Some of Our Affiliate Testimonials
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"Eastern Refinishing has gotten me excellent jobs for over 10 years. The quality of the people that we get are the best and they are happy to see us. I would recommend becoming an affiliate to all professional refinishers that take pride in their work".
Willie Aquino/ New Jersey
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Charlie has been getting me countertop and bathtub work for 2 1/2 years. He is fun to work with and Tracey is really nice. The work they get us is top notch.
J. Sestack/ Phoenix
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I don't get "Leads" from Eastern Refinishing; I get jobs and I get top dollar.
Trace Lassiter /The Bronx
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I get alot of emails promising jobs but Eastern Refinishing actually knows how to price them and they actually know how to schedule them properly. The customers know what they are getting and are happy to see us.
Steve Reese
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For the pass 5 years I have been working for Eastern Refinishing (Charlie and Stacy) and it has been great. We have learned a lot from them about refinishing, how to resolve company’s problems and how to be The Best refinishing Company in our city. They are always there to help and to sale. Customers pay me and after that I will sent their percentage.
So, for all this time and all the help. Thank You Eastern refinishing and May
God Bless!
Alex Hernandez
Houston and Dallas TX
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Charlie and Tracey have been getting me QUALITY work in both southern florida and on cruise ships since 2001. I can't believe it has been 8 years.
Scott Binouche;
Miami
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Whenever Charlie calls it's good news!
Glenn Hardy
Ohio
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What I like is the big jobs on cruise ships. It's always fun and busy busy busy. That big check does alot of good for my family.
Matt Macdonald and his owner
N. Reading, Ma.
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The big jobs like Temple University that lasts a month are fun and a good break from the day to day grind.
J. J. Kelchak III
Wellington, Fl.
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I have only been an affiliate of Eastern Refinishing since March 2009, and since then, Charlie and Tracey have been providing me with numerous high-quality jobs. Central Pennsylvania can be, and is quite often, a tough market for refinishing but I have been getting nothing but the highest quality of jobs from Eastern (no aggravating “small stuff”). The jobs are always priced right and the customers are great to work for. Just to emphasize, these are real jobs and not merely leads.
A big bonus is when Charlie and Tracey call on me to work on their large accounts. I look forward to being an affiliate for many years to come.
Steve Seymore
Harrisburg, PA
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The quality and quantity of leads that I receive from Eastern are terrific. These are not only basic tub leads. Charlie and Tracy understand that larger jobs are more profitable and are the real key to growing the business. They know how to find and how to sell these jobs. This has allowed me to get into some new markets and helps fill in my schedule in slow times.
Just as important is that Charlie and Tracy are two of the most honest and fun people you will do business with. I have built my business on quality and honesty. Eastern has done nothing but help me grow and add to my reputation.
Mike “the best looking tub finisher” Martin
Finepoint Refinishing
Mike Martin
Orange Co. Ca.
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Charlie and Eastern Refinishing is a great team to be a part of I am very happy to be the Northern California Rep for Eastern Refinishing Thank You Charle and Tracey.
Rudy Gonzales
Owner of Rudy's Fantastic Shine
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I highly recommend to anyone given the opportunity to join the Eastern Refinishing, family of refinishers, to jump at the chance. There jobs are always very well priced , and you never have to pay Eastern untill after you get paid. I,ve never delt with a more frie ndlier staff than Tracey and Charley( They always seem so happy!) Thanks Eastern Refinishing for allowing us here @ Interior Home Concepts , the privilage of being associated with your company and afilliates.
Hershel Brooks- Interior Home Concepts, Nashville, Tn
Sunday, January 31, 2010
What we are about!
"It is our desire to provide the highest quality bathtub, tile and countertop re- finishing in both Products and service"
We encourage you to give your feedback on your refinishing experience with Eastern Refinishing to: YellowPages.com. Click the link (reviews!) to go to their site. Thank you for your interest in helping our company improve its products and services.
We encourage you to give your feedback on your refinishing experience with Eastern Refinishing to: YellowPages.com. Click the link (reviews!) to go to their site. Thank you for your interest in helping our company improve its products and services.
Ben Affleck movie
!!!!!!!! Latest News !!!!!!
We just finished working for the upcoming new
Ben Affleck movie
....."The Town".....
(being filmed in the Boston area)."
(Which we hear is Great by the way)
We reglazed 2 badly damaged ancient tubs + 1 antique pedestal sink.
"Charlie" ; the owner said we would do them for free... if only they would let him be a "producer". Regretably, they said; NO!
If you see the movie watch for the 2 bathtubs and the pedestal sink.
We just finished working for the upcoming new
Ben Affleck movie
....."The Town".....
(being filmed in the Boston area)."
(Which we hear is Great by the way)
We reglazed 2 badly damaged ancient tubs + 1 antique pedestal sink.
"Charlie" ; the owner said we would do them for free... if only they would let him be a "producer". Regretably, they said; NO!
If you see the movie watch for the 2 bathtubs and the pedestal sink.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
How to read bar codes!
This is really interesting.
GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA� AND NOT FROM CHINA!!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you..
The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods".
Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?
If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA .
471 is Made in Taiwan .
This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public,
therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.
Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ",
so they don't show from which country it is made.
However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are:
690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA .
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
47 ... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK
BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching
for "0" at the beginning of the number..
We need every boost we can get!
GREAT WAY TO "BUY USA & CANADA� AND NOT FROM CHINA!!
This may be useful to know when grocery shopping, if it's a concern to you..
The whole world is afraid of China-made "black hearted goods".
Can you differentiate which one is made in Taiwan or China ?
If the first 3 digits of the barcode are 690, 691 or 692, the product is MADE IN CHINA .
471 is Made in Taiwan .
This is our right to know, but the government and related departments never educate the public,
therefore we have to RESCUE ourselves.
Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products "MADE IN CHINA ",
so they don't show from which country it is made.
However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are:
690-692 ... then it is MADE IN CHINA .
00 - 09 ... USA & CANADA
30 - 37 ... FRANCE
40 - 44 ... GERMANY
47 ... Taiwan
49 ... JAPAN
50 ... UK
BUY USA & CANADIAN MADE by watching
for "0" at the beginning of the number..
We need every boost we can get!
Hotel bathtub refinishing
bathtub refinishing is combined in a hotel's bathroom renovation to save money, time and the environment in a sluggish economy. The reason why most informed hotel owners and property managers are using hotel bathtub refinishing in their bathroom update is because tearing out a bathtub is very expensive, it is very messy and since more than one sub-contractor is involved in bathtub replacement, it takes more time than tub re-glazing. Hotel owners and property managers appreciate the fact that they can create a new bathroom without replacement.
In a traditional hotel bathroom renovation, where bathroom fixtures are replaced, just the cost of bathtub replacement even with volume discount can run from $1,500 to $2,000. On the hand, bathtub refinishing is completed in a day and the bathtubs can be used the next day. Another important consideration for hotels and others in the hospitality industry is being green. Many hotel guests are demanding that their facilities are environmentally conscious in their bathroom renovation, since 47% of all waste going to the landfills are from renovations.
Hotels can get their bathtubs refinished for about $200 to $250 when volume discount is applied. For a hotel with 400 rooms, the savings add up pretty quickly. One of the concerns of the hospitality industry as far as bathtub refinishing is concerned is the obnoxious and lingering odor that come from the professional and special coatings designed for bathtub refinishing. Today, some companies are using the latest in air-scrubbing system to capture and control such fumes. The result has been happy hotel owners and guests.
Another concern of property owners is the quality of coatings. Like anything else, coatings come in different qualities. The refinishing companies come in different sizes and shapes and all are not the same. Some property owners will chose the cheapest price blaming the economy for basing their decision on price and price alone. Remember that when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
Here are bathtub refinishing benefits in a nutshell:
Create a new bathroom without replacement
Minimal disturbance for hotel guests
Rooms can be used next day
Costs only 20% of replacement
Saves landfills- environment
In a traditional hotel bathroom renovation, where bathroom fixtures are replaced, just the cost of bathtub replacement even with volume discount can run from $1,500 to $2,000. On the hand, bathtub refinishing is completed in a day and the bathtubs can be used the next day. Another important consideration for hotels and others in the hospitality industry is being green. Many hotel guests are demanding that their facilities are environmentally conscious in their bathroom renovation, since 47% of all waste going to the landfills are from renovations.
Hotels can get their bathtubs refinished for about $200 to $250 when volume discount is applied. For a hotel with 400 rooms, the savings add up pretty quickly. One of the concerns of the hospitality industry as far as bathtub refinishing is concerned is the obnoxious and lingering odor that come from the professional and special coatings designed for bathtub refinishing. Today, some companies are using the latest in air-scrubbing system to capture and control such fumes. The result has been happy hotel owners and guests.
Another concern of property owners is the quality of coatings. Like anything else, coatings come in different qualities. The refinishing companies come in different sizes and shapes and all are not the same. Some property owners will chose the cheapest price blaming the economy for basing their decision on price and price alone. Remember that when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
Here are bathtub refinishing benefits in a nutshell:
Create a new bathroom without replacement
Minimal disturbance for hotel guests
Rooms can be used next day
Costs only 20% of replacement
Saves landfills- environment
Do You:
•Have old,worn hard to clean bathroom and kitchen fixtures such as bathtubs, showers, countertops, sinks that have lost their new glossy shine? They can be restored like brand new easily!
•Have unsightly chips, cracks and/or rust? They can be eliminated with the refinishing process.
•Have receded, mildew tile grouts? Are pieces of tile grout missing or needing to be sealed? Tile refinishing, tile reglazing is the permanent solution, not just temporary.
•Just want a color change? Any color can be yours today without replacement.
•Have a limited budget for remodeling? Bathtub refinishing, shower resurfacing, countertop reglazing, sink refinishing is the answer at 1/3 the cost of replacement!
•Have old,worn hard to clean bathroom and kitchen fixtures such as bathtubs, showers, countertops, sinks that have lost their new glossy shine? They can be restored like brand new easily!
•Have unsightly chips, cracks and/or rust? They can be eliminated with the refinishing process.
•Have receded, mildew tile grouts? Are pieces of tile grout missing or needing to be sealed? Tile refinishing, tile reglazing is the permanent solution, not just temporary.
•Just want a color change? Any color can be yours today without replacement.
•Have a limited budget for remodeling? Bathtub refinishing, shower resurfacing, countertop reglazing, sink refinishing is the answer at 1/3 the cost of replacement!
problems in kitchens and bathrooms
Do you have an unpleasant bathtub, Ceramic Tiles, Countertops, or maybe Showers?
Perhaps you just don't like the color, or the color is out of style for today's modern age?
Do you wish you could do something about it but can't or don't want to spend thousands of dollars?
We have the solution for you!
Whether you are a home owner and want the new bathtub or tile look for your home or Commercial Client who is looking for a fast solution that can offer you same day use of your old bath tub. Or simply a New Construction client that needs to repair an unpleasant mark from a surface that was damaged during construction.
Perhaps you just don't like the color, or the color is out of style for today's modern age?
Do you wish you could do something about it but can't or don't want to spend thousands of dollars?
We have the solution for you!
Whether you are a home owner and want the new bathtub or tile look for your home or Commercial Client who is looking for a fast solution that can offer you same day use of your old bath tub. Or simply a New Construction client that needs to repair an unpleasant mark from a surface that was damaged during construction.
Environmental Benefits of Surface Restoration
When you refinish sound fixtures in your kitchen and bathrooms instead of
replacing them, you save money and time, but you also:
Reduce the amount of trees that are cut down for cabinets, thereby conserving
energy and other natural resources. There is also a reduction in the purchase of
new furniture.
Reuse of valuable assets like cabinets and prevent them from going to the land
fills
Recycle through refinishing
Using the three R’s of protecting and preserving the environment as our bench
mark, we can see the refinishing process benefits us by benefiting the
environment.
Reduce
The goal of "Reduction" is to reduce the amount of new goods that we buy and
consume. When you refinish your old bathtub, sink, cabinets or counter tops,
they look almost brand new and there is no need for replacement.
When we refinish cabinets for instance, we decrease the need to cut down new
trees, process and transport them for manufacturing into the beautiful kitchen or
bathroom cabinet. Refinishing cabinets, porcelain or acrylic surfaces reduces
pollution, saves money and time.
Benefits of saving trees by refinishing cabinets instead of replacing them.
Because of our insatiable appetite for new stuff, we need more trees not less, in
order to suck up the carbon monoxide that is produced in the manufacture of the
new stuff that we buy. And because trees don’t grow on steroids, it takes many
years to replenish those trees.
Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.
Scientists say that we are adding tons of carbon dioxide by destroying the trees
and more tons of carbon dioxide by the process we use in cutting down the
trees, process them and then transport them to be finished at a shop as cabinets
or furniture.
Resurfacing furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment.
Refinishing furniture compared to buying new one, saves an estimated 124.08
tons of carbon dioxide per property. The carbon foot print for refinishing
furniture is 0.009% that of new furniture manufacturer’s carbon foot print. It takes
1000 times more carbon dioxide to make new furniture than to replace it.
Refinishing conserves energy and reduces pollution. In every industry, it costs
more in energy and resources to extract a virgin product, process it and get it
ready for market than if it were refinished.
It has been known that less energy is needed to manufacture products that are
recovered than virgin materials. Refinishing and reusing existing cabinet pieces
prevents many valuable assets from going into the landfills.
Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.
Reuse
They don’t make cabinets the way they used to do, so even if you bought new
furniture today, it will not be made from solid wood. The lifespan of the new
furniture is still going to be roughly one-third of the amount of wear and tear a
solid wood piece of furniture could be expected to last. Therefore with solid
wood furniture, you can extend the useful life of your old cabinet for as many as
three times their amortized lives.
Additionally with refinishing, you can get another twenty years out of those
sturdy, durable pieces. That’s another twenty years of not being in the landfill.
Recycle
Refinishing Furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment. When
you compare refinishing furniture to buying new ones, you save an estimated
124.08 tons carbon dioxide per property. Refinishing furniture's carbon footprint
is .009% of furniture manufacturing's carbon footprint. It takes 1000x more
carbon dioxide to make a new piece of furniture compared to refinishing it.
Across all industries, Recycling and Reusing existing goods requires less
energy than creation of new items from virgin materials. As concerns about
global warming continue to mount, attention is turning again to the so-called
"greenhouse effect" and the gas emissions thought to cause it.
By decreasing the need to extract, process, and transport virgin materials,
recycling helps reduce pollution. It’s been known that less energy is needed to
manufacture products from recovered rather than virgin materials. According to
EPA, “When all the pieces of recycling are put together, the overwhelming
conclusion is that recycling boosts the economy, conserves natural resources,
and reduces solid waste”
With cabinet refinishing, you can match your kitchen décor exactly the way you
want it. You also save money and time and the trees. Finally, according to
Remodeling magazine, you can recoup up to 83% of the cost of your refinishing.
If you are serious about savings the landfills and trees, on your next remodeling
project, fill out our Refinishing Questionnaire form. As soon as we get it, one of
our stars will help you achieve your dream kitchen remodeling with a star
treatment.
Making an environmentally sound decision when buying new fixtures for your
bathroom or kitchen
If you consider your fixtures too worn out to be refinished, you can still make
environmentally sound decisions when buying new fixtures. Here are few
examples:
Bathroom counter tops
If you’re planning to buy a hard-surface plastic bathroom counter top, consider
one made from 100% recycled materials. You’ll prevent about 40 pounds of
plastic from being land filled.
