State_of_ America

Drone Technology No Longer A Secret

2011-12-13T09:37:00.003-06:00

By Ron Spangler

Does the capture of the top secret RQ-170 Drone over Iran spell the beginning of the end for the United States' stealth technology superiority?

Has President Obama relied too much on the Drone weapons system in his overall foreign policy plans?

Was his decision to avoid any attempts to destroy the Drone a mistake?

Will the capture of our top secret stealth Drone have long range ramifications for our air superiority abilities over hostile nations?

The answer to all of these questions is probably yes. It is within reason to believe that within hours after the Drone was captured both China and Russia had their best people heading for Iran to inspect the Drone. It is also reasonable to suspect both countries are capable of reverse engineering the technology to build their own versions of the Drone. Considering it's not uncommon for countries like China and Russia to send their students to the USA to be trained and earn degrees in engineering, is it not logical that they could easily use their knowledge for reverse engineering of our weapons systems?.

After countries like Russia and China have conquered the challenge to reverse engineer our technology the question becomes how long before they are able to come up with a successful defense for that technology. It is clear that they already have some degree of knowledge on how to hack into the guidance and control systems of our drones. How else can the Pentagon explain losing control of the drone and someone directing it to land 100 miles inside Iran without damaging the drone beyond recognition.

If it is true that President Obama refused to destroy the drone out of fear Iran would declare it an act of war, then it will go down as one of the biggest blunders this President has made as Commander In Chief.

Only time will tell how costly this incident will be to the USA, unfortunately I believe it will be very costly. President Obama has made the drone his number one weapon in fighting terrorist and in ways of spying on our enemies. It is unknown how many countries we are spying on and how many continents we have drones flying over. After this I'm certain the number will be reduced and President Obama will have to rethink future drone missions.

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Penn State Paterno Media and Society

2011-11-14T09:47:00.004-06:00

by Ron Spangler

As a person living in America that does not follow college sports I can honestly say I knew very little about Joe Paterno until the Penn State story broke in the news. I would also bet that I am not in the minority when it comes to Joe. If a survey of the entire country had been taken before this story came out I would bet that 2/3 of America would say, I don't know the name.

It is not only Paterno's actions during the 15 year Sandusky child rape and molestation period that ruined Paterno's legacy, but also the nonstop 24/7 sanctimonious coverage of what we call news. Listening to and reading reports about what happened at Penn State would make a person think Joe Paterno was as bad if not worse than Sandusky. To me there is more than enough blame to go around.

I find it hard to believe that this was going on for over 15 years at Penn State and no news agency in the country heard about it. Where were the parents, the local community, the students, the state and local officials, and everyday citizens of Pennsylvania? In short where was our society and has it come to a point that we sometimes feel it is better to look the other way then it is to get involved.

The media from all areas whether it is print, television, radio, or internet would like for us to believe that no reporter for the past 15 years ever heard of any rumors or allegations of child abuse or molestations surrounding Sandusky.

In 15 years no victim ever told his parents, a friend, a cousin, anyone?

In 15 years no one ever came forth with these allegations to police or local news outlets?

After witnessing the rape of an 11 year old boy and telling Joe Paterno he saw something in the shower that did not look right, did Mike McQueary ever tell anyone else?

It is so easy for everyone to say exactly what they would have done if they had been in the shoes of the parents, Joe Paterno, or Mike McQueary. However when I see people walking buy an injured pedestrian that has just been hit by an oncoming car or watch as a person is being severely beaten by a mob, I wonder how involved would we become in a situation like this.

After all of the self righteous indignation being raised by the media against individuals at Penn State has reached the maximum amount of ratings, it is certain the media will move on to something else to report. Sadly for America we too will move on.

Maybe it is time we as Americans take a long look at our culture and ask what happened to us. There was a time that if any American saw what Mike McQueary says he saw, that American would have taken the law into his own hands. Today I am afraid there are more people like Mike McQueary and Joe Paterno than we would like to admit.

I'm afraid our society has turned into more of a Occupy Wall Street society than we would like to admit. Their attitude is a selfish me first attitude that is willing to overlook crimes in their own encampments if those crimes, like rape or murder, could damage their image. Also politicians and political parties have taken this same attitude. Knowing the general population has a short memory, President Obama has refused to commit on things like Operation Fast and Furious, or Solyndra. For the same reason the Democrat party is refusing to commit and very few are coming to Obama's defense.

Maybe its time we take a look at the direction we as a nation and a society are heading in and say its time we returned to our roots. Maybe we should consider right from wrong and take action when we see something going on that is wrong. Maybe we should not have to worry whether our taking action will somehow effect us negatively in the future. Maybe we should question whether we care more for our individual lives or more for God, Country and Family.

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Herman Cain Bill O'Reilly Wrong Side of National Sales Tax

2011-10-02T10:54:00.003-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

Herman Cain and Bill O'Reilly have both proposed adding a National Sales Tax onto the backs of American consumers. This is a bad idea that only the wealthiest Americans can afford. Both men have the idea that Congress can simply eliminate the Federal income tax and install the National Sales Tax with a simple bill written by Congress and signed into law by the President. Life, politics and our Constitution are not that simple. Both men say they could restrict future Congresses from raising the amount consumers paid by requiring future Congresses to pass any new increase with a two thirds majority vote. This cannot happen. No current President or Congress can completely tie the hands of future Presidents or Congresses. At the beginning of every new House and Senate term the rules are written and decided by the majority. If a new Congress decides a simple majority will be enough to pass any bill, including one that would raise the rates of a National Sales Tax, then the rates will be raised.

It was the 16th Amendment that gave us the Federal Income Tax and it will take another amendment to replace or repeal that amendment. It is true Congress can raise or lower the rates but even Congress is limited on how far they can actually go.

Herman Cain's idea of 999 will not eliminate the federal income tax, at best it would be lowered but add the consumption tax on top of it and all he has done is increased taxes onto consumers. Basically its political talk for fuzzy math. Some of the candidates are calling for lowering the income tax by rewriting the tax rules and charging everyone a fair tax of between 18% to 30%. By lowering the income tax to 9% and adding a 9% consumption tax Mr Cain has done nothing more than increased the taxes on lower income folks to 18% and lowered taxes on the wealthy to 18%.

Wealthy Americans like Bill O'Reilly, that have corporations or businesses, will not pay sales tax on most of the big ticket items they purchase. Unlike the average consumer they have the advantage of purchasing items through their business and avoid paying state sales tax, I would expect the national sales tax would be no different.

If supporters of a national sales tax or consumption tax are serious then the first step would be to write an amendment that would replace the income tax with a consumption. The consumption tax could only be imposed after the income tax was eliminated. With all of the other taxes, fees, surcharges and hidden taxes the average American consumer has to pay we cannot afford another new tax.

Take a look at your state. Look at all of the taxes, fees, penalties, surcharges you are paying. Now look at all of the hidden taxes in your electric, gas, water, transportation and property you are forced to pay. Some states and local governments call them fees for services, some counties have an additional school tax on top of sales and property. Some others have excise or wheel taxes. After adding every tax, fee, or surcharge in your state ask yourself if you can afford another tax on everything you consume.

Technorati Tags:bill oreilly, herman cain, tax, taxes, consumption tax, sales tax, national sales tax, consumer, constituion, congress, house, senate
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State's Rights vs Interstate Commerce

2011-08-21T10:15:00.002-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

Due to a recent encounter with the County Clerk's Office in the state I live in (Tn), a couple of questions have come to mind. Where does State's Rights vs Interstate Commerce begin and end? And, does a State have the right to punish their residents for buying a product from out of state by forcing them to pay, in this case Tennessee, sales tax even if the person has already paid the sales tax in the state where the transaction occurred? Finally in the case of buying a vehicle outside of Tennessee, how can Tn refuse to license the vehicle simply because the individual did not pay cash for the vehicle and obtain the title to that vehicle? Generally if a person buys a vehicle from a nationwide dealer and finances the vehicle through a national financial institution the vehicle will have a lien placed on the vehicle and the title is held until the lien is satisfied. The dealer will fill out all the appropriate documents to allow the person to license and register the vehicle in the state they live in. At least this is the way most states in America handle the sales of vehicles, but not in Tn.

To be clear in today's economy most people cannot afford to pay $20 or $30 thousand for a used or new vehicle so financing is and always has been a common practice. Also this does not pertain to a private sale from one individual to another.

The above scenario happened to me and being naive and unaware of Tn. laws I had no idea I could not license or register the vehicle with the documentation given to me from the dealer. Unfortunately the dealer who also has dealerships in Tn was unaware of Tn laws governing title and registration of vehicles in Tn. After being told by the ladies at the local Cumberland County Clerk's Office under Mr. Jule Bryson that I could not license or register the vehicle without the title, I contacted the dealer and the lien holder for guidance. They were both as confused as I.

The financial institution explained what I tried to explain to the County Clerk's office. That is, for practical reasons the lien holder will not release the title of a vehicle to the customer until the lien is satisfied. In normal situations like this every other state accepts the electronic transfer of the title showing the new owner and lien holder, while the lien holder retains possession of the original title. According to the County Clerk's office this is not acceptable under Tn. law.

When a confrontation over this law developed between me and the ladies in the Clerk's office I was told they didn't really care. The only thing they were interested in was collecting the taxes and seeing the title. When I informed them this was a stupid a law their response was: "If you don't like the law maybe you should move."

As I sit here today I have a vehicle that I must continue to make payments on and carry insurance on even though I cannot drive the vehicle in Tn or any other state. To me this throws the theory of interstate commerce right out the door. It sounds like Tn is punishing their residents for buying a product out of state instead of buying within Tn.

I have contacted the Tn Speaker of the House Beth Harwell and she seemed surprised. She has promised to check into the situation and contact me later. Whether this is just overzealous folks at the County Clerk's office or really the law in Tennessee makes a person wonder how many other State and Local officials are penalizing their residents for participating in Interstate Commerce.

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Emperor Obama's New Clothes Old Plan

2011-08-09T07:00:00.003-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

Revised from The Emperor's New Clothes

Once upon a time there lived a vain Presidential Candidate that thought once he became President of the United States he would become Emperor of the World. He believed all he would have to do is make a speech and the world would change for the better. Every time there was a real crisis or one manufactured by his staff he gave a speech that put the blame on anyone that opposed him and his media friends ran it off to his people.

Word of the Emperor's refined and articulate speeches spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who knew the Emperor was inexperienced and naive decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the White House with a scheme in mind. Their names were Larry Summers and Tim Geithner and they wanted to change the economic system from a Capitalist system to a Socialist system.

"We are two very good economist and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to change America and redistribute the wealth. With your great ability to fool the public our plan will be invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to fully understand it."

Emperor Obama listened to the scoundrel's strange story and decided it would fit in perfectly with his plan to fundamentally change America.

"Besides being invisible, your Highness, this plan will be so simple yet complexed that people will not even know what has happened until it is too late. There will always be someone else to blame. We will send the country into economic distress, raise unemployment, and lose our credit rating. All the while we can blame it on the American people in the Tea Party, the Republican Party, George W Bush and the messenger Standard and Poors. When it is all over you can rebuild America and the World into the vision you and George Soros have always dreamed of." The emperor gave the two men a bag of gold coins in exchange for their promise to begin implementing the plan immediately.

A gleeful Obama cried, "Just tell me what you need to get started and I'll give it to you."

Shortly after the scoundrel's plans were implemented they returned to Emperor Obama and announced their plans were paying off. The people had become frantic and completely dependent upon the government and soon would be too afraid to challenge the Emperor's plan for One World Order.

The scoundrels said. "We have worked night and day but, at last, the world is ready for you to save it." The Emperor saw the opinion polls and watched as his approval ratings started to fall as fast as the DOW. He panicked and felt like fainting. But luckily Queen Michele was right behind him and propped him up. When he realized that no one would know that he was behind the plan, he felt better. Nobody would find out how stupid and incompetent he really was.

The farce continued as the two scoundrels had foreseen it. Once the economy had all but totally collapsed the scoundrels informed the Emperor it was time for him to make one of his great speeches and watch as the sheep run to their shepherd for guidance and safety.

"Your Highness, this will have to be one of the most articulate and masterful speeches of your short career. " The two scoundrels miscalculated just how naive the Emperor really was. The Emperor was embarrassed to be the only President in American history to oversee a downgrade in the United State's credit rating but he believed he could once again pull off the perfect con.

"All right," Obama said. "I will grant the people the privilege of hearing my wisdom once again." He summoned his media and gave his great speech. All the people had gathered around the televisions, pushing and shoving to get a better look. Hope and great expectations filled the air. The Liberals wanted no one to know how stupid or incompetent the Emperor was but as he spoke, a strange murmur rose from the crowd.

The Left said, loud enough for the others to hear: "Look at our Emperor's new plan. Isn't it wonderful!"

"What a marvelous man!"

A child, however, who had no important job and could only see things as his eyes showed them to him, listened and watched as the Emperor spoke.

"The Emperor has no plan," he said.

"Fool!" his father reprimanded, running after him. "Don't talk nonsense!" He grabbed his child and took him away. But the boy's remark, which had been heard by the bystanders, was repeated over and over again until everyone cried:

"The boy is right! The Emperor has no plan! It's true!"

The Emperor realized that the people were right but could not admit to that. He thought it better to continue the con under the illusion that the American people, not the scoundrels, were either stupid or incompetent. And he stood stiffly at his podium, reading from his teleprompters as the world continued to crumble at his feet.

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Casey Anthony Boycott Pledge

2011-07-06T18:09:00.002-05:00

Ronnie Spangler

Send a message to Hollywood, Publishing Companies, television executes and magazine editors. Tell them in America we care about little children. We will not be a party to the unjust verdict in the Casey Anthony trial. Little Caylee Anthony did not deserve to be murdered and dumped in a swamp like some stray dog. We pledge that as caring parents and citizens of America we will not buy, read, watch, or in any way participate in the financial gain of any person connected to the Casey Anthony trial.

Please sign the pledge in the comment section.

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NATO United Nations End Game for Libya, Oil

2011-04-01T11:05:00.003-05:00

by Ron Spangler

As we move farther into what is becoming President Obama's not war quagmire in Libya, more questions are being raised than President Obama can answer.

Why the delay in acting strong and decisive:

In the beginning when Qaddafi opposition forces were knocking at the doorstep of Tripoli and Americans were sitting on a ferry trying to get out, why did President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton show weakness by stating they did not want to speak out due to fear of Americans being taken hostage.

What if President Obama had placed American Carriers off the coast of Tripoli and warned Qaddafi if any harm came to any American or if any Americans were taken hostage, his regime would be destroyed. Would this have emboldened the opposition and devastated Qaddafi supporters?

Why did President Obama lie to America:

Why did President Obama find it necessary to wait for the United Nations to pass a resolution instead of going to Congress and stating his case for a No Fly Zone? He signed the secret Executive order of 'Findings' before he had United Nation's authorization to attack Libyan forces.

Why did he find it necessary to allow the 'leak' of his signing the executive order allowing CIA to help the opposition in Libya? There are millions of American veterans that have served in the U. S. and are keenly aware of how military missions are conducted. To them having CIA or Special Operations people on the ground in Libya to call in airstrikes and direct laser guided bombs onto targets came as no big surprise. It was only after news started coming out that British Special Forces were on the ground that the leaks about the CIA being on the ground came out. By allowing theses so-called leaks to come out was President Obama trying to calm Congress and America, after all he did flatly say No Boots On The Ground in Libya. Evidently President Obama believes it's not a lie if it comes from the White House instead of from the newsroom.

Why was President Obama in such a hurry to turn the mission over to NATO:

Before the ink had dried on the UN resolution we were bombing Libya and President Obama announced this would only take days not weeks. In the mean time his waiting allowed Qaddafi to regroup his military and force the oppostion back to Benghazi. The strikes on Qaddafi military units around Benghazi were successful and President Obama immediately pushed for NATO to take over. Now that NATO, still under an American Commander, has taken over the Qaddafi oppostion is once again in full retreat. Stalemate?

What's the end game and was it always about oil:

Word is starting to come out that the opposition forces are seeking a ceasefire in Libya. Are they setting up the conditions for a possible resolution of the fighting in Libya? If so are they looking at a plan similar to plans of the past like Korea and Vietnam. Will it be a Truce dividing Libya into East and West with governments on each side and United Nations 'Peacekeepers' in the middle?

Under this scenario the East would have control of all of Libya's oil fields and Britain, Italy and France would benefit. Eventually the Qaddafi regime would be toppled since the western Libyan economy would be crippled. Sounds very similar to then Senator Biden's idea in Iraq.

If this happens then nothing that President Obama has said in the past can be believed. The truth will be that it was never about a humanitarian crisis but always about oil for France and Britain.

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Earthquakes Tsunami Nuclear Plants and Technology

2011-03-17T09:52:00.004-05:00

by Ron Spangler

For centuries mankind has challenged nature and for centuries mankind has lost the battles. The recent tragedies in Japan should make it clear that even with the best of technology mere mortals will never conquer the fury of mother nature.

As the disasters inflicted on Japan continue to unfold before our eyes this should be a time we as humans finally admit we are not as brilliant as we claim to be. The experts are tripping over each other trying to explain what is going on and at the same time calm the world as to what may happen in the coming days. So far the experts have been wrong. The truth is, they don’t know with absolute certainty what happened at the nuclear plants to cause the over heating of the cores. Was it the earthquake, the Tsunami, or ill conceived design of the plants? Or, could it have been something as simple as mankind’s arrogance in believing we can ever build a structure designed to withstand anything and everything mother nature decides to throw our way?

It amazes me how here in the west we simply woke up one day and decided that since we are living in the 21st century, we have somehow entered a new world of technology. A world the likes of which we never knew in the 20th century. In reality we have better electronic toys and better communications but most of it began in the 20th century. The auto industry hasn’t really changed that much since most of our trucks, trains, plains and ships still rely on fossil fuels such as oil. We are experimenting with electric motors and battery powered alternatives but all of this came from 20th century technology. In come cases we are simply trying to advance on the failed attempts of our past.

Nuclear power plants are perfect examples of man’s arrogance and belief that we have become so advanced that we can build something that can never be destroyed. The truth, no matter what the experts say about Fukushima, is these power plants have been lost forever and nobody knows how much danger Japan will face in the future from these failed plants. Other countries like Germany have began to take a hard look at the future of nuclear power for electricity in their countries. Is this an over reaction or a prudent step to take in light of what has happened in Japan? That decision is up to each country to decide for themselves.

Every country and individual on earth must now face the most important decision of our lives. Will we remain humble and admit our limitations when it comes to the forces of nature or will we remain arrogant and believe we can defeat the fury of nature itself. For too long each generation has come to believe they are smarter and more advanced than the previous generation. In the west we call it progress and base everything on it. We look back at history and revise it because we are smarter than our parents or grandparents. After all they didn’t have all the facts back then like we do today. Here in America we build our nuclear plants designed to withstand earthquakes relative to the areas they are being built in. We look back at historical data and determine that if the largest recorded earthquake in that particular part of the country was a 5.5 on the rector scale, then the plant should be constructed to withstand a 5.5. Since we do not have Tsunamis in America, except for the west coast, designers and engineers are not required to considered these acts of nature during the design or construction phase. This is where the arrogance of mankind shows how much disdain man really has for nature and the unforeseen fury that nature can release at any given time or any given place on the the planet earth.

In America we have determined that since nature has not delivered a devastating blow to any one area of the country in over a hundred years, she will not do it again for another 100 years. This is a fallacy of mankind in the understanding of how nature really works. One thing our fathers and grandfathers knew that we forgot was, always expect the unexpected when it comes to mother nature. We cannot foresee the future and we will never be able to control natural events like earthquakes, cyclones, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes or the dreaded climate change. Some scientist would have you believe we are so technologically advanced that we could even stop a meteor from striking the earth. All we have to do to avoid this disaster is spend a little more money on technology. This is arrogance to the extreme.

In the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear disaster will mankind become a little more humble and a little less arrogant? I sincerely doubt it. In America the proponents of alternative energy have already began to push harder and harder for wind and solar as alternatives to nuclear and fossil fuels for producing electricity. They do not consider that these are also 20th century ideas that face some of the same dangers as nuclear power plants. Windmill and solar farms are more susceptible to total destruction from tornadoes, earthquakes, sandstorms, flash floods and other natural events than any coal or nuclear plant.

In the end we will probably learn very little from the events taking place in Japan. We will pray for the victims and try to do everything we can to help. We will also listen to our politicians and the experts as they calm our fears. We will continue to believe we are somehow superior to nature and the natural chain of events that will undoubtedly take place in the future. We will listen to our scientist and continue to believe that we are so technologically advanced that we can control nature and the natural order of things to come. In other words we will continue to be arrogant and remove the definition of humbleness from our dictionaries.

Published at: http://scienceray.com/technology/when-mankind-vs-nature/#ixzz1GrwuTEV7

Technorati Tags:earthquake, japan, nuclear power, technology, tsunami, usa, america
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God's Answer To Our Prayers

2010-12-30T11:23:00.002-06:00

By Ronnie Spangler

As more and more folks head to church to pray for help during these perilous times I wonder what God may be thinking. Could it be the following:

I heard you in your hour of need,

But they were simply prayers of greed.

You asked that I should lead the way,

But failed to hear the words I say.

To hear these words you must repent,

Then open your hearts to the son I sent.

Your faith in me and my son

will lead your way to act as one.

Open up your heart and mind

Guidance, comfort and peace on earth

You will find.

I heard your children weep and pray

Still your nation looked away.

Now you wonder if I'm gone,

and if you're on this path alone.

If you place your faith in me

The answer's here for you to see.

May God Continue To Bless The USA

Excerpt from a book I authored in 2007.

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Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry Funeral

2010-12-22T10:19:00.002-06:00

by Ronnie Spangler

The parents of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry speak on local news about the murder of their son and lack of interest by President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Maybe this is why there has been such a lack of interest in this story by the National Media.

Please watch and listen KGUN 9.

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Fairness Doctrine

2010-12-10T08:23:00.004-06:00

By Ronnie Spangler

I recently came across the following article and with talk of bringing back the so-called Fairness Doctrine wondered if people could attribute the article to the actual person that wrote it.

Please read it and pick the author from the list at the bottom. You can leave your selection in the comment section or twitter your selection.

"There are some people that think that being fair isn't a big deal, but not me. I think the world could be a better place if people would be fair to one another. Being unfair is very hurtful, because you aren't fair, it makes people feel like they aren't as important as others. Then it begins to cause trouble.

Everybody deserves a fair chance to prove they are a good person and a hard worker. After they've done that, there should be no reason to make differences between people. God made us all the same and he expects us to treat each other right.

If we were all given the same chances, there would more happiness than sadness. There would be enough money to go around without some people being rich and some people being really poor. It isn't fair that I have enough food to eat and others have no food to eat. It isn't fair that pretty people have more friends than ugly people; we are all the same on the inside. We all have a heart. We all need love and we all need friends.

So, I'm going to work really hard to be a fair person because when you do good then good comes back to you. Imagine the world if it were fair. There would be no more war or fighting. I would like to live in that world!"

The article has not been widely publicized. It was written for a select few with the hope that it would sway its readers in the direction of the author.

Below are the candidates, please select one and submit it in the comment section or on Twitter @Fairness Doctrine

Selections:

a) President Barack Obama

b) 1st Lady Michelle Obama

c) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

d) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

e) 4th Grade Student

f) Member of Berkley California City Council

The correct answer can be found on Twitter.com

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DADT A Military Decision

2010-11-28T08:31:00.002-06:00

by Ronnie Spangler

With everything facing our country today you would think the old warning from our grandparents would have more meaning. "If its not broke don't fix it" seems to make a lot of sense to most Americans. Unfortunately our government is not known for making sense.

