Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

We are facing congressional failure. It’s primarily the fault of the Democrats because they control both houses of Congress. Instead of focusing on the number one problem in the country they focused on health care. Of course health care is important but the first issue is money to pay the daily bills.

California has a civilian workforce of over 18 million people. 12.5% are unemployed. According to state statistics employment in the manufacture of durable goods has declined by 9.6% in the past year. The decline in non-durable goods employment has been 7.4%.

Everywhere we look, we see that the goods we buy are manufactured in another country. Services are no different. Have you called Citibank, Earthlink, or Dell? Help lines are provided in India or Philippines. Pricewaterhouse Coopers has outsourced their data maintenance to India.

The highly respected Institute for Supply Management monthly report has been above 50% starting in August 2009. A number of 50% or higher is supposed to indicate a growing economy. While new orders have provided a positive situation for the companies, it has not translated into needed jobs. ISM, the AMA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other manufacturing associations need to work together by hiring lobbyists who will fight for laws rewarding American manufacturing and penalizing imported goods.

When you phone or email your congressman and senators you need to yell at them “Jobs. What are you doing to encourage job creation in this country?”

A Congressman Takes His Constituents for Granted

On February 20 I wrote this email letter to my congressman, Henry Waxman, using the contact on line service on his web site.

There are three really significant issues in America and this district today. 1) Jobs, 2) Banking Industry Controls, and 3) Health Insurance. They should be addressed in that order.

Jobs: How do you propose to re-build America’s employment when we have exported all our manufacturing and most of our service jobs to other countries?

Banking Industry Controls: Without the Glass-Steagall Act there is no protection from another financial meltdown. When will we see the imposition of new controls?

Health Insurance: You know what Anthem Blue Cross will be doing to their premiums. Rather than directing your efforts at covering the uninsured, what laws do you intend to support that will lower the cost of health insurance for those now covered?

On March 5 I received a reply. However rather than answering my questions a pre-written letter was sent with a modification in the last paragraph. The letter reviewed all the legislation that has been enacted related to the recession and “steps toward long term deficit reduction with the enactment of Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) legislation, which requires that any new federal spending be paid for with spending cuts or revenue increases.”

Finally in the last inserted paragraph, the writer responding to my inquiry wrote:

I am committed to doing all I can to promote employment, economic growth, and financial reforms. I would welcome your further comments on this important effort and hope you will continue to stay in touch with me on issues of concern.

I am supposed to be happy with this foolishness. I will not vote for Mr. Waxman’s re-election.

“The Hurt Locker” and Pro-War Hollywood

“Right wing” groups have bashed Hollywood for years. They call all the Hollywood types left wing, anti-war, pinkos and other derogatory names. So how did those Hollywood types vote “The Hurt Locker” best picture of the year, Kathryn Bigelow best director, and four other Academy awards?

My theory is that the members of the Academy really are trying to find the best picture of the year as well as those films achieving all the other accolades that are given to an outstanding film. Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and all the rest of that crowd will not attempt to take on this proven contradiction to their non-stop meaningless blab. In the long run they will probably still continue bashing Hollywood. After all they have an audience to entertain.

You think English is easy???

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce the produce .

3) We must polish the Polish furniture.

4) I did not object to the object.

5) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

6) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

7) When shot at the dove, it dove into the bushes

8) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

9) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

10) If you read this far, you ought to read the rest of the On Language entries in this blog.

Democrats Against Democracy

This editorial speaks for itself.

from LA Daily News

Anti-democracy: Redistricting panel in cross hairs of legislators. Don’t let them kill it.

Updated: 02/26/2010 10:14:22 AM PST

CALIFORNIA voters are starting to make some moves to wrest control of their government away from entrenched interests and entrenched legislators. And now those threatened interests are fighting back.

That’s the only way you can look at the attempt to do away with the state’s new Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is drawing support from Democrats in California’s congressional delegation.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission is a result of the voters passing Proposition11, the Voters FIRST Act in the November 2008 general election. The commission is still being set up, but it clearly already has lawmakers worried.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and 12 other Democratic Congress members have given at least $5,000 each to a campaign to scrap the redistricting committee before it does its work. And Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who will run for the seat held by retiring Rep. Diane Watson, chipped in $20,000.

The 14 legislators gave $160,000 in all to the so-called Financial Accountability in Redistricting Act, or FAIR Act, an initiative to repeal Prop. 11, which is currently in the signature-gathering phase.

