Hi Everyone:
So there I was this past week, minding my own business, reading my local Gannett newspaper, when I read this article that really shocked me at first then got me really MAD! The story goes like this:
Fifty-one New York City bus drivers took an average of two (yes 2!) months off last year with pay after being spat upon by upset riders. This indignity is considered an assault under their union contract, entitling them to the paid break. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said 83 drivers were spat on last year. Of those, 51 took paid time off averaging 64 days. One spat upon driver took 191 days of paid leave. The driver's union says the encounters cause psychological trauma.
I don't know about you, but taking 191 days off, for being spat upon, seems extremely absurd, way out of line and should never have happened. The whole idea that the union contract covers being spat upon as an assault is excessive. Union contract clauses such as this have become the epitome of what is wrong with unions and their gimmie, gimmie approach to contract negotiations. Having negotiated many union contracts, I am pretty sure how clauses like this get into a contract. The union asks for either some outrageous wage increase or some other entitlement and then will "settle" for a clause like this one.
When management (foolishly) agreed to this demand, little did they know much much it would cost them. If you say drivers earn an average of $25/hour (low ball amount, I think the wage would be closer to $40/hour) times 8 hours per day equals $200/day. Now multiply $200 times 51 drivers and that equals $10,200 for each paid day off. Now multiply the $10,200 times the average of 64 days and you have $652,800 that the MTA paid out for drivers being spat upon last year. That is a ridiculus amount. The MTA runs a deficit almost every year and they wonder why? If, as an example, the contract that this clause became effective is 3 years old, (I don't know when this clause became effective) then the MTA paid out almost $2 million dollars over the three years; just for being spat upon! Unfortunately, once a clause like this is agreed upon by both sides, then it is next to impossible to remove it and the MTA is stuck with it like dog poop on your shoes. Clauses like this stink and should have never been agreed to.
It is painfully obvious that management didn't use any common sense in negotiating and then incredibly agreeing to that clause. Those drivers that had to take on average 64 days of paid leave for being spat upon should be investigated for fraud, including the doctors, who are union paid. Who needs 64 days off to get over being spat upon? The answer is only union bus drivers.
Common sense rules and spitting literally drools.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Putnam County Deputy Sheriff
Hi Everyone:
Over the past 16 months I have written about many topics that lack common sense. Today's blog is so unbelievable that you will think that it is not possible; but alas unfortunately, it is!
Here in Putnam County, New York, most towns have their own police departments, but there is also a Putnam County Sheriff's department. One of the Deputy Sheriff's is Barbara Dunn. Dunn was a Deputy Sheriff for 13 years. Dunn was also the president of the Putnam Humane Society. To make a very convoluted story short, Dunn was indicted in October 2009 after a three year investigation that included the FBI and the District Attorney's office. (As a side note, the District Attorney here in Putnam County is Adam Levy, who is the son of Judge Judy on TV lol).
After a trial, last Friday, Dunn was found guilty of seven counts of perjury, all of which were felonies. She was told to report to the Probation Department for an interview and return to court August 16 for sentencing. She faces 28 months to seven years in prison on each count of perjury in the first degree, a class D felony.
Now all of this seems fine, so what is the problem and why am I writing about this? Well, after the conviction was announced, Sheriff Donald B. Smith put Dunn on administrative suspension, pending a departmental hearing, that has not been scheduled yet. That means that Dunn continues to receive her $75,876 per year salary. WHAT????? Dunn is convicted of seven felonies and she gets to continue receiving her full salary? I mean how stupid is that? Even if the union contract states that is the procedure to follow; I believe that the contract should be changed asap to allow for immediate termination after being convicted of just one felony and then case closed.
Where is the common sense by allowing her to continue receiving her full salary? Yea, that's right, there is no common sense here. It just amazes me how stupid some union contracts are and how they are negotiated without using any common sense.
For your information, as a foot note, Dunn is awaiting a second trial on charges that she fraudulently collected $56,000 for a workplace injury that prosecutors say actually occurred while she was horseback riding. Wait there's more: Dunn is also awaiting a civil trial from the person who was wronged in the case where she was just convicted of perjury.
