In which I rant about cleaning my daughters’ room, household budgets versus the federal budget, and Amelia Hamilton joins me for Conservative Chick Chat.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Latest on Obamacare: Weiner Waivers & IHOP Woes
March 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Last March, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly told the public that the Affordable Care Act needed to be passed before we could find out what was in it. The bill was soon passed and signed into law, and one year later, we are still peeling back the layers on the onion that is Obamacare.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) originally didn’t support President Obama’s health care initiative, but for a different reason than his Republicans counterparts. Where Republicans on the Hill voted against a massive intrusion of government into 1/6 of the economy, Rep. Weiner wasn’t fond of Obamacare because he didn’t believe it went far enough. The congressman sponsored an amendment to implement universal coverage – Medicare for all.
Read the rest at The Stir
Endless Continuing Resolutions or Government Shutdown?
March 22, 2011 by 2 Comments
We’re almost half way through the fiscal year (which began on October 1, 2010), and the federal government still hasn’t figured out its budget.They keep passing continuing resolutions, which means that they agree to stick mostly with last year’s budget until a final budget can be passed.
The most recent extension passed 87-13 in the Senate on Thursday, with our politicians assuring us that this will be the last time. The resolution included $6 billion in cuts for the fiscal year, yet nine Republicansenators voted against it.
The conservative naysayers say that the cuts aren’t deep enough for their conscience to allow them to vote in favor of the short-term budget stopgap. Florida Senator Marco Rubio released a press statement explaining his vote in opposition of the resolution:
Today’s vote, first of all, should remind us of how we got here. Why are we funding government in two or three week increments? And it’s because Democrats, when they ran the House, the Senate and the White House, didn’t pass a budget.
“But more importantly, this is a terrible way to run government. We are facing some serious issues in America today, particularly the fact that we are borrowing $4 billion a day to keep the lights on and particularly the fact that we owe $14 trillion and growing. It’s time to face those issues in a serious way. The time for waiting is over. The time for games has passed.
Read the rest at The Stir
It’s Time for the Federal Government to Stop Funding NPR
March 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A few months ago, conservatives were outraged at the firing of liberalJuan Williams by National Public Radio for saying that flying with Islamic-looking males made him nervous on Fox News’ The O’Reily Factor. According to NPR’s head honcho Vivian Schiller, Mr. Williams had “several times in the past violated [their] news code of ethics with things that he had said on other people’s air.”
Apparently expressing an opinion based on the fact that virtually every airplane-hijacking terrorist in the United States over the past few decades has been a Jihadist is punishable by unemployment from NPR. Juan Williams did not state that he thought all Muslims were terrorists, or even that he refused to fly with them. He simply stated that it made him nervous.
Shortly thereafter, many prominent conservative pundits called for NPR to be defunded of the federal money that it receives. Private businesses can run things how they see fit, but organizations receiving taxpayer money should not be able to terminate someone’s employment for expressing a valid opinion, especially when it wasn’t even done on NPR’s airwaves.
In November, the then-Democratic House of Representatives defeated a bill to cut the federal fundingof NPR. The supposedly unbiased organization released this statement after the vote:
In an increasingly fractious media environment, public radio’s value in fostering an informed society has never been more critical. Our growing audience shows that we are meeting that need. It is imperative for federal funding to continue to ensure that this essential tool of democracy remains available to all Americans and thrives well into the future.
Fast forward to March 2011. Ron Schiller, a senior executive at NPR, was caught on tape in a sting operation criticizing the Republican party, and Tea Party Republicans in particular, as being racist, fundamentalist Christian, and fanatically involved in people’s personal lives.
**Side note: Democrats want to control our health care, our education, and what we can feed our kids, but Republicans are “fanatically involved in people’s personal lives”? Um, ok …
Read the rest at The Stir
Rules Should Matter … Even to Wisconsin Democrats and President Obama
February 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment
People have been breaking rules since God said, “Enjoy the garden … just don’t eat that fruit off that tree.” The first rule in existence and the first humans couldn’t be bothered to follow it.
Let’s face it: Rules are rarely any fun or easy to follow. That’s why there are sayings like, “Rules were meant to be broken,” or my favorite from one of those pirate movies, “They’re more like guidelines anyway.”
Some of the bigger rules are relatively easy for most of us to follow. Thou shalt not murder is one of those that I’m fairly certain most Americans don’t struggle to keep on a daily basis. But what about speed limits? Anti-piracy laws? Tucking the price tags in on an expensive outfit, wearing it to a fancy party, and then returning it to the store for a full refund?
Rules can suck, but like it or not, they’re necessary for order and civility. Reckless driving is dangerous, and kills people every day. Illegally downloading software off the Internet is the same as walking into a store and stealing a boxed computer program. Returning worn clothes to a store as new is dishonest to both the store and the eventual end purchaser.
The wonderful thing about the way our government is set up is that it’s full of rules to protect us against tyranny. We have three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial … someone should remind Senator Schumer of that, by the way) that provide a unique system of checks and balances to keep any one person or group from getting too much power.
