Senator,

Your vote this morning is a confirmation of your ineptitude and inability to understand the principles of America and the US Constitution.

Your vote this morning condones and ecourages the theft of taxpayer dollars for bribes and payoffs.

Your vote this morning supports politics and power in lieu of the interest of the citizens of this country.

Your vote this morning is prima facie evidence that you have not read the bill, you do not comprehend its consequences, and do not understand the outcome.

You are raising taxes on Americans who are hurting and on the very people who actually create jobs.

You are jeopardizing the quality health care of seniors by creating the means to ration care.

You have committed 1/6th of a capitalist economy to a bloated, bureaucratic government incapable of efficiency and self-accountability.

You have created yet another entitlement hand out that will bankrupt this country so your party leader can add a political notch to his bedpost.

You have approved of faulty accounting tricks to cover up the true cost of this legislation for which private businesses and citizens would be jailed.

You have done this in spite of your constituency overwhelmingly in opposition to the legislation.

Senator, you will answer to voters.  Your term will end…but then, you don’t care, you’ve gotten your golden parachute for life.  Why is this bill good enough for us but not good enough for you?

Senator, you are simple-minded, irresponsible, socialist coward who lacks the fortitude to stand on the principles of individual freedoms.

Good luck on what’s left of your career in politics.

With great disdain…
An independent Colorado voter

This is what happens when you run out of other people’s money…yes, its 13 minutes, but its worth it.

The promises of a great society based on government defined and imposed equality and fairness is impossible to maintain.  The fundamental flaw in Liberal or Progressive thinking is that the money will never run out; that the individual will accept the loss of freedoms; that the pride and will of the individual will be broken.

The United States was founded on the basic principal that each individual has equal opportunities to succeed and prosper to the extent that they’re willing to put in the effort.  In such a system, individuals and firms have the right to own and use wealth to earn income and to sell and purchase labor for wages with little or no government control.

Capitalism does not fail the people; the people fail at capitalism.

I grew up learning about the tyranny of Communism and Socialism in sharp contrast to Capitalism.  We learned that a Capitalist society allowed individuals the freedom to work and succeed to the level that they desired.  You want more money, you work harder.  Anyone could be a millionaire, a billionaire, President!  All you had to do was decide to work for it and earn it.

I often wondered growing up, what was it like to live in another country, especially under tyrannic rule?  I also found myself questioning, why was I so fortunate to live in such a great country?  I did my best to empathize with those on the other side of the wall.

I remember how excited I was in 1980 when the US hockey team beat the Soviets.  I remember the maps in school that showed a massive red land mass with letters strewn across, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  I remember learning how countries and cultures were overrun by the Soviet Empire and absorbed against their will.  I remember the pictures of the Berlin Wall, the symbol of Soviet rule and Communism.

a symbol of tyranny

I understood that Socialism and Communism were wrong.  Why else would you need fences, walls, barbed wire, and armed guards, not to keep people out, but to keep people in?

When the Berlin Wall fell, I was overcome with emotion.  I never dreamed that the big, bad Soviet Union will come crashing down.  Here I was, watching it on television!  It was coming down!  Freedom is spreading throughout the world!  I recall seeing the elation of the citizens on both sides of the wall.

I recall seeing the East Germans pouring through the gates and openings in the wall.  Why?  Because they could finally escape massive government and relentless tyranny.  They were escaping Socialism.

an hand up for freedom

We stand at a crossroads in the United States.  We are being led down a road to Socialism by a lunatic Speaker and an angry man in White House.  Except, the politicians in this country call it “Social Justice” or “Economic Justice.”  They want to “fundamentally transform” the United States.

Barrack Obama turned down an invitation to attend the anniversary celebration by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel….and Dear Leader said he’s too busy.

Too busy to celebrate the freedom of tens of millions of people?  Too busy to celebrate to falling of a wall where hundreds, if not thousands, of people died trying to escape tyranny?

Maybe, if Dear Leader wasn’t flying around to pick up a worthless joke of a Nobel prize or to make a failed sales pitch for the Olympics, he could have gotten a little more done.  That way, he could have freed up his schedule to mark this moment in history.  Hell, he could have sent the Mrs. or even jabberin’ Joe.  Nope….nada.

But then, celebrating freedom… well, that would then fly in the face of everything Barack Obama stands for.

The blind hatred for corporate folks has approached a level of blatant stupidity and absolute insanity.  The protesters don’t even understand why they’re angry.  Sure, the bonuses are crap…but, uh, guys… YOUR GOVERNMENT created this and allowed it to happen.  AIG traded and insured derivatives backed by the quasi-government entities Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  The Federal government set the rules, set the regulation, and insured them with tax payer money…all so more subprime (i.e., high risk) citizens could by a home.

I think what entertains me the most is what protesters will put on signs as they march in circles and chant.  This picture was taken in Seattle…

Casey McNerthney/seattlepi.com

Note the yellow signs and what they say… “it’s time for an economy that works for everyone“  Ummm… see that’s the beauty of Capitalism, it does work for everyone:

In such a system, individuals and firms have the right to own and use wealth to earn income and to sell and purchase labor for wages with little or no government control.