If FAIR petitions get 694,354 valid signature by July 5, the act will land on the November ballot, endangering the voters’ 2008 decision to let citizens redraw Assembly, state Senate and Board of Equalization boundaries – instead of letting sitting Assembly members and senators draw their own boundaries to keep themselves and their parties in power.

There’s a reason lawmakers are willing to shell out so much money for this initiative, and it’s not about good government. They want to keep their jobs secure and know that a fair redrawing of the state’s political districts might endanger their re-election chances.

Our advice to readers is to thwart this well-funded attempt to override the voters by not signing any petition that includes this summary:

“Eliminates State Commission on Redistricting. Consolidates Authority for Redistricting with Elected Representatives. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.”

The last time legislators redrew their district boundaries, in 2001, they divvied up the state into safe districts for Democrats and Republicans – choosing their own voters instead of letting voters choose them.

Districts almost never change hands from one party to the other, which favors the most conservative Republicans and the most liberal Democrats in primaries because they don’t have to worry about the general election. This leaves the moderates – the people who might actually work together to solve California’s problems – out in the cold.

The result is a gridlocked Sacramento, where state lawmakers put more stock in ideological divisions than in solving problems or governing for the benefit of the entire state.

The citizens commission will help end that partisan gridlock, which is why it is the target of the FAIR act.

In California, it is Democrats who most fear redistricting the most. They hold most of the elected positions and therefore have the most to lose in redrawn districts. If Republicans held majorities, they would do the same thing.

That’s because, to most legislators, staying in office and keeping the party in control of seats has become more important than representing the people who gave them those seats in the first place.

And there is nothing good about that kind of government.

The Census is an Invasion of Privacy

CBS News reports on line that Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann told the Washington Times that she and her family will not be fully filling out the 2010 census forms.

Bachmann, a Republican, said her family will only be indicating the number of people in the household, because “the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that.”

I must agree with the congresswoman. Claims that the information will be confidential cannot be believed. Illegal aliens would be foolish to fill out the census questionnaire. I do not believe they will be looking for illegal aliens immediately but ICE could be doing that soonor or maybe not. What illegal alien would want to take the chance that everything will be OK?

U.S. Constitution – Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, “ Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”

There is no requirement to identify the name of each person, their race, gender, age, date of birth, household relationship, if you own or rent your home, or your telephone number (there were no telephones when the constitution was written).

The question of race is amplified even more by asking if you are of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin. The sub-question asks even more information of your family background if you are part of one of the above categories. There are no questions about any other group or national origin. California has fairly large Chinese, Filipino, and Jewish populations. Why not ask about those groups?

When I applied for Social Security the interviewer not only knew that I am married but named my wife. My monthly benefit was increased based upon that fact. While that is good for me it also told me that the government already knows too much about me and my family.

I am not revealing any more information. I will follow the Michele Bachmann procedure. They get the count of people in the house but nothing else.

Harry and Bess

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.”

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale. (sic. Illinois )

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!

I say dig him up and clone him!!

Rabbi Arnold Stiebel, Ph.D.
Woodland Hills, CA
arnoldst@aol.com

Child Molestation

When will we have laws in every state that puts child molesters and sexual predators in jail for life?

This question is promoted by today’s AP report from San Diego.

March 03, 2010 2:01 AM EST

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Thousands of people are at a vigil in a San Diego suburb for a 17-year-old girl whose body is believed to have been found five days after she went to a park for a jog.

—-

Twelve-year-old Polly Hannah Klaas was having a slumber party when a strange man holding a knife entered her bedroom, tied up all the girls and put pillow cases over their heads. The intruder then took a sobbing Polly off into the night.Her friends stood back-to-back trying to untie themselves. When that didn’t work, one girl was able to bring her hands under her feet to free herself. The girls then awakened Polly’s mother, who immediately called the police.It was October 1, 1993.

A stranger had invaded a private home in Petaluma, CA and snatched an innocent child from her very own bedroom. There were witnesses to tell the story. People in her home town and throughout the world helped search for her.

By the time Polly’s body was found on December 3, 1993, over 2 billion images of Polly Klaas had been distributed worldwide.

——

Parolee named in Lily Burk abduction, murder *

Kevin Roderick • July 27 2009 1:20 PM

Police said today that they took transient Charlie Samuel into custody by 5:30 p.m. Friday on drug charges in Downtown. They now have a pretty horrific chronology of the events that led to Burk being found dead in her Volvo; Samuel was apparently spotted getting out of the car’s driver-side door at 4:52 p.m. outside 458 Alameda. Police believe Burk was abducted about 3 p.m. from outside Southwestern University Law School, located in the former Bullock’s Wilshire store on Wilshire in Koreatown. Samuel had been released from state prison in February and was arrested April 23 on a parole violation, then enrolled in a drug program.