Glass Tiles
Instead of buying ceramic tiles for counter tops, backsplashes, or flooring,
choose 100% recycled glass tiles. For everyone 100 sq. feet of recycled glass
tiles that replace traditional ceramic tiles, 140 kilowatt-hour of manufacturing
energy are conserved. This is roughly the amount of energy that your
refrigerator uses per month.
Kitchen counter tops
If you choose a durable composite, paper stone, terrazzo, stainless steel, or tile
counter top with 50 to 100% recycled content, you’ll reduce the manufacturing
energy and waste associated with producing new materials. However, since few
counter tops are recyclable (with the exception of stainless steel), the best thing
that you can do for the environment is to choose a long lasting counter top that
will survive the average ten-year remodeling itch.
Wood
If you’re building a new home, you’ll save roughly 88 trees, or 3.2 acres of
forest, by choosing recycled wood. Since most recycled wood was originally
derived from old-growth trees, it is of higher quality than standard lumber. As
such, it can be 4 times more energy efficient and will last three to four times as
long.
replacing them, you save money and time, but you also:
Reduce the amount of trees that are cut down for cabinets, thereby conserving
energy and other natural resources. There is also a reduction in the purchase of
new furniture.
Reuse of valuable assets like cabinets and prevent them from going to the land
fills
Recycle through refinishing
Using the three R’s of protecting and preserving the environment as our bench
mark, we can see the refinishing process benefits us by benefiting the
environment.
Reduce
The goal of "Reduction" is to reduce the amount of new goods that we buy and
consume. When you refinish your old bathtub, sink, cabinets or counter tops,
they look almost brand new and there is no need for replacement.
When we refinish cabinets for instance, we decrease the need to cut down new
trees, process and transport them for manufacturing into the beautiful kitchen or
bathroom cabinet. Refinishing cabinets, porcelain or acrylic surfaces reduces
pollution, saves money and time.
Benefits of saving trees by refinishing cabinets instead of replacing them.
Because of our insatiable appetite for new stuff, we need more trees not less, in
order to suck up the carbon monoxide that is produced in the manufacture of the
new stuff that we buy. And because trees don’t grow on steroids, it takes many
years to replenish those trees.
Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.
Scientists say that we are adding tons of carbon dioxide by destroying the trees
and more tons of carbon dioxide by the process we use in cutting down the
trees, process them and then transport them to be finished at a shop as cabinets
or furniture.
Resurfacing furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment.
Refinishing furniture compared to buying new one, saves an estimated 124.08
tons of carbon dioxide per property. The carbon foot print for refinishing
furniture is 0.009% that of new furniture manufacturer’s carbon foot print. It takes
1000 times more carbon dioxide to make new furniture than to replace it.
Refinishing conserves energy and reduces pollution. In every industry, it costs
more in energy and resources to extract a virgin product, process it and get it
ready for market than if it were refinished.
It has been known that less energy is needed to manufacture products that are
recovered than virgin materials. Refinishing and reusing existing cabinet pieces
prevents many valuable assets from going into the landfills.
Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.
Reuse
They don’t make cabinets the way they used to do, so even if you bought new
furniture today, it will not be made from solid wood. The lifespan of the new
furniture is still going to be roughly one-third of the amount of wear and tear a
solid wood piece of furniture could be expected to last. Therefore with solid
wood furniture, you can extend the useful life of your old cabinet for as many as
three times their amortized lives.
Additionally with refinishing, you can get another twenty years out of those
sturdy, durable pieces. That’s another twenty years of not being in the landfill.
Recycle
Refinishing Furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment. When
you compare refinishing furniture to buying new ones, you save an estimated
124.08 tons carbon dioxide per property. Refinishing furniture's carbon footprint
is .009% of furniture manufacturing's carbon footprint. It takes 1000x more
carbon dioxide to make a new piece of furniture compared to refinishing it.
Across all industries, Recycling and Reusing existing goods requires less
energy than creation of new items from virgin materials. As concerns about
global warming continue to mount, attention is turning again to the so-called
"greenhouse effect" and the gas emissions thought to cause it.
By decreasing the need to extract, process, and transport virgin materials,
recycling helps reduce pollution. It’s been known that less energy is needed to
manufacture products from recovered rather than virgin materials. According to
EPA, “When all the pieces of recycling are put together, the overwhelming
conclusion is that recycling boosts the economy, conserves natural resources,
and reduces solid waste”
With cabinet refinishing, you can match your kitchen décor exactly the way you
want it. You also save money and time and the trees. Finally, according to
Remodeling magazine, you can recoup up to 83% of the cost of your refinishing.
If you are serious about savings the landfills and trees, on your next remodeling
project, fill out our Refinishing Questionnaire form. As soon as we get it, one of
our stars will help you achieve your dream kitchen remodeling with a star
treatment.
Making an environmentally sound decision when buying new fixtures for your
bathroom or kitchen
If you consider your fixtures too worn out to be refinished, you can still make
environmentally sound decisions when buying new fixtures. Here are few
examples:
Bathroom counter tops
If you’re planning to buy a hard-surface plastic bathroom counter top, consider
one made from 100% recycled materials. You’ll prevent about 40 pounds of
plastic from being land filled.
Glass Tiles
Instead of buying ceramic tiles for counter tops, backsplashes, or flooring,
choose 100% recycled glass tiles. For everyone 100 sq. feet of recycled glass
tiles that replace traditional ceramic tiles, 140 kilowatt-hour of manufacturing
energy are conserved. This is roughly the amount of energy that your
refrigerator uses per month.
Kitchen counter tops
If you choose a durable composite, paper stone, terrazzo, stainless steel, or tile
counter top with 50 to 100% recycled content, you’ll reduce the manufacturing
energy and waste associated with producing new materials. However, since few
counter tops are recyclable (with the exception of stainless steel), the best thing
that you can do for the environment is to choose a long lasting counter top that
will survive the average ten-year remodeling itch.
Wood
If you’re building a new home, you’ll save roughly 88 trees, or 3.2 acres of
forest, by choosing recycled wood. Since most recycled wood was originally
derived from old-growth trees, it is of higher quality than standard lumber. As
such, it can be 4 times more energy efficient and will last three to four times as
long.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Death of a hero
CASEY
B.H. Casey, 87, passed away on January 24, 2010 at his home. B.H. was born April 8, 1922, in Lawton, Oklahoma to B.F. and Ora Lee Casey. B.H. grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma and played tennis in Junior High and High School where he won State in Juniors Doubles being the first from Shawnee to win a state tournament. He continued playing tennis until his late 60's. He and Lloyd Sessions were instrumental in the construction of H.E.B. Tennis Center as well as the formation of the Corpus Christi Tennis Association. A scholarship, the B.H. Casey Award, is given annually by the Corpus Christi Tennis Association to a graduating senior who excels in school, community service, and tennis. B.H. and W.F. Glass started Casey and Glass, Inc. as general contractors and also built tennis courts and running tracks all over the world, including Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the United States. In 1943, he joined the Navy Seabees serving in Okinawa and Saipan. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, he continued working construction for H.K. Ferguson, R.F. Ball Construction, and Burnett Construction here in Corpus Christi. In 1964 B.H., with W.F. Glass started Casey and Glass, Inc. In 1963, B.H. married Lois Wentland and enjoyed 46 wonderful years during which she traveled with him on his business trips abroad. They also enjoyed numerous trips to Ireland and Scotland. They were charter members of Yorktown Baptist Church with B.H. lending his expertise in the construction of the church and gym. He often told the family they were two of the best years of his life. Together, B.H. and Lois, their two daughters, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren were blessed to have had so many years together. B.H. was the very best step-parent Kay and Kathy could have hoped for. In fact, in 1988 they asked him to adopt them and he said 'yes.' That was a good day. Pappaw's seven grandchildren adored him and all called themselves his 'favorite grandchild'. He also enjoyed getting on the floor and playing with them, going to football, soccer and baseball games, piano recitals, ballet recitals and livestock shows. Pappaw and Mammaw loved to come over to help us wake the children on Christmas morning. The grandchildren were fortunate that he was such a craftsman. B.H. built each of them something special; including a rocking horse, playhouse, toy boxes, dollhouse, an ark with all of the animals, an aquarium cabinet, stilts, and a skateboard ramp. We also shared many happy years at Mammaw and Pappaw's lake house where he taught the grandchildren to fish, water ski, and swim.
B.H. was preceded in death by his first wife Janice, his parents, three sisters, Thelma Baker, Gertrude Cartmill, and Audrey Casey, and two brothers, Albert Casey, and James Casey.
B.H. is survived by his wife, Lois, two daughters, Kathy (Bill) Winstead, Kay (Robby) De Leon, six grandchildren, Laura Kay (Mark) Goode, Casey (Heather) Winstead, Ty (Angie) Winstead, Ryan De Leon, Ali De Leon, and Sean De Leon and seven great-grandchildren, Kayla, Kelsea, Cameron, Audrey, Sara, Emma, and Tristan. He is also survived by two nephews, James Russell Casey and Keith Cartmill.
Visitation will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at Seaside Funeral Home.
Funeral Service will at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at Seaside Chapel.
Interment will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Casey Winstead, Ryan DeLeon, Sean DeLeon, Mark Goode, Wayne Miller, Cameron Wright. Honorary Pallbearers will be Ty Winstead, Robert DeLeon, and William T. Winstead.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to:
Corpus Christi Tennis Association, ATTN: B.H. Casey Scholarship 1520 Shelly, Corpus Christi, Texas 78404, or Yorktown Baptist Church Building Fund. 5025 Yorktown Blvd., Corpus Christi, Texas 78413' Please note on check: B.H. Casey
To view guestbook, share memories and leave condolences, please visit www.seasidefuneral.com
B.H. Casey, 87, passed away on January 24, 2010 at his home. B.H. was born April 8, 1922, in Lawton, Oklahoma to B.F. and Ora Lee Casey. B.H. grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma and played tennis in Junior High and High School where he won State in Juniors Doubles being the first from Shawnee to win a state tournament. He continued playing tennis until his late 60's. He and Lloyd Sessions were instrumental in the construction of H.E.B. Tennis Center as well as the formation of the Corpus Christi Tennis Association. A scholarship, the B.H. Casey Award, is given annually by the Corpus Christi Tennis Association to a graduating senior who excels in school, community service, and tennis. B.H. and W.F. Glass started Casey and Glass, Inc. as general contractors and also built tennis courts and running tracks all over the world, including Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the United States. In 1943, he joined the Navy Seabees serving in Okinawa and Saipan. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, he continued working construction for H.K. Ferguson, R.F. Ball Construction, and Burnett Construction here in Corpus Christi. In 1964 B.H., with W.F. Glass started Casey and Glass, Inc. In 1963, B.H. married Lois Wentland and enjoyed 46 wonderful years during which she traveled with him on his business trips abroad. They also enjoyed numerous trips to Ireland and Scotland. They were charter members of Yorktown Baptist Church with B.H. lending his expertise in the construction of the church and gym. He often told the family they were two of the best years of his life. Together, B.H. and Lois, their two daughters, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren were blessed to have had so many years together. B.H. was the very best step-parent Kay and Kathy could have hoped for. In fact, in 1988 they asked him to adopt them and he said 'yes.' That was a good day. Pappaw's seven grandchildren adored him and all called themselves his 'favorite grandchild'. He also enjoyed getting on the floor and playing with them, going to football, soccer and baseball games, piano recitals, ballet recitals and livestock shows. Pappaw and Mammaw loved to come over to help us wake the children on Christmas morning. The grandchildren were fortunate that he was such a craftsman. B.H. built each of them something special; including a rocking horse, playhouse, toy boxes, dollhouse, an ark with all of the animals, an aquarium cabinet, stilts, and a skateboard ramp. We also shared many happy years at Mammaw and Pappaw's lake house where he taught the grandchildren to fish, water ski, and swim.
B.H. was preceded in death by his first wife Janice, his parents, three sisters, Thelma Baker, Gertrude Cartmill, and Audrey Casey, and two brothers, Albert Casey, and James Casey.
B.H. is survived by his wife, Lois, two daughters, Kathy (Bill) Winstead, Kay (Robby) De Leon, six grandchildren, Laura Kay (Mark) Goode, Casey (Heather) Winstead, Ty (Angie) Winstead, Ryan De Leon, Ali De Leon, and Sean De Leon and seven great-grandchildren, Kayla, Kelsea, Cameron, Audrey, Sara, Emma, and Tristan. He is also survived by two nephews, James Russell Casey and Keith Cartmill.
Visitation will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at Seaside Funeral Home.
Funeral Service will at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at Seaside Chapel.
Interment will follow at Seaside Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Casey Winstead, Ryan DeLeon, Sean DeLeon, Mark Goode, Wayne Miller, Cameron Wright. Honorary Pallbearers will be Ty Winstead, Robert DeLeon, and William T. Winstead.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to:
Corpus Christi Tennis Association, ATTN: B.H. Casey Scholarship 1520 Shelly, Corpus Christi, Texas 78404, or Yorktown Baptist Church Building Fund. 5025 Yorktown Blvd., Corpus Christi, Texas 78413' Please note on check: B.H. Casey
To view guestbook, share memories and leave condolences, please visit www.seasidefuneral.com
Subject: Know your state motto
Alabama
Hell Yes, We Have Electricity.
Alaska
11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!
Arizona
Yes, But It's A Dry Heat.
Arkansas
Lituracy Ain't Everythang.
California
By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda
Colorado
If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother.
Connecticut
Like Massachusetts, only smaller
Delaware
We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water.
Florida
Ask Us About Our Grandkids and Our Voting Skills
Georgia
We Put The Fun In Fundamentalist Extremism.
Hawaii
Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru
(Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money)
Idaho
More Than Just Potatoes...
Well, Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Good.
Illinois
Please, Don't Pronounce the "S"
Indiana
2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free
Iowa
We Do Amazing Things With Corn
Kansas
First Of The Rectangle States
Kentucky
Five Million People - Fifteen Last Names
Louisiana
We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, but That's Our Tourism Campaign.
Maine
We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster
Maryland
If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
Massachusetts
Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's and Our Senators Are More Corrupt!
Michigan
First Line Of Defense From The Canadians
Minnesota
10,000 Lakes... and 10 Zillion Mosquitoes
Mississippi
Come Visit And Feel Better About Your Own State
Missouri
Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work
Montana
Land Of The Big Sky , The Unabomber, Right-wing Crazies and Honest Elections!
Nebraska
Ask About Our State Motto Contest
Nevada
Hookers and Poker!
New Hampshire
Go Away And Leave Us Alone
New Jersey
You Want A ##$%##! Motto?
I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right here!
New Mexico
Lizards Make Excellent Pets
New York
You Have The Right To Remain Silent,
You Have The Right To An Attorney and No Right To Self Defense!
North Carolina
Tobacco Is A Vegetable
North Dakota
We Really Are One Of The 50 States!
Ohio
At Least We're Not Michigan
Oklahoma
Like The Play, but No Singing
Oregon
Spotted Owl.. It's What's For Dinner
Pennsylvania
Cook With Coal
Rhode Island
We're Not REALLY An Island
South Carolina
Remember The Civil War?
Well, We Didn't Actually Surrender Yet
South Dakota
Closer Than North Dakota
Tennessee
Home of the Al Gore Invention Museum
Texas
Se Hable Ingles
Utah
Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus
Vermont
Too liberal for the Kennedy's
Virginia
Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?
Washington
Our Governor can out-fraud your Governor!
West Virginia
One Big Happy Family - Really!
Wisconsin
Come Cut the Cheese!
Wyoming
Where Men Are Men and the Sheep Are Scared
The District of Columbia
The Work-Free Drug Place!
Hell Yes, We Have Electricity.
Alaska
11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!
Arizona
Yes, But It's A Dry Heat.
Arkansas
Lituracy Ain't Everythang.
