The Worst Economy since the Great Depression?

Well today I experienced how bad our economy is. First, while my daughter had her first ballet class, we went to the shoe store next door. There were only a few people in there when we walked in, but by the time we left, it was packed. After the class, we went to Home Depot, to get the wood for our vegetable boxes. When we purchased our wood, there was a mild crowd, but to get the wood in the van, I had to take out all of the seats. So we paid for the wood and went home, and when I returned (minus the seats) to Home Depot all chaos had broken loose at the shopping center. It probably took 15 minutes to navigate through the shopping center to get to Home Depot. This time around, HD was really packed as well. In addition to the wood, I also needed to get a wheel barrow and I didn't like the prices at HD, so I went to Costco for the WB. The price was better, but I think I needed a train, a bus and a cab to get from my parking spot to the store. Once I finally had my wheel barrow, It was about 30 minutes in line. Now you'll say that I'm exaggerating, and you'd be right. But I'm not exaggerating very much. The shopping center with HD and Costco were packed. Business was booming today for whatever reason.

Now I understand we are undergoing an economic slowdown, but to call this "The Worst Economy since the Great Depression" is sensationalism. Drive-by media, please calm down and get a grip upon yourselves and stop trying to create a sense of panic. Fortunately though, on this day in Austin, TX, the economy was rip-roaring.

Go Piyush!

This was my response that probably won't appear on the CNN Political Ticker. Some of the comments were trying to insinuate that Republicans are 'using' Bobby Jindal because he is of Indian descent. Or that they feel like Republicans won't vote for him because of Indian descent. Really? A whole lot of people in Louisiana voted for him. That's DEEP SOUTH if you ask me. It really irritates me that Democrats are quick to call Republicans racist, but like to forget about the real history of race relations and the two major political parties in America. The Democrat Party is the party that has persecuted minorities throughout it's history. The Republican Party has been the party of advancing the cause of minorities.

Now, the Democrats have tried to flip this on its head, yet they still do everything they can to keep minorities down. They talk about being 'for' minorities, but want to keep them in the projects longer. They want minorities to stay on welfare longer. They want to raise taxes on businesses so that there are less jobs. Democrats continue to perpetuate this state of helplessness of minorities. They say to Blacks and Hispanics; "You can't get ahead because the White Man and the Republicans are keeping you down. But don't worry, we'll get more money for you. We'll raise taxes on those evil rich people." (the people who create jobs) Republicans say: "We'll keep taxes low so that there are more jobs available, and if you work hard, you'll be able to move into the next tax bracket. Then, when you're in the next tax bracket, you won't be paying as much in taxes. You can keep more of your own money!" The Republican Party is the party that says; "It doesn't matter what your skin color is, if you work hard, you can be successful." The Democrats say: "You don't have to work hard or be successful. We'll tax the snot out of those who are successful and give it to you."

The following is the contents of my post at the Political Ticker:

It's amazing that conservatives are always seen as racist. Conservatives don't bring up race, liberals do. Why are conservatives excited about Bobby Jindal? Because he's of Indian descent? NO! It's because he's a conservative. At 37, he has 10 times the experience of Barack Obama, he's charismatic and stands for what he believes in unlike the flip-floppers on the left. People are irritated that Jindal, Rick Perry, Haley Barbour and Mark Sanford are going to refuse the unemployment provision in the "stimulus" bill. They have chosen States Rights. They are not selling the souls of their states to the Federal Government. If the states accept the unemployment provision in the stimulus, it is a short term help from the Federal Government with the mandate that they continue to extended increased levels of unemployment insurance long after the Federal money has dried up. So essentially it is a tax increase on the taxpayers and businesses of any state that accepts the funds. Watch corporations move to the states that decline this money, and continue to flee from states like KaliFORnea, and Michigan that think the answer to their problems is raising taxes on the increasingly shrinking number of businesses and workforce.

