This is really unbelievable...but it is in their own words...
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Jon McNaughton
I really enjoy this guy's paintings, he seems to capture the political feelings of the day, and the paintings, themselves, are very well done, very nice...
See what you think:
See what you think:
Friday, September 03, 2010
Insanity in the White House
The very definition of insanity...
"Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result each time"
When Bush declared the need for bail-outs and stimulus, the democrats declared it was a bad idea and that it wouldn't work.
Republicans Should Vote Against the Bailout
When Obama declared the need to continue and expand the bail-outs and stimulus, the democrats declared it was a good idea...
Dems' Downfall: Obama's "Unpopular but Necessary" Bailouts?
Now, we know that the bail-outs have largely failed, some of the banks that have received bail-out money have collapsed anyway, Freddie and Fannie are asking for MORE bail-out money...
One more bailout
Jobs continue to be lost:
Obama to Comment Friday on Jobless Report
Employment Situation Summary
And things are only getting worse...
'Recovery Summer' Ends With Economic Pothole
Ok, so what have we learned? Bail-outs and Stimulus DO NOT WORK.
Is that why Obama is planning more stimulus?
White House considering emergency economic stimuli
Therefore, we can conclude one (or more) of several things:
1) Obama and the Democrat Congress are Insane
2) Obama and the Democrat Congress do not learned from History, so they are Doomed to Repeat it
3) Obama and the Democrat Congress is out to destroy America financially, on purpose
4) Obama and the Democrat Congress are simply bone stupid
"Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result each time"
When Bush declared the need for bail-outs and stimulus, the democrats declared it was a bad idea and that it wouldn't work.
Republicans Should Vote Against the Bailout
When Obama declared the need to continue and expand the bail-outs and stimulus, the democrats declared it was a good idea...
Dems' Downfall: Obama's "Unpopular but Necessary" Bailouts?
Now, we know that the bail-outs have largely failed, some of the banks that have received bail-out money have collapsed anyway, Freddie and Fannie are asking for MORE bail-out money...
One more bailout
Jobs continue to be lost:
Obama to Comment Friday on Jobless Report
Employment Situation Summary
And things are only getting worse...
'Recovery Summer' Ends With Economic Pothole
Ok, so what have we learned? Bail-outs and Stimulus DO NOT WORK.
Is that why Obama is planning more stimulus?
White House considering emergency economic stimuli
Therefore, we can conclude one (or more) of several things:
1) Obama and the Democrat Congress are Insane
2) Obama and the Democrat Congress do not learned from History, so they are Doomed to Repeat it
3) Obama and the Democrat Congress is out to destroy America financially, on purpose
4) Obama and the Democrat Congress are simply bone stupid
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A little on how bad censorship is getting...
ReWriting History:
The United States Constitution, while over 200 years old, was an inspired document. One that lays out the organization and faoundation of our Government and our Country. It is the current rulling document in our Great Nation, and should be an object of study for anyone and everyone.
Unless you are a Publishing Company with an agenda:
"This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work." (© Wilder Publications 2008)
Now, why would someone want to "warn" people about reading the Constitution?
Something is seriously wrong with that.
I believe we should read the Constitution and other founding documents. To that end, I would suggest this site, Constituting America.
Not only do we have to contend with people putting warning labels on even the very important documents of our society, but there are other peoples who want to edit and remove other parts of our "reality"...
Former UCLA basketball coach and Hall of Famer John Wooden carried a Seven-Point Creed given to him by his father, Joshua, upon his graduation from grammar school, these are the pints it contained:
However, the New York Times reported it thusly:
I'll leave that for you to ponder.
It doesn't just stop there. There is a text book in use in Virginia that has actually edited the Declaration of Independence:
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you can take a look at this book:
Forged in Faith: How Faith Shaped the Birth of the Nation
And to top it all off, a Statue of Stalin has been erected as a "monument" at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. Say What? Wait, didn't Stalin's killing machine slaughtered more people than Adolph Hitler and the Nazis did?