Common sense rules and lying drools.
Til next week.
Over the past 16 months I have written about many topics that lack common sense. Today's blog is so unbelievable that you will think that it is not possible; but alas unfortunately, it is!
Here in Putnam County, New York, most towns have their own police departments, but there is also a Putnam County Sheriff's department. One of the Deputy Sheriff's is Barbara Dunn. Dunn was a Deputy Sheriff for 13 years. Dunn was also the president of the Putnam Humane Society. To make a very convoluted story short, Dunn was indicted in October 2009 after a three year investigation that included the FBI and the District Attorney's office. (As a side note, the District Attorney here in Putnam County is Adam Levy, who is the son of Judge Judy on TV lol).
After a trial, last Friday, Dunn was found guilty of seven counts of perjury, all of which were felonies. She was told to report to the Probation Department for an interview and return to court August 16 for sentencing. She faces 28 months to seven years in prison on each count of perjury in the first degree, a class D felony.
Now all of this seems fine, so what is the problem and why am I writing about this? Well, after the conviction was announced, Sheriff Donald B. Smith put Dunn on administrative suspension, pending a departmental hearing, that has not been scheduled yet. That means that Dunn continues to receive her $75,876 per year salary. WHAT????? Dunn is convicted of seven felonies and she gets to continue receiving her full salary? I mean how stupid is that? Even if the union contract states that is the procedure to follow; I believe that the contract should be changed asap to allow for immediate termination after being convicted of just one felony and then case closed.
Where is the common sense by allowing her to continue receiving her full salary? Yea, that's right, there is no common sense here. It just amazes me how stupid some union contracts are and how they are negotiated without using any common sense.
For your information, as a foot note, Dunn is awaiting a second trial on charges that she fraudulently collected $56,000 for a workplace injury that prosecutors say actually occurred while she was horseback riding. Wait there's more: Dunn is also awaiting a civil trial from the person who was wronged in the case where she was just convicted of perjury.
Common sense rules and lying drools.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Cool Invention
Hi Everyone:
The blog that I was going to write today has been postponed due to the coolest invention/tool (?) that I saw in use today and I just had to write about it. I don't know how long this tool has been around, but today was the first time that I had seen it and I was impressed. Those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot to impress me.
So the story goes like this: our old refrigerator wasn't freezing so well anymore, so last night we went to Sears and bought a new one. The new refrigerator was delivered today, yes today, on a Sunday and it only cost an extra $10 to do so. There were 2 deliverymen. One was about 5'10" and the other was about 5'5". The truck was huge and had an electric lift gate on the rear. After lowering the refrig to the ground, they removed the cardboard box and placed a strap, that was about 4-5" wide, under the bottom of the refrig. Next they stood at opposite sides of the refrig and attached the strap ends to the other end of this cool invention while bending over some. Both guys had the same size width straps that crisscrossed over their shoulder blades and attached to a buckle at their mid section. The end of that section was where the strap that went under the refrig attached to. Then they stood up slowly and proceeded to walk the refrig right up to the door, at a fast paced clip if I say so myself.
I was amazed at how easily they were able to maneuver the refrig through the door. It was so much more easier then any other way I have seen or used, even when I have moved refrigerators. A very important fact here that I must add or I would be remiss, is the fact that both guys were always communicating with each other to make moving seem effortless. This is a well thought out tool to use to lift heavy objects. It is obvious that common sense was used in the inventing and designing of it. Both the guys said that they loved it. They said it was the best and easiest tool to use. It is called a shoulder harness and supposedly you can check it out at shoulderharness.com.
Til next week.
The blog that I was going to write today has been postponed due to the coolest invention/tool (?) that I saw in use today and I just had to write about it. I don't know how long this tool has been around, but today was the first time that I had seen it and I was impressed. Those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot to impress me.
