The blinders are starting to come off.....maybe

It appears that the love affair between President Obama and many of his loyal supporters is going through a shaky period. For the last 5 years in the eyes of many on the Left their savoir Mr Obama could do no wrong, broken campaign promises, stepping outside the Constitution, throwing gas on the fires of bipartisanship, political scandals, or stumbling on foreign policy, none of this seemed to matter to those that drank the Progressive "kool-aid". He was "the man" who would take them to the promised land.

The poor economic performance under his stewardship was defended by his supporters as something he inherited from the previous president, failure to fulfill campaign promises was blamed on an obstructionist Congress, and occasionally when things got really dire for the President the "race card" was pulled out (Thank You, Oprah). To a large degree what allowed this charade to continue was the outright refusal of Liberal media to out this guy and hold his feet to the fire. Obama was given a free pass by traditional print, television, and radio like no President since Kennedy who the press lauded as a "family man" while every reporter who could draw a breath knew he had a revolving door of models and actresses at his beck and call. Now to be fair, Kennedy's era was a gentler, politer time that held a higher respect for the office and man when it came to reporting on the President.  However that time has come and gone, the media has for most segments of society taken the kids gloves off and in today's world little is sacred when it comes to getting a story and boosting ratings. Add to that the explosion of on-line news, blogs, twitter, etc., where nothing political is taboo and one can only wonder in amazement how Obama with his lackluster performance has avoided being tarred and feathered by the press.

A better perspective on government fiscal stupidity

The fuse is burning

Like most sensible people I often worry where the continuous overspending by all levels of government will eventually lead. Ongoing spending by Municipal, Provincial, or Federal governments seems to indicate a total lack of common sense or any fiscal responsibility on the part of our elected officials. It's almost like they live on a different world where money literally grows on trees and they function using a system of math where two plus two does not equal four. The alternative would be that they are simply stupid or incredibly naive about managing money.

Now while our Canadian Federal or Provincial governments are not by any stretch of the imagination "fiscally responsible" they do not even come close to displaying the free spending mindset and the reckless fiscal abandonment that our American neighbors to the south are engaging in, particularly at the Federal level in Washington. Watching their antics as they battle over adjusting personal tax rates higher, debt ceiling increases, and implementing spending cuts, would be comical if it was not so serious that the outcome has the ability to negatively impact the entire global economy. Even a simpleton knows that you can not continuously spend more than you take in, unfortunately this basic fact seems to be lost on America's elected officials especially the guy currently serving as President.

So if a simpleton can understand the concept, why can't supposedly bright elected officials?
Here's what I think........

Political Correctness, Will it ever come to an end?

Just when I think I have heard it all, along comes another example of just how ridiculous the whole issue of being politically correct has become. Maybe I am simply more aware of it because we are heading towards Christmas and the confusion is rampant, Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays... no one is quite sure. Even Santa seems confused, how many times does old St Nick appear in an advertisement wishing everyone "Happy Holidays"' pretty sad when even he is afraid to use the "C" word in public.

But enough about the confusion surrounding "Christmas" (oops, old habits die hard). What got my head spinning this week has absolutely nothing to do with the political correctness surrounding this particular time of year. It appears we have a new word that has been added to the list that we are not allowed to use in polite company. Now this particular word is one that many of us grew up hearing on a regular basis, one that we all took for granted, and one to my knowledge carried no animosity or ill will with it. Even as a very young boy I commonly used the world to refer to a popular sports and even a particular model of sports car.

At this point you are undoubtedly wondering what this taboo word is, well for now lets just call it the "M" word as I am now finding myself having difficulty even using this now demeaning term in my blog, "oh the humanity".

So, Where do I sign up?

A day in the life of a Federal civil servant

When I was growing up, when you heard of someone who worked for the Federal government, you knew a few things right off the bat. One, they were probably not an ambitious individual, two, they didn't make a lot of money, and last but not least they would most certainly be serving a life sentence with the feds. It was a given that while a federal job didn't provide the big bucks that private industry did, it was a very secure position that in the end would provide a comfortable pension for ones golden years. Federal positions tended to attract those that wanted to take little risk on the career path and generally weren't overly eager to expend too much effort in earning a living.

