WISCONSIN UNION VOTE: Why the Republicans need to win...

Yes, I was on vacation but I kept putting CNN on every chance I got to see how the Wisconsin labor battle was going.

I salute Governor Scott Walker and the Republican State House members that passed the bill.

I denounce the Democratic State Senators who fled the state so a vote could not be taken in the state senate because at least one Democratic member has to be physically present for a vote to count.

The chicken-shit bastards are hiding in Chicago until, they feel, the screaming union members that have invaded the capitol of Wisconsin can scare the Republicans into backing down from voting for the bill…that is their plan…which is how unions have always worked…you strike until you get your way and you scare, intimidate or beat up anyone that opposes you and the hell with democracy because as we all know…unions are all about communism, dictatorship of the proletariat (worker) and to hell with everyone else.

And please remember that the absent senators are blocking the DEMOCRATIC PROCESS. By blocking a vote, they are in essence, blocking the democratic process from continuing; they are preventing the legally elected officials from carrying out what the voters told them to do by electing them in the first place. The unions are defying the taxpayers who are actually their bosses (public unions)…how preposterous is that!

As you know, the unions would keep their bargaining power over wages (money) and isn’t that what they care about most? Well it turns out that that is not their main concern. Their main concern is not how much they earn and will earn, their main concern is that THEY CAN BE FIRED.

You may find this kind of puzzling but have you ever heard of a public employee that belongs to a union, being fired? Or, let’s say told to move from one school to another or work more hours or less, or told to do anything by those who are ostensibly, their bosses?

Well, that is the crux of the matter because one reason everybody wanted to be a unionized public employee is because they could not get fired or for that matter, bossed; unions were the only ones allowed to deal with the worker and let’s face it, the unions would never do anything against the dues paying and voting worker.

Allowing the BOSS to actually have power over the workers that work for the BOSS would be anathema to the workers and their unions and THAT IS WHY THE REPUBLICANS HAVE TO WIN IN WISCONSIN. And Wisconsin is ONLY THE BIGINNING…

In fact, if OBAMA is not careful, he may loose the 2012 election based on this one issue; you either care about the country and its economic health or you are a UNION STOOGE who needs to lose the presidency the next time around.

There is already some talk about INDIANA GOVERNOR MITCH DANIELS who has already done what Wisconsin is trying to do and he may be just the union ass-kicking candidate that the presidency needs.

Related articles

• Wisconsin Assembly Passes Labor Reforms - HUMAN EVENTS | John Hayward (jamespatrick1.wordpress.com)
• Police hunt Wisconsin Democrats (bbc.co.uk)
• What's Really Going on in Wisconsin (politicalwire.com)

VACATION 2: Hot temps, Sand, Water and Fun...Punta Cana

Just got back last night at 1AM from a one-week stay at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. This is our usual winter getaway with our friends from North Carolina to somewhere warm or shall I say HOT.

We stayed at the newly re-modeled Hard Rock Hotel and Casino which was really big. Had pools galore, fantastic beach with rolling surf, great restaurants and a bar every few feet.

Had a great time and as usual, I came home in my shorts and a T-shirt to freezing temperatures and a bunch of snow and ice but hey, we were lucky we did not get stranded at an airport somewhere because of weather; that has happened on many occasions.

Tried to keep up with all the world events as I could but my wife insisted I have fun outside in the 85F weather and I did…

The room we had was out of this world. The shower "room" had two shower heads and every room came with a bar (all-inclusive) everything included !!!

WISCONSIN: Battling the public unions...

I don’t know if any one is paying attention to what is going on in Wisconsin but they should.

Wisconsin elected a Republican governor (Walker) and a Republican legislature to clean up the economic mess in the state and that is exactly what they started to do with first (as in Michigan) getting the public union workers on the same pay and benefit level as workers in the private sector.

First, they eliminated collective bargaining rights which mandated compulsory arbitration when both sides failed to reach an agreement. This is total bullshit since the unions will keep voting down all proposals until the stage for compulsory arbitration is reached and then they get their way and the hell with the taxpayers.