So the story goes like this: our old refrigerator wasn't freezing so well anymore, so last night we went to Sears and bought a new one. The new refrigerator was delivered today, yes today, on a Sunday and it only cost an extra $10 to do so. There were 2 deliverymen. One was about 5'10" and the other was about 5'5". The truck was huge and had an electric lift gate on the rear. After lowering the refrig to the ground, they removed the cardboard box and placed a strap, that was about 4-5" wide, under the bottom of the refrig. Next they stood at opposite sides of the refrig and attached the strap ends to the other end of this cool invention while bending over some. Both guys had the same size width straps that crisscrossed over their shoulder blades and attached to a buckle at their mid section. The end of that section was where the strap that went under the refrig attached to. Then they stood up slowly and proceeded to walk the refrig right up to the door, at a fast paced clip if I say so myself.
I was amazed at how easily they were able to maneuver the refrig through the door. It was so much more easier then any other way I have seen or used, even when I have moved refrigerators. A very important fact here that I must add or I would be remiss, is the fact that both guys were always communicating with each other to make moving seem effortless. This is a well thought out tool to use to lift heavy objects. It is obvious that common sense was used in the inventing and designing of it. Both the guys said that they loved it. They said it was the best and easiest tool to use. It is called a shoulder harness and supposedly you can check it out at shoulderharness.com.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Blow Out
Hi Everyone:
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the "drill baby drill" mantra now needs to be changed to "spill baby spill." The oil rig, called Horizon, out in the Gulf of Mexico, caught fire last week. Then it sunk and now is leaking oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. British Petroleum who doesn't own the rig but owns the well and supervises the rig, originally stated that there was no leak from the well head. That then changed to: it was leaking about 1,000 gallons per day. Then that changed to 2,000 gallons per day. Now we are informed that the well head at the bottom of the gulf is leaking 200,000 gallons per day. In only a few weeks, this will become the biggest and more than likely, the worst environment catastrophe this country has seen since the Exxon Valdez split open and spilled some 11 million gallons of oil. That oil found its way to the pristine Alaskan shore line and did unbelievable damage not only to fish and game, but also the loss of tens of thousands of jobs connected to the fishing industry.
Today's blog is not about the fact the BP had tried numerous times to minimize the amount of oil leaking and any impact of environment damage due to a leak. Today' blog is about what BP did not do. What am I talking about? Well, no pun intended, (according to the Gannett paper), in 2009, BP filed a 52 page exploration plan with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Horizon well. In that plan, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill or do serious damage to the beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries. BP reiterated in another section of the plan that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities".
Well, well, well, those statements certainty turned out to be untrue. As I write this blog the oil has reached the outer marshes off Louisiana. In writing that plan, BP relied on 30+ years of off-shore exploration with no oil spills or leaks or any environmental damage. But what really pisses me off is that BP never planned for, in any way, shape or form for any oil spill of this magnitude. Even the unit that was suppose to turn off the well head failed which lead to this forth coming environment disaster. Since no oil spills had ever happened, BP probably thought why plan for something that hasn't occurred. So due to either: stupidity, ignorance, a bottom line mentality or just plain old lack of common sense, this country finds itself in the face of a man-made environmental disaster like we have never seen. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, but using common sense to be prepared for any kind of accidental oil spill is of the utmost importance.
So if I had any say in what is currently happening, the following would be my common sense approaches to this problem:
1) No new off-shore oil rigs would go online until the company has a plan for "giant" oil spills/leaks.
2) A better emergency, fail safe well head unit that automatically turns off the spigot due to any abnormal occurrence, must be installed in each and every oil rig, new and old.
3) Big oil companies together should devise and build some kind of "thing" that would capture the oil in either a minor or major leak. I have heard that right now a company is building a very large dome structure that would sit over the well head. This dome would capture the leaking oil, since oil is lighter then water. A pipe is attached to the top of the dome where the oil is pumped up and loaded into a tanker ship. Wow, what a great idea and it uses common sense to find a logical and practical solution.
Since the dome isn't fully manufactured yet, we can only hope that BP and/or the federal government can figure out a way to stop the uncontrolled flowing oil and to be able to clean up all of the oil that has leaked.
Til next week.