Now fast forward to today's world......Lordy, Lordy, how things have changed and the pendulum has swung! Today's federal civil servant has rocketed ahead of us poor schmoes in the private sector to the point where one has to ask if the inmates are running the asylum in Ottawa. If by this time your beginning to believe that old Frustrated Joe is simply exaggerating the situation, just keep reading.

Our court system is full of surprises, sometimes even good ones

How often have you read an article regarding a legal decision made by one of our public judges and shook your head in disbelief wondering if any sanity still remains within our justice system? Unfortunately it has become far too common an experience to pick up a daily newspaper and read about a court decision that seems to fly in the face of public safety or even basic common sense.

Thankfully, once in a while a judgement is rendered that actually seems to make sense even if it's one that doesn't have a major impact on society as a whole. This particular tale begins in 2011 in the city of Toronto, a place in years past that was often referred to as "Hogtown", (based on the many slaughterhouses in existence at the time, not the residents) but in today's world  it is in fact considered the center of the known universe by many of those that live there.

This boy is definitely a "chip off the old block"

As the Federal Liberals go through yet another leadership race in the hopes of finding someone to lead the chosen people out of the wilderness, I can't help but marvel at the desperation in their ranks.

Although one has to ask, why would we expect this race to be any different from ones of the past. In the last decade the Liberal party has certainly had some interesting potential leaders, looking back to 2006 they also produced a bumper crop of poor choices for party leadership.

Michael Ignatieff
Half the battle was teaching voters how to pronounce his last name (honestly, I never mastered it), but that was the least of the challenges facing the Liberal party with Michael. Here was a Canadian who moved to the United States, lived there for almost 30 years, crooned publicly about the wonders of living as a pseudo American, and then when he thought he could take the Liberal leadership and possibly become Prime Minister he parachuted back into Canada. Well as we all know he did become the leader of the Liberal party and went onto lead the party into a federal election that resulted in the Liberals almost being wiped of the face of the Canadian political map. Upon being soundly defeated, old Michael stepped down and now splits his time between teaching positions in Toronto and Harvard. Alas, a true Canadian patriot.

Bob Rae
Need I say more? As the former NDP Premier of Ontario, Bob was instrumental in leading that once successful province down the road of financial ruin. Bob made even America's President Obama look like a spendthrift when it came to holding the reins on the public purse. Once he had left a trail of fiscal destruction in his path he moved on and set his sights on the top job in Canada, Prime Minister. Now old Bob knows an opportunity when he sees one, and when the Liberals needed a leader he was not about to let the fact he was a card carrying member of the NDP party stand in his way, he simply jumped ship. However, what he couldn't leave behind was his record as Premier in Ontario, much to his dislike that stench clung to him and he was beat out by Michael Ignatieff. However, after Michael moved on Bob did get the job of acting party leader for the Liberals and the good news is that he could hold most of his caucus meetings in a broom closet.

Now , back to the present leadership race. The shining star in this one as far as most Liberals are concerned is Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister (and international playboy), Pierre Trudeau. Now amongst many Liberals, Pierre is held in the same reverence as say John Kennedy is with American Democrats. However most of us remember him better as the guy that flipped Canadians "the bird" from the back of the train on his way out of town or as the Prime Minister who coined the phrase "fuddle duddle". Someone who as a nation we could all be proud of, mind you I understand he did date Barbara Streisand.

So can we expect more from junior?

Stormy Seas Ahead?

Over the last 6 months there has been tremendous focus on the Presidential election and what it's outcome would be. Well it's old news now and President Obama has another four years to fix Americas economy or continue it on the road to no return. Like most individuals I hope it is the former , not the latter, but unfortunately the man doesn't have a great track record up to this point.

My personal feeling is that Mitt Romney was a more qualified individual and better suited for the task ahead, simply based on his past experience. President Obama walked into the Oval Office with no real life business experience, Mitt Romney on the other hand has a lifetime of practical experience  running a large corporation. Now I for one am not against a bit of  "on the job" training in most instances, but I believe that most sensible people would agree that the Whitehouse is not the ideal  place for it.

However, no point in dwelling on what might have been, the fact is that Mr Obama is back for another term, like it or not. So am I just being negative towards the guy, well lets see how others view his re-election

- The stock market took a sharp downturn Wednesday, just a day after President Obama’s re-election. The Dow Jones average dropped about 313 points, or 2.4 percent, as if my writing this it is down 4%!