The Capitalist economy is based on everyone having unlimited ability to earn as much as they want.  You get out what you put in.  Hell, even Sam Walton started with a single drug store in a small town.

So, perhaps the signs should read…

Of course I don’t like the bonuses on my tab…duh. There’s a bigger issue here that is is getting lost in the blind hatred for the evil rich guys.

The actions that the Obama administration and the Democrats in the House and Senate have been taking relating to the AIG bonuses is a story that simply cannot be made up.  My god…these people need to be tried as criminals.  No, not the AIG guys…the so called “leaders” of this country.

While Obama comes out sooooo mad about the bonuses, he needs to look at his own people to point the blame.  The stance that these clowns are taking is blatant bullshit….and they think you are too stupid to figure it out.  Let me help…

AIG is contractually obligated to hand out these bonuses… now Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer want to tax the holy living crap out the bonuses in an effort to appear outraged.  Wait a second boys, let’s take a look at some history:

Chris Dodd (D-Conn) knew that such contracts existed while writing amendments to the porkulus bill.  His amendment to the Crap Sandwich (now a $787 billion “law”) provides an… “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009.” Yeah, seriously, its in the Act.  Interesting… but wait, there’s more…

AIG  has made donations totaling millions of dollars to Senators and Representatives over the last few years.  Guess who is tops on the list of recipients in 2008, to the tune of more than $100,000?  Yup…Chris Dodd.  You know who’s second, coming in a just a pinch less?  Big bad, Barry Obama.  Juicy… but wait, there’s more…

AIG has offices all over the world.  Guess where AIG Financial is located?  Yee-haww…. in Chris Dodd’s home state of Connecticut!

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made donations totaling millions of dollars to Senators and Representatives over the last few years.  Guess who is tops on the list of recipients in 2008, to the tune of more than $40,000?  Yup…our prez….Barack Obama.  You know who’s second?  Chris Dodd.  Hmmm… but, wait, there’s more…

AIG insured billions of dollars worth of loans and banks involving Fannie and Freddie.  AIG Financial traded the derivatives, as they had for years, on loans backed by Fannie and Freddie.  Fannie and Freddie exist to back home loans, protecting banks from default.  Of course, we all know Frank Raines, the former CEO of Freddie Mac begged Congress to loosen the lending guidelines to accommodate sub-prime borrowers.  Wait, you don’t know Frank?  Oh, well, he made almost $90 million as the head Freddie in six years.  He received nearly $20 million in 2003 alone on overstated earnings akin to the Enron fiasco (by the way, where’s the outrage here?).

Tim Geithner, our trusted, over-worked, under-staffed Treasury Secretary, along with Hank Poulson, crafted the bailout to AIG last fall.  AIG disclosed the bonus contracts last fall.  There were no restrictions on the money handed to AIG…this was no surprise to the administration.  The administration did nothing… until that is, approval ratings began to drop.

Chuck Schumer (D-NY) chimed in and made some threats in a show of “holier than thou” antics.  Remember Chucky?  The guy who said America doesn’t care about pork.  So let me get this straight… 165 million out of 170 billion (less than 0.1%) is outrageous and disgusting… but a 100 billion in pork out of 787 billion (13%) is OK? Chuck, you and your grandstanding are disgusting.

“Quick, we tapped out the hate Rush Limbaugh rhetoric, we need a new target to focus our liberal hate machine.  Seriously guys, ratings are dropping, people are waking up!  Timmy, stir up the AIG bonus scandal!”

Because the Dems and Obama were billed throughout 2008 as the only people who could possibly fix this mess that they supposedly inherited, I’m left with some questions:

If these guys are so damn smart and they knew these bonuses were there, why didn’t they do something about this when handing out money?

If they’re not so smart, how was such incompetence promoted to the highest offices in the land?  After all they’re handing out trillions of our dollars and they should be minding the store.

Could this be a purposeful destruction of American capitalism in an effort to further promote a Socialist agenda?

Answer me that…

So…I have something to say about it.

There is some extreme short-sightedness here.  Sure, it makes for a wonderful sound bite… “raise taxes on those oil producing bastards and mega-corporations!  They make enough money!”

There are two primary issues that will cost YOU (and me) more money:

Will a corporation simply absorb a tax hike and let their profit margin decrease?  No… and they will pass that increase in operating expense on to you… at the pump, at the check out.

As operating expenses rise for a corporation, they must find ways to manage the expenses they have control over.  Taxes cannot be controlled.  Personnel costs are the single largest expense for any company.  If the mandate is to save expense…the big line items take the first hit.  Save dollars with dollars…not save dollars with nickels.  Simply put… layoffs.  Which means unemployment, health care, housing bailouts, etc., etc.

This is an expression of “spreading it around a little” that we heard during the campaign, even though it was denied and spun to sound like something else.

I won’t go so far a to declare Socialism (yet)…but it sure smells funny in DC.