A sad day for the First Family

The first family is vacationing at Martha's Vineyard. Some of the beaches there are closed due to possible coliform contamination. President Obama played golf instead of swimming.

Rima Fakih, the first Muslim winner of the Miss USA pageant, said she agreed with Mr. Obama's statement that the Cordoba Initiative has the Constitutional right to build a mosque there. She also went on to say she felt it should not be built so close to ground zero. According to the New York Post, she said "I also agree that it shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion."

Finally, Obama's mortgage aid program had a 48% dropout rate according to a recent treasury department report. "The government program as currently structured is petering out. It is taking in fewer homeowners, more are dropping out and fewer people are ending up in permanent modifications," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. This was reported at BreitBart.com in an article by AP's Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger. On the bright side 32% of homeowners in the program received permanent mortgage modifications and are current on their payments.

Treasury Department hosts housing conference

The Treasury Dept is hosting a conference on the future of the US Government in the housing and mortgage industries. Mortgage executives and government housing officials will attend this first of many conferences on this subject. (Was anyone expecting decisive action from a pre-lame duck administration and congress?) Government officials are expected to say that government needs to decrease its involvement in the housing and mortgage industries. In December 2009, the US Treasury removed the $400 billion limit on bailing out Fannie and Freddie. This puts the US taxpayers at risk for any and all losses Fannie and Freddie sustain. How much more involved can the US government get with these 2 companies? At $400 Billion, the sky was the limit. Unlimited liability will put us on the dark side of the moon.

Another consideration is the US Congress, specifically the house financial services committee. Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and cohorts allowed Franklin Raines, director of Fannie Mae to change the pay plan so he received $91 million from 1998 to 2004. Then accounting discrepancies (AKA cooking the books) were uncovered and he was forced out and had a settlement of $24 million on the charges. Look for resistance to reform by the boatload from these folks. Click here for my post on Barney Frank.

Update on my earlier post

Before the people with no sense of humor start accusing me of advocating barbarian practices, let me say this.

First, The human cannonball solution was done with zip point naught seriousness on my part. This would flood the Mexican embassy with trial lawyers seeking work visas in Mexico. hhhmmmm maybe that would cut down on medical malpractice suits and help bring down health insurance costs. I also think it would be cruel to the aliens.

Second, I made the IRS agent suggestion only half in jest. What kind of health care reform bill needs 16,000 IRS agents. Not any real ones. How many tax and spend bills would need that many agents? All of them. I am all for health care cost reform. That is why I am opposed to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid socialized health care disaster.

A simple solution to the Arizona illegal aliens problems

I was websurfing earlier today and saw an article about the Arizona border security problems with illegal aliens. Beside it was a picture of a Border Patrol Agent using binoculars to survey the border for illegal aliens. He had a pickup truck with a cap on it for holding prisoners. Then I realized what the problem was: Border Patrol Agents are too wimpy and kind-hearted for the task. They carry water and nabs for illegal aliens they find suffering from dehydration and low blood sugar.

Then I had an inspiration. Remember when President Obama ordered 1200 national guard troops sent to the border to support law enforcement agents? The troops could not actually enforce laws just support the enforcers. Now, remember how many IRS agents would need to be hired if Obamacare is not defeated? Try 16,000 or 320 per state. His actions speak louder than his words and tell of different agendas.

Why not just take 3,200 of those agents and put them on Arizona border enforcement. Take off the Border Patrol markings on the vehicles and replace them with IRS markings. At the busier crossings have an armored truck to safeguard all the fines and penalties they impose. This would make the most determined prospective illegal alien think twice before crossing.

Another quick solution. Buy cannons used by the circuses for human cannonball shows and set them up at the border. Give them a summary trial at the border then outfit them with a parachute, a water bottle and a pack of nabs. Then shoot them across the Rio Grande. Think of all the paperwork that would save not to mention cutting down on recidivist crossers.

Interesting fact on Oil Taxes

Remember when Obama said that BP would pay for all damages caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill? I just learned that there is an 8 cent per barrel tax on all crude oil drilled in or imported into the USA. The tax monies go into a fund to reimburse the Coast Guard and other government agencies expenses incurred to contain and clean up oil spills. If BP has to reimburse these expenses, can they apply for a refund of the tax they already paid into this fund? I doubt it. If President Obama is so concerned about sparing the American taxpayers any losses from these spills, he should donate all the campaign contributions received from the oil companies. He got the biggest contributions from them, it's time for Obama to practice what he preaches and spread some of the wealth oil companies spread his way into this fund. It would show his sincerity behind earlier promises about transparency in government and no lobbyist influence. Will this happen? Probably not.

Go GOP!!! Hold the Democrats feet to the fire!!!

I just read a news article that the Obama/Pelosi/Reidcare reconciliation bill has procedural flaws in it and will have to be returned to the house for amendment. I am glad the Senate Republicans have not given up hope and are working to uphold the will of the American people and repeal the 2500 plus page bill. The best part of this is not that flaws were discovered so soon but the flaws were in the parts pertaining to the student loan takeover of the bill. Golly galorisky gee whiz, who could have imagined that the dedicated demagogues of the house could have made a mistake. It makes me wonder how many, if any, of them bothered to read the bill.

Rep. Barney Frank, d-Mass let the cat out of the health care nationalization bag already. He said that if the current bill led to an overload on the health care system and led to an emergency enactment of a public option, this would be a good way to segue the USA into a single payer health care system. Barney boy, Americans are not socialists. We are a freedom loving country and will not change for you or your fellow control freaks who cannot imagine the American people running their lives without constant government intervention and micromismanagement.

Nancy Pelosi inserts foot into mouth.

I just came across a quote from a March 9, 2010 press release from the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I just had to share it with everyone.

"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it away from the fog of the controversy."

I bet she wishes she had thought that one through a little bit more. What happened to transparency in government? If she wants the fog of controversy to clear, just do your deeds on the house floor with C-Span to document it for you. Do away with the closed doors meetings that you and your fellow democrats use so much recently.

In the interest of making this a fair and balanced rant, I offer 2 counter quotes.

"Imagine, if you will, that I am an idiot.
Then, imagine that I am also a Congressman.
But, alas, I repeat myself."
-- Mark Twain

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. "
-- Will Rogers

For more information on the GOP healthcare reform bill click here.