Joey Gibson's Blog

Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

From FOX News comes this little gem Georgia Republican Wants Obama to Make 2010 Year of the Bible. According to the article, GA Representative Paul Broun has introduced a resolution calling on President Obama to declare 2010 the “Year of the Bible.”  The article makes the point that the great Ronaldus Magnus already did this back in 1983, so I guess it’s not completely unheard of. Still, this strikes me as somewhat silly and a waste of Rep Broun’s time.

A bit of the resolution reads

“The president is encouraged … to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture which has profoundly influenced and shaped the United States and its great Democratic form of government, as well as its rich spiritual heritage, and which has unified, healed and strengthened its people for over 200 years.”

He wants “people of all faiths” to “rediscover” the Bible. I wonder how he would react if some other representative offered up a resolution calling upon Obama to declare 2010 the “Year of the Koran” and asked “citizens of all faiths to rediscover the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Koran.” I doubt he’d support that one. Yes, you could argue that the Bible did influence our founding fathers and that the Koran did not, but still. Calling on people of “all faiths” to read your holy book has a name. It’s called proselytizing.

What‽ How can this be? Barack “Jesus” Obama is proposing indefinite “preventive” detention for crimes people haven’t committed yet? I thought only Republicans were evil enough to come up with plans like that!

Obama proposes Indefinite Preventive Detention without trial – Behind Blue Eyes – Open Salon.

Today is tax day in the US. Like many others, I waited until the last possible moment to file and pay, because I knew I was going to get screwed. I electronically filed my taxes last night, but I will be mailing a big, fat check to the IRS today to cover the rest of what I owe. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I will be sending a big, fat check the IRS for what I can afford to pay of what I still owe. I will pay the rest next month. Here, then, are some random musings about tax day.

• We need tax reform. Either the Fair Tax or a flat tax. Either one would be preferable to what we have now.
• We need to abolish withholding and force everyone to either make quarterly estimated payments, or pay the full amount on April 15. People would suddenly realize how much they are getting screwed and would demand tax reform.
• If you ask someone, “How much did you have to pay in taxes this year?” and they respond with “Oh! I didn’t have to pay anything, I’m getting a refund!” you should immediately punch them in the face, because they are completely clueless about our tax system.
• These absurd “tea parties” that Republicans are throwing do nothing but make them look stupid. They won’t actually accomplish anything. Neither will mailing tea bags to your Congressmen.
• Our government is far too large, much larger than it is Constitutionally allowed to be. Massive program and spending cuts are needed to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
• “Progressive” tax systems, like what we have in the US, are not “progressive” at all. In fact, they are abusive to the high achievers. According to the Tax Foundation, the Top 1% of income earners, who account for 16.5% of income, pay 33.7% of the taxes. The bottom 50%, who account for 13.9% of income, pay only 3.6% of the taxes. How is that fair? It isn’t. Our tax system is designed to punish “the rich,” and it’s only going to get worse with Obama and friends in office.

Based on what we’re seeing with federal bailouts and calls for laws to limit executive compensation from Dear Leader, I don’t see things improving any time soon. In fact, I think it’s going to get a lot worse for “the rich” in this country. Obama and friends are fomenting class warfare like we’ve never seen before, enciting “working Americans” to hate “the rich.” That’s the typical Democrat line, but Obama’s charisma and his status as a hero to “working Americans” is giving his pronouncements about the “excesses” of “the rich” more power. Hang out on social networks like Twitter and Friendfeed and you’ll see that the pitchforks are already being sharpened.

I just found the Obama Inauguration Speech Generator through a link on Friendfeed. Basically it’s like Madlibs; you fill in adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc, and then those words get plugged into the story. Hilarity ensues. Or not. Mine turned out pretty good, I think.

Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech

My fellow Americans, today is a hopeful day. You have shown the world that “hope” is not just another word for “change”, and that “change” is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually affect.