- How about job creation, or maybe the real indicator is job loss. So how many Americans lost jobs since the President secured another term. Here's a short list of layoffs that have taken place on or since November 6 in about a 3 day period .

Bristol-Myers – 480 Sales Related Jobs in NJ

ING – 2,350

Husqvarna AB – 600

U.S. Cellular – 980

Energizer Holdings Inc – 1500

Ameridose LLC – up to 650 Layoffs

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne – 100

Boeing – 30% of Executives at Defense Unit

Hawker Beechcraft - 240

Vesta Wind Systems - 3000

Now trust me when I say the above list is but a small portion of layoff announcements I was able to find in short order, yet in just the 3 days after the election the list totals over 10,000. What confuses me is the fact that Mr Obama claimed during his campaign that he was the one that could create good paying manufacturing jobs. Seems he forgot to mention his abilities to the companies listed above. My personal belief is that the timing of these layoffs was not coincidental, they occurred right after Mr Obama's election for a very good reason. I suspect many of these companies held off on downsizing hoping beyond hope that the Oval Office would have a new tenant and Obamacare would be repealed. No such luck, so the pink slips went out. Now the count of those seeking government entitlements has increased by over 10,000, throw in the 18,500 jobs the unions killed over at Hostess and there are nearly 30,000 jobs down the pipe simply due to greed and stupidity (on both Obama's and the Unions part). Now the fact is that some of these jobs may come back if business feels a bit of confidence, but some are lost forever (i.e Hostess). But even as jobs come back Mr Obama has already laid the groundwork for a future workforce of part-time rather than full time jobs, he did this through Obamacare which defines a full-time position (for the purposes of health insurance coverage) as 30 hours per week! Think about it, the easiest way for employers to avoid the onerous costs of Obamacare is simply to hire employees on a 25 - 28 hour workweek (just shy of 30 to be safe), so Obama has just reduced the standard 40 hour workweek to 28 in his wisdom. His logic behind this is brilliant, any time the government quotes new job figures all of these part-time positions will fall into them and instead of having two (40 hour workweek positions), and assuming that employers commit to the same umber of work hours (80 per week) they will now count three (25-28 hour workweek positions) and an increase in the number of new positions of 50%! So the government looks like a hero, except of course to the guy that is short 12 hours a week on his paycheck.

Unfortunately while it seems that Mr Obama has the support of a good deal of the population who depend on government entitlements, he is not inspiring any confidence amongst the companies that create the jobs the American population is hoping for. Oops, I hope that statement didn't cause too much grief amongst those of you who are under the delusion that the President or any other politician can actually create meaningful employment, sorry I burst your bubble. All any politician can do is foster an economic and political climate that ensures that employers are confident enough to invest in creating jobs. Unfortunately, continuously bad mouthing the financially successful, and beating the drum of tax increases and additional employer costs (Obamacare) has exactly the opposite affect. I guess that's what one should expect when you have a community organizer in the Oval Office, rather than a successful businessman. Obama's roots as a community organizer are showing through, when he needs more money he just assumes the government will provide it.

The sky is not falling Chicken Little

In the days since the Presidential election the media has been rife with opinions on how and why Mitt Romney took second place. Commentators, talk show hosts, or political pundits all have a wealth of suggestions about what changes the Republican party must undertake to win the Whitehouse in 2016. Most of these suggestions tend to cover the same ground, the  Republicans need to get in touch with and win over the Latino vote,  single woman, African Americans, soften their stance on different issues, or learn to sling mud like their opponents.

This election is lost and there's no changing that fact. However, what a lot of this opinionated discussion overlooks is the fact that what America really needs at this moment in history and for the foreseeable future is a President who has truly bought into and believes in a Conservative platform , who places the interests of the nation before their own or their parties. An individual that fully understands the precarious financial position the nation is in and the dire consequences that it is facing due to a succession of free spending fiscally irresponsible federal governments. What America definitely does not need is a another leader who caters to the whims of every ethnic or special interest group as a means of winning their support and the Oval Office. Unfortunately for the last four years and the next four, America has a guy in the Oval Office with feet of clay whose only goal in life is retaining power long enough to see his personal agenda reshape the nation. As a means to do so Mr Obama will promise and do whatever it takes, something he learnt well in the Chicago political arena. He and his party proved themselves the masters of falsehoods and mudslinging over the last six months.And please don't get me started on his promise of open government and transparency..... sheesh. America has never experienced a more clandestine administration, two great examples are the "Fast and Furious" and "Benghazi" fiascoes. These guys would shame even Tricky Dick Nixon

Was Mitt Romney the man America truly needed in the Oval Office?  Probably not, but on the flip side he was a lot closer than the one they have.