California
By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda
Colorado
If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother.
Connecticut
Like Massachusetts, only smaller
Delaware
We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water.
Florida
Ask Us About Our Grandkids and Our Voting Skills
Georgia
We Put The Fun In Fundamentalist Extremism.
Hawaii
Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru
(Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money)
Idaho
More Than Just Potatoes...
Well, Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Good.
Illinois
Please, Don't Pronounce the "S"
Indiana
2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free
Iowa
We Do Amazing Things With Corn
Kansas
First Of The Rectangle States
Kentucky
Five Million People - Fifteen Last Names
Louisiana
We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, but That's Our Tourism Campaign.
Maine
We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster
Maryland
If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
Massachusetts
Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's and Our Senators Are More Corrupt!
Michigan
First Line Of Defense From The Canadians
Minnesota
10,000 Lakes... and 10 Zillion Mosquitoes
Mississippi
Come Visit And Feel Better About Your Own State
Missouri
Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work
Montana
Land Of The Big Sky , The Unabomber, Right-wing Crazies and Honest Elections!
Nebraska
Ask About Our State Motto Contest
Nevada
Hookers and Poker!
New Hampshire
Go Away And Leave Us Alone
New Jersey
You Want A ##$%##! Motto?
I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right here!
New Mexico
Lizards Make Excellent Pets
New York
You Have The Right To Remain Silent,
You Have The Right To An Attorney and No Right To Self Defense!
North Carolina
Tobacco Is A Vegetable
North Dakota
We Really Are One Of The 50 States!
Ohio
At Least We're Not Michigan
Oklahoma
Like The Play, but No Singing
Oregon
Spotted Owl.. It's What's For Dinner
Pennsylvania
Cook With Coal
Rhode Island
We're Not REALLY An Island
South Carolina
Remember The Civil War?
Well, We Didn't Actually Surrender Yet
South Dakota
Closer Than North Dakota
Tennessee
Home of the Al Gore Invention Museum
Texas
Se Hable Ingles
Utah
Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus
Vermont
Too liberal for the Kennedy's
Virginia
Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?
Washington
Our Governor can out-fraud your Governor!
West Virginia
One Big Happy Family - Really!
Wisconsin
Come Cut the Cheese!
Wyoming
Where Men Are Men and the Sheep Are Scared
The District of Columbia
The Work-Free Drug Place!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Clinton misses speech, but not as security holdout
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton missed President Barack Obama's State of the Union address to attend a conference in London, but she was not the only absentee Cabinet member.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was designated by the White House to ride out the speech in an undisclosed location as a precaution against the possibility of a catastrophe wiping out the rest of the government leadership.
When Clinton became aware that her trip to London - for separate conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan - would coincide with the State of the Union address, aides approached the White House about it.
"Could she be the Cabinet member who remains outside the Capitol? We were told that the 'undisclosed location' must be in the United States," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
Obama felt it was more important for her to go to London than to remain for his speech, Crowley said.
"She asked the president directly, 'What do you want me to do?' And he was very clear: These (London talks) are priorities, so your place is in London working on Yemen and Afghanistan-Pakistan," Crowley said.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was designated by the White House to ride out the speech in an undisclosed location as a precaution against the possibility of a catastrophe wiping out the rest of the government leadership.
When Clinton became aware that her trip to London - for separate conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan - would coincide with the State of the Union address, aides approached the White House about it.
"Could she be the Cabinet member who remains outside the Capitol? We were told that the 'undisclosed location' must be in the United States," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
Obama felt it was more important for her to go to London than to remain for his speech, Crowley said.
"She asked the president directly, 'What do you want me to do?' And he was very clear: These (London talks) are priorities, so your place is in London working on Yemen and Afghanistan-Pakistan," Crowley said.
January 27, 2010
In the wake of the Massachusetts Miracle last week ("The other Boston Massacre"), President Obama adopted a populist mantle, claiming he was going to "fight" Wall Street. It was either that or win another Nobel Peace Prize.
Sponsored Content
Now the only question is which Goldman Sachs crony he'll put in charge of this task.
If Obama plans to hold Wall Street accountable for its own bad decisions, it will be a first for the Democrats.
For the past two decades, Democrats have specialized in insulating financial giants from the consequences of their own high-risk bets. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs alone have been rescued from their risky bets by unwitting taxpayers four times in the last 15 years.
Bankers get all the profits, glory and bonuses when their flimflam bets pay off, but the taxpayers foot the bill when Wall Street firms' bets go bad on -- to name just three examples -- Mexican bonds (1995), Thai, Indonesian and South Korean bonds (1997), and Russian bonds (1998).
Sponsored Content
Now the only question is which Goldman Sachs crony he'll put in charge of this task.
If Obama plans to hold Wall Street accountable for its own bad decisions, it will be a first for the Democrats.
For the past two decades, Democrats have specialized in insulating financial giants from the consequences of their own high-risk bets. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs alone have been rescued from their risky bets by unwitting taxpayers four times in the last 15 years.
Bankers get all the profits, glory and bonuses when their flimflam bets pay off, but the taxpayers foot the bill when Wall Street firms' bets go bad on -- to name just three examples -- Mexican bonds (1995), Thai, Indonesian and South Korean bonds (1997), and Russian bonds (1998).
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Prosper Despite the U.S.'s Berserk Government
Dear Charles Gayler,
I bet you never thought you’d find yourself missing Bill Clinton.
Neither did I. But then I recalled President Clinton’s historic declaration, “The era of Big Government is over.”
It’s hard not to get nostalgic for a time when there really was bipartisan agreement in this country -- an agreement that leaner, less intrusive government meant more prosperity for everyone.
Ah, the good ol’ days!
Today, Big Government isn’t just back -- it’s back with a vengeance, like some crazed horror-film slasher who you thought was definitively dispatched at the end of the original movie, only to turn up even crazier in the sequel.
Indeed, it’s not even enough to call it Big Government any more -- call it Berserk Government instead. And President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are the wild-eyed maniacs driving this runaway train through one constitutional barrier after another, and straight off a fiscal cliff.
But believe it or not, I’m writing to you today to share, not my fears, but my confidence, in your financial future. I want to tell you about a man who can help you not just survive, but prosper during the Era of Berserk Government.
His name is Nicholas Vardy, a brilliant investment advisor who, in addition to managing money for a few wealthy clients, dispenses amazingly profitable investment advice -- at a reasonable price -- to thousands of loyal subscribers to his Global Stock Investor newsletter.
Now, don't let that title scare you -- Nick is no “globalist” ideologue. Though based in London -- the center of the international hedge-fund community -- he’s a proud and patriotic American, and he’s had many American stocks in his portfolio (the U.S. is part of the globe, after all).
But Nick also recognizes that in the Era of Berserk Government, when our government is declaring war on private enterprise even as other countries like India are embracing it, some of the best investments will indeed be found abroad. And fortunately, investing abroad has become as easy to do as investing in Microsoft, Chevron, or any other American stock -- a few clicks of a mouse and you’re done.
Nick is a disciple of free-market economists like Friedrich Hayek. So he understands how the economy and financial markets really work -- unlike the Wall Street imbeciles and big-government ideologues who have brought America to the brink of financial ruin.
So, just how good is Nick Vardy's investment advice? Well, in the last two years his portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 by nearly 7%!
Full disclosure: This is a paid endorsement. I receive a percentage of each Global Stock Investor subscription sold, but I wouldn't endorse his newsletter if I did not believe in his abilities as an investment advisor. In fact, I recently bought a stock and an exchange traded fund (ETF) for my Individual Retirement Account on the basis of Nick’s recommendations.
Of course, investing in the stock market is not for everyone, but if your situation allows it -- especially if you are looking for emerging markets investments -- Nick Vardy is worth listening to.
But don't take my word for it. Check out Nick's newsletter for yourself. As I said, it's reasonably priced. Right now, in fact, you can get a full year of Global Stock Investor for about the cost of a mid-priced dinner for two.
I bet you never thought you’d find yourself missing Bill Clinton.
Neither did I. But then I recalled President Clinton’s historic declaration, “The era of Big Government is over.”
It’s hard not to get nostalgic for a time when there really was bipartisan agreement in this country -- an agreement that leaner, less intrusive government meant more prosperity for everyone.
Ah, the good ol’ days!
Today, Big Government isn’t just back -- it’s back with a vengeance, like some crazed horror-film slasher who you thought was definitively dispatched at the end of the original movie, only to turn up even crazier in the sequel.
Indeed, it’s not even enough to call it Big Government any more -- call it Berserk Government instead. And President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are the wild-eyed maniacs driving this runaway train through one constitutional barrier after another, and straight off a fiscal cliff.
But believe it or not, I’m writing to you today to share, not my fears, but my confidence, in your financial future. I want to tell you about a man who can help you not just survive, but prosper during the Era of Berserk Government.
His name is Nicholas Vardy, a brilliant investment advisor who, in addition to managing money for a few wealthy clients, dispenses amazingly profitable investment advice -- at a reasonable price -- to thousands of loyal subscribers to his Global Stock Investor newsletter.
Now, don't let that title scare you -- Nick is no “globalist” ideologue. Though based in London -- the center of the international hedge-fund community -- he’s a proud and patriotic American, and he’s had many American stocks in his portfolio (the U.S. is part of the globe, after all).
But Nick also recognizes that in the Era of Berserk Government, when our government is declaring war on private enterprise even as other countries like India are embracing it, some of the best investments will indeed be found abroad. And fortunately, investing abroad has become as easy to do as investing in Microsoft, Chevron, or any other American stock -- a few clicks of a mouse and you’re done.
Nick is a disciple of free-market economists like Friedrich Hayek. So he understands how the economy and financial markets really work -- unlike the Wall Street imbeciles and big-government ideologues who have brought America to the brink of financial ruin.
So, just how good is Nick Vardy's investment advice? Well, in the last two years his portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 by nearly 7%!
Full disclosure: This is a paid endorsement. I receive a percentage of each Global Stock Investor subscription sold, but I wouldn't endorse his newsletter if I did not believe in his abilities as an investment advisor. In fact, I recently bought a stock and an exchange traded fund (ETF) for my Individual Retirement Account on the basis of Nick’s recommendations.
Of course, investing in the stock market is not for everyone, but if your situation allows it -- especially if you are looking for emerging markets investments -- Nick Vardy is worth listening to.
But don't take my word for it. Check out Nick's newsletter for yourself. As I said, it's reasonably priced. Right now, in fact, you can get a full year of Global Stock Investor for about the cost of a mid-priced dinner for two.
A Victory over the Political Machine
"If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech."
Sponsored Content
ads to come...
These are the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in a historic Supreme Court decision that began with a man, a movie, and a message that bothered the bureaucratic Washington machine.
In January of 2008, as the Democratic presidential primaries between Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) were raging, filmmaker Dave Bossie set about advertising and distributing his 90-minute documentary "Hillary: The Movie." (Full disclosure: Callista and I host and produce movies with Dave.)
The film offered a critical look at the New York senator then vying for the presidency. But Bossie was stunned when government officials from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) told him the film couldn't be aired or even advertised. Their reason? Sen. Clinton was a candidate for federal office, so Bossie's film was illegal under campaign finance law.
Bossie's production company, Citizens United, sued, claiming its First Amendment right to free speech was being denied by the government. And the Supreme Court decision announced last week was not only a vindication of the free speech rights of all Americans, it was a significant step toward dismantling the incumbent-protecting political machine created by bureaucratic campaign finance "reforms" like McCain-Feingold.
By declaring that government has no business suppressing the political speech of groups like Citizens United, the Supreme Court has begun to make it easier for middle class candidates to take on the rich and the powerful.
The Bureaucratic, Anti-Freedom Model of Campaign Finance Was Wrong
Citizens United v. FEC is one more piece of evidence that the model of bureaucratic campaign finance reform – of government restricting the freedom of Americans to criticize politicians rather than maximizing our freedom to question our leadership – was wrong.
The Founders understood the importance of the unfettered right of citizens to complain about their government. They recognized the danger of politicians controlling or censoring the debate about themselves. That's why they wrote in the First Amendment to the Constitution that "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech."
These words and this right have been stunningly perverted by laws like McCain-Feingold, which was explicitly a case of Congress making a law abridging our freedom of speech – of incumbent politicians attempting to censor the people's discussion of whether they should remain in office.
Government Can't Limit the Ability of Associations of Citizens
to Spend in Campaigns
Citizens United was a great victory for free speech because it declared that government can't limit the right of corporations and unions – the "associations of citizens" Justice Kennedy refers to above – from spending freely to support or oppose candidates in elections.
It struck down the part of the McCain-Feingold law that censored corporate-funded political ads within 60 days of federal elections and within 30 days of primaries.
Although it left in place the prohibition on corporate donations directly to candidates and on the ability of corporations to coordinate their activities with candidates, it reversed an earlier high court ruling that allowed government to prevent corporations, nonprofits and unions from spending money independently to influence the outcome of an election.
Making it Easier for Middle Class Candidates to Take on Incumbents
The near-hysterical reaction of proponents of bureaucratic campaign finance laws such as big money fund raiser and incumbent Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) that the decision is "un-American" and "a threat to our democracy" are exactly wrong.
Laws like McCain-Feingold give incumbent politicians in Washington tremendous advantages over middle-class citizen challengers. Incumbents have literally millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded staff, traveling and mailing privileges.
And thanks to McCain-Feingold imposed limits on what individuals can contribute to candidates, rich politicians who can spend unlimited amounts of their own money and don't have to worry about raising money in small amounts have a tremendous advantage.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) used his personal fortune from Goldman Sachs to first buy a Senate seat and then the governorship. And New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg would have been defeated by a virtual unknown last November if he hadn't been able to spend his millions.
Citizens United v. FEC doesn't threaten our democracy. It strengthens it by making it easier for middle-class candidates to compete against the wealthy and incumbents.
Real Reform Would Be Unlimited Donations Posted on the Internet
But as significant as it was, the Court's decision wasn't real campaign finance reform.
Real reform under our Constitution will only come when Americans and associations of Americans are allowed to give unlimited amounts of after-tax money to the candidates and campaigns of their choice.
Donors should be given this freedom and required to post on the Internet every night what they're spending and how they're spending. That way, voters would know who is funding whom, and how much. Armed with that knowledge, Americans can be trusted to make an informed, truly democratic choice.
Predictably, just the prospect of voters making such a free and informed choice has the Washington establishment machine up in arms.
Can We Trust the American People Mr. President? Yes, We Can.
In a breathtaking display of hypocrisy, President Obama used his weekly radio address last week to pledge to work with Congress to reverse the decision and declared: "I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections" (emphasis added).
This, from the president who negotiated back-room deals with special interests in order to force Democratic health care reform on the American people.
This, from a president whose massive expansion of government into the private sector has set off a stampede of lobbyists to Washington to claim their piece of the taxpayers' pie.
But even more glaring than the hypocrisy is the obvious contempt that supporters of bureaucratic campaign finance have for the American people.
Ultimately, the question comes down to one of trust. Can we trust the people, and not the government, to determine our political future? The answer, Mr. President, is a familiar one:
"Yes we can."
Sponsored Content
ads to come...
These are the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in a historic Supreme Court decision that began with a man, a movie, and a message that bothered the bureaucratic Washington machine.
In January of 2008, as the Democratic presidential primaries between Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) were raging, filmmaker Dave Bossie set about advertising and distributing his 90-minute documentary "Hillary: The Movie." (Full disclosure: Callista and I host and produce movies with Dave.)
The film offered a critical look at the New York senator then vying for the presidency. But Bossie was stunned when government officials from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) told him the film couldn't be aired or even advertised. Their reason? Sen. Clinton was a candidate for federal office, so Bossie's film was illegal under campaign finance law.
