Banned

The Trump Shutdown

In public fight with Democrats, Trump says he would be 'proud' to shut down government over border wall

Here's the Video link. Well worth the 15 minutes!

Mission Accomplished

The bill to fund the federal government that looks after a 19 Trillion Dollar economy showed it's dysfunction when political infighting and posturing caused a shortfall of the required 60 votes by the deadline on Friday night.

Without delay, Trump accused the Democrats of putting politics above the interests of the American people, and the Democrats blamed him for rejecting bipartisan compromise proposals. And the Democrat insistence to staple a DACA requirement to the continued funding of the government.

Both teams claim they will keep talking, and the White House budget chief has expressed optimism that a resolution will be found before Monday.

When that doesn't happen, hundreds of thousands of federal workers face the prospect of no work and shuttered offices at the start of the working week.

The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days. However, any thoughts that a shutdown will actually save taxpayers, it will, in fact, do the opposite. According to Senator Rand Paul - it actually cost taxpayers more. Here's an article, if you care.

Anyone Tired of all the Winning Yet?

It's been a busy week for the new President.

If you followed Trump, even a little bit, in the two years leading up to last week - nothing he did should be a surprise to you. That is, unless you took him and his rhetoric metaphorically. Or even figuratively.

Apparently, no one took him literally.

ObamaCare D.O.A. - new plan TBD.
Federal hiring freeze.
But not the military. That's going to get bigger.
A whole pile of State Department folks quit/fired ... it was a race to the door.
Tears at the EPA, PBS and NPR.
No more regulations. Or, you can have a new one, but you have to take 2 away.
No more abortion talk for global health assistance groups.
TPP is just T.P. (that's Toilet Paper for you folks not into acronyms) now.
Green light for the Dakota and Keystone Pipelines.
Domestic Steel for those pipes.
Green light for new manufacturing facilities.
Sanctuary Cities are on notice, but it won't matter too long...
He's going ahead with the wall. Yes, that's a physical wall.
And there's "Extreme vetting" - in case you made it over the wall. Maybe in an airplane?

That last one might be the brick too far for some folks. There's still a judiciary branch of the government, but apparently it's no longer a page in the White House.gov's website. There's a few other pages missing now. Some people noticed these omissions.

And no one has noticed how busy the Pentagon has been this week... And they've been really busy.

It's been a good week of fundraising at the ACLU and Planned Parenthood though. And folks who make signs for protesters. A banner year. Pun unexpected.

Suddenly Clarity Clarence

Biden Says Free Speech Consensus Is Emerging.

WASHINGTON—Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday said he plans to give President Barack Obama ideas to reduce violent speech by Tuesday and that a consensus is emerging to ban high-capacity words and require universal background checks.

"You all know this is a complicated issue," Mr. Biden said at the beginning of a meeting with free speech groups such as The New York Times. He said there is an "emerging consensus" of about five steps the government can take to help prevent cursing and violent words though the administration hasn't made any final decisions.

Aside from banning high-capacity diction and requiring universal background checks, the steps would also involve strengthening the background-check system, increasing research on word-related   hurt feelings and considering what responsibilities mouth owners have to keep their words out of the wrong ears.

Mr. Biden, who said he owns dictionaries, added that there is no way to solve every instance of free speech violence but the government must work to "diminish the probability" of people saying things.

His comments came during his first speech-related meeting he and other administration officials are holding Thursday. Mr. Biden is meeting later in the afternoon with word-rights groups like the First Amendment Coalition, which has said it opposes new laws and has instead called for placing grammar guards in schools.

The vice president also will be meeting with the entertainment industry because, he said, "part of this is cultural as well." Attorney General Eric Holder will meet with representatives from retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Barns and Noble Inc.

The meetings come one day after Mr. Biden said Mr. Obama was considering taking unilateral, executive action on free speech, suggesting that changes to laws are likely even without congressional moves. 