Does such an individual exist and if they do is there even a remote chance they would survive the primaries or have even the faintest hope of becoming President? The primaries would certainly be a challenge as the upper echelon of the GOP are not exactly risk takers when it comes to their candidates and certainly respect a pecking order. What the GOP needs is another Ronald Reagan type individual, someone that stands on his principals knowing full well that in doing so he is bucking the "old boys club" in the party. However the electorate might very well reject just such an individual on the basis they simply have become very used to the idea that government provides everything and nurse maids them from cradle to grave. Americans might not be prepared for or even desire a more self-reliant existence, many of them might be very comfortable in their nanny state stupor.

My personal opinion is that the Right must go back to it's conservative values, and I am not referring to issues surrounding abortion or same sex marriage, these are societal and religious ones, not governmental ones. The conservative values I speak of are those of smaller government and sound fiscal management. The country is heading over the fiscal cliff, yes they may postpone it this year, but with current spending practices it is inevitable. Until Washington begins practicing sound fiscal management, and more importantly until the Oval Office has an individual in it that understands their job is to lead the country, not kowtow to every group that promises support, the country will remain on the same Greece like path. A true leader understands that at times they must make unpopular decisions, ones that look further forward than the next election. A true leader does not check the direction the political wind is blowing every morning upon getting out of bed (frankly I am surprised Obama has not had a weather vane installed atop the Whitehouse).

What the GOP does not need under any circumstances is a candidate that will cater to passing whims of this group or that group in hopes of currying favour and winning the Oval Office.  The GOP can not "outbid" the Democrats with promises, nor should they. After all, if they play that game we will simple see two versions of the Democrat party running for the Presidency in 2016 and the ultimate loser will be the American citizenry and the rest of the world.

On a last note, the good news is that Obama is now in his Legacy term of office, more to the point is the fact that after the first two years or so he will effectively become a lame duck President as Democrat politicians try to put some distance between themselves and him prior to the next election. So hopefully he won't cause much havoc or do too much more harm to the nation and the world.

The NDP, Stupid is as Stupid does

It's no secret that I am not a big supporter of the Leftwing politics of the NDP, but to be fair I do realize that they have a place in the Canadian political landscape. Any political system to be truly balanced  needs to represent both sides of the political spectrum. Besides, in present Canadian Federal politics there is so little difference between the Liberal party and the NDP that even each parties supporters are confused. So if nothing else this tends to keep the Left in disarray, generally a good condition for them to be in as far as most sensible individuals are concerned.

Usually I am not the least bit surprised by any of  the socialist nonsense that the NDP generates on a regular basis, and I long ago stopped scratching my head trying to understand their logic. Having said that, recently the NDP surprised even me.

It's seems that last week the Federal Government announced that they had managed to cut their budgeted spending over the course of the fiscal year by $8 billion. Now generally anytime a government spends less than planned it is a cause for celebration, particularly due to the fact that it occurs on about the same frequency as  a pass by from Haley's Comet. Unfortunately this impudence on the part of the Feds did not sit well with the NDP who naturally felt something was amiss. After all an unspent taxpayer dollar is a wasted dollar in the mind of the NDP,  worse yet is the potential loss of an entitlement program, even one that serves no rational purpose. Never mind the fact that every dollar our Federal government spends is a borrowed dollar that adds to our ever growing Federal debt. So exactly how did the Federal NDP party view this "travesty"?

"It speaks to the lack of transparency and really the fundamental lack of accountability with Canadians," NDP finance critic Peggy Nash stated to the Globe and Mail. "People need to know what programs are being cut, what services are being undermined." 

Too funny....Let me get this straight, the programs that Peggy believes are being cut and the services that she suggests are being undermined are of such great importance that unless the government notifies us what they are, we might miss the entire event?  Really, is this the best she and her party have to offer Canadians? Peggy must be very familiar with the story of Chicken Little!

The ironic thing is that the Feds actually released Public Accounts' documentation last week that clearly indicated where the bulk of the savings were achieved. 

- $6.3 billion was originally budgeted for infrastructure and. $4.5 billion was actually spent.