Bossie's production company, Citizens United, sued, claiming its First Amendment right to free speech was being denied by the government. And the Supreme Court decision announced last week was not only a vindication of the free speech rights of all Americans, it was a significant step toward dismantling the incumbent-protecting political machine created by bureaucratic campaign finance "reforms" like McCain-Feingold.
By declaring that government has no business suppressing the political speech of groups like Citizens United, the Supreme Court has begun to make it easier for middle class candidates to take on the rich and the powerful.
The Bureaucratic, Anti-Freedom Model of Campaign Finance Was Wrong
Citizens United v. FEC is one more piece of evidence that the model of bureaucratic campaign finance reform – of government restricting the freedom of Americans to criticize politicians rather than maximizing our freedom to question our leadership – was wrong.
The Founders understood the importance of the unfettered right of citizens to complain about their government. They recognized the danger of politicians controlling or censoring the debate about themselves. That's why they wrote in the First Amendment to the Constitution that "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech."
These words and this right have been stunningly perverted by laws like McCain-Feingold, which was explicitly a case of Congress making a law abridging our freedom of speech – of incumbent politicians attempting to censor the people's discussion of whether they should remain in office.
Government Can't Limit the Ability of Associations of Citizens
to Spend in Campaigns
Citizens United was a great victory for free speech because it declared that government can't limit the right of corporations and unions – the "associations of citizens" Justice Kennedy refers to above – from spending freely to support or oppose candidates in elections.
It struck down the part of the McCain-Feingold law that censored corporate-funded political ads within 60 days of federal elections and within 30 days of primaries.
Although it left in place the prohibition on corporate donations directly to candidates and on the ability of corporations to coordinate their activities with candidates, it reversed an earlier high court ruling that allowed government to prevent corporations, nonprofits and unions from spending money independently to influence the outcome of an election.
Making it Easier for Middle Class Candidates to Take on Incumbents
The near-hysterical reaction of proponents of bureaucratic campaign finance laws such as big money fund raiser and incumbent Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) that the decision is "un-American" and "a threat to our democracy" are exactly wrong.
Laws like McCain-Feingold give incumbent politicians in Washington tremendous advantages over middle-class citizen challengers. Incumbents have literally millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-funded staff, traveling and mailing privileges.
And thanks to McCain-Feingold imposed limits on what individuals can contribute to candidates, rich politicians who can spend unlimited amounts of their own money and don't have to worry about raising money in small amounts have a tremendous advantage.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) used his personal fortune from Goldman Sachs to first buy a Senate seat and then the governorship. And New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg would have been defeated by a virtual unknown last November if he hadn't been able to spend his millions.
Citizens United v. FEC doesn't threaten our democracy. It strengthens it by making it easier for middle-class candidates to compete against the wealthy and incumbents.
Real Reform Would Be Unlimited Donations Posted on the Internet
But as significant as it was, the Court's decision wasn't real campaign finance reform.
Real reform under our Constitution will only come when Americans and associations of Americans are allowed to give unlimited amounts of after-tax money to the candidates and campaigns of their choice.
Donors should be given this freedom and required to post on the Internet every night what they're spending and how they're spending. That way, voters would know who is funding whom, and how much. Armed with that knowledge, Americans can be trusted to make an informed, truly democratic choice.
Predictably, just the prospect of voters making such a free and informed choice has the Washington establishment machine up in arms.
Can We Trust the American People Mr. President? Yes, We Can.
In a breathtaking display of hypocrisy, President Obama used his weekly radio address last week to pledge to work with Congress to reverse the decision and declared: "I can't think of anything more devastating to the public interest. The last thing we need to do is hand more influence to the lobbyists in Washington or more power to the special interests to tip the outcome of elections" (emphasis added).
This, from the president who negotiated back-room deals with special interests in order to force Democratic health care reform on the American people.
This, from a president whose massive expansion of government into the private sector has set off a stampede of lobbyists to Washington to claim their piece of the taxpayers' pie.
But even more glaring than the hypocrisy is the obvious contempt that supporters of bureaucratic campaign finance have for the American people.
Ultimately, the question comes down to one of trust. Can we trust the people, and not the government, to determine our political future? The answer, Mr. President, is a familiar one:
"Yes we can."
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
funny lawyer joke
A Mafia Godfather, accompanied by his attorney, walks into a room to meet with his former accountant. The Godfather asks the accountant, "Where is the 3 million bucks you embezzled from me?" The accountant does not answer. The Godfather asks again, "Where is the 3 million bucks you embezzled from me?" The attorney interrupts, "Sir, the man is a deaf mute and cannot understand you, but I can interpret for you." The Godfather says, "Well ask him where my damn money is!" The attorney, using sign language, asks the accountant where the 3 million dollars is. The accountant signs back, "I don't know what you are talking about." The attorney interprets to the Godfather, "He doesn't know what you are talking about." The Godfather pulls out a 9 millimeter pistol, puts it to the temple of the accountant, cocks the trigger and says, "Ask him again where my damn money is!" The attorney signs to the accountant, "He wants to know where it is!" The accountant signs back, "OK! OK! OK! The money is hidden in a brown suitcase behind the shed in my backyard!" The Godfather says, "Well....what did he say?" The attorney interprets to the Godfather, "He says...go to hell... that you don't have the guts to pull the trigger."
A philadelphia scumbag/politician/thief/crook to stay away from!
There is a "Politician" named Edward LLoyd in Philadelphia that gave us a worthless check. I say politician because that comes out of his mouth every other sentence.
---------------------------
(Ph. # 215-900-9086)
(Address 222 E. Mentor
Philadelphia, 19120)
---------------------------
(He said the bathtub that we refinished for him was "Too smooth". How can it be too smooth?)
We have never encountered someone like him before. We scheduled 3 different appointments with Mr. Lloyd and whenever we would show up he would be "out of town" even thou he knew that he had scheduled 3 different appointments (All at a time of his choosing) for us to install a anti slip surface which he requested for a $50 fee.
Mr. LLoyd; when confronted about this threatened both the owner and his mother. (I didn't know he knew my mother).
All we wanted was to be paid for the work we had done for him. Mr. LLoyd kept saying he was a "politician" like that is an excuse for his behavior. (Is this common with politicians in Philadelphia?)
This should serve as a warning to other contractors to be wary of this person. He seems to think he is above everyone else and doesn't feel the need to pay for the work we completed for him.
I would bet that Mr. LLoyd has done this before because he is really good at threatening people. He just threatened to send the "F.B.I" after us. (I cannot understand why he feels the need to threaten us). Maybe he should Just pay for the work completed and stop threatening us. (The F.B.I.... gimme a break). Our home office is in Canada and Mr. Lloyd is welcome to come up here any time he wants.
This will remain on the site until Mr. LLoyd pays us for the bad "starter" check. His threats were recorded (Just in case they are needed) and I have reported this to our local police. He said he would sue us for slander however "Our" atty. explained to us that "If it is the truth; there is no slander.
We normally wouldn't go to this much trouble for one bathtub but people need to know how he operates and what kind of person he is. If you have had similar problems with this person please let us know and we will post those also. I cannot imagine we are the only ones that he has treated this way
---------------------------
(Ph. # 215-900-9086)
(Address 222 E. Mentor
Philadelphia, 19120)
---------------------------
(He said the bathtub that we refinished for him was "Too smooth". How can it be too smooth?)
We have never encountered someone like him before. We scheduled 3 different appointments with Mr. Lloyd and whenever we would show up he would be "out of town" even thou he knew that he had scheduled 3 different appointments (All at a time of his choosing) for us to install a anti slip surface which he requested for a $50 fee.
Mr. LLoyd; when confronted about this threatened both the owner and his mother. (I didn't know he knew my mother).
All we wanted was to be paid for the work we had done for him. Mr. LLoyd kept saying he was a "politician" like that is an excuse for his behavior. (Is this common with politicians in Philadelphia?)
This should serve as a warning to other contractors to be wary of this person. He seems to think he is above everyone else and doesn't feel the need to pay for the work we completed for him.
I would bet that Mr. LLoyd has done this before because he is really good at threatening people. He just threatened to send the "F.B.I" after us. (I cannot understand why he feels the need to threaten us). Maybe he should Just pay for the work completed and stop threatening us. (The F.B.I.... gimme a break). Our home office is in Canada and Mr. Lloyd is welcome to come up here any time he wants.
This will remain on the site until Mr. LLoyd pays us for the bad "starter" check. His threats were recorded (Just in case they are needed) and I have reported this to our local police. He said he would sue us for slander however "Our" atty. explained to us that "If it is the truth; there is no slander.
We normally wouldn't go to this much trouble for one bathtub but people need to know how he operates and what kind of person he is. If you have had similar problems with this person please let us know and we will post those also. I cannot imagine we are the only ones that he has treated this way
Is it coming?
This was sent to me by a friend. I found it quite interesting.
Please read, do not delete
Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie, '
Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard - she appointed him to
track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the
Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.
In a lecture in New York City a few weeks ago, he shared
information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has
not yet shared with us.
He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly
show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the
time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him
back on the show.
But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had
occurred.
Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in
Israel and the Middle East ) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month
before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as
bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since
hired him as a security consultant.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next
terrorist attack on the U. S. Will occur within the next few months.
Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will
NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will
never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke --
that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies
that are truly effective.
For example:
1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal,
and the new explosives are made of plastic.
2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on
fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of
idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids
on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid
explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all
traveling naked! Every strategy we have is reactionary.
3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the
gates. Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future,
they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where
people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases
of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to
watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink
and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel ,
security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is
imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places
where large groups of people congregate. (Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big
cities New York , San Francisco , Chicago , etc.) and that it will also
include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well
as rural America this time ( Wyoming , Montana , etc.).
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations
around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8
cities, including rural areas.
Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in
many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
, they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence
circles, but that our U. S. Government does not want to 'alarm American
citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different
place', and issues like global warming and political correctness will become
totally irrelevant.
On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to
be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy
America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a
front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an
infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their
destiny'.
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which
America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will
be, instead, 'homegrown' - having attended and been educated in our own
schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for
'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These
young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language
and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans
won't know/understand a thing about them.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and
uneducated about the terrorist threats we will, inevitably, face. America
still has only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our
intelligence networks and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact
SOON.
So, what can America do to protect itself? From an
intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U. S. needs to stop relying on
satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow
Israel 's, Ireland 's and England 's hands-on examples of human
intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust
'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as
citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens,
'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are
concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv
says this is a deadly mistake.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our
Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five
major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman
to check it out... in fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the
briefcase!
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well
'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by
citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be
quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves. But, unfortunately,
America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to
fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to
understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line
of defense against terrorism.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children
here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were
'lost' without parents being able to pick them up; and about our schools
that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could
get there. (In New York City , this was days, in some cases!)
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed
upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terrorist
emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand
that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one
another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should
all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to
remember and follow.
Aviv says that the U. S. government has in force a plan
that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off
EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the
preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that
their bombs are detonated.
How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event
you cannot speak? You need to have a plan.
If you believe what you have just read, then you must feel
compelled to send to every concerned parent or guardian, grandparents,
uncles, aunts, whatever and whomever.
Nothing will happen if you choose not to do so, but in the
event it does happen, this particular email will haunt you...
Please read, do not delete
Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie, '
Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard - she appointed him to
track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the
Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.
In a lecture in New York City a few weeks ago, he shared
information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has
not yet shared with us.
He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly
show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the
time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him
back on the show.
But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had
occurred.
Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in
Israel and the Middle East ) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month
before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as
bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since
hired him as a security consultant.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next
terrorist attack on the U. S. Will occur within the next few months.
Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will
NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will
never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke --
that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies
that are truly effective.
For example:
1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal,
and the new explosives are made of plastic.
2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on
fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of
idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids
on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid
explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all
traveling naked! Every strategy we have is reactionary.
3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the
gates. Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future,
they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where
people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases
of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to
watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink
and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel ,
security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is
imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places
where large groups of people congregate. (Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big
cities New York , San Francisco , Chicago , etc.) and that it will also
include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well
as rural America this time ( Wyoming , Montana , etc.).
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations
around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8
cities, including rural areas.
Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in
many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
, they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence
circles, but that our U. S. Government does not want to 'alarm American
citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different
place', and issues like global warming and political correctness will become
totally irrelevant.
On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to
be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy
America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a
front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an
infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their
destiny'.
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which
America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will
be, instead, 'homegrown' - having attended and been educated in our own
schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for
'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These
young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language
and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans
won't know/understand a thing about them.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and
uneducated about the terrorist threats we will, inevitably, face. America
still has only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our
intelligence networks and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact
SOON.
So, what can America do to protect itself? From an
intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U. S. needs to stop relying on
satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow
Israel 's, Ireland 's and England 's hands-on examples of human
intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust
'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as
citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens,
'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are
concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv
says this is a deadly mistake.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our
Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five
major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman
to check it out... in fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the
briefcase!
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well
'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by
citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be
quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves. But, unfortunately,
America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to
fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to
understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line
of defense against terrorism.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children
here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were
'lost' without parents being able to pick them up; and about our schools
that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could
get there. (In New York City , this was days, in some cases!)
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed
upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terrorist
emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand
that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one
another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should
all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to
remember and follow.
Aviv says that the U. S. government has in force a plan
that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off
EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the
preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that
their bombs are detonated.
How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event
you cannot speak? You need to have a plan.
If you believe what you have just read, then you must feel
compelled to send to every concerned parent or guardian, grandparents,
uncles, aunts, whatever and whomever.
Nothing will happen if you choose not to do so, but in the
event it does happen, this particular email will haunt you...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Amendment to the constitution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is worth the effort to pass along and support...
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that Congress members could retire with the same pay after only one term,
that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for
sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered...in all of its forms.
Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.
This is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply
equally to the Senators and Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators
and Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States".
For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that Congress members could retire with the same pay after only one term,
that they didn't pay into Social Security, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for
sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered...in all of its forms.
Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.
This is a good way to do that. It is an idea whose time has come.
Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply
equally to the Senators and Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators
and Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States".
Charles Gayler
Mr. Charles Gayler founded Eastern Refinishing in 1989 with a small investment of just $10,000 and developed it into the leading bathtub, wall tile and countertop refinishing business in the country with over 60 offices in 28 states.
Charles Gayler developed new techniques and tested new products in the pursuit to produce the finest refinishing processes. Charles Gayler also implemented quality control standards unheard of in the refinishing industry.
Prior to founding Eastern Refinishing Charles Gayler attended Villa Maria College in Buffalo, New York. After majoring in “ping pong” for 3 semesters Charles Gayler joined the air force (reserve), served his time, and as soon as he could Charles Gayler enrolled at The Ohio State University where Charles Gayler obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Labor and Human Resources in 1981.
Charles Gayler went to work for the Hearst Corporation in their management training program where he worked 82 hours a week +6 days a week. After 10 months Charles Gayler was given the 45th of 45 offices in the company in Charlotte, North Carolina where he raised the office to fifth in the country in 5 months and within 1 year it was the most productive office in the country with $4,300,000 in sales per month. Charles Gayler was offered his own dealership and spent the next few years building the company. Eventually Charles Gayler accepted a generous offer to sell and purse other interests. This led him back to school again to pursue another degree in psychology and to expand his experience.
