In order to bring you up to speed on all the crap that went down while I was having my own personal little writer's crisis, I decided to cover some off the major events that I felt were significant over the past two month and tell you what I thought of them ala' Andre. (I love when he does these, and I doubt I can do it as well. But here goes.)
S-Chip is a Federal program that gives medical coverage to children without any other coverage. The Democratic supported legislation has had pork barrel handouts attached to it as well as eligibility requirements that the Bush Administration thinks is too high. Frankly, using sick children as a political tool makes me nauseous and angry at both sides. My advice to Bush; sign the damn thing and point out all the crap the Dems have attached to it. Take the high moral ground and stop falling for the trap of being the evil bastard who won't give coverage to sick children because the Democrats are purposely attaching things to it that you find objectionable.
The Dems haven't been pointing this one out near enough. When Clinton left office our National Debt was $5.8 Trillion. Under Bush spending has been completely out of control. The War on Terror can account for a half a trillion and the prescription drug program can account for another half trillion at the top end. This still leaves nearly $2 Trillion unaccounted for and I for one would like to know where the hell it went. Democrats; this is a good stick to beat Republicans with that you haven't been using nearly enough.
Back in August I stated that my patience with the War had nearly reached an end. I stated that I would give General Petraeus the 6 months that he asked for and I refused to join the Democrats that wanted to throw up the white flag before the results were even in. However, as I said, this would be the last chance for the Iraqis to stand up. Well, the results are in and it looks like (for whatever reason), it was a success. Even reliable Bush critic Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn) has been forced to admit it, The media has tried desperately to downplay this success (which in my eyes borders on treason). To not be happy that things are going better for our troops is disgraceful. The media has shown itself to be as stubborn and closed minded to news that they don't want to hear as they accuse the Bush Administration of being. Give Petraeus another star, the man is achieving something even I thought was impossible.
This makes me so angry my veins are throbbing and my eyes are spinning. In an attempt to gain more attention in the primary cycle of the 2008 presidential election , our illustrious idiots on the Democratic side of the aisle came up with a scheme that is stupid at the very least and down right criminal at the very most. They decided (along with a few other states) to try to leapfrog over the first few states in the primary season. This resulted in the top four contenders on the Democratic side (minus Hillary) to withdraw from being on the ballot in Michigan in order to gain more favor in Iowa and New Hampshire. This means people in Michigan that wanted to vote for Barack Obama or John Edwards for instance, are now left with only Hillary or one of the low-tier candidates as a choice (you can't write them in as they didn't sign up as write-in candidates). As if that's not bad enough, now the Michigan voter's guide suggests you just vote "uncommitted" and then they (DNC) will decide for you where to put your vote. Apparently the DNC is cool with you submitting blank ballots and they vote for you. I'm thinking of moving to Mexico where their system is less corrupt. (Sarcasm added for flavor.)
I'm only bringing this one up for one reason. Back in April there was a shooting at Virginia Tech that resulted in 32 innocent deaths. The scenario was similar in that in both incidences the killer shot two people and then left only to continue his rampage somewhere else. At Virginia Tech the response was to issue an E-Mail announcing that there was a shooting and that was that. At the New Life Church their response was to tell their other branches to arm their security people to guard the parishioners. The end result? The disturbed young man was shot by one of the security guards and his rampage was ended before he could kill "all the Christians" who "brought this upon themselves." There is a very disturbing trend of accepted prejudice against Christians, but I'm glad that this was handled correctly by allowing innocent people to defend themselves instead of sticking to the P.C. anti-gun methods that result in situations like Virginia Tech.
*ON A PERSONAL NOTE*
While I've been gone from the blogging scene, I've spent my time working with John and Steve from Studio 1714 on building a studio from which to broadcast our new Internet radio program. We're getting close to having produced our 100th video on Studio 1714's Youtube site so we have some events planned to celebrate. I'll keep all of you posted and I hope you'll join us in our efforts to keep you well informed while having as much fun as possible. I'm glad to be back and hope your glad to have me back. If not, remember, it's all Andre's fault. H.C.
7 comments:
Good series of news stories, Hipster. Informative as always.
(1) SCHIP: Bush and the Congressional Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. They don't mind signing off on a ridiculous war that spends more in one month than what SCHIP is calling for, but they pitch a fit when poor people (getting even poorer with skyrocketing costs of everything) are trying to get decent healthcare. I'm amazed.
