Dear Senator Dan Coats, Senator Joe Donnelly, and Congressman Luke Messer:
As the three members of the Indiana delegation, by all appearances you have failed me and the rest of the Indiana citizens who voted to send each of you to Washington, DC as our representatives.
I remember your campaigns. You promised to be fiscally responsible, to fend off "Special Interests" in favor of American interests, and to always vote in the interests of the Hoosiers you represent.
Two of the three of you promised to do everything in your power to roll back the horrific law everyone now calls "Obamacare". The third, Donnelly, promised to be a "common sense" representative of Hoosiers who would break with the Democratic Party when their initiatives run afoul of the best interests of Indiana citizens.
Gentlemen, the evidence I've seen to date strongly suggests you didn't mean a word you said on the campaign trail. You seem to have been enticed into the Washington club, where the vices of elitism and special treatment trap so many well-meaning legislators from around the country. You become creatures of Washington who have all but forgotten the struggling folks back home you were sent to represent.
Senator Coats, if you really oppose the Affordable Care Act, why did you join with Democratic senators to roundly condemn your colleague Ted Cruz when he tried to mount a campaign to encourage grass roots Americans to join together to force either repeal or substantial rethinking of the most destructive law ever passed by congress, which negatively affects the health care of every American?
Senator Donnelly, send me one example of when you voted against your party because their position would have been harmful to average Hoosiers. If you have an example it must be pretty obscure, because you have voted exactly as Harry Reid has ordered on every issue that's come before the Senate since you managed to grab the seat by dishonestly exploiting a verbal gaffe by an admittedly weak Republican candidate.
Why have none of you come home to enlist the help of your constituents in finding the truth behind a multitude of Executive branch scandals? Where were you when Fast & Furious came to light? When our ambassador and 3 others were murdered by terrorists in Benghazi and the State Department colluded with the White House to make up a false cover story? When the White House shut down oil production in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP disaster had been addressed? As the White House still blocks construction of the pipeline that will help facilitate the movement of oil from Canada to our refineries in the United States, offering no reasonable explanation?
Where is your outrage that the Federal Reserve buys 85 billion dollars in United States government debt every single month, watering down the value of every dollar we citizens have scraped together in hope of a decent retirement? Do you not care that the Executive Branch has now been proven to be using the IRS to suppress and harrass all groups that support their political opposition, and even after those practices were brought to light seem to be continuing those practices?
Are First Amendment violations none of your concern? When the Executive Branch openly discriminates against people who hold Christian values? When the military is forced to change their regulations regarding homosexual behavior and record incidents are occurring of unwanted sexual advances? As the Executive Branch also pushes for expedited promotion of homosexual officers, do you not care that some of those officers use their new positions of authority to mistreat Christian soldiers?
What about 17 Trillion dollars in national Debt? At least all three of you promised to do something about that, but where's the evidence? When have any of you proposed the reduction in spending of a single dollar from the federal budget?
The purpose of this letter is to remind you why you are serving in the national legislature. You are not there to join the wealthy elite, to wine and dine with dignitaries and celebrities and take exotic junkets. You are there as a representative of average Hoosiers, to at least try your best to reduce the impact of big government on our families and farms and small businesses. To preserve our liberty and allow us to pursue our dreams.
Please try to remember.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Ever Notice Something about Online Comments?
Have you ever read an online article, then scanned through the comments posted by random persons in response?
Unfortunately, civility is not in play in the cyber world. I would imagine that many of the comment posters would never dare say the horrible things to the writer in person, but there seems to be safety in anonymity.
I happened to read this post from Michelle today. The article was basically her celebration of the misbehavior of Americans throughout the country who are moving the barricades (aka "Barrycades") aside and taking in the national parks and monuments in spite of all the park rangers who have been deployed by the White House to stop them.
Sure I think it's pretty cool that Americans are defying the President to send a message that he won't be allowed to suppress Americans from seeing their own parks. So a decent story that helps people like me feel a little better about the current state of our out-of-control government. Otherwise, I would say I'm generally neither a rabid Malkin fan nor a Malkin hater. My hat's off to her for turning her blog into such a huge success. That's all fine with me.
But check out the trolls who posted their hateful comments.
Did they try to deny any of the information in the story? Nope.
Did they make an argument in favor of barricading all of our national parks during the shutdown so people can feel the pain and demand their congress cave into Obama and give him everything he demands so his budget is fully funded? Not a word.
I'll characterize the Leftist commenters by cleaning up their language a bit. Let's see, the points being made are pretty much:
Michelle's Ugly and Stupid. We can't believe anyone with half a brain even reads her stuff.
I've heard it said that you know when you've won an argument when the other side starts making snarky personal attacks. This time they skipped the argument entirely and went straight to the snarky personal attacks.
