Who is Barack Obama?

Personally, it is sad to me that people would choose a presidential candidate strictly because they are or are not a particular religion. I disagree with everyone out there that says that faith does not matter in an election. Verbal lather has gone back and forth on the issue of how it does in-fact matter. The fact is that bias exists. Do you see a Mormon on the ticket? For me and many Americans religion speaks to the character of a person. Some call it their upbringing. For example I agree with the family values that Romney would have brought to the ticket. Faith is apart of the man and can't be ignored. Would you want someone who does not believe in God to be President? Our country was founded by faith, to say now, that faith does not matter is a lie. 

It is unfortunate, but there recently have been Muslim extremists who have attacked the United States. The next President will have to continue to take a hard line against terrorists. It is hard to do so if those same terrorists happen to belong to your own faith. This would be true of any President. I would say it is especially true when that potential President is a wishy washy democrat. Where will the back bone be found? I would submit it is what they believe. Does it matter if Obama is really hiding his Muslim faith? Sure it does. 

Believing that the past big production over Obama's hiding of his Muslim faith was our own right wing extremists, I paid it little attention. That Obama truly slipped up on the interview (see clip) again was just another weak slanderous attack that are common in an election.  However, While doing some other reading recently, I ran across a quote about Muslim prayer and fount it interesting... When I saw where it came from a cold snap hit my brain.

Let me break it down for you. Obama we all know has a hard time speaking in public with out his teleprompter. That is not all bad, it is good to have your thoughts organized (even if it is someone else's thoughts) when your about to give a speech. When selecting a person to represent the USA it is important that we know what is at the core of the man. Does it matter what is going on in the mind of a presidential candidate? Many candidates try to show who they are by speaking "off the cuff" in town hall meetings. This way people get a better feel for the person, Obama does not do this. Why? Is it because what is in his head is something the American people would not like to know about? 

In step the quote: 

"...a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics -- and more likely to be aware of their nationalism -- if he once studied the Koran with them.

Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it'll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.'"See http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/06/obama_man_of_the_world.php

Am I just a dumb white guy to think that most black guys would not be able to recite with first-rate accent the Arabic call to prayer? So when Obama is "off the cuff" he quotes an Arabic call to prayer? ...is that news?

With all the scrutiny that the MSM and others have paid to Palin, why don't we know more about Obama's family / history? Why don't we know more about his so called Christian minister for 20 years? Why don't we know more about the charactor of the man who wants to lead our nation? He has given little slips here and there to lead me to belive that at a minimum he is friendly to those we consider to be terrorists and are at war with.

Do you know what kind of President Obama would be?

-- Peter Mathias

Tax Plan? How about don't tax me?

There has been some email and discussion regarding the tax proposals given by each presidential candidate. I would like to echo some of the comments.

Each presidential candidate on their web sites give proposals for tax changes.

Obama: 
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/

McCain: 
http://www.johnmccain.com/Issues/JobsforAmerica/taxes.htm

Here are some comments regarding each item listed:

Obama: 

1. Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families: The real evil is what companies pay the government in taxes. The current rate is about 35%! Where is that 35% going? Why can't we recover some of those trillions?

Regarding oil windfall, The last windfall tax in 1980 Hurt US production because the only location where the windfall could take place was in America. So what did this mean? The Oil companies outside the US (OPEC for example) now have all the non taxed oil and can import it cheaper. So.... Right on, make us more dependent on foreign oil. I thought the plan was to make us Energy independent.... Creating a new tax is a VERY bad move... 

Oil company profits vary, but taken from the some of the predominate oil companies earlier this year the average profit is 8.5%.

See: http://seekingalpha.com/article/68720-with-some-oil-profit-margins-squeezed-choose-you-oil-carefully

It is estimated that oil companies net profit may be as little as 3 to 4 % of the total costs. Would you say that is to much. Who cares that google made 25% profit last year. 'Big oil' should pay for the high gas prices. They do not need to make so much in profit.... After all, they are not in business to make money they are in business to service us.  I know lets just make it so they don't get any profit... and give all the 4% back to the people... 

uh... ya and see how long oil companies stay in the US at all.

See:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1168.html

How about making it cheaper to do business in the US? How about lowering the current 35% to 40% that US companies pay to the government? Thus encouraging more US development and products, and whats that yes, more US oil. Simple supply and demand would lower the price of gas from there. 

2. Provide $50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs: Let me see if I understand this right, if a company is loosing money due to any reason, lets give them some tax money to prop them up for a few more months rather than making them "tighten their belt" and better manage them selves. This way the US can prolong the agony of bad service or poor quality or what ever is ailing the company, just so that a few people would not be inconvenience by having to better them selves and find another job. Great Idea, just keep people doing the same jobs that hold them back from their future. Can you think of any other ways to weaken the economy more? This tax proposal is a great Idea!

I have a better idea, Get an education! Get a better job! If searching not now, then when you loose your current worthless job start hunting. It is a free market stupid!

3. Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: The "Making Work Pay" tax credit is # what in a long line of "tax credits" aimed at helping the "poor or middle class" people. Adding another tax credit is anti-growth to the future of the economy. Oh ya I almost forgot... we are raising the taxes on the "Rich" to pay for this tax cut and that way government can continue to grow.  

So hurt the longterm free market to insure that for now a few people pay less in taxes. See #2. I'm for lowering taxes, cut government not growth! Lower taxes across the board! 

4. Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: When grandpa who is retired and has a massive retirement account, yet does not have any income, should not pay taxes. This seems strange coming from Democrats. Let me ask you this, When grandpa comes to visit, who takes the family out to eat? Old people predominately have money and more of it then young people. I'm all for killing all taxes, but why not again just lower everyone's taxes? Thats right I forgot, we have to create class envy. So why don't we pay old people from our middle class taxes... wait we already DO!

5. Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Are you serious? Have you ever filled out a 1040 EZ... it is ONE PAGE! Two if you count front and back... Oh... wait, thats right this is the party that thinks we are so stupid we don't know how to punch a hole in a paper ballot. Can't people be trusted to take care of themselves? 

6. "Tax Cuts for Wealthy Instead of Middle Class: The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. At the same time, this administration has refused to tackle health care, education and housing in a manner that benefits the middle class." See "The problem" section.

What is the role of our beloved government, I'll tell you to "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" where does it say the government should pay my health care bills? How about pay for my education? How about buy me a house? How about make me pay taxes at all? As I recall back in the early days of this great country, we didn't like taxes much, it seemed to hurt business.....

McCain:

1. Keep Tax Rates Low: Yes, for everyone, I'm for tax elimination if it was possible. There are but few things that should have to be paid for by the government.

2. Cut The Corporate Tax Rate From 35 To 25 Percent: Growth could explode if there were less company taxes. The funny thing is the government would actually collect more tax money if the rate dropped.

3. Allow First-Year Deduction, Or "Expensing", Of Equipment And Technology Investments: Dumb idea, When anyone buys something it will naturally depreciate. No need to find a deduction, just lower the initial tax more!

4. Establish Permanent Tax Credit Equal To 10 Percent Of Wages Spent On R&D: Again Dumb idea, Just make the initial tax lower! Then you don't have to keep looking for a tax credits.

5. Ban Internet Taxes: Now you are talking, NO tax is better! HUGE economic boom has happened on the Internet. Let us keep it going. It makes for a very strong free market.

6. Ban New Cell Phone Taxes: No taxes are good, but why single out one type of product... I fully agree that the use of a product after you buy it should not be taxed... this is almost a kin to property taxes... you buy a thing and then have to pay tax on it every use / time interval. I agree this Idea is all wrong!

Hope you had as much fun reading this as I did.

-- Peter Mathias

"I'm fuzzy on the whole good, bad thing..." -PV 1984

It has come down to the fight for your vote. So here is just one of the ways Obama's campaign is trying to influence your vote. Do you believe in the Bush doctrine?

Lets us not forget the real reasons for our authorized march to Baghdad. Ya that is right! We reserved the right to march to Baghdad after Saddam Hussein  invaded Kuwait and coalition forces pushed him out. 