Also, public workers will have to pay half their pension costs and contribute 12.6% to their health care coverage.

Well, all hell broke loose in Madison, Wisconsin with schools closing because teachers were protesting the legislators (get it…no school because teachers did not show up for work). Hundreds of them screaming and yelling for days (get it…no school so you have to take off work to watch your kids because the teachers are not there).

The governor was adamant about passing the legislation and he had the votes but…

The chicken-shit Democrats left the state and could not be found by the state police because the constitution in Wisconsin states that at least one member of the opposing party has to be in the chamber for a vote to occur…can you believe this shit!

Ohio has a governor that wants to do the very same thing and Michigan Governor Snyder has similar intentions…

Let the revolution begin…we need some anti-union protestors to show the legislators that they are not alone and that they were elected to do just what they are doing so don’t worry about the screaming union meemies; they are not the majority of voters in the state they are just the loudest.

Lets see what happens in Michigan…

Related articles

• Obama: Wisconsin Pinch on Public Workers Looks Like 'Assault on Unions' (politicsdaily.com)
• Wisconsin Senate set to OK anti-union bill - msnbc.com (news.google.com)
• Wisconsin Democrats Stage Walkout to Deny Union-Busters a Quorum (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Wisconsin Senate Dems. prevent vote on harsh GOP budget by leaving for 'undisclosed location' (americablog.com)
• Showdown In Wisconsin (minx.cc)
• Looks like the people in Wisconsin understand the Egyptian Connection (iflizwerequeen.com)
• Thousands protest anti-union bill in Wisconsin (sfgate.com)

MICHIGAN'S NEW BUDGET: Taxing pensions...

Our governor, Rick Snyder, ran and won the office by running as a non-politician, business man and nerd that would get Michigan out of its economic morass. He said it would be painful but he would do what the previous governor (Democrat) would not do; cut spending and balance the budget.

Yesterday, some of his proposed cuts leaked out and my news channel (WXYZ-TV) Channel 7 jumped with both feet on a proposal they would think would cause a firestorm of protests; taxing pensions.

After a lifetime of watching the same news channel I am determined to switch because Channel 7 has become like FOX NEWS, injecting emotion into issues just to get a rise out of the viewers which they think, will increase ratings. They are now asking viewers to write in on a variety of topics that they continuously pose from Tiger spitting on the golf course to what do you think of paying a tax on your pension; this must be the new, interactive news. What happened to just reporting the news and saving opinions for the editorial segment?

Anyway, I am here to defend Gov. Snyder’s proposal to tax pensions in Michigan and I will use boring FACTS to make my case.

1.                    All retirees get Social Security payments which are based on their employment history, etc. and these payments are NOT taxed.

2.                   Many retirees do not get pensions which are usually for union workers and white collar workers of large corporations who receive pensions AND their Social Security payments and in many cases, medical benefits even though they already have Medicare (stupid excess).

3.                   Pensions are now passé because they are unsustainable in today’s business economy (especially public employee pensions). Employees now have 401(k)s to which they contribute pre-tax dollars and employers can also contribute matching funds as in profit sharing.

4.                  Out of 41 states that levy an income tax, only Michigan, Alabama, Mississippi and Pennsylvania (interesting grouping), exempt, to an extent,  public and private pension income from taxation; yes, pension payments are considered income. Michigan exempts all public pensions and up to $90,000 (joint) of private pensions.

5.                   Snyder has emphasized that he will not allow public union workers to get more or better benefits than workers in private employment, hence ALL pensions will be taxed.

6.                  Those receiving pensions avail themselves of state and local services that are available and therefore they should pay for them, just like everybody else does.

7.                   States that have no income tax and therefore have nothing to do with pensions are: Alaska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Florida, South Dakota, Washington State, Nevada, Texas and Wyoming. Only Alaska and New Hampshire have no sales tax.

8.                  Michigan, because its economy depended on the auto manufacturing business so an extent, was hit harder economically than many if not most states and therefore a more drastic economic plan is mandated.

9.                  Do not confuse retirees that receive ONLY Social Security benefits with those that receive Social Security benefits plus a pension with benefits.

