Iraq and American Democracy: Leading the Charge

President Obama has not learned much in the past 7 years as America's chief.  What a huge disappointment this guy has become.

American taxpaying voters have the right to know what the real plan is in Iraq. Aside from the noble, yet questionable, attempt to provide Democracy in the Middle East, and also sweeping aside the obvious need to control the oil fields and support American businesses and contractors — what are the Obama administration’s short-term and long-term plans?

Certainly if the leader of a great nation wants the support of its people in fighting and paying for war and reconstruction, isn’t the obvious method to declare the intent, to submit a realistic budget, thereby providing rationale behind the slogans and efforts?   Obama shakes his head and laughs, “I’m NOT going to give a timeline. It just isn’t possible.”   President Obama prefers not to follow the Constitution and instead uses his Executive privilege whether he may abuse it or not.

If the real intent is to eliminate the “radical terrorists” inside the Iraq perimeter, why doesn’t the U.S. declare martial law so it can scour the cities and countryside to “search & destroy” the remaining “enemy” without more American soldiers dying from daily attacks and to divert a response killing more innocent civilians?   The use of drones may be required in the searching.

“Respect your President.”  “Honor the soldiers.”  “Don’t show cowardice to the enemy [terrorists]; it helps them.”

 

Enough of the outcries, slogans and propaganda.  Enough of the anger directed at each other.  Enough of the lies and “confusion” spread by America’s management.   No more vague promises, no blind faith in a positive outcome.  The time has come for the truth and a realistic game-plan.  

If the President and his followers believe him to be a real leader he owes it to all Americans to prove it, especially to those fighting and those who have died for some obscure, veiled causes.

It’s really not that difficult.   

Simply, “Mr. President, what’s the game-plan?” 

Toll Roads Being Pushed in Texas

Toll roads are being pushed for all main roads in Central Texas.

I sent the following email/letter to Texas transportation agencies and legislators.  Those in charge want to toll all roads in Central and South Texas.  It will be a constant battle for future generations to keep the pressure on the special interests who want this.  They all know me for years and don’t really care what I have to say, but I keep saying it anyway.

If you want to contact all those in Texas who are pushing for increasing toll roads, specifically the tolling of MoPac and SH 45, you may go to the following site at Keep MoPac Local:

http://www.keepmopaclocal.org/take-action

Name : Peter Stern
Email : pstern@austin.rr.com
Subject : Keep Mopac Local: Oppose the $100 million SH 45 SW toll road
Message : Dear CAMPO, City, County, and State Officials:

If you think toll roads work well, all you have to do is to look at states that have had them for decades. Some of those states are New York, New Jersey, California, to name a few. Toll roads add long-term debt, more traffic, pollution and they are private roads for the wealthy who can afford them.

Please remove the proposed $100 million SH 45 SW “aquifer toll road” from the 2015 to 2018 Transportation Improvement Plan. If built, the project would make congestion on Mopac worse while polluting the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer.

CAMPO’s own December 2013 traffic study showed that building the SH 45 SW aquifer toll road will divert traffic from Interstate 35 to Mopac, which is already overloaded. Only a relatively few Hays county commuters will benefit at the expense of current Mopac commuters, Mopac corridor neighbors, taxpayers, and Barton Springs.

The $100 million cost of SH 45 SW should be directed to projects that improve traffic flow on I-35, provide transit options to north-south commuters, and encourage development and use of the SH 130 corridor.

The proposed SH 45 SW is really just one piece of the larger project to convert Mopac to a western alternative I-35. This loop and bypass plan should be studied first, as one whole project, rather than pursued in piecemeal fashion. Mopac should continue to serve primarily as a local commuter highway, with limited access at the south end, until such time as all of the costs, benefits and environmental impacts of expanding Mo pac to a full freeway, expanding the Mopac bridge over Lady Bird Lake, and building SH 45 SW are considered together.

Thank you for your consideration. Please start working in the best interests of the ENTIRE community and not merely special interest and/or the wealthy.

Texas should be renamed Taxes!

 

Taxes are destroying Americans.

 

 

In Texas it’s property taxes that need to be significantly lowered. While the GOP is very fond of saying "No new taxes," the reality is that even it raises fees and penalties and pushes for toll roads. No matter what Republicans say, they ARE raising taxes by these means and by various and frequent road, schools and other bond packages that increase taxes further.  Business taxes are high and there also is a push to levy a Personal State Income Tax.  That would be another huge mistake.

