Something wonderful happens to a President in his last year in office. He becomes the person he was when he was campaigning. The person you voted for.
*Disclaimer - the exception is Bill Clinton, who spent his last year in office being impeached and bringing tabloid shame to our country, well that and letting Bin Laden go...
President Bush's State of the Union address last night was inspiring. I really hope some of what he's laid out will happen. I hope the House and the Senate will allow it.
Today, there is an executive order being sent to Congress that will do away with earmarks for funding that are added AFTER bills are signed:
"Bush warned lawmakers he would flourish his veto pen if Congress does not rein in the number of congressional earmarks — money set aside for pet projects — that make it into law without a vote.
As many as 95 percent of earmarks are inserted after Congress has voted on appropriations measures, and the pork is never seen by most lawmakers. Bush called on Congress during last year's State of the Union to cut the number of earmarks in half, but Monday night he chided lawmakers for failing to do so.
"So this time, if you send me an appropriations bill that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half, I will send it back to you with my veto," Bush promised. "If these items are truly worth funding, the Congress should debate them in the open and hold a public vote."
To that end, Bush was scheduled in the afternoon to sign an executive order called "Protecting American Taxpayers From Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks."
Also this week, the House should pass the stimulus bill. This is the tax rebate bill that would put $600 in the pocket of every working American, plus an extra $300 per child you have.
Let's just hope that our Senate doesn't screw it up by trying to add in extra funding for their pet projects...
From his speech:
"The temptation will be to load up the bill. That would delay it or derail it, and neither option is acceptable. This is a good agreement that will keep our economy growing and our people working. And this Congress must pass it as soon as possible," Bush said.
Our country needs something like this so bad. We really need to give our President the ability to do line-item vetos.
You want to get really frustrated? Go google your Senator and look at some of the bills they have voted on in the past year. You will find some really great bills out there for things like fixing public housing projects to where they aren't in danger of falling down, or aren't full of asbestos, etc. But the bill was vetoed. Why? Because some idiot 'attached' a line item to fund a research project on why cockroaches prefer white bread crumbs to wheat bread crumbs...
We live in a rich country, folks. You want to know why we can't afford to give housing and food to all of our poor? Take a little gander into the ridiculous spending items Congress and the Senate pass. It will make you gag. Seriously. We should have trillions in our surplus, and not a single person hungry or homeless. No one should be without healthcare or a job. We have plenty of money for all of that. The problem is that we send most of our money out of the country and then give billions for ridiculous pet projects.
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, Jan 29th - Hero: the President
Monday, January 28, 2008
Mon January 28th - Hero: Bob King Sr
I know, this is two on the same day, but I skipped Friday. So, we're even.
I just had to add my father-in-law to my list. I was on the phone with Bobby earlier today and his Dad jumped on and asked if I had a Bible at my desk. Being the good little Baptist that I am, of course I did.
So he tells me to look up I Timothy Chapter 4, verse 8. Before I tell you what that verse says, a little backstory is needed (actually you could read back through some of my posts to get it).
Bobby and I have been going through a slow change in our diet. We are trying to get more heathly by taking some supplements and added fresh fruit and vegetables and fiber to our diet. We have also decided to start exercising more. Work up a little sweat 4 or 5 days per week.
Naturally, Bobby has been after his Dad to do the same stuff.
So - what does the verse say????? Drum Roll......
"For bodily exercise profiteth little....."
He's a really funny guy!!!
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Monday Jan 28th - Zero: Wallace
This name is not going to mean a lot to anyone else but me.
This is a guy that I got into an email spat with today. He's from NY and thinks he's an intellectual genius. And maybe he is. The mistake he made was arguing politics with me.
Now, I may be a little Christian Libertarian from flyover country, but I at least do my research. This guy? Not even close.
Poor guys was so frustrated he ended up doing what most Liberals do when you paint them into a corner. He started name-calling.