Our founding fathers thought long and hard about supporting a full time standing army and for good reasons decided if we did then the military should always remain under civilian control. Now Congress led by the President and the Progressive Democrats are talking about repealing the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy (DADT). Most Americans have other things like the economy, jobs, health care and their kids education on their minds. They are not too concerned with military life since what happens inside the military will have no direct effect on them. The only time a large segment of civilians really become concerned about our military is if they have a family member serving in the military. Most of the voices screaming the loudest for repeal of DADT are people that have never served in the military or for some reason did serve and decided not to make it a career.

People in support of repeal are quick to reference leaks from the DOD survey that is due out Nov 30, 2010. What they don't say is how the survey was conducted and who answered the questions in the survey. Since the repeal of DADT will directly effect such a small portion of American society and could have a direct impact on military discipline, morale and readiness it is my firm belief we should leave this question up to the military members directly effected. Proponents of the repeal like to say the decision is more about leadership than anything else. They believe it is the duty of the leaders and not the followers to decide how military members will interact with one other while serving in the military. I have news for people who believe they can dictate personal interaction of individuals with one another, it can't be done.

We teach our military to act as a team. To be willing to risk everything including their lives for their bothers and sisters that wear the uniform. With an all volunteer military this has worked well. Our enlisted members believe they are part of a team that is listened to and they can trust their brothers and sisters when times are hard. If the military and civilian leadership loses this trust our military readiness will suffer. In the world we are living in we cannot allow this to happen. We are still fighting two wars and with North Korea flexing their muscle another battlefront could open up any day.

In America you can only lead those that are willing to be led. If the enlisted serving in the military believe in their leaders and in the mission, they will follow them through the gates of hell and return to fight again. If they do not believe in their leaders or the mission they could lose the will to follow. American leaders do not lead by force. They understand they cannot force their personal beliefs, religion, or sense of morality upon those that follow. Trying to force an individual to serve in a military that is openly gay could have the unintended consequence of forcing them out of the military. Proponents say we are denying some of our bravest and brightest from serving but I believe we already have some of our bravest and brightest currently fighting to keep us free. Most of them are battle tested and these are the ones that should be listened to when deciding the fate of DADT.

It is common knowledge that generals, admirals and civilians do not win wars. It is the fighting enlisted men and women that are given the mission and find some way of carrying it out. The generals and admirals draw up the battle plan but its up to the enlisted to follow the plan. Within the enlisted ranks are the NCOs. They are charged with following the battle plan and sometimes in the heat of battle they are the ones that may decide to deviate from the plan in order to achieve victory. The leaders sitting safely in headquarters can pat each other on the back and award each other medals but it is the backbone of the military, the NCO, that will decide if the plan is victorious or not.

It has been many years since I served in the military so I cannot say how the younger generation would respond to an openly gay military. I can relay what I am hearing from service members that have offered their opinion on the subject and it has not been positive. It seems there are a lot more questions than answers to the subject. Most members I talk to say they cannot honestly say how they would react to seeing men walking around openly and freely admitting they are gay. Some have wondered how quickly one member would respond if another member of his team that was openly gay needed help during the heat of battle. Would he let his personal feelings interfere with his commitment to risk his own life for his fellow member? Could he put his personal convictions aside and treat an openly gay individual the same as his buddies that he considers to be brothers and sisters? And the biggest unanswered question facing some of our bravest and brightest serving today, will they remain in a military that is openly gay?

These are unanswered questions facing the enlisted men and women serving in our military. For these reasons we should leave the question of repeal or don't repeal up to the men and women serving today. Civilian leaders, generals, or admirals will never know for certain what is in the heart of the enlisted. Surveys like statistics are a matter for interpretation. Too many human variables goes into surveys for them to be a reliable source for making an informed decision. When it comes to our military the best advise is still, "If its not broke don't fix it." Today we have the best and most feared military in the world, we need to keep it that way.

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CBP vs TSA Airport Security

2010-11-27T10:12:00.002-06:00

by Ronnie Spangler

With the current uproar over airport security maybe its time the government reconsiders who should be in charge of airport security. Customs and Border Protection agents have been providing security for our ports of entry for decades. Since the inception of Homeland Security and TSA, the CBP have been responsible for most if not all of the captures and seizures of terrorist, drugs, explosives, or other contraband entering and leaving the USA across our borders or through our airports.

Both CBP and Border Patrol (BP) agents go through rigorous federal law enforcement training at the CBP academy. Depending on the position, Customs Officers vs Border Patrol Agents, training can take either 73 days or 95 days. After completion of training at the academy they must undergo a year of on the job training and are on probation for 2 years. Compare this to TSA Screener position training that consist of 56-72 hours of classroom training and 112-128 hours of on-the-job training. Who do you think is more qualified to provide security at our nations airports?

CBP and Border Patrol agents are Federal Law Enforcement agents with all of the powers and responsibilities of federal law enforcement officers. They are trained in dealing with the public and interviewing persons constantly vigilant for terrorist, criminals, or people wishing to do harm to our country whether entering or leaving the USA. They have become proficient in detecting people with false documents and by simple observation of people entering secure areas can eliminate a potentially threat. They also have the best K9 training center in the country. A well trained handler and his canine can detect explosives, drugs, currency and other contraband better than any technology on today's market. These K9 units do not have to come in direct contact with individuals and are far less intrusive than the current pat downs and full body scanners used by the TSA.

If you consider that most of the threats to US airlines are coming from overseas it makes no sense to punish American air travelers that are simply flying from Memphis to Salt Lake City or other locations within the US. Not one threat from a terrorist carrying a bomb has originated in the United States and the ones that did get on a US carrier were not detected by TSA agents either here or at the airport they departed from. No foreign airports uses measures that our TSA Screeners are required to use. No Mideast airport will allow full body scanners or intrusive pat downs. Instead they still rely on metal detectors and hand held wands. If a person is successful in boarding a plane from another country with an explosive device, the odds of detecting that person in the US is greatly reduced.

Everyone knows we have flaws in our Homeland Security, maybe its time we re-examine the structure of TSA and CBP to be more effective and less costly to the American taxpayer.

Technorati Tags:security, airport, tsa, cbp, border, border patrol, homeland security, law enforcement, airlines
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The New Globe Trotter | Socyberty

2010-11-17T14:58:00.000-06:00

The New Globe Trotter | Socyberty

Bernanke Sets Off United States China Currency War | Socyberty

2010-11-17T14:52:00.000-06:00

Bernanke Sets Off United States China Currency War | Socyberty

The New Globe Trotter | Socyberty

2010-11-17T14:47:00.000-06:00

The New Globe Trotter | Socyberty

America’s Most Dangerous People | Trifter

2010-11-13T11:12:00.000-06:00

America’s Most Dangerous People | Trifter

Obama Fallen Super Star | Socyberty

2010-11-13T07:34:00.000-06:00

Obama Fallen Super Star | Socyberty

United States Economy in Freefall | Socyberty

2010-11-12T07:18:00.000-06:00

United States Economy in Freefall | Socyberty

Obama Midterm Election Message Not Recieved | Socyberty

2010-11-11T08:33:00.000-06:00

Obama Midterm Election Message Not Recieved | Socyberty

Michele Malkin Doubts Tiffany Hartley Story

2010-10-09T12:01:00.002-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

It seems the latest doubters to the Falcon Lake incident is Michele Malkin. I don't know what happened on that lake but I do know that people that have been in situations like Tiffany Hartley has described do not always remember the exact details of the events. It is standard procedure to remove and make unavailable to the public any police officer that has been involved in a shooting until that officer has had time to collect his thoughts and be interviewed by trained personnel.

Making misstatements and giving confusing answers shortly after an event like this is not an admission of guilt. What Tiffany Hartley is saying does not bother me as much as what Mexican officials are doing. There are many questions that must be answered and many more that need to be asked.

To understand what is going on at Falcon Lake we need to take a look at what is going on in Mexico. After David Hartley was reported killed the first reaction of Mexican officials was denying the incident ever happened. They waited 48 hrs before ever beginning a search. One reason for the delay was they did not have the manpower and another was the boat they used to patrol the lake was not working. The media in Mexico are telling a different story. One story has it that David Hartley was killed while walking with his wife. Now they are saying they began the search the day after the incident was reported. We know this is not true because the Attorney General of the State(PGJE) denied the report because they had no official complaint.

This denial of the PGJE should sound familiar because they are saying the same thing about the Texas college student also murdered in this area last week. "The Attorney General of the State (PGJE) has denied any reports on William Jonathan Cazares Torres, a student at the University of Texas at Brownsville allegedly killed during the hijacking of a bus on a highway in the state."

Here is the story of William Jonathon Torres from the American side: Shot for having American identification.

Could the two murders be related, maybe. Both murders are suspected to be at the hands of a group called Los Zetas. While it cannot be verified as of today this is very possible for one simple reason. Los Zetas are sending a message of warning to the United States DEA and Mexican President Calderone.

What possible message could they be sending by murdering Americans? Leave us alone or more Americans will die in Mexico! Basic form of extortion well known to Los Zetas.

According to Mexican reports the US DEA and US Department of State have been pressuring the Mexican government to crack down on Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. DEA is offering up to $50 million for the capture of cartel kingpins.

The areas where both Hartley and the college student Torres have been reportedly murdered are areas controlled by Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Since Los Zetas are former military trained personnel that considers themselves at war with the Mexican government, Gulf Cartel and the United States, it is not far fetched to believe they would murder Americans and keep the bodies until their demands are met.

After recent events in Mexico one thing is very clear, Americans need to get out and stay out of Mexico. The country is out of control. Americans living on our southern borders must arm themselves and not be afraid to defend themselves and their property of threats coming from Mexico. Law enforcement in the United States simply cannot protect people living on the border. Law enforcement in the United States react to crimes after they are committed. It is impossible for law enforcement to stand guard over every American living along the border 24/7.

To read reports click on links above marked in blue.

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Obama Holds Boehner At Bay

2010-09-08T20:03:00.003-05:00

by Ronnie (ruff ruff) Spangler

A picture says a thousand words:

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Burning Koran - Stupid

2010-09-08T10:14:00.002-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

Before anyone comments that I'm a Liberal Obama loving Democrat, forget it. My reason for being against burning the Koran is the fact that nothing good will come from it. Making a symbolic gesture that makes life harder on our military fighting in Muslim countries is stupid.

This so-called Florida pastor with his little band of followers is a gutless coward. If he or any of his members want to burn the Koran do it in private. Why do they need publicity, so they can get their 15 minutes of fame and add to the membership. More members more donations, more donations means more money into the pockets of the 'pastor'.

As a vet it was always an honor to serve my country and fight for the right of free speech and religion. Included in this right, although it is not written, is the right to be stupid. Just like building the Mosque at Ground Zero is a stupid Constitutionally protected right, so is publicly antagonizing a billion people just so you can have your 15 minutes of fame.

While serving in Vietnam we watched as the flower children and anti-war demonstrated and gave aid to our enemies (Jane Fonda). This is no different. Just like the children of the past had no respect for the military serving in Vietnam, these people have no respect for our soldiers, Marines, sailors or Air Force fighting and dieing to protect you, me and them.

I would really like to know how many of the 50 including the 'pastor' have family members or friends serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other Muslim country. Our military will do their job. They will fight and die to give us the right to do stupid things, the question we should ask ourselves is how many must die so we can make a symbolic gesture.

So final word to Terry Jones, go ahead and burn your Koran. We fought, we killed, we were wounded and some died to give you that right. After your little symbolic gesture has been accomplished make sure you and your little band of 50 have the guts to visit every soldier's family that gave their life for your stupid little gesture. Your god and my god must truly be different gods.

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Driving The U. S. Mexican Border

2010-09-08T09:52:00.002-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

During this highly politicized period in America, most people have lost interest in illegal immigration and smuggling along the southern border. For the people living along the border, especially in Arizona and Texas, illegal immigration, smuggling and violence along their borders is a daily topic. Visit any small town with a small mom and pop type business and engage in conversation with the customers. You will find the subject quickly turning from the economy to conditions along the border.

I have a long history with and connection to the southwestern United States. My first encounter with traveling through the southwestern states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was in the mid fifties when my parents made their first trip from Indiana to California. We had a great time stopping at all of the tourist areas along the way. A large part of US Rt 66 was still present and we traveled through most of the small cities and towns along this historic route. People were friendly and happy to see folks from other parts of the country that were traveling through or visiting their state. Everywhere you stopped people were happy and excited to engage in conversation. It wasn't because they just wanted to sell their products. They truly enjoyed talking and exchanging their views on what it was like living in different parts of the country. As time progressed most of the small towns were bypassed by the interstate system and the cities grew so large that small business along these areas dried up and went away.

As a teenager living and going to school in southern California, I became very familiar with border towns in Mexico along the California and Arizona borders. Illegal immigration and drug smuggling was not a problem. Immigration from Mexico was mostly a seasonal thing. Immigrants were mostly Mexicans that came to harvest the vegetables and would return home after the harvesting season ended. For the most part Mexican people were happy to live in Mexico. The borders were open and Americans visited regularly, spending dollars in Mexico. Today this has all changed.

As American cities like Phoenix, Tuscon and El Paso began to expand Americans started to spend more of their dollars in America. As political corruption and drugs increased in Mexico, violence also increased. Unfortunately while the American economy grew, the Mexican economy collapsed. This forced more of the Mexican people to look north for a better way of life. As long as our economy was growing we could accommodate the growth in illegal immigration, at least until it became a flood of illegal immigrants. When the recession hit America tax revenues dropped and cities became overburdened with the high cost of illegals receiving aid from the state. Adding to the problem the dug industry in Mexico became the number one industry in Mexico. Due to the size and location of America with Mexico, we became the number one importers of illegal drugs from Mexico.

Unfortunately it is not only drugs being smuggled into America, we have now become the number one target for human smuggling from Mexico. People from all parts of the world are being smuggled into America from Mexico. After the attack of Sept. 11, 2001 the American government became concerned and changed the primary mission of the U. S. Border Patrol. They now play a more active role in preventing terrorist from crossing undetected into America from our Southern and Northern borders. Do we have a reason to be concerned, yes.

Talking to Americans living along our southern borders I discovered they have no grudge or animosity toward the Mexican people. A large percentage of American residents have some connection to Mexico. It could be from marriage, ancestral heritage, or just daily encounters with friends of Mexican heritage. The one thing they all have in common, they place their American values, traditions and heritage above ancestral ties.

It seems the current American government under the present Democrat leadership doesn't understand what the people are saying. With the murders of two Border Patrol agents (1 in 2008 and 1 in 2009) plus a rancher in 2010 living on the Arizona border, residents have had enough. I know from experience that at one time it was relatively safe to explore the deserts, mountain regions and parks along our southern borders. Today this is not so. The fact that the U. S. government has found it necessary to place warning signs along trails speaks volumes. The U. S. government would have you believe that the illegal activity along the border has decreased in recent years but to residents living along the border experiencing crime and violence, it has not gotten better. When people are afraid to venture out at night on their own property or travel the pubic roads along the border at night, something is terribly wrong.

With over 28,000 drug related deaths in Mexico since 2006 how much longer can we expect to be safe from the violence crossing our borders? While it may be true that due to the recession the numbers of illegals looking for work in the U. S. has decreased, it is also true the drug cartels have increased their efforts to smuggle drugs into the U. S. They have increased threats against law enforcement agencies along the border and also threatened residents that may help law enforcement.

While the American economy will dominate the midterm elections in America, the illegal immigration along our southern borders will also be in the minds of voters. It is not resentment for the Mexican people that is driving the debate over what to do about the problem. It is resentment toward the Federal Government for doing nothing that is driving the debate.

For the past few years I have visited the southern border separating the United States and Mexico. This is what I discovered. What I saw and heard comes from not only my personal observations, but from talking with everyday people living along the border.

Technorati Tags:united states, mexico, people, border, border patrol, economy, arizona, texas, recession, immigration, government, drugs
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Democrats Abandon Obama, Pelosi, Reid

2010-09-04T13:09:00.002-05:00

Just A Ploy To Win Elections

by Ronnie Spangler

Voters beware of Democrat candidates in conservative clothing. As the midterm elections draw closer many Democrat candidates are beginning to side with Tea Party members on spending, taxes and Health Care. The question on everyone's mind is are they honest or like every politician in the past, telling us what we want to hear just to get elected. Sorry but after Obama my faith in politicians, especially those of Democrat DNA, has been reduced to zero.

The list is increasing every day of Democrats that are reminding voters they did not vote with Obama/Pelosi or they are running ads telling folks they do not work for Pelosi. What has happened to honesty or integrity amongst thieves (politicians).

Are these people so naive that they expect us to believe once they are elected they will not fall right back into their elite spend and tax ways of doing business?

Have they become so power crazed that they honestly think they can continue to lie and con without punishment?

Democrat of Florida. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz called Democrats "centrist, where the country is" and Republicans "the right wing fringe.”She was referring to Republicans that support Tea Party views. Could this be true? Are Democrat ideas and policies really in line with mainstream America?

If this is true why did Indiana Democratic Rep. Joseph Donnelly run a campaign ad which brags he, “voted against Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax.”

Why is Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Jason Altmire, who voted no only 2 days before the Health Care Bill passed, bragging in his ads he “wasn’t afraid to stand up to Nancy Pelosi.”

How about North Carolina Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre bragging in his ads “I don’t work for Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.”

Two Congressional hopefuls seem to be praying for something to happen that will not put them in the situation of having to follow Nancy Pelosi.

State Sen. Mike Oliverio, Democratic nominee in West Virginia’s 1st District said, “Hopefully, there will be a better candidate [for speaker] than Nancy Pelosi,” and Alabama Democratic Rep. Bobby Brightwas quoted as saying: “She might get sick and die.” Even opponent Roby felt that was a bit much.

If this isn't bad enough now some Democrats are saying they could support extending the Bush tax cuts and even repeal the Obamacare mandate. Are we really expected to believe this? They bashed Bush for the past 8 years as being stupid and the problem for everything known to man plus they forced the mandate down our throats saying we just didn't understand but we would like it in the end. Well they gave it to us in the end and now they're finding out we still don't like it.

The Democrats seem to think that just because they fooled us in o6 and 08 they can do it again in 2010. They seem to think old dogs cannot see through their new tricks of deception. Fool us once shame on them, fool us twice shame on us. There will not be a 3rd time for them.

Technorati Tags:vote, voters, pelosi, reid, obama, politics, politicians, tea, party, health care, bush, democrats
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Obama Islam Always A Part Of America

2010-08-17T12:24:00.002-05:00

Islam Has Always Been Part Of America

by Ronnie Spangler

According to President Obama "Islam has always been part of America."

Is this revisionist history from our President?

The truth is Islam is relatively new compared to other religions practiced within the United States. President Obama seems to forget that the original 13 colonies were predominately Christian. Other areas controlled by Spain or France were mostly Catholic. Historians vigorously disagree on when and where Islam 1st became a religious factor in the history of America. One thing is certain, by 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence Muslim influence under the Ottoman Empire had been drastically reduced. After Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798 the Muslim culture and Islamic faith had been left behind.

Obama and some misguided historians seem to believe that it was slavery in America that brought Islam to our shores. Here again historians are divided on how many slaves actually came from Muslim countries. Some will say 10% of slaves were Muslims while others put the number between 15%-30%, truth is nobody knows. If you study the spread of Islam from the time of Mohammed until the decline of the Ottoman Empire, you will find that it never ventured farther west or south than the northeastern coast of Africa. The majority of all slave trade during this period took place along the west and southwest coast of the African continent.

Due to the way slaves were captured and sold to slave traders it is highly unlikely that the ones sold on the west coast of Africa were ever exposed to Islam. Tribes along these coast that participated in slave trade were at war with tribes in central Africa. Tribes along the coast would capture members of enemy tribes and sell them to the slave traders. As the need for slaves increased France and Spain began to colonize the west and southwestern coast of Africa and became heavily involved in the slavery business. Because each tribe in central, western and southern part of Africa had its own primitive gods and religion it leaves you to wonder how any of these people could have been Muslim.

As you look deeper into the spread of Islam in early America you find very few people actually practicing the Islamic faith. In 1915 the Albanians built a Muslim Mosque in Maine, although the accepted 1st Islamic Mosque is reported to have been built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1934 by the Lebanese community. It wasn't until the 2nd half of the 20th century that Muslims started to immigrate into America in large numbers and Mosque construction began to explode. It is estimated there are over 2000 Mosques in America today, compared to zero before 1915.

With this information readily available I cannot understand how President Obama can say, "Islam has always been a part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country."

Technorati Tags:history, islam, mosque, obama, america, religion, slavery, muslim
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Muslim Mosque Near Ground Zero

2010-08-15T18:39:00.002-05:00

Why Worry About Another Mosque

by Ronnie Spangler

President Obama has succeeded in turning what Democrats hoped would be a local issue confined to New York into a national issue. Like everything else Obama says his remarks about building a Mosque near ground zero has left many scratching their heads. Is he for it or against it. Like most politicians he wants to please everyone especially the Muslim community.

By putting the Imam that's behind building the Mosque on the State Department payroll and sending him to the Middle East, Obama has given ammunition to those that believe he is secretly practicing the Islamic faith. Iran's President Ahmadinejad statements before the United Nations has not helped to calm people's fear of Muslims that believe in the return of al-Mahdi the 12th Imam.

Ahmadinejad and Muslims that believe in the 12th Imam also believe it is their duty to start a major war between the greatest powers on earth. Bottom line they are hoping for another World War. They believe the 12th Imam will rise up and save the world during this time of crisis. As a condition for saving the world all infidels or non-believers must be killed. Along with Jesus the 12th Imam will fight and destroy the anti-Christ

Besides all the millions that must die before the appearance of the 12th Imam and those that will die after the coming of the 12th Imam, Muslims believe all Jews and Israel itself must be destroyed. Once this has been accomplished they believe Islam will rule the world and there will be no other religions because mankind will have finally been shown the truth.

Muslims Ahmadinejad that believe in the 12th Imam have no fear of another World War because they believe they will be protected and survive to witness the final battle and victory of their al-Mahdi. In fact they think it is their duty to hasten another World War thereby hastening the arrival of the 12th Imam.

This type of teaching in Mosques has many in America worried. After all its not only Jews that are considered infidels it is also atheist, agnostics, Christians and any Muslim that does not follow the true Islamic faith.

Does Obama secretly believe in this type of teaching, I haven't the foggiest idea. Has Obama read or does he secretly follow the Koran, again we don't know. Could he secretly be following the teachings of the Koran while he orders the killing of Muslims in other countries, yes. For the greater good of the Islamic faithful and to hasten the arrival of the 12th Imam, killing of Muslims is permissible to fanatics like Ahmadinejad.

Since all of the attacks (9/11, Ft. Hood, Christmas Day and Time Square) were carried out by Muslims or Islamic jihadist it is no wonder Americans are concerned. Knowing what is truly in the heart and mind of a leader is of paramount importance to those that follow. Also what is being taught inside a Mosque especially near Ground Zero is especially important to Americans.

Technorati Tags:religion, mosque, muslim, islam, new york, imam, politician, community, world, faith, war, president
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Blame Bush or Democrats

2010-08-09T10:52:00.002-05:00

Who Is Really To Blame

by Ronnie Spangler

With the elections drawing near the Democrats have become desperate. The blame game was going on long before and ever since President Obama took the oath of office. Until this point in time it has worked well for him and his Progressive friends. Unfortunately for the President and members of Congress the American people have become more engaged and they are at the point of rebellion. Maybe now is the time to look back and remember what really happened to our economy and who is really to blame.

Think back to 2006 when the Democrats took control of Congress and ask yourself who controls the spending in our government. Now remember who controlled the committees in Congress that were supposed to be watching over people like Fanny Mae and Freddie Mack. Who was it that said, after being warned by the White House, nothing was wrong with Fanny and Freddie?