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the "drill baby drill" mantra now needs to be changed to "spill baby spill." The oil rig, called Horizon, out in the Gulf of Mexico, caught fire last week. Then it sunk and now is leaking oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. British Petroleum who doesn't own the rig but owns the well and supervises the rig, originally stated that there was no leak from the well head. That then changed to: it was leaking about 1,000 gallons per day. Then that changed to 2,000 gallons per day. Now we are informed that the well head at the bottom of the gulf is leaking 200,000 gallons per day. In only a few weeks, this will become the biggest and more than likely, the worst environment catastrophe this country has seen since the Exxon Valdez split open and spilled some 11 million gallons of oil. That oil found its way to the pristine Alaskan shore line and did unbelievable damage not only to fish and game, but also the loss of tens of thousands of jobs connected to the fishing industry.
Today's blog is not about the fact the BP had tried numerous times to minimize the amount of oil leaking and any impact of environment damage due to a leak. Today' blog is about what BP did not do. What am I talking about? Well, no pun intended, (according to the Gannett paper), in 2009, BP filed a 52 page exploration plan with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Horizon well. In that plan, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill or do serious damage to the beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries. BP reiterated in another section of the plan that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities".
Well, well, well, those statements certainty turned out to be untrue. As I write this blog the oil has reached the outer marshes off Louisiana. In writing that plan, BP relied on 30+ years of off-shore exploration with no oil spills or leaks or any environmental damage. But what really pisses me off is that BP never planned for, in any way, shape or form for any oil spill of this magnitude. Even the unit that was suppose to turn off the well head failed which lead to this forth coming environment disaster. Since no oil spills had ever happened, BP probably thought why plan for something that hasn't occurred. So due to either: stupidity, ignorance, a bottom line mentality or just plain old lack of common sense, this country finds itself in the face of a man-made environmental disaster like we have never seen. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, but using common sense to be prepared for any kind of accidental oil spill is of the utmost importance.
So if I had any say in what is currently happening, the following would be my common sense approaches to this problem:
1) No new off-shore oil rigs would go online until the company has a plan for "giant" oil spills/leaks.
2) A better emergency, fail safe well head unit that automatically turns off the spigot due to any abnormal occurrence, must be installed in each and every oil rig, new and old.
3) Big oil companies together should devise and build some kind of "thing" that would capture the oil in either a minor or major leak. I have heard that right now a company is building a very large dome structure that would sit over the well head. This dome would capture the leaking oil, since oil is lighter then water. A pipe is attached to the top of the dome where the oil is pumped up and loaded into a tanker ship. Wow, what a great idea and it uses common sense to find a logical and practical solution.
Since the dome isn't fully manufactured yet, we can only hope that BP and/or the federal government can figure out a way to stop the uncontrolled flowing oil and to be able to clean up all of the oil that has leaked.
Til next week.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Banking Reform
Hi Everyone:
Well it finally happened this week and it was a long time coming, but deservedly so. So what happened? The Security and Exchange Commission has accused Goldman Sachs of fraud and has filed civil charges against the powerful 140 year old Wall Street firm.
According to Gannet news, the SEC said that Goldman failed to reveal one of its clients helped create and then bet against sub prime mortgage securities that Goldman sold to others. The fraud was orchestrated by a Goldman VP, Fabrice Tourres in 2007 and since then he was promoted to executive director of Goldman Sachs International in London. Tourres even boasted of his ability to put together such deals as the mortgage market was unraveling in early 2007.
The client who helped Tourres is a hedge fund manager. He knew that the bundled sub-prime mortgages were going to fail and bet against them to make an obscene amount of money.
Two European banks that bought the securities of bundled sub-prime mortgages lost nearly $1 billion according to the SEC. The agency is seeking to recoup the huge profits reaped in the deals. Goldman of course denied any wrong doing and said that the charges are unfounded and will contest them. The lawsuit filed by the SEC is the government's most significant legal action related to the mortgage meltdown that ignited the financial crisis and helped to plunge our country into the Great Recession. Selling bundled sub-prime mortgages as Securities that you know will fail is wrong on so many levels. Goldman Sachs will no longer be thought of as a well run company and as a trusted advisor to investment banking clients. Even in recent years, Goldman shifted toward taking more and more risks with their clients and even their own money.