Yep, that's the state of reasoned debate in our country these days. Somebody writes an article from a right-of-center perspective, and rather than take on the writer of the article on its merits, the Left decides to dredge up the good old standby attacks. You're fat, you're stupid, you're ugly, you're a right-wing extremist, you're a member of the flat-earth society, you're a racist, you hate women, you and your friends want to starve children and take healthcare away from Grandma.
It's really getting old, liberals. Can you at least come up with some new accusations to change things up a bit?
Unfortunately, civility is not in play in the cyber world. I would imagine that many of the comment posters would never dare say the horrible things to the writer in person, but there seems to be safety in anonymity.
I happened to read this post from Michelle today. The article was basically her celebration of the misbehavior of Americans throughout the country who are moving the barricades (aka "Barrycades") aside and taking in the national parks and monuments in spite of all the park rangers who have been deployed by the White House to stop them.
Sure I think it's pretty cool that Americans are defying the President to send a message that he won't be allowed to suppress Americans from seeing their own parks. So a decent story that helps people like me feel a little better about the current state of our out-of-control government. Otherwise, I would say I'm generally neither a rabid Malkin fan nor a Malkin hater. My hat's off to her for turning her blog into such a huge success. That's all fine with me.
But check out the trolls who posted their hateful comments.
Did they try to deny any of the information in the story? Nope.
Did they make an argument in favor of barricading all of our national parks during the shutdown so people can feel the pain and demand their congress cave into Obama and give him everything he demands so his budget is fully funded? Not a word.
I'll characterize the Leftist commenters by cleaning up their language a bit. Let's see, the points being made are pretty much:
Michelle's Ugly and Stupid. We can't believe anyone with half a brain even reads her stuff.
I've heard it said that you know when you've won an argument when the other side starts making snarky personal attacks. This time they skipped the argument entirely and went straight to the snarky personal attacks.
Yep, that's the state of reasoned debate in our country these days. Somebody writes an article from a right-of-center perspective, and rather than take on the writer of the article on its merits, the Left decides to dredge up the good old standby attacks. You're fat, you're stupid, you're ugly, you're a right-wing extremist, you're a member of the flat-earth society, you're a racist, you hate women, you and your friends want to starve children and take healthcare away from Grandma.
It's really getting old, liberals. Can you at least come up with some new accusations to change things up a bit?
Saturday, October 05, 2013
We Live on Different Planets
A long time ago I did a post where I put forward the theory that Conservatives live on Earth, while Liberals live on some other planet, say Venus. A little play on the popular book from a couple decades ago, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus".
Proof can be found in just a look at the headlines in www.realclearpolitics.com Here's a sampling:
The War on Obamacare is Far from Over
House GOP's Terrible, Tragic Game
Obama's Reckless Default Fear-Mongering
Manning the Barrycades of Punitive Liberalism
The Rise of the New Confederacy
An Entitlement-Driven Disaster Looms for America
The Benefits of Intransigence
Obama Plays Politics with Veterans
Next for Wendy Davis: Winning over Texas
California's New Feudalism
Staring Down the Irrational Wing of the GOP
The House is Doing its Job
The President Shouldn't Encourage Panic
Unreasonable Tea Party Drags Nation into Turmoil
Pent-Up Demand for Health Insurance
Ben Carson's IRS Audit Can't Possibly Be Coincidence
I'll bet you can tell whether each of the above articles came from the Right and which from the Left without reading them. Some aren't obvious, but most are. The only hopeful sign I take from the list is that conservative points of view seem to be outnumbering liberal ones about two-to-one.
We can only hope that reflects a shift in thinking by Americans. The country's only hope is that a large segment of the population suddenly begins to realize they've been supporting the insane Venutians and begin to at least listen to what the Earthings have to say.
Proof can be found in just a look at the headlines in www.realclearpolitics.com Here's a sampling:
The War on Obamacare is Far from Over
House GOP's Terrible, Tragic Game
Obama's Reckless Default Fear-Mongering
Manning the Barrycades of Punitive Liberalism
The Rise of the New Confederacy
An Entitlement-Driven Disaster Looms for America
The Benefits of Intransigence
Obama Plays Politics with Veterans
Next for Wendy Davis: Winning over Texas
California's New Feudalism
Staring Down the Irrational Wing of the GOP
The House is Doing its Job
The President Shouldn't Encourage Panic
Unreasonable Tea Party Drags Nation into Turmoil
Pent-Up Demand for Health Insurance
Ben Carson's IRS Audit Can't Possibly Be Coincidence
I'll bet you can tell whether each of the above articles came from the Right and which from the Left without reading them. Some aren't obvious, but most are. The only hopeful sign I take from the list is that conservative points of view seem to be outnumbering liberal ones about two-to-one.