Did President Bush veto any bills that had Congress spending like drunken sailors, no. Ask yourself why. Maybe because he needed all the support he could get to fight the 2 wars we were in then and are still in today. Think about how every time a defense bill came before him Democrats added pet projects that had nothing to do with fighting these wars. To veto any added earmarks he would have had to veto the entire bill. Remember in 2007 the Dems (Harry Reid and Barack Obama) were proclaiming the war in Iraq is lost and did not want to fund the surge. After they added all of their pet projects the funding was approved. Surge worked out pretty well.

Now remember what happened as the Presidential elections started to gain speed heading into 2008. Everyone seems to have forgotten how the price of oil and gas began to rise and as the elections neared, all of a sudden they skyrocketed. What happened to average working people and small business? Workers found themselves having to decide whether to pay their bills (rent/mortgages) or buy gas to get back and forth to work. Due to the high increase in fuel prices transportation fees went through the roof. Business at 1st passed these increases on to the consumer. The result was consumers cut back on buying their products. Then business began to cut back on employees, unemployment began to rise.

Remember scenes and stories like this:

Why did the price of oil go so high? No valid reason was ever given but the impact on families and business around the country was devastating to some. Did the high cost of oil and gas contribute to the housing decline and eventual burst of the housing bubble? I believe the answer is yes. If a family has to decide whether to buy food and clothing for their kids or pay their mortgage they may decide to let a payment go for one month thinking they may be able to pay it the next. Some folks even used mortgage money to buy gas in order to keep their job. Employers didn't want to hear, I couldn't come to work because I didn't have gas money.

Some people speculated that investors like George Soros was using oil for political gains. Since there was no shortage in oil production around the world people believed the market was artificially high but Congress refused to act. Regulators did next to nothing to investigate hedge fund investors even after some were caught illegally buying and selling on the market.

All of this played well for the Democrats since there was a Republican President to blame. Throughout the Presidential campaign Democrats beat the Republicans for letting prices get so far out of hand. Their big complaint and answer to the problem was not enough Democrats controlling Congress so voters needed to elect more. The voters did and for some unknown reason the price of oil and gas miraculously started to decline after the November elections.

By this time the damage had been done. People were so far behind in mortgage payments they couldn't catch up. Consumers had stopped buying resulting in employers laying off employees. Like dominoes everything started to crash and to this day all we hear from Democrats is blame George Bush and the Republicans. I just don't buy what they are selling and I believe most Americans are not buying it either.

Technorati Tags:bush, blame, democrats, congress, oil, gas, progressives, people, workers, unemployment, business, transportation, consumers, employers
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Illegals Leaving Arizona

2010-07-28T09:08:00.002-05:00

Illegals Are Leaving Az But Heading For Your State

by Ronnie Spangler

This was my second trip to the southern borders within the last month. This time I flew into Yuma, Arizona and drove home to Tennessee. I traveled along I-8 and I-10 to El Paso and picked up I-20. I had to cut the trip short so I didn't have much time to speak to folks along the border towns and cities. The few I was able to talk with at truck stops, restaurants, motels and rest areas were supportive of Arizona's new law but they were worried that the law would cause illegals living in Az to overrun their own states.

If witnessing all the U-Haul, Ryder and pickup trucks pulling trailers leaving Arizona can be used as evidence to support these fears, then Americans around the US have a right to be worried. Over the past 20 years I have made a lot of trips driving to and from Arizona to Tennessee. It is not uncommon to see Americans moving from one state to another. What is uncommon is the number of vehicles I saw leaving Az heading east. If the other interstate highways running through Arizona are witnessing the same amount of traffic, then you could assume they are probably leaving before the new law goes into effect.

I have no way of knowing if all of the rental trucks were being driven by illegals or if everyone of them were people moving out of Az. What I did notice was the vast majority of rental trucks that were towing vehicles, had Arizona license plates on the vehicles being towed. This was also true for most of the pickup trucks that were towing trailers.

I did not grow up during the Great Depression but I remember watching old news stories about the great migration from the Midwest to California during this time. What I saw was nothing compared to all of the people that were fleeing the drought and the devastation it caused in the Midwest. However, it did seem eerily similar.

I did stop in El Paso and talked to some of the students that are going through the Border Patrol Canine Training Course at Fort Bliss. The good news is Homeland Security has increased the budget and reinstated a class they had previously canceled. This is good news and I support this decision.

The dogs and equipment are the best that money can buy and the training is excellent. Between the keen sense of smell inherent in this particular breed of dog and the training received by the agent, drug and weapons smugglers will find it increasingly difficult to smuggle anything in or out of the US. I only hope Homeland Security continues this program and adds more Canine Handlers to the undermanned Border Patrol.

Technorati Tags:arizona, law, dogs, canine, illegals, moving, interstate, trip, border, border patrol, uhaul, ryder, smugglers
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6 China Illegals Caught Crossing Border Woman Claims Raped In Mexico

2010-07-18T12:07:00.005-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

Anonymous sources tell me 6 illegals were apprehended by the Yuma Sector Border Patrol crossing the US, Mexico border in Southern Arizona over the July 15-17, 2010 time period. The Yuma Sector Border Patrol has not committed on the story and the details are sketchy.

According to sources familiar with the apprehensions the illegals could not speak English and no one at the Border Patrol station where they were being detained could speak Chinese. After the Border Patrol agents contacted an interpreter they learned one of the women was claiming she had been raped while in Mexico. One of the men had a broken ankle. All 6 were treated by Border Patrol Paramedics then processed and transferred to immigration authorities for further medical attention and processing.

There has been no official comment from the government and no local reporting on this matter. It is unclear if the Chinese apprehended were part of a group being smuggled into the US simply looking for work or if they were being held against their will by Cartels in Mexico. No Mexican smugglers or coyotes were caught by the Border Patrol.

The fact that not one of the six could speak English leaves one wondering where they were headed and where did they expect to find work. Were they simply victims of a larger human trafficking cartel in Mexico with connections to China? Were they being held against their will for ransom? Will the public ever know about this story and how many other stories like this are happening in other areas along the Border?

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Arizona Southern Border, Did You Know?

2010-07-15T10:05:00.002-05:00

A Few Things The General Public May Not Know

by Ronnie Spangler

Here are a few things I discovered going on along the Arizona southern border. I'm certain with everything else that is going on in our country, the general public is simply unaware of how bad it is. These are thing you will not find in the mainstream or cable news networks.

While I was in the Yuma Sector:

Wellton, Ariz. — June 27, 2010 Border Patrol agents arrested 10 suspected smugglers and seized more than a quarter million dollars of marijuana in two unrelated incidents in the Wellton, Ariz. area this week.

Border Patrol agents assigned to Camp Grip detected the illegal entry of 10 suspected smugglers about 15 miles west of Lukeville. Customs and Border Protection pilots initially spotted the group and guided agents on the ground to their location.

Agents apprehended eight suspected smugglers with two returning to Mexico to avoid arrest. Agents also seized six makeshift backpacks filled with marijuana weighing a total of 260 pounds with an estimated street value of $208,000. The contraband and illegal aliens were transported to the Wellton Border Patrol Station for processing in accordance with sector guidelines.

July 1, 2010 Border Patrol agents assigned to Camp Grip detected the illegal entry of an all-terrain vehicle west of Lukeville. Agents tracked the ATV and with the assistance of a CBP pilot and intercepted the ATV and two riders.

The ATV was loaded with bundles of marijuana weighing 165 pounds with an estimated street value of $132,000. One of the smugglers, a Mexican juvenile, was transported to the Wellton Border Patrol Station along with the ATV for processing. The other smuggler, an 18-year old Mexican citizen, and the seized marijuana were turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

These 2 incidents resulted in Mexican Drug Cartels threatening to retaliate against agents assigned to Camp Grip over the July 4, 2010 holiday. The Border Patrol took the threats seriously and the agents acted accordingly. No threats were carried out over the holiday period.

Yuma, AZ July 5, 2010 Border Patrol agents assigned to the Yuma Station detected the illegal entry of five individuals near County 11th Street and the Colorado River. Agents tracked the group and arrested four men. One of the suspected smugglers returned to Mexico to avoid arrest. Border Patrol agents also seized several makeshift backpacks full of marijuana. The marijuana weighed a total of 217 pounds with an estimated street value of $173,760.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents have seized more than 32,000 pounds of marijuana, estimated street value over 25 million dollars. This is only marijuana add in cocaine, heroine, meth and other illegal drugs and maybe you can understand why nobody believes Napolitano or Obama.

In the Tuscon Sector:

Douglas, Arizona — July 2, 2010 U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were screening pedestrian traffic coming from Mexico yesterday when a young man pulled a knife from his pocket and attempted to stab a CBP officer.

Officers were screening pedestrian traffic coming from Mexico when they were approached by a young man. The officers noticed that the man kept his hands in his pant pockets and was told to show his hands. The man stepped toward the officer as he pulled his hands from his pocket and attempted to stab the officer with a knife that he had been concealing in his pocket.

The CBP officer was able to block the stabbing attempt. With the assistance of other officers the man was taken into custody. The man was identified an 18-year-old U.S. citizen and resident of Wilcox, Ariz.

From Oct. 1, 2009, to May 31, 2010, the Tucson Sector Border Patrol seized more than 712,000 pounds of marijuana exceeding $569 million in value.

Tucson, Ariz. July 8, 2010 U.S. Border Patrol Canine teams seized, in less than 2 hours, drugs attempted to be smuggled through the Interstate 19 checkpoint.

In the first seizure, a sedan approached the checkpoint where a Border Patrol canine team was operating in the primary inspection lane. The canine alerted to the vehicle and the driver was referred to secondary.

In secondary, a cursory inspection of the trunk was performed where the canine team alerted. Agents discovered five bundles of marijuana weighing more than 125 pounds. The agents also discovered possible counterfeit currency and identification documents. The driver, passenger, vehicle and contraband were taken to the Nogales Station for processing.

Less than two hours later, a canine team alerted to another vehicle in the primary inspection lane. Agents referred the truck to secondary and the canine team performed a second cursory sniff and alerted to the vehicle’s gas tank. Agents performed an interior inspection of the gas tank and discovered 36 packages of marijuana weighing more than 98 pounds. The driver, vehicle and contraband were taken to the Nogales Station for processing.

From Oct. 1, 2009, to May 31, 2010, the Tucson Sector Border Patrol seized more than 712,000 pounds of marijuana exceeding $569 million in value.

Tucson, Ariz. July 7, 2010 Border Patrol agents assigned to the Naco Station arrested an illegal alien Wednesday who has an active warrant for murder.

While attempting to illegally enter into the United States, the man was apprehended by Naco agents, processed in the field and transported to the Naco Border Patrol Station. The subject was enrolled into the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS).

The system revealed he had arrests for assault, gang activity, criminal weapons and firearms possession in addition to the warrant. The man will be turned over to the Tucson Police Department pending extradition to New York.

In Fiscal Year 2009, the Tucson Sector apprehended more than 241,000 people, 40,000 of those apprehended had past criminal histories. From Oct. 1, 2009, to May 31, 2010, the Tucson Sector Border Patrol has apprehended more than 170,000 people attempting to illegally enter the United States.

For every drug seizure or illegal alien arrest made by CBP and Border Patrol agents, hundreds more are getting through. This is only Arizona, add in California, New Mexico and Texas then tell me "the border is as safe as it ever was." Maybe the President should visit Arizona's border or maybe it is like SB 1070, the only thing he knows is what his left wing consultants tells him.

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From Arizona Southern Border

2010-07-13T11:08:00.002-05:00

Continued From Recent Trip Along Arizona Southern Border

by Ronnie

While in the Yuma area of southern Arizona I was able to travel to regions along the border between the Yuma and Tuscon sectors. Some of these areas are not safe for non-native Americans to venture into during the daylight hours and should always be avoided at night.

One such area is the Tohono O'odham Reservation between Ajo and Three Points. Unless you are a local, traveling alone in this area is not advised. For the most part Native Americans living on the Reservation are friendly and non threatening to visitors. However, the reservation has seen a large influx of illegal human and drug smuggling activity in the last few years. In fact there are 28 known gangs operating on this reservation making their living off both human and drug smuggling activities.

Since the passage of SB 1070 and the crack down on gangs operating within the Nation, tensions have been strained between some Native Americans and local Arizonians. The Tohono O’odham Nation and Arizona’s intertribal council have passed resolutions against S.B. 1070.

A friend living in Sells, Az traveled with me around parts of the reservation. He told me the unemployment rate for Native Americans living on the reservation is between 40 and 50 percent. He believes, because of high unemployment and the fact that the only industry on the reservation is really the Desert Diamond Casino, 3/4 of the population either knows someone connected to smuggling or they are directly involved themselves.

According to him people not connected to smuggling are worried about an increase in violence if the Reservation police continue to work with Federal Agencies like Border Patrol, ICE, FBI, or DEA on the crack down of drugs passing through the reservation. In May (before I got to Yuma) for the 1st time the Nation's Tribal Police Force led a drug raid on the reservation. Federal agents from Border Patrol, ICE, ATF, State and Local police departments assisted the Nation's Police in apprehending 8 tribal members charged with distributing cocaine.

The Tohono O'odham Reservation falls within the Tuscon Sector of the Border Patrol. Traveling down 86, Ajo Tuscon Highway, you will encounter the Border Patrol:

After 9/11 the Border Patrol was given a primary mission to watch for and intercept any would be terrorist crossing our borders. With increased smuggling across our southern borders the Border Patrol increased patrols on Reservations like Tohono O'odham. This created resentment by native residents of Tohono O'odham. According to to some tribal members I spoke to things have changed over time.

If you speak privately to individuals they will tell you they now appreciate the efforts of the Border Patrol. After seeing how their land is being destroyed more and more are turning against illegals crossing the border and are willing to anonymously help the Border Patrol. The recent extradition and conviction of a Mexican illegal that murdered a ranch hand on the Tohono O'odham Nation back in 2003 may help convince Native Americans to cooperate with Federal agents. As it stands right now they are apprehensive about the Federal Government as to whether they can really protect the people from the violence from drug cartels in Mexico. They know the Border Patrol is undermanned and they are aware of how successful the drug cartels have been in infiltrating the southern borders. They have seen how smugglers place spotters around the most highly trafficked trails and wait for the patrols to leave. When the smugglers feel it is safe they continue their operations.

The people in this area knows what everyone else knows along the border, there needs to be more boots on the ground and aerial surveillance if the smuggling along the border is ever contained. The President and Congress still have a chance to bring it under control if they will work with Arizona instead of fighting them every step of the way.

To be continued: Tuscon, Nogales, Phoenix.

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Axelrod Lies On Fox News Sunday

2010-07-12T10:11:00.005-05:00

Will The Lies And Spin Never Stop?

by Ronnie Spangler

True to the Obama spin machine doctrine David Axelrod continued their lies and spin about Arizona and the problems caused by illegal immigration and smuggling. Axelrod told Mike Wallace the Administration had spent more and done more than any Administration to combat the problem. He failed to answer the question posed by Mr. Wallace about cutting the Border Patrol budget and the pitiful number of National Guard troops they have promised to send to the border states. Axelrod declared the numbers of apprehensions of illegals had decreased by 18% but failed to mention this was only a statistical estimate. If you consider that for every 1 illegal apprehended by Border Patrol agents as many as 10 could have escaped. As an example while I was in Arizona agents tracked a group of illegals and confiscated 13 bundles of dope. The smugglers/illegals got away. Considering each bundle weighed between 80 and 100 pounds this meant there had to be at least 13 or more illegals carrying the dope on their backs. This happens all the time and the numbers are not included in their statistics because there were no apprehensions.

Axelrod cleverly spun the the idea of increased support for the Border Patrol by the Obama Administration. Their idea of spending money to support the effort is to redirect the budget from boots on the ground and completing the border fence is to limiting the man hours agents spend in the field and use the money saved to build parking lots and upgrade facilities whether they are needed or not. One example is the much publicized attempt to spend 1 million dollars on a northern border crossing that was only open 3 days a week and seldom saw traffic crossing from Canada to the USA. After the people complained over the government's plan to use imminent domain procedures to confiscate their land, and it was picked up by some in the media, Homeland Security and Napolitano dropped the plan.

Where was the million dollars to "refurbish" the Canadian/American crossing coming from you ask. Partly from canceling much needed and already scheduled canine training for FY 2010. Another portion came from cutting agents overtime pay while in the field or while mandated to spend a week at a time in remote areas like Arizona's Camp Grip, also known as Camp Desert.

The only thing this Administration has done to combat the problem of illegal crossings is to spend money fighting Arizona in court and post an additional 11 signs like this:

Sorry David but this is not helping solve the problem. The people have caught on to the Obama slight of hand game of doing something with the right hand while doing just the opposite with the left. Obama and his team was able to con us during the campaign but we the people have finally caught on and we are refusing to be conned again.

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Southern Arizona Border and SB 1070

2010-07-10T11:28:00.002-05:00

Obama Napolitano Lying About The Border

by Ronnie Spangler

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people from Yuma, Tuscon, Nogales, and Phoenix that took the time to talk to me and explain what is really going on. I would also like to thank my followers on Twitter that kept in touch while I traveled through Arizona.

After traveling along the southern border of Arizona and Mexico I have come to one very clear conclusion, President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano are lying to the American people. The border is not as safe as it has ever been. Also to my surprise an overwhelming number of 2nd and 3rd generation of Americans of Mexican decent, living in Arizona, support SB 1070 and the crack down on illegal immigration.

This is not my first trip to Arizona. I have visited and traveled Az. for over 40 years. While illegal immigration has always been an issue along the southern border states, the violence facing Az and other states has gotten out of hand. When Americans feel they have to be armed just to visit the desert or mountain areas on a family camping trip,then something has gone terribly wrong in our country. The truth is Arizona is returning to the Wild Wild West made famous by Hollywood.

My first stop along the border was in the Yuma sector. For those not familiar with the area it is a beautiful region that borders California and Mexico. It has everything from agricultural to mountain and desert terrain. Like most of central and southern Az the population is very diverse with Americans descending from all parts of the country and world. It is mostly small business oriented and these are the people I spoke to about the problems they are having along the border. Due to constant threats from Mexican drug cartels and drug gangs involved in smuggling, most people will not speak publicly about illegal immigration. For this reason I would never divulge the names of people I have spoken to during my travels along the border.

After establishing a relationship of trust with some of the small business owners and their employees, I asked them if they supported the new law and the crack down on illegals in Arizona. 8 out of 10 supported the effort including Mexican/Americans. The main reason they gave for supporting the law, they are sick and tired of all of the violence associated with drug and human smuggling. While drug and smuggling crimes have decreased over the years you still hear about the occasional stash house and other drug related crimes on the local news.

The major contributing factor for the decrease in violence in the Yuma sector is the way the Border Patrol and CBP operates. Unlike other sectors Yuma operates under Operations Command meaning all drug and illegal entries across the border are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The crackdown began in 1994 under Operation Gatekeeper, while the operation names have changed over the years the main initiative for the operation has not. That is to reduce violence and illegal activities along the border in this sector. The efforts by CBP, Border Patrol and local law enforcement have paid off for residents in the Yuma sector and they appreciate and support both federal and local law enforcement agencies. However, residents in the Yuma sector are worried things will start to return to the days prior to Operation Gatekeeper if President Obama and Secretary Napolitano are successful in weakening the Border Patrol and relaxing the laws on illegal immigration.

Few people are aware of the work Border Patrol agents do in the Yuma sector. One of the areas that most Americans never hear about is an area considered no man's land near Lukeville Az. Before the crackdown this area was notorious for drug and human trafficking. The Border Patrol with agents mainly from Wellton and Yuma continually man this remote area known as Desert Grip (or Camp Grip by locals)to stop illegals attempting to smuggle drugs into the US. While I was there I saw just how effective the Border Patrol agents that man this area can be, see story here. As a result of Border Patrol's increased presence and success at catching would be smugglers the Mexican drug cartels issued a warning that they would retaliate against the Border Patrol Agents in the Camp Grip area over the 4th of July holiday. Agents were informed of the threats and responded with increased vigilance. Nothing transpired and the agents carried out their assigned duties.

Using the Border Patrol's budget Secretary Napolitano is now undermining the hard work of the agents that man this post. The terrain surrounding Camp Grip is rugged and consist of both desert and mountain ranges. Agents are required to spend 7 days at a time eating, sleeping and patrolling this vast area that covers hundreds of square miles. They do this 24/7 and now due to recent cuts in budget they do it without the benefit of being paid for overtime hours. It is beyond me how the Secretary expects an agent to just stop during the middle of a chase or apprehension because his or her shift has come to an end. The Union representing the Border Patrol agents have appealed this insane decision.

This is a short posting of what I saw in the Yuma sector. More postings will follow concerning Yuma, Tuscan, Nogales and Phoenix.

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Government Delays Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup

2010-06-13T11:11:00.003-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

No one can defend British Petroleum (BP) for the disaster taking place in the Gulf Coast. That being said we must take a long hard look at how the US Government and this administration has reacted to this crisis. In the minds of most people it has been slow and dismal at best. Due to the bureaucracy built into are system we should have seen it coming and expected nothing better from our government.

With a system heaped in turf battles and bureaucrats fighting for organizational power, cleanup efforts and efforts to prevent the oil from coming ashore have been drastically undermined.

The President has tried to have it both ways. He has said we are in charge but BP is responsible and they are handling everything from containment to cleanup. The problem facing the government is competing agencies with different policies have different rules for the way BP deals with containment and cleanup. This has caused mass confusion and has hampered BP and Gulf Coast state governments in their efforts in both areas. This confusion has allowed not only the containment but also the actual cleanup to become a lackluster effort at best.

Not only must BP deal with the economic claims from residents and business along the coast, BP must try to understand and follow overlapping jurisdiction from a ever increasing number government agencies. Before they can take any action to prevent the spread of oil or the onshore cleanup, they must first make sure they have the approval and then follow the guidelines of each and every agency or bureaucrat.

It is no better for the states along the Gulf that must deal with all of these different federal agencies. Being a private entity, just try to imagine what it would be like trying to follow American laws (some written as far back as 1920) and all of the different rules of the different agencies of the Federal Government. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

Here are a few of the agencies BP and states along the Gulf must deal with during this crisis.

Coast Guard
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Office of Air and Radiation
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Office of International Affairs
Office of Water
Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management
Minerals Management Services
National Park Services
Fish and Wildlife Services
Corps of Engineers

There are more but each of the above agencies or divisions or offices within the agency has its own interest and guidelines that must be followed.

OSHA in its effort to protect American workers only allows contracted workers or Federal workers to work 20 minutes out of 60 minutes cleaning up oil that has reached the shore. At this rate for every 100 employees working for 20 minutes another 300 employees will be standing around for 40 minutes doing nothing. Americans working for Jiffy Lube changing oil in vehicles work 8 to 10 hours a day without this kind of policy.

If the President was serious about helping the Gulf area and reducing the effects of this disaster, in the very beginning he would have declared this a National Disaster. This would have allowed a national emergency response that could have relaxed or eliminated some of the political and bureaucratic infighting and confusion.

Lessons learned from this disaster will not be known for years to come. This Administration will never admit any failings. From the beginning they have felt it was only necessary to find fault and lay blame. I have still not been able to understand how the Federal Government (especially the Executive Branch) can abdicate government responsibility, procedures, or enforcement of federal policy such as closing or restricting access to public beaches, to private entities like BP.

The President will have his meeting with BP and give a great speech where he will announce a tougher stand and maybe a breakthrough on settling claims faster and more efficiently. One idea is to create an escrow account paid into by BP and having a third party independent committee settle the claims, more bureaucracy. If the government sector can really be more efficient than the private sector I would suggest BP place in escrow in each state along the Gulf $25 million dollars for the state agency to settle claims related to damages from the spill. This should carry residents and businesses through the year and will not release BP from future claims or damages. Money that was not spent by one state could be transferred to another state or more added as legitimate claims increased.

