Redistribution of Wealth

In an email I received earlier today: Yesterday on my way to lunch at Doe's in Little Rock, AR, I passed one of the homeless guys in that area, with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." Once in the Doe's my waiter had on a "Obama 08" tee shirt. When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $3 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful. As I got in my truck, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn. Well, I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on-- with those doing the work. I can't wait to see all the Beamer peeps that are "O" lovers when they find out they gotta give their Beamers up (because they can't AFFORD them anymore!!)so that Joe Schmoe with no job can continue to live without having to get a job!

Take Day Off Work

Only DEMOCRATS would tell you to take a full day off work to help campaign. Another co worker (they've been full of 'em lately) states it best: "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Let’s get right on that!!! Once again, the democrats don’t want to work. Shocking." http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/dayoff

Rumor Mill...

A couple of coworkers and I were having a grand ol' time yesterday--as we were receiving email after email talking about how fantabulous that ol'Obama is. He is so fantabulous that in 1988 he lent $100 to a stranger in the Miami airport (never mind that he was a law student at Harvard--and what law student do you know that has $100 to give to a complete stranger, let alone a family member or close friend)... Why was he in Miami you ask? My coworker states it best: "Maybe he didn’t just use drugs, maybe he sold them as well… he was in Miami for the pick up. Yeah, that’s it. I think we’re on to a new internet rumor." He ends his email with "send this to 20 of your friends or you'll have 4-8 years bad luck." Love it. Couldn't have thought it up better myself!!

Comforting...Or Lack of Comfort?

So...some "comforting" words came out of D-VP Candidate's little mouth this past weekend... "Mark my words," Biden told donors at a Seattle fund-raiser Sunday night. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. "Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." I don't know about you--but that scares me. I'm not looking for another 9/11--are you? I must say, I do agree with McCain on this one... "The next president won't have time to get used to the office. We face many challenges here at home and many enemies abroad in this dangerous world," McCain said. "We don't want a president who invites 'testing' from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting two wars." Yet--America seems intent on electing a guy that has NO experience (go on Dems--keep knocking Palin's experience-or lack thereof-at least SHE has state experience, O doesn't even have that!!) Eight days away. Scary, scary.

Illinois' Senator and his "good work"

So--I stumbled across yet another email today...full of fact (and backed by resources cited) and I can't help but wonder, what are people thinking?!? They're going to believe a man, just "cuz HE said so?!?" Nevermind the fact that most of the things he says "aren't true" are backed by FACT. I know McCain is not the ideal candidate...but come on people, open your eyes!! This man just gets to unassociate himself with groups KNOWN to be Anti-American and he's a God. McCain is associated with a man from WATERGATE and he's the devil...hmmm? It gets worse and worse every day. This email really hit home with me today and I just had to share: But when someone claims to be an agent of CHANGE knowing how to get things done for the better, I look into the facts of that claim. So here it is plain and simple. Senator Obama has been my Illinois U.S. Senator for the past three years and before that the Illinois State Senator representing the south side of Chicago from 1998 to 2004. Prior to that, he was a “community organizer” on Chicago ’s south side for 3 years. By looking at the CHANGE he brought to his constituency we can then see the CHANGE he is capable of bringing to the nation as its president. They are dismal at best. There's now enough degradation, desperation, dereliction and delapidation (how's that for the 4 D's?) in his old district to make the worst corrupt graft-ridden Chicago politico blush. I may not be able to persuade many Chicagoans who are blinded by Obamamania to understand this, but I believe it is my moral imperative to show my friends and acquaintances in other states and cities that Senator Obama's kind of CHANGE (at least what he brought to us constituents) is NOT for America . Illinois is among the worse in the nation, fewer jobs and less prosperity under Mr. Obama's State and U.S. Senatorial leadership. Of the United States , in economic performance Illinois ranks: 48th in economic performance. This is dismal. Illinois is doing better than only two states, Michigan and Ohio . ( Rich States , Poor States , ALEC-Laffer State Competitiveness Index). 42nd in economic outlook. Neighboring Indiana and Missouri rank well ahead in terms of future opportunity at 12th and 17th respectively. (Ibid, Pgs. 68, 69 and 80) 43rd in annual GDP growth, averaging only 4.5% over the past decade, a 3.1% decline from mtwo decades before, when Illinois averaged 7.6% annual growth in GDP. (www.ilga.gov/commission/cgfa2006/Upload/0907ComparativeStudyofILEconomy.pdf) 46th in debt burden as a percentage of total tax revenue. ( Rich States , Poor States , ALEC-Laffer State Competitiveness Index) And Illinois continues to spend government revenue growth on government expansion (health care, education, child care, etc.) rather than funding past debt obligations, including pensions. 44th in personal income growth per capita over the past decade, averaging at 3.83% while the U.S. average is 4.19%. (www.ilga.gov/commission/cgfa2006/Upload/0907ComparativeStudyofILEconomy.pdf) 47th in employment growth from 1977 to 2006, ranking ahead of only Michigan , Ohio and Louisiana . (Ibid) 37th in improving its standard of living, growing at only 1.13% per year over the past decade. While Illinois ranks relatively high in standard of living (18th), the state continues to fall farther down the ranks. (www.ilga.gov/commission/cgfa2006/Upload/0907ComparativeStudyofILEconomy.pdf) 48th in net domestic migration, with over 727,150 people having left the state from 1997-2006. ( Rich States , Poor States , ALEC-Laffer State Competitiveness Index) Illinois is shrinking in economic output: Today Illinois produces 32.1% less in economic output of the U.S. total as compared to 1963. Illinois is shrinking in terms of manufacturing jobs, having a net loss of 241,000 jobs since 1998. Bureau of Labor Statistics The growth of the Illinois economy has lagged behind the rest of the country for each of the last three decades. (www.ilga.gov/commission/cgfa2006/Upload/0907ComparativeStudyofILEconomy.pdf) In taxes, Illinois ranks: 7th highest in median property taxes paid. (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22607.html) 14th overall tax burden in the nation. (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/452.html) 9th in property tax burden per household. (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/251.html) 4th highest gas tax burden (approximately 40 cents per gallon). (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/245.html) 1st in sales tax burden ( Chicago and Cook County - Obama's districts as a state senator). (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22979.html) 17th in overall sales tax collection per household (reported PRIOR to the recent increases to highest in the nation). (www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/22437.html) In Education: Illinois ranks 20th nationally in spending per pupil but only 35th in overall academic achievement. (www.alec.org/am/pdf/states/illinois2007.pdf) Only 28% of Illinois 8th graders are proficient in math, ranking the state 34th. (Department of Education, 'Revenues and Expenditures by Public School Districts: School Year 2002-03', published in November 2005 and NAEP 8th grade reading and math scores, published in October 2005) Only 31% of Illinois 8th graders are proficient in reading, ranking the state 24th. (Ibid) Chicago has a graduation rate of just 51% and a dropout rate of 41.6%. While both of these numbers have been marginally improving over the past few years, they are still dismal. In Health Care: The state of Illinois currently owes approximately $1.7 billion in unpaid Medicaid bills to the state's health care providers. (www.civiccommittee.org/initiatives/StateFinance/FacingFacts.pdf, pg 6) Illinois ranks 26th in the percentage of the population who have health insurance with 86.6% covered. (http://covertheuninsured.org/states) Average cost of a family insurance policy in the individual marketplace is $5,438. This compares to neighboring Wisconsin at $3,087, Michigan at $4,116, and Iowa at $4,477. ( AHIP Center for Policy and Research, www.ahipresearch.org/PDFs/StateData/StateDateaIllinois.pdf) Health insurance inflation comes in the form of benefits mandates. Illinois has 40. (Council for Affordable Health Insurance, www.cahi.org/cahi_contents/resources/pdf/HealthInsuranceMandates2008.pdf) These factual statistics just scratch the surface of where Chicago and Illinois is now as a result of the CHANGES Senator Obama worked hard on for us. One only needs to drive down Halsted Street in the Englewood neighborhood (50th to 60th Streets) to get a better view of the horrid results of the Obama CHANGES, if any. END OF EMAIL. I will close this posting with a quote that has really caught my eye: "What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes!"--Georg Christoph Lichtenbergfrom