Seriously, if people like him would just do a little research and reading before they start arguing, this would be a lot different world. For one thing, if they did actually research, they'd probably stop being a liberal. Cross over in the the moderate world....
Ahh, but what would be the fun in that???
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thursday Jan 24th - Hero: Little Red Hen
I got a terrific email - again from Mom- that in a really cute way describes the dangers of a Socialist society. Enjoy:
The Little Red Hen
Once upon a time, on a farm in Texas , there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.
She called all of her neighbors together and said, "If we plant this wheat we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?"
"Not I," said the cow.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Not I," said the goose.
"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen and so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.
"Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Out of my classification," said the pig.
"I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
"I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did. At last it came time to bake the bread.
"Who will help me bake the bread?" asked the little red hen.
"That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
"I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
"I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
"If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.
"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.
They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves."
"Excess profits!" cried the cow. ( Nancy PelosI)
"Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck. (Barbara Boxer)
"I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose. (Jesse Jackson)
The pig just grunted in disdain. (Jimmy Carter)
And they all painted "Unfair!" picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.
Then a government agent came. He said to the little red hen, "You must not be so greedy."
"But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.
"Exactly," said the agent. "That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle."
And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked,
"I am grateful, for now I truly understand."
But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread, because she joined the "party" and got her bread free. And all the Democrats smiled.
'Fairness' had been established. Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared .... so long as there was free bread that "the rich" were paying for.
Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs. Hillary got $8 million for hers. That's $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years, repeatedly testified, under oath, that they couldn't remember anything. IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OF A COUNTRY OR WHAT!!!!
Goodnight, boys and girls. Next bedtime story will be the one about the ant and the cricket...
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, Jan 22nd - Sad News
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday Jan 21st - Zero: Me
First of all, in my post from Friday I made a generalized statement about people that teach.
I really don't think that all teachers are liberal. I know lots of teachers who are very good people and genuinely care about kids and that's why they teach. Most of them are teachers at public schools. I wish more of them would stand up and refuse to teach curriculum that is theory presented as fact. I also wish that public schools would stay out of my kids bedroom, but I guess it would be selfish to want it all!!
The vast majority of college and university 'professors' are who I was talking about. And, yes, the vast majority of them are liberal, almost to the point of being communists. Most of them do not believe in God because they worship their own brains. These folk have no faith, they only believe in that which can be seen. Except in the case of evolution. That they seem to blindly believe in. Go figure.
The second reason I am a Zero today: my love of football took a severe beating yesterday. The Super Bowl (or Stupid Bowl as my friend Karyn has deemed it) is going to be the worst game ever in the history of the NFL.
I hate the freakin patriots. Most especially I hate tom brady. And yes, I know I didn't capitalize. It was on purpose...
Peace, love, and GOD,
Tracy
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday January 18th - Hero: Neal Boortz
I was forwarded an email from Mom that was one of the best I've ever seen.
I contained a commencement speech made at a University by Neal Boortz. He is a syndicated talk radio show host from Atlanta.
The speech was long, so I won't post the whole thing on here, but if you would like to see the whole thing, feel free to email me and I will send it over to you.
The gist of the message was this: It's easy to be a liberal when you are in college living in an isolated environment. You are surrounded by liberal professors who have never been able to make it in the real world. After all, those that can, do. Those that can't, teach.... But, for those that go out into the real world and get jobs find out very quickly that liberalism sucks for working families!
Here's a snippet:
Now, I realize that most of you consider yourselves Liberals. In fact, you are probably very proud of your liberal views. You care so much. You feel so much. You want to help so much. After all, you're a compassionate and caring person, aren't you now? Well, isn't that just so extraordinarily special. Now, at this age, is as good a time as any to be a liberal; as good a time as any to know absolutely everything. You have plenty of time, starting tomorrow, for the truth to set in.
Over the next few years, as you begin to feel the cold breath of reality down your neck, things are going to start changing pretty fast... including your own assessment of just how much you really know.