A former Texan, and now a Canadian citizen, Charles Gayler currently resides in northern Canada with his 2 semi-domesticated dogs. They greatly enjoy the outdoors that can only be experienced on Gaylers’ 152 acre estate with 8 ponds, Gaylers’ own island and his dogs. Charles Gayler truly enjoys nature and lives in harmony with the many species of animals that reside on his property including bear, deer, beaver….. even porcupines. Charles Gayler respects the environment and does his part everyday to protect it. In fact, Charles Gayler even produces his own electricity with a 108′ tall wind turbine and 15 solar panels.
Charles Gayler is still directly involved in his international refinishing
business and can usually at the office every day at 7:30 a.m. to help customers with their refinishing needs.
Charles Gayler developed new techniques and tested new products in the pursuit to produce the finest refinishing processes. Charles Gayler also implemented quality control standards unheard of in the refinishing industry.
Prior to founding Eastern Refinishing Charles Gayler attended Villa Maria College in Buffalo, New York. After majoring in “ping pong” for 3 semesters Charles Gayler joined the air force (reserve), served his time, and as soon as he could Charles Gayler enrolled at The Ohio State University where Charles Gayler obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Labor and Human Resources in 1981.
Charles Gayler went to work for the Hearst Corporation in their management training program where he worked 82 hours a week +6 days a week. After 10 months Charles Gayler was given the 45th of 45 offices in the company in Charlotte, North Carolina where he raised the office to fifth in the country in 5 months and within 1 year it was the most productive office in the country with $4,300,000 in sales per month. Charles Gayler was offered his own dealership and spent the next few years building the company. Eventually Charles Gayler accepted a generous offer to sell and purse other interests. This led him back to school again to pursue another degree in psychology and to expand his experience.
A former Texan, and now a Canadian citizen, Charles Gayler currently resides in northern Canada with his 2 semi-domesticated dogs. They greatly enjoy the outdoors that can only be experienced on Gaylers’ 152 acre estate with 8 ponds, Gaylers’ own island and his dogs. Charles Gayler truly enjoys nature and lives in harmony with the many species of animals that reside on his property including bear, deer, beaver….. even porcupines. Charles Gayler respects the environment and does his part everyday to protect it. In fact, Charles Gayler even produces his own electricity with a 108′ tall wind turbine and 15 solar panels.
Charles Gayler is still directly involved in his international refinishing
business and can usually at the office every day at 7:30 a.m. to help customers with their refinishing needs.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
reasons to buy a dog!
REASONS TO BUY A DOG....instead of getting married
If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him, and never say its not quite as good as his mothers
.... .. . then buy a dog.
If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour,
for as long and wherever you want ....
.... . . then buy a dog.
If you want someone who will never touch the remote,
doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies
.... . . then buy a dog.
If you want someone who is content to get on your bed just to warm your feet and who you can push off if he snores
.... . . then buy a dog!
If you want someone who never criticizes what you do,
doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually . . .
.... . . then buy a dog.
BUT, on the other hand . . .
If you want someone who will never come
when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night and only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness . . .
.... . .. then buy a cat!
Now be honest, you thought I was gonna' say... marry a man, didn't you?
Send this to all the women you know to brighten their day. Send this to all the men just to annoy them!
If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him, and never say its not quite as good as his mothers
.... .. . then buy a dog.
If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour,
for as long and wherever you want ....
.... . . then buy a dog.
If you want someone who will never touch the remote,
doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies
.... . . then buy a dog.
If you want someone who is content to get on your bed just to warm your feet and who you can push off if he snores
.... . . then buy a dog!
If you want someone who never criticizes what you do,
doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually . . .
.... . . then buy a dog.
BUT, on the other hand . . .
If you want someone who will never come
when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night and only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness . . .
.... . .. then buy a cat!
Now be honest, you thought I was gonna' say... marry a man, didn't you?
Send this to all the women you know to brighten their day. Send this to all the men just to annoy them!
Dear Concerned American,
With the recent loss of the Massachusetts democratic seat, Obama's had to back away from health reform. Unfortunately, he's set his sights on devouring the entire free-enterprise system.
In his first 100 days as president, Obama gobbled up two major automakers, wolfed down nearly 600 banks, gorged on blue-chip companies, and scarfed down the U.S. credit industry. Now he wants dessert. President "Obama the Hungry" makes King Henry VIII look like a compulsive dieter!
I know something about overeating. It can kill you. Back when I was governor of Arkansas, I was so overweight I developed Type II diabetes. Doctors told me to lay down the knife and fork -- or else. That scared me. I cut the calories and lost 110 pounds. Only then did I regain my health.
Does fat like that scare Obama? Heck no. He's hungry for more! Fresh from gulping down $800 billion of our money to load up his Washington smorgasbord, he's now looking for a second course. And you and I will pay the tab for this gargantuan pig-out!
As sure as heartburn follows a chili-dog, this massive "Obama-binge" will trigger hyperinflation. There's only one way for the President to pay for this feast and you know what it is. Yes, get those presses rolling and print trillions of inflated dollars.
I'll bet you're thinking -- well, what can I do about it? True enough, Obama can pretty much do what he wants -- at least until the 2010 mid-term elections come along and we Americans can send him a "slim-down or else" message.
But right now, you and I need to protect the money we've earned and invested over the years -- before Obama's hyperinflation chews our buying power down by multiple percentage points. This is a serious concern, believe me. It's so serious I won't pretend, as a politician and talk-show host, to have the answers for you. But I know someone who does.
I urge you to consider the proven financial guidance of Doug Fabian -- the renowned investing advisor who saw the financial meltdown of 2008 coming and saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of money.
Subscribers to Successful Investing, Doug's newsletter, knew the meaning of terms like "housing bubble" and "sub-prime" long before they became headline news and the source of financial misery for millions.
This is what Doug wrote in 2006, nearly two years before the crash:
"Pay little heed to the real estate industry's PR campaign to play down the coming housing price slump. It's happening. The bottom is falling out for many banks, investors, and homeowners right now."
This is what Doug is writing today:
"Never mind the endless speculation about inflation and interest rates -- they're going up."
Doug 's not just warning his readers about hyperinflation, he's steering them to investments that make money during inflationary periods. He reminds us that many fortunes were made in the 1970s when America was ravaged by high inflation and brought to the brink of collapse by Jimmy Carter -- a president eerily similar to Barack Obama.
Look, I'm no investing wizard. But I invest. I have to. So do you. Counting on Social Security while Obama is in office is a little like saying, "The Light Brigade is about to charge? Sign me up!"
But having someone with the proven know-how and track record of Doug Fabian is a comfort. That's some track record, by the way. Successful Investing has generated double-digit annual returns for ordinary investors for 32 years and counting. Best of all, Doug does all the work for you.
Don't just take my word. Investor's Business Daily called Doug "one of the best market timers in the business.
Count on it, the "Obama-binge" will result in hyperinflation. ($800 billion in government spending makes it all but inevitable). You can't control that. But when the day of reckoning comes, you can be one of the few whose portfolio is already adapted to profit from it. Could you ask for anything better? Well, you can. But you'll have to wait till 2012 before we elect a new president!
I urge you to try Successful Investing today.
In his first 100 days as president, Obama gobbled up two major automakers, wolfed down nearly 600 banks, gorged on blue-chip companies, and scarfed down the U.S. credit industry. Now he wants dessert. President "Obama the Hungry" makes King Henry VIII look like a compulsive dieter!
I know something about overeating. It can kill you. Back when I was governor of Arkansas, I was so overweight I developed Type II diabetes. Doctors told me to lay down the knife and fork -- or else. That scared me. I cut the calories and lost 110 pounds. Only then did I regain my health.
Does fat like that scare Obama? Heck no. He's hungry for more! Fresh from gulping down $800 billion of our money to load up his Washington smorgasbord, he's now looking for a second course. And you and I will pay the tab for this gargantuan pig-out!
As sure as heartburn follows a chili-dog, this massive "Obama-binge" will trigger hyperinflation. There's only one way for the President to pay for this feast and you know what it is. Yes, get those presses rolling and print trillions of inflated dollars.
I'll bet you're thinking -- well, what can I do about it? True enough, Obama can pretty much do what he wants -- at least until the 2010 mid-term elections come along and we Americans can send him a "slim-down or else" message.
But right now, you and I need to protect the money we've earned and invested over the years -- before Obama's hyperinflation chews our buying power down by multiple percentage points. This is a serious concern, believe me. It's so serious I won't pretend, as a politician and talk-show host, to have the answers for you. But I know someone who does.
I urge you to consider the proven financial guidance of Doug Fabian -- the renowned investing advisor who saw the financial meltdown of 2008 coming and saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of money.
Subscribers to Successful Investing, Doug's newsletter, knew the meaning of terms like "housing bubble" and "sub-prime" long before they became headline news and the source of financial misery for millions.
This is what Doug wrote in 2006, nearly two years before the crash:
"Pay little heed to the real estate industry's PR campaign to play down the coming housing price slump. It's happening. The bottom is falling out for many banks, investors, and homeowners right now."
This is what Doug is writing today:
"Never mind the endless speculation about inflation and interest rates -- they're going up."
Doug 's not just warning his readers about hyperinflation, he's steering them to investments that make money during inflationary periods. He reminds us that many fortunes were made in the 1970s when America was ravaged by high inflation and brought to the brink of collapse by Jimmy Carter -- a president eerily similar to Barack Obama.
Look, I'm no investing wizard. But I invest. I have to. So do you. Counting on Social Security while Obama is in office is a little like saying, "The Light Brigade is about to charge? Sign me up!"
But having someone with the proven know-how and track record of Doug Fabian is a comfort. That's some track record, by the way. Successful Investing has generated double-digit annual returns for ordinary investors for 32 years and counting. Best of all, Doug does all the work for you.
Don't just take my word. Investor's Business Daily called Doug "one of the best market timers in the business.
Count on it, the "Obama-binge" will result in hyperinflation. ($800 billion in government spending makes it all but inevitable). You can't control that. But when the day of reckoning comes, you can be one of the few whose portfolio is already adapted to profit from it. Could you ask for anything better? Well, you can. But you'll have to wait till 2012 before we elect a new president!
I urge you to try Successful Investing today.
Friday, January 22, 2010
How Can Localities Cope if the Dollar Crashes?
A “run on the dollar,” or any currency, for that matter, takes place when the currency is losing its value. This happens when a country’s debt becomes so great that there is danger of a major default–that is, large scale or even national bankruptcy. At that point, people whose wealth is in that currency, or in relatively liquid assets denominated in the currency, try to get rid of them as fast as they can. Today, that includes foreign countries like China or Russia that are holding large quantities of U.S. government bonds.
The U.S. currently is at risk. We see it in personal and business bankruptcies and foreclosures. One result can be a high rate of inflation in certain products like food or gasoline, even while asset prices, as with homes and stocks, are going down. The question is now whether the “recovery” that is underway can be sustained or will there be another crash like there was in late 2008 to early 2009.
Forecasters are projecting this recovery to last until June 2010 but are foreseeing slippage at that point. Investors at this time are still putting money into the stock market and getting out of dollars. By June, the U.S. government had better come up with a strategy for real economic growth–which means jobs–or we will likely see the “double-dip” recession many have predicted. Personally I see no way growth can be sustained unless the national debt burden shrinks. This can only be done through an orderly process of debt forgiveness, a resurgence of economic production, or a default that could be catastrophic.
Is there any way people and localities can protect themselves? The best way, in my opinion, is to put our resources, including our time and labor, into producing something of value in the real physical economy. Since most people’s largest asset is their homes, home maintenance and repair might work. It won’t make you rich, but it could put food on the table.
Speaking of food, growing it is another option. In many locations, there is a greater demand for locally-produced food than there are producers to meet that demand. In a couple of months it will be time to start planting this year’s garden. People could get together as a community and make plans for gardens big enough to sell the surplus at local outdoor markets. Buying and selling products at the local level can also become an economic engine to fuel the creation of a local currency.
A strategy of local food production can also address the problem that the era of cheap food in the U.S. is coming to an end. This is happening partly because a large portion of food prices consists of the cost of the fossil fuels used in growing, harvesting, and transporting the food to market. Gasoline prices are on the rise again. This will take food prices upward as well.
Local farming, by contrast, places food production close to the end consumer. Personal health also benefits from higher quality food and from getting outdoors and becoming more physically active.
As the national economy gets worse, it’s time for people to roll up their sleeves and get to work doing for themselves what big finance, big oil, and big government can no longer do.
The U.S. currently is at risk. We see it in personal and business bankruptcies and foreclosures. One result can be a high rate of inflation in certain products like food or gasoline, even while asset prices, as with homes and stocks, are going down. The question is now whether the “recovery” that is underway can be sustained or will there be another crash like there was in late 2008 to early 2009.
Forecasters are projecting this recovery to last until June 2010 but are foreseeing slippage at that point. Investors at this time are still putting money into the stock market and getting out of dollars. By June, the U.S. government had better come up with a strategy for real economic growth–which means jobs–or we will likely see the “double-dip” recession many have predicted. Personally I see no way growth can be sustained unless the national debt burden shrinks. This can only be done through an orderly process of debt forgiveness, a resurgence of economic production, or a default that could be catastrophic.
Is there any way people and localities can protect themselves? The best way, in my opinion, is to put our resources, including our time and labor, into producing something of value in the real physical economy. Since most people’s largest asset is their homes, home maintenance and repair might work. It won’t make you rich, but it could put food on the table.
Speaking of food, growing it is another option. In many locations, there is a greater demand for locally-produced food than there are producers to meet that demand. In a couple of months it will be time to start planting this year’s garden. People could get together as a community and make plans for gardens big enough to sell the surplus at local outdoor markets. Buying and selling products at the local level can also become an economic engine to fuel the creation of a local currency.
A strategy of local food production can also address the problem that the era of cheap food in the U.S. is coming to an end. This is happening partly because a large portion of food prices consists of the cost of the fossil fuels used in growing, harvesting, and transporting the food to market. Gasoline prices are on the rise again. This will take food prices upward as well.
Local farming, by contrast, places food production close to the end consumer. Personal health also benefits from higher quality food and from getting outdoors and becoming more physically active.
As the national economy gets worse, it’s time for people to roll up their sleeves and get to work doing for themselves what big finance, big oil, and big government can no longer do.
Nullification of congress
Danger ahead -- the nullification of the Congress
By Norvell Rose
There hasn't been so much heated discussion of "nullification" since the OJ trial. You remember that culture-clash moment in American Justice, don't you? When OJ Simpson, the former NFL star turned actor, was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend? The 1995 courtroom spectacle in Los Angeles has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in American history. Its outcome — an acquittal in the face of reasonably damning evidence — has also been cited as one of the most glaring examples of a legal phenomenon known as "jury nullification."
Put simply, jury nullification is the process whereby a jury in a criminal case effectively nullifies a law by acquitting a defendant regardless of the weight of evidence against him or her. It is the power of the panel to act in bold defiance of both law and fact, voting to set a defendant free, even if that person did run afoul of a particular criminal statute. In the OJ case, the sympathetic jury essentially poked a prominent finger in the eye of the system, giving their own peculiar twist to the term "blind justice."
More recently, nullification of a different sort has been put on trial in the court of public opinion and pursued in the chambers of state legislatures across the country. This type of nullification is not an act of defiance, rather one of obedience — obedience to the Constitution of the United States and to the conscience of its determined protectors.
When a state nullifies a federal law, it does so with the solemn conviction that the law in question is unconstitutional. The state's lawmakers, generally invoking their sovereign powers under the Tenth Amendment, are proclaiming that the offensive law is void and inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state. In other words, they declare that the federal law is not "legal" and cannot be enforced against their citizens.
