Wednesday, June 29, 2011

First they came for the jet owners...

Raise your hand if you own something that you don't "need." I'm always amazed when various people ask questions like "why does someone 'need' a 30 round magazine" or "why does someone 'need' a yacht."

The correct answer is that you don't "need" any of these things, but it's none of your business if I want them. You don't need a DVD player. You don't need shoes. You don't need a microwave.

Instead of talking about whether or not a business can depreciate the value of their private jet we should be asking why government gets to tax that asset to begin with.

If a company wants to buy a jet/forklift/CNC machine/etc why does the government demand a piece of the action?

Instead of asking if raising taxes in a down economy will "help create jobs" we should ask why government deserves to take more of what people earn.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Some lawbreakers are more equal than others

Dems Push Ahead With DREAM Act, as ICE Offers New Guidelines for Illegal Immigrant Cases
Sen. Dick Durbin plans to make a full-court press Tuesday to revive the debate over a controversial proposal to give illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children a path to legal status, as the Obama administration moves on a separate track to grant what some describe as "amnesty" to the same group.

The hearing and a recent memo from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement suggest officials are moving on two fronts to give illegal immigrant students a chance at staying.

The memo issued June 17 from ICE Director John Morton instructs staff to consider 19 factors when exercising "prosecutorial discretion" -- or the discretion an ICE attorney has in deciding whether and how to pursue or dismiss an immigration case.

What if there was a memo that suggested "discretion" could be used when prosecuting white drug dealers? Would that be equal justice under the law?

When those in the executive branch issue memos instructing people to refuse to enforce the laws written by the legislative branch we have a serious problem.

Again I ask, which laws can the rest of us ignore?

Sunday, June 26, 2011

The new Americans

In Gold Cup final, it's red, white and boo again
On a balmy early Saturday summer evening, the U.S soccer team played for a prestigious championship in a U.S. stadium … and was smothered in boos.

Its fans were vastly outnumbered. Its goalkeeper was bathed in a chanted obscenity. Even its national anthem was filled with the blowing of air horns and bouncing of beach balls.

Welcome to another unveiling of that social portrait known as a U.S.-Mexico soccer match, streaked as always in deep colors of red, white, blue, green … and gray.

"Obviously … the support that Mexico has on the night like tonight makes it a home game for them," said U.S. Coach Bob Bradley, choosing his words carefully. "It's part of something we have to deal with on the night."

Multiculturalism rears it's ugly head again. Our illegal alien friends obviously have no loyalty to the United States. They come here to steal. But also disturbing is how their anchor babies grow up to feel loyalty to a country other than the U.S.

Kids who have never seen Mexico still consider themselves "Mexicans." The consequences of this are going to be worse than just our soccer team losing on our home soil.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I know that I'm proud

In the "nothing better to do" category we have Governor Kitzhaber declaring June to be "pride month."

PROCLAMATION

I know that the genderqueer provide me with endless inspiration! Join Dr. K in this observance!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Another "biggest ever" moment for Oregon

Oregon Marijuana Grow – Marijuana Growers in Wallowa County Arrested
Oregon state police and other states agencies recently found a marijuana plantation in Wallowa County, Oregon. The marijuana grow was found in a very remote part of the county. So far, it is believed to be the largest outdoor marijuana plantation ever found in the state.

The amount of land that the marijuana grow covered was unprecedented, and more than a mile of land was devoted to the plantation.

La Grande Police Sergeant, John Shaul expressed amazement at the amount of marijuana being grown, calling it “staggering.” Shaul stated in the press release, “Many people would be outraged at the damage to our public lands caused by illegal marijuana growers.”

As noted in the press release, the following people were arrested and taken into custody: Arturo Barrera, 26, Federico Carrasco, 24, Christian Gonzalez, 28, Fredy Montes, 32, Jesus Sanchez, 21 and Audel Soto, 29.

Since these fine gentleman haven't yet shown up on the inmate roster (NOTE: use Umatilla County list for Wallowa) we don't know for sure but I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say that at least some of them are here illegaly.

It's always exciting to see another "biggest" drug bust perpetrated by folks who shouldn't be here in the first place.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Summer is here, let the government feed your kids!

It's the end of another school year, time for my annual summer lunch program roundup!

Free summer lunch program
Lunches will be served Monday-Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the following sites: Bridgeport, Metzger and Templeton elementary schools and Bonita Villa, Greenburg Oaks, Oleson Woods and The Colonies apartment complexes.

Tigard-Tualatin school district will come to your apartment complex and feed you. It's free!*

*Free lunch means that you are not a taxpayer. If you are not a taxpayer you will pay for both the food and the government employees to hand out the food.

Summer food service program
Join us for Nutritious Summer Meals at No Charge

This flyer, including trademarked Power Panther, is also available in Spanish.

Free Summer Lunch Program Begins June 20
For some students, summer can mean 10 weeks of hunger, but summer nutrition programs offered by local school districts help to ensure that children can continue to have healthy lunches even after school's out!

Are there really parents that don't feed their children for 10 weeks because school is out?

The bottom line is that every school district now provides this service. Parents are absolved of any responsibility for feeding their children. They will literally come to the apartments where you live. You don't even need to get off the sofa or put your cigarette down. Just send the kids outside and the government will feed them and send the rest of us the bill.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

In-state tuition for illegal aliens will not happen this time

SB 742 is now in the dustbin of this legislative session. The illegal alien proponents gave this everything they had and they still lost.

The sob stories. The poster children. The rallies. It didn't work.

You know why? Because legislators want to keep their jobs and a LAWMAKER who rewards LAWBREAKERS at the expense of voting taxpayers is likely to get voted out of office.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Tell us that it will create jobs

New Terms in Crack Debate
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that new reduced penalties for federal crack-cocaine offenses should be applied retroactively, setting up a clash over the potential release of thousands of drug offenders currently in prison.

Speaking at a hearing of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the body that crafts guidelines used by federal judges, Mr. Holder said the Obama administration believed those sentenced under the older, stricter rules, "who are not considered dangerous drug offenders," should get the benefit of the new standards.

If there is one thing the American people are clamoring for right now it's the urgent release of felons convicted of crack related charges. I personally send a weekly email to my congressman (see example below) to demand this very thing.

And of course I don't consider people convicted of felony drug offenses to be "dangerous drug offenders" because that would just be silly. When I think of crackheads I think of the more "positively contributing to society drug offenders." And let's not forget the dealers! How many jobs does one dealer create?

At this point I think that crack related crimes should not be punished by prison at all but instead the offender could be issued a sternly worded letter. That would teach them!

The only downside to this is that these non drug offending drug offenders may no longer have access to taxpayer funded:

Aerobics
Yoga
Stationary bicycles
Bingo
Karaoke
Numerous board games and other indoor activities (cards, chess, etc.)
Current-run movies are shown nightly
SEE LINK

Example letter to my Congressman David Wu:


Dear Congressman Wu,

I am writing to ask you to support the urgent release of drug users. As we both know drugs don't cause bizarre behavior at all. Drug users never have erratic behavior which causes concerns for their employees and those around them. They never act desperate or claim that characters from fictional tv shows, such as Star Trek, are in the highest levels of our government. Please consider my request.

Sincerely,
Daniel