Liberals feel. Liberals care. They are pack animals whose identity is tied up in group dynamics. Conservatives and Libertarians think -- and, setting aside the theocracy crowd, their identity is centered on the individual.Liberals feel that their favored groups have enforceable rights to the property and services of productive individuals. Conservatives and Libertarians, I among them I might add, think that individuals have the right to protect their lives and their property from the plunder of the masses.
In college you developed a group mentality, but if you look closely at your diplomas you will see that they have your individual names on them. Not the name of your school mascot, or of your fraternity or sorority, but your name. Your group identity is going away. Your recognition and appreciation of your individual identity starts now.
If, by the time you reach the age of 30, you do not consider yourself to be a libertarian or a conservative, rush right back here as quickly as you can and apply for a faculty position. These people will welcome you with open arms. They will welcome you, that is, so long as you haven't developed an individual identity. Once again you will have to be willing to sign on to the group mentality you embraced during the past four years.
Boy, that hits it right on the head, doesn't it. In our country, you are very much discouraged from being an individual. Think about it. When you first meet someone, don't you automatically stick them in a box? Don't you make assumptions about them from a stereotypical view? It's easier! That way we don't have to spend nearly as much time getting to know that person. In our drive-though society we haven't got the time to spend on crap like individuality...
Here's the thing to think about on this, though. That's exactly what the government wants from us. We are so much easier to control when we identify ourselves with a group. For instance, we have been brainwashed by the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton that there's still this major race war in our country. Why? Cause it makes whites more easy to control.. I know very few people these days that even think about race anymore, except in context of the words we say. Think about it for a minute. You know why people are still segregated? Because we are all scared to death of saying something wrong and being branded a racist. It's easier to stick to your own.
Of course, within to group of race, you are then whittled down into more groups: men, women, christian, pagan, muslim, democrat, republican, gay, straight, etc, etc,...
Well, I am sick of being in a box. And I am really tired of people trying to make me feel guilty for who I am. I am tired of being made to feel like I owe everything I have to luck. As Mr. Boortz says in his speech. We are all where we are because of choices we made.
I hope we all make good choices today.
Peace, love, and GOD,
Tracy
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wednesday, January 16th - Zero: USA Credit Rating
I was reading an article yesterday about the United States credit rating. Scary stuff, folks! Most of this information is from Moody's website.
Since it began to give credit ratings to nations in 1917, Moody's has rated the United States triple-A. U.S. Treasury bonds have been seen as the most secure investment on earth. When crises erupt, nervous money seeks out the world's great safe harbor, the United States. That reputation is now in peril. Last week, Moody's warned that if the United States fails to rein in the soaring cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's credit rating will be down-graded within a decade.
Our political parties seem oblivious. Republicans, save Ron Paul, are all promising to expand the U.S. military and maintain all of our worldwide commitments to defend and subsidize scores of nations. Democrats, with entitlement costs drowning the federal budget in red ink, are proposing a new entitlement – universal health coverage for the near 50 million who do not have it – another magnet for illegal aliens. Moody's is telling America it needs a time of austerity, while the U.S. government is behaving like the governments we used to bail out.
California has already hit the wall. With an economy as large as a G-8 nation, the Golden State is looking at a $14 billion deficit in 2009 and a $3 billion shortfall in 2008. Gov. Schwarzenegger has called for slashing prison staff by 6,000, including 2,000 guards, early release of 22,000 inmates, closing four dozen state parks and a 10 percent across-the-board cut in all state agencies. The Democratic legislature is demanding tax hikes, which would drive more taxpayers back over the mountains whence their fathers came.
Meanwhile, Washington drifts mindlessly toward the maelstrom. With the dollar sinking, oil surging to $100 a barrel, the Dow having its worst January in memory, foreclosures mounting, credit card debt going rotten, and consumers and businesses unable or unwilling to borrow, we appear headed into recession.
