$3.6 Million for studies of drugged up monkeys on Taxpayer's Tab

Where's PETA when we need them? The National Institute for Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institute of Health, received $3.6 million over the last 10 years to get rhesus monkeys to smoke PCP, Heroin, Meth and Cocaine. One study even researched the effects of drugs on female monkeys during different stages of their menstrual cycles. I can just hear ex Madame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi complaining of gender discrimination because no studies were made of the effects of contraband drugs on male monkey menstrual cycles. What an affront, wait, make that assault on women such as Ms. Pelosi.

Here's the part that's really shocking. Monkeys react to drugs like people do: dilated pupils and high strung agitated behavior. Wait one minute, don't researchers experiment on monkeys because they are so similar to humans? I've got a better idea. Leave the monkeys in the jungles and rain forests, use convicts for research. The U.S. has lots of drug addicts in prisons now, let them earn their keep as research volunteers. They can get money like research volunteers on the outside do. Maybe give them less money and a get of jail early card as a reward for volunteering. Just make certain they live drug free after the research is completed so they will not fall back to their old habits when they are released.

(Yet Another) Warning on The U.S. Government Debt

Today Fitch's Ratings issued a statement that if the U.S. Government does nothing to correct its growing debt problems it will review the U.S. Government's credit rating in August 2011. August 2011 is when the current emergency measures to extend the U.S. Government's ability to borrow money under the current debt ceiling expire. Moody's as well as Standard and Poor rating services have already issued warnings of a credit rating review. Is anyone in Congress or the Administration paying attention here?? We'll find out by Sept. 30. 2011, when the 2011 fiscal year ends.

Obama's slip of the tongue on religion

Here's a brief YouTube clip of an interview of Barack Obama by George Stephanopoulos. It is done in a barn. I wonder whose benefit this is for, Obama or Stephanopoulos? Anyway, Obama says McCain has not commented on his Muslin faith and his loyal sock puppet Stephanopoulos promptly corrects him by saying Christian faith.

Time is Running out on the U.S. Debt Problem

China recently lowered its holding of U.S. Treasury bills by 97%. Treasury bills are debt instruments that mature in 12 months or less.

Moody's said it would have to re-evaluate the U.S. credit rating of Aaa if there is no progress on reduction of the U.S. debt by Mid July, 2011.

The U.S. unemployment rate for May 2011 increased to 9.1% The Stimulus bill was supposed to lower unemployment to an 8% rate.

A word to the wise and our congress. We cannot keep delaying action on our debt problems any longer. Our past approach has been described as kicking the can down the road. We have hit a road block the size of the Great Wall of China and need to act now to reduce our debt. 40% of U.S. government spending is borrowed money. The interest on the debt is snowballing. Soon it will become an avalanche that will bury us and drastically reduce our economy and standard of living.

One last request of our congress: stop pointing the finger of blame at each other. There is enough blame for every democrat, republican, socialist, tea partier and everyone else. Be bold. Stop fixing the blame and start fixing the problem.

Qaddafi's Green Book On Socialism

Here is a clip of former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney's appearance on Libyan TV. She sounds like a grade school teacher which leads me to believe she regards anyone that does not agree with her politics is juvenile. She ran on the green party ticket for the U.S. Presidency in 2008. Chronic overachiever that she is, her goal was to capture 5% of the votes. The Green Party was created for people of color. That is the politically correct term for non-white people. She said she discovered Qaddafi's Green Book on a visit to Libya. The Green Book opposes capitalism, the creating force behind modern transatlantic travel. I guess she either swam to Libya or used capitalist created jet airliners. She also liked Qaddafi's concept of direct democracy which she defined as the politically correct term for Socialism.
Ms. McKinney's only reference to the Libyan resistance movement was to say someone attributed Qaddafi's mercenary troops as black, which she said was typical propaganda that U.S. black people were used to. I never read anywhere the mercenaries were black, they were referred to as Syrians, an Arab nation not an African one.

To see the clip on YouTube just click here.

Michigan Man wins Lottery Big Time, Legally Keeps Food Stamp Card

Over 11 months ago, Leroy Fick, age 59 of Auburn , Michigan won $2 million in the state lottery game "Make Me Rich". After taxes and fees, he was left with a less than paltry $850,000. Prior to his winnings, he was a Michigan Bridge Card recipient, AKA food stamps. Mr. Fick reported his winning to his local Department of Human Services. He was advised that since he accepted his winning in a lump sum payment, it did not affect his bridge card eligibility at all. If he had taken the winnings in annuity form spread over time, the money would be counted as income, rendering him ineligible for food assistance. Apparently, there is no resource or asset limits on food assistance. I used to work as a welfare case worker in the early 1990s and there was a $1,000.00 asset limit on food stamps. This was in Ohio. I cannot imagine that the Federal Guidelines for food assistance have changed that much. How will we ever balance our budget or reduce government spending if we keep giving money away like this??
Michigan's state population for 2010 was 10,079,985. 1.9 million people in Michigan received food assistance. That is 18.8 percent of the state's population on food assistance funded by taxpayers. In 2009 the Inspector General's office investigated 2600 food assistance complaints and found $5 million + in fraud. My question is how flagrant were these fraud cases if money in the bank is not fraud???

The Train to Nowhere Departing at a Leisurely Pace

Remember back to the Stimulus/Bailout/spend our way out of a recession caused by subprime lending ad nausem era how high speed trains (faster than a speeding bullet) were going to create lots of jobs and improve our infrastructure?? Well, guess what. Several states have reviewed their budgetary state of affairs and decided now is not the time to throw more money at a system that is currently losing money. So, no bullet trains for now. But wait, the state of Illinois is spending $3bn of their existing stimulus funds on adding 3 new trains to the 5 that run between Chicago and St. Louis. Not only that, the average speed of these trains will increase from 51.2 mph to 56.8 mph!!! Woo Hoo Hold on to your hats everyone!! We'll need airline pilots to fly these rail rockets!! I wonder how much more $$$ it would take to get these trains to the magical mile a minute speed of 60 mph?? 1, 2, 4 billion?? I doubt it. There would be calls for research on the effects of breaking this subsonic barrier on the environment, no doubt about it. Never mind that tractor trailer rigs break this barrier on a daily basis. To paraphrase Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's former chief of staff and the future mayor of Chicago, "Never let an opportunity to waste taxpayers money go to waste."