Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Fails Civics 101

Wonder what you would find if you frisked US Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) knowledge on the three branches of government?

Answer: He thinks the House of Representatives and Senate are separate branches of government.

Video transcript:

So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strong they feel — you know, we have three branches of government: we have a House, the Senate, we have a President, and all three of us are going to have to come together and give some. But it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government, just as it is playing with fire to risk not paying the debt ceiling.

I guess Sen. Schumer is one of those elected officials who falls within the 51 percent of elected officials who can’t name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.

For those who think like Sen. Schumer, the actual three branches of government are the executive (run by the President), the legislature (which includes both the House and the Senate), and the judiciary.

Better luck next time Chucky.

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Funny Photo: The Blizzard & Government Regulations

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the blizzard that has been reeking havoc over on the East Coast?

Answer: The real blizzard… Government regulations.

Charlotte Hays – from The National Review – shared some of her insight today at The Corner:

The blizzard is definitely a force for conservatism, and not only because it has had the global-warming crowd scrambling for explanations. The blizzard reveals something basic:  Liberals in government want to tell us what to eat, counsel us about how and when to die, and in general attempt to engineer our lives. But when reality knocks, they can’t do the basic stuff such as clearing the streets so that newborns don’t die in bloody apartment-building lobbies. Mayor Bloomberg may be receiving an unfair amount of criticism for his lackluster performance in coping with Mother Nature, given the almost unprecedented nature of the storm, but the unplowed city streets provide a metaphor for the nanny state: It can order us to do anything, but it can’t take care of the basic obligations of government.

Well said.

Major props to Michael Ramirez – from The Investor’s Business Daily – for his creative political cartoon.

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Economics 101: How Much Government Is Just Right?

Stop the spending!

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the size of government?

Answer: Too little means very low economic growth, but too much means… well, the same exact thing.

Ladies and gentlemen… Welcome to Econ 101. Today, we bring you the Rahn Curve to show the declining growth of an economy when government grows too big.

There’s no wonder why President Reagan was able to turn around an awful recession so quickly based on the principle of smaller government:

The contrast with President Reagan’s antirecession and pro-growth measures in 1981 is striking. Reagan reduced marginal and corporate tax rates and slowed the growth of nondefense spending. Recovery began about a year later. After 18 months, the economy grew more than 9% and it continued to expand above trend rates.

In the end, larger government and high uncertainty is the enemy of investment and growth. Unfortunately, this is the type of common sense that today’s liberals and the Democratic Party continuously fail to understand. Quite honestly, it is baffling how such a large group of individuals can be so hellbent on their own ideology – that’s strictly based on theory and not reality – that they fail to look at history and the successful solutions of the past. Perhaps one day they will comeback down to Earth, but then again I might be losing touch with reality to hope for such a thing.

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EXCLUSIVE: Lansing, Michigan Tea Party

On Saturday night (April 10, 2010), I attended the Tea Party located on the steps of the Capitol in downtown Lansing, Michigan. After making a stop in Grand Rapids, The Tea Party Express managed to make an appearance to energize the crowd of 1,000-1,500. Overall, it was another great and peaceful Tea Party with a large number of concerned Americans/Michiganders in attendance.

When I first arrived, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Bouchard was giving a fiery speech to the crowd during the Tea Party Express rally that definitely stirred up an incredible amount of enthusiasm. Later on in the evening, Mike Bouchard and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox took the podium once again to blast the idea of massive government spending and other major political issues.

QUESTION: Hey liberals, how much do you like my new “Don’t Tread On Me” t-shirt?

Props to all the patriots that made it out to the rally Saturday!

Reminder: Videos from the event will be added later on this evening.

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South Carolina Lawmaker Seeks To Ban U.S. Currency

Wonder what you would find if you frisked State Representative Mike Pitts (R-SC)?

Answer: He would like to ban the federal currency in South Carolina.

CBS News reports:

South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts has introduced legislation that would mandate that gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.

As the Palmetto Scoop first reported, Pitts, a Republican, introduced legislation this month banning “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina.

In an interview, Pitts told Hotsheet that he believes that “if the federal government continues to spend money at the rate it’s spending money, and if it continues to print money at the rate it’s printing money, our economic system is going to collapse.”

“The Germans felt their system wouldn’t collapse, but it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread in the 1930s,” he said. “The Soviet Union didn’t think their system would collapse, but it did. Ours is capable of collapsing also.”

The lawmaker believes that a shift to an economy based on gold and silver coins would give the state a “base of currency” should that collapse come. As one expert told the Scoop, however, his bill would likely be ruled unconstitutional because it “violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private.”

In addition, since gold and silver regularly fluctuate in value, they could not easily function as stable currency.

Very interesting… Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it gold that never fluctuates in value? It is our fiat money that fluctuates in relation to gold, but I’m just saying…

In the end, I believe South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts’ legislation is more symbolic than it is actual reality. It is common sense that our federal government cannot keep borrowing and spending at the current rate they are going, because it is simply unsustainable. Hopefully Rep. Pitts’ legislation will act as a slight pinch to the federal government that we are not dreaming: Economies can collapse… No matter how “powerful” they are.

Side-Note: I know it is early in the day, but I am just waiting for the liberal mainstream media to pick up this story and twist it as “just another right-wing extremist” trying to harm America. Haha.

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Michigan Company Puts Bible Verses On Rifle Scopes While ABC Blows It Out Of Proportion

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the Michigan-based company Trijicon?

Answer: They put coded references to New Testament Bible passages on some of their high-powered rifle sights.

And of course ABC News blows this story way out of proportion… Starting with the headline U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret ‘Jesus’ Bible Codes:

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious “Crusade” in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

[...]

Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.” The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.

Hmm… I don’t know about you, but I don’t consider a scope a weapon. You absolutely have to take things like this with a grain of salt, because liberals have an extreme desire to remove all mentions of anything related to God or religion. Once again, political correctness at its finest.

Side-Note: What is the big deal with taking a Bible verse referring to light on a scope that probably uses ambient light to produce its aiming point?

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Detroit Students Score Record Low On National Math Test

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the students of Detroit, Michigan?

Answer: They scored the record low on a national math test.

Being a Michigander myself, this is some real depressing news. Ouch:

Detroit Public Schools students posted the worst math results ever recorded in the 40-year history of a prestigious nationwide test, according to scores released today.

Sixty-nine percent of fourth-graders and 77 percent of eighth-graders scored below basic skill levels in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a standardized test that serves as a nationwide yardstick in measuring student learning.

“These numbers are only slightly better than what one would expect by chance as if the kids had never gone to school and simply guessed at the answers,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents large urban school districts. “These numbers … are shocking and appalling and should not be allowed to stand.”

The average composite score for fourth-graders was 200 (on a scale of 0-500), and the national average was 239. The results show DPS students had trouble with basic skills. Just 33 percent of fourth-graders could subtract 75 from 301, whereas 67 percent of kids nationwide correctly computed the answer.

The average composite score for eighth-graders was 238 (not comparable to the fourth-graders’ scale), whereas the nationwide average was 282. Students had trouble on questions ranging from geometry to estimation.

Here’s the results and a couple sample questions:

The rest of Michigan’s students seemed to perform quite well, but something obviously needs to change in the city of Detroit’s academic plan. It’s time for politicians and educational leaders to stop playing politics while the children are struggling to comprehend simple concepts. Otherwise, the state of Michigan will be responsible for slightly encouraging another generation to grow up and depend on money from a President’s “stash.”

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San Francisco To Use Public Sex Tents?

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the city of San Francisco, CA?

Answer: In the future, you might see some public sex tents.

Wow… SFGate reports:

Public sex tents? Now there’s an idea that should have been shot down the second it was announced from the mouth of a member of the “leather community” in response to complaints about public sex at Folsom Street Fair and its smaller sibling fair, Up Your Alley.

Instead, it appears that at least one of our local leaders (Supervisor Bevan Dufty) has agreed to take the matter “under advisement.” Since our local leaders are having trouble speaking the obvious, we will: Public sex is not appropriate at Folsom Street Fair or anywhere else. Even in San Francisco.

Public sex isn’t just lewd, it’s illegal under state law. San Francisco officials and police have historically given the fairs broad leeway to self-police bawdy behavior, but that should have been revoked the moment that citizens complained. Instead, people are giving serious thought to ways to make the streets safe for public sex and unsafe for public decency.

You would only find this type of thing in the liberal-land of San Francisco, California. Absolutely unbelievable, haha.

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Recovery.gov Claims There Are 83 Congressional Districts In Michigan (Hmm?)

Wonder what you would find if you frisked the stimulus package’s Recovery.gov website?

Answer: A bunch of congressional districts that don’t exist in Michigan and other states.

I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked Michigan had 15 congressional districts. Apparently, according to Recovery.gov, the state of Michigan has up to 83 congressional districts. Hmm…

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MICHIGAN RECOVERY.GOV SNAPSHOT.

Not to mention, $5.4 million dollars is supposedly going to these non-existent congressional districts. Also, with that $5.4 millions, Michigan supposedly received 63 ‘saved or created’ jobs in those ghost congressional districts. That’s about an average of $87,700 per job. At least this type of problem is only occurring on Michigan’s Recovery.gov stats, right? Nope. The same problem has popped up in Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, and more.

Kudos to the United States government for spending $18 million of taxpayer money on an internet database full of garbage entries.

Side-Note: How many examples of government failed programs/entitlements do you need in order for a liberal to realize that maybe the government running health-care isn’t such a good idea after all? Or anything at all?

Oh, and by the way…

What on Earth is this ‘half’ job? With the amount of money the government spent on that position (in a non-existent congressional district), I sure want to know where to apply!

What a joke.

*UPDATE*

Well dang! This story has become bigger since I originally posted it this morning in regards to just my home state of Michigan. More and more states having been increasing their number of congressional districts over night as well:

Just how big is the stimulus package? Well for one, it has doubled the size of the House of Representatives, according to recovery.gov, which says that funds were distributed to 440 congressional districts that do not exist.

According to data retrieved from recovery.gov, nearly $6.4 billion was used to “create or save” just under 30,000 jobs in these phantom congressional districts–almost $225,000 per job. The web site operates on an $84 million budget and is tasked with monitoring the distribution of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress–which, for the record, counts 435 members–in early 2009.

The site’s monitors, however, are not too savvy about America’s political or geographic landscape. More than $2 million was given to the 99th District of North Dakota, a state which has only one congressional district. In order to qualify for 99 districts, North Dakota would have to have a population of about 60 million people, almost 24 million more people than California.

And the winner of most money given to a non-existent congressional district goes to:

Many other recipients carried the banner for congressional districts that have been defunct for decades. South Carolina’s 7th took the cake, garnering more than $27 million in stimulus funds, despite being eliminated in 1930. And Virginia’s 12th District may have been written off at the start of the Civil War, but it must carry some sentimental value in Old Dominion–it received more than $2 million, according to recovery.gov.

Congratulations Obama Administration for your numerous errors and fraudulent job numbers! Also, you still have failed to define what a ‘saved’ job is… America is still waiting.

Above I mentioned “what a joke,” I think I’ll change that to: What a entire comedic skit.

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