The "cherry on top" of my little rant here, is the building of a Muslim Mosque on Ground Zero in New York.
The detractors are calling it a "victory mosque", the symbol of the victory of our enemies. We fight terrorism over seas, yet we allow something like this to happen at home.
My last thought on this:
Here in America, we have religious freedom. Muslims are free to come here, to live, to work, and to worship. Most of them are great people. But if we wanted to go to their country and worship, it would be impossible, unless we are Muslim. They do not allow Christian Churches to be built (for the most part) and they do not recognize "religious freedom".
Shouldn't we be using this as leverage with the Muslim countries around the world? Ask for like treatment? A symbol of peace and cooperation? Why are all the positive aspects AND the negative implications being ignored by the mainstream media?
This is something akin to Censorship.
The United States Constitution, while over 200 years old, was an inspired document. One that lays out the organization and faoundation of our Government and our Country. It is the current rulling document in our Great Nation, and should be an object of study for anyone and everyone.
Unless you are a Publishing Company with an agenda:
"This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work." (© Wilder Publications 2008)
Now, why would someone want to "warn" people about reading the Constitution?
Something is seriously wrong with that.
I believe we should read the Constitution and other founding documents. To that end, I would suggest this site, Constituting America.
Not only do we have to contend with people putting warning labels on even the very important documents of our society, but there are other peoples who want to edit and remove other parts of our "reality"...
Former UCLA basketball coach and Hall of Famer John Wooden carried a Seven-Point Creed given to him by his father, Joshua, upon his graduation from grammar school, these are the pints it contained:
Be true to yourselfThis is how it was reported by ESPN.
Make each day your masterpiece
Help others
Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
Make friendship a fine art
Build a shelter against a rainy day
Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day
However, the New York Times reported it thusly:
Be true to yourselfNow, you might say that the NYT just "edited it for space", but the article is 3 pages long! Not to mention, they don't use any editing marks, like ellipses or any other indication of them having changed the article...in other words, this smells like they are purposefully withholding information from the reader; i.e. being deceptive or being less than honest.
Make each day a masterpiece
Help others
Drink deeply from good books
Make friendship a fine art
Build a shelter against a rainy day
I'll leave that for you to ponder.
It doesn't just stop there. There is a text book in use in Virginia that has actually edited the Declaration of Independence:
"On Glenn Beck’s May 25 episode, he furiously discussed how history is being rewritten to be politically correct. He pointed to a Virginia State McDonald Publishing History textbook that discussed the Declaration of Independence and said, 'The declaration expanded these ideas that all men are created equal and they are endowed … with certain unalienable rights.' The words 'by their Creator' were removed and replaced by ellipses."There is a common thread here, the things being removed are the ones with religious meaning! Why is it so important for the liberals to remove religion from our lives and from the history of our great nation?
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you can take a look at this book:
Forged in Faith: How Faith Shaped the Birth of the Nation
And to top it all off, a Statue of Stalin has been erected as a "monument" at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. Say What? Wait, didn't Stalin's killing machine slaughtered more people than Adolph Hitler and the Nazis did?
The "cherry on top" of my little rant here, is the building of a Muslim Mosque on Ground Zero in New York.
The detractors are calling it a "victory mosque", the symbol of the victory of our enemies. We fight terrorism over seas, yet we allow something like this to happen at home.
My last thought on this:
Here in America, we have religious freedom. Muslims are free to come here, to live, to work, and to worship. Most of them are great people. But if we wanted to go to their country and worship, it would be impossible, unless we are Muslim. They do not allow Christian Churches to be built (for the most part) and they do not recognize "religious freedom".
Shouldn't we be using this as leverage with the Muslim countries around the world? Ask for like treatment? A symbol of peace and cooperation? Why are all the positive aspects AND the negative implications being ignored by the mainstream media?