- Ottawa spent almost $2 billion less than expected on Employment Insurance benefits.

-  The B.C. Provincial government returned $1.6 billion to the Feds after opting out of the HST.

As the official opposition the role of the NDP is to keep tabs on the government, but use some common sense please, there are plenty of places to find fault with our current government, you don't need to create issues where they don't exist. Speaking strictly from the viewpoint of a taxpayer, anytime the government shaves 25% off of a projected annual deficit of  $32 Billion, I am a happy camper. Too bad for the NDP that they don't see this as a good thing as well.

On a last note for my American friends who are reading this,  yes the dollar amounts cited above are correct. I can only imagine knowing this makes you feel even worse about your own Federal governments fiscal irresponsibility that is leading you over a fiscal cliff. You have my sympathy and I hope that Tuesday brings you a positive change in the Oval Office.

Renovating the den, while he kitchen is on fire. Part 2

In Part One I discussed how our governments in both Canada and the United

States for all intents and purposes are simply ignoring the massive debts they are incurring. Sure, once in a while they pay lip service to the debt, but generally it is placed on the back burner. I detailed my thoughts on this in Part One, and since that time I have seen some classic examples of our elected officials focusing on minor issues and treating them as if they had the potential to change civilization.

Here is a real doozie!

It appears that both the American Congress and Senate are up in arms over the fact that the uniforms of the U.S. Olympic Team were manufactured in China. In fact a bill was introduced in the Senate that if passed, would require the US Olympic Committee (USOC) to outfit Olympic athletes in ceremonial uniforms "sewn or assembled in the United States."

Let me get this straight, in the midst of what could possibly be considered the second worst financial crisis in American history (a close second right after the Great Depression) and at a time when government spending is spiraling out of control, it appears that the biggest concern of these elected officials is who did the sewing for Team USA! One can only imagine what this is costing the American taxpayer to have these individuals sit around and discuss the rag trade. I'm not making this up, trust me I am not that creative to imagine such stupidity. Sure, I realize that the uniforms are just a symptom of the bigger problem, the outsourcing of American jobs. However, that horse has left the barn!

No need for a red carpet this time around

So, it appears that today we Albertans will be graced with a visit from the leader of the Federal NDP party, Thomas Mulcair. Tom will start his visit in Edmonton where he will meet with Alberta Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk,  Alberta Premier Alison Redford is in Virginia to attend the Bilderberg conference. Now there has been some criticism that Premier Redford herself should have been here to meet Tom, however my thoughts on this are simple. Why?

After all, Mr Mulcair is not the leader of our country, he is the leader of the official opposition, a position he was granted by his party (not the electorate) after another individual had done all the work to get the party to official opposition status. Sorry to bring it up Tom, but so far you are simply riding on Jack Layton's coat tails. My belief is that Mr. Mulcair is fully aware of his precarious status within the party (and amongst it's supporters) and as such understands better than anyone how important it is that he make his presence known amongst voters before another federal election. Where Jack Layton took the NDP in federal politics was nothing short of a miracle, unfortunately Jack has passed on, and lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice. It would appear that Tom has his work cut out for him. So whats his plan?

Those of us on the right simply have to communicate better

I have never made any bones about the fact that I lean to the right in my political beliefs. Does that mean I believe that all things right are "right" (no pun intended, but it is an ironic use of words)?

Two entirely different directions take by
people often with the best of intentions

Of course not, I am not so naive as to believe the Conservative mindset can do no wrong, nor am I so ignorant to imagine that the Liberal train of thought is never right (that almost seems like an oxymoron). Although, what I do find of interest is that at times the personal commitment to a course of action by some on the Left is almost fanatical, (does the term "Occupy" come to mind?). If you have ever had the painful experience of attempting to have a rational discussion on a topic such as Health Care or Old Age Security with a committed "die-hard" Liberal or NDP voter you will know exactly what I am referring to. Unless you are willing to discuss increased public funding your opinions are generally met with disdain and any hope of your using a well thought out logical platform in an effort to get your viewpoint across is pointless. Any attempt on your part to suggest the merits of increased efficiency or private sector involvement in the health care system will almost certainly get you labeled as a heartless right wing fanatic that places profits before people.

Why? Well, what I have noticed over the years is that the Right and the Left approach political debates and discussion in completely different manners and from starting points that tend to be light years apart. The foundations that each side relies on when debating are simply put, like night and day.