Such nullification has a long history in the American tradition. Of late it has been used by quite a few states in effectively blocking the federal Real ID Act of 2005 and resisting federal marijuana laws. With regard to healthcare legislation expected to be forced on us against our will by Washington, a number of states are already putting into motion the wheels of nullification. Legislation has been introduced, or state constitutional amendments put forth for 2010, that could effectively nullify national healthcare mandates within the borders of the various states.
What's directly implied in such nullification laws is "interposition" (as referred to by James Madison in the Virginia Resolution of 1798). This is a bedrock principle supporting state sovereignty. According to this principle, state governments not only have the right to resist unconstitutional federal acts, but, in order to protect liberty, they are "duty bound to interpose" or stand between the federal government and the people of the state. To do less would be an unconscionable dereliction of civic duty and would jeopardize the standing of the state and the rights of its citizens.
Which introduction to nullification brings us now to the sharp point of this piece — the looming danger we face from the impending nullification of the Congress of the United States.
It is a charge that, until recently, would seem too outrageous even to consider. But given the extreme, purposeful and concerted misdeeds, destructive acts and examples of egregious malfeasance by official Washington, it is a charge that cries out to be aired.
The Obama Administration and its either willing or unwitting co-conspirators on Capitol Hill (I would bet heavily on "willing") are, without a doubt, scheming to undermine our cherished Constitutional system of checks and balances. They are conspiring to cause future elections of our U.S. Senators and Representatives to be effectively "null and void" in their legislative impact. After all, in their radical leftist construct for government "rule," why should the "rulers" have to bother with that pesky, problematic, unpredictable Congress? This would, indeed, be "fundamental change," wouldn't it? And if the Obamacratic oligarchists succeed in this subversion — one that would tragically be "historic and unprecedented" (to borrow again from Mr. Obama's lofty language) — it will matter little how federal elections turn out in 2010...or in any year beyond.
Alarmist, am I? Cuckoo escaped from the cage, you say? Consider this: Every major move, initiative, proposal or policy of the Obama White House and its willing enablers down the street in DC has, at its dark heart, a pernicious power grab or power shift. The intent? To restructure the balance of power into the hands of an almighty Executive. The evidence?
Healthcare. Use empty promises, corrupt bargains, secret negotiations ... ignore the clear and consistent will of the people ... create some horrendous, freak show of a bill built in haste for partisan political purposes ... ram it, cram it, jam it through in a "crisis" atmosphere ... grab untold power for a vast new bureaucracy, as well as for the IRS as "enforcer" ... and ... Congress is then pretty much out of play because this voracious monster will be able to feed at will and grow willy-nilly without restraint.
Stimulus. Shifting control of massive spending, with its attendant employment design capability, from the Legislative to the Executive Branch, with the Treasury Department now fairly well in charge of Uncle Sam's checkbook and credit card.
Bailouts. From banking to energy to transportation, critical decisions about money and management are being effectively maneuvered into the hands of the President and his inner circle, including select corporate chieftans and union bosses.
Taxes. Why mess around with contentious legislation when the same effect can be achieved — gaining greater control over Americans' money — by using assumed Executive power to directly or indirectly impose fees, levies, fines and surcharges?
Environment. Shift ever-greater command and control to Executive-branch agencies, e.g. the impudent EPA, usurping the constitutional authority of the Congress, which is forever diminished.
Czars. Well, do we really need to review how these powerful presidential appointments — dozens of liberal loose cannons — skirt meaningful Legislative-branch advice, consent and oversight?
And on and on the sad story goes. A story whose ending could well mark the end of Congress as a body with any real power and authority. Too many in Congress have, for far too long, been complacent or complicit in this crime.
Understanding this in-our-face attempt to disrupt and dismantle our system of government helps to explain why the President and the Democrat leadership turn an increasingly deaf ear to the complaints of the voters. Those complaints, according to their scheme, will soon be rendered moot, mere background noise. They know our best, most immediate course of action against the Obamacrats attempted coup is to "throw the bums out" in November. But if the biggest and baddest of the bums can pull off their power play, our voting a new team onto the political field in Washington will have little impact on changing the outcome of the liberals' endgame.
The alarming evidence of the Administration's purposeful attempt to pry more and more authority from the Congress is stark and overwhelming. The arguments demonstrating the President's plan to amass and consolidate government power under his far-reaching control are clear and compelling. The Congress — the most direct reach of the people into the Washington political machine — is being systematically neutered. Nullification of this once-great legislative body is fully underway.
We can only hope that We the People — the jury in this felony case — will rise up and deliver an unflinching verdict based on the law of the land and the Constitutional foundations upon which it rightly rests. This must be a verdict that will render swift and sure punishment to those offenders who are trying to get away with the Constitutional crime of the century. The strength of our demand that this grand larceny stop, and stop right now, will determine whether We the Jury — We the Voters — are, ourselves, nullified.
As to whether this justice is forthcoming, history will be the judge.
By Norvell Rose
There hasn't been so much heated discussion of "nullification" since the OJ trial. You remember that culture-clash moment in American Justice, don't you? When OJ Simpson, the former NFL star turned actor, was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend? The 1995 courtroom spectacle in Los Angeles has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in American history. Its outcome — an acquittal in the face of reasonably damning evidence — has also been cited as one of the most glaring examples of a legal phenomenon known as "jury nullification."
Put simply, jury nullification is the process whereby a jury in a criminal case effectively nullifies a law by acquitting a defendant regardless of the weight of evidence against him or her. It is the power of the panel to act in bold defiance of both law and fact, voting to set a defendant free, even if that person did run afoul of a particular criminal statute. In the OJ case, the sympathetic jury essentially poked a prominent finger in the eye of the system, giving their own peculiar twist to the term "blind justice."
More recently, nullification of a different sort has been put on trial in the court of public opinion and pursued in the chambers of state legislatures across the country. This type of nullification is not an act of defiance, rather one of obedience — obedience to the Constitution of the United States and to the conscience of its determined protectors.
When a state nullifies a federal law, it does so with the solemn conviction that the law in question is unconstitutional. The state's lawmakers, generally invoking their sovereign powers under the Tenth Amendment, are proclaiming that the offensive law is void and inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state. In other words, they declare that the federal law is not "legal" and cannot be enforced against their citizens.
Such nullification has a long history in the American tradition. Of late it has been used by quite a few states in effectively blocking the federal Real ID Act of 2005 and resisting federal marijuana laws. With regard to healthcare legislation expected to be forced on us against our will by Washington, a number of states are already putting into motion the wheels of nullification. Legislation has been introduced, or state constitutional amendments put forth for 2010, that could effectively nullify national healthcare mandates within the borders of the various states.
What's directly implied in such nullification laws is "interposition" (as referred to by James Madison in the Virginia Resolution of 1798). This is a bedrock principle supporting state sovereignty. According to this principle, state governments not only have the right to resist unconstitutional federal acts, but, in order to protect liberty, they are "duty bound to interpose" or stand between the federal government and the people of the state. To do less would be an unconscionable dereliction of civic duty and would jeopardize the standing of the state and the rights of its citizens.
Which introduction to nullification brings us now to the sharp point of this piece — the looming danger we face from the impending nullification of the Congress of the United States.
It is a charge that, until recently, would seem too outrageous even to consider. But given the extreme, purposeful and concerted misdeeds, destructive acts and examples of egregious malfeasance by official Washington, it is a charge that cries out to be aired.
The Obama Administration and its either willing or unwitting co-conspirators on Capitol Hill (I would bet heavily on "willing") are, without a doubt, scheming to undermine our cherished Constitutional system of checks and balances. They are conspiring to cause future elections of our U.S. Senators and Representatives to be effectively "null and void" in their legislative impact. After all, in their radical leftist construct for government "rule," why should the "rulers" have to bother with that pesky, problematic, unpredictable Congress? This would, indeed, be "fundamental change," wouldn't it? And if the Obamacratic oligarchists succeed in this subversion — one that would tragically be "historic and unprecedented" (to borrow again from Mr. Obama's lofty language) — it will matter little how federal elections turn out in 2010...or in any year beyond.
Alarmist, am I? Cuckoo escaped from the cage, you say? Consider this: Every major move, initiative, proposal or policy of the Obama White House and its willing enablers down the street in DC has, at its dark heart, a pernicious power grab or power shift. The intent? To restructure the balance of power into the hands of an almighty Executive. The evidence?
Healthcare. Use empty promises, corrupt bargains, secret negotiations ... ignore the clear and consistent will of the people ... create some horrendous, freak show of a bill built in haste for partisan political purposes ... ram it, cram it, jam it through in a "crisis" atmosphere ... grab untold power for a vast new bureaucracy, as well as for the IRS as "enforcer" ... and ... Congress is then pretty much out of play because this voracious monster will be able to feed at will and grow willy-nilly without restraint.
Stimulus. Shifting control of massive spending, with its attendant employment design capability, from the Legislative to the Executive Branch, with the Treasury Department now fairly well in charge of Uncle Sam's checkbook and credit card.
Bailouts. From banking to energy to transportation, critical decisions about money and management are being effectively maneuvered into the hands of the President and his inner circle, including select corporate chieftans and union bosses.
Taxes. Why mess around with contentious legislation when the same effect can be achieved — gaining greater control over Americans' money — by using assumed Executive power to directly or indirectly impose fees, levies, fines and surcharges?
Environment. Shift ever-greater command and control to Executive-branch agencies, e.g. the impudent EPA, usurping the constitutional authority of the Congress, which is forever diminished.
Czars. Well, do we really need to review how these powerful presidential appointments — dozens of liberal loose cannons — skirt meaningful Legislative-branch advice, consent and oversight?
And on and on the sad story goes. A story whose ending could well mark the end of Congress as a body with any real power and authority. Too many in Congress have, for far too long, been complacent or complicit in this crime.
Understanding this in-our-face attempt to disrupt and dismantle our system of government helps to explain why the President and the Democrat leadership turn an increasingly deaf ear to the complaints of the voters. Those complaints, according to their scheme, will soon be rendered moot, mere background noise. They know our best, most immediate course of action against the Obamacrats attempted coup is to "throw the bums out" in November. But if the biggest and baddest of the bums can pull off their power play, our voting a new team onto the political field in Washington will have little impact on changing the outcome of the liberals' endgame.
The alarming evidence of the Administration's purposeful attempt to pry more and more authority from the Congress is stark and overwhelming. The arguments demonstrating the President's plan to amass and consolidate government power under his far-reaching control are clear and compelling. The Congress — the most direct reach of the people into the Washington political machine — is being systematically neutered. Nullification of this once-great legislative body is fully underway.
We can only hope that We the People — the jury in this felony case — will rise up and deliver an unflinching verdict based on the law of the land and the Constitutional foundations upon which it rightly rests. This must be a verdict that will render swift and sure punishment to those offenders who are trying to get away with the Constitutional crime of the century. The strength of our demand that this grand larceny stop, and stop right now, will determine whether We the Jury — We the Voters — are, ourselves, nullified.
As to whether this justice is forthcoming, history will be the judge.
More Lessons
Lesson Two: Being Positive Matters and Congressional Republicans Should Take Note
In the three winning campaigns (Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts) the Republican candidate has been issue-oriented and had a positive message. In each case, Republicans drew a principled, issue-oriented difference between themselves and the Democrats.
The American people are genuinely frightened about the economy, about terrorism, about the loss of honesty and transparency in their government. The American people want a party which is trying to solve the things they fear, not a party which is trying to use their fear to remain negative.
An alternative party can win huge victories in 2010 and 2012; an opposition party will have far fewer victories.
Lesson Three: President Obama Has Had Two Bad Anniversaries and Now is the Moment for Him to Rethink What He Has Been Doing
The anniversary of the President's victory in the 2008 election saw decisive Republican gubernatorial victories in two states he had carried.
Wednesday was the anniversary of his inauguration, and it was the date a new Republican senator was sent to Washington to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat, which Senator-elect Brown made clear is the "people's seat"
The President now has an excuse to stop, rethink, recalibrate, and learn some painful lessons.
No more secret deals.
No more Pelosi-Reid machine votes.
No more leftwing, Democrats-only strategies.
The leftwing leadership in the House and Senate would hate and fight such a change in course.
Moderate Democrats (and most Americans) would breathe a sigh of relief.
Lesson Four: Republicans Should Offer To Help Solve America's Jobs, Security, Deficit, and Health Challenges through an Open, Transparent Legislative Process
This is the right moment for House and Senate Republicans to offer to meet with the President and start a new health reform process, as well as America's other challenges.
This offer to work together to help the nation would be well received by the American people and would represent a real shift from an opposition party attitude to an alternative governing party attitude.
Lesson Five: The Tea Parties and Populism Are Real
The Tea Party movement is going to be a major force in 2010 and 2012.
It represents a real uprising of angry and frightened Americans who are fed up with both parties.
It's no accident Scott Brown spent so much of his victory speech emphasizing his independence. This was not a Republican victory. Only 12% of Massachusetts is registered Republican. This was a people's victory—a genuine alliance of Republicans, Independents, and moderate Democrats.
Lesson Six: Trucks Beat Lobbyists
The strangest thing about President Obama's ill-advised, last minute visit to Massachusetts on Sunday was his fixation with Scott Brown's truck.
FDR, who was a genuine Hudson Valley aristocrat, would have instinctively understood to be on the side of trucks. Bill Clinton might have driven up in a truck.
However the elitism of the new leftwing Democratic Party—the party of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine—is so ingrown and so out of touch it did not understand what Scott Brown was doing.
Lesson Seven: National Security Matters
Andy McCarthy has a superb article this morning on National Review Online that discusses the role national security played in the election.
Every American concerned about our safety in an age of terrorism ought to look at Brown's campaign and take heart that safety is a winning issue, and the left is absurdly on the side of putting terrorists' rights above protecting American lives.
If you agree, I also encourage you to sign the Human Events petition protesting the civilian trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sign here).
Lesson Eight: Secular Radicalism is a Losing Theme
Even in Massachusetts
In one of the strangest moments in Attorney General Coakley's march to defeat, on the Thursday before the election in a radio interview, she said although "you can have religious freedom ... you probably shouldn't work in an emergency room".
As the left has grown more secular and more militant in its hostility to religion it has begun to arouse strong opposition. Among Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons, and Orthodox Jews, Coakley's position represented an anti-religious bigotry which they fear.
Defining conscience and religion as legitimate parts of America is an enormous winning position, and Scott Brown's career had a strong component of defending faith and conscience even in Massachusetts.
Lesson Nine: The American People are Sovereign and When Their Leaders Infuriate Them They will Rise Up and Fire The Leaders
As it was with Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, the Progressive movement (especially Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson), Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan — again and again the American people find a way to overwhelm the establishment.
In America the people are sovereign. Last night reminded us it is still true. We remain an exceptional country of freedom and opportunity despite the politicians and bureaucrats and academics and elite news media.
In the three winning campaigns (Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts) the Republican candidate has been issue-oriented and had a positive message. In each case, Republicans drew a principled, issue-oriented difference between themselves and the Democrats.
The American people are genuinely frightened about the economy, about terrorism, about the loss of honesty and transparency in their government. The American people want a party which is trying to solve the things they fear, not a party which is trying to use their fear to remain negative.
An alternative party can win huge victories in 2010 and 2012; an opposition party will have far fewer victories.
Lesson Three: President Obama Has Had Two Bad Anniversaries and Now is the Moment for Him to Rethink What He Has Been Doing
The anniversary of the President's victory in the 2008 election saw decisive Republican gubernatorial victories in two states he had carried.
Wednesday was the anniversary of his inauguration, and it was the date a new Republican senator was sent to Washington to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat, which Senator-elect Brown made clear is the "people's seat"
The President now has an excuse to stop, rethink, recalibrate, and learn some painful lessons.
No more secret deals.
No more Pelosi-Reid machine votes.