I believe that in order to stop any more big banks and Wall Street firms from entering into such poorly thought out and extremely volatile deals, the only common sense solution is with banking reform. I haven't read enough about the banking reform details to form an opinion as to what the best reforms should be. But doing nothing is not the answer. Doing nothing can not and will not stop any other firm(s) from trying to do either the same thing or something similar. So obviously common sense dictates that something must be done.
Unfortunately, the 41 US Senate Republicans don't see it that way and have signed a letter stating their opposition to any banking reforms. The big banks must never be allowed to do these kind of deals ever again. I know that the Senate Republicans stated after the Health care reform bill was passed to never work with the Democrats again. So instead of trying to help protect the American public with banking reform, the Republicans have showed that their allegiance is with big businesses/banks and let them run unimpeded without any needed regulations. Let's stop bickering like school children and protect the American public. The constitution protects Americans rights and so should banking reform.
Politicians need more common sense in order to realize what the correct solution should be and not about being re-elected or rhetoric or just saying no. Saying no won't go! We should never ever find ourselves in a similar situation caused by greedy banks.
Til next week.
Well it finally happened this week and it was a long time coming, but deservedly so. So what happened? The Security and Exchange Commission has accused Goldman Sachs of fraud and has filed civil charges against the powerful 140 year old Wall Street firm.
According to Gannet news, the SEC said that Goldman failed to reveal one of its clients helped create and then bet against sub prime mortgage securities that Goldman sold to others. The fraud was orchestrated by a Goldman VP, Fabrice Tourres in 2007 and since then he was promoted to executive director of Goldman Sachs International in London. Tourres even boasted of his ability to put together such deals as the mortgage market was unraveling in early 2007.
The client who helped Tourres is a hedge fund manager. He knew that the bundled sub-prime mortgages were going to fail and bet against them to make an obscene amount of money.
Two European banks that bought the securities of bundled sub-prime mortgages lost nearly $1 billion according to the SEC. The agency is seeking to recoup the huge profits reaped in the deals. Goldman of course denied any wrong doing and said that the charges are unfounded and will contest them. The lawsuit filed by the SEC is the government's most significant legal action related to the mortgage meltdown that ignited the financial crisis and helped to plunge our country into the Great Recession. Selling bundled sub-prime mortgages as Securities that you know will fail is wrong on so many levels. Goldman Sachs will no longer be thought of as a well run company and as a trusted advisor to investment banking clients. Even in recent years, Goldman shifted toward taking more and more risks with their clients and even their own money.
I believe that in order to stop any more big banks and Wall Street firms from entering into such poorly thought out and extremely volatile deals, the only common sense solution is with banking reform. I haven't read enough about the banking reform details to form an opinion as to what the best reforms should be. But doing nothing is not the answer. Doing nothing can not and will not stop any other firm(s) from trying to do either the same thing or something similar. So obviously common sense dictates that something must be done.
Unfortunately, the 41 US Senate Republicans don't see it that way and have signed a letter stating their opposition to any banking reforms. The big banks must never be allowed to do these kind of deals ever again. I know that the Senate Republicans stated after the Health care reform bill was passed to never work with the Democrats again. So instead of trying to help protect the American public with banking reform, the Republicans have showed that their allegiance is with big businesses/banks and let them run unimpeded without any needed regulations. Let's stop bickering like school children and protect the American public. The constitution protects Americans rights and so should banking reform.
Politicians need more common sense in order to realize what the correct solution should be and not about being re-elected or rhetoric or just saying no. Saying no won't go! We should never ever find ourselves in a similar situation caused by greedy banks.