The Right generally comes armed with facts, figures, statistics, examples, you name it they have done their home work and are are ready to prove their point in the harsh light of the day. Often they will turn to terms such as increased efficiency, user fees, or private sector involvement as avenues to explore with the goal of delivering a more affordable solution. No brainer, right? One would think so, but that is generally not the case.(again no pun intended, but the word "right" just makes so much sense so often, doesn't it)

The Left, in many cases will simply set the facts aside in favor of a formula that leads right (oops, did it again) to the support of the majority. So what is this magic formula?

It's been a busy week... to say the least

Sorry readers, I have been up to my neck in alligators over the last few weeks, and so have neglected to post anything. Trust me, it wasn't for a lack of material, just personal time.

Tom Mulcair

Let's start with last weeks statement regarding Alberta's oil industry by the newly chosen leader of the Federal NDP party, Thomas Mulcair. Tommy who owes his parties current standing entirely to the popularity of the late Jack Layton and draws the bulk of his support (number of elected seats) from Ontario and Quebec seems to feel that the prosperity of some regions of the country, namely Alberta is detrimental to other parts, in this case, you guessed it Ontario and Quebec.

Speaking on the CBC Radio show, The House (sadly, probably the best air time he can get) Mulcair stated "It's by definition the 'Dutch disease'. The Canadian dollar's being held artificially high, which is fine if you're going to Walt Disney World, (but) not so good if you want to sell your manufactured product because the American clients, most of the time, can no longer afford to buy it."

Now for those of you who are not familiar with the term "Dutch Disease", Tom is making reference to what occurred in the Netherlands in the 1960s after vast deposits of natural gas were discovered in the nearby North Sea. The resulting rise in its currency was thought to have caused the collapse of the Dutch manufacturing sector. So Tommy feels that Alberta is the cause of the strong Canadian buck and the diminishing Ontario and Quebec manufacturing sectors.

Unfortunately like with most issues of any importance Tom's party still has it's head in the 60's, actually I suspect many of their heads are stuck someplace else (hint, a place where the sun never shines). Although this train of thought makes for good sound clips and certainly garners support and cheers from Tom's traditional base of voters (unions, radicals, the self entitled) it does leave out some key facts.

They certainly make a fine pair......

As the American Presidential election gets closer we can expect hear a lot more about the candidates, both the incumbent President Obama and his opponent Republican Mitt Romney. I have a suspicion that this race is going to get down and dirty and will be very "in your face" as both parties have access to large amounts of cash for media buys.

Obama will undoubtedly take credit for real and perceived success during his first term in office and will play every card available to him to avoid too much attention being focused on his real legacy and less than desirable achievements that will linger for decades.

Already we are seeing this with the best example being the recent one year anniversary of Bin Laden's death. In retelling this story the only thing that Obummer and his spin doctors haven't claimed is that the President led the charge himself on Bin Ladens compound all the while fighting side by side with Chuck Norris! Undoubtedly that will come to light next week,  or maybe Mr Norris has more common sense than to be associated with a sinking ship. Hey, even Chucks worst movie made more sense than what is taking place in the White House.

In the meantime this election is shaping up to be one of mud slinging and accusations that will certainly lower the bar even further for American politics. Is that even possible?

One thing for sure is it will be interesting in a comical kind of way, just last week VP Biden while speaking on "Meet The Press" referred to President Romney on a number of occasions ( does this guy know something the rest of us don't?) and addressed his own boss , President Obemmer as President Clinton (maybe something is taking place in the privacy of the oval office that causes him to confuse the two? Interns take cover!). Mind you it is not surprising that Biden has a problem remembering who he reports to, after all his boss Sir Obummer forgot that he reports to the American taxpayer one day after he stepped into the Oval Office. Whatever the case, its too bad that Biden isn't the one spending all of his time on the golf course, at least that might keep him out of the public eye. On the other hand for those of us who would like this to be Obummers one and only term, the VP is "the gift that just keeps on giving", even the Republicans couldn't make up some of the stuff that comes out of Joe's mouth, yes it really is a "BFD". But the reality is the two (Biden and Obummer) seem perfectly suited for one another, you know like Stan and Ollie, or Abbot and Costello.

