Captain Clarity

Rev. Al Sharpton Led a protest where protestors demanded “…easier access to jobs” as though jobs just “exist” and that these poor people are being kept from them. It’s really too bad that so few in America today understand the basics of economics, yet we now give college degrees in every politically correct issue there is.

Someone has to have a dream, an idea or a goal. They then have to pursue it against all odds. They usually have to work most of their life away, skipping weekends and vacations. They will work themselves right into the ground and skimp and save everything they can. Most end up having to get loans from banks or investors. Most of these ventures fail and the courageous lose everything. Then…they try again. Finally, a small percentage break through and hire more people to help them attain their goal. This is when and how jobs are created. Sometimes, these ventures go public, meaning that they get investment from Wall Street investors, and then many more jobs are created. Yet, these protestors are vilifying the very people who want to create jobs.

There is government, and there are the people. I am saddened to see these people railing against the people, when it is the government who writes the laws and regulations according to one thing and one thing only… campaign contributions. If protestors would wise up and realize that government is not the solution but the problem, then the people would win.

For generations now, education has been dominated by liberals and they have force-fed their beliefs on generations of kids, who in turn have grown up, become the new teachers and professors and continue the process.
For generations now, Hollywood, TV and Movies have been dominated by liberals and they have force-fed their beliefs on generations of people, who in turn have grown up, become the new stars and they continue the process.

For generations now, the mass-media been dominated by liberals and they have force-fed their beliefs on generations of readers and listeners, who in turn have grown up, become the new anchors and journalists and they continue the process.

For almost 60 years now the liberals have dominated our education, entertainment and media so that they have had complete and total control over the mush that goes into people’s heads. They have allowed no room for conservatives within their ranks. Coming out of the conservative closet has been career suicide.

This is the result. Please people, quit railing against those who want to create jobs and rail against the government who wants you dependent on government. Investors and successful people want to create even more wealth, which requires more investment and more employees. You have been dupped by the media, entertainment and especially your educators throughout your life. Look where it has gotten us. Let’s turn the tide the other way for once and protest against government and in support of the people, us, me and you.

The most recent Greek tragedy is the one in which the Greek economy is failing.  I read an article today in which someone in Greece was quoted as saying:

We demand a fair distribution of the burden so that wage-earners and pensioners do not pay the price for a crisis they did not create.

All of the sudden a landslide of thoughts nearly collapsed my ability to reason.  How much ignorance and stupidity can one roll into one sentence?  The total ignorance of that single quote demonstrates that the person stating it can display their entire intellectual catalog on a bumper sticker.   This single statement also demonstrates the unfathomable ignorance, laziness and lack of personal responsibility that permeates Europe and the USA today.  Unless you live in totalitarian society, YOU are responsible for your own government – period!  He said:

We demand a fair distribution of the burden…

Are you kidding?  Do you really expect the freakin’ government to “distribute burden.”  I had no idea that this was the roll of government.   This is the same kind of idiotic rhetoric from morons who would state that the government should redistribute wealth.  The government shouldn’t distribute or re-distribute anything because Governments have NOTHING except what they take from the public.  Governments shouldn’t produce anything.  They shouldn’t have factories nor stores.  How could individuals compete with government for business?  Any time that an individual started to do well, the government can tax or sue him into oblivion and tax all citizens to subsidize a lower cost.  Eventually there would be no private business and we would all live under government control, with the government handing out only what they see fit.  That is called communism.   Unless you desire communism, you should never suggest that the government “distribute” anything.

Now let’s look at the other half of his intellectual nugget:

…so that wage-earners and pensioners do not pay the price for a crisis they did not create.

Nobody to blame here...please move along

Are you serious? “Wage-earners” can vote and “pensioners” have been voting even longer.  We are all guilty of this economic mess we are in.  “Society” must take all credit and blame for “society.”  After all, isn’t “society” the totality of the average people in any given region?  More importantly, each and everyone of us gets to choose how much we spend and how much we save.   I have spent most of my life watching Europeans and Americans sit around at sidewalk cafes sipping espresso and debating politics with complete and utter ignorance of economics.   How much does an espresso cost?  How much do coffee beans cost? How successful and popular have coffee shops been throughout Europe and the US for the last 20+years?  Think about it!  We sip away on a $5-$7 cup of coffee that costs 10 cents to make.  I used to work with a 20 year-old who would leave the office about 5-6 times a day to go get a $7 Starbucks Coffee.  So there went about $40 per day, or $880 per month or $10,560 per year.  If you are one of these people, please put down your espresso because class is now in session.