Justification for our later march on Baghdad was not done lightly. There was enough evidence to convince a coalition of countries to stop Saddam Hussein from the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).  Step in the revisers to history, were there WMDs in Iraq? "No, it was all a Bush lie!" Look here, they say it on TV it must be true.

Shall we rehash? According to intelligence reports at the time there were in-fact WMDs in Iraq. There are many references.. here are a few:

https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd/Iraq_Oct_2002.htm 

Full report:

https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd/Iraq_Oct_2002.pdf

British report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/02/uk_dossier_on_iraq/pdf/iraqdossier.pdf

Here is a good article that explains the basics including the end result of inconclusive evidence:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/

So ask your self this, Why would Saddam Hussein kick weapons inspectors out if he had nothing to hide? Pride? We know from his activities that Saddam wanted to appear more powerful then he was. He had to put up a good front. Do all of you remember the reports of the "Elite Republican Guard?" 
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/rg/

The Iraq military promoted there strength. This was all done as a mater of posture in the region. We found that they were mostly a paper tiger on the march to Baghdad.  The trouble with all this posture, is that it worked. No mater if he had weapons at that time or not, he had used them before. And according to pictures from satellites he had facilities. The intelligence from sources coming out of Baghdad confirmed that the likelihood was very high that there were WMDs. How was the international community supposed to react? 

Did Iraq have WMDs? We still don't have good solid evidence. We have some indications that Iraq did. However, we also have some evidence that equipment and facilities were fakes. I'm reminded of the civil war fake out that was done to make the "enemy" think that there where more cannon protecting the front then there actually was. "Popularly known as ‘Quaker guns,’ these were usually nothing more than logs whose contours had been shaped to resemble full-size artillery pieces. Once the logs were painted black and mounted onto wheels, it was virtually impossible from a distance to tell them apart from the real McCoy."

http://www.historynet.com/hoodwinked-during-americas-civl-war-union-military-deception.htm

 

Another disturbing fact was the possibility that Saddam was giving aid to Al-Qaeda. Senator Hillary Rodem Clinton said "He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members"

http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html

I realize that this is coming from Hillary and therefore you can't trust it to be true at all. 

No mater how you saw it at the time, would you have a President and a Country that would not react till we are attacked? Or would “clear and present danger” do? This is at the root of the "Bush doctrine" where if you have intelligence you can make a preemptive strike, avoiding the loss of American families? I want a President who will be wise, analyze the situation,  take action if need be, not wait for an attack before he does anything. Any good leader takes on him the risk of being wrong. That is what makes him a good leader. 

Today, the MSM (and incidentally the Obama campaign too) seems hell bent on proving that putting McCain in the white house would be "more of the same." Ok, I'm good with that... Oh wait "Bush is bad and we need to get rid of him." I forgot the mantra,  It seems even McCains own Campaign is trying to distance them selves from Bush. What a mistake... Long term history will look back at Bush with the kind of Nobility that is reserved for this Countries greats. They will say things like "W. stuck to his principles, consequences be damned." That is a real leader.

I morn that there are Americans who have forgot what actually happened in such a short period of time. 

-- Peter Mathias

Hockey check on Politifact.com

I couldn't help my self, Sorry for the hocky referance....

Some say that Political "mud slinging" is not good. On the contrary, You learn a lot about the character of the person throwing their target. It has been a long time since we have seen a good political fight. In today's presidential race we have a high profile fight. And It sure is exciting.

Politicians in the past have not always told the whole truth. I think it is no different to day. With today's world of Information it seems that stories can easily be corroborated. Because of the power of the web to find information and exchange it. There are more "Fact Check" groups that are supposed to be "independent and 3rd party" ie no bias. This is great! and welcome, so long as they truly are non-bias.

Which brings me to one such site that is getting some air time. "PolitiFact[Check].com"

See: http://www.politifact.com

Proof of ownership:
http://whois.domaintools.com/politifact.com

Official looking and sounding web site. The dead giveaway that this site is going to be bias is the sub heading. "from St. Petersburg Times." An old Newspaper agency re-born on the web and can be found at

http://www.tampabay.com

Proof of ownership: Proof:
http://whois.domaintools.com/tampabay.com

So on one hand you have an old liberal media newspaper that wants to present a "fact check" web site for their own reference and for the reference of their friends the democrats. On the other hand you have MSM that is starting to look more and more to the “blog-o-sphere” for news. Having a "3rd party" fact check site is a win-win for democratics and liberals to be presented as “just the facts.”