We can only hope that reflects a shift in thinking by Americans. The country's only hope is that a large segment of the population suddenly begins to realize they've been supporting the insane Venutians and begin to at least listen to what the Earthings have to say.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Observations
Recently I was working on a data conversion, porting dependents and beneficiaries from an outside source into a Benefits system. About a decade ago I think I was working on a similar conversion for a different company, and seem to recall I posted back then about my observations on how that conversion awakened me to the surprising degree to which the nuclear family has been destroyed.
Things have changed in a decade. Not that the nuclear family has returned, if anything there are even fewer intact families than even back then.
What's changed is that the family itself, whether nuclear or mixed, is fading away. This conversion shows fewer children than I've ever seen. And fewer married adults than ever before.
Families with 2 or more children are extremely rare. When there are children, they're more likely to belong to a single parent, who is overwhelmingly the mother. Young adult employees simply aren't getting married in the first place.
All these trends are demoralizing, because without the nuclear family society falls apart. Come to think of it, isn't that exactly what's happening right now?
Perhaps we need to stop railing against dysfunction in Washington and start paying more attention to the dysfunction in our own families. Unfortunately, I fear it's already too late.
Update:
Working on an entirely different conversion for a different company from California, I have more observations. It seems that California is the modern version of an American state of immigrants. Just scanning surnames, I found none that were European until I got to the Professional and Management positions.
It makes me wonder, where has California's working class gone? They all seem to have been replaced with immigrants. Obviously I can't detect whether these are first, second, or third generation immigrants who mostly came from Mexico and Asia, but why is it that there are virtually zero European names among the front-line workers roster?
Did they move out of California? Are they living on unemployment going into their fifth year? Are they on welfare? Do they just prefer to work elsewhere? The pay rates on the front line aren't terrific, but they're not terrible either.
I'm seeing it outside of California, but never to this extent.
Things have changed in a decade. Not that the nuclear family has returned, if anything there are even fewer intact families than even back then.
What's changed is that the family itself, whether nuclear or mixed, is fading away. This conversion shows fewer children than I've ever seen. And fewer married adults than ever before.
Families with 2 or more children are extremely rare. When there are children, they're more likely to belong to a single parent, who is overwhelmingly the mother. Young adult employees simply aren't getting married in the first place.
All these trends are demoralizing, because without the nuclear family society falls apart. Come to think of it, isn't that exactly what's happening right now?
Perhaps we need to stop railing against dysfunction in Washington and start paying more attention to the dysfunction in our own families. Unfortunately, I fear it's already too late.
Update:
Working on an entirely different conversion for a different company from California, I have more observations. It seems that California is the modern version of an American state of immigrants. Just scanning surnames, I found none that were European until I got to the Professional and Management positions.
It makes me wonder, where has California's working class gone? They all seem to have been replaced with immigrants. Obviously I can't detect whether these are first, second, or third generation immigrants who mostly came from Mexico and Asia, but why is it that there are virtually zero European names among the front-line workers roster?
Did they move out of California? Are they living on unemployment going into their fifth year? Are they on welfare? Do they just prefer to work elsewhere? The pay rates on the front line aren't terrific, but they're not terrible either.
I'm seeing it outside of California, but never to this extent.
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Baby Obama
It sounds like we've had a fresh example proving that it's a baby in the White House rather than an adult man. The stories were about the DC Parks Service trying to barricade access to the WWII Memorial yesterday, but someone with the group of veterans simply moved the barricades aside so the vets could visit the memorial.
Further stories confirmed that the barricades were ordered by the White House. Another report said the Parks Service was further ordered today to haul in concrete barricades and again close off the memorial. It's like a spoiled child who didn't get his way, so he threw a tantrum.
I saw something just a few minutes ago that reported that the Parks Service has given up, and is now allowing people access to the memorial.
Did Americans really elect this infantile President twice?
Further stories confirmed that the barricades were ordered by the White House. Another report said the Parks Service was further ordered today to haul in concrete barricades and again close off the memorial. It's like a spoiled child who didn't get his way, so he threw a tantrum.
I saw something just a few minutes ago that reported that the Parks Service has given up, and is now allowing people access to the memorial.
Did Americans really elect this infantile President twice?
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
A Little Fun
As the government is shut down and the Obamacare website doesn't work, I think today's an appropriate day to have a little fun.
Here's my fun topic for today. I wonder whether I'm a good judge of character. To test that, I'm thinking that what if I took a look at celebrities and tried to figure out which ones are truly good people. Which celebrities would I like to meet and hang out with for a day, to test my theory about whether my impression about them as people was correct?
