Awards

Evidently some Air Force Chaplain received a Bronze Star for creating a power point on how to sympathize with Muslims. If this is true, and I'm not clear on the facts, its a horrible disgrace of an honorable medal.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/13/air-force-chaplain-awarded-prestigious-bronze-star-for-powerpoint-teaching-about-proper-disposal-handling-of-islamic-texts/

I think that medals are given out like candy these days. I think they are almost used as a recruiting tool in some way. Its like we want to give people golden stars when they wipe their ass. I know of a few instances where Marines were given recognition when it was not earned. I consider this, as with allowing homosexuals in the military, another means of watering down the military.

The VFW has been doing their part in trying to make military medals as legitimate as possible. Their is a new medal called "The Distinguished Warfare Medal". It has something to do with cyber war and drone warfare. The VFW, along with other veterans organizations, has expressed their grievances with the government that the medal should not be placed above certain heroic combat medals (which it currently is).

http://www.vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/2013-Articles/VFW-Leads-Effort-with-Other-VSO/MSOs,-Asks-President-Obama-to-Lower-Drone-Medal-Ranking/

I don't deserve many medals. I certainly deserve something, but I would feel like a bag of ass if I was given a
Purple Heart for a tummy ache.

Sticking to Principle

After watching various speeches at CPAC, I have been pleasantly surprised that conservatives are sticking to principle. Most speeches are about restricting federal government, the constitution, and Christianity. I don't know how well this will be for the Republican party but it makes me happy that we are not adjusting to the left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO4DHaQGASc

Good speech by Rand Paul. Go to minute 16 where he generalizes how the GOP needs to go if we want to win the right way. Until someone proves me wrong, I think Rand Paul is the best leader for this country.

ToeJamm Strikes a blow for Freedom

Below is the scene of the Robinson Talking Points pundits discussing the world's problems.  In comes Judith telling us of ToeJamm's exploits:

 

Way to go ToeJamm!  Now, what were we discussing?

Only YOU Can Prevent Government Waste

A local businessmen and radio host, Jeff Kopf, did an entertaining bit on local government waste. Check it out for yourself.

http://ocwfoundation.wix.com/home#!porker-award/cjg9

We already do a good job on investigative journalism on this blog. However, Jeff's foundation called "Oregon Capitol Watch" encourages citizens to report any wasteful spending that they see in their local area. His foundation may have the ability to make more publicity.

Just another ally in the conservative fight.

Columbia River Crossing: A Nightmare

The Columbia River Crossing is a project that is aimed at diluting the congestion on I-5 between Oregon and Washington. The problem is that it won't do the job and we don't have the money.

HB 2800 was passed in Oregon's house and in the senate. Gov. Kitzhaber already said that he will sign in once it reaches his desk.

The problem with this bill is that it requires Oregon to issue approximately 450 million dollars of debt at a high rate. It would also require federal subsidies and a toll. Oh, and another problem, the congestion will not be solved. An estimated 60 seconds of travel will be reduced:

" A 2010 governors’ independent review panel found the massive project will shave exactly 60 seconds off the peak morning commute.
And here’s why: The Interstate Bridge and nearby interchanges are just one bottleneck. The project does nothing to fix the choke point at the Rose Quarter, five miles south, where I-5 narrows to two lanes."

 http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17566-a_bridge_too_false.html

It should be noted that the above article came from a highly liberal news source. Even fiscal liberals disagree with this bill.

Some reports have estimated that the CRC has already spent over 150 million in planning and research. Our lack of financial responsibility at the infancy of this project can only be a foreshadowing of what will happen when we actually begin construction.

We don't need to borrow more money. Lets get our budget under control and handle this issue a different way.

Sequester

The government is finally cutting spending that is of such a massive magnitude that the number of aircraft carriers are being cut back in the Persian gulf, illegal aliens have to be released from jail, people will be loosing their jobs, and many other catastrophic events will be headed our way according to our president. What is the cause of all of this calamity? 85 billion dollars worth of cuts that will take place this year. This is a lot of money or about half of a percentage point of the official debt of 16 trillion-- the real debt is around 100 to 200 trillion dollars-- or about 10 percent of this year's projected budget deficit. Here are some numbers to help put this extremely massive spending cut into perspective. The government borrows about 4 billions dollars a day, 85 divided by 4 equals 21. So the amount of money that will be cut is equal to about 21 days worth of new debt. The other days of the year the government will still be adding debt at the rate of about 4 billion per day. The government borrows 35 cents of every dollar spent, and under the sequester it will borrow 32 cents for every dollar it spends. That is a reduction in the rate borrowing by 2 cents or 6 percent. And this says it all: from Feb. 27 to Feb. 28, you need to check out the link to Treasury.gov to put this into perspective., the government issued about 85 billion dollars worth of debt or “In other words, the entire apocalyptic impact of the sequester for 2013 was offset by one day's debt issuance.".

To sum up this 85 billion spending cut: it is extremely insignificant. The government will never do with less money. The government will never reduce its sphere of influence in the economy. Not under Ronald Reagan or any president (click on the chart below). The state will continue to expand no matter who is at the reins. It is sad that our elected leaders will not be honest with the American people by warning them of the true economic crisis that is headed our way and warning them to prepare for what is coming. And instead of our leaders helping to prevent this crisis by making the necessary spending cuts and entitlement reforms that will avert this coming economic reset, our leaders will lie to and scare the American people when the government has to make such a small and insignificant cut and attempt to make it unnecessarily painful by cutting things that really matter like national defense as opposed to cutting waste like funding for studying shrimp running on tread mills. While our elected leaders will not level with the American people about the coming economic reset, there are plenty of investors with a proven track record of predicting economic events that will: Jim Rogers, Kyle Bass, Peter Schiff, Stanley Druckenmiller, Marc Faber, and others. It is time for Americans to stop getting taken advantage of and get their heads out of the sand, pull up their pants, pick up a magnifying glass, and get some clues.