10.                The state of Michigan can no longer afford the largesse of exempting pensions from taxation and must join the many states that tax pensions.

One danger point about taxing pensions is the real possibility that retirees who live in Michigan during the summer and travel to their winter homes in Florida or Texas in the winter, may decide to establish permanent residence in those states with no income tax at all. Since these snow birds do not pay any taxes on their pensions currently, this would not impact the State of Michigan financially. If they decide to sell their homes in Michigan, the state and local governments would lose any property taxes that have been levied and collected in the past…I don’t think many will do that.

I decry WXYZ-TV and any news media for trying to inflame viewers with provocative reporting that does not analyze the entire issue in a professional manner and place that single issue into the big picture of the state’s economy as a whole or wait till the governor presents and explains his entire budget.

Related articles

• APNewsBreak: Mich. gov. calls for sweeping cuts (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Mich. gov.'s budget plan cuts spending, tax breaks - Washington Post (news.google.com)
• Public sector pensions: workers face brutal reality check (telegraph.co.uk)
• Tax-Friendly States for Retirees (pinkbananaworld.com)

IRAN: Not another Egypt...too bad.

The Iranian government had the balls to openly support the Egyptian people’s revolution for freedom but violently CRUSH a similar attempt by their own people.

In fact, the Iranian parliament members are seen in videos screaming for the execution of the opposition leaders (Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami) even though these men may have nothing to do with the current protests which were spurred by the Egyptian uprising.

The idiot clerics in charge of the religious dictatorship in Iran actually had the gall to say that what happened in Tunisia and Egypt was the deposing of secular dictators by Islamists trying to create an Islamic Republic which is absolutely nothing close to the truth.

Iranians overthrew a secular dictator (Shah of Iran) and replaced it with a theocracy that is even more brutal than the Shah ever was and now the poor Iranian people are stuck.

The clerics obviously do not want to give up their power and their privileged lifestyle. These clerics have enabled members of parliament with the same privileges and so to some of the police and military (Revolutionary guards). These people would be out on their asses if the same thing happened in Iran as in Egypt.

It does not matter if you’re a holy-ass cleric or a money hungry secular dictator, you want the power and the wealth and the lifestyle and you will do everything possible to keep it as Mubarak tried to do but the military sided with the people and he had to go.

The same thing needs to happen in Iran but I am not sure if an Iranian military leadership exists that is not tied to the government (separate from the Revolutionary Guards). Even if the military was stand-alone, it would have to physically battle with the crazy religious zealots that form the police and the guards and that would mean civil war.

I don’t see an out for the Iranian people, most who are under 30 years old and yearning for freedom especially the female population except if and when Israel / U.S. bomb nuclear facilities in Iran that are about to produce an atomic weapon. So far, we were able to infect their computers with sophisticated viruses that put back their atomic bomb development plans by a few years.

Related articles

• Iran protest: Iranian MPs demand execution of opposition leaders after pro-democracy rally in Tehran which has left the country on tenterhooks (dailymail.co.uk)
• Egypt and Iran (online.wsj.com)
• Iranian Leaders Vow to Crush March (nytimes.com)
• Emboldened by Egypt, Iranians take to the streets (theglobeandmail.com)
• Iran president dismisses protests (bbc.co.uk)

FEDERAL BUDGET: Political football...

I will admit that when I heard details of Obama’s new budget proposal, I was not impressed and maybe a little pissed. News channels were showing the massive binders that held the new Obama budget proposal; all those trees that had to be cut down to produce all that worthless paper.

I admit that I have not read the proposal but just hearing about a few details leaves one less than impressed or even optimistic that this Congress can actually tackle our economic woes.

One thing I do know is that Obama appointed a bi-partisan commission to submit to the nation what steps need to be taken for us to get ourselves in a better financial position. I have heard that NONE of their recommendations were followed, even in part mainly because they proposed touching items that have long been untouchable like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Defense, certain exemptions like home mortgage interest, etc.

The budget is a political football that is going to be tossed from party to party since no party wants to be seen as the ogre that took away grandma’s retirement money or health insurance and left her to die alone and penniless. Obviously that is political bullshit and once you get into real details you can start making some economically wise decisions.

