10) It’s really, really hard to be President –people expect you to do things and stuff.
9) America needs to be more like China.
8) Five year plans: they’re not just for Stalin anymore.
7) It’s still Bush’s fault.
6) Equity demands that it should be ten times more expensive to go to college in order to do something productive than it should be to go to college in order to become a bureaucrat.
5) Spending more public money on health care will still reduce the deficit. Really. It will.
4) Ending the influence of lobbyists and operating transparent government remains as important a promise to make today as it was during the 2008 campaign.
3) Joe Biden is very, very bored.
2) The problem with Washington is that everyone is eternal campaign mode. Accordingly, everyone should follow the President’s example and limit themselves to no more than 158 interviews and 411 speeches per year.
1) Nancy Pelosi’s face really is frozen.
(Honorable Mention: McCain-Feingold was passed during Teddy Roosevelt’s administration, for in overturning it the Supreme Court “reversed 100 years” of law).
Originally posted by Rich Trzupek, at ‘Big Journalism’
Andy Rooney on ‘60 Minutes’ a few weeks back:
“I don’t think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America.
Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America and see what happens…Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.
Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.
I believe they are called the ‘Boy Scouts’ for a reason, which is why there are nogirls allowed.. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE ?
I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion. I have the right ‘NOT’ to be tolerant of others because they are different,weird, or tick me off.
When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in citieswhere 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.
I believe that if you areselling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English! My father and grandfather didn’t die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.
I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can’t understand the word ‘freeze’ or ’stop’ in English, see the above lines..
I don’t think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.
We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our Constitution is a living document and open to their interpretations.
I don’t hate the rich. I don’t pity the poor. I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn’t stop you from watching them.
I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that’s better, and put your name on the building.
It doesn’t take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent tostand up to the kid and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say ‘NO!’
I think tattoos and piercings are fine if you want them, but please don’t pretend they are a politicalstatement.. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don’t want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me french fries!
I am sick of ‘Political Correctness.’ I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa–so how can they be ‘African-Americans’? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don’t go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else.
And if you don’t like my point of view, tough…because
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS– ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
Open letter to President Barack Obama from Adm. James A. Lyons, Jr., USN (Ret.)
Chairman
, Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet
January 27, 2010
President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing you ahead of your State of the Union address to caution you against drawing premature conclusions about the national security implications of climate change and cap-and-trade legislation.
Media reports indicate that you may frame climate change as a national security issue to prod Congress into passing cap-and-trade legislation, like the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House last June.
But recent developments underscore the danger of such action.
During 2009, much testimony was heard in the Senate about how Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 leading to regional freshwater shortages that could destabilize the relationship between India and Pakistan. This concern was originally given credence by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2007 assessment of the science. Sen. John Kerry, in his comments and speeches last year, noted how this region is home to Al Qaeda.
But just last week, the IPCC issued what has been called an unprecedented apology for including the Himalayan glacier claim in its report. The IPCC said that the Himalayan glacier claim was “poorly substantiated” and the claim was made in violation of “the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC procedures.”
In addition to the Himalayan glacier controversy, investigations by the IPCC, University of East Anglia and Penn State University are still ongoing into the so-called Climategate scandal, in which thousands of e-mails between senior IPCC scientists have given rise to concerns about inappropriate data manipulation and censoring of opposing scientific views with respect to climate change.
In addition to these significant controversies related to the science underpinning concerns about climate change, it is also important to consider how climate change policies will impact the military. To the extent, for example, that the national response to climate change makes energy more expensive and less available, and distracts the military and national security agencies from their core mission of keeping America safe, it could very well be that the true threat to national security is not climate change, but our response to it. According to studies by the Congressional Budget Office and others, Cap and Trade legislation could force U.S. energy producers to close facilities and cut production to comply with its mandates. Foreign energy producers would not believe their good fortune as they would only stand to benefit from such action.
Mr. President, I recommend that you consider establishing an independent commission of military and national security experts to examine the implications of climate change and related policies to national security. It is too important an issue to be driven by unsubstantiated claims, tainted by scandal and to result in counterproductive policies.
Sincerely,
Admiral James A. Lyons, Jr., USN (Ret.)
Chairman,
Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE TO ALL WHO WISH TO LEARN HOW WE ARE BEING SUCKERED INTO BELIEVING THE ‘CLIMATE CHANGE/ GLOBAL-WARMING LIE !
GO TO:
http://www.climatedepot.com/a/3943/Read-All-About-it-Climate-Depot-Exclusive–Continuously-Updated-ClimateGate-News-Round-Up
I encourage you to read the provisions of the phony climate bill called the ‘Cap and Trade’ Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. Call your State Senators and start complaining now, or kiss your disposable income & freedom goodbye!
This Congress and the staff members who draft this garbage are truly out to destroy the middle class of the USA.
A LICENSE REQUIRED FOR YOUR HOUSE !
Thinking about selling your house? Take a look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and Trade bill) This is unbelievable! Homeowners take note and mobilize your friends and relatives now!
Beginning one year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won¡t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the ‘Cap & Trade’ bill passed by the House of Representatives. If also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced.
The Congressional Budget Office (supposedly non-partisan) estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year.
NO ONE IS TO BE EXCLUDED.
However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure these voters get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else.
But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it. Probably the worst one is this:
A YEAR FROM NOW YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SELL YOUR HOUSE !
The caveat is (there always is a catch!) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes (mobile homes) are included.
In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator.
To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured.
Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is, and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act, in order to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements.
Then you will have to get your home measured AGAIN, and obtain a license (called a ‘label’ in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is– sort of like the ‘Energy Star’ efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner.
If you don’t get a high enough rating, you cannot sell ! And the EPA administrator is also authorized to raise the standards every year, even above and beyond the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act !
The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the ‘American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009) and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government¡s best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year.
The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings.
However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time.
SECTION 202
Building Retrofit Program mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America .
Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won¡t be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act.
You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e., ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. Oh, goody! The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements if you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants.
You should expect requirements such as ‘can’t have an income of more than $50K per year’, ‘home selling price can’t be more than $125K, or anything else to target the upper middle class (THAT MEANS YOU), preventing you from qualifying for ANYTHING!
Most of us won’t get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more of that ‘change you can believe in’ …
SECTION 204
Building Energy Performance Labeling Program establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year.
Oh, the label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label.
And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often (maybe annually).
But, the government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time.
Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started: that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program.
SECTION 304
Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d), Application of National Code to State and Local Jurisdictions, that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.
H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act
of 2009 (GovTrack.us)
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