This is something akin to Censorship.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Finally Victorious, Joseph Raymond McCarthy, Vindicated!
Some of you will remember Joseph McCarthy, of the Red Scare era.
You may also know that he was thoroughly discredited, disgraced.
Well, um, Really?
Russian Spies Return: It's Not the First Time
Talks on a Rapid End to Russian Spy Case
8In Ordinary Lives, U.S. Sees the Work of Russian Agents
Alleged Russian spy ring members led typical American lives
Holder: Russian Spies Were "Certainly a Threat"
Painting the Town 'Red'? More Russian Spies in U.S. Now Than Ever, Report Says
Looks like McCarthy was just warning us of the very real fact that we had been infiltrated by Communist or Russian Spies.
You may also know that he was thoroughly discredited, disgraced.
Well, um, Really?
Russian Spies Return: It's Not the First Time
Talks on a Rapid End to Russian Spy Case
8In Ordinary Lives, U.S. Sees the Work of Russian Agents
Alleged Russian spy ring members led typical American lives
Holder: Russian Spies Were "Certainly a Threat"
Painting the Town 'Red'? More Russian Spies in U.S. Now Than Ever, Report Says
Looks like McCarthy was just warning us of the very real fact that we had been infiltrated by Communist or Russian Spies.
Amerika the new Communist Society?
Ezra Taft Benson, when speaking about his conversation with Mr. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said the following:
"As we talked face to face he indicated that my grandchildren would live under communism. After assuring him that I expected to do all in my power to assure that his and all other grandchildren would live under freedom he arrogantly declared in substance - You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright but we'll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you finally wake up and find you already have communism. We won't have to fight you. We'll so weaken your economy until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
Where are we today?
"As we talked face to face he indicated that my grandchildren would live under communism. After assuring him that I expected to do all in my power to assure that his and all other grandchildren would live under freedom he arrogantly declared in substance - You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept communism outright but we'll keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you finally wake up and find you already have communism. We won't have to fight you. We'll so weaken your economy until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
Where are we today?
Monday, July 12, 2010
A conversation about Lotto
A US Government report concludes that a Lottery doesn't actually work, and in fact, harms the poor, un/under-educated and the minority groups:
Yet, this doesn't stop the Liberals/Progressives from demanding a lottery to "benefit education"...oh, and other studies report how most if any of the money received from lotteries does not benefit education:
The following is a real conversation between me and a "libtard":
Libtard:
"Yah, but your 'government report' is more than 13 years old. Better Luck Next Time!"
Me:
I really wish your earlier statement that my sources are "not current with modern gambling" was true, it might have prevented you from sounding like an idiot:
The following is 5 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
Does the Illinois Lottery pay for education? Well, sort of ...
The following is only 3 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
Is The Lottery Shortchanging Schools?
The following is only 3 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
For Schools, Lottery Payoffs Fall Short of Promises
The rest of that article is also very telling about the goals and uses of Lottery monies. Percentages used by schools are shrinking, Lottery monies being diverted away from Schools to the General fund (to cover short-falls), the misconceptions, misunderstandings and lies that accompany Lotteries...
Sounds great! (not!)
The following is only 2 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
COLUMN: Lottery’s problems outweigh its merits
The following is only 2 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
This is only 5 years old, and is an official Florida Financial Report
In a report from "The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida" entitled, "FLORIDA LOTTERY FACTS – WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?", (I have the PDF if you want it) you can read the following;
Not to mention these other articles:
Laney warns against using lottery to fund education
1 in 3 Lottery Winners Broke Within 5 Years
and
Winning Big Can Lead To Folks Filing Bankruptcy
==> You have a better chance at losing everything AFTER you win the Lottery than before.