Lesson #1: Produce more than you consume

Here in the US, we have the Obama Administration and all big-government supporters in both parties telling us that borrowing from the Chinese to build and rebuild our own internal infrastructure is going to revive our economy.  This make as much sense as thinking that if my family sits in our home buying and selling things to and from each other, we will somehow become wealthy.  No, it doesn’t work like that.  We have to leave our home and produce something to earn something to bring home.  If we only sat in our homes buying a selling to each other, the cupboards will run empty and eventually the taxman and the mortgage company will show up at our door.  It’s very simple: produce more than you consume.  All you have to do is balance a checkbook to learn that you must produce more than you consume.  How many bridges are we going to sell to China?  How many roads and tunnels are we going to sell to India?  None.  How is building tennis courts in a park and a turtle-tunnel under a highway are going to revive our economy?  It’s not; all that does is put a little money in a few peoples’ pockets to prolong the inevitable collapse.  The best thing the governments can do is get out of the way of business

China, India and Southeast Asia are explosive economies while Europe and the USA are failing.  You see, people in China, India and Southeast Asia only want an opportunity, while Europe and the US want handouts.  We sit around and whine about sweat shops, while they hope, pray and work to get factories to work in.  We have deindustrialized our nations and shipped our manufacturing jobs overseas.  Why?  UNIONS!  Unions always talk about a “living wage, living wage,living wage.”  What they are referring to is paying $147,000 per year to an uneducated grunt for twisting bolts!  Let me see…go to college and study business only to earn $26k my first year, hope to reach $45k within 5-10 years and maybe achieve $100k plus in 15-20 years.  All the while changing employers and relying on my own ability to remain employed…or skip college and drive a bus for the same amount of money.   Hmmm, let me think about this one.

Lesson #2: Don’t punish achievement nor reward failure

Doesn’t anyone remember Pavlov’s dog?  Ivan Pavlov’s research on conditional reflexes is common knowledge in science and pop-culture.  Pavlov’s dog proved that if you reward an activity you will get more of it.  If you punish an activity and you will get less of it.  Reward the uneducated and unemployed and you will get more of them.  Punish success and achievement and you will get less of it.

Why do our local, state and federal governments require that people become destitute before providing assistance?  It’s really quite simple; because it is in their best interest to make you dependent.

The phrase “Pavlov’s dog” is also used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than using critical thinking.

You can’t tax yourself into prosperity.  You need the majority of your population to produce more than they consume.  Heck, even idiot drug dealers will tell you that.  Drug dealer who use their own products don’t survive because they always use more than they sell.

Pitting haves against have-nots is tired and old…more importantly is it LAZY!  If you want something EARN IT!

How does your vote influence your income and your life?  President Obama and most of the Democrats have promised Americans that they will tax the rich to pay for America’s opulent and indulgent lifestyle.  In 2007 and 2008, Senator Barack Obama traveled the country and even foreign countries promising to punish the rich and “spread the wealth around.

Let’s take a quick look at how this is working out today.  …and by the way, how is your 401k looking now?  How is your property value doing?

Market Overview

US Markets

Asian Markets

I am starting to feel sorry for Congress and the White House administration.  Only now am I starting to realize the depth of their collective disabilities that they are forced to live with.  These poor people are so addicted to spending that they seem to be beyond a cure.  No matter what we say and what we do, they can’t control themselves.  It is an illness that seems to permeate government buildings everywhere you go.

They are like every other kind of addict in that they are in denial and they can’t control themselves.  The 2010 election was like a failed “intervention.”  I’m afraid that it is a mental and behavioral disorder.  Maybe we need to create another whole host of treatment programs, subsidized by even more unfunded federal dollars printed up by our treasury.

“Hello.  My name is Harry Reid.  I have been clean for…well, let’s see…”

I think the only solution now is to build more treasury buildings across the country so they can print and spend money faster.  They have all proven to us that they are beyond a cure.  I give up.  My forehead is bleeding from pounding it against the wall.  My throat is sore from trying to explain to the entitlement 1/2 of the American population that the federal government only has debt, and that the only “money” they appear to have is what they take from us and what they print.  My keyboard is giving out and I don’t know if I can afford a new one.

Let’s just agree to classify their spending addiction as a disability so they can get special protections and spend until they are frothing at the mouth, with their eyes bulging out of the faces and their hands are shaking like any other addict (Nancy Pelosi is already there).  It’s just not fair for the rest of us to keep trying to deny that they are all sick and in need of our understanding.