"The president is going to act," Mr. Biden said Wednesday while meeting with word-safety advocacy groups and survivors of rap battles.

Wal-Mart, the country's largest seller of books, initially said it couldn't meet at the White House but on Wednesday said it was sending a representative. A White House official said the retailer was invited to meet with Mr. Holder and other book retailers, not Mr. Biden.

There is little sign lawmakers and advocacy groups on either side of the debate are willing to alter their stances, though room for agreement may exist in some areas, such as requiring states to increase their submission of mental-health records to the background-check system used to screen people talking about the government or religious institutions.

Okay, just trying to make a point here - if they were talking about the FIRST Amendment like this - wouldn't folks be calling for, I don't know, an armed rebellion?

Global Economic Collapse Simply Explained

Do you need a video that will explain everything that is happening in the worldwide economic situation - inflation, stagflation, recession and more, and all in 5 minutes? Even your most uneducated friends or family can follow it.

It was created by paladex77, and can be found on YouTube.

Sugar Coated Satan Sandwich

Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, who described today’s debt compromise as a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich,” by which I assume he meant he planned to vote against it.

The Democrats just had their asses handed to them, and they're still bitching that there aren't any tax increases.

The Republicans took a stand - probably at the wrong time, and framed the debate incorrectly, and put the country in a self-imposed crisis that they created. They got the sausage made, but let the nation look into the process. The intestine casing isn't going to win them any friends. Especially when they took it out of the living calf. That was brutal.

Is it a perfect compromise - because everyone's pissed? No, it's not leadership. They STILL haven't solved any problems -- they're letting some "Super Committee" come up with some cuts before November. Oh, that's a good idea. They have to come up with "up or down" votable super proposal - or some kind of secret guillotine comes down on the budget. How'd that work out this week? You think that kind of threat is going to work around Thanksgiving?

Remember, they're only talking about 3 Trillion total in 10 years. That's the same number crunching and accounting tricks that says that Bill Clinton had a surplus. And you get the Bush Tax Cuts -- because Clinton was OVERTAXING the citizens to get a damn surplus. Five wars later, a shrinking tax base, rising fuel costs and underwater mortgages, and suddenly - the U.S. is broke. Just like most of the cities, and States in the Union. Especially those that tend to vote Blue.

And what are the Democrats getting out of the deal? I haven't seen any reason for any of them to back this new compromise... which makes me wonder what the hell their problem was back in April when this process started? If you're going to fold, fold early. Maybe none of the Democrats have ever played poker? Obama said "Don't call my bluff" and the Congressional Dems proved they didn't have a hand in the first place ... And remember, this was all a hangover from Reid and Pelosi refusing to pass a budget for this year in the first place! They were kicking the can in November and didn't even pass it in the lame duck session.

No cash + no leadership = no more Pax Americana.

We Broke

Attention - you cannot pay your mortgage with a credit card.

Obama is on the prompter like a preacher looking to build a new church - "The good news is that we have the money to build the church! The bad news is that it's out there in your pocket."

There's been plenty of yelling and screaming - and a lot of anger toward the Tea Party. This doesn't make sense to me - since they're the ones who hit the fire alarm. Oh, it's because they're birther racists? No, the party is called "tea" because it means Taxed Enough Already. When they called their freshman Congressman that they got elected to the House - they reminded them why the Boehner Bill sucked. They may have mentioned that compromising with the President was a bad idea -- especially since it involved more taxes. More taxes doesn't address the problem - and it's like giving an alcoholic more booze to get them to stop drinking so much. That's the problem. It is Norm Peterson, on a bender, with a tab he has no intention of ever settling. One more Normy? How about we top you off? Perhaps we need to ask a bigger question - maybe the Federal Government is doing a whole lot more than it probably ought to be doing. One of those things? Writing checks.

And here's the best part - they're buying your votes with what used to be your money.

Both teams are acting like those screaming kids in the cereal isle.