I want to make it clear that there is proof of what I write regarding the St. Petersburg Times. Here are examples of stories ran in the paper. These include political endorsements. I thought the papers where supposed to simply report the news not engage in supporting any one view.

St. Petersburg Times and their Democratic support:

"John Kerry is better choice for president..."

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/714754321.html?dids=714754321:714754321&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+17,+2004&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.P&desc=John+Kerry+is+better+choice+for+president+Series:+TIMES+RECOMMENDS;+EDITORIALS

"McBride for governor..."

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/217131361.html?dids=217131361:217131361&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+20,+2002&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.D&desc=McBride+for+governor+Series:+EDITORIAL

"Gore for president Series: TIMES RECOMMENDS"

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/63023546.html?dids=63023546:63023546&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+29,+2000&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=2.D&desc=Gore+for+president+Series:+TIMES+RECOMMENDS

You can depend with this kind of backing that on the front page there will be a heading something to the effect of “republican candidates are lying again” and here is the proof. It is sad how predictable it is.

Bottom line: Investigate the clams your self. See if the references given are credible. The one thing I try to do here is provide as many links to credible proof of what ever I'm writing about.

-- Peter Mathias

Thanks for some of the links goes to some of the posters on:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2006/08/that_liberal_st.html

Great Video

I hope this video gets reported. I'm sure it will not, so here it is for everyone to see. 

Victory in Iraq has and will occur. Because America is made of this kind of man.

Thanks to my wife who first directed me to this video.

-- Peter Mathias

>> Update 9/12/08: Played and Reported on the 9/11/08 Rush Limbaugh show. Identified as Army Specialist "Joe Cook" Iraq veteran lost his left foot and leg 6" below the knee on May 2007 in an IED attack. It was also confirmed that this was an independent endorsement not paid for by the McCain campaign.

See: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_091108/content/01125108.guest.html

Politics of the MSM

I thought to post a few words to counter some of the crud that the MSM has been spewing recently regarding the republican ticket. When It occurred to me that all I have to do is say one word.

SARAH

-- Peter Mathias

Predominately Democratic states have higher Unemployment...

While looking into the unemployment numbers and the economic impact I wondered about the effect that predominately Democrat officials would have on the "little people." 

This observation may be due to a few factors, but it sure is interesting.... 

Given: 

1. Republicans predominately lower taxes on the "rich" and corporations. Regulation of business is discouraged and removed. 

2. Democrats predominately raise taxes on everyone, but especially the "rich" and corporations. Regulation of business is promoted.

How would these philosophies affect the unemployment rate? So for fun I found a map of the Red / Blue States on  Wikipedia

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

Then took the unemployment numbers from July, as we don't have them for August (See previous post) and came up with this graphic:

For pure blue states the average unemployment for July was 5.77% For red states it was 4.92%.

Here is the basic idea, if the "rich" and corporations have high taxes and regulation they can't afford to hire more people. They also have to be "tighter" with their budgeting. If they get tax breaks or have less requirements placed on them, there is money that is freed to use for hiring people. Granted not much left over, but enough to hire a few entry level jobs. Uh... and note that the low end jobs often are some of the first to get cut.

So it seems that Democrats are bad for the "little people."

-- Peter Mathias

US Dep of Labor: Unemployment? We don't have those numbers yet.

Friday the US Department of Labor released their "Employment Situation" numbers. It was reported that nationally we have an unemployment rate of 6.1%. Not true! The real answer is we don't know. I called the US Department of Labor. 

See:

http://www.bls.gov/lau/laucont.htm

According to a representative with the "Bureau of Labor Statistics" the national number is based on a survey not the actual unemployment numbers from each state. I asked "if you don't have the state numbers then how is CNN reporting 'The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%?'"

