Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tomorrow, or in 2013?

Possibly the most idiotic statement ever made by a Politician.





Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will rule on whether Obamacare is constitutional.  They may have two decisions to make.  The first is whether the individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance, is constitutional.  If the Justices determine it is constitutional, their work is done. However, if they deem the individual mandate is unconstitutional and strike it down, a second decision must be made.  That decision is whether the the individual mandate alone is stuck from the bill, or if the entire bill is stuck down.

Interestingly, the Affordable Health Care act did not include a severability clause as most bills do.  A severability clause simply states that if one component of the law is struck down, the remainder of the law can continues.  It would seem the Justices can only allow Obamacare to be implemented in total, or struck down in total.  From the conservative perspective, the striking down of the entire law is our first best hope.  If the law is deemed constitutional, our last arrow in the quiver is to win solid majorities in the house and Senate and put Mitt Romney in the White House. 

The timing of the ruling coincides with a House vote to hold Obama's Attorney General in contempt over his failure to produce documents related to the the Fast and Furious program.  Obama inserted himself into the fray by invoking executive privilege.  By doing so, he has called into question what he knew and when he knew it - definitely a risky move.  So tomorrow, Obama could lose two major battles in a matter of a few hours.

If he loses both, I believe the downward momentum of his candidacy accelerates.  While still slightly ahead of Romney in the polls, he has started to slip due to a few crazy statements.  Many in the public are beginning to understand just how far left a radical he is.  I expect this downward drift to continue.  A couple of blows tomorrow will get his approval rating sliding down a steep slope.

Most people will see the Obamacare effort of over 3 years to be akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned.  A waste of time, doomed from the start by its obvious clash with the constitution.  It is wasted time better spent on encouraging economic growth.  Combine these egregious errors with the $5 trillion in debt he has acquired, an unemployment rate that hasn't fallen below 8%, the rate he said it would not go above if we just passed his stimulus program, rising gas prices, and on and on, and you can see why Obama is in trouble.  If he was the CEO of any corporation, he'd have been fired months ago.  He deserves no less in November.

Indications are that his White House, and in particular his reelection staff, are seeing ominous trends and are beginning to reach for the panic button.  Why else should he pander for gay and Hispanic votes by using executive orders to supersede the balance of power?  We will know when the panic button is fully depressed the day Biden is dumped from the ticket.  Biden is a drag on Obama.  He says dumb things and sometimes gets sideways with his boss.  Much of the disagreement is staged in my opinion, as they set the plate for an Obama-Clinton ticket.  That change is really the last ammunition Obama has. 

I don't think the desperation move will work for two reasons.  First, people don't vote for the vice-president.  Second, Hillary will be required to repeat the mantra that Obama's policies of the last four years are the right policies for the next four.  More of the same is a hard sell, and will discredit any thought that Clinton would revive a floundering White House. 

I am hopeful that regardless of what SCOTUS does tomorrow concerning Obamacare, conservatism will win in the end.  If not tomorrow, in 2013 with a new congress and president.






Tuesday, June 26, 2012

An Absurd Conversation


Arizona: We need help with our illegal emigrant problem!  Can you help us by enforcing your current laws? 

Uncle Sam: No, we don’t want to enforce those laws.

Arizona: But you do have laws against entering, living and working in this country illegally, right?

Uncle Sam: Yes, but we don’t like them so we won’t enforce them.

Simple Thinker: So why don’t you change the laws?

Uncle Sam: Because to do so, we would need a majority of the citizens to agree with us.  That would be hard.  That would be impossible.

Simple Thinker: So you’d rather ignore existing law that either enforce or change it?

Uncle Sam: That’s right.  In fact, we will shred the balance of powers section of the Constitution and overrule that those laws with an executive order.

Arizona: Okay, so we will pass our own state laws and use state resources to enforce them.

Uncle Sam: You can’t do that.

Arizona: Why?

Uncle Sam: Because I am responsible for enforcing immigration law.

Arizona: But you are not doing it!

Uncle Sam: I know.  Too bad, suck it up.  It’s the right thing to do.

Arizona: Easy for you to say.  It’s my budget that pays for state benefits used by illegal emigrants.  Maybe I’ll should pass identical state law and enforce them with state law enforcement.

Uncle Sam: Better not.  I’ll sue.

Arizona: You will sue me for enforcing your law?

Uncle Sam: Yes.

Arizona: Bring it on.  What reasonable, unbiased judge would rule against me?

Uncle Sam: We’ll see.

SCOTUS: Arizona, with reasonable cause, you can ask people to produce proof of legal citizenship or legal immigration status.  But if you find someone who is here illegally, you can take no action.

Arizona: Why?

SCOTUS: Because that is Uncle Sam’s job.

Arizona: But he won’t do it!

SCOTUS: I know.  Too bad, suck it up.  It’s the right thing to do.

Arizona: We need help with our illegal emigrant problem!  