One issue that I know Obama is concerned about is the current economic recovery that is taking some baby steps in the right direction; if we drastically cut spending it will mean far fewer dollars going into the economy and that is not what the economy needs right now.

Obviously, this is not an easy subject to address but the Tea Party thinks it is; cut $100 Billion now or we throw your asses out at the next election….Republicans are taking note…believe me.

I will be having more to say about this budget battle once more details are forthcoming but what I already don’t like about what Obama and his Democrats are proposing is the same socialist shit they always propose; take from the rich and give to the poor…Robin Hood all the way.

But also, they are cutting small amounts here and there but they are also increasing spending for their pet areas like education and for that they need to raise taxes.

This morning on CNN, one reporter was asking Congressmen and women what they would CUT in the new budget and one Democratic Congresswoman loudly and forcefully said, I WANT TO CUT THE BUSH TAX CUTS…same ole’ socialist Democrats.

Related articles

• Has Obama set GOP entitlement trap? (politico.com)
• Obama budget fails to curb entitlements, GOP says - Boston Globe (news.google.com)
• Obama makes first move in budget chess match (capitolhillblue.com)
• Obama, GOP clash over cuts - The Detroit News (news.google.com)
• Comparing Obama's plan with his commission's (msnbc.msn.com)
• Obama Defends Budget Proposal At White House Press Conference (newsone.com)
• Obama wants an "adult conversation" between parties on the budget - CNN (news.google.com)

CATHOLIC CHURCH: Wealth re-distribution?

Well I haven’t had any juicy religious items to blog about in quite some time but I did run into something that caught my eye; two Catholics in disagreement.

One is Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, a Catholic writer for the Washington Post and the other is our own Rev. Robert A. Sirico who often writes for the Detroit News on faith and religion issues.

Arroyo, ostensibly speaking for the Catholic Church I guess, wrote about Obama and the redistribution of wealth. He invokes the Catholic teaching on social justice where business and government are morally obligated to work for the common good even if it reduces profits; people before profits.

Arroyo goes on to say that Catholic social justice demands a redistribution of wealth through different means including private charity, collective bargaining by worker’s unions and government taxation policy; soak the bloody rich!

All in all Arroyo is obviously a Catholic ultra socialist from the old school which I thought died out with the South American poverty theology nonsense of the 1960s.

Father Sirico challenges Arroyo as following logic that has been repudiated by the Church. He places Arroyo with those Catholics of the “religious left” that denounce the profit motive and demand money from the rich be given to the poor through taxation policies like Obama seems to promote.

Sirico cites examples of history as proof that redistribution of wealth does not work and is not just. He says that the Church should demand just systems of trade that enable the poor to be agents of their own betterment instead of pitting the haves against the have-nots.

He points to the booming economies of China and India where wealth is not being redistributed through restrictive taxation but is being created and thus enabling the populations to share in the prosperity. China, not too long ago, was mired in poverty following the illogical constraints of a communist economic system; look what a touch of capitalism can do to eradicate abject poverty.

Arroyo is obviously deluded but how great is it for another Catholic to show him exactly how deluded he is…loving it!

Related articles

• Howard Dean: Redistribution of Wealth is What Government Does (crooksandliars.com)
• Redistribution of wealth by any other name is still, well, Marxism (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)
• "Fact-Checking President Obama's Claim: 'I Didn't Raise Taxes Once'" and related posts (taxprof.typepad.com)
• The Fallacy of Wealth Redistribution (blogcritics.org)

EGYPT: Now what?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Egyptians rejoiced, they had won, they had defeated the evil dictator and now they were free, free to form a democracy where they would be the rulers of their own country.

Egypt and Egyptians have indeed entered into a new political and social era but it is at precisely this time in the revolution that critical steps must be taken for the revolution to be successful.

This morning, CNN was reporting that thousands of workers were striking, demanding higher pay and better working conditions and I am talking about every worker from the garbage collectors to university professors; even unemployed archaeologists were demanding immediate jobs.