If so, tax revenue will fall and spending on unemployment will surge. The price of the stimulus packages both parties are preparing will further add to the deficit and further imperil the U.S. credit rating. This all comes in the year that the first of the baby boomers, born in 1946, reach early retirement and eligibility for Social Security.
To stave off recession, the Fed appears anxious to slash interest rates another half-point, if not more. That will further weaken the dollar and raise the costs of the imports to which we have become addicted. While all this is bad news for the Republicans, it is worse news for the republic. As we save nothing, we must borrow both to pay for the imported oil and foreign manufactures upon which we have become dependent.
We are thus in the position of having to borrow from Europe to defend Europe, of having to borrow from China and Japan to defend Chinese and Japanese access to Gulf oil, and of having to borrow from Arab emirs, sultans and monarchs to make Iraq safe for democracy.
We borrow from the nations we defend so that we may continue to defend them. To question this is an unpardonable heresy called "isolationism."
And the chickens of globalism are coming home to roost.
We let Europe to get away with imposing value-added taxes averaging 15 percent on our exports to them, while they rebate that value-added tax on their exports to us. Thus, the euro has almost doubled in value against the dollar in the Bush years, as NATO Europe begins to bail out on Iraq and Afghanistan.
We sat still as Japan protected her markets and dumped high quality goods into ours and China undervalued its currency to suck jobs, technology and factories out of the United States. Now, China and Japan have $2 trillion in cash reserves. The Arabs have an equal amount of petrodollars. Both are headed here to spend their depreciating dollars snapping up U.S. assets – banks, ports, highways, defense contractors.
America, to pay her bills, has begun to sell herself to the world.
Its balance sheet gutted by the subprime mortgage crisis, Citicorp got a $7.5 billion injection from Abu Dhabi and is now fishing for $1 billion from Kuwait and $9 billion from China. Beijing has put $5 billion into Morgan Stanley and bought heavily into Barclays Bank.
Merrill-Lynch, ravaged by subprime mortgage losses, sold part of itself to Singapore for $7.5 billion and is seeking another $3 billion to $4 billion from the Arabs. Swiss-based UBS, taking a near $15 billion write-down in subprime mortgages, has gotten an infusion of $10 billion from Singapore.
Bain Capital is partnering with China's Huawei Technologies in a buyout of 3Com, the U.S. company that provides the technology that protects Pentagon computers from Chinese hackers.
This self-indulgent generation has borrowed itself into unpayable debt. Now the folks from whom we borrowed to buy all that oil and all those cars, electronics and clothes are coming to buy the country we inherited. We are prodigal kids, and the day of reckoning approaches.
I am not trying to ruin anyone's day, I am just trying to educate. Please remember all these things when you are voting, or writing to your congressmen and senators. You can email them these days, so NO EXCUSES to not do it. Please. America depends on us.
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Monday, January 14, 2008
Monday Jan 14th - Hero: Green Bay Packers
Friday, January 11, 2008
Friday Jan 11th - Zero: Socialized Healthcare
I've been hearing lots of chatter on the issue of socialized healthcare recently. I really hope that everyone will take a few minutes to research this issue. If you have friends in Canada ask them about it, or google the subject and read various opinions.
I know that healthcare in the US is pretty dismal. Costs are very high which causes some people to have to choose not to carry it. But, we have the best hospitals and doctors in the world. Any brilliant doctor in any other country of the world will most likely be US-educated and will want to work in the US.
I know that our prescription costs are out of control, too. It's true that we pay more for some prescriptions than other countries. But, we are the first to get the generic forms and Wal-Mart offers them at $4 a pop. That's affordable for anyone.
