniture in the house about 8 inches from where it usually is, with no explanation. Everything else is perfectly normal. Thoughts?

Those scary tea party terrorists

This is a must watch:

The Waco reference really helps put things in perspective.

A friend I never met - and never will

Tragedy in Oregon today.  Lisa Zielinski, an integral member of AM radio KYKN in Salem, was murdered in what appears to be domestic violence.

Lisa was one of my many facebook friends - one of many Oregon conservatives who shared her thoughts on the news and events with like minded Oregonians.  I have never met half of my facebook friends in person.  Now there is one I can never meet.  And that is a loss for me, for the community, and for Oregon.  I didn't "know" Lisa - but I read what she wrote.  I made a connection with a wonderful person.  Now that connection - that person - is gone, and I am sad I never got to actually KNOW her.

I am trying hard not to be political as I write this.  But with Arizona still on our minds, I can't help it.  Earlier today, before I heard this news, President Obama was on television giving a speech about the Arizona shootings.  I didn't watch it.  I didn't think the President needed to be there giving a speech in front of grieving family.

I don't have the figures in front of me, but I am guessing something like 20,000 people are murdered each year in this country.  As a general rule, the President doesn't respond directly to most of them.  In any given year, the President doesn't directly respond to ANY murders.  The President only did this because it seemed politically appropriate.

Then I got online, and learned what happened to Lisa.

The President will not speak out about Lisa.  But then, he doesn't need to.  Lisa will be loved by her surviving children, her friends and her community - always.  And Lisa is loved now by her Eternal Lord in Heaven.  Love and faith will heal and restore in ways no political speech ever can.

R.I.P. Lisa.

Economics 101

Here is the truth about tax cuts and revenue:

When taxes are low, the economy is strong. More people move money from one person to another, from one business to another. Moving money is the driver of profits, and profits are the source of tax revenue. When taxes are low, tax revenue is high.

When taxes are high, the economy is weak. People hang on to their money. Businesses hang on to their money. Worse, some businesses go out of business, and some people lose their jobs. That means fewer people and businesses have any income at all. When taxes are high, tax revenue is low.

Free market capitalists believe in economic freedom. Leftists, progressives, socialists, communists – in other words, most democrat politicians – believe in government control of the economy.

So then, why do democrat politicians appear – at least on the surface – to support tax cuts in the form of tax rebates and tax credits? Aren’t these “lower taxes” and shouldn’t that mean “more revenue” and “economic freedom”?

No.

First, go back to the big picture. In order to enact tax rebates and tax credits, you must begin from a baseline of high taxes. After all, if taxes are already low, what is left to lower further from rebates and credits? Therefore, democrats want the baseline to be higher taxes across the board.

Now, when taxes are high, the economy is bad. This creates an economic crisis. What does a crisis do? It gives the government an excuse to act – for your own good, of course. So the democrats propose targeted rebates and credits, as relief for the poor, to help the economy – never mind that the economy is bad because of democrat supported high taxes overall.

So, why give targeted cuts instead of just lowering taxes? The answer has two components:

First, targeted tax cuts allow politicians – and this applies equally to republicans and democrats – to buy votes. Need votes in the heartland? Give subsidies to farmers. Need votes in the rust belt? Give bailouts to automakers. Losing support among the poor? Give them rebate checks. This then allows you to create class warfare for political gain. Soak the rich; help the poor. Or the other way around. All political groups do this.

Second, targeted tax cuts allow the government to control what segments of the economy prosper, and which die out. They are not simply an economic tool, but a policy tool. Want to promote an environmental policy platform? Raise everyone’s taxes; then give tax credits to “green” industries. Want to support the LBGT alliance? Offer tax credits for health care for same-sex domestic partners, while opposing them for non-married heterosexual couples. By the way, that last one is current law. I am not making this up to bash gays. I don’t give a darn about sexual preference. But my wife and I did pay more in taxes before we got married because she put me on her employer’s insurance plan, while same-sex couples doing the same thing did not. But I digress.

And now, you can see just what it is that the left wants to do with tax policy: use higher taxes to cripple the economy, creating an economic crisis that requires government action, and allowing government to rescue only those segments of the economy that meet the political agenda of the left.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to just, you know, lower taxes for everyone, let the economy recover on its own, and then allow the people to choose politicians who advocate for policy choices independent of the economy? If you want environmental or civil rights or agricultural policies, then win elections based on the merits of your positions. Don’t use an artificial economic crisis that you yourself created to advance an agenda behind the scenes.

Yes, we can and should have a litmus test somewhere

Wow... this makes no sense to me.

Anyone else see the irony of harshly attacking a fellow Republican for... harshly attacking fellow Republicans?

Seriously, though: I strongly believe in Reagan's 11th Commandment - but you have to draw a line in the sand SOMEWHERE, where you say "once you cross this line, as far as I am concerned, you are no longer a Republican worthy of the 11th Commandment."  Where is that line?  Well, it varies for all.  For Bob, it was supporting the largest tax grab in Oregon's history.  I can respect that.  That's a well defined line.

