5 Jobs Created - $2550/hour

And just when it looks like it couldn't get better - guess what? - it does! Solyndra is paying $2550 an hour to defend their failure. I wonder where they got that money?

A California solar-energy company under scrutiny for a $535 million federal loan guarantee has hired McDermott Will & Emery to advise it in a congressional inquiry, court papers say. An application by Solyndra Inc. to employ the law firm as special counsel was filed on Friday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. Solyndra, a maker of solar panels, filed for bankruptcy this month, saying it could not compete with foreign manufacturers.Five people with McDermott and their standard hourly rates are listed on the application: William Weld, a former Massachusetts governor and U.S. attorney who is of counsel in New York, at $825; Washington partner Stephen Ryan at $775; Washington partner David Ransom and Silicon Valley partner Eugene Litvinoff, both at $525; and Jon Decker, a senior adviser in Washington, at $425.

Over the Top--or Just Right?

Maybe we are starting to get somewhere?

Short-term Employment

President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger at the construction site of Solyndra

What does 535 million buy you these days? About a thousand "long-term" jobs, for about twelve months - a whole year! That would be $535,000 spent per job created. And since these "long-term" jobs had expiration dates, that was 44.5 million spent per month. Sounds like a great investment of your money - right? The President thought so...here is part of the speech he gave at the construction site of Solyndra.

Fifteen years ago, the United States produced 40 percent of the world’s solar panels -- 40 percent. That was just 15 years ago. By 2008, our share had fallen to just over 5 percent. I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared to cede American leadership in this industry, because I’m not prepared to cede America’s leadership in the global economy.
So that’s why we’ve placed a big emphasis on clean energy. It’s the right thing to do for our environment, it’s the right thing to do for our national security, but it’s also the right thing to do for our economy.
And we can see the positive impacts right here at Solyndra. Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans.
Since the project broke ground last fall, more than 3,000 construction workers have been employed building this plant. Across the country, workers -- (applause) -- across the country, workers in 22 states are manufacturing the supplies for this project. Workers in a dozen states are building the advanced manufacturing equipment that will power this new facility. When it’s completed in a few months, Solyndra expects to hire a thousand workers to manufacture solar panels and sell them across America and around the world. (Applause.)
And this in turn will generate business for companies throughout our country who will create jobs supplying this factory with parts and materials. So there’s a ripple effect. It’s not just localized to this area.

Sounds good? The President usually sounds good - but the realities are often grossly different. Yes, they knew it would be short lived. Read the Credit Committee Recommendations here. 

Waive State's Rights to Create Jobs

So in order to create jobs, we have to take State's Rights away?

(a) Abrogation of State Immunity- A State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a violation of this Act.
(b) Waiver of State Immunity-
(1) IN GENERAL-
(A) WAIVER- A State's receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for any program or activity of a State shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution or otherwise, to a suit brought by an employee or applicant for employment of that program or activity under this Act for a remedy authorized under Section 375(c) of this Act.

I wonder why it takes the waiving of State's Rights to create jobs - or is there something sinister at play here? Na - couldn't be...this must be an innocent progressive clerical error.

Read the bill here.

Is Three Times the Charm?

So have we come down to this - it takes a "jobs bill" to create jobs in America? This is the third try our President has made to "jumpstart" the economy and job growth, and so naturally, the question is simple; what will make this proposal work? After all, it's the same tired and worn out ideas of the first two proposals. Does raising taxes and spending more money on infrastructure sound familiar? Maybe the President thinks that if he tries the same trick enough times, something will change for the better.

Lets ask a simple question. Who is the largest employer in America? Depending on which definition you agree with, small business employs 50 - 83% of Americans. Thirty percentage points is a large discrepancy in numbers, yes, but in an effort to keep this simple enough for the President to grasp, let's frame this issue another way. More than half of America goes to work for employers that really do have to preform in the marketplace. In other words, if their small business goes bankrupt, they lose everything both corporately and personally. If their business goes great, they stand to gain a reward for taking on the risk associated with being "not to big to fail."

With the President having been as caustic to small business as he has been with his rhetoric, regulation, and "reforms," who in their right mind wants to take on more risk in the Obama economy? The risk of losing it all is tremendous. The safest approach is to sit on what you have until "regime uncertainty" goes away.

Until those who have risked everything can be confident that the President is on their side, don't expect the unemployment to drop to Bush-era levels. It doesn't matter how much "mo-jo" the President tries to muster as he saunters onto the stage for the third time, three times will not be his charm.

Recovery Anyone?

FAA loses track of 119,000 aircraft...yep, they did!

The government (FAA) can't seem to secure data on who owns what plane and what the registration numbers are. Of course this means that as a result, we don't know whether the sale/purchase of these planes went to law abiding people or criminals. We don't even know if the flight plans these planes file are legitimate!