The biggest problem facing the government and BP will be deciding who and what part of the economy was effected by the oil spill and how much of a percentage point did the already failing economy play in industries like tourism. There is one fact that cannot be ignored. With the national unemployment rate near 10%, in some states 12%-15%, tourism would have declined not only along the Gulf but throughout the country as well. Families that could take a vacation or had extra money to spend had already decided to stay closer to home. Parents were discussing cheaper ways to enjoy their time off long before the oil spill. Another fact of life is normally unemployed people do not travel from state to state on vacations.

It is time to lay equal blame on both BP and the Federal Government for failing to limit the disaster of the accident on the oil rig. It is also time for America to understand that big government is not the answer to every problem. A large bureaucratic government only enlarges a problem and sometimes turns a crisis into a national disaster with far reaching consequences.

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BP Facing Bankruptcy Take Over

2010-06-10T09:04:00.002-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

British Petroleum (BP) is moving closer to the days of bankruptcy or a hostile take over by the Obama Administration or China. With their stock steadily declining in value it is only a matter of time before another interested party makes a move to buy up the cheap stock (as compared to other oil companies) and gain control of BP. China has already said they are interested in BP and some in Congress have suggested the Obama Administration should take over the North American Operations Division of BP. England has said privately that they would not be completely opposed to a move by President Obama taking over this part of the company. On the other hand England has warned the President his constant bereavement of BP has affected the value of the company so much that retirees in England are loosing money from dividend payments and it is beginning to affect their financial well being.

President Obama understands that most Americans could care less how the loss of dividend payments affects British shareholders and retirees so he will continue to hammer BP forcing their value on the market to steadily decline. Due to the President's political ideology and his stated goals of transforming America, he is determined to use this crisis in the Gulf to his advantage. Using the same scenario he used to gain control of General Motors the President is betting the Feds can out maneuver China after BP's stock falls low enough on the open market.

Given a choice England will do everything in their power to side with President Obama to prevent China from gaining control of BP. In the mind of British leaders and the board members of BP it will be a choice of two evils. Everyone in the business world sees what is going on but they are powerless to stop it. Gaining control of one of the largest companies in the oil industry will be just one more step in President Obama's plan for a total transformation of America.

People think President Obama is just incompetent or too inexperienced in the way he is handling the crisis in the Gulf. If you consider his ideology of never letting a crisis go to waste, working with BP to minimize the crisis would be the last thing he would want to do. Without shifting all of the blame, responsibility and anger onto BP his plan will not succeed.

Sadly as the lawyers get richer, more Americans become unemployed, revenues from tourism continue to decline, American anger towards BP continues to rise and the value of BP on the open market continues to fall the crisis in the Gulf will move to a higher level. That level will be announced by the Administration. Just before and as their excuse for taking over a controlling interest of BP, the Administration will declare it to be a matter of national interest.

For those that cannot understand why the President has not talked to the CEO of BP since the oil spill began, this is the only answer that makes sense. Will it work, only time will tell.

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Obama, Moses and Ramses

2010-06-08T08:48:00.002-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

Trying to understand or predict the direction President Obama is leading the country into is like predicting the path of a tornado before it touches ground. One way to try to understand this President is to look at the past. In this comparison I will not reach definitive or personal opinion of the President simply because most will feel this is an unfair comparison. Why, because the comparison of events and actions taken by the main characters are of a real life President Obama verses the 1956 Hollywood version of "The Ten Commandments" Moses and Ramses. Is it fair, only to the extent that all three characters had their own idea of the direction they had envisioned for their country and/or people.

In the Hollywood and biblical version of Moses he was directed, guided and protected by God to set the enslaved people of Israel free from Egyptian bondage. Ramses on the other hand saw himself as the all powerful Pharaoh with his own God that was more powerful than any God of the Jews. While Moses was submissive to his God Ramses at times felt as Pharaoh he was a god, hence his belief that "I am Pharaoh I am Egypt."

So where does President Obama fit in? Like Ramses his arrogance leads him to believe that he and he alone can solve all of the problems of America and the world. In the movie Ramses often said, "So let it be written, so let it be done." This was his arrogant way of saying "I have made my decision and it is the right decision. No one should question it and no one can refuse to carry out my decision. I am Pharaoh and once my decision is written in stone the problem is solved."

It could be said that President Obama treats modern day problems much the same as Ramses. He did inherit an economy that was crashing and an unemployment crisis. His answer was health care reform, a huge spending spree and the take over of private industries. In this case he heard the problem, made his decision and once the Congress had written the policy the problem was solved. In reality nothing has been solved but in the mind of this President if everyone just follows his written word then the problem no longer requires his attention, except to occasionally remind people that everything is getting better.

In the case of Moses he never believed he had the answers for the problems facing the Israeli people. He asked God for guidance and left many of the decisions facing the Israeli people, up to the people. When he confronted Ramses and demanded that he let the enslaved people go, he demanded on behalf of God and told Ramses that God, not Moses, would punish Egypt if the Pharaoh refused. Moses being submissive to God understood and often said he had no power but that God had all the power and was using Moses to guide his people to the promised land. In simple terms Moses was a man of humility and free from arrogance.

With President Obama it has become increasingly clear that this is a man completely void of humility and steeped in arrogance. If everything goes right he, his supporters and most of the media, will always find a way to credit the President. If things go wrong there will always be someone to blame, witness the many soles thrown under the infamous Obama bus.

Under Ramses, Egypt was headed for total domination of the known world thereby enslaving the conquered people of other nations in order to enhance the power and riches of the Pharaoh. On the other hand, Moses was summoned by God to free his people from bondage and deliver them to the promised land. A land ruled by the people with the right to decide for themselves whether they would follow the laws of God and have his protection, or sway from God and be ruled by tyrants and dictators.

With the Pharaoh, the people have no say in the direction their country is going and no say in the matters of state. Ramses made all decisions for Egypt and never felt the need to listen to the common man. Moses informed the people of Israel of God's intentions for them and let the people make the decision to follow or not. Once they were free from the influence of Ramses they came to a crossroads where they must accept or defy the laws (Ten Commandments) sent down from God. Those that chose to follow the basic laws from God went on to form a nation with a government that listened to the people and based their decisions on the will of the people. When they as a nation strayed from those basic laws their nation was lost and once again fell to tyrants and dictators.

Today President Obama seems to have a total disregard for the will of the people. In every recent policy decision he has strayed from the will of the people. The majority of Americans were against his spending and expansion of the government. They were against his health care reform plan and take over of private industries. In each case he acted like father knows best and totally disregarded what the common person had to say.

When God punished Egypt with the ten plagues Ramses found he was powerless to stop the disasters that fell upon his nation. Today President Obama faces man-made disasters that he may or may not be able to control. In the Gulf oil spill he is conflicted on whether to take responsibility for the clean up efforts or continue to say it is the responsibility of British Petroleum. He tries to have it both ways by saying the government is in charge but British Petroleum is responsible. Meanwhile the oil continues to come onshore making the people angrier at both BP and the Federal government. He is quietly contemplating the idea of taking over BP's North American Production Division of British Petroleum but the disaster hasn't angered the American people enough that they would allow another take over of another private industry.

Another crisis facing America is the possibility of renewed fighting on the Korea peninsula and outbreak of war between Iran and Israel. Because of past speeches and actions taken by President Obama enemies of America, Israel and South Korea believe Mr. Obama to be a weak president and therefore view America as a weak country unwilling to fight along side our allies.

Again the President is on the wrong side of the opinion of the majority of Americans. He has made speech after speech against Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and North Korea's aggression toward South Korea but neither nation is listening. They are not buying his 'So let it be written so let it be done', attitude.

I am certain if President Obama had the opportunity to compare himself to the Hollywood or Biblical version of Moses or Ramses he would choose Moses with the caveat' that God does not talk to me. Some would say he is more like Ramses but I will let the reader make his own comparison and reach his own conclusion.

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Obama and Transparency

2010-06-02T12:12:00.002-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

If President Obama wants to be true to his campaign promise, he will make public the list of countries illegals crossing our borders are coming from. As described in this report the government keeps an up to date list of illegals apprehended by CBP and Border Patrol agents. At one time this information was public, why did the government decide to hide it from the American people? Maybe the Arizona Governor Jan Brewer should bring this to President Obama's attention.

Watch the report here.

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Oil Industry Next Obama Take Over

2010-05-24T09:03:00.004-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

After 55 days of government incompetence in the way they are handling the Gulf Oil leak you have to wonder if President Obama is just waiting for the right moment to declare a state of emergency and take over the American oil industry. It is no secret the President has always been opposed to drilling in this country unless the drilling is government owned and operated by government workers.

Is it really such a stretch to believe this President and Democrat controlled Congress would be willing to wait until the oil has devastated our coastal areas, before the government takes a larger role in solving the problem? Before answering yes this is crazy, consider past statements of members of Congress and the actions of this President during the economic crisis.

Remember Maxine Walters:

Remember Rahm Emanuel:

The 5 areas Rahm is talking about we now find out means complete government control.

Where is the media in this, all but silent. If this had been the Bush Administration after 33 days of leaking unknown amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, would we be saying this is another Katrina and proof of government incompetence?

Here is David Axelrod admitting the government is incompetent in finding answers to stopping the leak. He admits only the oil industry has the equipment and the knowledge to handle the leak.

With this in mind can we really expect government to run the oil industry? Will we become so angry with the oil industry that we sit idly by watching while President Obama fulfills another goal of government take over and fundamentally changing America into another European Socialist State?

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Throw The Bums Out Enough Said

2010-05-18T10:07:00.002-05:00

By Ronnie Spangler

I couldn't have said it better, Click on link. Thanks Ray Stevens

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F-16s Scambled Over Arizona Mexico Border

2010-05-16T15:51:00.002-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

NORAD scrambled two F-16 fighter jets out of Luke Air Force base at 6:10 a.m. Sunday to intercept an ultralight aircraft that entered Arizona from Mexico. The ultralight aircraft was sighted on radar and by the Border Patrol's air patrol. Border Patrol personnel suspect the ultralight was carrying bundles of drugs, typically marijuana.

NORAD released the following statement, "Upon intercepting the aircraft, the F-16s shadowed the aircraft for 30 minutes until it turned and flew back into Mexico," the release states. "The F-16s returned to base."

According to Border Patrol personnel this is nothing new except, this is the first time NORAD has scrambled jets to intercept the violation of US air space along the southern Arizona border.

Using ultralights to deliver drugs is a common practice by Mexican drug cartels. The drug lords in Mexico know that the federal government will never use military personnel to shoot down this type of aircraft. In the past the Border Patrol has been successful in capturing the drugs and smugglers on the ground, once the drop has been made. On a couple of occasions the Air Border Patrol using Apache helicopters have been able to force these aircraft down and agents on the ground have apprehended the pilot and secured the drugs.

Incidents like this are common all along our border and it's becoming more and more frequent. While the Yuma Sector under Operation Streamline where this incident occurred makes it more difficult for the smugglers to get away, but it raises questions about just how serious Homeland Security under Secretary Napolitano takes encroachment of US airspace along our borders.

What if this had been a terrorist with a bomb strapped underneath the ultralight instead of drugs? I am certain the Air Force pilots were under strict rules of engagement and probably forbidden to fire upon the aircraft unless they were fired upon first. The Yuma Marine Air Base was closer than the Luke Air Base that is stationed in Phoenix. The Marines have both jets and helicopters that could have easily forced the ultralight to the ground and allowed Border Patrol Agents to find out if the bundles were in fact drugs or worse.

President Obama and Secretary Napolitano like to talk about Arizona and proclaim the border is "as safe now as it ever has been", but the facts do not support their claim. Incidents like this is another reason why terrorist have been successful bringing bombs on planes and into Times Square. It's only a matter of time before one comes into the US from Mexico.

You probably won't hear about this incident on the mainstream or national news media. It was mentioned by the local Tuscon news but again the ultralights crossing our border is not news, only the fact that NORAD scrambled 2 jets made it news worthy. My question and I'm sure it has to be on the minds of some Border Patrol Agents, what was the point? If you are not going to take action to stop the incursions why scramble the jets and waste the fuel. The Mexican cartels are laughing at us.

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Civil Revolt Message To The President

2010-04-27T20:31:00.002-05:00

From YouTube

This message to the President should be shown to every politician running for office. The country is on the verge of another revolution. We will not destroy our country through violence but with our votes this government will be replaced with honest people that will follow the Constitution and respect the Republic.

Please watch:

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Arizona The Next Alamo

2010-04-27T11:56:00.000-05:00

by Ron Spangler

The entire state of Arizona has become the modern day version of the Texas mission, the Alamo. We all learned how the Alamo came under siege when Texans tried to resist the tyrannical rule of the Mexican government under President Santa Anna. Americans were outraged and showed support for Texans with men, weapons, and money to help Texans fight for their freedom. Today Arizona has come under siege by not only illegal immigration and drug smugglers, but since passage of the new law they are under siege by the Obama administration and their own fellow Americans.

At a hearing before the Homeland Security Commission Secretary Napolitano had the nerve to publicly lie to the commission. She told the committee her department and this Administration had increased the budget, manpower and overall support for the Border Patrol along our southern borders more in the last 15 months than at anytime in recent history. This is a flat out lie.

She failed to point out that her Department directed the transfer of Border Patrol personnel from our southern borders to the northern borders where the threat to our nation is greatly reduced. She failed to mention that through attrition the numbers of border agents will be reduced over the next 4 years. She failed to mention that in order to increase technology at our ports of entry she cut the budget for Border Patrol agents along our southern borders. This is what has led to the decline in apprehensions not what she said, (paraphrase) "a reduction in the numbers of illegals attempting to cross our southern borders."

People have already forgotten the 2 Border Patrol Agents that were killed in less than a 2 year period along our Southern Border. Both were killed by illegals that fled back into Mexico. The National Media failed to fully investigate the killings and the actions taken by Homeland Security or the Department of Justice. Instead the killings quietly fell off the American News Media's radar. Evidently killing of our Border Patrol Agents is not as important as Arizona's attempt to stop criminal activity by passing state laws that mirrors federal law.

Napolitano tried to paint a picture of our southern border as a less violent place than is currently being reported by the media. This is hypocrisy to the highest degree. Like President Obama, Napolitano says one thing but in reality does just the opposite. In her statement she said they have increased the number of canine units along our border to better curtail smuggling of money and weapons heading south. In reality the Border Patrol, in an effort to save money, has been directed to change their practice of boarding their dogs with their handlers and set up a system where the dogs are kept in one kennel in each sector.

The handlers will no longer have complete control of the dogs they have trained with and they will no longer be allowed to drive their vehicles home. This and the fact that overtime pay for canine handlers and other agents has been eliminated will save money, but it will also result in less time agents will have to complete their missions. In the case of canine units the Border Patrol follows the same procedures as every law enforcement agency in the country. To create a working bond with their handlers the dogs stay with the handler both on and off duty. To save time handlers are provided individual vehicles to transport their partner canines to and from their areas of responsibility. If this new policy is enacted the handler will have to travel from his home to the kennel to pick up not only his partner but also a vehicle. After inspecting the vehicle for any damage that could have happened prior to the handler's acceptance of the vehicle, he then must pick up his partner. Before leaving the kennel he must inspect the canine's kennel and clean it if the canine has soiled it overnight.

After leaving the kennel the handler must report to his area headquarters for shift muster. It is only after all this has been accomplished can the canine unit report to his area of responsibility to look for illegal drugs or other items being smuggled in or out of the country. What all of this simply means is the handler will have less time to perform his actual mission and will in the end allow more drugs and other illegal smuggling activities to go undetected. Remember the handler can no longer work past his normal 8 hr shift so everything from picking up his canine and vehicle to returning them to their staging areas must be completed within their respective shifts.

Isn't it time Secretary Napolitano and this Administration begins to be honest with the American people and Congress? What is going on in Arizona is proof of how little concern this Administration has for the explosion of violence along our border states. This Administration has proven they are part of the far left open border crowd. Like other rank and file government employees Border Patrol Agents cannot comment on what is really happening within their agency. Retribution by higher ups including Homeland Security would be swift and costly. For this reason concerned citizens must educate themselves on what is truly going on in our government and along our southern borders. The time has come that we can no longer believe anything coming out of the mouths of Homeland Security or the politicians.

As we once supported our Texas friends at the Alamo it is time to support our friends at the new Alamo called Arizona. If we do not stand with them they will surely meet the same fate as the Arizona of Pear Harbor.

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Senate Retirement Pension Not Automatic

2010-02-16T10:48:00.002-06:00

by Ron Spangler

A large misconception amongst the general public is all Congressmen and Senators automatically receive a pension upon their retirement from serving as a member of Congress. This is not the case. A good example is the recent announcement by Senator Bayh that he will retire and not seek re-election in 2010.

Reading the eligibility requirements for retiring members of Congress Senator Bayh will likely fall under the Deferred Retirement Provision because of his age (55) and he served less than 15 years as a Member of Congress. His pension or annuity could also be reduced by 1% for every year he retired before reaching full eligibility requirements. Unless Senator Bayh has had prior Military service he will be 3 years short of the 15 year requirement.

Under this provision if a Senator elects to leave his retirement contributions in the retirement fund, he can start drawing his annuity after reaching age 60. Requirements for Congressmen and Senators differ in some degree.

There are other options that members of Congress have when considering retirement. All of them have penalties and reductions in the amount of annuities payed to the retiree. Under all provisions members must be at least 50 years old with 20 years of service, except for the additional provision that a member may retire at age 60 with 10 years of service and age 50 with service in 9 Congresses (18 yrs).

While I am not defending the amount of benefits and sweet deals provided to Members of Congress, everything we think we know or things we hear may not always be the case. If you would like to know the facts they are available at CRS Report For Congress, Retirement Benefits For Members of Congress

There are a lot of plans available and every Congressman or Senator must decide which plan is best for them. The bottom line, no Congressman or Senator automatically becomes eligible for a immediate full or reduced pension just because he has been elected to Congress.

Following are some of the plans:

Retirement with an immediate, reduced pension is available to Members aged 55 to 59 with at least 30 years of service. It is also allowed if the Member separates for a reason other than resignation or expulsion after having completed 25 years of service, or after reaching age 50 and with 20 years of service, or after having served in nine Congresses.

Retirement with a deferred, full pension is available if the Member leaves Congress before reaching the minimum age required to receive an immediate, unreduced pension and delays receipt until reaching the age at which full benefits are paid. A full pension can be taken at age 62 if the Member had five through nine years of federal service, or at age 60 if the Member had at least 10 years of service in Congress. At the time of separation, the Member must leave all contributions in the plan in order to be eligible for the deferred pension.

Retirement with a deferred, reduced pension is available to a Member at age 50 if he or she retired before that age and had at least 20 years of federal service, including at least 10 years as a Member of Congress.

Retirement Under FERS. There are four possible retirement scenarios for Members who are covered by FERS:
Retirement with an immediate, full pension is available to Members at age 62
or older with at least five years of federal service; at age 50 or older with at least 20 years of service; and at any age to Members with at least 25 years of service.

Retirement with an immediate, reduced pension is available at age 55 to Members born before 1948 with at least 10 years of service. The minimum age will increase to 56 for Members born from 1953 through 1964 and to 57 for those born in 1970 or later.

Retirement with a deferred, full pension is available at age 62 to former Members of Congress with at least five years of federal service.

Retirement with a deferred, reduced pension is available at the minimum retirement age of 55 to 57 (depending on year of birth) to a former Member who has completed at least 10 years of federal service. The pension annuity will be permanently reduced if it begins before age 62.4

Like everything in government and the media the truth is sometimes hard to find.

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Obama Address and Buyer Remorse

2010-01-27T11:22:00.002-06:00

by Ron Spangler

As part of President Obama's State of the Union Address word has been leaked that he is going to announce a partial spending freeze. Pundits on the right see it as a political gimmick and pundits on the left see it as surrendering his sole to the right. State_of_America sees it as just another con or bait and switch tactic by this centuries' greatest con-artist.

With the left hand he has increased spending by $24 Billion per year but with the right hand he will freeze future spending that will save less than $15 Billion per year. If passed he knows Congress will find ways to get around this partial freeze and continue spending like drunken sailors of olden days (sailors today have nothing to spend). If it doesn't pass he can blame Republicans and regain the trust and votes of Independents in the upcoming November 2010 elections. It is pure politics designed to help Democrats and stymie some of the spending criticism coming from his political opponents.

In a earlier post date September 24, 2009 Buyer's Remorse in America I called President Obama the greatest con artist of the 20th century and possibly the 21st century. If this latest scam wins favor with Independents it will confirm my analysis. In that post I said in part:

'The con artist or confidence artist has gone by many names throughout history. Flim Flam man, hustler, shyster, grifter and sham artist are only a few of the more common names of people that work off of the naivety, honesty, trust, and sometimes greed or dishonesty of the victims they encounter along their paths.

A huge misconception about the perfect con is that the con man is in it only for the money. After a few cons the money doesn't mean as much as the power and confidence he gains from pulling off the perfect con. There are many forms of con artist and con games going on around the world. The biggest con of all is in American politics.'

Unlike working people that see harder times coming their way and try to save as much as they can, this Administration and Congress will continue to spend outrageous amounts of money making the dollar worthless. By the end of 2010 this could end in bankruptcy for America. This idea of spending your way out of recession or depression is nothing new, witness the former Soviet Union. They more than any other country in recent history proved that a central government having total control of the economy and involvement in running private industry only ends in disaster.

Why are Democrats doing this? Are they really that stupid? The answer is pure elite arrogance. In their greed for more power and their arrogance in believing they have the answer for every question, they believe their progressive ideology is the answer. They believe a nation of one party rule is the answer for the 21st Century. They also believe this one party rule must closely follow the philosophy of the great philosopher Mao and the the freedom fighter Che Guevara. If you believe in this philosophy or idea then it is not stupid to believe you can make it happen. If you are so arrogant that you believe you have all the answers or the government is the answer, then this is the natural path to follow.

If on the other hand you look back in history you will find this idea to be stupid. Why, because you will find other world leaders have followed this path and led their countries to a complete and disastrous failure.

In the 20th century alone Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Che and others believed in and followed this path. All of these people had one thing in common. They were crazed power hungry ideologues. They believed government was the answer to everything and they must control the thoughts and minds of the people they governed. They did not believe in an individual's right to succeed or fail. They did not believe in an individual's right to question the path their government was taking. They believed people were too stupid to understand what was in the best interest of the country. They believed the common man was too stupid to understand the economy and how it works.

History today glorifies people like Mao especially CNN.com

"Few people in history deserve sole credit for changing the fate of an entire nation. One of them is Mao Tse-tung, the man who rose from the peasantry to become the pre-eminent revolutionary theorist, political leader and statesman of Communist China."

In reality all of these men were mass murderers and they all came to power during or after the Great Depression when the world was facing an economic collapse. They promised their people better times and a better way of life. By taking control of the market and nationalizing all of the industries, they had a short term success in turning around their economies. They built roads, bridges, buildings, and automobiles. But in the case of Germany the biggest industry was military arms. Everyone in one way or another worked for the government.

The problem with this type of Totalitarian, Communist, or Socialist society is it never works. To some extent they all followed the Marxist doctrine. Followers of Marxism or Mao don't understand a few simple truths. People demand their right to succeed or fail. People demand the right to question their government. People demand to decide what path their country is taking. People demand the right to decide how they are taxed and how the money is spent. People expect the media to be free from government influence and tell us the truth about what their freely elected officials are doing. Simply put people demand to be the free and independent people that controls their government, not the people that are controlled by the government. People in America desire and expect nothing less than the dreams our founding fathers envisioned in the Declaration of Independence and the rights given by the Constitution of the United States. American people will tolerate nothing less.