What amazes me is that America is past the point of heading for the cliff financially, they are standing on the precipice and yet no one in power seems to be able to realize this or take a position to resolve the situation. At every level of government they all seem far too busy and focused on bashing the other guy to actually get to work and fix the problem.

On the other hand maybe the problem is so big that what America really needs is a little slapstick humor from it's leaders, in that case they are certainly being well served.

A short walk, but an unforgivable betrayal

If you read this blog regularly it's no secret that Frustrated Joe's political philosophies tend to differ a great from those of the left, like say the NDP. However, once in while an issue arises that I find myself agreeing (at least partially) with someone I would normally be opposed to. Wow, that was a mouthful.

The issue at hand today are the shackles that are placed upon our Members of Parliament when they are expected to vote with their party on issues before Parliament. The particular case in question is that of Bruce Hyer, one of the NDP's northern Ontario MP's. Hyer was one of two NDP MP's that voted in November 2011 with the Conservative government on Bill C-19 to put an end to the long gun registry. Unfortunately for Hyer, that decision conflicted with his parties stance on the issue. The result, both MP's were disciplined by their party.

Now, maybe it is old school but as a voter I  personally feel that the first duty of elected officials is to those that elected them. Myself, I have always taken into account the candidates personal opinions and political philosophy (how close they are to mine) and given both almost the same weight in my voting decision as I give to their political parties views. After all this individual serves as your representative in government. You need to know "they have your back".

The race hustlers have been busy lately

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last month you will have heard the name Trayvon Martin. Trayvon is the youth who was shot and killed in Florida by a neighbor hood watch individual, George Zimmerman.When Zimmerman was not arrested or even charged with a crime, the story took on a life of its own and went national.

An example of fair and honest reporting
by media outlets. Until recently the
  majority of them used the top 2 photos.

Now I am not about to make any judgements about the motivation or guilt of the shooter, that's the job of the judicial system. As well the last thing the case needs is one more voice weighing in an opinion based on nothing more than innuendo and bias. In fact the noise level on this one has gotten to the point that it's hard to discern fact from fiction. Case in point, attempting to research the incident I found literally thousands of articles and at least 3 spellings of the name Trayvon (sometimes all within the same article!). So apparently everyone has an opinion, many of which I suspect are based on second or third hand information derived  from God knows what source (ahhh, the wonders of the internet). So, I will wait to form my opinion on this one until it has played through the actual judicial system, and I would hope that readers of this blog would do the same. After all, lets keep in mind the underlying premise that a man is innocent until proven guilty.

However, that does not mean I have nothing to say about the events surrounding this case. The events I refer to have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual case itself, but everything to do with how the case is being exploited by many for their own benefit.

Just a few updates on past and ongoing stupidity

Nothing new today, so to speak, but rather some updates on pieces we have published in the past. Sometimes even when we think that common sense has prevailed over stupidity we find that stupidity is eternal and never goes away.

Spring Is Coming, May 1 - Occupy Whatever
Just when we thought that the Occupy movement had faded away to become a footnote in history it is attempting to rear it's head once again. Some of us had imagined (a bit naively) that the Occupy drones had gone back to school, possibly entered the workforce, or more than likely simply took to living under a bridge. However such is not the case, this time they have picked May Day (that's May 1st to us non communist types) to once more attempt to grind to a halt society and it's productive contributing members. I suspect that the movement which has been on life support for months has picked this day in the hope that many of their "comrades" will join in and add to the head count.
Here are a few quotes from their website and my personal comments (in Italics)

• "returning day after day to the boring jobs that drain our souls" Then quit and pursue something to enrich your soul. Remember, contrary to the indoctrination you received from your Occupy Masters, it is still a relatively free country.
• "the same system that causes students to graduate college with so much debt that they must chain themselves to a career in something they despise, rather than pursue their passions". Did someone force them into the education path they pursued? No, they chose it themselves so unfortunately if their career stinks they must accept personal responsibility for that.
• "This May Day, Occupy Wall Street, in coalition with numerous other organizations and occupations" I believe here they are referring to groups such as The American Nazi Party and the Communist Party USA
•  "If you can't call in sick hold a slow down" Funny, both these suggestions in most cases would mean that the Occupy Drones would still receive their paycheck, in other words taking something for doing nothing! Something that as a group they seem very fond of.

McDonalds, the last bastion of freedom?