Give up America.  Just give up.

1. We live in the year 2011, not 1911
   

   This picture is NOT 2011.

2. We all have the right to apply for any job we want
3. We all can quit our job if we want
4. Nobody in the US is “forced” to endure anything at work (see rule #3 above)
5. There are a gazillion Federal and State laws on the books to protect employees from employer abuse
6. Whips and chains are not allowed to be used on employees  in the workplace…except in the adult film industry…but even that is by choice
7. Women are not forced to wear aprons and head-scarves in the workplace
8. Children are not enslaved in our factories.  In fact, no company in the history of America ever had the power to force child labor.  It was PARENTS who put their children to work, to help their families survive.
9. Current LAWS (not union contracts) won’t even allow children under 16 to work any more.  Of course this also makes it hard for them to learn personal responsibility and buy a car at 16 too.
10. Everyone gets a 1-hour break for lunch
11. Everyone gets other breaks throughout the day
12. We are all allowed to go to the bathroom
13. Men with pocket watches and top-hats and Fedoras do not pace up and down the factory isles beating employees for sneezing
14. Everyone gets vacation time
15. Most of us work 5 days per week
16. Overtime is paid for working any hours over 40 hours per week
17. We are allowed to call in sick.  It is up to individual employers to offer the amount of sick time that they can afford
18. Health insurance is a benefit, not a right
19. Workplace retirement is a benefit not a right
20. Most of us do have to actually produce some form of benefit
21. Companies are not formed for the sole purpose of providing jobs
22. Desks are made for working, not as a place to sit 5 days a week while waiting for a paycheck
23. Raises are usually tied to the value we bring to the company including – but not limited to - work history, performance, education and experience in current field…and in no way are raises tied to calendars.
24. Promotions follow the rules of raises.
25. No, everyone is not entitled to a 6-figure income…in fact, we are not “entitled” to anything.

If you don’t like your job, quit and get a new one. If you can’t seem to get a job that pays as much as you want, consider an education.  If there are “no jobs available” in your area, move to where the jobs are.  Nobody “owes” you anything for breathing.  If you want to quit breathing…go ahead, that’s your choice.  A job is not a “right.”  Jobs are earned.  Raises are earned.  Promotions are earned.

I pay for 100% of my family’s medical insurance and retirement.  I have yet to find one person who will even attempt to explain to me – logically – why it is my responsibility to pay for all of mine and all of theirs too.  We don’t need unions.  In fact, unions are nothing more than gangs who threaten to create havoc if the majority of the rest of us do not concede to their demands.  I earn my keep, you should earn yours.  You have no “special rights” over me.  ELIMINATE UNIONS AND RETURN OUR COUNTRY TO A FREE MARKET ECONOMY!

Union/Government Attack Taxpaying American Citizens - Photo courtesy of AP

These BIG-union-organized protests are an attack on working families.  The vast majority of “working people” and “working families” are not union members, yet we are all forced against our will to pay for 100% of union members’ retirement, lifetime medical insurance, extended paid vacations, etc.  We already pay 100% of our own retirement and medical expenses so it doesn’t make sense that we should have to pay for our neighbors’ retirement and medical expenses too.  Doesn’t it make sense that each and every person can be responsible for their own well being?  During these tough economic times it is simply not practical for the majority of working families to continue to try to support their own families and the families of people who get special protections from the government and their big-union political contributors.

The vast majority of workers don’t have a say in the matter.  If you pay taxes, your income is confiscated from your check and then delivered by your government to pay for union members’ salaries and gold-plated lifetime benefits.  The really bizarre part of this is that taxpayer money is being used by these unions to demonstrate against taxpayers to make us give them more money.  Bizarre, don’t you think? Read more…

I wish I could find something more eloquent to say other than unions suck, but I think those two words sum it all up.  Unions are the death of competition and they killing America.

[***This is not my usual fact-filled-checked and verified kind of article.  This one is from the heart.  If you have any small children, you might want to ask them to leave the room.***]

Workers Rights?
Why should some bus driver make $90,000+ per year and why am I paying for his entire family’s health care and retirement?  Why do these morons think that it is my responsibility to pay for my health care and retirement and pay for theirs too?  What the f–k is tenure?  Why do teachers get to keep their jobs no matter how badly they suck?  Why did I recently hear about a mother in Akron Ohio who was sentence to 10 days in jail and $30,000 in fines because her children used their father’s address to get into a school other than the war zone in their neighborhood.  Their local war zone (school) has a dropout rate of over 80%!!!  OMG!!! That entire administration, school board and all of the teachers should be fired!  The elected officials should be charged with dereliction of duty for letting this school continue to exist.  This is CRIMINAL to fail children so badly.  Instead, they charged, tried and convicted a mother for trying to give her children a fighting chance in life.  This adds a whole new meaning to teachers’ favorite phrase “If you can read this (verdict), Thank a teacher.”