With the last few elections, especially in Massachusetts, America has sent Washington a message. It is not clear if they understand or if they are just too arrogant to care. One thing is certain, America will no longer be conned. Great speeches and grandiose promises will no longer allow the politicians to disregard the American people. President Obama can no longer treat us like he did the 6th grade class with his Presidential podium and teleprompters. Either change directions or your progressive supporters will be voted out and like President Clinton you will be isolated and forced to bow to the demands of the American people.

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Elite Washington D C Insults America

2010-01-24T10:53:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

After watching the Sunday talk shows I could not help but feel the elite Washington D C talking points from the Democrat Party was insulting the intelligence of the American people. Their message coming from President Obama himself seems to be,

"Americans just don't understand. Even though we tried to spell out the benefits of the Health Care Bill, Americans are just too stupid to get it."

Even faced with the fact that Massachusetts Democrats and Independents rejected the Health Care Bill as written the elite Washington crowd insist that the voters just didn't understand. Could this be true? Could Americans really be this stupid, as President Obama once insinuated by saying we as Americans,

"...get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Their attitude is they must treat us like children or second class illiterate citizens much like Arlen Specter did Rep. Michele Bachmann when in a condescending tone said, "Now, wait a minute, I'll stop and you can talk," he said. "I'll treat you like a lady. Now act like one."

Her reply was, "Well, I am a lady."

Our reply to the elitist should be;

We did listen, we did understand but we do not agree.

We don't like the backdoor deals.

We don't like the government take over and government mandates.

We don't agree on such a wide sweeping government intrusion into our private lives and we don't agree on this Health Care Bill.

The news that President Obama is bringing back his old campaign manager David Plouffe can only mean President Obama and his team didn't get the message. They are determined to pass their idea of Health Care Reform regardless of what the people think or say. Evidently what Senator Obama insinuated, he really believes. Maybe we really are second class illiterate citizens that are: 'bitter, gun toting, bible thumping, anti-immigrant rednecks and must be treated like children'.

Or maybe, if we act intelligent and continue to stand together just maybe they will finally get our message. We are not too stupid to understand the direction they are taking us in. We see it, understand it and we refuse to follow their lead to further destroy our economy and our way of life.

We understand the economy better than they give us credit. It is not creating universal health care that will lead to lower unemployment rates, it is the higher the employment rate the higher number of people will have insurance coverage. It is really simple. If you have a permanent job you can either afford your own insurance coverage or odds are you will have the opportunity to join your employer's health care plan.

What people understand and know to be the truth is economics 101, without jobs this country can never afford universal health care. The message is clear, stop the spending and help business to put Americans back to work. Health Care Reform can be done on a smaller scale that will reduce the cost but if Americans have no place to live or food to eat health care reform will mean nothing.

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Common Sense Measures To Cut Health Care Cost

2010-01-23T08:22:00.004-06:00

By Ron Spangler

With the Democrat Health Care Bill lying int its coffin maybe it is time for Congress to take a simple approach to lowering the cost of health health care in the United States. Some simple measures that could be acted upon and immediately passed come from ordinary people regardless of party affiliation. These are basic common sense measures that will not allow the government take over of health care or add to the cost of health insurance premiums.

Here are some simple measures that come to mind. Passing these in incremental bipartisan steps would allow Congress to take action now and move on to more important issues like reducing government spending, creating tax incentives so business can expand and start hiring again, helping small business entrepreneurs hire or expand, reducing taxes on consumers so they have more to invest or spend, reducing the debt and deficit, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil by allowing more drilling of our own domestic oil.

Reducing Health Care Cost Measures:

Encourage younger people to carry health insurance that is similar to a annuity life insurance policy. A percentage of the premium payed by the insured or the insured person's employer would be set aside and invested into a separate account to draw interest. After a set accumulation period not to exceed five years, the policy holder could have access to a percentage, not to exceed 50%, of the amount accumulated to help pay for out of pocket medical expenses or to cover the cost of any future premium increases. After the accumulation period has been reached the insurance would follow the policy holder throughout life regardless of a change to their employment. After reaching their full retirement age the policy holder would have full access to his account and have the opportunity to use this account to pay the monthly premiums of their policy. This type of policy could not be restricted to one particular age group and must be offered as a single or family option plan. The cost of this type of policy could not exceed the fair market value of other plans made available by insurance companies offering this plan.

Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines.

Ban preexisting condition exclusions in insurance policies.

Ban insurance companies from canceling policy due to catastrophic illness or injury.

Ban hospitals and medical practitioners from charging people with insurance more than they would charge people without insurance.

Reform Anti-Trust Law for insurance companies.

Pass Medical Tort Reform.

Restrict hospitals and medical practitioners from charging patients with insurance more than they have agreed to pay the insurance company. If hospitals or practitioners have entered into an agreement with insurance companies to accept x amount of dollars for services rendered then they should not be allowed to bill the patient for any additional amount the insurance company refuses to pay.

Restrict insurance companies from arbitrarily deciding what the going rate for a particular procedure for a given area should be.

Restrict hospitals and practitioners from charging none medical fees to patients, i. e. administrative fees, professional fees, etc. All non medical charges should be considered as the cost of doing business and should be tax deductible instead of fees passed on to the patient. Processing paperwork, maintenance of a facility, cost for new construction, or additional cost to cover the uninsured should have nothing to do with the actual treatment received by a patient.

These are simple things that can be passed with bi-partisan support and would immediately reduce the cost of medical care and insurance premiums. Hospitals charging $25-$50 for an aspirin or insurance companies arbitrarily deciding the acceptable rate for a particular procedure and then paying only 80% of that rate is ridiculous. Allowing the medical field to charge administrative and professional fees to patients is unethical. Allowing the medical field to overcharge patients and then ruin the patient's credit for not paying anything the insurance company refuses to pay is extortion. Not holding lawyers responsible for frivolous lawsuits and fraudulent claims is criminal.

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After Boston Tea Party, What Now For Health Care

2010-01-20T09:25:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

After the Boston Tea Party 2nd revolution what will the Democrats do about Health Care? It is clear the White House didn't get the message. According to David Axelrod on MSNBC: "Mass vote was more about jobs (Fault of Bush) than it was about Health Care" REALLY?

Again on MSNBC Axelrod and Gibbs would not agree Brown victory was meant to be a "Wake-Up Call" to Obama and the Democrats:

According to Axelrod and Gibbs halting health reform 'not an option'.

Evidently they just don't get it. The message from Massachusetts voters was the same as the message from the majority of voters around the country, 'Stop the Health Care Bill, Stop Expanding Government, Stop the Spending, Stop What You Are Doing'.

Some Democrats did hear the people and they are listening. Some in the House are suggesting they go back to the basics. They are taking the Republican view of reforming Health Care incrementally. What does this mean, breaking it down and fix Health Care issues one step at a time.

Where could they start?

Cut the cost:

Open up insurance across state lines.

Ban precondition exclusions in insurance policies.

Ban insurance companies from canceling policy due to catastrophic illness or injury.

Ban hospitals and medical practitioners from charging people with insurance more than they would charge people without insurance.

Reform Anti-Trust Law for insurance companies.

Pass Medical Tort Reform.

Restrict hospitals and medical practitioners from charging patients with insurance more than they have agreed to pay the insurance company.

Restrict insurance companies from arbitrarily deciding what the going rate for a particular procedure for a given area should be.

Restrict hospitals and practitioners from charging none medical fees to patients, i. e. administrative fees, professional fees, etc.

These are simple things that can be passed with bi-partisan support and would immediately reduce the cost of medical care and insurance premiums. Hospitals charging $25-$50 for an aspirin or insurance companies arbitrarily deciding the acceptable rate for a particular procedure and then paying only 80% of that rate is ridiculous. Allowing the medical field to charge administrative and professional fees to patients is unethical. Allowing the medical field to overcharge patients and then ruin the patient's credit for not paying anything the insurance company refuses to pay is extortion. Not holding lawyers responsible for frivolous lawsuits and fraudulent claims is criminal.

Massachusetts and the American people have spoken. Obama and every Washington politician better listen. Neither party is safe come November 2010. As for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC: Race Has Nothing To Do With It!!

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Haiti Turning Into Obama Katrina

2010-01-18T04:58:00.004-06:00

by Ron Spangler

I wrote the this post seven days after the Haitian earthquake. The following video is a recent video that only validates my concern. This is in Port-au-Prince Haiti virtually the only area the media has covered for the first seven days of the crisis. Watch the video and read the following post.

Could Haiti turn into Obama's Katrina? If the situation is not brought under control very soon, things will become extremely dangerous and ugly for the United States. The answer to the question is a definite yes.

Seven days into the crisis and few desperately needed supplies are reaching are being distributed outside of the capital of Haiti. The Obama administration warned the media not to venture too far away from the airport and asked the media to limit news of violence and unrest in the areas outside of the capital.

Some would argue that it would be counter productive to broadcast too much of what is really going on in areas that cannot be reached for security reasons. This is probably true but it leaves the impression that things are going better than they really are and the situation is improving daily. This is not the case for areas 15 or more miles away from the capital. There are areas both large and small from Cap-Haitien to Les Cayes that have been devastated the same as the capital with hundreds of people dieing daily. Seven days later very little food or medical supplies have reached these areas. Our military has started setting up areas to drop supplies but they cannot police the areas to prevent it from becoming chaotic. Secretary of Defense Gates announced our military would have no police action authority in Haiti. They have the right of self defense but if the situation becomes chaotic or violent their only alternative action would be to leave the area.

President Obama and the State Department insist they are working with the Haitian government but in reality the Haitian government has totally collapsed. Most of the government officials have been killed or simply disappeared. Except for the Haitian President very little is left of Haiti's government. The Haitian police have no control of the cities and 90% of the police force have simply walked away. Areas that have been taken over by roaming gangs are not challenged by the U.N. Security Force. Like all U. N. Security detachments they are not authorized the use of deadly force if confronted by a opposition force. Now the U N has called for more international forces. They say they need more forces in order to police the country and stabilize the the upsurge in violence.

It is only a matter of time before the really bad news starts to come out in the mainstream media. As more and more people die and the violence escalates the media will have no choice but report it. When this happens people around the world will be horrified and the comparison of the response to the Katrina Hurricane and the Haiti earthquake will begin. The President will deny any attempt to censure the news coming out of Haiti and the media will simply say they couldn't get to these areas to report the true devastation and slow response of the rescue and humanitarian efforts. Seven days into this effort there is still a lack of coordination in getting much needed help to the areas outside of the capital and the airport is running out of room to stock these supplies.

Until this effort is completely turned over to the United States Military the lack of coordination will continue to cost lives. When it is finally turned over to the military and they begin to deliver the much needed help, chaos will break out all over Haiti. In some areas the military may have to use deadly force to protect themselves and deliver aid, if this happens some in the media will turn against the military and accuse them of being too heavy handed. Unfortunately some in our military may find themselves in a situation where they could face prosecution for simply doing their job.

While I commend the administration for its quick action I am afraid they have taken too long to plan a course of action. This should have been turned over to the U S Military in the very beginning, after all Haiti is in our own backyard. The Pentagon has contingency plans for just about every crisis imaginable. As soon as the news came out in Haiti our military personnel should have been put on standby. The U.N and the President of Haiti should have been told the United States was willing and ready to take control of the situation. Instead government agencies and civilian organizations started rushing in civilian personnel to assess the damage, this created chaos at the airport and slowed the American response. It wasn't until the U S Air Force took control of the airport and started limiting commercial aircraft that the situation at the airport became manageable.

The American people will continue to give the same as they did during Katrina. After Katrina the American will not stand for another bureaucratic debacle that cost innocent lives when they could have been prevented. When a crisis develops this close to home, speed and immediate action is of the utmost importance. Americans expect that deliberating a plan of action and acting on this plan should be accomplished within the first 24 hrs. Watching from the outside I am afraid we have learned nothing from Katrina. It looks like we are still tied up by bureaucracy and infighting between government officials.

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Wall Street 2010 Bubble Ready To Burst

2010-01-09T09:50:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

Looking at the year ahead it is not hard to see another economic disaster looming in the near future. Like every Socialist program put forward in 2009 by the Socialist Democrat Party led by President Obama, the Health Care and Energy Bill of 2010 will be the proverbial nail in the coffin for the United States economy. President Obama and his Socialist colleagues in his own secret government of Czars and media cohorts like MSNBC and CNN are doing everything possible to spin the true state of America's economy. By using temporary employment numbers to decrease the real unemployment numbers they are misleading the American people. The reasoning for reporting an increase in temporary jobs is pure politics and a attempt to gloss over the reality that the economic situation of the average American has reached the point of desperation.

The media supporting President Obama and the Socialist Democrats that have taken over the Democrat Party must stem the tide of the Tea Party activist. The media fully understands that the Tea Party movement threatens to bring down this government and their Socialist programs in the Nov 2010 elections. Early on the media hitched their wagon to the Obama Socialist agenda and are so heavily invested that they cannot afford to abandon the agenda regardless of the consequences.

Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have been watching and taking advantage of the turmoil going on within the Democrat political party and economic recession facing the American people. After studying the reasons for the fall of the Soviet Union, the present day terrorist leaders understand that the best way to destroy America is to bankrupt our economy. With the election of Barack Obama they consider this to be the most opportune time to bring America to her knees and achieve their goal of destroying our economy. In their view a weak America cannot afford a strong defense and cannot afford to fight a global war on terror.

The attacks in Little Rock Arkansas, Fort Hood Texas and Detroit Michigan were designed to do two things. One was create fear in the market place and airline industry, the other was to disrupt the normal everyday flow of business in America. So the American people would not be alarmed, the government and media played down the Little Rock and Fort Hood attacks as everyday criminal acts perpetrated by deranged American citizens. The President, his administration officials and some in the media tried to play down the Christmas day bomber in Detroit but it was impossible. To every American except the President we knew we were under another terrorist attack. Since the connections of the Christmas day bomber and the other Muslim attackers have come out the media and the President find themselves in a difficult position. It has become impossible to defend their previous position but they still try.

After the dismal and utterly failed attempts to con the American people on what really happened in Detroit, the President came out trying to act tough and promising to take the appropriate action to ensure this never happens again. Sounded nice to some but the Islamic Jihad terrorist hell bent on destroying America are laughing all the way to their terrorist camps. They consider this president as strong in rhetoric but weak in spine. They have watched time after time as this president gave out ultimatums and deadlines to enemies of America. They have watched to see the ultimatums and deadlines turn out to be nothing more than empty rhetoric that no one fears. Now they are watching as the President turns his attention back to the economy and his promise to fundamentally transform America. They know that in the mind of this President the situation is under control and due to his strong speech the problem of terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda have been dealt with. The problem for America is the Islamic Imams that are organizing and funding the terrorist will never stop because the President offers a feel good tough sounding speech. Because of their distorted view of Islam these Imams will never stop trying to destroy America, Israel, England and the rest of the western world. By calling the people attacking us extremist, President Obama is doing nothing but playing right into the hands of the Imams.

Very soon the Health Care Bill will be passed and signed into law by the President. As soon as the final Bill is passed in the Senate and House, the Senate will take up the Energy Bill that was previously passed through the House. As the Senate works on a compromise Energy Bill the House will take up their Immigration Bill. Just as the Health Care Bill was forced down the American citizen's throats, so will the next two Bills to come out of Congress. Unfortunately for our country by the Summer of 2010 everything will most likely come to a disastrous climax. The unintended or maybe intended consequences of the new regulations, taxes and pending Bills before Congress will cause the already escalating oil prices to reach a point that cause the artificial prices in the market to collapse. Any successful attack on the United States by a terrorist group will hasten the dramatic increase in prices and accelerate the collapse of Wall Street.

Nothing we as Americans can say or do will change the ideology of this President or his Socialist Democrat Party. He and his followers are living in their own ideological world of illusions. They honestly believe that through a Lansky Marxist style world economy they can persuade the Muslim extremist to put down their weapons and partake in the new world Utopia they are designing. The only thing that angers President Obama is the temporary distraction these terror attacks cause. He cannot afford the Congress' attention be taken away from the tasks at hand, Health Care, Energy, Immigration Reform and transforming America. With Americans becoming angrier every day the President can ill afford distractions. If his Socialist Democrat Party's agenda is not fulfilled by the next election he may not have enough votes in the Congress to complete his Socialist transformation. If the government spending and artificial prices controlling the market collapse, the bubble will burst again. When this happens President Obama will be remembered as the worst President in the history of the United States.

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DHS Budget Cuts Endangers Security

2010-01-02T10:55:00.004-06:00

by Ron Spangler

Before the Christmas Day terror attack on flight #253 into Detroit the new FY 2010 budget went into effect for Department of Homeland Security. While there was an increase in the overall budget, due to reallocation of funds within the Department some agencies actually experienced a budget cut in security measures.

One of the areas experiencing the biggest cut was in the Border Patrol. In Secretary Napolitano's FY 2010 Budget Request released May 7, 2009 she bragged about the Department's efforts in "preventing the smuggling of people, drugs, cash and weapons across our nation’s borders while facilitating international trade and travel."

The news release went on to say they had created a new initiative to disrupt the flow of drugs, cash and weapons that are fueling the drug cartels in Mexico. When it comes to our Southern borders it is clear Secretary Napolitano doesn't consider our Border Patrol Agents as an essential part of the effort to control attempts of would be terrorist from entering our country. In her list of priorities she recognizes the primary function of DHS is to protect the American people from terrorist attacks. Evidently when it comes to the Border Patrol she does not consider protecting the American public from terrorist and the threat of terrorist weapons entering the United States as part of their mission.

Since the attack on 9/11 the structure and mission of CBP and our Border Patrol Agents have taken a drastic turn. They are no longer simply looking for illegals or fruits and vegetables that could damage our well being. They are a large part of our first line of defense against terrorist looking for any opportunity to attack and kill Americans. While the public and media focuses most of their attention on the illegal immigration aspect of the agent's job, they fail to recognize the job agents are doing everyday and night along our Southern borders. Since their primary mission has been changed and they have been designated as the primary federal law enforcement agency designed to protect Americans from terrorist attacks they have been extremely successful. Until the Christmas 2009 attack on flight #253 no terrorist had been able to penetrate our border security and carry out a successful attack on the homefront. With the attack of 2009 and reallocation of funds this is about to change in 2010.

Secretary Napolitano believes the best way to fight terrorism is to add more desk jobs and technology by additional funds for resourcing the expansion of information-sharing partnerships with local and state law enforcement. What she doesn't say is she is taking funding away from the everyday operations of the Border Patrol to pay for this expansion. In her budget request she brags about the additional manpower she has planned for different agencies within DHS. Included in this number is a paltry 44 additional Border Patrol agents for FY 2010. This will not cover the loss of agents along our Southern borders due to natural attrition, transfers and increased violence coming from Mexico.

Agents in most of the sectors along our Southern borders have been experiencing long hours requiring overtime for the majority of 2009. It is not uncommon for agents in the field to work 12 or more hours a day, everyday, 5 days a week. Using a weird formula for determining overtime pay they are restricted from receiving overtime pay equal to their counterparts in the private sector. Agents normally earn from 10% to 25% extra pay for overtime based on the number of hours worked. The number of hours a agent can claim has always been limited but with the new FY 2010 budget the amount of overtime hours has been drastically reduced in certain sectors. Due to operational budget cuts, agents in these sectors have been told when their shift ends they must stop what they are doing and return to their official duty stations. What this means is some areas along the border will not be patrolled during certain hours of the day. This will undoubtedly create holes in our first line of defense against would be terrorist, smugglers, criminals, or illegals. Creating unmanned corridors along our borders that allows the free flow of illegal entry into the interior is a unintended consequence of decisions being made by this administration.

A lot is expected from agents in the field and we seldom hear anything in the media in support of what they do. For the most part they are either ridiculed by the open borders section of America or just forgotten by the national media. In less than 2 years 2 agents were murdered by illegals. One was killed by a smuggler and the other was executed supposedly by a lone teenager that confessed to doing it while trying to rob the agent. He struck a deal receiving a 20 year sentence. Very little for executing a father, husband and federal law enforcement agent performing his duty of protecting Americans from would be terrorist and criminals targeting our country.

It is clear this administration and for the most part the American people will continue to misunderstand or simply ignore the vital role these agents play in protecting our country. Maybe after the next successful terrorist attack, and it is determined that the terrorist crossed through our Southern border, this administration will wake up. Reallocating funds and manpower but still expecting a understaffed agency to fulfill their mission is naive and dangerous. It shows a distinct misunderstanding of the threats facing the United States and the American people. Agents along our borders are men and women no different than other American men and women serving in our military and other areas that have taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We cannot expect people that risk their lives everyday and night to continue to perform their duties at the highest possible level without support from the people they are trying to protect.

President Obama earlier in 2009 announced he would reduce the number of agents deployed along our Southern borders and transfer hundreds to our Northern borders. Now with the reallocation of funding creating budget cuts in some of our Southern border sectors he is basically telling our agents we expect more for less. This is a recipe for disaster. After the 2009 Christmas Day attack I hope but don't expect that President Obama and Secretary Napolitano will rethink their strategy on the terror threat facing America.

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Obama, Delusional and Mentally Incompetent

2009-12-29T20:54:00.004-06:00

by Ron Spangler

After the Christmas day attack on board flight 253 some serious questions are beginning to surface about the United States President. Before the attack people praised Barack Obama as highly intelligent, articulate and a constitutional scholar. The biggest question his critics could muster was if he had Socialist intentions for the United States. With his actions and statements since Christmas more serious questions must be raised.

Does Barack Obama have a mental disorder that will not allow him to face reality?

Is he in a delusional state of mind that restricts his ability to separate facts from fantasies?

Is he mentally incompetent and unable to distinguish the difference between our friends and enemies?

These are questions I never thought I would ask about any President of the United States but these are desperate and scary times. If we look at the world the way it really is and look at the world the way Barack Obama sees it, something is clearly wrong. The United States economy is still on the edge of destruction and unemployment is still at a record high but Barack sees it coming back strong and the worst being behind us. With the high unemployment and consumer spending down, government tax revenue is dwindling. Normal people would stop borrowing and spending but Barack Obama believes we should borrow and spend more. He goes to China, our biggest debtor, with hat in hand asking for more loans. They scold him on excessive spending and the falling value of the dollar. He returns home speaking about reaching a mutual understanding and economic agreement between the two nations. In the meantime China publicly ridicules him and warns they may agree to drop the dollar as the world reserve currency. Obama refuses to hear the warnings and criticism and decides to force through a health care plan that may cripple the United States for generations to come.

He believes in Global Warming and sees the world being destroyed if the nations of the world do not follow his lead and advice. Scientist disagree on the cause and even if mankind can make a difference but he doesn't hear the opposition and refuses to listen to dissenters of the Global Warming theory. He goes to Copenhagen promising to come back with an agreement that will change the way mankind deals with the effects of global warming. Again China refuses to discuss the matter by sending a low level minister that has no authority to broker any agreements with anyone. Obama representing the United States at the highest level did not see this as an insult but returned home with a fantasy story about agreeing to have future talks to agree on something. It made no sense but some in the media bent over backwards to clean it up.

After taking office the first thing he did was order the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Military Prison. He had no plan but in his mind it was simple, if I say it will be done then it will be done. He told America and the world it would be closed within a year and then he walked away from it. In March he decided the War On Terror was over and using Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano started calling terrorist, extremist instead. Terrorist attacks became man made disasters. He went to South America and met Venezuela President Chavez during the Summit of the Americas where Chavez clapped him on the back and gave him a book. Obama never understood it to be an insult but rather an opportunity to settle past disagreements between the United States and Chavez. At the first opportunity Chavez blasted the United States and ridiculed Obama calling him another Bush.

After the Fort Hood terror attack by Maj Hasan, Obama went to a previously scheduled event hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. After being introduced he jubilantly recognized the staffers and laughingly gave a "shout out" to "Dr Joe Medicine Crow, that Congressional Medal of Honor Winner." It took three minutes into his speech for him to say anything about the Fort Hood shootings. When he did he called it a "horrible incident". In the days and weeks that followed he still would not call it a terrorist act, even though the rest of the country recognized it as an act of terror.