If you have no line, then what is to stop democratics from just saying "oh yeah, we're Republicans now" and demanding party support?

Draw your line - and defend it!

Jack, it is time for you to realize: the era of playing nice is over.  We are in the greatest crisis most of us (all of us born after 1945) have ever experienced in our lifetimes.  Playing nice will destroy America.  We need to fight hard and win without any more "compromise" pushing America further to the left towards the precipice of outright socialism.

Sad News

Just heard that Oregon Treasurer Ben Westlund has died.  Even though he and I had opposite views of issues, I do believe Ben was a decent man.  I didn't work with him much in the capitol, but when I did, he was always jovial and gracious.  His family is in my prayers.

good news, bad news

Well, we may have lost a good congressional candidate, but we gained a good county commissioner candidate.

I think this is a smart move for Leiken.  I just don't think Defazio is vulnerable enough right now.  Don't get me wrong - I think Leiken is a great guy and the best potential challenger for the seat.  And Defazio has to go!  But right now, it looks like Defazio is still too entrenched.

This move allows Leiken to expand his political experience outside of Springfield and sets him up for a number of 2012 and 2014 options.  I'd like to see him run for treasurer in 2012 and help turn Oregon's finances around.

Blind justice

So the administration has decided to give 9/11 terrorists civilian criminal trials in New York City.  What could possibly go wrong?  Oh well, at least it won't be in Los Angeles...

Hey, as good a job as they are doing with everything else, why not?

Nancy Pelosi led the democratics to pass the House version of comprehensive government health care.

Naturally, Oregon's democratics voted along with her.

Here is what Sid Leiken has to say about it:

Government takeover of Healthcare has long been one of DeFazio’s signature issues. The fact that he was one of the last holdouts to vote for it shows how unpopular this bill is at home, especially the $400 Billion in Medicare cuts.

As I wrote in my recent Op-Ed, to understand the local impact of DeFazio’s vote we need only look at the financial consequences on our ambulance services, which are struggling to stay afloat just with current government reimbursements. With DeFazio voting to further cut Medicare funding and expand government control we can now look forward to more serious economic challenges here at home.

By voting for this bill DeFazio is ignoring the biggest issue: jobs. Community based businesses have long been the job creators in South West Oregon. With the new horrendous tax burdens and unfunded mandates that DeFazio’s vote now places on them we will continue to have double digit unemployment.

Next year’s elections will come down to these major issues; who can improve our economy and bring jobs, who will stop deficit spending and increased taxes, and do we want greater government control of our lives. With the long history of high unemployment in his district, and his unsustainable deficit spending votes, we have long known where DeFazio stands. By casting one of the deciding votes for government run healthcare, DeFazio has clearly shown us where he stands, a blatant disregard for the economic needs of seniors, the unemployed and the small businesses of our district.

What is it going to take to wake you up, people?

ACORN is now busted on a FOURTH VIDEO.  In this one, the happy ACORN community organizer is giving the "pimp and hooker" tips on not just cashing pimp money in for a successful political campaign, but also seducing male bank executives, getting the most out of underage illegal alien kiddie hookers, oh, and hiding the bodies after killing people who get in your way.

Do you think that is a stretch?  I don't.  It sure sounds to me like she confessed to premeditated murder of her husband after framing him with false claims of domestic violence.  I mean, sure, you can interpret that conversation however you want to... but that is MY interpretation.

And the scary thing is... the film makers have hinted that even bigger bombs are dropping soon!

Don't know what I'm talking about?  Well, if you don't watch FOX News, listen to conservative talk radio, or read conservative websites, you haven't heard about any of this.

And what is ACORN doing now?  Why, changing its name, of course!  Yes, it will now be "Community Organizations International."  Well, either way, it is still a COMMunity organization IntErnational group of America-hating leftist criminal thugs.

And NBC?  ABC?  CBS?  New York Times?

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING!  Will ANY of these "news" sources take notice?  Will any of them follow up on ACORN as it tries to hide under new names?

This is an organization that created Barack Obama, and which - as far as all objective evidence suggests - is writing our legislation and setting our policies.  It is an organization that has already received tens of millions of OUR DOLLARS and which could potentially receive BILLIONS of "stimulus" dollars.

And every indication is: corrupt, criminal, dangerous.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?!?!?!?!

Will anyone in the federal government take action?

What about here in Oregon?

Does ACORN receive any Oregon taxpayer dollars?

Has anyone in government bothered to ask?

Did ACORN have anything to do with any of the big bills passed this session?

Why isn't there a RICO investigation underway?

IS ANYONE ELSE EVEN ASKING THESE QUESTIONS?

The complete and total blackout of all of this in our traditional news media is frightening.  This is the sort of media compliance with a corrupt administration I would expect out of the old Soviet Union or NAZI Germany.

Yes, I went there.  What else am I supposed to do at this point?

WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!!