AOL News reports that President Obama has halted all new offshore drilling. The funniest part is from Axelrod
"All he has said is that he is not going to continue the moratorium on drilling but ... no additional drilling has been authorized and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here,"
In other words they can indefinitely suspend drilling in the guise of a disaster.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Cuomo might have some competition
Today while doing some errands I noticed a woman that had said Bartczak for Governor and a web address on it. I didn't talk to the woman because I was in a hurry but made a mental note of the site. It appears Ms. Bartczak will be challenging Cuomo for the Democratic nomination. Her platform is the typically run of the mill Liberal Populist (anti-drug war, anti-victimless crimes, increase taxes on vices, etc) but compared to the slimy Andrew Cuomo it's not bad but I still plan on voting for Warren Redlich.
Her site is here
Her site is here
Tea Party and the Empire
Bill Maher makes a point that many in the Tea Party movement have no interest in dismantling the Neoconservative Warfare state. Sadly despite he is Libertarian on social issues he supports income retribution which kills his credibility. He isn't the only one however, James Bovard of the Future of Freedom Foundation writes a piece in the Christian Science Monitor sharing the same sentiments. Thanks to Freedoms Phoenix for the video.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Government Wireless
As if I didn’t have any more reasons to hate the welfare system another one just fell in my lap today. Apparently there is a cell phone structure especially designed for people on the various welfare programs (Medicare, Section 8 Housing etc). The program is called Assurance which is handled through Pre-paid carrier Virgin Mobile which uses the Sprint Network for it’s service. The service is paid for through the Universal Service Fund which is apart of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Here is the bad and good part it’s only available in five states (Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia) therefore limits the abuse (wishful thinking I know), but at the same time everyone pays for it through taxes!
You may wonder why I would be upset over a program that has (relatively speaking) very low impact compared to rest of the abused welfare programs. Well today I had a customer who wanted to buy one of the high end Virgin mobile phones priced at $100. At least that’s what I was able to understand since he spoke ghetto-ese. I asked him if he had service with Virgin Mobile already or was starting new service. He replied that he had this Assurance service which uses Virgin Mobile phones in to which I said “oh so your just replacing a broken phone”. I was told that his phone wasn’t broken he just wanted a better one. At the time I didn’t think much of it until I looked up Assurance and found out it was a tax payer funded cell phone. In addition the guy paid for the phone with a government assistance card and I noticed food stamps in his wallet! Of course however this type of abuse happens with all the welfare programs. I remember one time selling a 32” LCD television to someone who lived in a HUD housing area.
Which angers me the most about this program is that the market has already fixed the problem of getting a ways of communication to low income people. It’s called pre-paid, I could understand the point of this back when the act was passed in 1996 when cell phones were still pretty expensive even for the most basic of service but that’s not the case anymore. At least in New York there are at least five pre-paid carries and all the major contract wireless carriers offer pre-paid service. Hell now a days Sprint’s minimum credit deposit for those that fall into that category is $50 and basic talk service typically falls into that price range. The wheels of the market may be slow but they turn up with better results than any government program can hope to dream of.
You may wonder why I would be upset over a program that has (relatively speaking) very low impact compared to rest of the abused welfare programs. Well today I had a customer who wanted to buy one of the high end Virgin mobile phones priced at $100. At least that’s what I was able to understand since he spoke ghetto-ese. I asked him if he had service with Virgin Mobile already or was starting new service. He replied that he had this Assurance service which uses Virgin Mobile phones in to which I said “oh so your just replacing a broken phone”. I was told that his phone wasn’t broken he just wanted a better one. At the time I didn’t think much of it until I looked up Assurance and found out it was a tax payer funded cell phone. In addition the guy paid for the phone with a government assistance card and I noticed food stamps in his wallet! Of course however this type of abuse happens with all the welfare programs. I remember one time selling a 32” LCD television to someone who lived in a HUD housing area.