After the terror attack on flight 253 it took over two hours for the President to be notified. Three days after the attack and only after Janet Napolitano made a fool out of herself on the weekend news shows, Obama finally broke his silence. In his speech he never recognized it as an Al Qaeda directed act of terror, instead he called it an "extremist act" and "incident of one lone extremist". It was perfectly clear to everyone including most of the media it was a terrorist attack directed by Al Qaeda in Yemen.

It was after Obama's speech that Al Qaeda in Yemen posted a statement claiming responsibility and warning of more attacks to follow. Obama gave a second speech partially defending Napolitano by saying after the attack the system worked to stop anymore potential attacks from occurring. He did say the system failed and ordered a review on his desk within two days. He still never referred to it as an act of terror and called the Al Qaeda connected terrorist an extremist. In both speeches it was clear from the expression on his face, President Obama didn't understand what was going on and didn't really believe what he was saying.

President Obama is still considering returning some of the GITMO prisoners to Yemen even though two of the previous detainees were returned to Yemen and now are leaders of Al Qaeda in Yemen. His determination to treat both acts of terror as criminal acts has most of the country bewildered.

Whether President Obama is suffering from some form of a delusional break down from reality or is just in a state of denial is something a qualified psychologist will have to determine. The question some Americans are beginning to ask:

Does President Obama have the mental stability or is he competent enough to remain as Commander In Chief during a time of war?

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President Obama Terrorist Not A Threat

2009-12-27T05:19:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

If it wasn't clear to President Obama supporters in the past it is clear today, when it comes to terrorist attacks President Obama is a weak leader.

Unlike President Bush this president has decided to take a low key leadership role when America is under attack. Since the Christmas day attack President Obama has made zero public appearances. Rather than appearing on camera to reassure the public that everything is under control the president has decided to work out in the gym and play golf while vacationing in Hawaii.

This is to be expected of President Obama. After all, after the Fort Hood killings this administration refused to classify and prosecute the attack as a terrorist attack. In the most recent attack that was thwarted only by the fact that the explosive device failed to explode and the passengers taking swift action President Obama and some in the media have been reluctant to make the connection of the suspect to Al Qaeda. It is perfectly clear to most people that this was carried out by Al Qaeda out of Yemen.

The president may think his nonappearance will be more reassuring but it will most likely have the opposite effect. It also will send the message to other terrorist that President Obama is not President Bush and will not take these terrorist attempts seriously. This is reminiscent of the Clinton Administration of the 90s'. Attack after attack was treated as a criminal act and never given the full benefit of a terrorist threat or act of war. To most Americans this is the wrong direction for this president to be taking and is nothing less than a sign of weak leadership skills.

It is Sunday the second day since the Christmas terrorist failed attempt to bring down a U S plane and kill innocent civilians over a U S city. The president has decided to send his cabinet people to all of the talk show circuits instead of addressing the situation himself. Evidently resident Obama is worried that without his teleprompter he might say the wrong thing, thereby opening himself up to public ridicule. With his performance rating dropping like a large rock the president must be more concerned about his political standings than the security of the country.

If this sounds like a harsh critical review of the president's handling of the recent terrorist attack, then I have done my job. Since President Obama has taken office this is clearly the second terrorist attack whether the president believes it or not. We all know the president has worked really hard on his domestic agenda and needs to recharge before the next fight over health care but nothing including health care is more important than our country coming under attack by agents of Al Qaeda. It is bad enough we have murderers of Federal Agents and Marines sitting in Mexico while this Administration does nothing, it is absolutely intolerable and inexcusable for the country to come under attack and the president say nothing for two or three days.

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And Obama Said Unto Them

2009-12-21T14:28:00.002-06:00

by Ron Spangler

The great and wondrous leader Barack Obama called upon his followers to gather in front of their televisions and said unto them, "Follow me for we are on the brink of a great disaster the like of which we have not seen since the Great Depression. Open your wallets and your children' wallets and I will save you from walking off the precipice that is before you." His followers without question opened their wallets and bankrupt their children for decades to come because the magnificent one said, "Do not fear for I am in charge and I will lead you to the land of prosperity." This was the great disaster known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

As unemployment began to rise the all knowing leader Barack Obama called upon his followers and said unto them, "Follow me for I am the all knowing and wise leader that shall smite the wicked ways of the bankers and Wall Street Fat Cats that have destroyed our economy. I will force them to take your money and thereby gain control of all of the decisions they make, for only I am wise enough to make those decisions." Again his followers fell to their knees and praised the wise and all knowing Obama, feeling blessed that they finally had a leader worth following.

Next the glorious leader called upon his gathering of followers and said unto them, "Follow me for I am the glorious all knowing leader that must take over the automotive industry in America. I will use your money to buy up stock and bail out the failing companies and I will be able to control all of their future decisions for I am the all wise and glorious Barack Obama." Again the gathering bowed and praised the all knowing savior Barack Obama.

Again the glorious savior of the west called upon his followers to gather before him and said unto them, "I am the great all knowing wise man that you have chosen to lead you into the prosperous land of the future. Now I find doubters amongst my people. Now I tell you we are at a time of great crisis and something must be done. As I have led you out of the great recession our future is now threatened by the great Health Care debate. I am the wise one and I have the answer. I have given great bribes to and even committed extortion against my Democrat Disciples in Congress. They will pass a Health Care Bill giving me more power and taxing you more. This must be done now for we are standing on the edge of a great cliff but I shall lead us away and back into the land of prosperity."

As his followers looked up the great majority saw the all knowing and glorious leader looking more like the Emperor with no clothes. The words coming from the great one seemed hollow and similar to the failed promises they had heard before.

Sensing his followers had fallen in numbers the great one decided to take his message to the world, for they must surely still believe him to be the great savior from the west.

With arrogance and pride at his side he soared forth on the mighty wings of Air Force One. He landed with great expectations and promises of good tidings to all nations that would listen to his glorious words of wisdom.

As he stood upon his mound and looked down upon the Nations of the World that had gathered at the Mount Of Copenhagen, he said unto them, "Listen and follow me for I am the Savior From The West, the One and Only Barack Obama. All of you Nations of great wealth and prosperity give up your monies and treasures, bankrupt your countries so that you can give your wealth to the less fortunate countries in Africa and the Middle East. Follow my lead for I have already suckered my country into doing this very thing I ask of you. The earth is warming and the climate is changing and if you do not do as I ask we are all doomed. We must stop the carbon emissions and reverse global warming before the Poles melt and the Oceans rise. I am the great Obama, listen and follow or you all shall perish."

And the great multitudes of Nations arose and said unto the Great One, "Uh not so fast bub. This ain't America and you ain't so great."

"What's in this for us", said the smaller Nations?

"What's in it for me", said China?

And Obama said unto the smaller Nations, "I'll give you money."

The smaller Nations said, "Ok, how about $30 Billion."

Obama said unto China, "Please, pretty please I'll give you money."

And China said, "Don't be stupid. You're going to borrow money from us just to give it back to us with interest, boy is this guy stupid or what. Look Barack we own you and therefore we have to save you from yourself. No deal the meeting is over."

With this the great one returned to his bankrupt nation of fewer and fewer followers and said unto those few that would listen, "I have returned and bring you great promises from the rest of the world. I have achieved unprecedented promises from world leaders to think about cutting their carbon emissions and all it will cost you is another $30 Billion to begin with. We may give up some more jobs, but I have saved the world from global warming and climate change for I am the great all knowing Barack Obama. So it has been written, let it be done."

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A World of Changing Science

2009-12-13T09:59:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

We live in a world of ever changing science. By its very nature and definition science must continue to change as new generations evolve. This is why our schools are constantly ordering new text books and requiring our children to embrace new theories put forth by scientist more advanced in technology than their predecessors. Unfortunately for mankind this really means that science can never be completely settled. Theories will always remain theories and proven facts by one generation will be rebuked by the next.

There are some facts in life that cannot be rebuked and will always be a constant truth. When man reaches the point that he believes he is as smart or smarter than our creator then that man is doomed to fail. When a Nation becomes so arrogant that they choose science and a few scientific theories as the answer to all of the world's problems, then that Nation is doomed to fail. No Nation that believes it is more knowledgeable or powerful than our creator can withstand the wrath of our creator.

The people of Babylon decided they were as smart or smarter than the creator and decided to build the Tower of Babel reaching into Heaven. They soon learned they were not as smart as they thought they were. They became confused and could not complete their goal because like it or not there are some things in life that mankind will never be able to accomplish. Entering the gates of Heaven without permission in our earthly bodies is one thing science will never accomplish. Challenging our creator without suffering the consequence of our actions is another.

Arrogance and having the sense that we are always smarter than the previous generation has been a fault that has plagued mankind since the very beginning of time itself. Scientific scholars and teachers once believed time had no beginning and therefore could have no end. Now they teach with absolute certainty the age of the earth and the universe. They also claim the Big Bang Theory along with Global Warming or Climate Change are both settled science.

I can't help but wonder what the next 1 or 2 generations will have to say about these settled sciences. One hundred years from now I can say with somewhat certainty that I will not be around to find out the answer but I can't help but wonder.

What does any of this have to do with the United States economy or the challenges facing the world today ? Being led by Leaders that are the most arrogant Leaders in modern history, we are becoming that arrogant Nation and World that is destined to fail. This President, Congress and Leaders around the world that believe they can solve all of our problems by throwing more money at the problem will destroy their economies. Leaders like President Obama and this Democrat controlled Congress that put all of their faith in science and technology will find themselves in the same position as the people of Babylon, dazed and confused when their faith in science and technology fails to become a reality. Leaders that believe they will survive the final battle as the most righteous are the most arrogant and dangerous leaders in the world. No man can forecast the end of time and no man can know the true destiny of mankind.

What can we as simple people do to stop the madness of the world? We must ask questions of our leaders. We must challenge our leaders when we believe they are wrong. And most importantly, we must replace our leaders when they do not listen to the people they represent.

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Holiday Shopping

2009-11-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

by Ron Spangler

Holiday shopping this year will in all likelihood remain low for most retailers. With the real unemployment rate hitting a record high of 18% most Americans will be looking for value and less high end consumer products. The major retailers will be concentrating on kids low cost plastic products from China as their number one source for the holiday spending spree. With consumers having very little confidence in the jobs market or the long term future of their particular financial situation they are saving more and spending less.

There will be those that will be buying higher ticket price electronics like big screen televisions and some in the media will highlight these sales as a sign the economy is back and consumer confidence is up. This will be a mistake. Retailers have already reduced the price of items like this and will without a doubt reduce them further. Retailers know the average family will be reluctant to buy one item for $600.00 when they can spend $100.00 on each member of a family of 4 and have more Christmas presents under the tree. With this in mind retailers have increased their inventories of items that are less than $20.00 in an effort to boost sales over the holidays.

The one area the media is overlooking during this period is online sales of crafts made in America and sold directly from the person making the item to the consumer. Long time online stores like Etsy.com usually see a increase in sales every holiday season. This may be the year they exceed normal seasonal sales records. This site is well known for high quality low cost American made items with a vast category to choose from. Americans are demanding more for their money and are looking for things that will last long after Christmas day. With all of the recalls that have been announced lately American consumers are becoming leery of cheep imports and turning away from the throw away disposable products that flooded the American markets for the last 10 to 15 years.

If you look at this period of time you will notice that everything from electronics to construction products have made with a built in life expectancy. When the product reaches the end of its life expectancy it became far cheaper to throw it away than the cost of having it repaired. In the case of electronics like televisions, stereos, cell phones, computer game systems and more, the consumer will be lucky to find anyone capable of repairing the item simply because the parts are obsolete shortly after the item leaves the manufacturer.

In today's atmosphere people are turning away from this mindset and are looking to the past. They are beginning to look for American products that will last from generation to generation and can be passed down from one family to the next. At one time in our not so distant past we called these products family heirlooms. Craft sites like Etsy pride themselves in this type of consumer products. As sites like this receive more market and media attention I believe more Americans will be buying more products online than they ever purchased in the past. If you are a consumer looking for quality, value and products made in America by individual American craftsmen and women (including artists) I would encourage you to shop online at craft sites like Etsy.

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ACLU Celebrates Victory

2009-11-16T09:10:00.003-06:00

by Ron Spangler

With Eric Holder's recent announcement that terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) would be tried in federal court in New York, the ACLU and KSM experienced a day of nationwide celebration and jubilation. The majority of the country disagrees with this decision but our President has shown he has very little regards for what the majority of Americans think. After all the majority of Americans are people that do one of the following (if not all) they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations. Not my words, these belong to President Obama during his run for president.

Through his policies and decision making process the president has made it clear he will bring change not only to the country but he will change American society into a more peaceful and conciliatory society. He will do this regardless of the Constitution or unpopularity from gun carrying, bible thumping, bitter tea party fanatics that just don't understand that he is doing what is best for the country and the world. If he could only get the people to understand that first you must destroy in order to rebuild, then his goal for a better country would be easier to achieve. Pelosi, Reid, Franks, Schumer, Walters, Boxer, Durbin and the rest of the Democrats understand the theory of rebuilding America like the mythological Egyptian Phoenix, its the majority that don't know the story or understand the Obama strategy or philosophy.

Maybe the American Civil Liberties Union and KSM understand this theory and are quietly thanking the president for granting their wishes. Since KSM was first captured they have been working to have his trial moved to New York. In their minds there could be no more of a fitting place than New York to give them access to the world stage. They believe it is the perfect venue to put George Bush and the United States on trial for all of the past atrocities committed during the illegal War On Terror. They better than anyone understand our American system and the American media. They know for the next five years they will be able to publicly humiliate the past Administration and the actions of America following the 9/11 attacks.

The President must know and understand how divisive the news coming from these court proceedings will be for the country. Instead of pulling the country together his decision has deepened the divide that already exist in the country. By continuing to make decisions like this he will eventually tear the country apart and hasten our self destruction very similar to the way the Phoenix consumed itself by fire and later returned from its ashes. Whether we return a better nation or not will be determined in the future, meanwhile it is only fitting that KSM and the ACLU publicly acknowledge and thank President Obama for his wise decisions.

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President Obama Smarter Than A 5th Grader

2009-11-13T07:37:00.005-06:00

by Ron Spangler

President Obama doesn't have to appear on the television program Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader for us to determine the answer. His actions and decisions on matters that effect the future of the country speak for themselves. Just about everything he has done has been wrong and had the opposite effect on our economy, our position as a world leader and now the security of the nation.

In typical Obama fashion he has again decided to get out of Washington D C when tough questions need to be answered or unpopular decisions from his Administration are about to be released to the media. He has again delayed his decision on whether to send reinforcements to Afghanistan while he spends 9 days running around the world. In Japan he came very close to apologizing again for the U S using the Atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII to end the war. It came out during a televised news conference and if the Japanese Deputy Prime Minister's eyes could speak they might have said, This is not the time or place to reopen old wounds.

At the same news conference Obama answered a question about the decision to try the mastermind of 9/11 and 4 other terrorist in New York instead of Guantanamo Bay by a Military Tribunal. The news was released only after President Obama landed in Japan. Every Constitutional lawyer and scholar agree this is good for the defense but bad for the prosecution of these terrorist. Most of the evidence that could be used to lead to a successful prosecution in a Military Court will not be allowed in Federal Court. The trials will last for months if not years and too much information of methods and procedures involving National Security and the way we gather information will be given to the very terrorist we are trying to stop.

I may be wrong but I think a fifth grader would be smarter than this President. Think about it, if a thief told you I'm going to break into your home while you're gone but I don't know the best way to get in without getting caught. Would you give him a diagram of your home and all of the security measures and techniques you have installed to prevent his breaking in, of course not. So why has the President decided to take a chance of letting these terrorist escape justice or give Al Qaeda and other terrorist some of our most sensitive information on measures and techniques for fighting terrorism, a 5th grader would be smarter.

President Obama is having a hard time understanding why some of his supporters and most Independents that voted for him are experiencing buyer's remorse. This is being reflected in his job approval rating and his popular rating. People are beginning to see the mistake they made by not taking in the fact that this President had no experience in leadership and had never made a decision that had a significant effect on a large number of people. He had zero experience with the military, National Security matters, or foreign diplomacy. Other than reading books he had never been responsible for budgetary matters involving large sums of taxpayer dollars. Most important he had never been put into a situation that could have life changing consequences for the people that trusted him. Most significant for Independents, President Obama has shown himself to be too far left and possibly leading us into a Socialist style government. All of these facts were brought out during the campaigns but they were all overlooked or dismissed due to his gift for charming a crowd and his Hollywood showmanship.

These are only a few reasons why voters are experiencing buyers remorse and shows without a doubt this President is not smarter than a 5th grader. It doesn't take a smart child to manipulate his parents and it doesn't take a smart con to manipulate a crowd. I am certain while he is running around the world the next few days he will supply more evidence to support our findings.

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United States Under Siege More Terror Attacks Before 2010 Elections

2009-11-13T06:26:00.007-06:00

by Ron Spangler

It is clear to everyone except the Obama Administration and his supporters that the Ft Hood murders were committed by a Al Qaeda leaning terrorist. CNN, MSNBC and the main stream network news media have done and continue to do everything possible to set up a defense for the terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan. Unfortunately the Army seems to be following suit of the left wing media. From the very beginning the spin was put out that the terrorist was suffering from a mental disorder and even suggested that he somehow suffered from PTSD that he miraculously caught from soldiers returning home from war. The media and this Administration must believe the American people are the dumbest people on earth. They must believe they can say or do anything and the people will fall in line like little sheep.

The truth, as every American knows but some may not want to admit, is this is the 1st successful terror attack on American soil since 9/11/2001. The facts are clear even though this Administration doesn't want to admit it. This President is so afraid of losing the left wing base of the Democrat Party he will say or do anything to please them. His latest approach to a decision on Afghanistan is another example of cowering to the left wing anti-war crowd in his party. After 8 meetings he has again decided to make no decision while our troops continue to die.

People are wondering why he is taking so long to make a decision. All kinds of excuses supporting this delay are being brought forward by his supporters. The prevalent theory for the latest delay is he is being prudent in questioning the leadership in the Afghan government. His supporters tell us the President doesn't want the world to look at the United States as a country that supports corruption in Afghanistan. Meanwhile the Taliban is getting stronger and Al Qaeda is continuing to recruit. The latest feel good news coming from the Obama network sheep is Al Qaeda has been decimated in numbers. They are telling us that it is widely accepted that Al Qaeda only has about 100 members still active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I suspect the next thing we hear will be, Since there are so few Al Qaeda members left we do not need a conventional Army to deal will them. Instead we can work in concert with Pakistan using limited forces to destroy the remainder of Al Qaeda. In short the military war is over and we have entered a new police action phase with Pakistan to bring the true criminals of the 9/11 attacks to justice. So the Obama con continues and our troops keep dieing.

Could it be that President Obama is waiting and hoping that Generals McChrystal and Petraeus will become so disillusioned and disgusted that they will retire? Could the President be looking and waiting for a reason to replace the generals with generals he can more easily control and manipulate? Could he be looking for replacement generals that are less popular and easier to throw under his bus? Could it be the President is looking for generals that he can successfully blame for losing a war and take the political pressure off of the President? Could it be the President has turned this war into nothing more than politics as usual?

The result of Obama's weakness as a Commander In Chief will be Obama losing a war that he declared to be not only his war but a war of necessity. He said this was a war the United States must win. He said Afghanistan and what happened in Afghanistan was of paramount interest to the United States and our being able to win the war on terror. He has since decided not to call it a war on terror since it might inflame some in our community. His weakness to recognize terrorist or terrorist attacks in or against the United States will result in more terrorist attacks and Al Qaeda being more successful in their recruiting efforts.

The future for the world under a weakened Obama led United States looks very grim. As I see it the next few years may well decide whether mankind survives another century or succumbs to the end of time theories running rampant on the internet.

Just like we will never know with absolute certainty what happens to us in life after death or if there is really a life after death, we cannot with absolute certainty predict the future. The question of life after death will be answered for each individual upon our deaths, the future will be decided by the decisions or indecision's our leaders make today.

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Main Street Tired Of Wall Street Experts

2009-11-11T08:39:00.001-06:00

by Ron Spangler

Not a day goes by that some Wall Street market expert or some other media expert doesn't come on television and tell us how the economy is improving. CNBC is the ultimate optimist of our economy and the markets. They have a logical reason for every bump in the road, be it up or down. Every man or woman that appears on their network is an expert and knows exactly how the markets will react regardless of the situation. The problem with the experts analysis is it is always hindsight analysis and as we all know hindsight is always 20/20.

With real unemployment at a staggering 17.5% Main Street doesn't care that the DOW has gone over 10 thousand. We do care that oil is steadily climbing toward $100 a barrel and other prices for commodities that we depend on are also increasing. With millions upon millions of people out of work rising oil and other commodities simply means higher prices for every consumer. The experts don't seem to understand that if you don't have a job the market means nothing. Maybe they don't get it because they are some of the very few left with jobs that will allow them to invest in the DOW or commodities market. Either the CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, anchors and business analysts are no better than the old time traveling salesman or used car dealer, or they have bought into President Obama's con that the economy is improving and happy days are around the corner.

During the 2006 Mid Term elections the Democrats blasted President Bush over the economy and Iraq. Every time he said the fundamentals of our economy were strong the Democrats scorned and ridiculed him for being out of touch, even though unemployment was running at 4.7%. The Democrats constantly complained the unemployment rate was still too high and wages were too low. They insisted the President and the Republicans were out of touch with Main Street and kept talking down the economy. After the Democrats took control of the House and the Senate they continued on with their drunken spending spree and refused to do anything about the housing bubble or rising oil prices. In 2008 after the oil prices reached $150 a barrel, gas prices hit $5.00 a gallon and the housing bubble burst the Democrats blamed President Bush and the Republicans in Congress. We were told if they had the 60 vote filibuster proof Senate and a few more Democrats in the House they could fix the economy and create more jobs. We gave them more Democrats in the House and enough in the Senate to break any attempts to filibuster a bill. Ten months after the President took office we are in worse shape than we were in 2007.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. The president is saying much of the same as President Bush said in 2007. President Obama now says "the fundamentals are basically sound" but we hear no scorn or ridicule from the very same people that were the loudest in 2007 and 2008. What is different besides gas prices are lower than 2008 but beginning to rise, unemployment has skyrocketed, foreclosures are starting to creep back up, the deficit has increased, the government has spent trillions with little to nothing to show for it, the dollar has reached a record low and our children's children are so far in debt they will be lucky to be able to afford federally subsidized housing or cars of the future? The answer is President Obama won and he is a Democrat with a Democrat controlled Congress. The media has been given notice, play along or be treated the same as FoxNews. It is sad to say but, at the rate we are going the next 2 generations will all be federal employees dependent on the government for everything they consume.

According to all of the so called Wall Street experts, the rest of the world is recovering from the recession while America laggers behind. They have feel good logical explanations for it but they refuse to explain how it effects our position as a trusted world leader. They refuse to face the fact that we are looking weaker and weaker in the eyes of not only our enemies but also our allies. They are watching as we go down the same disastrous road Japan traveled down and the world doesn't understand why we do not remove our blinders. Instead of concentrating on cutting down on our massive spending, working on policies that will help business create jobs, and winning a war the President said was the real central war on terror, the President and Democrats in Congress have decided to spend a massive $1.5 trillion more on health care in the United States. How health care became more important than protecting the country or standing idly by while the unemployment rate continues to rise is beyond my comprehension, maybe I should defer to the Wall Street or media experts.

Maybe in 2010 when the people have the final say about the direction the country has taken, the experts will give us the benefit of their expertize and explain with their 20/20 hindsight how misinformed this government really was. Maybe when the official unemployment rate has reached 15% but in reality it is 28% the experts will admit we shouldn't have raised taxes and passed the Health Care Bill. Maybe when our troops are dieing by the hundreds in Afghanistan because our President did not send reinforcements soon enough the experts will say the President got it wrong. Maybe it is time we stopped listening to the "experts."