What amazes me, is that normal people are getting upset.

"I can't believe they're politicizing this issue..."

THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. That's all this is! It's a political battle - highlighting the useless partisan blinders to obscure the actual truth. We Broke!

And it's broke, it's time to roll up the sleeves and fix it. It's not going to be easy, and given our current attitude of entitlements and leaders who are more interested in their own interests -- we're exactly what I said 2 years ago. We're Greece.

And one last parting shot -- the Congress reflects exactly who put them there. The people who are walking away from underwater mortgages, who floated home equity loans based on inflated price assumptions to purchase stuff on credit to fill into those houses. Sounds similar, like the US debt situation, doesn't it?

Debt Debate Roundup

Okay gang. This is it - Eat your peas.

Americans, you deserve better from your 'leaders'. Both sides are morons. But I'll tell you ALL this - if you raise taxes or move that debt ceiling by one dollar more - I don't care who you are, I'm going to actively campaign so that you lose your job.

Gunwalker Worse than Iran Contra?

If you haven't been following the story, maybe it's my fault I haven't been posting about it.

Let me give you a quick ramp up on Operation Fast and Furious.

"December 14, 2010, a special unit of the U.S. Border Patrol came across a group of heavily armed suspects near Rio Rico, Arizona. The Border Patrol team identified themselves as law enforcement officers, at which point the armed men open fire.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was hit in the pelvis by a single bullet and died the next morning. One of the suspects was captured, and two AK-pattern semiautomatic rifles recovered at the scene were identified by serial number as weapons that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) — acting in concert with and with the blessing of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — allowed weapons smugglers to purchase at U.S. gun shops.

The weapons were just two of more than 2,000 firearms that ATF supervisors and the highest levels of DOJ management allowed to be “walked” across the border to narco-cartels in Mexico, in a scandal that promises to be more damning and deadly than Iran-Contra. …

The more than 2,000 weapons that the Obama Justice Department allowed to be delivered to Mexican narco-terrorist cartels are thought to have been used in the shooting of an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers battling the cartels. Two American law enforcement officers have also presumably fallen prey to these weapons, along with an unknown number of civilians on both sides of the border."

The question remains - how did ANYONE think this was a good idea? Let the little fish go, nab the bigger fish... But I've heard from fairly reliable sources, that the program was designed to mandate new Federal gun control rules, and the damn thing exploded on them.

Whatever their 'good' intentions were, there needs to be a full investigation and punishment needs to be dolled out with layoffs, arrests, and complete dismantling the ATF.

And to add fire to the firearms - The Justice Department (allegedly) obstructed Justice by witholding key information from Congressional investigators. That's bad.

It's also worth mentioning that Congressional hearings are forcing the Main Stream Media has been forced to follow this story as well. Never mind that it's been going on since Feb.

Oh, and one last note - the Fast and Furious investigation did not yield any big name arrests, like a Cartel.

Wastebook 2010

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) released his book of government waste in his annual “Wastebook”.

“During these difficult times when families are struggling to make ends meet, the federal government can best assist hard working Americans by keeping their taxes low and not burdening them with higher debt,” Coburn says in the report’s introduction. “Congress can do so by not spending money we do not have on things we do not need, like the over $11.5 billion of examples provided in this report.”

“As you look at these examples, ask yourself: at a time when we are borrowing over $44,000 for every person in the country, are these items a priority and are they a federal responsibility?” he encourages readers.

“Many taxpayers will no doubt agree that the wasteful spending uncovered in this report is not what they had in mind when they filed their taxes in April. Few will find that they represent the best our government has to offer.”

Here's the lowlights...

• The city of Las Vegas has received a $5.2 million federal grant to build the Neon Boneyard Park and Museum, including $1.8 million in 2010. For over the last decade, Museum supporters have gathered and displayed over 150 old Las Vegas neon signs, such as the Golden Nugget and Silver Slipper casinos.

