This is a Test !

Hillary's Flag Trouble

Has anyone out there also noticed that Hillary, (She who gets to break the law at will.) NEVER wears a United States Flag on any of her outfits? Is she ashamed of our country's flag ????? That's right. I almost forgot. She doesn't believe in America as we have understood it for some 240 years. She is a "globalist" who is for so-called "free" trade, open borders and unlimited immigration. I wonder how she would feel if some of the more uneducated (and unvetted) illegal immigrants moved in next-door to her mansion in the exclusive upper-crust enclave of Chappaqua, New York ? Even better, how would Crooked Hillary Rodham Clinton feel if a large number of illegal immigrants moved into daughter Chelsea's exclusive Manhattan apartment building ?

Heh. I'd be willing to wager that Hillary's secret mantra is: Open Borders for thee, gated communities and armed bodyguards for the likes of me.

#2nd amendmentenderslovehillaryclinton

Where Are The Jobs?

President Obama has finally promised to give us his vision of a plan to increase employment in this country. Only problem is... his vision will not be forthcoming until the end of summer.

The question is, will the Republicans kill the plan by blocking it in the House or will they kill it by use of the unconstitutional fake filibuster in the Senate?

One way or the other, any program proposed by the President will be Dead on Arrival, courtesy of his Republican opponents.

The Killer Iowans

Well, the good people arrogant yokels of Iowa, who feel like it's their God-given right to be first in the presidential nominating process each and every four years, have murdered the candidacy of Tim Pawlenty.

It's sad that folks in the 47 states who for decades haven't hadn't a say in who the Republican nominee is, (Like it or not, the truth is that those few who live in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina get to decide for the rest of us who the Republican nominee is) won't get to hear Pawlenty's message.

As they have so many times before, Iowa's self-righteous rustics have saved all the rest of us from having to make the decision about whether or not a presidential wannabee had anything to offer the 95% of us who do not live in those three puny states.

On a positive note, it looks as though top-tier candidate Michele Bachmann is going to have to pretend to enjoy eating rube-food for at least a few more months.

Lottery Winner Gets Food Stamps

Have you heard about Leroy Fick?

A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich.

And there's nothing the state can do about it, at least for now.

Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show "Make Me Rich!" last June. But the state's Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps, Fick's attorney, John Wilson of Midland, said Tuesday.

Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don't count as income. As long as Fick's gross income stays below the eligibility requirement for food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.

Food stamps are paid for through tax dollars and are meant to help support low-income families.

"If you're going to try to make me feel bad, you're not going to do it," Fick told WNEM-TV in Saginaw on Monday.

Wilson said Fick told the DHS officials he'd won $2 million but was told he could keep using the Bridge Card issued to him to buy groceries.

Fick could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Al Kimichik, director of the office of inspector general for DHS, said the department could not comment on individual cases but that it this week began the process of requesting a waiver from the federal government to close the lottery loophole. If it is granted, assets would be counted in determining food stamp eligibility.

Though the food stamp program is federal and states must follow U.S. guidelines, states sometimes request waivers of rules. Michigan was granted a waiver recently to stop college students from qualifying for food stamps.

"For Leroy Fick to continue to use a Bridge Card, paid for by the taxpayers, after winning the lottery, is obscene," said Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge. "What a waste of taxpayer money."

Jones contacted DHS officials Monday about Fick's case, and was told the department's hands were tied by federal regulations.

"There is no liquid asset requirement for getting food stamps," Jones said. "The department is asking the federal government for an immediate change (in policy). They're hoping this case will help the federal government act."

Until then, Fick can collect food stamps and keep his lottery winnings in the bank.

"I am not going to sit and debate the ethics of this," Wilson said. "But from his standpoint, he did what he was supposed to do -- he informed the state, and the state said he could keep using the card. The problem is with the state."

I guess working hard for a living and paying our taxes is just something for those of us who are too naive to figure-out a way of getting money for nothing.

Time Warner Cable Sucks!

Even though my take-home pay as a public school classroom teacher has gone down for each of the past four years, (soon to be five) Time Warner Cable continues to increase their fees every six months or so.

It's now gone up another 5%.

Long ago we gave up our H.B.O. and all other so-called "premium" services.

We're now down to Time Warner's basic package, which they have the nerve to call "Classic Cable." And since we live in a desert wasteland, going without some sort of cable television isn't really a viable option.

Time Warner Cable screws our family out of $68.53 each and every month.

That's over $822.00 per year for "basic" cable television.

Bastards.

Birther Hypocrisy

Once again, the wingnut birther conspiracy idiots are hollering about President Obama's alleged foreign birth.

Isn't it funny how these same birthers never have anything to say about the fact that their hero John McCain really was born overseas? It's true. You can look it up and see for yourself.

You can bet your last inflated paper dollar that if John McCain had been selected president by the electoral college, those looney-tooney birthers would not have had a damn thing to say about his birth outside of the United States.

Show me a wingnut birther and I'll show you a teabagging hypocrite every single time.

Davos: The Bankers' Yearly Junket

So. Here we go yet again.

While working folks all over our country are experiencing losses of income not seen since the Great Depression, the world's bankers, financiers, Wall Street types, and others who don't work for their money but whose money works for them, are traveling to Davos, Switzerland. It's time for their annual convention of back-slapping and mutual admiration amidst the type of unbelievable five-star luxury that most of us in the real world can only dream of.

And since these well-paid clowns will invariably deduct everything from booze to hookers on their taxes as so-called "business expenses" it's also a taxpayer-subsidized junket.

Unlike the Great Depression, the Great Recession doesn't seem to have made any paupers out of millionaires.

The People's Republic Of California Strikes Again!

In our latest instance of Political Correctism run amok, we have the government of the People's Republic of California outlawing the dear old traditional 100 watt light bulb.

This needless new regulation has been brought to you by the same folks who also took it upon themselves to outlaw letting kids ride in the back of pick-up trucks but allows employers to require people to work on Christmas Day without paying them any extra wages whatsoever.

Oh yeah. Happy New Year from the Wonks.

The UnSchool

Did you hear the one about the school where the students are in charge and the parents pay $6000 for the privilege?

The thing about students not taking standardized tests kinda hit me right between the grade books.