Why poor people win the lottery
And what are some of the other side effects of a Lottery? You cannot just proclaim that "it will fund schools" without considering the rest of the impact on people in Utah. They do "impact studies" for new construction, so lets do an "impact study" for a Lottery:
Illinois Lottery: The Poor Play More
State lotteries prey upon poor
There are some solutions, however, that might work, if we could find our way to them:
1) Reduce the number of administrators in the school districts
2) Increase the number of charter schools (the boards and administrators are mostly volunteers)
3) Consolidate school districts (no more of the city and county...just use county borders or state borders...)
4) Do not allow illegals into school system
5) Increase burden on families with more children
6) Reduce Legislator salaries and put excess back into Education
7) Reduce Legislator staff and other state/city/county staff, end "double dipping" and put all the savings into Education
8) All lobbyist "bribes" go into the general Education fund
9) Education budget as a percentage of the overall budget, and can only be increased
10) Normalize School Districts (spread the wealth)
and if you get really ambitious...
11) Do matching dollars. For every dollar donated to schools via private individuals and companies, the government matches those funds
12) Set up "public options" for education. Allow individuals and businesses to purchase "shares" of a school or school system
13) Get government out of education all together
(Disclaimer, I may or may not advocate some or all of these solutions.)
I am not a "liberal" but I sure wouldn't want to do what these liberals on this list are suggesting; it even goes against their core philosophy:
I have even compared the addition of a Lottery to the addition of a Cigarette Tax (or any Sin Tax):
The other side of the Lottery coin is New Taxes; something like a cigarette tax.
Now, how does a cigarette tax differ from a Lottery?
* They are both "voluntary" forms of "taxation". No one is forcing anyone to smoke, no one is forcing anyone to buy cigarettes.
* Lotteries mainly affect the Poor, Utah's poverty rate is around 10%. The smoker rate in Utah is about 9%, so taxing Cigarettes affects fewer people.
* I would assume the "drop-out" rate for High School is about 12% because the Graduation Rate is at 88%. So only about 12% of Utahans are "uneducated" or "under-educated".
* Like the lottery, the poor and uneducated are more likely to smoke.
* Minorities (especially African Americans) are more likely to play the lottery.
* And it appears that whites are more likely to smoke.
I realize that things are more complicated than this, and especially since the population of Utah is about 58% LDS, (they "normally" don't smoke or gamble), so there is far more study to do on this issue than simple numbers -- but if you look at what is listed here, and the way that Liberals, especially those on this list, reacted to the Cigarette Tax; you have to ask yourself, why are they so "for" a Lottery when it will affect a similar cross-section of our state in a similar way?
For the liberals to support a lottery but not a cigarette tax is what is called "Hypocrisy" (and/or racism).
**It is OK to tax the poor, uneducated minorities with a Lottery, but not to tax the poor, uneducated whites with a Cigarette Tax.**
I guess they justify it with something like, "it is ok as long as it benefits education".
If that is the justification, then why not earmark the cigarette tax money for education, then they can violate their core philosophy in equity of both races.
http://www.deseretnews.com
http://www.jointogether.org
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13162519
http://www.eurekalert.org
http://www.americanheart.org
http://www.chicagoreporter.com
http://science.slashdot.org
But, as I have said before, it isn't about money for schools, it is about power and control.
Yet, this doesn't stop the Liberals/Progressives from demanding a lottery to "benefit education"...oh, and other studies report how most if any of the money received from lotteries does not benefit education:
The following is a real conversation between me and a "libtard":
Libtard:
"Yah, but your 'government report' is more than 13 years old. Better Luck Next Time!"
Me:
I really wish your earlier statement that my sources are "not current with modern gambling" was true, it might have prevented you from sounding like an idiot:
The following is 5 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
Does the Illinois Lottery pay for education? Well, sort of ...
"Sure, Lottery money does fund education. But that just frees up other cash to be spent elsewhere."==> Lotteries do not give more money to Education!