Laws pertaining to sex offenders and child molestation vary with each state. California is probably no different than many other states but it certainly has had a continuing rash of repeat offenders. This situation is likely to grow larger due to budget shortfalls.

From Sentencing Law and Policy. The Texas Senate panel approved a bill allowing the death penalty for repeat child sex offenders Tuesday but said major work remains on the proposal. Senate Bill 5, the “Jessica’s Law” urged by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, now advances to the full Senate. The law is named for Jessica Lunsford of Florida, a 9-year-old girl who was abducted, raped and killed.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee vote was 5-1 with one member abstaining. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott joined Dewhurst at the hearing in supporting the bill, which calls for a minimum 25-year sentence for violent child sex offenses and life without parole or death for second offenses.

Abbott brushed off concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court might find the death penalty unconstitutional for crimes that do not end in death. Noting that the court barred the death penalty in a rape case 30 years ago, Abbott said he sees a “greater chance” the high court may allow the death penalty for repeat, felony sexual assault against children. “I would proudly and personally go up to the United States Supreme Court and defend the constitutionality of this case, this legislation, which I think is the right legislation for the state of Texas,”said Abbott….

Prosecutors and others who testified against the measure fear that families will be reluctant to turn in friends or relatives, who reportedly commit nine out of 10 sexual offenses against children.

From USLegal Definitions. The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect defines child sexual assault as: “Contacts or interactions between a child and an adult when the child is being used for sexual stimulation of the perpetrator or another person when the perpetrator or another person is in a position of power or control over the victim.” Sexual abuse has been defined to include inappropriate physical contact, making a child view sexual acts or pornography, using a child in making pornography, or exposing an adult’s genitals to a child.

In some states, social workers, medical professionals, clergy, foster parents, attorneys, and camp counselors are required to report abuse. Some states require any person who suspects abuse to report it to authorities. The time when a complaint may be filed, called the statute of limitations, varies by state. One state law sets the statute of limitations on serious sex abuse of a child at age 31 for the victim in criminal cases and age 20 for civil litigation. In another state, the time period is defined according as a certain number of years after the victim turns 18. There is a trend toward extending the statute of limitations in such cases because research has shown that victims typically develop psychological coping, or blocking, mechanisms which may cause them to suppress the abuse or prevent their understanding of the cause of their trauma.

Pat Robertson is at it Again!

Some Creative Writing!

From The Desparate Blogger

FEBRUARY 27, 2010 12:41PM
Robertson: “God Even Angrier with Chile than Haiti”

Citing what he described as the “the persecution of a great hero who rid their land of Godless communists” as a possible cause, prominent TV evangelist and amateur seismologist Pat Robertson today argued that the 8.8 magnitude of the earthquake that struck Chile early this morning should serve as a warning to the population that “God is even angrier with them than he is with the people of Haiti.”

“If I had to guess, I’d say it must have to do with Chile’s persecution and attempted prosecution of their great former leader, and a personal hero of mine, Augusto Pinochet – who, it should be noted, had never been convicted of a crime when the Lord called him home three years ago.” The popular host of ‘The 700 Club’ and longtime bingo circuit icon also added, “General Pinochet not only assisted the CIA in the overthrow of Chile’s Marxist government, but is widely credited with personally arranging the meetings of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of his countrymen with Jesus.”

General Pinochet, who spent the last eight years of his life fighting prosecution on human rights and other charges before succumbing to congestive heart failure in December 2006, could not be reached for comment, even by Robertson. The General–turned-Dictator has long been considered a transformative figure in the field of Crimes Against Humanity as a result of his landmark policy of ‘Forced Disappearance’, and was even honored in 1998 with the first-ever arrest warrant for a former head of state under the principle of ‘universal jurisdiction’ by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, who is currently investigating former Bush Administration officials for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.

For his part, Robertson, who reportedly lobbied then-President George W. Bush on behalf of former Liberian Dictator and accused Human Rights criminal Charles Taylor in exchange for lucrative gold mining contracts, says that he is “praying that the people of Chile will heed this warning, and never again blaspheme against God and international free-market commerce by nationalizing their most precious natural resources.”