The founders fathers were so wise. Obviously the founders could predict the future and did not want children born via C-SECTION to be eligible to be President, since that is unnatural. Is Obama a "natural born" citizen?


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A right-leaning disgruntled Republican comments on the news of the day and any other thing he damn-well pleases.
"These regulations were written by the city's most expensive limousine companies for the city's most expensive limousine companies."
"They were designed to put the affordable competition out of business."
"Customers, not government, should pick winners and losers in the transportation industry."
"This case is a sad example of the city using public power for private gain."
"I came in this county because it is the land of opportunity and freedom. All I need is to be left alone to pursue my American dream."
"There is a bourgeois elite in the limo business that believe that only the very rich should be able to afford limousine service."
Kay Brooks in response to my last post asked, who were the council members who voted for the Limo price fixing bill and are they up for election this year. The answer is all who voted, except for Councilman Todd who abstained, voted for it and many of them are up for reelection.
Here is the list. I have highlighted in red those council member who disappointed me, who I assumed were conservative. I did not expect much better from the others.
....the following vote: “Ayes” Garrett, Barry, Tygard, Steine, Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Craddock, Hollin, Jameson, Cole, Bennett, Forkum, Ryman, Jernigan, Gotto, Burch, Stanley, Claiborne, Page, Moore, LaLonde, Gilmore, Baker, Langster, Crafton, Evans, Holleman, McGuire, Adkins, Foster, Dominy, Wilhoite, Toler, Coleman, Duvall, Mitchell (38); “Noes” (0); “Abstaining Todd (1)."I am writing an email to all of the Council Members highlighted above, with this message:
Greetings Councilman,I will report any response I get.
I have been disappointing to learn that the city recently passed a price-fixing bill to protect the high-end limo service providers against competition from those who would supply cheaper limo service. I am very, very disappointed in your vote. I have always thought you were one of the "good guys" of the Council and a conservative. I can see two possible reasons for your vote:
(1) I don't have all the facts and their is a very good reason you voted the way you did. If that is true could you please explain your vote. I will publish your response on my blog.
(2) You did not know what you were voting on. The bill passed the committees with unanimous recommendations, you do not serve on any of those committees so you were unaware of the issue involved and relied on the Committee recommendation. If that is true then, that is not a good enough reason, however, I can understand that. If that is the case, will you introduce legislation to reverse this legislative action?
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Rod Williams
Until 2010, sedan and independent limo services were an affordable alternative to taxicabs. A trip to the airport only cost $25. But in June 2010, the Metropolitan County Council passed a series of anti-competitive regulations requested by the Tennessee Livery Association-a trade group formed by expensive limousine companies. These regulations force sedan and independent limo companies to increase their fares to $45 minimum.
The regulations also prohibit limo and sedan companies from using leased vehicles, require them to dispatch only from their place of business, require them to wait a minimum of 15 minutes before picking up a customer and forbid them from parking or waiting for customers at hotels or bars. And, in January 2012, companies will have to take all vehicles off the road if they are more than seven years old for a sedan or SUV or more than ten years old for a limousine.
These regulations have nothing to do with public safety. Nashville could have limited its requirements to those regulations that are designed to genuinely protect the public's health and safety, such as requiring insured and inspected vehicles, and driver background checks, but instead, Nashville is stooping to economic protectionism to put affordable car services out of business in favor of more expensive services that happen to have more political power. Many Nashville residents who regularly use limos and sedans will be forced to spend twice as much money for exactly the same service and hard-working sedan drivers will be driven out of business.
On April 20, 2011, the Institute for Justice teamed up with three Nashville entrepreneurs and filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee to vindicate the right of Nashville's limo and sedan operators to earn an honest living free from excessive government regulation.
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Artist Tarri Driver chats with neighborhood leader Cecil Lillard. |
"Because the U.S. has, relative to its 'AAA' peers, what we consider to be very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us, we have revised our outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable," the agency said in a statement.(link)
Anyone who is not alarmed, is not paying attention.
"Most of the money — about $326 million — went to more than 47,000 taxpayers who didn’t qualify as first-time homebuyers because there was evidence they had already owned homes. "
The money should be recaptured and any borrowers who knowingly committed fraud or any mortgage loan officers who committed fraud on behalf of a borrower should be criminally prosecuted and jailed.
I take back the laudatory things I said about the budget deal that avoided a government shut down. Various believable and trusted sources have analyzed the spendnig cuts and the $40 billion in cuts was really only about $352 Million. We were had. We were scammed. I am forgiving of those who voted for the deal, however. Last minute budget crunching to beat a deadline can result in not being sure what you really voted for. They had to vote for it to know what was in it. They fooled you this time; don't be fooled again.
Those who voted against the final deal, since real cuts were only amounted to $352 million, were right. There is another chance to get real cuts and that is in the vote raising the debt limit. Get some real cuts next time. Republicans must take a stand for real cuts. Real solutions beyond one-time cuts will require that everything be on the table, including entitlements and military spending. For a long-term solution, Congress needs to pass the Corker Cap Bill.