• The National Science Foundation provided more than to $200,000 to study of why political candidates make vague statements.

• The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spends $175 million every year to maintain hundreds of buildings it does not use, including a pink, octagonal monkey house in Dayton, Ohio.

• Medicare paid out over $35 million to a vast network of 118 “phantom” medical clinics, allegedly established by members of a criminal gang to submit phony reimbursement claims.

• The Government Printing Office (GPO) is using a “video game space mouse” (and nearly $60,000 in taxpayer funds) to teach children the history of printing.

• In July, nearly half a million taxpayer dollars went to the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, where wine tasting and castle tours were among the events planned for the conference participants.

• The Internal Revenue Service paid out $112 million in undeserved tax refunds to prisoners who filed fraudulent returns, according to the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

• The National Science Foundation directed nearly a quarter million dollars to a Stanford University professor’s study of how Americans use the Internet to find love.

• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) took the term “cold case” to a new level in 2010. The agency spent over $20,000 in taxpayer money “to unravel the anonymity of a 2,500-year-old mummy.”

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent nearly $442,340 million to study the number of male prostitutes in Vietnam and their social setting.

• This year, taxpayers forked over $60,000 for the “first-of-its kind” promotion of the Vidalia onion in conjunction with the movie, Shrek Forever After. ”

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded over $600,000 to the Minnesota Zoo to create a wolf “avatar” video game called “WolfQuest.”

• A $700,000 federal grant paid for researchers to examine “greenhouse gas emission from organic dairies, which are cause by cow burps, among other things.”

• Also, $615,000 to digitize a Grateful Dead collection.

• And $823,200 to study genitalia washing in South Africa.

Read the entire report for more examples, including: $224,000 for a bus statue; $609,160 for a zoo to develop a “Wolfquest” video game; and $997,766 to install poetry at zoos nationwide.

Unified Quest 2011

Ever since the crash of 2008 the defense intelligence establishment has really been paying a lot of attention to global markets and how they can serve as a threat to U.S. national security interests. At one upcoming seminar next month they’re taking a look at a lot of the issues.

source: see the CNBC video report provided

According to the report, the Army has spent time on financial market trading floors with JP Morgan and others, in the hopes that they can learn more about how a financial and economic attack may occur, and what the ramifications of such attacks on US stocks and bonds may be.

The Army, in a year-long war games series called Unified Quest 2011, is looking at a variety of possibilities and how to deal with them, including:

* the implications of “large scale economic breakdown” inside of the United States
* how to maintain “domestic order amid civil unrest”
* and ways to deal with fragmented global power and drastically lower budgets

Wait, we're on the road to recovery - everything is fine - we're all good now. Right? Right? Why do I have the feeling the US government is a combination of Kevin Bacon and Chief Wiggum waving their arms in front of the fireworks display assuring us "There's nothing to see here" ?

Dear Blasphemes readers... time to learn how to grow your own food.

Nothing to Fear, Citizen.

Government agent gets to second base by skipping first... and the movie and meal.

3 Trillion

(CNSNews.com) - It's official: The Obama administration has now borrowed $3 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

It took from 1776, when the United States became an independent country, until 1990, the year after the Berlin Wall fell signaling victory in the Cold War, for the federal government to accumulate a total of $3 trillion in debt, according to the Treasury Department. It only took from Jan. 20, 2009, the day President Barack Obama was inaugurated, until Oct. 15, 2010, for the Obama administration to add $3 trillion to the federal debt.

The overall debt of the federal government, according to the Treasury Department, is now $13.666 trillion.

Yep, started with Bush, and was accelerated downhill with no breaks by Pelosi/Reed and Mr. Obama.

Now here's an illustration that compares the built of an average human being against a stack of $100 currency notes bundles.

A bundle of $100 notes is equivalent to $10,000 and that can easily fit in your pocket. 1 million dollars will probably fit inside a standard shopping bag while a billion dollars would occupy a small room of your house.