It isn't an easy task, because I tend to believe that most celebrities are insufferable narcissists. But let's give it a shot.
Actors/Actresses
Gary Sinise - strikes me as a truly genuine, great guy
Tom Selleck - I always believed I would like the guy
John Wayne - I know, easiest pick. Too bad there's no chance I could ever meet the Duke.
Bruce Willis - I'll bet Mr. Die Hard is pretty likeable.
Denzel Washington - Seems like a genuine guy.
Mel Gibson - as long as he's not drunk
Kevin Kline - reminds me a lot of a talented college classmate
Actresses are a lot tougher for me, as even though many are very attractive, most strike me as not very good people. Let's give it a try anyway:
Sandra Bullock - I don't know, she just seems to be a likeable lady.
Elizabeth Banks - I sense a likeable person behind her on-screen characters
Jennifer Garner - Seems genuine
Angie Harmon - The tall Texan gives off a down-to-earth vibe
Kate Jackson - Was the only member of Charlie's Angels that seemed real to me.
Mary-Louise Parker - Loved her in Red
Janine Turner - She became a pro-life activist, which I like
Jennifer Lawrence - She seems almost like a real person
Singers
Carrie Underwood - A country singer I'd like to meet without all the makeup
Reba McEntire - I've heard from people I know who've met her that she's very friendly
Harry Connick Jr - Always exudes an approachability
Donnie Osmond - Actually met him once, seemed like a good guy
Olivia Newton-John - Always liked her, even if she's so crazy about animals she created a game preserve in her backyard
Karen Carpenter - Would have liked to have met her before she died
Shania Twain - She's pretty much out of the spotlight now, but a talented singer. Reading that she and her former husband swapped partners with another couple really turns me off, though.
Others
Jay Leno - Who doesn't like Jay?
Larry Bird - Always wanted to meet Larry Legend.
Peyton Manning - No explanation necessary
Benjamin Netanyahu - Seems like a fascinating person to meet
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toewes of the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm just a fan.
Bob Knight
Ted Cruz
Megyn Kelly
Lee Child
I'm sure there are plenty of other famous people that would be delightful to meet. But these are the ones I could come up with just by sitting down and thinking about it for a few minutes. I wonder if you agree, or what names would you add or subtract from my list?
Here's my fun topic for today. I wonder whether I'm a good judge of character. To test that, I'm thinking that what if I took a look at celebrities and tried to figure out which ones are truly good people. Which celebrities would I like to meet and hang out with for a day, to test my theory about whether my impression about them as people was correct?
It isn't an easy task, because I tend to believe that most celebrities are insufferable narcissists. But let's give it a shot.
Actors/Actresses
Gary Sinise - strikes me as a truly genuine, great guy
Tom Selleck - I always believed I would like the guy
John Wayne - I know, easiest pick. Too bad there's no chance I could ever meet the Duke.
Bruce Willis - I'll bet Mr. Die Hard is pretty likeable.
Denzel Washington - Seems like a genuine guy.
Mel Gibson - as long as he's not drunk
Kevin Kline - reminds me a lot of a talented college classmate
Actresses are a lot tougher for me, as even though many are very attractive, most strike me as not very good people. Let's give it a try anyway:
Sandra Bullock - I don't know, she just seems to be a likeable lady.
Elizabeth Banks - I sense a likeable person behind her on-screen characters
Jennifer Garner - Seems genuine
Angie Harmon - The tall Texan gives off a down-to-earth vibe
Kate Jackson - Was the only member of Charlie's Angels that seemed real to me.
Mary-Louise Parker - Loved her in Red
Janine Turner - She became a pro-life activist, which I like
Jennifer Lawrence - She seems almost like a real person
Singers
Carrie Underwood - A country singer I'd like to meet without all the makeup
Reba McEntire - I've heard from people I know who've met her that she's very friendly
Harry Connick Jr - Always exudes an approachability
Donnie Osmond - Actually met him once, seemed like a good guy
Olivia Newton-John - Always liked her, even if she's so crazy about animals she created a game preserve in her backyard
Karen Carpenter - Would have liked to have met her before she died
Shania Twain - She's pretty much out of the spotlight now, but a talented singer. Reading that she and her former husband swapped partners with another couple really turns me off, though.
Others
Jay Leno - Who doesn't like Jay?
Larry Bird - Always wanted to meet Larry Legend.
Peyton Manning - No explanation necessary
Benjamin Netanyahu - Seems like a fascinating person to meet
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toewes of the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm just a fan.
Bob Knight
Ted Cruz
Megyn Kelly
Lee Child
I'm sure there are plenty of other famous people that would be delightful to meet. But these are the ones I could come up with just by sitting down and thinking about it for a few minutes. I wonder if you agree, or what names would you add or subtract from my list?
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