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces torpid and flacid challenges like never before. Our economy is blatant. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for sheep. Our healthcare system is flagrant. If your finger is sick and you don’t have insurance, you might as well call a lawyer. And America’s image overseas is tarnished like a petshop Hummer. But pillaging together we can right this ship, and set a course for Alabama.

Finally, I must thank my illiterate family, my petulant campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank The Evil, Wicked Rich for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of indoctrinating the American people. Without your presidential efforts, none of this would have been possible.

Now go create your own.

A few months ago I heard that the august leaders of Gwinnett County, GA (where I live) had decided that we’re all too stupid to decide for ourselves who we want hauling our trash. In an effort to assist us with our daily lives, they decided that they would administer all trash hauling in unincorporated Gwinnett themselves, with every homeowner being forced to abandon their current haulers and use the one appointed to them by the county. Do you believe that crap?

I have received two bills from my new county-mandated hauler, which I haven’t paid yet. And I’m glad I haven’t paid them. In a moment of sanity, Judge Michael Clark has issued an injunction to stop the program, leaving the existing haulers in place until a formal hearing can be held. Two of the ousted haulers have alleged that the county overstepped its authority and that the contracts are illegal. Whatever the reason, this next step towards total government control of our lives has at least been delayed, if only for a little while. Every story I’ve read about this has called it the county’s “controversial” plan, yet I haven’t heard much about it on the local media. What I do know is that the county had no meetings or announcements about the plan before it was finalized. When something like this is done by government in secret, you know it’s bad news.

The election is finally over, and The Messiah has been elected. I had known for at least two months that McCain didn’t have a prayer of winning but now that it’s official, well, it pretty much sucks. Actually, it’s not truly official until the Electoral College delegates vote and they could ignore the popular vote, but that’s not going to happen. So, Obama is our new Lord and Savior, with his truckloads of “hope” and “change.”

I was watching the Twitter and Friendfeed streams last night as the networks called the election for Obama, and then while McCain was conceding. The comments from tweeters and friendfeeders was nothing short of embarrassing. You people who voted for Obama don’t realize what you’ve done to our country. I’ve said many times that McCain was an awful candidate, but he would have been a hell of a lot better for the country than Obama. It will probably take a year before the extent of the damage is truly visible, but at that point, it’s too late.

And, for the record, I don’t give a damn what “The World” wants. This was our election, not “The World’s.”

When I got to my polling station, the line was out the door, for about 150 feet or so. I queued up with everyone else at 8:00. It took me about an hour just to get inside the building, at which point I saw that it was much like Space Mountain at Disney World: the queue inside the biulding was far longer than the queue outside. All told, I spent two hours and fifteen minutes waiting in line. I have never spent that much time waiting to vote.

I took my iPod and my Greek grammar with me, so I was entertaining myself while I waited and didn’t really pay much attention to those around me. But there were two ladies in front of me who were talking the entire time. At one point, one of them took a call. After the call, she told her fellow voter, “My girlfriend just told me that Obama is going to put the entire world on a single currency! That’s, like, in the BIBLE and stuff!” Good grief. I considered asking her if she actually believed Obama was the Antichrist, but I decided against it. The girl who was with her just said, “Yeah,” and then continued to disparrage her absent husband’s appearance. She complained about how he’s lost most of his hair and his “six pack” is now a “two pack.” I considered telling her that based on what I could see of her, she shouldn’t really be complaining. Once again, I decided against speaking.

One thing I noticed is that there were handmade signs everywhere saying “NO CELL PHONES,” yet about every third person in line had their cell phone out and was using it for one thing or another. I myself got my iPhone out several times and posted updates to Twitter. As I got near the penultimate twist in the line, a poll worker approached and told me to put my cell phone up. He was telling everyone, not just me, but it was still annoying. He kept saying, “This is a polling place! No cell phones!” You know, I can understand disallowing cell phones as you interact with poll workers, or as you actually cast your vote. But restricting them while you’re in a two-hour line is just absurd. Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I finished typing the email I was working on, sent it, and then put my phone away. Most people did not comply.