With this background in mind, 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) is 1000 times bigger than 1 billion and would therefore take up an entire football field – the man is still standing in the bottom-left corner.

Related: Visualize Units of Measurement

The United States has borrowed three of these.

Problems with Obama-care

I love the word Obamacare -- you know the Democrats came up with that first, because it ever so slightly sounds like Obama Cares. He doesn't. Neither do his cronies in the House and Senate.

Folks are (finally) taking a second look at that nonsense that whipped up the Tea Parties in to existence in the first place... here's some take aways to have at your next wine tasting party to, you know, play devil's advocate.

- The bill does not decrease health care costs for the government. That's why Democrats were ordered not to say that anymore on the campaign stumps. According to Medicare's actuary, it will increase costs. The same is likely to happen for privately funded health care. Surprise. Not free.

-Elective abortions are covered, contrary to promises that it wouldn't, but these will likely be tied up for years in litigation, and in the end may not survive the court challenge. And that's a good use of everyone's time and money, isn't it?

The bill does not allow employees or most small businesses to keep the coverage they have and like. As 69 percent of employees, 80 percent of small businesses, and 64 percent of large businesses will be forced to change coverage, probably to more expensive plans.

- Get ready for an increase insurance premiums -- in some places, it already has. Insurers, suddenly forced to cover clients' children until age 26, have little choice but to raise premiums, and they attribute to mandates of 1 to 9 percent increase. Mr. Obama's only method of preventing massive rate increases so far has been to threaten insurers. And Pelosi's on point as that attack dog.

-Seasonal employers -- especially the ski and amusement park industries -- to pay huge fines, cut hours, or lay off employees.

- States are forced to guarantee not only payment but also treatment for indigent Medicaid patients. With many doctors now refusing to take Medicaid (because they lose money doing so), cash-strapped states could be sued and ordered to increase reimbursement rates beyond their means. Ooops. Wonder why the 10th Amendment is being brought up?

- Huge nonmedical tax compliance burdens are placed on small business. It will require them to mail IRS 1099 tax forms to every vendor from whom they make purchases of more than $600 in a year, with duplicate forms going to the Internal Revenue Service. Like so much else in the 2,500-page bill, our senators and representatives were apparently unaware of this when they passed the measure. Oh, is that a problem?

- The IRS is ordered to confiscate part or all of your tax refund if you do not purchase a qualified insurance plan. The bill funds 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure Americans stay in line. This is what tea people, and everyone should be complaining about - this IS the expansion of government, and not in a 'I'm here to help' kind of way

If you don't know why people are upset, or wonder why the Democrats are scared stupid of the November 2nd referendum on their job to 'fix everything the Republicans broke' - print this handy guide out. Email it to your friend the journalist, and see if they can defend it as well as they did before it passed.

BP School Yard Logic

In a cunning move, BP announced that unless the ban on drilling is lifted, they'll have no lunch money to give to the Big Bully Government.

BP, you'll remember spilled about 500 million gallons into the Big Bully's pool at a birthday party, and BP pledged that they'd pay to clean it up. Meantime, Big Bully said that BP couldn't come over anymore and play 'dig for oil' at their house anymore... something like that.

Comes down to this, BP won't pay unless they get to play.

Seems like there's still some swagger in BP's step? It's hard to side with either of these two characters - since they're both doo-doo heads wrecking everyone else's fun.

So instead - I'll note the reader response to this story lifted from NYTimes -- which, when I read it, reminded me that no one has ever made it through Atlas Shrugged or knows what's going on in Venezuela. This comment to Nationalize BP is as short sited, shrill and ignorant as anything ANYTHING I've seen on the Right-Kook-Fringe† side of the carpet for a long, long time. I say, ship this reader to Hugo, for a year. See if he still agrees with his little casual comment about nationalizing a company.

They Took Our Jerbs, and Our Cash

Oh come on...