"Time to debunk one of the longest running myths in state government ... millions of dollars from losing Illinois Lottery tickets go to fund public education ... There was no requirement the lottery money be on top of what was already there. So, as lottery money comes in, it frees up other state tax money to spend elsewhere. How much education gets in the end is up to the annual political whims of state lawmakers and the governor."==> i.e, for the slower of the Lemmings here, this means that Lotteries makes no difference to the total dollars spent on education.
The following is only 3 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
Is The Lottery Shortchanging Schools?
"... in Illinois, where the state spends $6.5 billion a year on education, only $619 million, or one-tenth, comes from the lottery. In California, with an $84 billion education budget, the lottery funds only about $1.2 billion, or one-seventieth. In Florida, lottery proceeds cover one-twentieth of state education spending. In New Jersey, it's one-thirtieth; in Texas, one-fiftieth."==> Lottery does not bring in as much as you would like to think.
"'We thought that it would be a windfall' says Michael Johnson, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards. He says the idea that lottery money adds to education funding is a myth.==> Lottery was sold using a Myth. It is a lie.
'The general public -- they were fooled by this,' he says. 'The belief that that's additional money, above and beyond what we would normally get, that's the part that's not true.'"
"'Well, it's certainly one of the worst votes I ever made,' says former Illinois State Senator Dawn Netsch.==> The people "benefiting" from the Lottery and the people who Passed it are both telling you, "it isn't true".
Netsch, whose vote helped pass the Illinois lottery in the 1970s, says lottery money simply replaces tax dollars legislators might spend on education, but instead spend on other projects.
'The lottery becomes part of the big pot of money that funds the basic functions of state government,' Netsch said. "
"In Florida, where lottery proceeds are a billion dollars a year, spending per pupil…has dropped nine spots from 37th to 46th in the nation since voters approved a lottery 20 years ago."==> Spending per pupil decreases, even with a Lottery.
"In fact, our investigation of government spending in the 24 states that dedicate lottery funds for education yields a stunningly bad report card. The percentage of state spending on education is down or flat in 21 of those states from coast to coast."==> Spending on Education decreased in nearly HALF the states with Lotteries, or did not increase at all.
"In Florida, former governor Lawton Childs, once called the lottery 'A great hoax on the people.'”==> "Hoax", "Shell Game"... the words used to describe the Lottery.
"This year, as he floated a proposal to privatize his state’s lottery, Illinois Governor Rod Blagovich called the lottery a 'shell game.'”
"... Dawn Netsh, who now teaches at Northwestern Law School, agrees. 'Many people, at least, still think of the lottery as being sort of an add-on, a supplement,' says Netsch. 'It never was that. It was a shell game from the beginning.'"
The following is only 3 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
For Schools, Lottery Payoffs Fall Short of Promises
"...North Carolina’s governor, Mike Easley, finally delivered on his promise to start a lottery...some voters...were persuaded by his argument that North Carolina’s students were missing out on as much as $500 million in aid annually as residents crossed the border to buy lottery tickets elsewhere."==> I have heard this argument on this forum.
"Pitches like this have become popular among lawmakers who...have sold gambling as a savior for cash-starved public schools..."==> Are you one of these "lawmakers" trying to persuade us toward the lottery.
"...a New York Times examination of lottery documents, as well as interviews with lottery administrators and analysts, finds that lotteries accounted for less than 1 percent to 5 percent of the total revenue for K-12 education last year in the states that use this money for schools."==> Very small numbers.
"In reality, most of the money raised by lotteries is used simply to sustain the games themselves, including marketing, prizes and vendor commissions...nearly every state has increased, or is considering increasing, the size of its prizes — further shrinking the percentage of each dollar going to education and other programs."==> I wonder what the Lottery administrators make per year? We hear about exxon executives and huge bonuses in the banking industry, but no one ever mentions how much the people running the lotteries walk away with. What about fraud and waste in these programs?
"In some states, lottery dollars have merely replaced money for education."==> In other words, they reduce TAX spending on education and replace the lost revenue with Lottery money. The total spent on education does not change.