Which angers me the most about this program is that the market has already fixed the problem of getting a ways of communication to low income people. It’s called pre-paid, I could understand the point of this back when the act was passed in 1996 when cell phones were still pretty expensive even for the most basic of service but that’s not the case anymore. At least in New York there are at least five pre-paid carries and all the major contract wireless carriers offer pre-paid service. Hell now a days Sprint’s minimum credit deposit for those that fall into that category is $50 and basic talk service typically falls into that price range. The wheels of the market may be slow but they turn up with better results than any government program can hope to dream of.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Hypothetical Election: Ron Paul and Barack Obama are neck and neck
Today Rasmussen put out a hypothetical election poll which put Dr. Paul against President Obama. Paul only trails behind Obama by a percent. It just goes to show you that Paul is the only choice for 2012. He opposes statism in all its forums, he doesn't pick and choose which is common among statist conservatives like Gringrich, Palin, and Romney. Go Ron Paul.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Change the culture
It's only the first week and fellow Mets fans are already facepalming. Normally I would just be content with the thought of it being the first week but we couldn't even put the Nationals away. The Nationals are one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to championships. They have one title and thats the 1984 National League East title. So when your team can't even beat them you know something is wrong.
Of course that something has been for at least the past two years. The last title the Mets captured was the 2006 NL East title. Some say thats only a three year playoff/championship drought but it doesn't seem like the team wants to improve. ESPN reported during offseason that the Mets were the biggest spender in the National League. Ok fine, what happened to that spending when Matt Holliday was a free agent? We had a chance to get one of the hottest free agents in the NL and apparently Minaya wanted to be a tight wad. Not to take away from Jason Bay, but Holliday would've been a great addition to the team. Which leads me to my next point; You can only blame the players so much. You can have a solid team but it means jack if your management can't run the team effectively.
Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya were able to save their skin with the fact that the team got destroyed by injuries. As I said, the players can only be blamed for so much. Not only do the Mets need good players but Management needs a change too. As much as I hate the Yankees, they know how to run a team. In the Bronx, management has a one and done policy. You don't win, see you later. Fred Wilpon needs to light a fire through the entire organization, and do it now. It's not just the Mets that can learn from the Yankees, the Rangers, the Nets, and the Knicks as well. All four of these teams continue to keep bad management around and do nothing about it. The Jets learned, by getting a new coach and a new quarterback. Granted this past season the overall record didn't improve but the team got to the AFC title game which we haven't done in since the 98 season.
Of course that something has been for at least the past two years. The last title the Mets captured was the 2006 NL East title. Some say thats only a three year playoff/championship drought but it doesn't seem like the team wants to improve. ESPN reported during offseason that the Mets were the biggest spender in the National League. Ok fine, what happened to that spending when Matt Holliday was a free agent? We had a chance to get one of the hottest free agents in the NL and apparently Minaya wanted to be a tight wad. Not to take away from Jason Bay, but Holliday would've been a great addition to the team. Which leads me to my next point; You can only blame the players so much. You can have a solid team but it means jack if your management can't run the team effectively.
Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya were able to save their skin with the fact that the team got destroyed by injuries. As I said, the players can only be blamed for so much. Not only do the Mets need good players but Management needs a change too. As much as I hate the Yankees, they know how to run a team. In the Bronx, management has a one and done policy. You don't win, see you later. Fred Wilpon needs to light a fire through the entire organization, and do it now. It's not just the Mets that can learn from the Yankees, the Rangers, the Nets, and the Knicks as well. All four of these teams continue to keep bad management around and do nothing about it. The Jets learned, by getting a new coach and a new quarterback. Granted this past season the overall record didn't improve but the team got to the AFC title game which we haven't done in since the 98 season.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Carl Paladino: Just another opportunist
Well another wolf in sheep's clothing has been exposed. Tea Party Candidate for New York Governor Carl Paladino isn't the a savior he and his supporters are painting him out to be. Buffalo News had shed some light on his donations in New York elections in recent years;
Paladino has given to such Democratic stalwarts as presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton, Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and Al Gore, a favorite “tea party” whipping boy. Besides $4,600 to Clinton’s presidential campaign, Paladino gave $5,100 to her Senate bankroll, and he gave Sen. Charles E. Schumer $1,000 last June.