Til next week.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
NYS Budget Mess
Hi Everyone:
Well NYS is at it again, another late budget. Our state budget was due on 4/1/10. To date the infamous legislators are not even close to agreeing on one yet. Mind you that presently the Democrats control the Congress, Senate and Governorship. When the Republicans were in control they were also late. Even though I have written about this before, the current financial situation is vastly worse. Thanks to the Great Recession, NYS finds itself with a record $9.6 billion deficit for the 2010-2011 budget year. NYS is not the only state with financial difficulties. Unfortunately, there are lots of other states with lessor and greater financial problems. I believe that California has a budget deficit that is about 3 times greater then NYS's.
When this state is in a deficit, again it doesn't matter which political party was or is in control because they both come up with similar ways to try to trim the budget. Let's look at what both parties have done previously and what they are doing or trying to do presently:
Ways to trim the budget Result
-Decrease school funding -Increase in school taxes
-Eliminate Property tax refunds -Increase in property taxes
-Increase state sale taxes -Increase in everything purchased except food
-Start a soda and water tax -Increase in food budgets
-Increase DMV fees -Increase in DMV fees
I could go on and on but the results are always the same. When the state has a budget deficit, the residents end up paying dearly. Taxes and fees can not continue to increase indefinitely as they have for decades. Soon there will be a lot of people taxed out of living in NY and will be forced to move to another state. Then only the very rich would be able to afford living here, if they are willing to pay.
So what can be done? NYS state needs to be really run like a business and not just lip service. Here are my simple common sense ways to trim the budget:
1) Cut waste.
2) Cut waste.
3) Cut waste.
4) Yearly audits of each department to find more waste that needs to be eliminated.
5) If all of the above fail to trim the budget enough, then unfortunately lay offs are needed.
6) Even with all of the above applied and there still is a deficit, let's decrease the legislators highly inflated pay. Let it hurt them as much as their actions hurt everyone in the state financially.
Every Governor since Rockefeller has grown the number of state employees to the point where there isn't enough money (income) to support having them all on the payroll. Businesses would have laid off employees a long time ago and managed the number of employees much better. Neither political party, when in control, wants to do lay offs. That's because they are always thinking about their re-election and not the residents who pay their salaries. Lay offs are an unfortunate consequence in these very troubling economic times.
If the politicians can't get the budget under control and without any new tax increases, which includes massive lay offs this year, I think that each and every politician should be voted out of office and maybe their replacements will have a better understanding of what fiduciary responsibility really means!
Til next week.
Well NYS is at it again, another late budget. Our state budget was due on 4/1/10. To date the infamous legislators are not even close to agreeing on one yet. Mind you that presently the Democrats control the Congress, Senate and Governorship. When the Republicans were in control they were also late. Even though I have written about this before, the current financial situation is vastly worse. Thanks to the Great Recession, NYS finds itself with a record $9.6 billion deficit for the 2010-2011 budget year. NYS is not the only state with financial difficulties. Unfortunately, there are lots of other states with lessor and greater financial problems. I believe that California has a budget deficit that is about 3 times greater then NYS's.
When this state is in a deficit, again it doesn't matter which political party was or is in control because they both come up with similar ways to try to trim the budget. Let's look at what both parties have done previously and what they are doing or trying to do presently:
Ways to trim the budget Result
-Decrease school funding -Increase in school taxes
-Eliminate Property tax refunds -Increase in property taxes
-Increase state sale taxes -Increase in everything purchased except food
-Start a soda and water tax -Increase in food budgets
-Increase DMV fees -Increase in DMV fees
I could go on and on but the results are always the same. When the state has a budget deficit, the residents end up paying dearly. Taxes and fees can not continue to increase indefinitely as they have for decades. Soon there will be a lot of people taxed out of living in NY and will be forced to move to another state. Then only the very rich would be able to afford living here, if they are willing to pay.
So what can be done? NYS state needs to be really run like a business and not just lip service. Here are my simple common sense ways to trim the budget:
1) Cut waste.
2) Cut waste.
3) Cut waste.
4) Yearly audits of each department to find more waste that needs to be eliminated.
5) If all of the above fail to trim the budget enough, then unfortunately lay offs are needed.
6) Even with all of the above applied and there still is a deficit, let's decrease the legislators highly inflated pay. Let it hurt them as much as their actions hurt everyone in the state financially.