"...states eager for more players are introducing games that emphasize instant gratification and more potentially addictive forms of gambling."==> The Camel's nose under the tent, so-to-speak. Is this where we want to go? Turn Utah into another Nevada?
The rest of that article is also very telling about the goals and uses of Lottery monies. Percentages used by schools are shrinking, Lottery monies being diverted away from Schools to the General fund (to cover short-falls), the misconceptions, misunderstandings and lies that accompany Lotteries...
Sounds great! (not!)
The following is only 2 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
COLUMN: Lottery’s problems outweigh its merits
"Oklahomans voted in favor of the Oklahoma Education Act in 2004, which introduced the lottery to supplement funding of public education from pre-kindergarten to the university level. With such an innocuous and noble sounding title, people were misled into thinking the lottery would solve Oklahoma’s funding woes through generating money by joining the 42-state bandwagon that has a state lottery."==> i.e. Oklahoma is full of Lemmings.
"Such funding is similar to using cigarette taxes to fund a cancer hospital ... "==> What do you do for funding after everyone is educated and not playing the Lottery?
"Using the lottery to fund public education is similar to taxing the poor over the rich."
"Educated people typically do not play the lottery since they understand extremely poor odds."
"Rich people typically do not play the lottery since they already have plenty of money."==> i.e. Lotteries prey on the Poor.
"Lottery players who buy tickets on a regular basis are typically people with low incomes hoping for that elusive bit of luck."
"Since the Oklahoma lottery has already fallen short of the projected $300 million, Oklahoma could not compete with a higher payout and another neighbor seeking the money of jackpot hunters."==> i.e. Lotteries do not stop people from going across state lines and buying Lottery Tickets in other states. Lotteries may not meet expectations.
"... the revenue for the latest fiscal year was $14.6 million below projections."
"Of course, schools always need money, but the trouble comes with how the money is handled, not how it is spent ... the question is not whether there is enough money, but whether it is being spent wisely."==> NOW we get down to the real question. If the money is being wasted and/or misused, having a Lottery will NOT fix that. It will only mean there is more money to waste or misuse.
The following is only 2 years old. It proves the 13 year old study is still correct and valid today:
This is only 5 years old, and is an official Florida Financial Report
In a report from "The School District of Palm Beach County, Florida" entitled, "FLORIDA LOTTERY FACTS – WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?", (I have the PDF if you want it) you can read the following;
"Lottery proceeds have not been an enhancement to education because they have essentially just replaced a portion of the general revenue dollars that were allocated to education prior to the creation of the state lottery. Instead of receiving additional funds to provide increased educational opportunities, school districts are forced to use lottery funds for daily operating activities to make up for the reduction in general revenue allocations."==> Lotteries do not give Education "more money".
Not to mention these other articles:
Laney warns against using lottery to fund education
"'It's not going to change the amount of money that goes to education, except that it may decrease it,'" said Laney, D-Hale Center.==> Might be the only Democrat in Texas to Oppose the Lottery.
" ... the people of Texas want the lottery proceeds dedicated [to education] because voters believed the money would be going to education when they approved the lottery."==> The people of Texas were LIED to, so that the Lottery would pass.
"Sen. Teel Bivins, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he wouldn't oppose dedicating lottery profits even though doing it would not result in more money for schools."==> Even with the money dedicated to education, "it would not result in more money for schools"...
1 in 3 Lottery Winners Broke Within 5 Years
and
Winning Big Can Lead To Folks Filing Bankruptcy
==> You have a better chance at losing everything AFTER you win the Lottery than before.
Why poor people win the lottery
"... studies show that the heaviest lottery players -- the 20% of players who contribute 82% of lottery revenue -- disproportionately are low-income, minority men who have less than a college education."==> Lotteries negatively affect the poor, un/under-educated, minorities. So, if you are a Rich, Elitist, Racist Snob, you will support a Lottery.