Back in December of 2011 we posted an article about the "Nanny State" existing in society today and how the San Francisco Board of Supervisors were doing their best to get the toys removed from Happy Meals. At the time the "Bored" of Supervisors had passed an ordinance banning the giveaway of toys with children's meals. Thankfully MickyD found a work around that left them looking like heroes and the Supervisors with egg on their faces.

Unfortunately the story does not end there, it appears that the outcome did not satisfy a San Francisco mother who brought a class-action lawsuit against the fast food giant. Plaintiff Monet Parham, a mother of two, was represented by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group. Parham, along with the CSPI, argued that the use of toys in Happy Meals preys on children’s vulnerabilities and encourages them to eat unhealthy food.

“What kids see as a fun toy, I now realize is a sophisticated, hi-tech marketing scheme that‘s designed to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters,” Parham argued, according to the Daily Mail.
“For the sake of other parents and their children, I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family.”

This is just too funny, so if I understand this correctly, if Mcdonalds stops putting toys into happy meals Monet and her daughters will have a better family relationship? I wish I could say that this mindset is unique to California (obviously that would explain a lot) but unfortunately its spreading across society. This is the same mindset that expects the government to supervise all aspects of our lives as we are supposedly to stupid or ignorant to make everyday decisions for ourselves

The good news is that the judge dismissed the lawsuit without giving the plaintiff the opportunity to file an amended lawsuit.

But never fear, the left is not that easily deterred and I am sure that down the road they will tackle this issue until they feel they get it right.

How in a sane world can this guy have any hope of re-election?

The US Presidential race will be kicking into high gear in the next few months and quite frankly based on Obamas disastrous first term as President it should be a one horse race, but sadly it isn't.

"Obummers" supporters are still contributing millions (literally hundreds) of dollars to his campaign and his handlers are busy laying the groundwork for the "second coming". Now how can this be?

I am amazed as the next guy, but why should I be. So rather than drone on about all the things wrong with this guy here are three that I personally feel speak for themselves.

Now this is truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black......

"Sydney, what happened to you? You've become obese!"

Recently, Jim Flaherty Canada's Finance Minister has taken to publicly criticizing the spending habits of the provincial government of Ontario.

Now while I can't argue with the criticism nor would I in my wildest dreams ever consider defending Premier Dalton McGuinty and his merry band of free spending caucus members, I do have a problem with this.
Where do I start, well it seems Jimmy has suggested that the McGuinty Liberals should "look in the mirror" to see who is responsible for Ontario's current economic woes. A fine suggestion, but tell me Jimmy-Boy, do you own a mirror?

Rather than having me take off on a rant (something I tend to do occasionally), let's keep this short and use a couple of old but well proven adages that accurately describe this soap opera.......
"cast the first stone" or  "Those that live in glass houses....."

I am personally amazed that Jimmy feels he can tell anyone how to be fiscally responsible. It certainly is not based on his setting such a fine example to follow,  another old adage says it best  "Don't do as I do, do as I say"

On the other hand, maybe there is a simpler motivation at play here, like the fact that Jimmy's wife Christine Elliot is the deputy leader of Ontario's Conservative party. You know, the same Conservative party that would like to form the next government of Ontario and currently sits in opposition to McGuinty's Liberals.

So Jimmy, how about doing us taxpayers a couple of favors?
First, balance your own governments budget and address it's debt before you worry about the other guys, and secondly when your working on our nickel let your wife do her own campaigning.

Getting closer each day to the edge of the cliff in Ontario...

Ontario Premier McGuinty and his ministers

Is it just me or does it appear that having a complete lack of common sense or any level of financial savvy is one of the prerequisites to holding an elected office in Provincial or Federal politics?

Now a lot of us non elected types who manage businesses and our own households understand the most basic of financial concepts, that you can not continuously spend more than you take in. Sure on occasion, all of us have gotten a little loose with the purse strings in the short term, but generally we rein them in pretty quickly to avoid financial ruin.

So why is it that governments with their army of accountants and advisers can't seem to balance a budget? To be fair I understand that on occasion revenues will be lower that anticipated and might result in a short fall, but the theory is that you adjust spending accordingly. Our governments in general have gotten to the point, particularly in the last number of years where a balanced or surplus budget is the exception, not the rule. Where they celebrate the introduction of a budget that shows a slight reduction (not elimination) in its projected deficit from the previous years deficit. Case in point, the Province of Ontario.