Some of the problems, though, are our own damn fault. We are a big ole' sue-happy country. Over the last few decades we have sued our own doctors and hospitals to point that they can't afford to carry malpractice insurance. Then, because you have to see Medicaid/Medicare patients you have to hire several clerks just to fill out the 50 pages of forms that the government requires. And have a lawyer on retainer to handle the audits that said Medicaid office conducts randomly. So, what to do in return? Charge astronomical fees in order to pay those premiums. Then, shuffle as many patients through in a day as possible to collect as many fees as you can.
See, Medicaid/care is the US governments first crack at socialized healthcare. Have any of you ever been on it, or known anyone on it? My Mom has had many struggles with wading through all the crap trying to get my Grandma on the right plan. See, just like most other government programs, you have lots and lots of employees and beaurecrats sitting around trying to look busy for job security. So what do they do? Think up knew forms and restrictions and bs... Need another example? Ever filed taxes? Medicare and the IRS are basically the same damn thing.
So, I found a great book called Code Blue by a guy named David Gratzer. He's a doctor from Canada who was running a hospital. A true insider. He got disgusted and started interviewing lots of other docs disgusted with the system. It's really eye opening. You should look it over.
Here's a few excerpts:
"But if Canadians are looking to the United States for the care they need, Americans, ironically, are increasingly looking north for a viable health-care model. There’s no question that American health care, a mixture of private insurance and public programs, is a mess. Over the last five years, health-insurance premiums have more than doubled, leaving firms like General Motors on the brink of bankruptcy. Expensive health care has also hit workers in the pocketbook: it’s one of the reasons that median family income fell between 2000 and 2005 (despite a rise in overall labor costs). Health spending has surged past 16 percent of GDP. The number of uninsured Americans has risen, and even the insured seem dissatisfied. So it’s not surprising that some Americans think that solving the nation’s health-care woes may require adopting a Canadian-style single-payer system, in which the government finances and provides the care. Canadians, the seductive single-payer tune goes, not only spend less on health care; their health outcomes are better, too—life expectancy is longer, infant mortality lower.
Thus, Paul Krugman in the New York Times: “Does this mean that the American way is wrong, and that we should switch to a Canadian-style single-payer system? Well, yes.” Politicians like Hillary Clinton are on board; Michael Moore’s new documentary Sicko celebrates the virtues of Canada’s socialized health care; the National Coalition on Health Care, which includes big businesses like AT&T, recently endorsed a scheme to centralize major health decisions to a government committee; and big unions are questioning the tenets of employer-sponsored health insurance. Some are tempted. Not me.
I was once a believer in socialized medicine. I don’t want to overstate my case: growing up in Canada, I didn’t spend much time contemplating the nuances of health economics. I wanted to get into medical school—my mind brimmed with statistics on MCAT scores and admissions rates, not health spending. But as a Canadian, I had soaked up three things from my environment: a love of ice hockey; an ability to convert Celsius into Fahrenheit in my head; and the belief that government-run health care was truly compassionate. What I knew about American health care was unappealing: high expenses and lots of uninsured people. When HillaryCare shook Washington, I remember thinking that the Clintonistas were right.
My health-care prejudices crumbled not in the classroom but on the way to one. On a subzero Winnipeg morning in 1997, I cut across the hospital emergency room to shave a few minutes off my frigid commute. Swinging open the door, I stepped into a nightmare: the ER overflowed with elderly people on stretchers, waiting for admission. Some, it turned out, had waited five days. The air stank with sweat and urine. Right then, I began to reconsider everything that I thought I knew about Canadian health care. I soon discovered that the problems went well beyond overcrowded ERs. Patients had to wait for practically any diagnostic test or procedure, such as the man with persistent pain from a hernia operation whom we referred to a pain clinic—with a three-year wait list; or the woman needing a sleep study to diagnose what seemed like sleep apnea, who faced a two-year delay; or the woman with breast cancer who needed to wait four months for radiation therapy, when the standard of care was four weeks."