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Vacation 2012

On Sunday, -T and I returned from vacation to face the real world of work days, food shopping, bill paying and flying monkeys. And quite a fine vacation it was. We flew out of KC on Friday June 1st non-stop to the Big Easy, New Orleans. We had spent part of our honeymoon there 35 years ago, so I made reservations at the downtown Marriot hotel where we stayed. The Marriot is on Canal Street in the heart of the French Quarter.


Originally, we flew to New Orleans to save a few hundred dollars in airfare, the difference between flying into New Orleans versus Destin our vacation destination. While saving significant money, it also allowed us to visit John and Barbara Strain. John is a childhood best friend with whom I shared toys in the church nursery. We remained fast friends for nearly 20 years until he left Kansas City in the mid-1970's. Since then, he has lived in central Missouri and Illinois before settling in Covington Louisiana, just across Lake Ponchatrain from New Orleans. John and I stayed in touch for the first few years after his departure, and he did serve as a groomsman in our wedding. After that, our contacts were few and far between. –T and I did visit John and Barbara in the mid-1990’s, and John did make a few trips to Kansas City where we connected. But mostly, the friendship has remained occasional emails or facebook messages separated by days, weeks, months or even years. We had completely lost touch for many years until his name appeared in an article I read about hurricane Katrina. John was mentioned as a local blogger who was one of the only sources of on the ground information as the hurricane made landfall.

John and Barbara
John and Barbara met us downtown on Friday evening for dinner and some time in the French Quarter. After our first of many awesome seafood dinners to come during our vacation, we walked Bourbon Street and surrounding areas, stopped for coffee and beignets at CafĂ© Du Monde, and shot a neat full moon picture at the St. Louis Cathedral, just steps away from where Napoleon signed the Louisiana purchase agreement in 1803. The evening was one of those moments when you feel so satisfied to be in that place at that time with those you are with. Our vacation had gotten off to a fantastic start. Both –T and I agreed that Friday was memorable. I wanted to tell John that we had really enjoyed last night but didn’t want to be the first person to ever say that to him, so I didn’t.
Bourbon Street
Saturday was a travel day, delayed by 4 hours as we decided to take the opportunity to visit the National World War II Museum in New Orleans before leaving for Destin. It was also time well spent. The museum is the result of Stephen Ambrose, Tom Hanks, and Stephen Spielberg’s efforts to capture the stories of WWII veterans who are rapidly becoming a rarity. It is a world class museum and a must see for New Orleans visitors.

The drive to Destin was uneventful. We arrived at the condo early in the evening and had our first of many fantastic grilled/blackened grouper/amberjack/Maui dinners at Pompano Joe’s, one of our favorite restaurants in the city. The remainder of the week was spent alternating between golf, beach, pool, and seafood in no particular order. We even did a little shopping. The weather cooperated by sparing us from rain until Thursday afternoon when we were rained out of a golf round after 10 holes. Fortunately, we were reimbursed for the greens fees, so essentially played 10 holes for free. The activity we did the most was to eat at Dewey Destin’s, our favorite restaurant in Destin. Dewey Destin’s can only be described as a dump - a real seafood dive. The restaurant is a shack, with a detached kitchen (trailer) located at the rear where all food is prepared. Customer seating is on whatever picnic table can be commandeered on the adjoining pier. The seafood is exceptional as are the views. We dined at Dewey’s 5 times over our 6 day stay.

Dewey Destins




View from Dewey Destins

On Friday evening we decided to check out the local entertainment on the resort’s property. We ended up at a club named Rumrunners where a very talented singer/guitarist entertained us for several hours. –T and I couldn't help noticing the entertainer bore a striking resemblance to our nephew in law, Kelly, only with musical talent. Both are big southern boys. Both are essentially bald with beards. Both are Zac Brown wannabees. After an enjoyable evening, we rode the shuttle back to our condo to finish the sad task of packing for a morning departure.

Zac or Kelly?
We left Destin on Saturday morning, headed for another visit with John and Barbara, but this time in their hometown of Covington. We left Destin in the rain. It rained all the way to Pensacola where it morphed into a deluge the likes of which Kansans rarely see. It rained so hard we couldn’t see the side of the road, so to remain safe, I slowed to 60 MPH. We later heard that Pensacola received 15 inches of rain in 7 hours, the second highest 24 hour rain total for that city in history. Past Pensacola, it rained normal rain through Mobile and Biloxi. By the time we arrived in Covington, the rain was reduced to a light sprinkle, but only for a few hours. The entire gulf coast was to receive up to 30 inches of rain over the next 7 days. We felt thankful we did not plan vacation for the following week.

Saturday was spent with the Strain’s at their home playing with the Apple products, and dining at a local restaurant. It is amazing how –T and I would naturally pick up a conversation with them after years of separation. We are thankful for their hospitality and friendship. Monday was spent helping –T’s dad prepare his new home for move in. Now we are back in the world of flying monkeys.