Every Governor since Rockefeller has grown the number of state employees to the point where there isn't enough money (income) to support having them all on the payroll. Businesses would have laid off employees a long time ago and managed the number of employees much better. Neither political party, when in control, wants to do lay offs. That's because they are always thinking about their re-election and not the residents who pay their salaries. Lay offs are an unfortunate consequence in these very troubling economic times.
If the politicians can't get the budget under control and without any new tax increases, which includes massive lay offs this year, I think that each and every politician should be voted out of office and maybe their replacements will have a better understanding of what fiduciary responsibility really means!
Til next week.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
What Is Happening To This Country?
Hi Everyone:
I am sure everyone is very aware of the Health Care plan overhaul that was passed by the House this past week. Today's blog is not about whether the Health Care plan is good or bad, but rather the reaction to it.
In the not to distant past, it used to be that if people either agreed or disagreed with a law that Washington passed they took to the streets and either extolled its virtue or protested against it. Both of those things happened last week. But there were some very nasty things that extremists added to their protesting bag of tricks towards the congresspeople who voted for and against the law.
From my own count, 10 Democratic and 2 Republican congresspeople so far have had more than just verbal protests aimed in their direction. It now seems that it is OK to to use intimidation, threats and personal info against elected officials who voted either for or against the law. Congressman John Driehaus' name, home address and home phone number were posted on an anti-health care blog. As you can guess, his home was inundated with calls that were of a threatening and intimidating nature. Now his wife and children live in fear for their lives. Is it OK for his family to now live in fear for their lives? The obvious answer is no, it is not OK and never will be OK. But that didn't stop the fanatical, moronic people from leaving the messages anyway. There was also supposed to be a protest outside of his home this weekend. If you want to protest, the common sense answer would be to protest outside his DC office or his home state office, but leave his home alone!!!!!
Some Democratic congressman had the windows to their offices broken by rocks being thrown into them.
There were threatening phone calls made to Republican congressman who voted against the law. There were also threatening phone calls made to Democratic congressman who voted for the law. Some of the calls actually threatened their lives with physical harm and some even mentioned death.
I believe that the increase in threats and intimidation is being fueled by the political leaders. A prime example is when the hearings were being conducted, a bunch of Republican congressman, stood on the balcony of the Capital building and held the same signs as the protesters while cheering (egging) them on. What violence some of those people may take back home with them remains unknown at the present. But who knows what they may do? Will the violence, threats and intimidation increase all in the name of their beliefs? I hope that does not happen, because that means we are really sinking into a sad state of affairs for this country. In addition, Sarah Palin thought that it was OK to write on her Facebook page, "Don't retreat, instead reload." There were also the cross hairs of a rifle scope aimed at some blue states. I am sure that there are some morons out there that will take that statement as a call to arms, literally and some bad violence will happen because of her words, which she makes no apologies for. Which means that it is OK to talk in gun related terms and pictures when speaking about your opponents. It seems to me that there are more civilized ways of using the English language.
If you start a forest fire, you will be held liable for any and all destruction that the fire (that you started) caused, including any deaths. I think that political leaders should also be held liable in the same way because it seems that they are the ones who are fueling the increases in threats and intimidation with their own words. If they start the fire, hold them liable and accountable. That would stop them in their tracks. There are too many crazy people living in this country that just need a little nudge to push them over the edge for them to do some crazy and unthinkable acts. Then those same political leaders who said the words that started the violence, will denounce the acts. But those same people will not ever, ever admit that maybe, just maybe, their words were the catalyst that started the acts of violence. THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS no matter what spin you put on this!
So what appears to be happening in this country is that if you disagree you are threatened with with physical harm to you and maybe even your family, including death. Is this the type of country we want? I dare say that it is not! Using common sense mandates that there are other ways i.e.: legal ways to oppose something that happens in DC. Violence is never, ever the answer. I dare anyone to try to convince me that threats and intimidation are the avenue to take. It isn't and that person would be wasting their time.