So, there you have my voting report. I did my part to stop The Messiah from ascending to the throne, but I doubt it will do any good. Too many people are caught up in this collective Obamagasm of all his “hope” and “change” and promises of moonbeams, puppies and ponies for everyone. Well, for everyone except those evil, wicked “rich” people who don’t “deserve” them and who are not paying their “fair share.”

The next four years are going to be interesting, to say the least.

While I certainly think that the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain’s veep has re-energized the party, I don’t really think it’s enough to stop Obama. I used to say that Obama was going to eat McCain’s lunch come November. Now I think he might just eat McCain’s appetizer, but Obama is still going to win. I just don’t think it’s going to be the landslide I originally predicted: .

So there’s been a lot of talk about what “dirty little secrets” Sarah Palin is trying to hide. And lots of talk about her politics. And lots of talk about her family. And lots of talk about her religious views. But I think people are missing the really serious issue about her religion that she’s not telling us. Let me ‘splain.

Look at the names of her children: Piper, Willow, Bristol, Track and Trig. Apart from being a bit odd and hippie-ish, there’s a disturbing fact staring us in the face. It has to do with two of the girls.

First, there’s Piper. What can we learn from her name? We learn that Sarah Palin and her husband are fans of the television show Charmed. Next, there’s Willow. What can we learn from her name? That Sarah Palin and her husband are fans of the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And what do the characters Piper and Willow on these two shows have in common? I’ll tell you:

WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!

Yes, folks, it’s pretty clear what’s going on. Sarah Palin and her husband are fans of television shows about witches, and therefore they are clearly witches themselves. So forget about what she may or may not have done in office, or what she says are her religious beliefs. She’s a witch. And how do you knooow if she’s a witch or not? There are many ways to tell, but the most accurate involves a duck and large scales.

Note: for the humor-impaired among you, this was a joke. Or my lame attempt at a joke, anyway.

Once Barack “Jesus” Obama takes office, we are so completely, totally and unbelievably screwed. His latest asinine plan is to impose a “windfall profits” tax on those evil, wicked oil companies, called “Big Oil” by liberals who want to give them a sinister air. (Did you know that “Big Oil” executives, also known as Destroyers of the Planet, personally pour arsenic into water systems and eat homeless children for breakfast? It’s true.) With this “windfall profits” tax, Saviour of the World Obama will give a “stimulus” check to every Working Family™ of $1,000 ($500 if you’re a single Working Person™). According to the article, Messiah Obama plans to implement this plan “as soon as this fall.” How the hell he plans to do that is a bit unclear, since he’s not actually president yet. (Though if you watch the way the media and George Bush Haters worldwide drool over him, you might think otherwise.)

From the article

“Obama simply asks that big oil companies contribute a reasonable share of the windfall profits they receive from high oil prices over the next five years to pay for emergency assistance for families right now,” the campaign says.

Doesn’t that just sound so sweet? Obama cares for the little man, so much. But notice three words in that bit: “asks,” “contribute” and “reasonable.” President-Elect Obama isn’t “asking” at all. He’s ordering, at the point of the US Government’s gun, that “Big Oil” pony up. Nor is this a “contribution.” A “contribution” is something done voluntarily. Again, when the Federal Government “asks” for something, there’s nothing voluntary about it. And then there’s “reasonable.” Who gets to decide what is “reasonable?” If you leave that to people like Obama, “reasonable” gets quite unreasonable very quickly.

I’d be interested to know how Obama Christ voted when George Bush’s stimulus plan came through the Senate. Anyone know? Of course, Bush’s plan didn’t penalize “Big Oil” which makes it completely different from Obama’s plan.

You can read the article over at Politico. After reading the article you really should read Atlas Shrugged so you can see where all this class warfare, instigated by liberals, and government “help” is leading us.

I received this photo in the mail today along with a puff letter allegedly from the man himself. It was basically, “I’m running for Prez because blah blah blah” and the same old promises he’s been making. Though no mention of drilling for oil in our own country or of stemming the tide of the Mexican invasion.