No more leftwing, Democrats-only strategies.
The leftwing leadership in the House and Senate would hate and fight such a change in course.
Moderate Democrats (and most Americans) would breathe a sigh of relief.
Lesson Four: Republicans Should Offer To Help Solve America's Jobs, Security, Deficit, and Health Challenges through an Open, Transparent Legislative Process
This is the right moment for House and Senate Republicans to offer to meet with the President and start a new health reform process, as well as America's other challenges.
This offer to work together to help the nation would be well received by the American people and would represent a real shift from an opposition party attitude to an alternative governing party attitude.
Lesson Five: The Tea Parties and Populism Are Real
The Tea Party movement is going to be a major force in 2010 and 2012.
It represents a real uprising of angry and frightened Americans who are fed up with both parties.
It's no accident Scott Brown spent so much of his victory speech emphasizing his independence. This was not a Republican victory. Only 12% of Massachusetts is registered Republican. This was a people's victory—a genuine alliance of Republicans, Independents, and moderate Democrats.
Lesson Six: Trucks Beat Lobbyists
The strangest thing about President Obama's ill-advised, last minute visit to Massachusetts on Sunday was his fixation with Scott Brown's truck.
FDR, who was a genuine Hudson Valley aristocrat, would have instinctively understood to be on the side of trucks. Bill Clinton might have driven up in a truck.
However the elitism of the new leftwing Democratic Party—the party of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid machine—is so ingrown and so out of touch it did not understand what Scott Brown was doing.
Lesson Seven: National Security Matters
Andy McCarthy has a superb article this morning on National Review Online that discusses the role national security played in the election.
Every American concerned about our safety in an age of terrorism ought to look at Brown's campaign and take heart that safety is a winning issue, and the left is absurdly on the side of putting terrorists' rights above protecting American lives.
If you agree, I also encourage you to sign the Human Events petition protesting the civilian trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sign here).
Lesson Eight: Secular Radicalism is a Losing Theme
Even in Massachusetts
In one of the strangest moments in Attorney General Coakley's march to defeat, on the Thursday before the election in a radio interview, she said although "you can have religious freedom ... you probably shouldn't work in an emergency room".
As the left has grown more secular and more militant in its hostility to religion it has begun to arouse strong opposition. Among Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons, and Orthodox Jews, Coakley's position represented an anti-religious bigotry which they fear.
Defining conscience and religion as legitimate parts of America is an enormous winning position, and Scott Brown's career had a strong component of defending faith and conscience even in Massachusetts.
Lesson Nine: The American People are Sovereign and When Their Leaders Infuriate Them They will Rise Up and Fire The Leaders
As it was with Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, the Progressive movement (especially Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson), Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan — again and again the American people find a way to overwhelm the establishment.
In America the people are sovereign. Last night reminded us it is still true. We remain an exceptional country of freedom and opportunity despite the politicians and bureaucrats and academics and elite news media.
Lessons learned
Lesson One: Run Candidates Everywhere
The first lesson Republicans should take from last night's victory is the GOP should run candidates everywhere this year and not worry about whether the district used to vote Republican.
In the last five days a poll has shown Tim Griffin beating incumbent Democrat Vic Snyder by 17 points in Arkansas's 2nd congressional district.
In Cincinnati, former Republican Congressman Steve Chabot is now up 17 points over the Democratic incumbent, Steve Driehaus, who beat Chabot in the 2008 election.
In Michigan, former Republican Congressman Tim Walberg is now 7 points ahead of the Democrat Mark Schauer who beat him in 2008.
There are moments when history changes and the American people decide to shake things up. This may be such a moment and it means Republicans should fill in the ticket at every level in every state.
The first lesson Republicans should take from last night's victory is the GOP should run candidates everywhere this year and not worry about whether the district used to vote Republican.
In the last five days a poll has shown Tim Griffin beating incumbent Democrat Vic Snyder by 17 points in Arkansas's 2nd congressional district.
In Cincinnati, former Republican Congressman Steve Chabot is now up 17 points over the Democratic incumbent, Steve Driehaus, who beat Chabot in the 2008 election.
In Michigan, former Republican Congressman Tim Walberg is now 7 points ahead of the Democrat Mark Schauer who beat him in 2008.
There are moments when history changes and the American people decide to shake things up. This may be such a moment and it means Republicans should fill in the ticket at every level in every state.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Once again, the people have spoken, and this time they quoted what Dick Cheney said to Pat Leahy.
Less than two weeks ago, The New York Times said that so much as a "tighter-than-expected" victory for Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley would incite "soul-searching among Democrats nationally," which sent Times readers scurrying to their dictionaries to look up this strange new word, "soul."
A close win for Coakley, the Times said, would constitute "the first real barometer of whether problems facing the party" will affect the 2010 elections.
But when Coakley actually lost the election by an astounding 5 points, the Chicago boys in the White House decided it was the chick's fault.
Democratic candidate Martha Coakley may be a moral monster, but it's ridiculous to blame her for losing the election. She lost because of the Democrats' obsession with forcing national health care down the nation's throat.
Coakley campaigned exactly the way she should have.
As a Democrat running in a special election for a seat that had been held by a Democratic icon (and another moral monster) for the past 46 years in a state with only 12 percent registered Republicans, Coakley's objective was to have voters reading the paper on Friday, saying: "Hey, honey, did you know there was a special election four days ago? Yeah, apparently Coakley won, though it was a pretty low turnout."
Ideally, no one except members of government unions and Coakley's immediate family would have even been aware of the election.
And until Matt Drudge began covering it like a presidential election a week ago, it might have turned out that way.
Coakley had already won two statewide elections, while her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, had only won elections in his district. She had endorsements from the Kennedy family and the current appointed Democratic senator, Paul Kirk -- as well as endless glowing profiles in The Boston Globe.
And by the way, as of Jan. 1, Brown had spent $642,000 on the race, while Coakley had spent $2 million.
On Jan. 8, just 11 days before the election, The New York Times reported: "A Brown win remains improbable, given that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 3 to 1 in the state and that Ms. Coakley, the state's attorney general, has far more name recognition, money and organizational support."
It was in that article that the Times said a narrow Coakley win would be an augury for the entire Democratic Party. But now she's being hung out to dry so that Democrats don't have to face the possibility that Obama's left-wing policies are to blame.
Alternatively, Democrats are trying to write off Brown's colossal victory as the standard seesawing of public sentiment that hits both Republicans and Democrats from time to time. As MSNBC's Chris Matthews explained, it was just the voters saying "no" generally, but not to anything in particular.
Except when Republicans win political power, they hold onto it long enough to govern. The Democrats keep being smacked down by the voters immediately after being elected and revealing their heinous agenda.
As a result, for the past four decades, American politics has consisted of Republicans controlling Washington for eight to 14 years -- either from the White House or Capitol Hill -- thus allowing Americans to forget what it was they didn't like about Democrats, whom they then carelessly vote back in. The Democrats immediately remind Americans what they didn't like about Democrats, and their power is revoked at the voters' first possible opportunity.
Obama has cut the remembering-what-we-don't-like-about-Democrats stage of this process down from two to four years to about 10 months. Folks, I'm convinced that if we all work really hard, we can get it down to three months.
Four years of Jimmy Carter gave us two titanic Reagan landslides, peace and prosperity for eight blessed years -- and even a third term for his feckless vice president, George H.W. Bush.
Two years of Bill Clinton gave us a historic Republican sweep of Congress, which killed the entire Clinton agenda (with the exception of partial-birth abortion and felony obstruction of justice) -- and also gave us two terms for George W. Bush.
And now, merely one year of Obama and a Democratic Congress has given us the first Republican senator from Massachusetts in 31 years.
In other recent news, last November, New Jersey voters, who haven't voted for a Republican for president since 1988, threw out their incumbent Democratic governor, Jon Corzine. In Virginia, which Obama carried by 6 points a year earlier, a religious-right Republican won the governor's office by 17 points.
Sen. Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, won his last election in 2006 by 28 points -- the largest margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in that state in a quarter-century.
Since voting for the Senate health care bill last Christmas, the once-bulletproof Sen. Nelson not only gets booed out of Omaha pizzerias, but he has also seen his job approval rating fall to 42 percent and his disapproval rating soar to 48 percent. (Meanwhile, the junior senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, who voted against the bill, has a job approval rating of 63 percent.)
The Democrats have no natural majority because they have no fundamental principles -- at least none that they are willing to state out loud. They are like a drunken vagrant who emerges from the alley to cause havoc every few years. They are the perpetual toothache of American politics.
To be sure, the fact that 52 percent of Massachusetts voters are racist, sexist tea-baggers -- i.e., voted for a Republican -- means only that the Democrats just went from having the largest congressional majority in a generation to the second largest. But this was "Teddy Kennedy's seat." And it was in Massachusetts.
Now, no Democrat is safe.
But the country just got a lot safer
Less than two weeks ago, The New York Times said that so much as a "tighter-than-expected" victory for Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley would incite "soul-searching among Democrats nationally," which sent Times readers scurrying to their dictionaries to look up this strange new word, "soul."
A close win for Coakley, the Times said, would constitute "the first real barometer of whether problems facing the party" will affect the 2010 elections.
But when Coakley actually lost the election by an astounding 5 points, the Chicago boys in the White House decided it was the chick's fault.
Democratic candidate Martha Coakley may be a moral monster, but it's ridiculous to blame her for losing the election. She lost because of the Democrats' obsession with forcing national health care down the nation's throat.
Coakley campaigned exactly the way she should have.
As a Democrat running in a special election for a seat that had been held by a Democratic icon (and another moral monster) for the past 46 years in a state with only 12 percent registered Republicans, Coakley's objective was to have voters reading the paper on Friday, saying: "Hey, honey, did you know there was a special election four days ago? Yeah, apparently Coakley won, though it was a pretty low turnout."
Ideally, no one except members of government unions and Coakley's immediate family would have even been aware of the election.
And until Matt Drudge began covering it like a presidential election a week ago, it might have turned out that way.
Coakley had already won two statewide elections, while her Republican opponent, Scott Brown, had only won elections in his district. She had endorsements from the Kennedy family and the current appointed Democratic senator, Paul Kirk -- as well as endless glowing profiles in The Boston Globe.
And by the way, as of Jan. 1, Brown had spent $642,000 on the race, while Coakley had spent $2 million.
On Jan. 8, just 11 days before the election, The New York Times reported: "A Brown win remains improbable, given that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 3 to 1 in the state and that Ms. Coakley, the state's attorney general, has far more name recognition, money and organizational support."
It was in that article that the Times said a narrow Coakley win would be an augury for the entire Democratic Party. But now she's being hung out to dry so that Democrats don't have to face the possibility that Obama's left-wing policies are to blame.
Alternatively, Democrats are trying to write off Brown's colossal victory as the standard seesawing of public sentiment that hits both Republicans and Democrats from time to time. As MSNBC's Chris Matthews explained, it was just the voters saying "no" generally, but not to anything in particular.
Except when Republicans win political power, they hold onto it long enough to govern. The Democrats keep being smacked down by the voters immediately after being elected and revealing their heinous agenda.
As a result, for the past four decades, American politics has consisted of Republicans controlling Washington for eight to 14 years -- either from the White House or Capitol Hill -- thus allowing Americans to forget what it was they didn't like about Democrats, whom they then carelessly vote back in. The Democrats immediately remind Americans what they didn't like about Democrats, and their power is revoked at the voters' first possible opportunity.
Obama has cut the remembering-what-we-don't-like-about-Democrats stage of this process down from two to four years to about 10 months. Folks, I'm convinced that if we all work really hard, we can get it down to three months.
Four years of Jimmy Carter gave us two titanic Reagan landslides, peace and prosperity for eight blessed years -- and even a third term for his feckless vice president, George H.W. Bush.
Two years of Bill Clinton gave us a historic Republican sweep of Congress, which killed the entire Clinton agenda (with the exception of partial-birth abortion and felony obstruction of justice) -- and also gave us two terms for George W. Bush.
And now, merely one year of Obama and a Democratic Congress has given us the first Republican senator from Massachusetts in 31 years.
In other recent news, last November, New Jersey voters, who haven't voted for a Republican for president since 1988, threw out their incumbent Democratic governor, Jon Corzine. In Virginia, which Obama carried by 6 points a year earlier, a religious-right Republican won the governor's office by 17 points.
Sen. Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, won his last election in 2006 by 28 points -- the largest margin for a Democratic Senate candidate in that state in a quarter-century.
Since voting for the Senate health care bill last Christmas, the once-bulletproof Sen. Nelson not only gets booed out of Omaha pizzerias, but he has also seen his job approval rating fall to 42 percent and his disapproval rating soar to 48 percent. (Meanwhile, the junior senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, who voted against the bill, has a job approval rating of 63 percent.)
The Democrats have no natural majority because they have no fundamental principles -- at least none that they are willing to state out loud. They are like a drunken vagrant who emerges from the alley to cause havoc every few years. They are the perpetual toothache of American politics.
To be sure, the fact that 52 percent of Massachusetts voters are racist, sexist tea-baggers -- i.e., voted for a Republican -- means only that the Democrats just went from having the largest congressional majority in a generation to the second largest. But this was "Teddy Kennedy's seat." And it was in Massachusetts.
Now, no Democrat is safe.
But the country just got a lot safer
Why British Newspapers are More Fun to Read
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown, whose surprise win in the race to fill the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat created the sonic boom heard all the way to Washington, was visiting the nation's capital Thursday to pay a round of courtesy calls on his new colleagues.
Two days after his win cost President Barack Obama his filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate, Brown was making his first trip to the institution he reordered and the city he set abuzz after Tuesday's upset election.
The timing of his swearing-in remained in question. While Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin sent a letter to the Senate clerk Wednesday declaring Brown the unofficial winner of the seat, senators had to decide whether they were going to waive a waiting period for absentee ballot arrivals.
Brown was meeting first with his highest-profile backer, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. Next up was his new state partner, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and then Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr., who has been holding Kennedy's seat on an interim basis since shortly after Kennedy's death from brain cancer in August.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was meeting with Brown before a scheduled lunch with a broader group of colleagues.
There was almost a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"-like quality about Brown as he reflected on his win. Not only did he beat a better-known rival, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, but he did so in one of the most Democratic states in the country and in a battle over the seat Kennedy held for nearly a half-century.
The victory will give the Republicans the 41st Senate vote they need to sustain a filibuster, while it will cost Obama the supermajority he had been counting on to power through his health care overhaul and the remainder of his midterm agenda.
"If you were to tell me growing up that a guy whose mom was on welfare and parents had some marital troubles, and I had some issues growing up, that a guy from Wrentham would be here standing before you right now and going to Washington, D.C., are you kidding me?" Brown said at a postelection news conference.
After his day trip to Washington, Brown was returning to Massachusetts to contemplate when to resign his state Senate seat and how to cope with the new demands of being a capital commuter.
Two days after his win cost President Barack Obama his filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate, Brown was making his first trip to the institution he reordered and the city he set abuzz after Tuesday's upset election.
The timing of his swearing-in remained in question. While Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin sent a letter to the Senate clerk Wednesday declaring Brown the unofficial winner of the seat, senators had to decide whether they were going to waive a waiting period for absentee ballot arrivals.
Brown was meeting first with his highest-profile backer, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. Next up was his new state partner, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and then Sen. Paul G. Kirk Jr., who has been holding Kennedy's seat on an interim basis since shortly after Kennedy's death from brain cancer in August.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was meeting with Brown before a scheduled lunch with a broader group of colleagues.
There was almost a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"-like quality about Brown as he reflected on his win. Not only did he beat a better-known rival, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, but he did so in one of the most Democratic states in the country and in a battle over the seat Kennedy held for nearly a half-century.