See
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/05/news/economy/jobs_august/index.htm

I was told that the number reported is based on a survey across the country of a select number of individuals. When I said so the number can be totally wrong. They guess at an error of +-.20 or so... so is it 6.1 or 6.3 or 5.9? Was the number stretched to make the news? You have to love the MSM!

My original purpose was to find the state by state numbers so I could complete a study of Blue vs Red state unemployment. He said he would not have the state numbers till the 19th. He referred me to the calender.

See 09/19 at: http://www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/200809_sched.htm

-- Peter L. Mathias

Woe is me, I'm stuck in the 2008 Recession....

One of the first things I want to clear up is that this great country is NOT in a recession! And has not had one officially for the past 7 years! One might argue that we would not have had one then except for the Sept 11 2001 attacks. Even with the "tech / Internet stock bubble" It is actually quite difficult to grind the US Economy in to negative numbers. See Historical time line:
http://recessionhistory.info/timeline/

Definition of Recession: "...two consecutive quarters [6 months] of negative economic growth as measured by a country's gross domestic product (GDP)." 

See http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/recession.asp

(Note that 3 months is a Quarter so 6 months is the count)

Our US Current GDP: + 3.24 % Growth! as of this date's post

See "Current Economic Indicators" at http://www.forecasts.org/gdprealgrowth.htm

(on the bottom of the page after the forecast)

So many reports by the MSM clam that we are just about to be in a recession or might as well be in a recession. Things are so bad just look at this CNN Money article: 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/05/news/economy/jobs_august/index.htm

They are constantly playing down the US economy. I'm sure I could do a study of the current Democratic Political effort with the MSM's play on how bad the economy is, but that is another post.

I talked to a friend just the other day and he said that he was so mad at President Bush for putting us in the worst recession we have seen in along time. 

Wow is he misinformed! The first dead give away that this person is infected with the liberal Democrats propaganda is that President Bush is to blame for everything... Ok a little rant here... If a person has a bad case of “I hate Bush and all his Rich friends-itis” then he/she has given in to the lazy temptation of blaming others for their current circumstances. Hay Idiot, You live in America, the land of opportunity, You can always improve your circumstances! Pull yourself up by your own boot straps!  

A President even a very bad one (which is not the current case), by himself could not bring the massive US economic machine to a halt and then start it rolling backward... Remember It has to go negative for 6 total months to be a recession.

When you hear the liberal MSM say that the Economic sky is falling, Just check the GDP. You can see it clearly for yourself.

-- Peter L. Mathias

MSM (Main Stream Media)

After many years of listening to the Main stream media, (MSM) I could not hold back any longer. I had to do something to help offset the terrible one sided version of the news both locally and nationally and even internationally. I know good people who through no fault of their own, are spouting such bad Journalism, that I could not stand by any longer. I'm not the greatest writer but I'm going to do what I can. 

Today, I start on a quest to help good people stay connected to "the whole story." I have no fear that they will get the liberal side of every event from TV, Newspaper and Radio. Here, I will attempt as often as I can to link and blog the whole view of the story.

I will state clearly and upfront that I'm an American in the purest sense. I will defend my home, my family, my religion, and my freedom. It may not be popular to be a White Male who has a Job, a Family with a wife and children, goes to church on Sunday, is grateful for the good citizens of this great country, and finally who is proud of these United States of America. I will call it as clearly as I can. I don't bow to any correct way to publish. I will call a black man, black. I will call a Mexican in my country illegally a criminal. I am who I am and I excuse not my self. Some call this attitude "Politically Incorrect." I say so be it! I named this Blog after this poor label to prove a point. Some have labeled me Ultra Conservative. I'm sure they don't know what that means. 

Here is what I do know: Law was meant to be kept and not ignored. We the people of this great land must rise and not be apathetic any more. Be industrious, know your government, and know your laws. Fight to keep this land free. 

God has given us this great land and freedom. We have a responsibility to acknowledge the God of this land. To never forget His matches power in bringing about the conditions that allowed the birth of these United States. That it was by His spirit that the declaration of Independence and constitution were made. Therefore we owe all we enjoy today to Him. Never forget it.

-- Peter L. Mathias