Here is an analysis of what really passed from the Patriot Post. Other sources verify the correctness of this analysis. Read this and be disgusted as am I.
"The details of the agreement reached late Friday night just ahead of a deadline for a partial government shutdown reveal a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially 'score' as cuts to pay for spending elsewhere, but often have little to no actual impact on the deficit."
First, the $40 billion deal included $12 billion in cuts from previous continuing resolutions, bringing the total to just $28 billion. Another $6.2 billion was merely unspent census money. Some $10 billion came from appropriations accounts used for earmarks that Republicans had already agreed to ban. More than 50 federal programs were cut, but the grand total for that was a pathetic $1 billion in savings. Four of Obama's "czars" were also cut, but the catch is that all four had already either resigned or moved to other job titles.
The cuts were thus minuscule to begin with; before long, they became virtually non-existent. The Congressional Budget Office released its analysis and it's not pretty -- the grand total in actual cuts is just $352 million. The government burns through that in about two hours. According to The Washington Post:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) today announced additional bipartisan, bicameral support for their bill to put an across-the-board, binding cap on all federal spending. U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have added their names to the CAP Act, and U.S. Representatives Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) and Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) will be leading the effort in the House to build bipartisan support for the bill.
The CAP Act, S. 245, would, for the first time, set an across-the-board, binding cap on all federal spending. The fiscal straitjacket created by the CAP Act would result in $7.6 trillion less spending over a 10-year period and fundamentally change the way Washington does business.
“I’m delighted our CAP Act to put a fiscal straitjacket on Congress now has the support of Joe Lieberman and Ron Johnson as well as Jim Cooper and Jimmy Duncan in the House,” said Corker. “This growing bipartisan, bicameral support signals momentum and a genuine desire to move the conversation on spending where it must go: from billions to trillions and to enact the kind of dramatic cuts that will be necessary to put our country on a path to fiscal solvency.”
“This is a good place to start the discussion,” said McCaskill. “We need to look at long-term comprehensive restraints on spending to address our debt and deficits. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that as we address these issues, we work to strengthen, not cut, Medicare and Social Security for current beneficiaries and ensure these programs are around for our grandchildren.”
“We are currently debating spending cuts to the federal budget of a few billion dollars, when our debt and deficits are measured in the trillions,” said Johnson. “Unless we get serious about our fiscal crisis, we will pass a crushing burden of debt on to our children and grandchildren. We are committing intergenerational theft. It is wrong, it is immoral, and it must stop. Economic growth is a critical component to solving this problem. Until we have a credible plan for spending restraint, consumers and businesses will not have the renewed confidence they need to spur investment and job creation. Senator Corker’s CAP Act is the first step in establishing that credible spending plan. It will provide the hard spending cap needed to enforce fiscal discipline and restrain the growth in government. I am happy to cosponsor this important piece of legislation.”
“We can no longer wait to take serious action to reduce the debt and this legislation provides a mechanism for fiscal responsibility,” said Lieberman. “Unless we swallow some deficit reduction medicine our nation’s economy is going to return to the Intensive Care Unit.”
Specifically, the CAP Act would:
On Tuesday, April 19, Kathleen Williams will be honored by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation as the Land Conservationist of the Year. The award will be bestowed at the 46th Annual TWF Conservation Achievement Awards and Legislative Reception in ceremonies at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville at 5 p.m. To attend the reception, call 615-353-1133 or email tnwfintern@tnwf.org.
Each year since 1965, the Tennessee Wildlife Federation (TWF) has honored a select group of leaders in the conservation and stewardship of wildlife and their habitat in Tennessee.
“These awards recognize those individuals and organizations that have made truly meaningful contributions to conservation in Tennessee and to TWF,” says Michael Butler, TWF’s chief executive officer. “The great work of our past winners lives on today, and the current generation is building upon those successes. Without their willingness to take action, we would have failed in our mission, and we are proud to honor their contributions.”
Kathleen is Executive Director of The Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation. TPGF is a statewide non-profit organization that seeks to conserve and protect Tennessee’s rich heritage and natural resources. It seeks to identify and protect the most beautiful, ecologically-rich, and historically-significant places in Tennessee. It has protected many beautiful vistas, privately-held waterfalls, critical habitats, and worked to place conservation easements on thousands of acres of land. The Foundation is funded by individual donations, grants, and other tax-deductible gifts.
Last year Kathleen was instrumental in getting the State Legislature to restore the land conservation fund whose dedicated funding had been diverted to the general fund.
Kathleen is my sister and I am very proud of the work she is doing. An added bonus of being her brother is that I get to take some beautiful hikes and see some marvelous waterfalls that are little known and not yet open to the public.
Another fun, tea party fight song by Bruce Bellott. He performs at Nashville tea party rallies.
My sweet and lovely niece Rebecca Mooradian won second place in the Cheapest of the Cheap Awards 2011, awarded by The Tennessean's "Miss Cheap," Mary Hance.
I have been known as a frugal person myself because there was a time in my life when I had to be. I still love a bargain and admire frugality. Rebecca is a gal after my own heart! Below are pictures and text from The Tennessean web page.