Chad Vader's Oscars

This is for Linda. An uncanny representation of the Oscar Nominees...even though I haven't seen any of them. I'd like to see Benjamin Button...some day...when I have 3 hours to kill. I'm intrigued by Slumdog Millionaire, maybe I'll see that as well...someday. The other three...eh, not so much.

The Heart

This started as a comment at Stan Rosenthal's blog, and then began taking a life of its own, so I decided to post it here. Stan said; “Organized religion is a farce.” After reading this comment, I began writing:

I agree slightly with your premise. (Organized religion is a farce) When religious groups begin making rules and regulations outside of what the bible says, they begin entering into dangerous territory. The Pharisees did this (and most religious groups today do it) and it is what kept them from the true point of religion, which is to draw people closer to God; to love God and others. By creating external laws outside of what is taught in the bible, religious groups create more obstacles to what is truly important; love. If we become so focused on following rules, we don't get to the heart, which is what God really wants. But if our heart is a heart that loves and wants to please God, we will follow the rules automatically. We'll still sin, because we're sinners, but most of the time we'll follow God's commands without trying.

If we love God more than anything else, and focus on Him, we won't worship idols or use His name in vain.

If we rid ourselves of anger and malice, and focus on peace and love, we will not murder.

If we rid ourselves of greed and envy, and focus on gratitude for what we have, we will not steal or covet.

If we rid ourselves of lust, and focus on purity, we will not commit adultery.

Now for most people, the commands may not be too difficult to follow, but the heart behind them is. The commands are supposed to be boundaries, but the focus too often is on staying within the boundaries. We shouldn't focus on staying in the boundaries. We should focus on walking in the footsteps of Jesus. If we get too close to the boundaries we need a serious heart check. If we're walking in Jesus' footsteps we'll never get close to the boundaries.

But getting back to the comment about organized religion being a farce. If religion doesn't focus on God's Word as its standard for Christianity, it is a farce. If it places more emphasis on staying within certain boundaries than it does on walking with Jesus, then it is a farce. If it creates rules and traditions which supersede the Word of God, then it is a farce.

But religion which has a goal of bringing the members of The Body closer to Christ, in an environment with a primary goal of worshiping God, growing in knowledge and wisdom and knowing nothing more important than; " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " (Luke10:27) , that religion is no farce.

Kerry wants your money

John Kerry 'knows' how to take care of your family better than you do. To think I actually voted for this guy. Well, I'm glad I've seen the light.



Hattip to www.marklevinshow.com

48 Hours

The most transparent administration in history. RIIIIIGGGHHHTTT! Just like San Fran Nan runs the most ethical congress in history. I'll quote Stanley Rosenthal, quoting someone else here. "What's black is white, what's up is down..." and so on and so forth. The Democrats live in backwardsville, where they mean the opposite of whatever they say, except on the rare occasions where they mean what they say, which is usually a flip-flop to cover up for something they didn't see, but might want to fix, if the polls say they should, unless of course it promotes, or goes against their far-left doctrine. (Confused? Me too.)

Black History Month

February is Black History Month and yesterday was the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth so I'll post this video that I found through Macho Sauce.

Test me Lord

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. (Psalm 26:1-3)

A few weeks ago, Jakob Jukovski came from Tel Aviv to preach here in Austin. He is originally from the former Soviet Union (either Russia or the Ukraine, I'm not sure) and moved to Israel a few years ago. Though he claimed his English wasn't that good, it was very good in my opinion. He also had insights into the Hebrew mind. He talked about how important genealogy, like the one in Matthew 1 is. Genealogy to the Jew is like having a passport or driver's license. It's ID. The scripture that he used that really struck me though is the one above from Psalm 26. What was David's relationship with God like that he asked to be tested? I can't remember ever asking God to test me. I've asked God to STOP testing me. But to say to God, "Father, I want to prove to you that I love you. Please, test me. I want to be sure, and want you to be sure, that my love for you is pure." Well, I've never prayed that prayer. I'm not sure I really want to. I'd like to be able to someday. But I feel like I've been tested for the past few years since I've moved to the Austin area. I feel like I'm done being tested. Surely, I need to be tested again, but I'd like a little break...please.