If that's not enough, think of this: If your dog needs a hip-replacement in Canada, you can get him one in usually less than a week. If YOU need a hip replacement you must get on a waiting list and can get one - in usually 2-3 years. So, you are in excruciating pain, can't walk, can't work, and you decide you will just pay out of your own pocket for it. Not so fast! It's ILLEGAL in these countries to pay the doctor directly and it's ILLEGAL to have private insurance. So what do you do? Why, you go on down to the good ole US of A and get one in 2-3 days.
Hmmm.... could it be that the socialized healthcare in Canada is contributing to our healthcare problems??? Discuss amongst yourselves....
Sucks for the Canadians, eh? But wait. Most of Europe has socialized medicine, too. What's it like for them? Glad you asked:
"And if we measure a health-care system by how well it serves its sick citizens, American medicine excels. Five-year cancer survival rates bear this out. For leukemia, the American survival rate is almost 50 percent; the European rate is just 35 percent. Esophageal carcinoma: 12 percent in the United States, 6 percent in Europe. The survival rate for prostate cancer is 81.2 percent here, yet 61.7 percent in France and down to 44.3 percent in England—a striking variation."
Europe is quickly trying to increase the amount of privatized medicine in their countries. For example in England, in 2006, only 5 percent of non-emergency medicine was rendered by privatized clinics. The hope is to have that increased to 15% by 2008 (according to the Labour party).
Well, long post I know. If anyone wants more information, just let me know. Or, here's some good links:
http://www.angelfire.com/pa/sergeman/issues/healthcare/socialized.html
http://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv3n1.pdf
http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html
Peace, love, and GOD,
Tracy
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Wednesday, Jan 9th - Zero: Chris Matthews
This is the Hardball host on MSNBC. Thought I would clarify that since about 37 people are all that's left in this looney's audience. He gets more airtime by John Stewart and Bill O'Reilly showing clips of his crazy meltdowns...
I am going to preface this post by saying that NBC as a corporation is 100% supporting Obama. Not only their commentators, but also their reporters. It's very sickening that we live in an era that even reporters are allowed to be openly biased. Think about it for a moment. If reporters are openly biased, how can you expect to get any real news?
So, back to Matthews. This guy was talking about Clinton and Obama in New Hampshire and bloviating on what the outcome would be. He obviously loves Obama cause all he can do is talk about how awful Clinton would be. He goes on to say ~I am not making this up~ he says that the only reason Hillary Clinton got elected to the Senate is because Bill cheated on her. Wait, it gets better. He says the only reason she gets votes is that she was cheated on. Really.
Take just a minute to think about this. Chris Matthews just insulted every person in the state of New York that voted for her. He just insulted any person that is a Hillary supporter. He's saying all those people care so little about the issues that they would vote for a woman simply because they feel sorry for her. Where's the outrage??? Why is he not being made a pariah, ala Don Imus??
I'll tell you why. Chris Matthews is a left wing loony who works for the MOST left leaning biased network in the history of Media. He's a poster boy. Let me tell you, if Ann Coulter said anything close to that, she would be public enemy #1.
Every one of you know that I am no Hillary fan. If Obama is the devil, well, she's his sister. But, I don't think it's fair to degrade all of her supporters like that. It's just petty playground insults. Of course, if you try to engage a liberal in a true political discourse, they can't keep up and have to fall back to this kind of tactic. Try it and see for yourself.
I don't know if I will get to post tomorrow, as I am on the road right now. But, as soon as I can I am going to make a post about socialized healthcare. Both Hillary and Obama are talking about it as something they want to do. It may sound great, but it's not. It's scary as hell. I have friends in Canada that live with this nightmare. So, I will do my best to lay it out for you!
Peace, love, and GOD,
Tracy
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Tuesday, Jan 8 - Zero: Peope who argue Politics without knowing what they are talking about
This is a tricky area.
First of all let me say that I know several of you are going to great lengths to get educated. Even to the extent of subjecting yourselves to long discussions with me. For that, you are heros. No, wait, you are patriots!