The victory will give the Republicans the 41st Senate vote they need to sustain a filibuster, while it will cost Obama the supermajority he had been counting on to power through his health care overhaul and the remainder of his midterm agenda.
"If you were to tell me growing up that a guy whose mom was on welfare and parents had some marital troubles, and I had some issues growing up, that a guy from Wrentham would be here standing before you right now and going to Washington, D.C., are you kidding me?" Brown said at a postelection news conference.
After his day trip to Washington, Brown was returning to Massachusetts to contemplate when to resign his state Senate seat and how to cope with the new demands of being a capital commuter.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Did you know?
Did you know ....
That the words race car spelled backward spell race car.
That eat is the only word that if you take the 1st letter and move it to
the last, it spells its past tense, ate.
And have you noticed that if you rearrange the letters in "illegal
immigrants," and add just a few more letters, it spells out: "Go home
you free-loading, benefit grabbing, kid-producing, violent, non-English
speaking assholes and take those other hairy-faced, sandal wearing, bomb
making, goat loving, raggedy ass bastards with you."
How weird is that?
That the words race car spelled backward spell race car.
That eat is the only word that if you take the 1st letter and move it to
the last, it spells its past tense, ate.
And have you noticed that if you rearrange the letters in "illegal
immigrants," and add just a few more letters, it spells out: "Go home
you free-loading, benefit grabbing, kid-producing, violent, non-English
speaking assholes and take those other hairy-faced, sandal wearing, bomb
making, goat loving, raggedy ass bastards with you."
How weird is that?
Friday, January 15, 2010
If George Bush was an idiot...
f
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved? How’s that new GM plant, paid for by American tax dollars and opening in China, working for you?
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics participants, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless.
If George W. Bush would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, conceded, egotistical prick.
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had miss-spelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America , would you have approved.
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 5 months -- so you'll have three years and seven months to come up with an answer.
LET'S SEE HOW MANY OF YOU FORWARD THIS...
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved? How’s that new GM plant, paid for by American tax dollars and opening in China, working for you?
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics participants, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had stated that there were 57 states in the United States, would you have said that he is clueless.
If George W. Bush would have flown all the way to Denmark to make a five minute speech about how the Olympics would benefit him walking out his front door in Texas, would you have thought he was a self important, conceded, egotistical prick.
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had miss-spelled the word "advice" would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush's administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had created the position of 32 Czars who report directly to him, bypassing the House and Senate on much of what is happening in America , would you have approved.
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can't think of anything? Don't worry. He's done all this in 5 months -- so you'll have three years and seven months to come up with an answer.
LET'S SEE HOW MANY OF YOU FORWARD THIS...
The mole family
papa mole, a mama mole, and a baby mole, all live together
in a little mole hole.
One day, papa mole sticks his head
out of the hole, sniffs the air and said,
' Yum! I smell maple syrup!'
The mama mole sticks her head out of the hole, sniffs the air and said, 'Oh, Yum! I smell honey!'
Now baby mole is trying to stick his head
out of the hole to sniff the air, but can't
because the bigger moles are in the way.
This makes him whine, 'Geez, all I can smell is....
MOLASSES!
(Yes, you know you're gonna pass it on!)
in a little mole hole.
One day, papa mole sticks his head
out of the hole, sniffs the air and said,
' Yum! I smell maple syrup!'
The mama mole sticks her head out of the hole, sniffs the air and said, 'Oh, Yum! I smell honey!'
Now baby mole is trying to stick his head
out of the hole to sniff the air, but can't
because the bigger moles are in the way.
This makes him whine, 'Geez, all I can smell is....
MOLASSES!
(Yes, you know you're gonna pass it on!)
Elevators and Amish
An Amish boy and his father were visiting a nearby mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny silver walls that moved apart and back together again by themselves.
The lad asked, "What is this, father?"
The father, having never seen an elevator, responded, "I have no idea what it is."
While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady in a wheelchair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched as small circles lit up above the walls.
The walls opened up again and a beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman stepped out.
The father looked at his son anxiously and said, "Go get your mother."
The lad asked, "What is this, father?"
The father, having never seen an elevator, responded, "I have no idea what it is."
While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady in a wheelchair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched as small circles lit up above the walls.
The walls opened up again and a beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman stepped out.
The father looked at his son anxiously and said, "Go get your mother."
The Town
!!!!!!!! Latest News !!!!!!
We just finished working for the upcoming new
Ben Affleck movie
....."The Town".....
(being filmed in the Boston area)."
(Which we hear is Great by the way)
We reglazed 2 badly damaged ancient tubs + 1 antique pedestal sink
"Charlie" ; the owner said we would do them for free... if only they would let him be a "producer". Regretably, they said; NO!
If you see the movie watch for the 2 bathtubs and the pedestal sink.
We just finished working for the upcoming new
Ben Affleck movie
....."The Town".....
(being filmed in the Boston area)."
(Which we hear is Great by the way)
We reglazed 2 badly damaged ancient tubs + 1 antique pedestal sink
"Charlie" ; the owner said we would do them for free... if only they would let him be a "producer". Regretably, they said; NO!
If you see the movie watch for the 2 bathtubs and the pedestal sink.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
bathtub liners
About Bathtub Liners
By H.C. Hisel, eHow Editor
Bathtub liners are a thin covering that is installed over your existing bathtub. Once installed, they make your bathtub look brand new. Using a bathtub liner is a quick way to remodel a bathtub.
Function
A bathtub liner will only cover up the unsightly appearance of an old bathtub. It will not fix any problems with the bathtub. If a bathtub is leaking, it will need to be repaired instead of covered with a liner. For bathtubs that work fine but are marred with scratches, a bathtub liner can provide a quick fix.
Types
Bathtub liners are made out of either PVC or acrylic. Acrylic bathtub liners are the most popular choice because they are generally considered to be more attractive and they are more durable. Acrylic bathtub liners are easy to clean and maintain. They are also resistant to damage caused by everyday regular use. Bathtub liners come in different colors and styles, which makes a quick bathroom makeover possible.
Benefits
A bathtub liner can be a better solution than a bathtub replacement when cost or time is a factor. They not only are quicker to install, they are cheaper. The price to purchase a bathtub liner and to have a professional install it usually runs under $2,000. A bathtub replacement can be much more expensive and time consuming.
Considerations
Bathtub liners are glued to the existing bathtub, using a strong industrial strength glue. When a bathtub liner needs to be replaced, it is not easily removed. The liner has to be cut out, which can cause damage to the bathtub. It may not be a good idea to install a bathtub liner over a bathtub that is not seriously marred, when a simple refinishing can fix the problem. Refinishing a bathtub is when a special coating is painted onto the bathtub surface. Refinishing is cheaper than a bathtub liner and is a good choice for bathtubs that have minimal visual damage.
Expert Insight
A bathtub liner should always be installed by a licensed plumber to ensure proper installation. If a bathtub liner is not properly installed, it can leak and allow water to seep between the liner and the bathtub. The seeping water can lead to the growth of mold and the displacement of the bathtub liner. The bathtub liner can also crack if it is not installed to fit properly. A licensed plumber can also help you to evaluate if a bathtub liner is the best option for your bathroom remodeling needs.
Why not just tear it out and replace it?
By H.C. Hisel, eHow Editor
Bathtub liners are a thin covering that is installed over your existing bathtub. Once installed, they make your bathtub look brand new. Using a bathtub liner is a quick way to remodel a bathtub.
Function
A bathtub liner will only cover up the unsightly appearance of an old bathtub. It will not fix any problems with the bathtub. If a bathtub is leaking, it will need to be repaired instead of covered with a liner. For bathtubs that work fine but are marred with scratches, a bathtub liner can provide a quick fix.
Types
Bathtub liners are made out of either PVC or acrylic. Acrylic bathtub liners are the most popular choice because they are generally considered to be more attractive and they are more durable. Acrylic bathtub liners are easy to clean and maintain. They are also resistant to damage caused by everyday regular use. Bathtub liners come in different colors and styles, which makes a quick bathroom makeover possible.
Benefits
A bathtub liner can be a better solution than a bathtub replacement when cost or time is a factor. They not only are quicker to install, they are cheaper. The price to purchase a bathtub liner and to have a professional install it usually runs under $2,000. A bathtub replacement can be much more expensive and time consuming.
Considerations
Bathtub liners are glued to the existing bathtub, using a strong industrial strength glue. When a bathtub liner needs to be replaced, it is not easily removed. The liner has to be cut out, which can cause damage to the bathtub. It may not be a good idea to install a bathtub liner over a bathtub that is not seriously marred, when a simple refinishing can fix the problem. Refinishing a bathtub is when a special coating is painted onto the bathtub surface. Refinishing is cheaper than a bathtub liner and is a good choice for bathtubs that have minimal visual damage.
Expert Insight
A bathtub liner should always be installed by a licensed plumber to ensure proper installation. If a bathtub liner is not properly installed, it can leak and allow water to seep between the liner and the bathtub. The seeping water can lead to the growth of mold and the displacement of the bathtub liner. The bathtub liner can also crack if it is not installed to fit properly. A licensed plumber can also help you to evaluate if a bathtub liner is the best option for your bathroom remodeling needs.
Why not just tear it out and replace it?
Kids bathroom
By: India Cooper
Hooray its bathtime! The highlight of any kid's day - all those splashes, bubbles and squirty toys are hard to beat. So if you're doing up your bathroom to cater for your children's needs think about how you can make bathtime even more fun and the room a safe and happy part of your home.
There are several elements to a bathroom and each can be made more child friendly. One of the challenges with decorating a bathroom for children is that their taste and preferences change quickly, so stick with a plain bathroom suite and tiles and introduce interest in the accessories that can be updated.
Low sided baths are much easier for everyone to get in and out of, especially kids with short legs! And a bath with taps at the side allows two children to sit comfortably, one at each end with neither pulling the short straw and having to lean on uncomfortable taps.
When choosing taps, look out for all sorts of interesting designs. Some allow water to run with a waterfall effect which has an "oooo aaahhh" factor. It's also handy to have a hand held shower head, for hair washing and of course karaoke performances! A hand held shower gets toddlers used to the idea of showers which can be introduced once they are steady on their feet.
Bath curtains, to protect the bathroom from inevitable waterspray, can add a big splash of colour. Countless children's designs are available, and as they are relatively cheap you can change them with your child's latest colour or character obsession.
Kids are experts at splashing and throwing bubbles around so definitely go for a tiled floor. Wet carpet will rot quickly so you need some sort of waterproof surface. If you are tiling then look into installing underfloor heating while you're at it. The floor will feel really cosy underfoot. As a result children will be much more willing to co-operate at the end of bathtime.
Similarly a heated towel rail will provide a welcoming warm towel to be wrapped up in. However make sure you teach your children to keep well away from the towel rail itself as they get very hot.
If you are choosing a new toilet get a dual flush system. This can help teach children about water conservation and making appropriate choices - and children love pulling levers and pressing buttons. For younger children you can get a separate child toilet seat which sits on top and is tailored to a toddler's size. For older children there are all sorts of decorated toilet seats on the market to add a bit of fun.
When selecting a sink get the largest one you can. Children can be messy when brushing their teeth and washing hands so a large sink will cut out a lot of water mess. Also choose lever taps rather than twisting ones as they will be less stiff and kids can be more independent.
What kids love in the bathroom is lots of toys to play with. And what you want is tranquillity. So make sure you have plenty of storage. Get different coloured baskets for different types of toys and let the children decide how to organise them all. This may even encourage them to tidy up and leave the bathroom pristine for you!
Kids love little gadgets. Get a tooth brushing timer so your children brush their teeth for long enough. They are like egg timers but decorated with characters to make them more appealing. Bubble machines go down a treat and encourage children to wash. They also love toothbrush holders, cups, soaps and bottles of handwash decorated with their favourite characters. These are cheap and can easily be replaced when necessary.
Lastly, don't forget safety. Put a lock on the bathroom door that can be opened from the outside, to avoid panics. If you are tiling the floor make sure the tiles are suitable for wet use and are not too slippery. Get steps for easy access to the toilet and sinks for smaller children and make sure they have non-slip feet. And if you are keeping medicines or domestic cleaners in the bathroom store them out of reach or fit cupboard doors with child locks.
Children should have fun in the bathroom and enjoy water and bubble play, so make the experience a happy, safe one that can be easily adapted as your family grows up.
Article Source: http://www.propertymagnate.com/articles
Hooray its bathtime! The highlight of any kid's day - all those splashes, bubbles and squirty toys are hard to beat. So if you're doing up your bathroom to cater for your children's needs think about how you can make bathtime even more fun and the room a safe and happy part of your home.
There are several elements to a bathroom and each can be made more child friendly. One of the challenges with decorating a bathroom for children is that their taste and preferences change quickly, so stick with a plain bathroom suite and tiles and introduce interest in the accessories that can be updated.
Low sided baths are much easier for everyone to get in and out of, especially kids with short legs! And a bath with taps at the side allows two children to sit comfortably, one at each end with neither pulling the short straw and having to lean on uncomfortable taps.
When choosing taps, look out for all sorts of interesting designs. Some allow water to run with a waterfall effect which has an "oooo aaahhh" factor. It's also handy to have a hand held shower head, for hair washing and of course karaoke performances! A hand held shower gets toddlers used to the idea of showers which can be introduced once they are steady on their feet.
Bath curtains, to protect the bathroom from inevitable waterspray, can add a big splash of colour. Countless children's designs are available, and as they are relatively cheap you can change them with your child's latest colour or character obsession.
Kids are experts at splashing and throwing bubbles around so definitely go for a tiled floor. Wet carpet will rot quickly so you need some sort of waterproof surface. If you are tiling then look into installing underfloor heating while you're at it. The floor will feel really cosy underfoot. As a result children will be much more willing to co-operate at the end of bathtime.
Similarly a heated towel rail will provide a welcoming warm towel to be wrapped up in. However make sure you teach your children to keep well away from the towel rail itself as they get very hot.
If you are choosing a new toilet get a dual flush system. This can help teach children about water conservation and making appropriate choices - and children love pulling levers and pressing buttons. For younger children you can get a separate child toilet seat which sits on top and is tailored to a toddler's size. For older children there are all sorts of decorated toilet seats on the market to add a bit of fun.
When selecting a sink get the largest one you can. Children can be messy when brushing their teeth and washing hands so a large sink will cut out a lot of water mess. Also choose lever taps rather than twisting ones as they will be less stiff and kids can be more independent.
What kids love in the bathroom is lots of toys to play with. And what you want is tranquillity. So make sure you have plenty of storage. Get different coloured baskets for different types of toys and let the children decide how to organise them all. This may even encourage them to tidy up and leave the bathroom pristine for you!
Kids love little gadgets. Get a tooth brushing timer so your children brush their teeth for long enough. They are like egg timers but decorated with characters to make them more appealing. Bubble machines go down a treat and encourage children to wash. They also love toothbrush holders, cups, soaps and bottles of handwash decorated with their favourite characters. These are cheap and can easily be replaced when necessary.
Lastly, don't forget safety. Put a lock on the bathroom door that can be opened from the outside, to avoid panics. If you are tiling the floor make sure the tiles are suitable for wet use and are not too slippery. Get steps for easy access to the toilet and sinks for smaller children and make sure they have non-slip feet. And if you are keeping medicines or domestic cleaners in the bathroom store them out of reach or fit cupboard doors with child locks.
Children should have fun in the bathroom and enjoy water and bubble play, so make the experience a happy, safe one that can be easily adapted as your family grows up.
Article Source: http://www.propertymagnate.com/articles
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