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Leader Position Open United States Government

2009-11-05T12:05:00.001-06:00

by Ron Spangler

The perception of American voters and other nations around the world toward the United States Government is the United States is currently operating under a weak and indecisive leader. With every day that passes the Congress, Congressional Leaders and the President are showing such a high degree of incompetence that it has Americans and our allies beginning to worry that the country may be slipping into not only economic destruction but also becoming a weak powerless force in foreign policy.

The United States Declaration of Independence declares certain rights to all men to be unalienable and among these rights are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. It also states in part... "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

It continues..."when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

The beauty and one of the things that makes our Constitution so greatly admired is the Constitution provides for a way the American people can peaceably change our government when we feel they are no longer representing the people or following the wishes and best interest of the majority of the citizenry. This is the situation facing America today. In some aspects it is not much different than the situation our forefathers faced when they pledged their life and fortunes to the ideas and principles written into the Declaration of Independence. The rights of men and women embedded within the United States Constitution are not rights given to us by the government or the Constitution itself. These rights are as the Declaration of Independence says.. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." endowed by our Creator. This simply means unless the people voluntarily relinquish these rights they can never be taken away by government.

We the people do not relinquish our God given rights even though the government under the present leadership has demonstrated their willingness to greatly restrict and even eliminate these most basic rights. With our liberties at risk it has once again come to the point where Americans must unite to defend the rights that have been granted by our Creator. To do this we are sending out a call to all Americans. Positions will be opening in 2010 for honest, hard working, patriotic individuals of integrity and high moral standing. We ask that you come forward and be examined by the American people and show your ability to lead this country in the direction that we as Americans prescribe. We will no longer accept grand speeches and promises but will require that applicants demonstrate their abilities to lead and carry out the wishes of the people and what is truly in the best interest of the nation.

On Tuesday November 2, 2010 the Senate will have openings available for 36 duly elected Senators. The House of Representatives will have 435 positions available. Elections of these Senators and Congressmen will decide the leadership positions of the next Congress. Speaker Pelosi will in all likelihood win another term if she can force her version of the Health Care Bill into law. Senator Reid is another question. Since these two positions in the Congress have so much power and persuasion over the office of the President applicants for the Senate and House will be required to pledge their oath to America and the American people and not to the Speaker of the House or the Senate Majority Leader.

Positions and Opening Dates of Positions are:

President of the United States - November 2012 (1) Position

Vice President of the United States - November 2012 (1) Position

House of Representatives - November 2, 2010 (435) Positions

Senate - November 2, 2010 (36) Positions

Qualifications for these positions will be the same for each position and every applicant will be scrutinized to the highest degree for the attributes found in our founding fathers. Career politicians that will say or promise anything to be elected need not apply. Persons of liberal persuasion but applying under conservative values need not apply. Persons of conservative persuasion but applying under liberal values need not apply. All applicants will be judged on their past record and not by empty promises or just their word that they are who they say they are.

Minimum requirements for the above positions are:

Strong National Defense,
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” President Ronald W. Reagan

Energy Independence,
As stated by Ronald Reagan "the economic prosperity of our people is a fundamental part of our environment."
Oil and natural gas that lay beneath our land and off our shores can no longer go untouched because some believe the American people would rather see more regulation, more taxes, and more controls than more energy.

Fiscal Responsibility,
That the people justly view with alarm the reckless extravagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest the systematic plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans.

Free Market Solutions,
To preserve the American system of free enterprise, private competition, and equality of opportunity, and to seek its constant betterment in the interests of all.
Encouragement instead of hindrance to legitimate business.
Withdrawal of government from competition with private payrolls.
Elimination of unnecessary and hampering regulations.

Personal Responsibility and Small Federal Governmentt,
There is a real need for the people once more to grasp the fundamental fact that under our system of government they are expected to solve many problems themselves through their municipal and State governments, and to combat the tendency that is all too common to turn to the Federal Government as the easiest and least burdensome method of lightening their own responsibilities.

Immigration,
The priceless heritage of American citizenship is our greatest gift to our friends of foreign birth. Only those who will be loyal to our institutions, who are here in conformity with our laws, and who are in sympathy with our national traditions, ideals, and principles, should be naturalized.

If you are interested in applying for one of these positions please submit your resume' to the American people. We are in desperate need of leaders.

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Reagan Era Resurrection Warning to Republicans

2009-11-01T08:44:00.005-06:00

by Ron Spangler

Political pundits and analyst are all over the place trying to spin the few elections taking place Tuesday November 3, 2009. Depending on who you listen to it is either a referendum on President Obama and the Democrats in Congress or a referendum on the Republican party.

Ronald Reagan did say never speak ill of another Republican but he also said trust but verify. In the case of New York's 23rd Congressional District candidate Republican Dierdre Scozzafava the people have spoken. According to polls they originally trusted her until they had the opportunity to verify. Once it was verified that she was more like the Democrats than she was Republicans the trust was lost and she dropped out of the race. Since Dierdre has formally endorsed the Democratic candidate the verification has been confirmed, she was never a true Republican that believed in the Party's principles.

In the midterm elections taking place in 2010 we may see a repeat of what has happened in the 23rd Congressional District. Americans are fed up with the direction this President and Congress is taking America. The true unemployment rate is closer to 17% than it is the predicted 10% that the economist are predicting. If Congress passes this Health Care Reform Bill with the planned government take over option, Cap and Trade will be right around the corner. Oil prices will double and there will be a voter's revolt throughout the country in 2010. No incumbent will be safe. It happened in Tennessee when politicians tried to pass a state income tax and it can happen around the country.

Politicians running as Independents or on a 3rd Party have never been serious contenders at the national level. The midterm 2010 elections and even the Presidential election in 2012 could be the time of the Independent or 3rd party candidate. If the truth comes out about the true state of America the voters will be appalled and seek vengeance against both parties. As Americans figure out what the Health Care Reform Bill and Energy (Cap and Trade) Bill really mean, they will demand both be swiftly repealed and action be taken to restrict the Federal Government from interfering with the free market with taxpayer bailouts and stimulus money.

Both bills will give the Federal Government unprecedented power to pass laws governing everything we do in our private lives. Under health care they can pass laws penalizing us for, or even restricting us from, eating certain foods, drinking unhealthy drinks, smoking, failing to exercise a certain number of hours a day, driving when we can walk, buying vehicles that don't meet government standards, refusing government mandated vaccines, or visiting health facilities or doctors not approved by the Government Health Care system even if we pay from our own pocket. Remember the government will have access to our complete medical records so they will know what we are doing at all times.

Under the Energy Bill it will not be long until the Government gains complete control of the major American oil companies. With the doubling of the price of gas due to high oil prices, President Obama and Congress will be able to pass the Windfall Profits Tax that will destroy the American companies. This will be the perfect crisis to justify the take over of the oil industry in America. Americans will have no choice but to buy the small under powered death traps that will be built by Government Motors (not a Typo). Since the standards for selling or building vehicles in the United States will be so high and restrictive the competition in the automotive industry will be extremely limited. In this way the government will be able to dictate what and how we drive our vehicles in the United States.

As Americans see this type of scenario playing out they are starting to retaliate against both parties. They are sending a message to Republicans, return to our basic ideas of less government, less spending, less taxation, less entitlements, more jobs, more support for small business, real heath care reform without government takeover, a strong defense and ending the Afghan war with honor and victory. The message is clear if you do not agree to these principles we will create or find another party that does prescribe to these ideas. Disillusioned Independents that voted for Obama are sending the Democrats the same message. As they see Obama waffling on his earlier announced Afghan strategy they are beginning to believe he is weak on defense and dangerously weak in foreign affairs. Everyday more and more Americans are comparing him to Jimmy Carter and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

How can Republicans win in the 2010 midterm elections and have a chance in the 2012 Presidential elections, by returning to their principles and entering into another real contract with America. This contract must be real and achieve their goals by 2012 or there will be a 3rd Party in the Presidential elections that will be Independent Conservatives.

Some of the principles are listed below, feel free to add your own.

1. The Government both Federal and State must accept the Constitution and its Articles as-is and never stray from its meaning and words. The rights of individuals including business cannot be infringed upon without due process in accordance with the Constitution.

2. The Federal Government is restricted from passing any laws if they have not been given the power in accordance with the 10th Amendment of the Constitution. This includes mandating that American citizens participate in any government programs that are not directly related to taxes that are clearly authorized by the Constitution.

3. The Federal Government has a duty and obligation to the American taxpayer to make certain that taxpayer dollars are not being wasted on frivolous programs without public knowledge and consent. The Federal Government will curtail wasteful spending and continue to cut the deficit until it has been eliminated altogether.

4. Taxation on American citizens must be simplified and reduced to the lowest amount that will ensure the taxpayer will never be burdened with debt to the federal government. Corporate tax on American business and all other forms of taxation on American business will be reduced to the lowest amount possible to ensure American business can compete in the global market and encourages American business to keep their business and factories within the United States. To encourage a strong and vibrant American free market Congress will pass no taxes that are punitive or restricts a business from making a lawful profit (Windfall Profits Tax).

5. Realizing the necessity of America to depend more on its own natural resources and less on foreign resources, Congress will pass no laws that will infringe upon the rights of business in the United States to exploit and make available to the general public these natural resources. Any Federal Law that restricts the use or exploration of our natural resources must be revisited and repealed if the law can be shown to be an unfair burden on the industry or the American economy. Recognizing States Rights in accordance with the Constitution the Federal Government will not infringe upon the right of the State to govern the exploration and use of the natural resources within the borders of each state. If a State authorizes a business to explore and make available to the general public the natural resources discovered within the States borders the Federal Government will take no part in restricting the use and exploration of that resource. If the natural resource is found to be on public land the people not the government shall decide if the natural resources can be exploited.

6. In providing for a strong National Defense the President or Congress will not institute military conscription (draft) unless Congress has declared a Declaration of War in accordance with the Constitution. As part of the Federal Government's responsibility to protect America the Congress and President will secure our borders by all means possible. Hiring of illegal immigrants will be forbidden and penalties for hiring illegals will be enforced. Crossing our borders illegally will result in automatic deportation and a lifetime restriction from reentering the United States. Entering after deportation will result in a mandatory prison sentence. Persons that commit or are suspected of committing a murder within the United States and flee to another country must be extradited to face justice in the United States. If a country refuses to extradite the individual the United States will take all appropriate action necessary, including cutting diplomatic relationships, to ensure the person is returned to the United States.

7. Congress must refrain from passing any taxes or laws that may be burdensome on a individual's rights of free speech, religion, or the right to own and bear arms. These are basic rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution and can in no way be infringed upon or discouraged by any Federal or State governments.

8. We must encourage our children to stay in school and demand our schools return to teaching the basic skills and knowledge that our children will need if they are to be successful in life. Before our children are thrown into the progressive science and arts theories we must first make certain they can read and understand the English language. They must be knowledgeable in math, American and World history, and able to write legibly without depending on computers, calculators, or other forms of modern technology. As part of history we should be teaching our children about religion and how it effected the history of America. If we are going to continue to teach the theory of evolution we must also teach them about the alternative theory of the intelligent design.

Goals that must be met by the new Congress:

1. If the Health Care Plan as written is passed into law Congress must actively work to repeal and reform this law by the next election cycle of 2012.

2. If a Energy Bill (Cap and Trade) is passed it must be repealed within the first year of the new Congress.

3. Taxes on individuals and business must be reduced within the 1st year of the new Congress.

4. New tax laws must be written permanently reducing the amount of taxes and simplifying the tax code before the 2012 election cycle.

5. The Federal Government must reduce the size of government agencies by eliminating any program or agency that is redundant or outdated.

6. Congress through its oversight committees will demand the Execute Branch be forthright and open about all of the appointments the President has made in its so called Czar positions.

7. Congress will return the auto industry to the private sector and work to return all bailout money to the taxpayer.

8. Congress will work to freeze all spending not directly related to supporting a Strong National Defense and a budget small enough to operate the government without adding to the deficit.

9. Congress will immediately begin to institute new laws that will reduce the debt and create incentives for American business to remain in the United States and create new jobs.

10. Congress will immediately reduce the amount of bureaucracy surrounding the exploration and exploitation of natural resources in the United States. Resources found on public lands will be open for exploration and government restrictions will be reduced to allow exploration and exploitation within 2 yrs from the time a application by private industry has been submitted to the Federal Government.

These are a few steps that must be taken to restore the United States to the once powerful and most respected country on earth. If a candidate in the 2010 midterm elections will commit to these simple principles and goals the country can change course and return to the direction our founding fathers had in mind.

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John Kerry Taliban Best Friend

2009-10-27T07:29:00.005-05:00

by Ron Spangler

Talking to my neighbors and friends who are in the military and have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, some have served 2 and 3 deployments, one thing is very clear, moral for our military in Afghanistan is at an all time low. It is not the mission or the thought that they could lose this war and suffer defeat at the hands of the Taliban but rather they are starting to feel like the politicians will repeat their cut and run strategy of Vietnam. They are worried the President will continue to waiver back and forth. They worry this will give the Taliban time to consolidate their strength and numbers in all parts of Afghanistan. They know this will make the chance for a complete victory by our military more difficult and cost more lives.

The military cannot speak publicly on how they feel about President Obama's indecisive way of running the military or the preposterous idea that we can somehow live with the Taliban controlling parts of Afghanistan. If you talk to them one on one as a neighbor or friend you will find they do not believe this will work.

Upon John Kerry's recent return from Afghanistan he put forward the idea that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let the Taliban control some of the tribal areas around Afghanistan while we devote or time building up the Afghan military and police. Kerry evidently believes the Taliban will be content to run these areas separate from the rest of Afghanistan and allow us to stay in the major provinces building modern cities with schools and a more moderate Islamic ideology. This is absolutely insane and our military knows it best. Either Senator Kerry has no clue of how much hatred the Taliban has for the United States and our allies or he knows and just doesn't want to admit the real enemy in Afghanistan is the Taliban.

What Senator Kerry is saying is not new. President Obama has said something similar in the past, when he talked about "peeling away moderate Taliban." Number one there are no moderate Taliban, either you are Taliban or you are not. Taliban is not simply a political party like we have in the United States. It is a Islamic theocracy that follows the strictest form of Islam and Sharia Law. They will not tolerate any religion, government, or laws that are in conflict with their warped since of governance over the Afghan people. It seems Senator Kerry and President Obama have no compassion or humanitarian concerns for the people, especially the women and children, that they would allow the Taliban to govern. Under this plan they are willing to stand by and watch while the Taliban returns to its old repressive and brutal ways. They are willing to watch while women and young girls are raped and murdered simply because they are less important than the animals owned by everyday Afghans. The President and Senator have forgotten that the Taliban does not believe in or have any respect for Constitutions or Civil Rights, they only believe in Sharia Law and their extreme interpretation of it.

This whole idea of dealing with the Taliban and allowing them to control and thereby govern any part of Afghanistan is eerily reminiscent of the Biden plan in Iraq. If Senator Biden had his way back when similar discussions were going on over Iraq, that country would be partitioned today with the United States acting as the peacekeeper and arbitrator over each of the warring factions. Fortunately his idea never received any real consideration, not because it was simply stupid but because everyone knew it was not feasible. What Senator Kerry is proposing is not that much different from the Biden plan for Iraq. The plan would not work in Iraq and it will not work in Afghanistan.

Some will argue that Senator Kerry never said that his plan was to work with the Taliban or allow them to remain in power in some of the areas around Afghanistan. To some extent this is true, however he did say: "Amazingly, the Taliban actually have ombudsmen to hold their shadow government accountable to the people. The legitimate government of Afghanistan cannot be less accountable than the Taliban, or we cannot be successful." This sounds like praise and it is absolutely not true. To think the Taliban could be held "accountable to the people" is the most naive statement I have ever heard.

Senator Kerry acts like Afghanistan is a country built around cities with modern roads and easy access from the rural areas to the larger towns and cities. He equates it to the United States with local and state governments running their particular state and providing security for it. He forgets that this is a 19th century country with rural areas still living in the 18th century. On one hand he says we must defeat the Taliban but on the other hand he says Al Qaeda is the biggest threat to the United States. He says we must not allow a return of Al Qaeda into Afghanistan but we do not need to increase our military strength. He says we must continue training Afghan military and allow them to gain security for Afghanistan without increasing our military. He says we must concentrate on building up Afghanistan cities, roads, schools and infrastructure thereby winning over Afghan support for a Taliban free Afghanistan without expanding the war inside Afghanistan. He says we should carry out a smaller counter insurgency plan that is more "doable" and "is “good-enough” governance, basic sustainable economic development and Afghan security forces capable enough that we can draw down our forces." This sounds like we only have to halfway win the war. I have never heard of halfway winning a war and I'm certain none of our enemies have this type of mentality. Either you are in a war to win or you are not. If you are not then please don't ask our military to sacrifice their lives for a mission that has no end.

In the end all the lofty goals that Senator Kerry set out in his speech can never be achieved if there is not enough security for the Afghan people. If we continue to allow the Taliban and Al Qaeda to terrorize the population we can never win their hearts and minds. If we do not have enough forces in place to protect the people while we are training Afghan forces, then the Afghan forces will find very little left to protect. Senator Kerry, like most politicians, is talking out of both sides of his mouth and has lost all respect of the military that have served and are now serving in Afghanistan. Kerry, Biden and Obama were all three against the surge in Iraq and they were proven wrong. If President Obama follows the plan of Biden or Kerry they will be proven wrong again. The stakes are too high to play a game out of something as serious as war. If any Commander In Chief loses the respect and support from his military or military commanders then he will surely lose the war. War is war and must be left to the men and women fighting the war. Mixing politics with war only leads to another Vietnam.

General McChrystal, and more importantly my neighbors and friends that are fighting the war, has said we can win this war with more troops. It is past time to stop the politics and support our troops. Even our NATO allies have said they support General McChrystal's plan and some are sending more troops. I cannot understand how our President can have less faith in his own general than our allies have in him. It is no wonder our President and by default the United States is looking weak in the eyes of our enemies and allies.

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Obama Health Plan Another TennCare Fiasco

2009-10-25T10:01:00.005-05:00

by Ron Spangler

TennCare in Tennessee has been hitting the news more today than at anytime since its conception. Critics of the proposed Government Option for all Americans point to the failure of TennCare to provide a government run program that would insure everyone that did not or could not not be covered by a private insurance company in the state of Tennessee. As a resident of Tennessee I believe the nation as a whole should listen to what people with experience in these government run programs have to say before they accept the proposed government option at face value. Trust but verify should not only apply to your enemies it should apply to all politicians.

Everyone must understand what TennCare is in order to understand how it failed in the past and continues to fail today, yes I said fail today. Tennessee was looking for a way to cut the high cost of heath care and decided to get out from under the Medicaid program. TennCare is basically Tennessee’s version of Medicaid. Contrary to what some people around the country may think, TennCare is still alive in Tennessee. It’s biggest private insurance company that is propping it up is Blue Cross Blue Shield. With the influx of new money being provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the American taxpayer and Federal Government is the biggest public entity that is keeping the program afloat.

According to Darin Gordon, Tennessee Deputy Commissioner the $1.1 billion in additional federal Medicaid matching aid will help TennCare avoid immediate budget reductions and allow the state to continue the program through December 2010. Another blessing for the state was the change in federal reimbursements. Before the act was passed for every dollar TennCare and ultimately the private insurers spent the federal government spent 65-cents and the state spent 35-cents. Now the federal government spends 75-cents and the state spends 25-cents. This has helped Tennessee since we are no longer facing a mandatory statewide agency reduction of 15% budget cuts for FY 2010. This does not mean TennCare can add any new services to its program, instead they must continue to cut cost by reducing the numbers of people currently covered that the state suspects or can prove are being fraudulently covered under the TennCare Program.

What all of this means is if the Federal Government and past actions of the Tennessee Democratic Governor and State Legislators had not come to the aid of TennCare, the program and the state would have been bankrupt back in 2005. Back then Governor Bredesen removed 170,000 Tennesseans from the TennCare program and reduced benefits and reimbursements to doctors and hospitals to save the program and keep the state from going into bankruptcy. While the efforts of Governor Bredesen, with help from the Federal Government, have succeeded in keeping the program alive fewer and fewer doctors and hospitals will accept TennCare patients. Under the Act, TennCare cannot expand the eligibility for coverage which means fewer Tennesseans can be covered by TennCare. As a result the governor has come up with another government insurance option called Cover Tennessee. This program relies on voluntary partnerships between the state, individuals and employers where each commit to pay one-third of the monthly premium of the low-cost product. With unemployment at 10.5% the program is running into trouble and the state may be facing another 2005 TennCare like crisis. Under both programs very few doctors will accept new patients so most people that are covered by these programs continue to use the emergency rooms for their primary care. By law the emergency rooms cannot turn people away but all they have to do is provide minimal care to stabilize the patient until other care can be found. This often means the patient is released immediately after they have been stabilized or transferred to a substandard medical facility like a nursing home, sometimes referred to as a rehab facility.

The bottom line is Tennessee’s government run experiment has been a dismal failure and if the President’s new Health Care Czar Nancy DeParle refuses to speak out against the public option she will be doing the President and her country a disservice. It is possible that due to the current outbreak of swine flu in Tennessee, both the TennCare and Cover Tennessee programs may go broke by the spring of 2010. It is also possible that if the unemployment rate continues to rise and the pandemic gets worse, Tennessee and other states may be facing another crisis similar to the 2005 budget crisis we faced in Tennessee.

It is unclear what will happen to TennCare if the federal government passes a national government option health care plan. It is clear that Nancy DeParle is going to have a large impact on what the government option looks like. DeParle served as Human Services Commissioner in Tennessee and should be well aware of the TennCare fiasco. Since the President has gone after the private insurance companies it is uncertain they will be part of a plan that is similar to TennCare. In all likelihood the federal government will have to design the program after Medicare. This in fact will be nothing more than a single payer plan. With Medicare already over 30 Trillion Dollars in debt I cannot see how the country can afford it, especially with the economy on the brink of disaster. DeParle knows that TennCare is nothing more than a huge albatross hanging around the necks of Tennesseans and it may get passed on to the rest of the country. If it does heaven help us all.

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Isolate Obama Take Back America 2010

2009-10-20T12:11:00.005-05:00

by Ron Spangler

President Obama has made it clear. The way he has chosen to rebuild the country is force the population into a total state of depression and government dependence. This will allow the next great United States President to come to the aid of the country and lead the country, and the world, to a state of utopia with peace and prosperity to all mankind. This is the delusional mindset of President Obama and his secret Czar government.

It seems there is only one commentator on the cable networks that is coming close to admitting the true desires of President Obama. Glenn Beck has done a lot to bring light on this shadow government but he hasn't yet come around to admitting that Obama wants to follow in the Mao Tse-tung. He has shown all of the the close associations with members of the Czar government to Mao but he has not linked Obama to any direct quotes or statements of Obama supporting Mao. This in no way means Obama doesn't believe in the teachings of one of the greatest mass murderers of the twentieth century.

Americans are experiencing buyers' remorse as we watch the total destruction of the American way of life. This President and Congress are determined to rebuild America according to Obama and the Socialist way of thinking. It is no secret that the far left of the Democrat Party has always had a tie to Mao and the Marxist idea of communism. They may not understand the total concept of Marxist ideology but they like the fundamental idea of redistribution of wealth by giving the government complete control of the markets and business. They fail to see how repressive this form of government can be on the population they govern. They dismiss the torturous and genocidal acts committed by people like Mao Tse-tung, Stalin , Pol Pot, Lenin and other dictators that followed Marxist communism or Socialism. To a certain degree all of these murderers have something in common with some of the world's greatest con artist. They were all able to manipulate enough people into following them to overthrow their government and rebuild it under a complete communist or socialist doctrine.