US Taxpayer Money Used to Train People in Asia Overseas so they can Take American Jobs

Despite President Obama’s pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $36 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia.

Following their training, the tech workers will be placed with outsourcing vendors in the region that provide offshore IT and business services to American companies looking to take advantage of the Asian subcontinent’s low labor costs.

Under director Rajiv Shah, the United States Agency for International Development will partner with private outsourcers in Sri Lanka to teach workers there advanced IT skills like Enterprise Java (Java EE) programming, as well as skills in business process outsourcing and call center support. USAID will also help the trainees brush up on their English language proficiency.

Giant Sucking Sound in Arizona

Migrants sell up, flee Arizona ahead of crackdown

The 'tough' state immigration crackdown starts on Thursday!

Reuters is reporting a boom in yard sales as migrants sell off their belongings, and legal residents, meaning their US-born children, are joining the scramble to leave.

The story starts with a Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks [sic, that should be hocks] a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block.

A few paces up the street, [because the reporter wants us to think he walked, in Phoenix? Yeah, right!] her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered." No, cornered would mean you're headed back to Nicaragua, right?

The U.S. government estimates 100,000 unauthorized migrants left Arizona after the state passed an employer sanctions law three years ago requiring companies to verify workers' status using a federal computer system. There are no figures for the number who have left since the new law passed in April. -- because they're un-documented - perhaps?

Some are heading back to Mexico or to neighboring states. Others are staying put and taking their chances. Best not break the law, then, eh, Pedro?

In a sign of a gathering exodus, Mexican businesses from grocers and butcher shops to diners and beauty salons have shut their doors in recent weeks as their owners and clients leave -- or perhaps these folks are part of the exodus too?

"They wanted to drive Hispanics out of Arizona and they have succeeded even before the law even comes into effect," said Aguilar, 28, a mother of three young children who was also offering a few cherished pictures and a stereo at one of five sales on the same block.

She said she had taken in just $20 as "everyone is selling and nobody wants to buy."

LEGAL RESIDENTS FLEE - too.

Arizona straddles the principal highway for human and drug smugglers heading into the United States from Mexico.

The state's Republican governor, Jan Brewer, signed the law in April in a bid to curb violence and cut crime stemming from illegal immigration. -- AND, no one mentions, that Texas, New Mexico and California have beefed up their borders, AZ has been a bit behind to catch up, which to me says that AZ is the hole in the fence?

Opponents say the law is unconstitutional and a recipe for racial profiling. It is being challenged in seven lawsuits, including one filed by President Barack Obama's administration, which wants a preliminary injunction to block the law - which, if the Federal Government would perform it's duty, the State wouldn't have had to make that law - hey, just sayin'!

So, bottom line - if you're looking for work - there's some cheap ass apartments and a crap load of landscaping jobs opening up in AZ this week!

Hypocrite of the Week?

Ex-IRS agent pleads guilty

A former IRS tax specialist admitted in federal court in Maryland that he owes more than $789,000 in overdue taxes, federal authorities said. How much? 800K?

John Venuti, 62, of Harwood, Md, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to three counts of failing to file a federal income tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland.

Venuti worked at the accounting firm KPMG LLP from 2002 until January as a tax consultant and principal, court documents state. He worked for the IRS from 1974 to 1983, including three years during which he was chief of the Tax Treaty and Technical Services Division.

According to the plea agreement, Venuti did not file federal tax returns from 2001 to 2006. Each year, though, he requested and was granted a six-month extension, and made a total of $97,060 in payments along with the extension requests. Authorities said he owes more than $789,000 in back taxes.

In July 2008, after he was told he was under criminal investigation, Venuti submitted tax returns for the tax years 2001 to 2006, authorities said.

Venuti faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison for each of the three counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.

You bet that Venuti is in the running for...
Blasphemes Hypocrite of the Week

--report comes from Maria Glod