I still get hopping mad. Because people will watch a 5 minute segment on the Today show or GMA and take it for the gospel truth. James Carville could say that John McCain kills asian babies for sport and someone will believe it. Sean Hannity can say that B. Hussein Obama was related to a 911 bomber and someone will believe it.
I heard over the weekend about someone (that I think is an overall intellegent person) say that a Democrat has to get elected this time. This person supports Clinton (better than Obama, but still). That in itself would be enough to fire me up, but then the statement 'Huckabee never did anything for Arkansas' was used.... Deep breath..... What the !#%$#@$^Q@#?
If a candidate's validity comes from how they performed as governor of our state, then there's no way in hell you could support a Clinton!!!!
Let's see. Under Clinton, we were introduced to a sales tax on food and medical costs. It was 3% then ('78). Then in 91 that tax was raised to 4.5% and was extended to USED vehicles. It doesn't stop there, either. In Arkansas you pay sales tax on any used product sold at a retailer. Go to a consignment shop - you pay tax on used clothing, shoes, jewelry, etc. Maybe it's just me, but that just screams double taxation...
For a guy who claims to be able to speak for the poor 'because I was one of them', the sales tax on Food and Medicine seems incredibly cruel to me. And folks, Arkansas is a poor state. Our average income in this state is at 78% of the national average. Here in NWA we are pretty lucky to be way above that average, but if we are higher... everywhere else is even lower...
Let's see.. Clinton also raised the gas tax by 10 cents during his administration.
How about the personal property tax? When Clinton was governor this tax was extended to pay tax based on how many rooms worth of FURNITURE you owned.. So stupid...
So, how does Huckabee look as governor. Not great, for sure, but he was not NEARLY as bad as Clinton. He raised taxes, too. 3 cents on gas, and sales tax by the same 1.5% as Clinton. However, he implemented the homestead credit where we all get around $300 credit each year for being a homeowner (depending on income). He also brought a measure in where if you are over a certain age - 65 I think - and outright own your home, you are exempt from the PPT. Nice to know the state won't be taking homesteads from little old grannies anymore...
Huckster also introduced ARKIDS first to cover the uninsured kids of people to who made enough money to not qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford health insurance. He paid for many of these programs by looking at some of the ridiculously small school districts in our state (some with only 150 kids in the whole district) and consolidating them into larger districts. This saved our state billions. It wasn't very popular, but very fiscally responsible. By the way, most of these districts that were shut down were the very areas of our state that benefitted the most by the tax cuts and free health insurance...
Bottom line - both Governors were less than fantastic. Huck should have repealed the grocery tax, and should have been tougher on immigration and crime. Clinton maybe should have spent more time being a governor and less time being a criminal (call me crazy) and chasing skirts (between all of his taxing and spending).
So, my point in the end is that if you want to be taken seriously, please find the facts first!! Being so hypocritical is just downright stupid. You don't have to like Huckabee, and you have every right to support Clinton. But for crying out loud, at least have a good reason for it.
There's this thing on the internet called Google search. Use it - arm yourself with knowledge. Learn and then pray for discernment. Don't let some blowhard like me take you down. Fight back. DON'T take my word for it. But, dear God, don't take Matt Lauer's word for it, either!!!!
Peace, love, and GOD,
Tracy
Friday, January 4, 2008
Friday Jan 4 - Hero: Dogs and Cats
I took the Real Age Assessment this morning at http://www.realage.com/ which is the website that goes along with the book I talked about yesterday.
Turns out that a key ingredient to reduce our 'real age' or physiological age is to have pets to love. Luckily I have 3! This is Ringo on your right. So, this kept my real age in a manageable category. I was scared since the only fruit I eat comes in a pastry shell... and french fries don't count as a vegetable....
I've always heard that having a pet can reduce your stress. I think whoever said that didn't have a boxer! They are so high-energy and spastic that they can really get on your nerves. On the other hand, Ringo is the most loving dog I have ever had. 72lb lap dog..