Read more…

The ObamaNation Disciples known as Organizing For America have realized that their messages are not strong enough to support 3 hours of a successful radio talk show, so they are just going to troll the conservative airwaves with the assistance and talking points on http://radio.barackobama.com

They provide the links and phone numbers of conservative radio talk shows and request that disciples flood the airwaves stating “we need to make sure OFA supporters are calling in with a pro-reform message.”  They provide minions with the list of talking points and emphasize that they must “tell a personal story…”  They also instruct “Some hosts may challenge your views. Stay calm and firm.”  “Be polite, respectful, and clear. Remember, you represent Organizing for America ” (I guess they know that their minions usually get nasty and get angry whenever they lose in the public arena of ideas).  Quite clearly, this is intended to make listeners believe that these are “grass-roots” callers.  They then provide a submission form asking their brainwashed radio-zombies to tell them how the calls went.  I couldn’t resist!  I was laughing so hard at how pathetic this Astro-Turf movement is that I went ahead and submitted my own experience of using their talking points:

I got on Sean Hannity’s radio program and used every discussion point you provided and here are the results:

I told him that my medical insurance “covers too little and costs too much.”  He asked for an example but I couldn’t think of one because I am very healthy and my employer pays for my insurance.  I was kind of embarrassed but I continued on!

I stated that “the plan the President laid out includes the largest health care tax cut for middle class families in history.”  He asked “where’s your evidence” and I told him that I read all about this on the Discussion Points at http://radio.barackobama.com/ and that he could go to the site and read it for himself.  I told him that your site states “the plan the the President laid out includes the largest health care tax cut for middle class families in history.” He asked “is that it?” I said yeah and he continued laughing at me and said “go on, go on.”

So, I told him that you told me that “we should put power in the hands of consumers instead of insurance companies.”  He asked when was the last time I got to meet with you or anyone in congress behind closed doors in Washington.  I said “never.”  He then told me about all the meetings that the insurance companies have had with all of you.  He told me that I could watch these meetings on C-SPAN so I went to their website and looked through the schedule but I couldn’t find them. 

I told him that there are over 30 million Americans without insurance and that this isn’t right.  He pointed out that 20 million of them aren’t really “Americans” but illegal aliens who are siphoning billions of dollars out of our country.  He asked me how that made me feel, and I said “robbed.”  He laughed at me again.

I finished the call with my foot in my mouth.  Would you please add some more evidence to your website so I can bulls–t as well as you do?

Thanks,

Captain Clarity

Phone-bama. Is this grass-roots or the new unofficial presidential seal? Do you see how it is a little confusing?

Read more…

A former friend of mine had a lapse in judgment and put me on his list when he spammed an email in support of Obama. The paragraph below is what he wrote, following that – is what I wrote back:

To all who don’t want the boogey man showing up at their doorstep, armed and demanding food and money. …what is everyone so afraid of ? Obama is the best thing that could’ve happened to us, given the overall current circumstances, he’s good for our foreign public image, the world has thought of us as a bully for years, he will only build good will for us among other countries we will need as allies going forward. The hard core Republicans need to stop being so selfish, spread the wealth, the love, the weed, everything good worth having, stop hoarding it all for themselves. We need less corporate Titans making $25,000,000/yr, and way more hard working, middle Americans making $150,000, so they can send their kids to good schools, and stop living off credit cards. I’m not a flaming liberal, just a frustrated MODERATE, for the wealth disparity is just too much, no wonder we have the highest crime rate in the known world, my uncle always said, “if you don’t give a guy an opportunity to make it, he’s just going to take it….”, a truer thing has never been said.

XXXX,

I took me a long time to write this to you, but I did so because I do believe that there is hope for you. Please take a moment to read my replies below. To be a true Moderate you have to consider facts from both sides. I think the Republican party sucks and Bush blew it. However, Democrats suck harder and Obama is blowing everything. Read more…

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 – you’ve had 234 years to get it right; it’s broke. Social Security was established in 1935 – you’ve had 74 years to get it right; it’s broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938 – you’ve had 71 years to get it right; it’s broke… Read more…