Oh yeah, and a plea for money. He wants as much as he can get, but he’s not getting a dime from me. I gave money to the RNC once, and all it seemed to be used for was to ask me for more money. Last year, I gave money to Fred Thompson’s campaign, but all I got for that was a lackluster ‘campaign’ by Thompson until he finally just gave up and went back to the set of ‘Law & Order.’ I may have given Bush 43 some money back in 2004, but I can’t remember.

McCain sucks as a candidate and he would suck as president. But he won’t get the chance to prove or disprove that, since he’s going to have his lunch eaten in the general election by Jesus Obama. As much as I hate to say it, Jesus Obama is going to win, and win big, in November.

Drudge has a link to this revolting story which showcases, once again, how Democrats lust for your money. Dems in the House are proposing a “millionaire tax” on those evil, wicked, filthy “rich” people. It’s only on those “rich” and not “working people,” of course, since “rich” people don’t actually, you know, work. The telling bit in the story is this

“What we’re talking about is a one-half percent income tax surcharge on incomes above $1 million,” said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of the Blue Dog group. “So someone who earns $2 million a year would pay $5,000. … They’re not going to miss it.”

It’s called “incrementalism,” and it’s where those jackasses in Congress get things passed a little at a time. It’s also called “class warfare” where they get “working people” to hate those evil, wicked, “rich” people in order to pass their agenda. “They’re not going to miss it,” eh? Who the hell are you to decide how much I will miss? What if Mr. Mike Ross thinks that somebody wouldn’t “miss” $100,000? Does that make it OK for Mr. Mike Ross to just take it? I mean, that’s only 10%, who would miss that? And for the poor schmuck making $2 million a year, it’s only 5%! What a deal!

There’s also this

Still, the development allows House Democrats to keep promises to adhere to pay-as-you-go budget rules that were a top campaign plank in 2006.

It would never occur to a Democrat to cut spending in another area in order to offset new spending. The knee-jerk reaction of a Democrat is to raise taxes on those evil “rich” people since, “they’re not going to miss it.” (In fairness, the knee-jerk reaction of Republicans seems to be to just not worry about where the money is going to come from for their new spending, which isn’t any better from a fiscal perspective.)

Also notice that the $1 million limit is only for couples. If you’re single, the tax would kick in at $500,000. That doesn’t exactly sound “rich” to me.

I saw this bumper sticker yesterday and snorted Pepsi out my nose. I refuse to vote Democrat, and I can’t stand John McCain, so who can I vote for? I don’t know. Bob Barr has just announced that he’s seeking the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, and the LP seems to have changed their position on immigration to something sane, so maybe the LP will be an option. Still investigating.

Go buy your own Cthulhu 2008 bumper sticker today.

And if you don’t know who Cthulhu is, WikiPpedia is your friend.

The Ludwig von Mises Institute has an excellent article called Economics 101: The Price of Gas that everyone should read. It explains how much of the price of each gallon of gas goes to those “greedy” oil companies, how much goes to our wonderful, benevolent, altruistic government, and how prices have changed since the 1950′s. It also compares prices in other industries with a critical statistic, called the profit margin. Go read the article, now.

As much as I would absolutely hate to see Obama or Hillary win the White House in November, a very large part of me would just love to see John McCain get screwed by McCain-Feingold. That would be some sweet justice.

Well, damn. Just damn. Fred Thompson has thrown in the towel. He no longer had any chance of winning, but it’s still sad to see him go. But, if we’re really being honest, I don’t believe his heart was ever really in the race. As I saw in an article a week or so ago about us “Fred Heads,” we wanted him to be president far more than he wanted to be president. I believe that is true.

Now I have no one to vote for. I can’t stand McCain. I don’t really like Guiliani. Huckabee is less-than-thrilling. Romney is OK, I guess, but nothing exciting. And Ron Paul is insane. Not too many choices left.

