Prison Inmates Get Stimulus Checks

More fraud with the Stimulus money – at a tune of around $425,000 to around 1,700 inmates. In government terms this is chump change, but is there any oversight with the program? As a manager I would ask, “How many more people that should not have received money, did.”

Is this a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, probably not, but it is a symptom of a larger organizational problem.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

Actual Stimulus Program Almost Denied

All government ideas are not ALL bad.  I’m not sure I would advocated a “Cash For Clunkers” program if the economy was humming along, but it seems like a decent idea. Actually giving money back to the citizens (some are actually tax payers) while selling new cars.  Forget the fact that it will benefit Obama Motors or that buying a new car is a horrible investment, this seemed like a great idea, right?  Well, maybe not.

Early on Friday we learned that only a couple of days after launching the “Cash for Clunkers”  program, it was out of money.  They only allotted one billion to reimburse dealerships – a very small sum in government figures.  Fortunately on Friday afternoon Mr. Obama got involved and infused the program with another 2 billion.  I say throw a whole bunch of that unused Stimulus money into this program and actually do some stimulating instead of creating signs and other useless spending.

The consensus of many dealers is that this program has worked.  They have had activity like they have not seen in quite some time.  This is what we see when the government gives back money to the citizens to actually spend.  What would happen if the government took less of our money at the front end, cut THEIR bloated spending and let us do what we want with our hard earned money instead of funding an unending bottomless pit that is government?  That would end this recession in a heart beat and growth would skyrocket. 

Again, like so many of my rants, I’m not holding my breath.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

New Ice Cream Flavor – Baraky Road?

I ran across this new idea for a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream flavor in honor of our 44th President, Barak Obama.  It’s called Baraky Road. 

Barocky Road is a blend of half Vanilla, half Chocolate, and surrounded by
Nuts and Flakes.

The Vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied
as an ingredient.

The Nuts and Flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop.

When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but
then the Ice Cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you.

Thus you are left with an empty wallet, no change, holding an empty cone,
with no hope of getting any Ice Cream.

Are you feeling stimulated?

 

Wish I had thought of this.  It was sent to me in an email by the greatest man I know, my father. 

Rob’s Rant

New Porkulus Logo

My friends at The Great Illuminator have designed an awesome new logo for the Department of Porkulus Affairs (my name for these folks).   This logo is in response to a contest on Michelle Malkin’s site to design a logo to combat the one unveiled by the “Recovery.gov” folks. 

All I can say is Awesome!

Mortgage Bailout Boondoggle

I’m not sure I can be ticked off anymore.  It seems that every day brings some new horror from Washington.  If George Bush was as incompetent as Obama, he would have been thrown out of the White House by now.  Of course, as it is, the Kool-Aid drinkers think Obama is the second coming.  (Have we checked is hands for the nail scars?)

We have not heard that the Government will now be bailing out people who are “under water” on their mortgages.  Tell me again why we are perpetuating the problem.  What are these people learning?  It’s kind of like that kid we all knew growing up that was always in trouble but had parents with the right connections to get him out of trouble.  Usually those people grow up to be complete idiots expecting to be bailed out at the sign of trouble (i.e. not learning to deal with life).

Now, Mr. Obama has proposed $75 Billion to assist people to stay in their homes by allowing assistance to mortgage holders to rework the loan terms and the courts to force it if it comes to that point.  Do we need this?  Where is the responsibility on the part of the home owner who agreed to the terms of the loan when they got the house?  Why can’t the home owner go to the mortgage lender and work out some type of deal?  Some money is better than no money, right?.  Do we really need government intervention on this problem?

I guess the point of my ramblings is that I’m tired.  Tired of seeing my hard earned money that I turn over to the government in taxes thrown down the bottomless pit of all these worthless bailouts and social programs.  Like it was when we were children, we need to be able to fail and learn our lesson.  Without  those hard lessons, we’ll soon be back at the plate asking for more.  When will this nightmare end???

Of Course, that is just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db2009034_993400.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story

House Banking Committee Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPSDnGMzIdo

Obama Throws A Fit on National TV

I have two small children. They throw fits from time to time, not many, but they are kids. It happens.

I witnessed a site I’ve never seen before, a President of the United States actually throw a fit on national TV. This was the case tonight with President Obama speaking to the House Democrats at the Democratic Issues Conference in Williamsburg, VA. Embarrassing is the word I use.

The whole talk was meant to push many of the Senate Republicans and some Senate Democrats to pass the “Stimulus Bill.” It is the humble opinion of this poster that Mr. Obama flat out lied to the American public. During the tirade (my words), it was pointed out that this bill included no earmarks, that it was all meant to get the economy back into shape and on the road to recovery. The fact is that this is the biggest boondoggle in the history of the US, maybe the world. No earmarks? What in the world is all that pork?

If this bill is passed, this will definitely prolong the economic slump by throwing money at non-stimulus items – no doubt payback for all those who pushed for him in November. Don’t believe me, go to http://www.stimuluswatch.org/ for a total rundown of everything in this “Bill”.

We are quickly going down the road to total socialism. This is the first step to the end of the liberty we enjoy. Hope all you Kool-Aid drinkers enjoy the ride.

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/05/senators-struggle-steer-stimulus-package-obama-urges-action/

GOP Governors Cave on Stimulus Bill

Looks like the GOP Governors are pushing for their part of the stimulus bill, caving on their core principles. This really outlines the greed of the states wanting their piece of the pie, regardless of the real damage it will do to the country down the road.

What a shame and a travesty.

Of course, that’s just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i7-R1kzxgbD531An5glFlllGZVvAD962B5480

Show Me The Money…

It seems that history repeats itself. Former President Bush decided to do a “Stimulus” bill last year to actually give money to people. A frickin‘ check. His hope was that people would actually go out and buy stuff to stimulate the economy. Problem was that they already went out and spent that money and needed to pay their credit card bills with that welfare check.

Now President Obama, in order to “Stimulate” the economy, has proposed his own $825 Billion Stimulus Bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). Mr. Obama, this is a futile exercise that will further deepen our debt and pull us further into a recession. I believe these type of massive government programs were tried by President Roosevelt (and prolonged the Depression).

The House of Rep. just passed the latest bill, fortunately without any Republican support. If the GOP has any intentions of electing a Republican in 2012, these wimps in Congress must stand up for their core conservative values – even if it won’t make any difference. We’re all watching you clowns.

Unfortunately, Obama has the votes to push most everything through both houses of Congress so he can get whatever he wants with little or no opposition.

This bill includes a massive amount of spending, including:

600 million – Buy new government cars
7 Billion – Modernize government buildings
400 million – Global warming research
1 Billion – Amtrak
50 Million – NEA Funding
2.4 Billion – Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects
650 Million – Digital TV Conversion Coupons (that’s more)

And so on, and so on….

What does all of this have to do with stimulus? I’m puzzled also. Here’s an idea, how about cutting taxes across the board (a good idea would be to nix the IRS and institute a Fair-Tax, but that’s a pipe dream). This would actually give us our money to us from the start. Just the mention of something like this would be HUGE. I suppose I’m in a pipe dream…

Of course, this is just my opinion.

Rob’s Rant

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html