So, let's call a tax a tax and let's not just blame Democrats for "tax and spend" mentalities. Both parties continue to take money from the poor and what's left of the middle class. The wealthy have deductions and the ability to pay taxes if they are levied.

The 2-party system has failed most Americans.

Our Constitution has been manipulated to enable and protect the wealthy and not all Americans.

I believe our forefathers would be shaking their heads at how the political system has challenged the survival of most Americans and would be reminded of why we held a revolution against the British in the first place... sky-high taxes!

 

Losing Good Teachers...

There are many reasons for public education falling into the muck created by man. Republicans are not immune in their contribution to the mess and chaos in public education.

One of the most dramatic changes in public education and in other areas of our lives, has been the disintegration of the American family. No other cause has been as great a detriment to public education except for government's interference in the quality and objectives inherent within our current system.

Republicans and Democrats get divorced and/or screw up their families. It's more human nature these days than political affiliations.

As for public education, it is government regulation (that includes financing, ability to teach teachers, objectives, politics, stupid tests, "incentive" programs, teacher salaries and class sizes) that is killing public education.

Obama, Democrats push for new immigration reform...

The big news in D.C. is that Democrats are vying for a better foothold for the 2016 national elections and pushing for new immigration reform would get them mega votes that they need to win.

Do we really need immigration reform?  or, do we need to enforce the immigration laws we have.

This is an emotional issue even more than a social and political one.  We Americans should really consider how during the past several decades immigration has affected our nation and really think what any type of new immigration reform will do in our future.

No doubt Obama is trying to leave a legacy.  He tried to do so with the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, but the new health care law has been creating havoc throughout the nation, even before the law takes effect on January 1, 2014.

As for new immigration reform:

During the past 50 years we have been lax to enforce our immigration laws.  The reasons for this are varied, including political, economic and humanitarian issues.

However, the U.S. doesn't need immigration reform.  We need better enforcement of our current immigration laws, the ones our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and great-great grandparents had to abide by.  Why should illegals get a free ride being here illegally?  Our ancestors didn't get any free passes.  They came here legally, followed the laws, learned to speak English and assimilated to American culture.  They didn't try to get Americans to assimilate to theirs.

At least that's what I believe.  How do you feel about the immigration issue?

 

Lunatics attacking Social Security and Unemployment Benefits AGAIN

The loonies are on the march again trying to eliminate Social Security and Unemployment Benefits.

They call them "entitlements" but they are NOT "entitlements."

Even the "brains" in Washington D.C. refer to these 2 programs as "entitlements" as though people are taking money away from government and are expecting government to pay their way in life.  Such idiots don't have a clue what Social Security and Unemployment Benefits are. 

Unemployment is an insurance program. Social Security is an insurance program.

You pay "premiums" into the plans and then when you don't have work you can take some of the money you paid into the plans during your entire working life. It is NOT an entitlement. It is insurance that you file a claim for, just like any other insurance.


If you want to get rid of Unemployment Insurance then also get rid of auto, home and life insurance because they all are exactly the same thing.

And just like Flood Insurance, Social Security and Unemployment Insurance are only provided by the U.S. Government.

The Myth of Affordable Health Care...

Obama and legislators lied to us.  

The insurance industry still manipulates the marketplace.  There is no affordable health care.  We were better off before Obamacare and it was tough enough then.

Once again I reviewed over 100 health care plans as I have for the past several months and none of them are worth anything.  They are not affordable.  They suck.  The monthly premiums are too high and the yearly deductibles are too high.  Middle class people are screwed the most because they really have no way to afford it. 

The wealthy can always afford health care for themselves and their family.

The poor will be given government subsidy for private health care or they will go on Medicaid.

Even the elderly will pay more for their Medicare.  Most can't afford it now because they are on fixed income only (Social Security or Disability).  Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA's) are not sufficient to keep up with inflation and higher costs of living because COLA's are based on old incorrect formulas.

However, the remnants of the dwindling middle class are being hurt the most. A lot more people will go into bankruptcy when they need health care services and can't pay for them.  More people will opt to be hunted down by the government to pay the penalty for not having health care.  People will simply say... “We can't pay for this... Come and get us.”