Since Mubarak just abdicated and the government (parliament) was just dissolved and the military just took official power; who in the hell do the people think has the authority to raise their wages, give them better benefits or find them jobs?

Yes, it’s all about pent up emotions that have been pent up for thirty years but it is exactly this type of mass hysteria that leads to anarchy which invites another dictatorship.

The military’s first job is to stabilize the country and put the country back to work so all aspects of the society are once again open and operational. Banks have to open, schools have to open, trains and buses need to run…and none of this can happen if everyone is on strike.

During the riots, the police basically left their posts and the jails emptied with thousands of criminals now on the streets. The police have to go back to work, round up the criminals and restore order and safety but they are on strike.

Egypt is not the first country to depose a dictator and move towards democracy so it can be done in an orderly fashion; look at all the countries that toppled their Communist masters after 50 years.

It will be interesting to watch as things develop in Egypt; I love history in the making but Egypt will serve as an example for other nations in the area that long for freedom also so it is especially important for Egypt and Egyptians to comport themselves in a sober and rationale manner or it was all for naught.

Related articles

• Egypt protests continue in the factories | Hossam el-Hamalawy (guardian.co.uk)
• Cuba's Fidel Castro hails 'Egyptian Revolution' (cnn.com)
• Protests Continue in Egypt (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Egypt protesters find new target: Low wages (msnbc.msn.com)
• Q&A: What's next for Egypt? (theglobeandmail.com)

DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM: Governor needs to step in...

Once again I have to write about the idiotic shenanigans between Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager of the Detroit Public School System and the elected Detroit School Board.

I have already pointed out that the board is not only corrupt and incompetent but some of its members have been shown to be ILLITERATE and they recently took Bobb to court to wrest control of academic matters from him. Specifically they want to be the ones that appoint the superintendent, teachers and administrators, which to me is control over personnel.

A local judge agreed with the school board and told Bobb to only concern himself with the financial aspects of the Detroit Public School system.

I have said before that the law is unclear on this issue and the governor or the legislature needs to make it perfectly clear that the emergency financial manager is dictator over the whole bloody mess that is the Detroit Public School system; this legal wrangling is absurd and wasteful when money is in such short supply.

Since many Detroit teachers and administrators were found to be plain crooks, stealing money and equipment from the system or basically from the poor kids in the system, allowing the school board, who appointed many of these crooks, to do so again is absolutely ludicrous…and yet, here we go again…the board needs to be disbanded and the state take over the whole bloody mess, otherwise the corrupt culture that seems so ingrained in Detroit will never be eradicated.

Related articles

• Can Robert Bobb Fix Detroit's Public Schools? (time.com)
• Detroit's deepening education deficit | Nducu wa Ngugi (guardian.co.uk)
• The Robert Bobb Sad Saga Continues: Part 2 (seattleducation2010.wordpress.com)
• Change Of Guard Likely For Troubled Detroit Schools (npr.org)
• Daily Benefactor News - Detroit May Close Half Of Its Schools To Pay For Union Benefits (thedaleygator.wordpress.com)

MORTGAGES: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Kaput?

I realize that we are all concerned about the U.S. economy but people just get bored when someone starts to discuss specifics about the economy.

Remember one of the biggest factors in our economy’s downfall was the housing debacle. Our government wanted everybody to own their own home and so it encouraged lenders to lend to anybody and everybody.

It got so ridiculous that people without jobs were getting loans; big loans. The reason this could happen is that the “loan originator” didn’t give a shit if you were qualified for the loan or not, he or she just turned around and instantly sold the loan to another mortgage entity; he made his commission and that was that, he did not care if the people could pay the loan back or not.

The people buying those loans bundled them into MBS (mortgage backed securities) which they sold on the open market. Everybody was making tons of money until the shit hit the fan or when those risky loans collapsed.

So in today’s Wall Street Journal I was surprised to read that Obama was advocating doing away with Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) and Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) the major buyers of those loans; taxpayers have already spent billions to prop these companies up.