I'm probably going to talk a lot about Dr. Oz's book and politics over the next few days. I'll try to keep it to a non-babbling level, but no promises. As for the book, I found out yesterday that you can slow down and even reverse some of the effects of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's by halting the production of a nasty little protein called Apo E4. This E4 slows down the clean up of a substance called Beta-Amyloid from our brain. You can stop E4 by doing just a couple things:
1) Exercising for 10 minutes - that's right, just ten minutes. The best thing is to do an exercise that will engage your brain, such as Tai Chi, Yoga, or pilates.
2) Eat foods that contain turmeric and curcumin, which are Indian food spices. Curry spices. You can probably also get them as a supplement. Did you know that way less than 1% of India natives have Az or Parkinsons? You should also try to eat plenty of fish or take Omega-3.
3) Laugh. Truly - laughing releases hormones that kicks e4's butt!
Now ~ on to politics. All I am going to say is don't get too excited about what happened in Iowa. It's just one state out of 50. True, the Republican candidate that wins Iowa typically wins the nomination, but there's no rule that says that is the way it has to be. And as for the Democrats, well, Iowa just doesn't count, really. Iowa is a Republican state, period. What you will usually see is the Democrat that wins New Hampshire ends up being the nominee. Again, not set in stone.
In closing, I am going to beg everyone to make sure and study the issues for yourself. Every poll, every on-line questionaire, every media story has been crafted in a way to get the desired outcome for the person that put it together. Do your due diligence and at that point your gut will start speaking to you. Follow it. And remember EVERY vote and voice counts. Every great event in history began with ONE VOICE speaking out...
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Thursday Jan 3rd - Hero(s): Drs. Roizen and Oz
I have been reading the You: Staying Young and You: On a Diet books. These guys have pretty well changed the way I think about my body. Honestly.
It's Resolution time, of course, and most people are thinking about their health and their weight and making goals to improve both. I am, too. But this year I am going to approach it from the point of view of making measurable improvements in my health.
I'm taking Bobby with me on this journey, too. We are going to start exercising 30 minutes every night. Shouldn't be too hard if we do it together. And we are going to start taking supplements. Did you know that the second most important organ in your body is your intestines? I swear it's true. The intestines control the production of seratonin, which is your mood control (need I say more)... Also, all your nutrient absorbtion which feeds your cells.
Any way, my best friend Darlene was telling me about several supplements that you can take to keep your intestines healthy and I am going to try them. I know a lady, Ms. Lillian Darr, who is 107 years young and in much better health than most people in their 60's. One of her secrets of a long life? Brewer's Yeast, which improves the health of... yep, the intestines!
Now I know why Oprah talks about poo so much.
I am going to drag Bobby to see Dr. Fox and get a blood test that tells you what vitamins and minerals you are deficient in. Then, I am going to do my level best to wipe out those defeciencies the natural way - adding foods that contain them. The others I will add through supplements / teas / shakes.
Naturally, eating better is on my list. I've tried to deny this I think (to myself anyway), but Sugar is the DEVIL... I think it was his invention to make us die young. As far as I can tell, the only good sugar is the kind that comes from toddlers... which is the BEST!!
Seriously, natural sugar is okay (the kind from fruits and vegetables), but High Fructose Corn Syrup is like injecting yourself with death particles. Any food that has that as one of the 1st three ingredients is completely off my list.
This is where I warn all of you: for the first couple of weeks, I will be like a crack addict in withdrawal. Please accept my apologies up front!
For anyone interested in extending your body's warranty with me, just Google Dr. Oz and you will be guided to the best place to purchase his book.
Good luck with all your resolutions this year. I know where you can get free help with them if you need it. His name is God. He's easy to find - just send your knee-mail through His Son.
Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wednesday, Jan 2 - Zero: Razorback Football Team