Fred Thompson has just released his Border Security and Immigration Reform Plan. It’s great. He understands what needs to happen to stop the flow of illegal aliens into this country, and how to deal with those illegals who are already here. Oh, if only we could actually get this plan implemented!

For those who don’t want to take the time to read it, here are the main points.

• No Amnesty — Do not provide legal status to illegal aliens.
• Attrition Through Enforcement — Reduce the number of illegal aliens through increased enforcement against unauthorized alien workers and their employers.
• Enforce Existing Federal Laws — Enforce the laws Congress has already enacted to prevent illegal aliens from unlawfully benefiting from their presence in the country.
• Reduce the Jobs Incentive — Ensure employee verification by requiring that all U.S. employers use the Department of Homeland Security’s electronic database (the E-Verify system) to confirm that a prospective employee is authorized to work in the U.S.
• Bolster Border Security — Finish building the 854-mile wall along the border by 2010 as required by 8 USC 1103.
• Increased Prosecution — Deploy the additional assets outlined above to prosecute alien smugglers (“coyotes”), alien gang members, previously deported felons, and aliens who have repeatedly violated our immigration laws much more vigorously.
• Rigorous Entry/Exit Tracking — Complete the implementation of a system to track visa entrants and exits, as has been required by federal law for more than ten years, and connect it to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC), in order to curb visa overstays and permit more effective enforcement.

Those are the high points for stopping illegal aliens from getting in and dealing with those that already have. The other side of the coin is fixing our fouled-up legal immigration system. Fred’s points on this are

• Maximize Program Efficiency — Reduce the backlogs and streamline the process for immigrants and employers who seek to follow the law.
• Enhanced Reporting — Improve reporting to the government by businesses that rely on temporary workers so that the government can track whether the visa holder remains employed.
• Modernize Immigration Law/Policy — Change the nature of our legal immigration system to welcome immigrants who can be economic contributors to our country, are willing to learn the English language, and want to assimilate.
• English As Official Language — Make English the official language of the United States to promote assimilation and legal immigrants’ success, and require English proficiency in order for any foreign person to be granted lawful permanent resident status.
• Freedom from Political Oppression — Preserve U.S. laws and policies to ensure that the United States remains a beacon and a haven for persons fleeing political oppression, while assuring appropriate admission standards are maintained.
• Service to Country — Place those foreign persons who are lawfully present in the country and who serve honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States on a faster, surer track to U.S. citizenship.

Go Fred!

Harry Reid, Democrat, Senate Majority Leader, is a complete and total ass. He tried to use the power of his office to bully Rush Limbaugh over comments Rush allegedly made. He wrote a letter to ClearChannel to try to silence Rush. 41 other worthless Democrats signed that letter.

Last week, Rush put the letter up for auction on eBay. It sold today for over 2.1 million dollars. Rush is matching that amount and the entire 4 million is going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.

So Reid, with egg on his face, took to the floor of the Senate today to try to spin this as something he supports. Reid is an ass. Rush has completely made him and his worthless colleagues look like the jerks they are, and now he’s trying to save face by “encouraging” his colleagues to bid on it. Ass. I swear, every day Democrats like Reid give me more and more reason to hate them.

Watch the video.

Fred Thompson is going on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight to officially announce his candidacy for President. Tomorrow he will have some sort of 15 minute webcast about it, too. This editorial points out a few things. First, apparently Fred’s supporters are being dubbed “Fredheads.” OK, I guess I can live with that. But what’s really exciting is this

Thompson is absolutely pro-life, period, no waffling about it. He is solidly pro-Second Amendment, period, no dithering. He’s a gung-ho war on terror man, a no-nonsense border security man.

Those are four amazingly important issues facing the country, and Fred is solid on all four.

As an aside, I have to say that I don’t like the name “war on terror” since terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy. Our enemy is clearly defined: radical Islam. But, since the Bush administration has gone out of their way not to “offend” the ever-touchy Muslims in our midst, everyone is familiar with the term. Regardless, Fred is committed to prosecuting it, so that’s a good thing.