This is huge because it basically says that the government needs to step out of the mortgage business. Don’t get me wrong, there still is a Ginnie Mae ( Government National Mortgage Administration) which guarantees loans made by the Veteran’s Administration (VA Loans) for soldiers and FHA loans (Federal Housing Administration) among others, to help people otherwise unqualified to obtain loans on their own and Ginnie Mae is a 100% government entity whereas Freddie and Fannie are not.

Yes, this will make getting mortgage loans more difficult or as difficult as when I was trying to get a loan; had to sign my life away and they checked every bill I ever paid to make sure I was never late in paying.

Some of the programs that helped people buy homes goes back all the way to the Great Depression where Roosevelt tried to help people buy homes because he believed that the U.S. should be a country of homeowners; nice concept but unrealistic.

I maintain that in the U.S. there are homeowners and renters and in today’s job market where people move to where jobs are available, there is more of a need for rental property.

I just had to bring this matter up because it is such a historic shift in our government’s attitude towards home ownership. More to come as things develop…

Related articles

• Factbox: Plans to overhaul housing finance system (reuters.com)
• How Fannie and Freddie let the banks off easy (money.cnn.com)
• How Do I Know If My Mortgage Loan Is Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac? (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• Moody's Zandi: Replace Fannie, Freddie With Public-Private Hybrid (online.wsj.com)
• U.S. government should backstop mortgages as last resort: Bernanke (financialpost.com)

EGYPT: Military steps in...

When this whole Egyptian uprising started, I mentioned that the key player(s) in this revolution is the military and sooner or later, the military will have to make a stand.

Dictators usually ply the military with all sorts of gifts and rewards, hoping that they will remain loyal in times of turmoil. The Egyptian military has been spoiled by Mubarak and is involved in an assortment of money making ventures with the blessing of the government.

During this turmoil, the military just stood by and it appeared, actually sided with the protestors.

Mubarak probably tried to get the military on his side by promising all sorts of reform and more gifts too but it appears, to no avail.

Today, the senior generals appeared on TV to assure the Egyptian population that they will do what is required to keep the nation safe and return the nation to normalcy as soon as possible which means that they will honor the people’s demand for Mubarak to step down; Mubarak, it seems, did not want to do that and was going to hang on for as long as he could.

This is where it gets a little tricky. The military will oust Mubarak and assume control of the country; then what…

The generals could dismiss the entire government and call for elections as soon as possible. The generals could put up one of their own as a candidate thus keeping their finger in government or they could actually call for totally free elections.

Newscasters have been warning about the ISLAMIC BROTHERHOOD which was banned by Mubarak as an extremist group bent on taking over the country and ruling under strict Islamic Law (burkas are back).

I think the Egyptian people, many secular, would not allow that to happen but the fear is always there. Look at Iran where the people deposed the dictator (Shah of Iran) only to replace him with a religious dictator and his Revolutionary Islamic Guards who don’t mind killing their own people and do often.

I hope this turns out well because as mentioned before, Egypt is on my bucket list to see before I kick the bucket and tourism in Egypt is their number one money maker so I don’t think Egyptians would destroy the goose that lays many golden eggs.

Related articles

• BREAKING: Egyptian Military Meeting Now Without Mubarak; Egyptian President to Step Down Say Reports (firedoglake.com)
• Egypt President Hosni Mubarak Steps Down May Be Out Of Country Possible Military Coup [Video] (realestateradiousa.com)
• Egypt: The Army May Not Take Over (democracyforum.blogspot.com)
• A portrait of the Egyptian military (americablog.com)
• The Suleiman Problem: Egypt's Transitional Figure Won't Transition (time.com)

DETROIT: Super Bowl ad from Chrysler...

One ad that ran during the Super Bowl is causing quite a stir. The ad by Chrysler featuring the Chrysler 200 and Eminem, ran for a full two (2) minutes which is rare since most ads are 30 seconds long. The two (2) minutes cost ~ $9 million.

Usually ads feature a product they are promoting and this ad did feature a Chrysler car but the emphasis was on the city of Detroit and the fact that it was laid low but now it is clawing its way back; something like the auto companies are doing right now.

The tag line was IMPORTED FROM DETROIT or BUY AMERICAN.