(2) The National Debt: I think this is why I like Ron Paul. I'm not necessarily a fan of his plans to eliminate debt (by essentially cutting most government spending completely), but at least he HAS a plan; which is more than I can say for just about anybody else.
(3) The Surge: Jared, another blogging mate, wrote a piece about the improvements going on in Iraq. Frankly, I'm not that much of an optimist when it comes to the "War on Terror", or any other insipid concepts politicians/media come up with to rally people.
Hmmm...Sounds like a blog topic.
(4) Michigan disenfranchisement: You already know how I feel about this one and how disappointed I am that some candidates I plugged (hear that Barack?!) are gonna just straight skip over a brotha.
(5) Shooting responses: Interesting take on the anti-gun political correctness. I can't say that there's a direct correlation between the two (since mass killings can also happen through a bombing), but I see your logic...if we're talking solely about gun violence.
(6) Studio 1714: Pushing 100, eh? Congrats! But like most shows, I'm wondering what you'll do when Bush is out of office. Hillary and Romney can only say so many stupid things before it starts to get old. But Bush's material never seems to run dry.
On the Michigan Dems: I'm not up to date on all of this as I haven't been following the news as closely as I once did (YaY for apathy!), but I see this a bit different. Shouldn't every state w/ primaries hold elections on the same day? Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that the voters in a mere two states (whose voters may or may not share the concerns of those in other areas of the nation) shouldn't be allowed to hold so much influence over an election.
With that said, I feel a bit slighted by those Democratic candidates that have chosen to not to campaign here in Michigan. Call me silly, but I feel that if somebody wants my vote then they should @ least make an attempt to work for it & explain their respective platforms in a more personal setting (I would, & have already, attend a rally if given the opportunity) ...especially since I have yet to learn what each & every candidate is about entirely.
-n
"Call me silly, but I feel that if somebody wants my vote then they should @ least make an attempt to work for it & explain their respective platforms in a more personal setting..."
That doesn't make you silly at all. That makes you a sane and rational person. It's the candidates who don't honor that kind of thought process who are silly.
Thanks Dre,
1)F**kin' Bush. It irritates me to no end that this country doesn't take care of it's children. And before anyone tries to tell me that they can still get health care since we don't refuse anyone, let me explain how that works; It was discovered that I had cancer and with BC/BS coverage I was in surgery within 3 days. End result? Still alive and cancer free. My brother-in-law finds out he has cancer (with no coverage), goes into an emergency room where they (after much delay) schedule him for surgery almost two months later. End result? The cancer had spread so far they couldn't even take it out. Six months later he was dead. Is that good enough for our children? I think not.
2)Want to really piss off Republicans? Vote Ron Paul. They boo him at their own debates.
3) I'm working on a piece that might change your mind-stay tuned.
4)They want to vote FOR us Dre. Check out the Michigan Voter's Guide. I'm glad your on my side on this one. It's a utter disgrace.
5)I know our opinions vary on guns and I understand why. You rarely see people act right with them whereas I rarely see people act wrong. I wouldn't be terribly upset if some big cities didn't allow guns to be sold within their limits. (ownership is a different issue) Local people know local issues best.
6) Fortunately, there's always something I'm not happy with in government and media-so no worries. Thanks, as always, for your input.
Hey Nic,
I'll concede that the system was already screwed up and I agree it's very unfair to put so much focus on two states. But, you can't go stepping on people's voting rights to prove a point.
On your second point; The interesting thing about Michigan's place in the primary now is that we get NO nominating delegates on the Dem. side and only half on the Rep. side. These delegates can be reinstated by the DNC (or Reps. for that matter) anytime if they should choose. Say for instance that Barack should be leading by 100 delegate votes coming into the Dem Convention, they could then reinstate Michigan's delegates all (or nearly all) for Hillary, giving her the nomination. Can you say "extra Federal funds for Michigan if Hill's elected" or "plumb job for Granholm when she leaves the Governorship as say, Canadian Embassador (like Jim Blanchard got from Bill) Remember, you heard it here first. Thanks for your thoughts
@Andre #2,
I agree with both you and Nic. We need more hard questions and how about one or two straight answers.
*ambassador-damn my spelling.
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