"'It really is government undercutting what government's role should be, which is encouraging people in financial straits to be responsible with their money', says Tom Grey of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling."==> The deception doesn't stop at "educational lottery" when lottery dollars may or may not fund education, it also permeates personal financial responsibility. Are you more personally financially responsible if you play lottery or save your money (pay your bills, feed your kids, see a doctor, etc)?
"In a 1999 survey by the Consumer Federation of America and financial services firm Primerica, 40% of Americans with incomes between $25,000 and $35,000 -- and nearly one-half of respondents with an income of $15,000 to $25,000 -- thought winning the lottery would give them their retirement nest egg. Overall, 27% of respondents said that their best chance to gain $500,000 in their lifetime is via a sweepstakes or lottery win, the survey said.==> Only idiots would play the lottery to provide their retirement.
Consider this: If you take that $150 a year and put it into a 401(k) or IRA at age 30, you'll have $28,000 by age 65, assuming a reasonable 8% rate of return, says Jim Holtzman, an accountant and certified financial planner with Legend Financial Advisors, in Pittsburgh. That figure doesn't even consider the added boost of contributing to a plan in which a company matches contributions. (See "Start investing with just $100.")
To save that $500,000 nest egg, you'd have to tuck away a little less than $100 a month starting at age 21. What's more likely: that you can find an extra $100 a month -- or that the 1-in-several-million odds of even the smallest seven-figure jackpot suddenly tilt in your favor?"
And what are some of the other side effects of a Lottery? You cannot just proclaim that "it will fund schools" without considering the rest of the impact on people in Utah. They do "impact studies" for new construction, so lets do an "impact study" for a Lottery:
Illinois Lottery: The Poor Play More
"John Brown started buying lottery tickets the day he turned 18...'On average, I’d say [I spend] about $25 a day,' said Brown, now 36, a laid-off laborer."==> Ok, so he is using his unemployment checks to play the lottery. I wonder how the rest of the people in Illinois feel about having their tax dollars spend on gambling?
“'Lotteries are, in essence, a form of regressive taxation that distributes wealth and resources away from those who can least afford to pay,' said Paul Street, vice-president for research and planning at the Chicago Urban League. He said he was not surprised by the Reporter’s findings. '[Lotteries] especially extract wealth from communities of color, and most particularly from African Americans.'"==> A lottery seems to be a "racist tax". Are you a racist "wolverine"? Would you like to institute a "racist tax" in Utah and call it a "lottery"?
"'The state’s deficits approached or even surpassed $1 billion this past year,' she said. 'Had the lottery not transferred $555 million to the state, the budget shortfall could have been significantly larger.'”==> What is to stop the State Government from using lottery money like the Federal Government does with Social Security? Borrow against it? Reallocate it? The $555 MILLION here didn't even make it to the "schools" or for "education" of any kind.
State lotteries prey upon poor
"Proponents of a state lottery in Tennessee love to talk about well-funded schools, college scholarships and an end to state budget problems."==> Sounds like some people in this forum, right?
"According to a recent Duke University study African-Americans, high school dropouts and people in the study's lowest income category spend the most money per capita on lottery tickets."==> A high price on the people who cannot afford it.
"A few--very few--poor customers might even get lucky, strike it rich and turn their lives around."==> We will discuss this in a minute. It isn't true.
"The odds against winning are astronomical, though, and for every lucky soul who spends the last few dollars of each month's paycheck to buy a handful of lottery tickets and wins millions, thousands more are just throwing their last dollars down the drain. Those extra few dollars could have bought Junior a good meal or a warm hat to wear on the long walk to school each morning."==> Too high a price to pay. The "uneducated" and "destitute" are given a false "hope" with the Lottery.
There are some solutions, however, that might work, if we could find our way to them:
1) Reduce the number of administrators in the school districts
2) Increase the number of charter schools (the boards and administrators are mostly volunteers)
3) Consolidate school districts (no more of the city and county...just use county borders or state borders...)