Goodbye Democracy?

I was just forwarded this email and had to share. Think about the words very carefully while reading. You can't argue FACT. How Long Do We Have? About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier: 'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.' 'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.' 'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.' 'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years' 'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence: 1. from bondage to spiritual faith; 2. from spiritual faith to great courage; 3. from courage to liberty; 4. from liberty to abundance; 5. from abundance to complacency; 6. from complacency to apathy; 7. from apathy to dependence; 8. from dependence back into bondage' Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election: Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29 Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000 Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1 Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

Prayers for Anne Pressly

This story has been found as a leading story on national and international news channels. It's terrifying, because I'm actually familiar with Little Rock and know her neighborhood to be considered "safe." It's residents are primarily the elderly or very young families. It is horrifying that this could happen ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. To ANYONE. My thoughts and prayers are with Anne and her family during this trying time. May she recover fully. Channel 7 News, Little Rock - Little Rock police are investigating an early-morning home invasion that has left a KATV morning anchor hospitalized. According to authorities, Anne Pressly, 26, is in critical condition at a Little Rock hospital after being found in her home with what police call “severe wounds.” Early reports said Pressly had been stabbed or cut, but Monday afternoon investigators confirmed the injuries occurred from blunt force trauma to the head and upper body. Pressly was discovered around 4:30 a.m. by her mother, who became concerned after ‘wake-up’ calls to her daughter went unanswered. Police say there were no suspects as of mid-afternoon Monday, but that the attack may have come during a robbery, because Pressly's purse was missing. Investigators have spent the day talking to friends and co-workers of Pressly's to find out if she had been threatened. The last known contact with Pressly was between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when she attended a surprise party for a co-worker at a Little Rock restaurant. Word of the attack spread as KATV employees arrived for work Monday morning. Several friends and co-workers gathered with Pressly’s family at the hospital throughout the day. During the station's 11:30 a.m. newscast Monday, anchor Jason Pederson read a story about the attack and confirmed Pressly was hospitalized. "We would ask that you keep Anne in your thoughts and, especially, in your prayers," Pederson said. KATV President and General Manager Dale Nicholson released a statement Monday afternoon. “The next days are critical” Nicholson said. “All we can do is care for her, care for her family—reach out and embrace them—and pray to God that the best comes out of this.” After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Rhodes College in Memphis, Pressly was hired as a full-time producer and part-time reporter at KATV in May 2004, producing Good Morning Arkansas and reporting for MidDay Arkansas and Saturday Daybreak. Pressly was promoted to full-time general assignment reporter in November 2004. In August 2008 she took over for Jason Harper, doing live reports for Daybreak and Good Morning Arkansas from various locations around the state. Recently, Pressly landed a small role in the new Oliver Stone movie, “W” which opened in theaters last week. What has this world come to?