We are in the midst of an American tragedy.  What happened to this nation?  We are such a mess.  What a shame.  Where have all the good leaders gone???

TAX SCAM: Big Companies Go To Court For Tax Relief

What is happening in Texas is occurring throughout the nation.  Big companies are taking their tax woes to the courts and are reaping huge tax cuts.

In Texas companies like Walgreen's are going to court for more tax incentives for dozens of stores and they are getting them.

This has been going on across the nation for a long time and it is a bad idea in the short and long term. It corrupts government and forces property owners to pay a larger share in taxes for educating children.

“If you’re looking at the competitiveness of a region, the most important thing a region can do is to focus on education. And this use of incentives is really transferring money from education to businesses.”

Donald J. Hall Jr., Hallmark C.E.O.

Don't expect it to change anytime soon, since business-friendly states like Texas encourages businesses to come here by offering large tax incentives and thereby incurring large and long-term debt.

Since legislators care more about short-term appearance, since they usually leave office within a 20-year period, it is unclear and often unknown for a much longer time frame what this actually does within a state's long-term fiscal environment.

What is known is that for every tax cut businesses receive from the state, property owners must assume the costs of educating children.

While some tax incentives are needed to encourage business development, the businesses who use the court system for further tax relief are manipulating state taxpayers into paying more than their fair share. 

It needs to stop.

At fault are state legislators who get campaign donations from big companies, the court system that provides even more incentives and the big companies who greedily are out for more profits and tax relief and refuse to pay their fair share.

Federal Judges Support New Texas Anti-Abortion Law

The anti-abortion law in Texas appears to send us back into the 1950's, when women could not get abortions in the US and had to go to other countries and/or Puerto Rico to get an abortion.  It also opens the issue that women will get abortions illegally now, which poses more of a health threat to the woman and fetus. It is an extremist law by extremist legislators for extremist special interests that is supported by extremist judges.

According to several news sources:

"Supported by a federal appeals court, Texas began enforcing new abortion restrictions Friday, leaving about a dozen clinics — including one in Austin — suddenly out of compliance with the law and scrambling to cancel appointments and find other clinics for their patients."

It is estimated that half the abortion clinics in TX will have to close; approximately 13 of them.  The other half must rush to conform to the new law.  It will force doctors in those clinics to maintain a legal liaison with hospitals, which could be costly and in many cases not reality-based if the doctor or clinic is far away from a hospital.

It is unfortunate that  Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Legislators and Right to Life supporters do not maintain the same caring they feel for humans AFTER they are born that they do for fetuses.  Texas remains #1 of states in which children are uninsured [for health care].

Extremism still governs most of us, so there are few issues these days that are reviewed with a centered or grounded focus.  Unfortunately, pro- or anti- abortion is one of them.

Many people do NOT comprehend the laws governing fetuses.  Often there is a good reason because it is complicated and not truly defined.  Too many people react more emotionally about the topic of abortions than they do rationally.

So, here is the information on fetuses:

Fetus Law and Legal Definition

taken from USlegal.com

"A fetus is typically defined as a developing human at a certain point after conception to birth. The precise definition varies by applicable laws, some of which define a fetus to include the element of viability, so that it is able to survive independently outside the womb. Various laws have been enacted to protect fetuses and punish individuals who injure them or cause their death. For example, Texas' Prenatal Protection Act holds people who assault or harm a pregnant woman liable for crimes against the mother and unborn child. The issue has been raised as to whether the law requires doctors to report substance abuse of a pregnant mother. The federal Born-Alive Infant Protection Act of 2002 amends the legal definitions of "person," "human being," "child" and "individual" to include any fetus that survives an abortion procedure. The federal law requires doctors to attempt to keep alive a fetus that survives an abortion.

Fetal protection laws vary by state. Some states states may amend existing homicide statutes to include the fetus as a possible victim, pass statutes defining the fetus as a person or human being, so that a fetus in encompassed by other statutes applicable to all persons or human beings, enact new statutes that create the crime of injury to a fetus, fetal homicide, or "feticide", or extend wrongful death and personal injury statutes to allow civil suits against individuals who cause the death or injury of a fetus."

click here for some important abortion facts

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BOO! from Rick FrankenPerry

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