Time to defund politican salaries...

"The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States." -- U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 6

From 1789 to 1855, members of Congress received only a per diem (daily payment) of $6.00 to $7.00 while in session, except for a period from December 1815 to March 1817, when they received $1,500 a year. Members began receiving a regular annual salary in 1855, when they were paid $3,000 per year.

During the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin proposed that elected government officials not be paid for their service. Franklin’s proposal won little support. As you might guess, an automatic raise for Congress annually is coming as millions of American workers are giving up their cost-of-living raises in an effort to save their jobs...

Bumper stick for our times

I bought this and put it on my Jeep...

I don't hate Obama...I loathe him.

 

I used to believe it was extremely unlikely we would ever elect a President more inept than Jimmy Carter, yet here we are...

NASA - The Shuttle

Atlantis sitting on pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center

Excerpt from poem by Howard Nemerov

Witnessing the Launch of the Shuttle Atlantis

"So much with noise and smoke and rising clear
To vanish at the limit of our vision
Into the light blue light of afternoon—
Appeared no more, against the void in aim,
Than the flare of a match in sunlight, quickly snuffed."

God speed Atlantis, safe journey....

why I despise Bill “I am a sack of lying BS” Maher

Why Liberals have short term memory (Which is why I despise Bill “Bullshitter”Maher)

Liberal fan of Maher=Clueless forever: One who looks for political guidance from a stand-up comic.

Bill Maher Says IMF Rape Scandal a “Teaching Moment” to Extol the Virtues of Socialism to “Teabaggers”…“This could be a teaching moment, could it not for the teabaggers?” Maher declared. “Or maybe all of America — who don’t understand that socialism doesn’t mean we’re going to come to your house and make you work on a collective farm. You know, in Europe, socialism is just another political party and it doesn’t mean that we’re against making a profit. It just means that government takes over certain things like hospitals and prisons, and the military, schools — and things that should not be run for profit.”

·         My health care is provided by a not for profit, and they do just fine without the government telling them what to do…

·         Government runs prisons, with unionized employees, accounts for a big chunk of California’s budget, and budget woes…

·         I can’t talk for everywhere, but in my area, private schools lead in test scores, number of students that go on to college, and have less disciplinary issues…so much for government run schools…(and they use the money better than public schools do)

About the only thing I think he may correct is government run military…

 

Debt Crisis Management...

If I had a dollar for every time that capitalism was blamed for the problems caused by government I'd be a fat filmmaker with a baseball cap.

Leading global economists are warning that the US will lead industrial nations in decline over the next 2 years if we can not curb our wasteful ways...

One proposed solution"..cut military spending by 10%, no pension or health care for politicians serving less than 16 years in office. 8% luxury tax on salaries and bonuses over $5 mil, 1% import tax, 1% fed excise tax on security trades, eliminate earn income credit, reduce child tax credits, cap family welfare  so people quit having more kids to have more income. cut agriculture and energy subsidies. And quit leading the fight in every battle around world...after all that we would again have a surplus to start fixing our debt issues..."

While I can agree with most of that, I think there should be no pension or health care for politicians period...serving the people should mean you don't do so to end up on easy street for life...while I disagree with permanent punitive taxes like the one on salaries and bonuses, I can see 8% on salaries and bonuses especially over a specific amount, as long as it applies across the board to everyone, not just certain segments of the population. I would like Michael Moore to get levied 8% on his $200 million to start with, along with loudmouth Bill "Douche-bag" Maher...

A lot of these austerity measures could be forgone if the 15% unemployed in this country had a job...and therefore able to pay taxes.

My other solution, which my liberal friends roundly denounce me for, is if we are all in this together (their words) then why aren't we all paying taxes..? I pay a butt load of taxes, on my salary, property, pets, just about everything.

My brother-in-law gets back every cent deducted for federal and state tax from his salary, plus gets more (for who knows why)...all I am saying is there really should be a minimum tax on everyone. Which is why a national sales tax makes a hell of lot more sense to me than income tax...that way you tax spending, not earning or savings...

Memorial Day 2011

Dysfunctional

Dysfunctional

Here is a job the US Government seems to think I would be interested in (based upon an application I put in more than 6 months ago when looking for a job)

Job Title: IT Specialist (Information Security)

SALARY RANGE: $81,225.00 - $182,790.00 /year

This is a Direct Hire action. Direct Hire Authority (section 1312 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002) allows agencies to appoint candidates directly to occupations for which the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined that there is a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need for certain occupations, grades, and/or geographic locations. Agencies may appoint without regard to Veteran's Preference.

OK, so I am interested in the skills they are looking for, that justify such a salary…

(These are what are listed- and what made me think, something’s wrong here)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: You will be required to complete narratives for the below listed KSAs in the occupational questionnaire for this announcement.

·         Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.

·         Knowledge of information systems security operations, techniques, and standards.

·         Knowledge of information systems security operations, techniques, and standards.

·         Ability to communicate in writing.

·         Ability to plan and execute work.

·         Knowledge of computer languages, security utilities, and penetration testing methods.

·         Ability to plan, develop, and implement information technology guidelines an policies.

·         Ability to research and analyze technology problems, issues, and program requirements

OK, so first off, what exactly does “Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing” mean? Body language? Talking?

Second, does living in NYC or Washington DC really warrant paying between $39 to $87 an hour?

 Really...?