Jakob shared how this scripture moved him, and he prayed this prayer. Well, he got the test. His apartment in Tel Aviv burned down. They lost everything except their lives. But like God proves time and time again, He will work through tragedy. We just have to let Him. I just hope I can get to that mindset someday soon. Thanks Jakob, you're a true hero in the faith! And thanks be to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are possible! Give me this kind of heart Father, and to You be the glory!

Why Obama's "Stimulus" is a bad idea

I just caught this article on Yahoo!. The problem I noticed with most of these companies mentioned, which employ over 300,000 employees and includes the giants Rite Aid, Chrysler and Blockbuster is twofold. First, they are suffering from a lack of liquidity. They could probably survive, and eventually thrive, if they can hold out for a year or so. Second, consumer spending is down. Americans have decided, or have been forced, to spend within their means as credit has frozen up. Spending within your means is honestly a good thing, but when most Americans haven't been doing it, and then all do it at the same time, it's bad for the economy. The Bush/Paulson stimulus package has done little to unfreeze the lines of credit and have only made America's credit worse. The answer to this is obvious to real conservatives. Cut taxes. Across the board. Cut corporate taxes, cut the marginal rates, cut capital gains taxes, cut inheritance taxes, etc. By cutting these taxes, corporations and regular Americans, from the poor all the way up to the rich will have more money to spend. If the corporations and the people had more money, consumer spending would tick up slightly, and corporations would have more money to work with, and would be more likely to ride out the recession. Lower taxes would also mean more heavily in debt Americans would be able to pay their debt down faster. This means credit and lending will open up more quickly.

The problem to this of course is government. Government and the liberals believe the answer is more government. If we expand the size of government, which is already obscene, it means we have to raise taxes to cover the cost. If we raise taxes to cover the cost, it means corporations and consumers have less money to spend. If we spend less money, it will turn the recession into a depression. My question is, why doesn't Obama and the left-wing leadership know this? Or do they know this? If we pass the Obama/Geithner stimulus it doesn't provide much for tax cuts, it just provides for a whole lot of programs that do not have lasting impacts on the economy, and provides for the furthering of the liberal agenda. Things like abortion and "green" technology. (I've come to hate that word) I'm all for clean energy, but the government will do a better job of promoting it by removing free market obstacles. By throwing money at the problem we are going to encourage the companies who make "green" technologies (ugh!) to take their sweet time in producing a good product. Look at Cancer and AIDS research, and Education if you want to see how throwing tons of money at a problem with no restrictions works at solving problems.

We want Conservatives, not Mavericks

I found this video from the Gray Ghost blog over at Townhall.



He makes some good points. I think conservatives definitely need to hit the ground for the next two and four years. I foresee the fairness doctrine (or some form of it) coming soon. Informed Americans can dictate American policy, and the liberals can't have that. They are going after Rush right now, but I think they will really go after the local conservative hosts, and the smaller national ones. They will then attack the internet and churches. I believe their goal will be to legalize the 20,000,000 illegal immigrants before 2012 and to do that, they need to shut down talk radio. If they legalize the 20,000,000 illegals they will be nearly unstoppable in 2012 and beyond, even with a great conservative running. If conservatives want to save this nation, we need to work hard. I plan on writing Senators Cornyn and Hutchison as well as my Congressman, Michael McCaul on a weekly basis to keep the pressure on the Republicans to do their job, and lobby for conservative principles in Washington. Retake the House in 2010! Jindal '12!

Super Bowl

So last year I made a prediction that was right. I wasn't really close as far as the score, but I picked the right team. It was an emotional decision more than a logical one. Well there's no emotion in this one as I really don't care either way about either team. I'd rather see the Cardinals win, and I'll probably root for the Cardinals, but I think it'll be Pittsburgh. My prediction, Stillers 27, Cardinals 20.