The article doesn't tell the full story. The dress has been professionally cleaned and Jonathan Moody's mom, Rossie Moody, who is a talented seamstress altered the dress to fit. Rebecca will be as lovely as any bride in a $6000 dress.
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I know many Kamikaze Republican are disappointed the government did not shut down.
They wanted Republicans to hold firm to a plan to cut the budget $100 billion and not pass any budget that cut less. Democrats were not going to pass a budget with $100 billion in cuts, the government would have shut down, Republican would have been blamed, nothing would have been accomplished and this would have guaranteed the reelection of Barack Obama the same way Republicans helped reelect President Clinton when in 1996 they shut down the government. Actually, Republicans did not shut down the government in 1996; Clinton did by vetoing the budget he was sent by Congress. It did not matter; Republicans got the blame. This time the government would not have been shut down because the President vetoed a budget sent to him by Congress, but would have shut down because Congress did not sent him a budget.The result would have been the same; Republicans would have been blamed for the shut down.
I realized the seriousness of the budget crisis. I realized we have a $14 Trillion national debt and 40 cent of every dollar the government spends is borrowed money. I realize we have a crisis. Please do not lecture me on the debt. I am fully aware of the enormity of the problem. We have a crisis. I get it. However, shutting down the government would have led to Republicans losing elections and the Democrats would have won the PR battle. Most Americans are still in denial about the financial status of our nation. Shutting down the government would not have convinced them of anything.
While I would have preferred a larger cut, I actually think this is a pretty good beginning on a return to financial responsibility.
Boehner said the agreement will “cut spending and keep our government open,” and this agreement will cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending over the next decade and will “help create a better environment for job creators in our country.”
Here are some key facts on the bipartisan agreement: (link)
Thank God for Bob Corker. Someone does care about the Constitution. U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter yesterday to Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., asking him “to hold a series of hearings to examine the division of war powers as outlined by the Constitution, reexamine the provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, and consider recommendations to amend or clarify the conditions required for the employment of US forces.”
Full text of Senator Corker’s letter to Chairman Kerry is included below.
BOB CORKER
United States Senator
I am appalled that members of Congress and the public who vehemently opposed our war on Iraq, which was authorized by Congress, are totally unconcerned about our war on Libya which has not been authorized and when there was no imminent threat. They are totally devoid of any consistency. I suspect many of them would grant President Obama dictatorial powers on the slightest of pretense. Obama has committed an impeachable offense and should be removed from office.
Senator Corker, Please do not back down. Keep pushing and demand these hearings. Where are the other members of Congress who care about the Constitution?
You can now order tickets for Atlas Shrugged Part 1 in Nashville at the Regal Hollywood 27, 719 Thompson Lane. This is the movie theater at 100 Oaks. The movie opens April 15, 2011. Make this a sold-out show! Tickets are still available. I just purchased my tickets for the 7:30 show.
At a Cato Institute conference this Thursday, April 7, at 2 p.m. ET in Washington, Senator Bob Corker will make a presentation on the CAP Act, his bill to set a first-time, across-the-board cap on all federal spending. The fiscal straitjacket created by the CAP Act would result in $7.6 trillion less spending over a 10 year period than projected current policy and change the way Washington does business.
Cato Institute senior fellow Dan Mitchell wrote a blog post today entitled “Senator Corker’s CAP Act: A Better Version of Gramm-Rudman to Reduce the Burden of Government” that previews Senator Corker’s remarks on Wednesday. Mitchell writes, “[Senator Corker] correctly understands that the problem is the size of government,” and that the CAP Act’s “sequester” provision or fiscal straitjacket “puts real teeth in the CAP Act and ensures that the burden of government spending actually would be reduced.”
On Wednesday March 30, Senator Rand Paul spoke on the Senate floor concerning his objections to the president's actions in Libya and the executive's lack of regard for the Constitution.
I think Rand Paul has it exactly right. President Obama has taken us to war without a Congressional Declaration of war, when there was no imminent threat to the United States or our allies. He is in clear violation of the War Powers Act. He is acting as if he were King.
The United States has no vital interest in this conflict. We know Qaddafi is a madman and maybe mentally deranged, but we have no clue who the rebels are. Are they seeking to establish a Democracy or a radial Islamic Republic? Are we fighting on the same side as Al Qaeda in the war? We don't know.
I opposed President Bush's decision to take us to war in Iraq, but at least President Bush got approval of Congress. I am appalled at the liberals who can support this act of war in clear violation of the War Powers Act yet were vehement in their denunciation of President Bush's actions taking us to war in Iraq. Have they no principles? President Obama has committed an impeachable offense and should be removed from office
Former Metro Councilman Rod Williams called the results an "outrage." Williams passed a law in 1988 in the Metro Council requiring testing in all schools, but somehow the law was forgotten.
"A generation of kids are now adults who lived breathing radon every day and that should have been tested 20 years ago," Williams said.
"This should have been solved 20 years ago. I'm glad they're testing now, but it's 20 years later than it should have been." (link)