But, don't worry, our government (TSA) has the best porno scanning devices in the world, taking pictures of us passengers - which they say will never be "lost." Really? O, did I forget to mention the TSA's enhanced groping procedures, of everyone from granny to grade schoolers, that will surely catch the terrorists, right? Meanwhile, the government can't tell who is flying what plane?

Is it me, or is there something wrong with this picture? The government (TSA) can grope and photo us, but they (FAA) don't know who is flying what plane?

How do you like socialism now!

Riots, riots, and more riots! Why is it that "peace" loving socialists go acting all infantile? In London, the news is filled with supposedly "grownup" students who have resorted to first-grade playground antics, protesting tuition hikes and thrashing about in a way that would make a three year-old toddler jealous. Well, the answer is simple. Socialists have no moral character.

Essentially, as a socialist you expect others (who have more material wealth...etc than you) to pay for the things that you have come to expect as a "right," and when the government runs out of other people's money by which they subsidize your "rights," you get mad, real mad. In addition, since you don't have to work hard for what is deemed as your "right," and since you have nothing but your "rights" to lose, you have no problem trashing others and their property because you have no respect - therefore the amoral character.

While the Terrorists Belly Laugh, America Fumes & Cries

Update: Here is a link providing the answer for the question posed at the bottom of the article.

Original Story:
Have the terrorists won another round against the American people? If you look at the results, I would say they have. How so? Let's answer this question with another question.

How many terrorists have the TSA caught with their porno-scanners and enhanced groping procedures? Are you ready for the grand total - zero! Not one terrorist has been caught. (But remember, this is government, performance results do not matter.)

How many innocent children, cancer survivors, and ladies wearing skirts been violated, and publicly humiliated with the porno-scanners and enhanced groping procedures? The answer to that is simple, just pick your favorite news channel and start counting the stories - they are everywhere.

The terrorists have got to be rolling around in their caves belly laughing this one out...while America lets their government literally violate innocent people. Again, how many terrorists have been caught? Zero.

Oh, by the way, if this is so good for the American people, shouldn't this be good enough for the politicians too? Are they standing in line, leading the way, or are they silent?

I thought this clip brought some common sense to the madness.

Cut the Fluff, the Fat, and the Bone

Across the nation, liberals and progressives have been sounding out a cry against balancing their budgets with proposed spending cuts. In the NYT yesterday, California (not the most fiscally brilliant State in the Union) was the latest to be highlighted with budget shortfall woes - again. As I read the Times' article, I had to shake my head in utter disgust at the fiscal illiteracy of some of California's politicians. Basically, while the State heads towards bankruptcy, which would then bankrupt the whole Union, California's politicians are squabbling like two and three year-olds all wanting to play with the same toy.

Now essentially there are two ways to settle budget shortfalls. You must cut spending, or increase revenues, which in a government setting, "increasing revenues" means raising taxes. (Unless you are the Federal Government, then you just print more money and devalue the currency.)

Option 1, Cut Spending in economically depressed times: Whether politicians like it or not, spending is the reason why there is a shortfall. If you don't spend money you don't have, you don't have a shortfall. Complicated...I know! The reality is simple, you can't have everything, and secondly, nothing is free. Of course the argument is that spending must occur because there are "essential services" that cannot be compromised. Says who? Again, you cannot have everything, and nothing is free. There are a lot of "essential services" that are nothing more than programs that mask the lack of personal responsibility in the citizenry and promise certain "classes" of people everything they want - all at the expense of debt, deficits, and budget shortfalls.

Option 2, Raise Taxes in economically depressed times: Of all the dumb things you hear politicians pontificate, this ranks at the top of non-brain usage. Let's demand that main street Americans give us more of their money. Never mind that main street Americans are trying to settle shortfalls in their own budgets because of the recession. That's right, let's take more wealth out of the struggling economy and give it to the idiots that produced the shortfalls in the first place! I'm sure they will get it right this time, right? Let's remind ourselves of something, it wasn't main street Americans that created this mess. It is the politicians that mismanaged the budget that created the mess, and now they expect those that had nothing to do with the mess to come in and clean it up? Wow, that is lunacy at it's best.

Unfortunately, while the social liberals and progressives fight against spending cuts, the budget keeps California on a steady march toward insolvency. The budget doesn't care who is from what party, who is rich and who is poor; the budget has no social progressive feelings. Did we not see that in Greece? The point is that unless politicians in California get their intellectual and fiscal act together, California is on track to being the next Greece styled meltdown.

Essentially it boils down to this; if you live beyond your means today, by default, you will live under your means tomorrow.

Universal Deathcare

Here is a good eye opener as to some of the reasons why Americans got rid of those that voted for Government Healthcare (Obamacare) in this last election. Yes, Americans understand for themselves what is good and what is bad.