Our local news stations were all aglow over the ad but others were not so glowing in their comments…

Mark Steyn, filling in for Rush Limbaugh, took umbrage at the ad. He felt Detroit is like a bombed out city after WWII; reduced to ruble but its demise caused internally by unions and a string of incompetent (corrupt) and liberal leaders. Steyn also complained that the ad was paid for with tax payer money.

Steyn may be right on some levels, maybe even on many levels but the ad was looking forward and not at the past; looking forward towards a new MOTOR CITY.

I have been critical of Detroit and its corrupt political culture in the past as well the attitude of entitlement by the citizenry of Detroit but you have to point out some positives like Mayor Dave Bing hard at work with new ideas and plans to revitalize the city and a new governor that will help Bing bring Detroit back to its former glory and a new spirit of ‘yes we can’ among residents of Detroit.

Truly there are obstacles ahead and some of that corrupt culture and entitlement attitude is still in the city but you have to feel the optimism in the air.

Chrysler and especially its head, Sergio Marchionne, tapped into some of that optimism and wanted to share it with the rest of the nation and I think he did and I think it helped raised the “Buy American” spirit in the country and Eminem brought home the THIS IS THE MOTOR CITY AND THIS IS WHAT WE DO theme and I think it is a theme that will serve Chrysler well in the near future.

As for the naysayers, how can you not love a comeback kid? If we repeat the same mistakes that brought the city down, please kick our asses but until then, give us a chance to rise from the ashes.

Related articles

• Eminem Chrysler Super Bowl Commerical (Video) (sugarslam.com)
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• Opinion: Chrysler advertises Detroit with Eminem during Super Bowl, chooses wrong car [w/video] (autoblog.com)
• What's That Song From the Chrysler Commercial with Eminem? (spinner.com)

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Mandated coverage the only way to go...

Another thing irked me in that Obama / O’Reilly interview before the Super Bowl…O’Reilly said that a judge in Florida ruled that the Obama Care health bill was unconstitutional so what is he going to do about that…duh.

Some Republican lackey judge in Florida ruled the health care reform bill was unconstitutional because the government cannot force citizens to buy health care insurance. Well we can force citizens to buy auto insurance so why not health insurance.

I understand that the auto insurance mandate is a state thing but there is nothing in the Constitution addressing mandatory health insurance for all and as for precedent rulings by the Supreme Court in the past, they don’t count since the Supreme Court makes up its own constitutional rationale as it plods along.

The fact that the Republicans and FOX’s O’Reilly have nothing better to attack the health care reform bill with is pitiful and asinine; they don’t have anything better to propose so they just say NO to everything that Obama proposes.

Obama has said that the bill to reform health care is negotiable and should be discussed soberly and changed where a change is warranted but to scrap the whole thing for stupid politics is simple not in the best interests of the American people who deserve a better health care system.

The fact is that mandating coverage for all citizens just makes sense. The poor are already covered under MEDICAID and the elderly are already covered under MEDICARE.

Many are covered at work by their employer so all that is left is the uninsured who are either the working poor and cannot afford expensive coverage or the assholes that would rather keep visiting the hospital emergency room since they know they cannot be turned away.

I have written about this issue at great lengths throughout the years and am convinced that mandatory health insurance is a must if we are to bring down health costs but for that mandate to work, people who refuse to abide by the law must be punished severely. I don’t mean  putting them in jail but some punishment must be applied to them to make them want to enroll because not enrolling will hurt them in some way.

The other point that must be addressed and that was a problem in Massachusetts where the plan is in affect, is that people cannot enroll when they get sick and drop the coverage when they get well…no, no that will not do…remove that option and just make them enroll once and stay enrolled for life.

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• Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines (theinsurancebarn.wordpress.com)
• Is Health Care Reform Unconstitutional? (nybooks.com)
• David Katz, M.D.: Is The Affordable Care Act ReallyUnconstitutional? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Judge Throws Out Health Care Law, Calls Individual Mandate Unconstitutional (politicsdaily.com)
• Queen's comment on Florida Judge's ruling against healthcare mandatory requirement to purchase insurance (iflizwerequeen.com)