4) Do not allow illegals into school system
5) Increase burden on families with more children
6) Reduce Legislator salaries and put excess back into Education
7) Reduce Legislator staff and other state/city/county staff, end "double dipping" and put all the savings into Education
8) All lobbyist "bribes" go into the general Education fund
9) Education budget as a percentage of the overall budget, and can only be increased
10) Normalize School Districts (spread the wealth)
and if you get really ambitious...
11) Do matching dollars. For every dollar donated to schools via private individuals and companies, the government matches those funds
12) Set up "public options" for education. Allow individuals and businesses to purchase "shares" of a school or school system
13) Get government out of education all together
(Disclaimer, I may or may not advocate some or all of these solutions.)
I am not a "liberal" but I sure wouldn't want to do what these liberals on this list are suggesting; it even goes against their core philosophy:
"In the nineteenth century, the excesses of unbridled capitalism created a change in liberal doctrine, which began to view government’s role not only as protecting individual liberties but also as regulating business and assisting the poor."
I have even compared the addition of a Lottery to the addition of a Cigarette Tax (or any Sin Tax):
The other side of the Lottery coin is New Taxes; something like a cigarette tax.
Now, how does a cigarette tax differ from a Lottery?
* They are both "voluntary" forms of "taxation". No one is forcing anyone to smoke, no one is forcing anyone to buy cigarettes.
* Lotteries mainly affect the Poor, Utah's poverty rate is around 10%. The smoker rate in Utah is about 9%, so taxing Cigarettes affects fewer people.
* I would assume the "drop-out" rate for High School is about 12% because the Graduation Rate is at 88%. So only about 12% of Utahans are "uneducated" or "under-educated".
* Like the lottery, the poor and uneducated are more likely to smoke.
* Minorities (especially African Americans) are more likely to play the lottery.
* And it appears that whites are more likely to smoke.
I realize that things are more complicated than this, and especially since the population of Utah is about 58% LDS, (they "normally" don't smoke or gamble), so there is far more study to do on this issue than simple numbers -- but if you look at what is listed here, and the way that Liberals, especially those on this list, reacted to the Cigarette Tax; you have to ask yourself, why are they so "for" a Lottery when it will affect a similar cross-section of our state in a similar way?
For the liberals to support a lottery but not a cigarette tax is what is called "Hypocrisy" (and/or racism).
**It is OK to tax the poor, uneducated minorities with a Lottery, but not to tax the poor, uneducated whites with a Cigarette Tax.**
I guess they justify it with something like, "it is ok as long as it benefits education".
If that is the justification, then why not earmark the cigarette tax money for education, then they can violate their core philosophy in equity of both races.
http://www.deseretnews.com
http://www.jointogether.org
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13162519
http://www.eurekalert.org
http://www.americanheart.org
http://www.chicagoreporter.com
http://science.slashdot.org
But, as I have said before, it isn't about money for schools, it is about power and control.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Absolute Proof Obama's Birth Certificate is a Fake
I don't even have to post photographs, or photoshopping, or anything...
I can give it to you in just a few words...
Pres. Obama was born to the name Barack Hussein Obama jr. But at one point, he was known as Barry Soetoro, then again as Barack...
Any time you legally change your name (for passports, for school registrations, for social security, for jobs, etc...) you must file changes to the Birth Certificate.
Where are those changes that were filed for his Birth Certificate?
This is assuming, of course, that Obama wasn't committing fraud...
I can give it to you in just a few words...
Pres. Obama was born to the name Barack Hussein Obama jr. But at one point, he was known as Barry Soetoro, then again as Barack...
Any time you legally change your name (for passports, for school registrations, for social security, for jobs, etc...) you must file changes to the Birth Certificate.
Where are those changes that were filed for his Birth Certificate?
This is assuming, of course, that Obama wasn't committing fraud...
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