Open Congress

I placed a link on my side bar, but I think I should emphasize it here. It takes you a site called Open Congress. There, you can actually see all bills introduced in either house of Congress, their status, who is sponsoring it, who voted on it, etc. You can read the entire text of the bill or just see what riders are attached to it. You can track them for later.

This is an important site. We have to begin getting involved. We have sat silent for too long. As a result of this site, I have been able to become familiar with several key bills. I was then able to write to my congresspeople and voice my concerns, backed by actual knowledge of the legislation, and not just what I have heard from various sources.

Please take a few moments to look at the site and become familiar with it. Our founders would really appreciate it.

Obama Lied!

In his zeal to sell his porkulus bill, which enslaved this nation to a monetary debt it will never, ever, ever be able to repay, His Obamaness lied to the American people and to Congress.

Just 10 days before taking office, Obama's top economic advisers released a report predicting unemployment would remain at 8 percent or below through this year if an economic stimulus plan won congressional approval.

That report was written and prepared for the specific purpose of selling the need for the stimulus bill. Obama, by way of Biden, now realizing that the report was nowhere near reality, claims the report is a reflection of what "everyone else thought" the unemployment numbers would be.

Sounds familiar, does it not. Seems we were given some information a few years back that tended to justify an invasion of a dangerous middle-east country. That information, as it turns out, may have been flawed. As a result, then-President Bush was branded a "liar" for telling us what he thought was true.

So where is the outrage now? Where are the pitchforks and torches?

Here's the difference: Bush (and Congress) based its decision on what it believed to be hard evidence of facts that had already occurred, or were occurring. Those were facts that either were or were not. In that case, EVERYONE believed that the facts were true. After all, there seemed to be several sources.

This time, Obama (and Congress) based its decision on a report created by a small group which speculated about what the future might hold. Speculative reports are subject to so many variables (if A, B, C, D, E, F, ..., ZX, ZY, ZZ occur, or cause such and such) that they are prone to manipulation. The creator of the report determines what factors he wishes to include in his model. This report just so happened to be co-created by Jaren Bernstein, Biden's chief economist. What do you think he wanted the report to show?

Exactly.

So who's the real liar?

And who is this "everyone" Biden is referring to? As I recall, there were many strong opponents of the stimulus package who I am quite certain were not in agreement with this report.

Don't try to blame your lies on "everyone", Messrs. Biden and Obama. Facts are facts. You can ignore or mislead what you want, but some of us are watching...

You Did Not Just Say That

WalMart is in town!

I love their stockholders meeting. Walmart stockholders are not your typical rich and sophisticated crowd, unless your typical rich and sophisticated crowd wears halter tops and 80's hairdo's. These folks are the cream of the earth, though. They are the nicest folks.

Every year, Walmart selects one or two associates from each store and flies them into Fayetteville, Arkansas to live in vacated school dorm rooms, watch free concerts (with big name talent... Carrie Underwood, Hall and Oates, Foreigner, Sugarland, Brad Paisley, and Daughtry, to name a few), and get a year's supply of free samples from Walmart vendors. And every year, I get to drive in multiple circles getting these people from their dorms to the concert and dining hall and back. I really do enjoy it, and everyone is very courteous and very happy to be here.

So, tonight, I'm driving a big 40 foot transit bus, heading west. I am in the process of turning south. As I am in the intersection, a man runs up to me, waving me down. Because he is directly in front of my giant bus, and because I don't feel like getting buried in the mounds of paperwork that would surely follow my squashing this fellow, I decide I better stop... in the middle of the intersection... with cars trying to get around me. I open the door and motion for him to hurry and jump on. He doesn't. Instead, he stands there...

and patiently asks,


as he is pointing in the direction I just came from,


"Are you headed that way?"