Read the rest at The Stir
Wisconsin Protesters’ Entitlement Mindsets Create Thieves Where None Exist
February 22, 2011 by 1 Comment
As a conservative, I am often accused of being a selfish, heartless,mean girl. Somehow, believing that Americans are strong, hard-working people well capable of taking care of themselves and their communities means that I’m a thieving capitalist who only wants the rich to get richer. Oh, and for some reason I’m also a racist.
Let’s take a look at the current situation in Wisconsin. The public sector unions are protesting at the state’s Capitol against Governor Scott Walker’s plan to make the members pay a fraction of their own health insurance and retirement contributions, and to limit their ‘collective bargaining’ capabilities to salary alone (as opposed to benefits as well). I stand with Governor Walker on this issue (incidentally, so would Democratic hero FDR), which obviously means I’m joining the ‘attack’ on workers in Wisconsin.
Why is it that every time conservatives advocate for taxpayers keeping more of their own hard-earned money, we’re accused of stealing from the poor? The GOP opposes Obamacare, and Harry Reid claims we’re stealing from the middle class. If we so much as mention privatizing Social Security, John Boehner gets painted as a clown and we’re accused of trying to steal from people’s retirement accounts. (Newsflash: that money is already long gone.) Parents that support a voucher system so that they can choose the best schools for their children are guilty of defunding the public schools they are districted for.
Read the rest at The Stir
GOProud at CPAC: A Broken Zipper Leads to Deep Thoughts on Stereotyping
February 13, 2011 by 1 Comment
I’m in Washington D.C. this week for CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), an annual conferences for conservatives to gather and revel in camaraderie while listening to speakers like Texas Governor Rick Perry, Representative Michele Bachmann, and Mitt Romney tell us how awesome we are.
It’s really fun.
Once the panels and sessions end for the day, everyone heads out to various parties for food and drink. Conservatives like to have fun, after all. One of the social events was a party sponsored by AndrewBreitbart and GOProud featuring Sophie B. Hawkins.
You may remember some of the controversy surrounding GOProud’s involvement with CPAC.
Read the rest at The Stir
Michelle Obama’s $495 Gardening Boots Irk Me
February 10, 2011 by 1 Comment
In a post I wrote regarding Michelle Obama and her plans to parent our children for us, I remarked about her $495 Tory Burch gardening boots. A few of the comments wondered why I brought them up, and why, as acapitalist, would I have a problem with pricey shoes?
The boots were mentioned to remind readers of how out of touch with reality the First Lady is. The average American mama doesn’t have a single pair of shoes in her closet that cost that much, let alone gardening boots. When I’m inclined to work outdoors, I put on a pair of three-year-old sneakers that are practically falling apart.
Referring to the self-appointed mom-in-chief’s aloofness when it comes to relating to us regular moms was useful to drive home the point that she is not qualified to make our parenting decisions for us. Only the best for the Obamas, whether it’s boots, school, vacation, vacation, vacation, or vacation. The rest of us can eat cake. Or carrot sticks.
Read the rest at The Stir
Anti-Abortion Bill Does Not Legalize Rape
February 3, 2011 by 1 Comment
It’s no wonder that Republicans have such a bad rap with progressives. Apparently, we want to legalize rape. I wouldn’t like Republicans either if that were even one teensy weensy bit true.
The controversy stems from the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, which seeks to expand existing Hyde amendment restrictions on the use of taxpayer money for abortions by prohibiting indirect funding and tax-exemptions to businesses that provide abortions.
As it stands now, the government claims it doesn’t fund abortions with taxpayer money, yet billions of dollars go to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services. Which then frees up ‘private’ money for abortions and advice on how to run an underage sex slave ring.
The legislation includes an exemption for the 3% or less of abortions performed after rape or to preserve the life of the mother. The bill explicitly states that federal funding will not be withheld from women that ‘need’ an abortion, just those that ‘want’ an abortion.
Read the rest at The Stir
The State of the Union and Bipartisanship
January 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The State of the Union address is tonight, and in an effort to promote sacred unity, some Republicans and Democrats will sit together, instead of on their own sides of the aisle.
Kumbaya, my Lord Mother Gaia, kumbaya.
Democrats have been calling for greater bipartisanship since they got creamed last November, but they really ratcheted it up a few weeks ago during the Giffords massacre in Arizona. After the media got done blaming Sarah Palin (which, by the way, they still have not apologized for), a new tone for Congress was called for. Because, you know, using the term ‘Obamacare’ to describe Obama’s health care mandates might incite violence.
Days later, Democrat Representative Steve Cohen likened the GOP to both baby murderer Goebbels and the Nazis. He must have missed the ‘new tone’ memo.
Moving forward with this new tone/civility/bipartisanship stuff, some of our lawmakers are eschewing almost 100 years of traditional separate seating to join hands (figuratively speaking … I hope) in solidarity.
The time for looking beyond the partisan divide was January 8, when our nation should have joined together to mourn the deadly actions of an insane man. Instead, liberals pointed fingers at the right. Now they want to play ‘peace and love’? It doesn’t jive.
Read the rest at The Stir
Find Jenny on the SocNets