With leadership comes responsibilities and you would think common sense. Politicians have no shame and it seems to be getting worse every year since 2000. How much more worse can it get? On 3/24/10 Republicans shut down all Senate hearings regarding any topic and they now have said that they will not work with any Democrats. Not for nothing, how childish is that? The elected officials are to do work for the American people and not stop the process just because they lost and now hold a grudge. Get over it and move on.
Til next week.
I am sure everyone is very aware of the Health Care plan overhaul that was passed by the House this past week. Today's blog is not about whether the Health Care plan is good or bad, but rather the reaction to it.
In the not to distant past, it used to be that if people either agreed or disagreed with a law that Washington passed they took to the streets and either extolled its virtue or protested against it. Both of those things happened last week. But there were some very nasty things that extremists added to their protesting bag of tricks towards the congresspeople who voted for and against the law.
From my own count, 10 Democratic and 2 Republican congresspeople so far have had more than just verbal protests aimed in their direction. It now seems that it is OK to to use intimidation, threats and personal info against elected officials who voted either for or against the law. Congressman John Driehaus' name, home address and home phone number were posted on an anti-health care blog. As you can guess, his home was inundated with calls that were of a threatening and intimidating nature. Now his wife and children live in fear for their lives. Is it OK for his family to now live in fear for their lives? The obvious answer is no, it is not OK and never will be OK. But that didn't stop the fanatical, moronic people from leaving the messages anyway. There was also supposed to be a protest outside of his home this weekend. If you want to protest, the common sense answer would be to protest outside his DC office or his home state office, but leave his home alone!!!!!
Some Democratic congressman had the windows to their offices broken by rocks being thrown into them.
There were threatening phone calls made to Republican congressman who voted against the law. There were also threatening phone calls made to Democratic congressman who voted for the law. Some of the calls actually threatened their lives with physical harm and some even mentioned death.
I believe that the increase in threats and intimidation is being fueled by the political leaders. A prime example is when the hearings were being conducted, a bunch of Republican congressman, stood on the balcony of the Capital building and held the same signs as the protesters while cheering (egging) them on. What violence some of those people may take back home with them remains unknown at the present. But who knows what they may do? Will the violence, threats and intimidation increase all in the name of their beliefs? I hope that does not happen, because that means we are really sinking into a sad state of affairs for this country. In addition, Sarah Palin thought that it was OK to write on her Facebook page, "Don't retreat, instead reload." There were also the cross hairs of a rifle scope aimed at some blue states. I am sure that there are some morons out there that will take that statement as a call to arms, literally and some bad violence will happen because of her words, which she makes no apologies for. Which means that it is OK to talk in gun related terms and pictures when speaking about your opponents. It seems to me that there are more civilized ways of using the English language.
If you start a forest fire, you will be held liable for any and all destruction that the fire (that you started) caused, including any deaths. I think that political leaders should also be held liable in the same way because it seems that they are the ones who are fueling the increases in threats and intimidation with their own words. If they start the fire, hold them liable and accountable. That would stop them in their tracks. There are too many crazy people living in this country that just need a little nudge to push them over the edge for them to do some crazy and unthinkable acts. Then those same political leaders who said the words that started the violence, will denounce the acts. But those same people will not ever, ever admit that maybe, just maybe, their words were the catalyst that started the acts of violence. THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS no matter what spin you put on this!
So what appears to be happening in this country is that if you disagree you are threatened with with physical harm to you and maybe even your family, including death. Is this the type of country we want? I dare say that it is not! Using common sense mandates that there are other ways i.e.: legal ways to oppose something that happens in DC. Violence is never, ever the answer. I dare anyone to try to convince me that threats and intimidation are the avenue to take. It isn't and that person would be wasting their time.
With leadership comes responsibilities and you would think common sense. Politicians have no shame and it seems to be getting worse every year since 2000. How much more worse can it get? On 3/24/10 Republicans shut down all Senate hearings regarding any topic and they now have said that they will not work with any Democrats. Not for nothing, how childish is that? The elected officials are to do work for the American people and not stop the process just because they lost and now hold a grudge. Get over it and move on.
Til next week.
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