Saturday, August 02, 2008
Politics, power and pocketbooks...
It’s been a few days since posting. Lot’s of personal responsibilities clamoring for attention drew my attention away from the computer, but not the news. Still, in the coming days it will be a balancing act to write while continuing to take care of business at home.
Of interest is the today’s story on the draconian measures of House Democrats to shut down Republican efforts to pass legislation to deal with the current rise in prices digging into the pocketbook of American families.
The House leadership, without debate, passed a resolution Friday to adjourn that legislative body for the next five weeks. In doing so they effectively turned a deaf ear to the cries of Americans seeking relief from high gas prices.
Democrats are reticent to enact any legislation that brings relief to high oil prices, preferring to play on the American distrust of oil companies that has been perpetuated by their rhetoric and media misinformation.
After the adjournment, Republican held a protest on the House floor with Representative Thad McCotter (R-Michigan) proclaiming, “he believes part of the reason Congress is so hated by the American people is because they ‘care more about politics than about working people.’"
Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind, declared, "Republicans will not go quietly. Let us demand that the president of the United States ... call a special session of this Congress on energy."
So what’s up this Democrat Congress? Why won’t they address the issue of high oil prices? I believe, like many others, it’s because they want oil and gas prices to remain high, at least through the November elections. What better tool to demonize Republicans than to paint them and the Bush administration with the false colors of complicity with “big oil.”
The ignorant voter base of the Democrats who will not educate themselves on the facts of the issues will blindly fall in line. Many other Americans who remain more interested in entertainment and celebrity than arming themselves with the facts will follow along.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama has flipped and now supports drilling offshore. That’s a 180-degree flop from his strongly held, immovable and principled position of only a few weeks ago. One would have to believe that his principles can be bought and the change we can believe in it the changing nature of Mr. Obama’s positions.
And the beat goes on. Meanwhile, while the American people struggle with high fuel prices, spiraling grocery prices and an economy that seems to be faltering, succumbing to the efforts of the Democrats and their media crony’s, Democrats and Republicans go on a spending spree.
The spending bill passed on Friday included 510 earmarks. These spending measures are stuffed into legislation, most going unnoticed until after the final vote. Most of the money spent goes to pet projects in the representatives’ district and much of it isn’t even requested or lobbied for by the recipients. Their primary purpose is to memorialize the representative or senator who lassos it.
Meanwhile, weighed down by the aforementioned increasing cost of living, American families are paying for the vanity of their representatives $17 Billion addiction. According to Citizens Against Government Waste, politicians spent $17.2 billion on 11,610 pork projects in 2008. It cost’s every American family $153.57. That’s more than a week’s worth of groceries for most families, money they could sorely use in their own budget yet Congress persists in pilfering the pockets of the public for their own pernicious practices.
"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and
we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson
Labels: Democrats, election, energy, food, fuel prices, Obama, oil, politics, Republicans
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Island life, ahhh!
Back in May we spent 3 days in a little town off the North Carolina coast, in the Outer Banks called Ocracoke. Its on Ocracoke Island and separated both by water and in some ways by time from the mainland.
We spent 3 days there and in that short time the stresses of life fell away as our contact with the world was limited by lack of cell phone service and limited Internet.
It’s not that these modern conveniences aren’t available on the island, they’re just available in very limited amounts. Our cell service, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile, were both “barless” and while our hosts at The Island Inn, the oldest functioning business on Ocracoke, said they had wireless Internet, I could barely get a signal.
To connect my Palm T|X wirelessly I could go to a local coffee/smoothie shop. The Ocracoke Coffee Company on Back Road offered great coffee, suburb smoothies, and a selection of fresh bagels and pastries daily. Grab your drink choice and a pastry if you want and relax on the deck to chat with locals and visitors. If you prefer, find a seat on the lawn in one of the Adirondack chairs or the rope hammock swing and enjoy you paper, or just watch the world go by.
If you want to surf the Internet, come early. The shop closes for the day at 1:00PM. A wireless connection after that can be found across the street at the town library after 2:00PM. You have to wait until that time because the town shares the shelves with the local school, K-12, and is reserved for their use until school is out for the day.
This town of about 800 has plenty to offer in restaurants. For dining on the Silver Lake harbor off Pamlico Sound try the Jolly Roger. The dining room is on a covered deck overlooking the docks where you can watch the boats cruising in and out of the harbor while the Ocracoke Lighthouse stands guard as it has since 1823.
The food is good and is a favorite of locals looking for a good hamburger. That’s not to say their seafood offerings are anything other than great, it’s just that many islanders tire of seafood, if you can believe that, and like a good ole slice of beef from time to time.
At about a mile square, you can walk just about anywhere you want to go in Ocracoke. If you’re not up to that, grab a bicycle from one of the several shops that rent them. Our hotel has them available at a rate that makes the regular shops “see red” according to owner Cee Newell who shares this tidbit with a twinkle in her eye.
I’ll chat a bit more about our experience on Ocracoke Island in another post, perhaps the next one. I’m still feeling the lingering effects of island life and I’m not too motivated right now to….
Later!
"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and
we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson
Labels: food, lighthouse, Ocracoke Island, travel