President Obama has turned out to be the greatest con artist of the 20th and 21st centuries. He will also have the honor of being the President that destroyed America. Looking at Obama one can see the perfect confidence man by the way he manipulates people and is able to keep himself a safe distance away from anything that could be controversial. He is also great in cutting ties with any of his followers without encountering the wrath of the followers he has discarded along the way.

Throughout history we have always had confidence artist. Some common names for them are flim flam, grifter, shyster, hustler and sham artist. When it comes to manipulation and conning the media President Obama has far exceeded anyone in the past. He is a master at his game but like all great cons sooner or later the people being conned finally see reality.

One of the biggest misconception about the perfect con is that the con man is in it only for the money. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Money is only a means to the end for those that want to gain power and change the world. The biggest con games practiced in any society is practiced by unscrupulous politicians.

In America we believe in "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We believe this means limited government intrusion into are personal lives. We know it means we have the right to decide how we live, where we live, and the path we will take in the pursuit of our individual idea of happiness. To Americans it means we tell the government how they should govern. We do not allow the government or the President alone dictate to us how much liberty we can enjoy. The con we are witnessing today is a President and a party preaching these concepts in public while they are ripping these ideas into shreds behind closed doors and in the darkness of their shadow government.

To perfect his con the President has fabricated one crisis after another and in his effort to solve these crisis he has spent America to the brink of bankruptcy. Since we are not quite there he must create another crisis that will shove us over the edge and then he can gain support for his grab for absolute power. FoxNews has been asking the tough questions like why and reporting on some of the things that are being done behind closed doors. For this President Obama has declared war on their network and is secretly working on a plan to bail out or take over failing newspapers in America. By doing this he can control the media and continue to consolidate power behind America's back. After he accomplishes taking over print media he will turn his attention to the internet. All of this is being done at breakneck speed. He must succeed in creating enough despair in America so the voter will turn to the government and President Obama to save them from financial ruin. Having the population completely dependent on government is key to his plan to fundamentally transform America into a Socialist state.

All is not hopeless and all is not doom and gloom. America has been through some very rough times in the past and has always come out the better for it. We still have our Constitution and our will to be free. When Americans come together and make their voices heard in Congress our Congressmen and Senators will listen just from the simple threat of being voted out of office. By calling, sending letters and emails to our representatives in Washington letting them know we are sick and tired of everything they are trying to do behind our backs we can make a difference. By voting the majority of Obama's supporters out of the House and Senate we can isolate him and stop his mad dash for power. With enough support a new Congress can force the President to rescind and repeal most of the laws that have been passed and that could possibly bring America to her knees.

Now is the time like no other for Americans to make their voices heard throughout the halls government. We cannot continue to buy into this con that is be perpetuated on us. We have the power and the government only has the power we relinquish them. It is time to stand up, unite and tell Washington we are not blind. We see what you are doing and we will stop you.

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Advisers Biden Kerry Means Afghanistan Lost

2009-10-18T16:29:00.005-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

First President Obama had Vice President Biden advising him to reject General McChrystal and fight the war in Afghanistan with a small military footprint. Now we have Senator John Kerry advising the President to continue to delay and thoroughly think through any decision to send more troops to Afghanistan. With advisers like this the war in Afghanistan is destined for failure.

Senator Kerry stated on CNN “It would be entirely irresponsible for the president of the United States to commit more troops to this country, when we don’t even have an election finished and know who the president is and what kind of government we’re working with.” Vice President Biden and others have stated the same sentiment in previous interviews. What they really mean is the present government in Afghanistan may not be a government that will be a puppet to the Obama administration. They may not follow orders coming from the White House and our Democratic led Congress.

The question of whether the Karzai election was ligitiment or not is a totally different issue than the request for more troops. This is the same government we have been working with ever since the overthrow of the Taliban government. The one question Senator Kerry posed and seems to want an answer for "what kind of government we’re working with,” should have been answered back in March when President Obama laid out his first strategy plan for Afghanistan. Their idea of a peeling off and reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban and making them part of the new government is a disaster waiting to happen. This is nothing new. Even the President said during his campaign that the possibility of breaking away some elements of the Taliban “should be explored,” and he repeated this idea aboard Air Force One during a Times interview. From the New York Times March 7, 2009 article:

"President Obama declared in an interview that the United States was not winning the war in Afghanistan and opened the door to a reconciliation process in which the American military would reach out to moderate elements of the Taliban, much as it did with Sunni militias in Iraq."

This more than anything could explain the delay in making his decision on General McChrystal's request. He is desperately hoping things will turn around with the Taliban like it did with the Sunni militia in Iraq. He is hoping that if he just waits long enough the Taliban will get tired of fighting and another government will form under a new leader that will fight Al Qaeda for us. This will not happen. The Taliban hates America and anyone that does not believe in a puritanical caliphate that neither recognizes nor tolerates forms of Islam divergent from their own. A simpler way of looking at it is if you are not of the true Islamic faith and you do not follow Sharia Law in the most strictest sense, then you must be their enemy.

To some extent the Taliban is similar to the Khmer Rouge that devastated Cambodia. When it came to religion the Khmer Rouge was the complete opposite of the Taliban but, when it came to tactics used to control the population both were ruthless and genocidal. If we want to see a return of the killing fields in Cambodia, only this time in Afghanistan, then all we have to do is pull our troops out and let the Taliban regain control of Afghanistan. For the younger generation that don't know or have not been taught about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge they committed genocide of over a million of their own people after taking control of Cambodia.

Under both systems of rule the population must remain uneducated and women are nothing more than property that can be killed for the simplest of reasons. Any perceived threat to power or in the case of the Taliban any deviation from Sharia law by any individual, can mean instant execution or imprisonment. Under both systems of rule the government controls all aspects of life. The Taliban used the Quran and Sharia law to control the population and the Khmer Rouge used the purist form of communism to control the population. To remain in power neither system of government could allow the population to have any individual rights, freedoms, or to take part in a modern society. Any form of capitalism was and still is strictly forbidden. Modern cities with factories, schools, or modern technology cannot be tolerated since they could be a future threat to the government. In Afghanistan the schools that were permitted were only for boys teaching them Islam and Sharia law. In Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge they were indoctrination schools teaching true Marxist Communism.

With all the talk about how knowledgeable Vice President Biden and Senator Kerry are on foreign affairs, one would think they would advise the President not to consider making deals with members of the Taliban. With Pakistan conducting a all out offense against the Taliban, now would be the perfect time for our NATO forces to do the same. If the Taliban were hit from both the west and east they could be isolated in the mountainous areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and eventually destroyed. Having to fight on two fronts the Taliban could not hold out for a long period of time. As the Taliban is destroyed so will Al Qaeda be destroyed and we can leave Afghanistan knowing the world will be a little safer without them.

Time may have already ran out for President Obama. If the Pakistani offense is successful the Taliban may be pushed out of Pakistan and back into Afghanistan. If this happens the Taliban can have time to regroup and regain in their strength. Without sufficient forces for General McChrystal to attack and deal the Taliban a fatal blow in the mountainous regions around Afghanistan, they will be able to increase their attacks on NATO forces all around the country. If the President and Vice President believe they can rely on air power and drone aircraft to dislodge the Taliban from these mountainous areas they will find their efforts to have minimal success. By the spring of 2010 their numbers will be sufficient enough to create havoc in every area of Afghanistan. As the attacks increase so will NATO casualties. As the casualty numbers increase our NATO allies will be forced to leave and as public sentiment in America turns against the war Afghanistan will be lost.

The longer the President takes to make a decision and the more Senators that speak out advising the President to go slow, the weaker the President looks. Indecision by any commander leaves the perception of weakness in the eyes of the enemy. This increases the enemy's morale and emboldens them to fight the war longer than they would have fought if they did not see an end in sight. The enemy will begin to believe that if they continue their struggle and their attacks we will become disillusioned and retreat from Afghanistan.

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Next Major Obama Crisis

2009-10-16T08:24:00.005-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

Since taking office as the President of the United States, President Obama has encountered crisis after crisis. His next major crisis will be oil prices.

If you listen to this White House this President has faced and solved more major crisis than any former President has faced during the 1st year of their Presidencies. People are getting tired of the boy who cried wolf and beginning to wonder if maybe some of these so called crisis are just made up by the White House. Take the Health Care crisis for example. It hasn't been that long ago we were told that if the White House didn't get a bill to sign very soon the economy would not recover because the cost of health care and insurance premiums would skyrocket and force more people and companies into bankruptcy. The White House says the economic crisis has been partly solved and the economy is in recovery and its all due to the stimulus package they signed into law earlier in the year. Wall Street is booming on another artificial bubble but unemployment, oil prices and bankruptcies continue to rise.

With the News fixated on the Obamacare Health Plan being formulated behind closed doors, they are not watching as the oil market continues to climb toward the $100 a barrel price. This will be the next major blow to our economy. It is reminiscent of the 2008 housing and oil crisis that created havoc on Wall Street. The White House is not concerned about the steadily increasing price of oil because in the words of Rahm Emanuel " [You] Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before." In the mindset of this Administration when the price of oil reaches the $100-$150 a barrel price and as a result gasoline and diesel hit $3.50-$4.00 a gallon, it will be easier to pass his next big reform package. That package will be Cap and Trade or as the White House likes to call it the Energy Reform Act.

It is clear this White House is more concerned about transforming America into their ideological sense of what America is really all about than they are with how much suffering the American people will have to undergo during this "fundamental transformation." At the rate we are going with the steady decline in the dollar its only a matter of time before we see the price at the pump back at the 3 and 4 dollar prices that helped to destroy the market in 2008.

People try to separate the decline in the 2008 market and high gas prices as if the cost of fuel had nothing to do with increased foreclosures, increased job losses, or decreases in retail sales. It is all intertwined and cannot be separated. Transportation cost is a major factor to small business in the United States. The cost of transporting goods to and from small business must be factored in and passed on to the consumer or the small business owner will have no choice but to cut his labor cost to pay for the additional cost of transportation.

A perfect example is a small business with 300 employees that have contracts with Ford, General Motors, Honda and Chrysler making mirrors for certain models of vehicles. The small business cannot increase the price of their mirrors onto the vendors. Depending on the length of the contract the price the small business can charge for their mirrors must decrease each year by an agreed percentage point. If anything happens during the life of the contract that will add to the actual cost of manufacturing the mirror, that cost must be born by the small business not the auto company. This includes transportation cost of all the materials needed to build the mirror and the final transportation cost of delivering the mirrors to the individual vendor. How can the small business cut cost, by reducing labor cost. How do you reduce labor cost, by streamlining production and laying off some employees.

In their effort to streamline their production a small business will look toward automation of their assembly lines. They will try to combine individual parts of the assembly process into a simpler more cost efficient process. They will attempt to cut the operation down from a ten man assembly line to a five man assembly line. This means the five remaining employees will have to do twice the normal work at no additional cost to the company. The cost of any additional automation of the line cannot be more than the savings from laying off the five former employees. As the transportation cost continues to increase eventually the business will run out of ways to save cost and the contract will no longer be lucrative for the business to continue. At the end of the contract this business will have to compete with other small business around the country for this particular contract. If a start up company has lower labor cost and lower transportation cost they will undercut the previous business and win the contract. In the end if the small business continues to lose contracts they will continue to lay off employees until they have to close their doors completely.

This was part of what happened in 2008. As the price steadily increased across the country unemployment began to rise and wages remained stagnant. For years small business had to reduce cost but could not increase their prices. As they continued to reduce their cost by automating their lines and laying off employees consumers had to cut back on spending. The consumers were the same employees that were losing their jobs. When it came to the point of paying their ever increasing state property taxes, home mortgages, or putting food on the table they chose putting food on the table. Home foreclosures increased due to the variable rate adjustments coming due and more consumers who were unemployed or under payed. As the foreclosures increased the banks began to fail and government stepped into the market. They have done nothing for the small business but everything for the banks. Now they are sitting back and watching as 2008 repeats itself.

Remember back when there was the cry around the country to "Drill Here, Drill Now." Other than the price dropping after the election nothing much has changed. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed and less people are spending but no more oil is being produced and the government is spending worse than any drunken sailor could ever dream. The government continues to allow the dollar to decline against other world currency and the price for oil is steadily increasing. With America being the world's largest consumer you would think this administration would understand that Americans cannot spend if they are unemployed. Banks and credit card companies will not loan money to the unemployed and given the choice of putting food on the table or paying your creditors most Americans will choose putting food on the table. If the price of oil continues to rise we will be right back to where we were in 2008. This time the White House will gain nothing from the crisis and this one will go to waste, unfortunately it will again be at the expense of the American taxpayer.

People around the world should demand this President get off the campaign trail, stop making meaningless promises and giving false hope. It is time to stop the drunken spending frenzy and get back to basic economics 101. Cut the corporate tax to be competitive around the world. Increase the interest to bolster and stabilize the value of the dollar. Demand Congress open up America to drilling offshore and cut the restrictions on oil shale extraction. Use the remaining tarp money to help small business expand and put people back to work. Mostly stop creating crisis to gain political points and not letting the crisis go to waste. People around the world should understand that as goes America, so goes the rest of the world.

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Pay Per Post

2009-10-11T11:05:00.002-05:00

Just joined PayPerPost. Advertisers are welcome. Will review products accept comments and give an honest opinion.

The interior defense dines under the sabotage.

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CBO Health Care Numbers Will Change

2009-10-09T14:09:00.004-05:00

by Ron Spangler

Message to the Democrats and President Obama. Before you count on a victory for the Senate Bill to come under the trillion dollar mark and be deficit neutral you should remember this preliminary cost analysis by CBO will be sure to change.

The cost analysis was done on the summary of the Bill without the true legislative language and is therefore only a preliminary guess at the true cost. A more realistic expectation of the true cost cannot be done until the CBO has the actual language and numbers in the final Bill.

It will be too late by the time the language is given to the CBO for the full Senate to react and vote in accordance with the real numbers. The Democrats have scheduled the vote to take place before the CBO has a chance to crunch the final numbers.

After the bill passes the Senate along party lines then it will go to the House where it will join the other Bills in conference. Behind closed doors the House and Senate Leaders will consolidate the Bills into something that no Congressman or Senator will recognize and it will pass and be signed into law by President Obama. Well after the fact the CBO will analyze the Bill and it will be somewhere between 1 and 2 Trillion Dollars.

By the time President Obama signs this Bill into law we will be facing another crisis bigger than the Health Care issue and our minds will be directed from the signing and ramifications of this new law.

The Health Care issue is coming to an end and we will have this government option fiasco forced down our throats. The results will not be immediately felt by the taxpayer and the Democrats will use it as a win during the next election cycle in 2010. They are betting the economy and job numbers will be better by the summer of 2010 and that will save them from feeling the voters wrath by Nov 2010. They are really betting on a lot of good things happening between now and then. Personally I can't see any of this happening. The unemployment rate in the spring will in all likelihood be over 10 percent but the real number of unemployed will be more like 30 percent.

The second part of President Obama's stimulus package will be released but it will probably be too late to have a real effect. By the summer the government will probably be reporting the unemployment numbers are starting to drop and the economy is rebounding. I doubt that people will buy it but the media will promote it. Will it be enough to divert the attention away from the Health Care Reform Bill that the Congress passed back in 2009, only time will tell. Will the Democrats win on their bet that the voters will forget, again only time will tell.

There are a few things we know for sure, the numbers will change, it will cost over a trillion dollars, it will add to the deficit and illegals will be covered.

Pundits like Bill O'Reilly have a bad habit of saying we have to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt and we have to assume the President is doing this or that and it will in the end benefit America. I don't know if Mr. O'Reilly really believes this or is just trying to get President Obama to come on his show and stop boycotting Fox News. I learned a long time ago what happens when you assume anything in life. Maybe Mr. Reilly should look up the common man's definition of assume.

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United States Bracing For Bankruptcy 2010

2009-10-09T09:29:00.004-05:00

by Ron Spangler

As President Obama accepts the prestigious Nobel Peace Award, Americans are left wondering how they will survive as our economy continues to collapse around us. Congress and the President seem to be more concerned with spending than they are with putting American workers back to work. They are so focused on reforming health care in the United States they cannot see what is going on around the world. Regardless of what America wants this Congress and President will pass a government option health care reform bill and the deficit will be increased. Illegal immigrants in accordance with our Constitution will be covered under this new government plan and the President knows it.

Nancy Pelosi has already stated there will be a Value Added Tax (National Sales Tax) passed by this Congress and signed into law before or shortly after the 2010 elections. Along with this tax there will be a hidden Windfall Profits Tax slipped into the Health Care Reform Bill that will be passed onto the consumers by the insurance companies. At a time when Canada, Australia and others are seeing an increase in new jobs and a drop in their unemployment rates our job market continues to decline. Gold prices have reached record levels and will continue to rise. This indicates the rest of the world is worried the US economy and the dollar will soon collapse under the pressure of its huge trillion dollar deficits.

Where does this leave us in 2010 and 2011, in economic bankruptcy and another Depression. The only shoes left to fall that will drive us into National Bankruptcy is China refusing to loan us more money and the dollar being replaced as the World Monetary reserve. The first step will be replacing the dollar as the currency used for trading in oil and unfortunately our treasury and our President cannot see the danger in this action.

After the President signs into law the Health Care Reform Bill, Congress will pass the Cap and Trade Bill (they like to call it the energy bill). Like the Value Added Tax and the Windfall Profit Tax this will be another tax not only on business but every consumer in America. All of this will come to a head in 2010 and the nation will be devastated.

As the rest of the world is recovering from the recession they are scared America is not going to recover and be the prosperous leaders that we once were. Instead they see America as a country that is fast approaching Socialism and worry that there will be internal conflict that could drag the rest of the world into another economic downturn. They see American leaders as weak and economically ignorant. In an effort to save their own countries from following America into another Depression they will cut all economic ties to America, especially the dollar. As a result of continued over spending, high taxes, unemployment increasing, continued printing of US dollars and the eventual increase in inflation our economy will be bankrupt before the end of 2010.

Because of the current bubble and artificial stimulus the American market has been experiencing for the past few months, Congress doesn't see a problem with our economy. The President and Congressional leaders still believe we have time and if we are patient the American job market will once again rebound. Once Americans return to work they believe we will be able to afford all of the new taxes they are going to impose on the consumer. They are living in a world of fantasy and the rest of the world knows it.

High rolling gamblers that lose are the best thing that can happen to places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. High rolling Presidents and Congressional inexperienced leaders are the worst thing that can happen to a nation. In times of war and recessions the last thing we need is to have the inexperienced gambler treating the war or our economy like a game of chance.

There may still be a glimmer of hope for our economy but only if the President and Congress abandons the course they have chosen. They will have to immediately cut spending including reverse the proposed wholesale health care reform. They can reform health care by taking small steps to cut the cost of heath care.

They can drop any notions of any type of tax increase in the foreseeable future.

They can reduce corporate taxes and encourage business to return to the US.

They can raise interest rates to strengthen the dollar.

They can ban all pork barrel spending and prohibit any add on amendments to bills during conference committee hearings. They can rule that all spending amendments must be directly related to the bill or the amendment must be sent as a bill and stand on its own merits.

They can open up the oil fields for offshore drilling.

They can eliminate some of the government bureaucracy and red tape surround drilling within the United States. They can not only pass Tort Reform they can restrict the frivolous lawsuits by environmentalist that is nothing more than a stalling tactic to stop oil exploration in the United States.

They can use the previous stimulus money to help small business stay afloat during this recession.

They can drop the Cap and Trade idea and instead encourage small business to produce more goods at home.

The government can reduce the amount of goods they buy from foreign countries and start buying more from US businesses that produce the products in the US. By buying American goods the government can create a market here at home.

They can restore consumer confidence by showing consumers they are aware of just how serious the situation really is.

They can show the world they are leaders by dealing with illegal immigration and simply enforce the laws against hiring illegal immigrants. During this time of high unemployment there are plenty of Americans willing to do the work that illegals are currently doing.

All of these are common sense things the government can do to turn this recession around and restore our position as world leaders. Americans are hard working people that are willing to sacrifice today for a brighter tomorrow. Right now we are sacrificing without the work and the future looks very dim.

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Politics War and Obama

2009-10-08T10:13:00.004-05:00

by Ronnie Spangler

When politicians tie the hands of our fighting men and women fighting the politicians war, the only result can be they will lose the war at a devastating price in the number of casualties and American prestige around the world.

With the debate still continuing in the White House time is running out for our men and women fighting the war in Afghanistan. President Obama, whether he believes it or not, is looking weak in the eyes of the world. Over the weekend former Prime Minister Brown of Australia said America is not in this war alone. He predicted if America listens to Generals Petraeus and McChrystal he is confident our allies will contribute more troops to counter and fight back Taliban forces. Other allied leaders have also quietly stepped up to the plate. They understand they cannot lose Afghanistan to the Taliban. They also understand it is not Al Qaeda that poses the biggest threat of defeat in Afghanistan but it is the Taliban.

In some of my articles I pointed out that no country has ever been successful in invading and conquering Afghanistan and this is true. However I have also pointed out that we can win in Afghanistan much the same as we have won in Iraq. We are not invading Afghanistan with the intentions of conquering the country trying to install our own form of culture, religion and set of values on the people of Afghanistan. The goal is to deny a repressive and tyrannical form of government from returning to power, thereby giving Al Qaeda another safe haven to attack America and our allies. Al Qaeda has been severely wounded and once the Taliban has been defeated we can finish off Al Qaeda in Pakistan once and for all. If the Taliban is successful in forcing us out and returning to power, this goal will not be obtained.

One of the biggest condemnations on the way President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld handled the war in Iraq and Afghanistan was they were trying to fight a war on the cheap. The critics were right and the majority of the critics were Democrats. Now we seem to be hearing these same critics saying the war in Afghanistan is too expensive and maybe we can do it cheaper. The surge in Iraq and the consequences of the surge have not been that long ago. We need to look at the lessons learned and apply them to Afghanistan. President Obama cannot let politics interfere with his decision, either he is going to support our Commanders on the ground or he is not. There cannot be only half measures taken when fighting a war. Either you go all in or you get out and face the consequences for retreating.

Vice President Biden and General Jones are wrong in their belief they can win in Afghanistan by using a small counter insurgency, special forces and air power tactics alone. The type of terrain our men and women face in Afghanistan will not support this type of campaign. We may be able to deny the Taliban from controlling the capital of Afghanistan but we could not stop them from attacking our forces whenever and wherever they please. The number of Taliban is too large and is constantly growing in numbers. A perfect example is the latest attack on our outpost along the border. The number of Taliban attacking the small number of US forces resulted in not only US casualties but closing the outpost and giving the Taliban better access to a border crossing. Our military
defeated the attackers and drove them back but it came at a high price to the small US forces that were defending this outpost. If President Obama follows the Biden Jones plan we can see more and more of this type of combat happening on a daily basis.

Another problem with this type of plan is our allies will not climb on board with this type of strategy. They will begin to withdraw as the Taliban gains more control of Afghan territory. Our allies have always looked to America for leadership in the world. When it comes to military matters and fighting wars they have always looked to America to take a leading role. NATO has never won a war that has not had America out front leading the fight. A large portion of NATO forces are non combatants and see their role as peace keepers restricted by their individual countries from taking a offensive combat role in NATO actions. We enter a conflict under the NATO flag but in the end the fighting is done by the US and a handful of true dedicated allies. The French proved their worth in Rwanda when they stood around and watched as genocide was committed but they were restricted from taking any combat action to counter the mass killings.

If President Obama decides he is smarter than his commanders and decides to give them only a portion of what they request to win this war then he will be guilty of the same criticism the Democrats threw at President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld. Time is running out and we cannot afford indecision by the Commander In Chief. Either we are in this war to win it or throw up the flag of retreat and get out. We owe our military that much.

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