So is this Government Healthcare good? By the time you watch this clip in it's entirety, you just may understand EXACTLY why the majority of Americans didn't want this from the start.

Until this monstrosity is repealed, don't get sick.

Miss the interview?

It is always most fascinating, especially in this age of soundbites and media spin, to hear a story first hand, straight from the source. I found the interview very honorable and befitting that of a President, and in a breath of fresh air, reminiscent of something we haven't seen in almost two years - Leadership. You can see the whole interview here.

Oh - and not once does Bush criticize his predecessor. It's too bad President Obama doesn't know how to exercise the same grace.

Part 1

We Noticed

Just prior to the elections, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was lamenting that in her view, "Democrats haven't necessarily gotten the credit they're due for the work they've done the last two years." In other words, the American people haven't paid enough attention to us, especially for how hard we have worked!

It appears, however, that America was paying attention to what Nancy Pelosi was working on so hard, and by extension, the Democrat Party in general. We hadn't forgotten about Nancy's pledge to "drain the swamp" of corruption and run the most ethical House of Representatives in all history.



We hadn't forgotten about about Nancy's pledge of "pay as you go, no new deficit spending" and "not burden them with mountains of debt."



We hadn't forgotten about all the hard work that goes into producing several thousand page legislative bills that require "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."



These are just three quick things that come to mind from over the last two years.

No, we hadn't forgotten how hard Nancy Pelosi and her gang worked to keep their word to us. We noticed. It's just too bad they didn't try harder, things might have been different today.

The American people might be gracious, but don't take us for stupid when we go to the polls.

Worth less than a free lunch?

Corrine Brown offers free meals for early voters.

There has been this trend going around in this election cycle of giving away free meals to voters. Might I add, to my knowledge, it's only been the Democrats doing this. The latest is Corrine Brown. So why do these incumbent Democrats feel the need to give away a free lunch to get their constituents to come vote?

The answer is simple. All of what they have accomplished up to this point isn't worth their own constituents time to come and bail them out. Think about it. If they would have accomplished something worth while, people would flock to re-elect them - but apparently that's not the case. So, the best they can muster is free lunch, which eventually will end up in the toilet. There is just nothing quite like incriminating yourself with your own actions.

Utter Hypocrisy-in-Chief

Weekly Address: Working Together on the Economy

As I read the transcript to the last President's Weekly Address, I had to ask myself just who this guy thinks he is, and who he thinks he is talking too. How the President could keep a straight face while giving this speech is indicative of the lack of respect he has for any American that thinks for themselves and/or has any cognitive abilities.

I have interjected my thoughts in italics throughout the President's speech. If you have ever seen someone yell at the TV, then hang on, because this might be considered a little bumpy by some.

What part of "piece" don't we understand? Part 2

Are we sure sure it is still okay, and safe to have a Mosque at ground zero, even though it is politically correct to embrace this "piece-full" religion (see Part 1)?

And why hasn't this guy been picked up yet?

What does the Constitution look like in Washington?

To any authentic, patriotic American, the United States Constitution looks like this.

However, to many politicians in Washington, the Constitution looks like this.

This is how the Constitution is being treated, torn apart, piece by piece; its being used to wipe the politicians clean of any restraint.

Perhaps on November 2nd, we can keep them from flushing our liberties down the toilet?

Harry Reid and Election Fraud - Already?

During early voting yesterday in the State of Nevada, something unusual began happening. Here is a quote from a voter as reported by the Washington Examiner.

Thugocracy?

The NYT reported yesterday on something that really reveals the heart of the President. I don't think the NYT realized...

The Commander of Fiscal-Insanity: Letting Washington Run Wild Again

Weekly Address: Letting Wall Street Run Wild Again

This past Saturday, the President delivered his Weekly Address to the nation. He entitled it "Letting Wall Street Run Wild Again." It was the typical "I am so great, the Republicans are so toxic" pontification that we have come to expect from the President.

Here is the a summary of the Weekly Address as stated on the White House website.

WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Obama called out the Republican leadership in Congress for vowing to repeal Wall Street reform, which will protect Americans from unfair practices in mortgage transactions and foreclosures.  The Wall Street reform law also set new rules so that taxpayers will never again be on the hook for a bailout if a big financial company goes under, helps rein in the secret deals and reckless gambling that nearly brought the financial system down, and set up the strongest consumer protections in history.  The special interests fought hard against reform, spending millions to preserve a system that worked better for them than for middle class families.  And now, the GOP leadership is calling for repealing this law and that would take the country backwards.

After I read the transcript of the speech and watched the video, I couldn't help but grow even more disgusted at Washington hypocrisy. Essentially the President is making a big deal out of having swept the garage floor while the house is burning down!

How so?