When did Clinton, Kerry and Gore become bastions of liberty? Did I miss the memo? All three of these politicians support wealth redistribution, in addition Kerry and Clinton supported the Patriot Act and endless warmongering. I would think that a business owner like Paladino would understand that giving money to economy crushing Democrats is a bad thing. Which only means that Paladino didn't get what he wanted from Clinton, Schumer and former Governor Eliot Spitzer (who he also donated money to). So surprise when political donor doesn't get what he or she wants, they run against the politician that they donated to.
Of course a few questions remain in the light of this latest news;
1. Will the Conservative Party still endorse him?
The Conservative Party of New York bills themselves as the Conservative alternative when the Republicans nominate a candidate that is too Liberal in their eyes. Their most recent nomination was Neocon Doug Hoffman for the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District in which he lost to 24 hour flip flopper Bill Ownes. In the past they also threw their support for gun grabber Rick Lazio (who is also running for the Republican nomination for Governor) when he was a member of the House. Will the Conservative Party be most interested in winning or principal? Only time will tell.
2. Will the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association support him?
Currently they have yet to put out a public endorsement for any of the current candidates but in an personal email exchange I had with Tom King the organizations President, he was very enthusiastic over Paladino. When I asked him why Paladino over Warren Redlich and Kristen Davis, King cited that while he has known Redlich for years, Paladino is using much of his personal money for his campaign. Of course again this was a personal exchange between me and him so things can change.
So currently if no one else steps up to the plate Warren Redlich and Kristen Davis are the only two who are fully pro-liberty candidates. Redlich is running for both Republican and Libertarian lines, while Davis is also running for the Libertarian line but will run as a Personal Freedom Party if she does not get the nomination for the LP.
Paladino has given to such Democratic stalwarts as presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton, Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and Al Gore, a favorite “tea party” whipping boy. Besides $4,600 to Clinton’s presidential campaign, Paladino gave $5,100 to her Senate bankroll, and he gave Sen. Charles E. Schumer $1,000 last June.
When did Clinton, Kerry and Gore become bastions of liberty? Did I miss the memo? All three of these politicians support wealth redistribution, in addition Kerry and Clinton supported the Patriot Act and endless warmongering. I would think that a business owner like Paladino would understand that giving money to economy crushing Democrats is a bad thing. Which only means that Paladino didn't get what he wanted from Clinton, Schumer and former Governor Eliot Spitzer (who he also donated money to). So surprise when political donor doesn't get what he or she wants, they run against the politician that they donated to.
Of course a few questions remain in the light of this latest news;
1. Will the Conservative Party still endorse him?
The Conservative Party of New York bills themselves as the Conservative alternative when the Republicans nominate a candidate that is too Liberal in their eyes. Their most recent nomination was Neocon Doug Hoffman for the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District in which he lost to 24 hour flip flopper Bill Ownes. In the past they also threw their support for gun grabber Rick Lazio (who is also running for the Republican nomination for Governor) when he was a member of the House. Will the Conservative Party be most interested in winning or principal? Only time will tell.
2. Will the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association support him?
Currently they have yet to put out a public endorsement for any of the current candidates but in an personal email exchange I had with Tom King the organizations President, he was very enthusiastic over Paladino. When I asked him why Paladino over Warren Redlich and Kristen Davis, King cited that while he has known Redlich for years, Paladino is using much of his personal money for his campaign. Of course again this was a personal exchange between me and him so things can change.
So currently if no one else steps up to the plate Warren Redlich and Kristen Davis are the only two who are fully pro-liberty candidates. Redlich is running for both Republican and Libertarian lines, while Davis is also running for the Libertarian line but will run as a Personal Freedom Party if she does not get the nomination for the LP.
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