Ending the Subsidization of Our Own Downfall

The next President must dedicate at least a little energy to halting the free reign of 501(c)4 organizations.

They are organizations that are not supposed to be overtly partisan or political.  However, in practice, they usually are.  One such organization is Organizing for America (really, it's Organizing for America's Downfall!).

Here are the rules for 501(c)4's.

On a related note, universities seem to be particularly exempt from rules of basic decency.  They scream about "equal pay for equal work", yet ignore on of the most egregious examples of its lack on campus.

Equal pay for equal work may be a national rallying cry. Yet for some reason, academia expects that it can pay a graduate-student teaching assistant or a PhD-holding part-time instructor a fraction of what it would pay a tenured full professor for teaching the identical class. The gulf between a full professor and a part-timer — in terms of money, power, and status — far exceeds that between the WalMart manager and his greeter at the door. And at least the latter pair have far different tasks. Is such disparity liberal?

Read more at: National Review

 

Maybe We Are on a Road to the Future

I've been reading Sarah Hoyt lately - she has an interesting slant on the Human Condition.

I need something to inspire me today.

Candidate Ted Cruz

Today is a good day to focus on Cruz - he just published an immigration plan.  Very comprehensive - but NOT in that "find more ways to bring in people" way.

The biggest thing?  Use of tactics that will catch the invaders:

• Border wall


• Aerial surveillance


• Biometric tracking system


• Put the screws to DHS - fire/discipline those who are screwing up, work with the states


• And other ideas

The absolutely BEST idea?  Get rid of the "slush funds" - government funds that are given to groups acting contrary to American interests (those that are allowing invaders to drag out the process of deportation, help invaders settle into communities in the USA).

Paris is Burning - Again!

The most timely information is coming from the bloggers and social media.  Officially, 30 dead - unofficially, may be 100 or more.

President Oblivious was on the news a few minutes ago, stammering about the situation (he really is tangletongued when he has to improvise).  He started to talk about the French nation, their "pursuit of happiness" clause - what?  That's NOT the French!  The Big Zero recovered fairly quickly, moving into a bad French accent about "Liberte" and all that.

Supposedly, there is no threat against the USA.  Not believing much that I hear from Official Washington.

Anyone want odds on the names/ethnic identity of the perps?

Candidates - Bernie Sanders

He LOOKS like such a kindly, if slightly cranky, uncle.  His appeal is that he is for the "Little People".

But, is that reality - or a carefully crafted misleading of the American people?

[caption id="attachment_1037" align="alignleft" width="275"] Lovable Lil Socialist[/caption]

Let's start with his record on Free Speech - he's against it - at least when it comes to speech HE and his Progressive Friends don't approve of, like the right of corporations to lobby for their interests, those opposing Conventional PC Thought, or those who would dare to disagree with the Fashionable Left.

Sanders was against American involvement in Vietnam - BUT, it was NOT because of his deep love for humanity - like most Progressives/Leftists, he averted his eyes to the atrocities of the South Vietnam bloodbath after the Americans left.

[caption id="attachment_1038" align="alignleft" width="278"] Not As Far Left As Bernie[/caption]

Honestly, if you want to know just how Bernie will destroy America, just look at this list:

1. Rebuilding Our Crumbling Infrastructure
   
   
   
   1. Now, this could be CHEAP - ONLY $ 1 trillion!
   
   
   
   


2. Reversing Climate Change
   
   
   
   1. He wants to "transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energies." He thinks the Federal government should weatherize our homes - last time I did so, I paid for it myself.  Guess that makes me a chump, doesn't it?
   
   
   
   


3. Creating Worker Co-ops
   
   
   
   1. He likes the idea of workers owning their business in common with their co-workers.  So much for job mobility, diversifying your investments, or not taking your work problems home with you.
   
   
   
   


4. Growing the Trade Union Movement
   
   
   
   1. Now wait a minute!  I'm confused - is he anxious to make workers fat-cat bosses, or angry proles?
   
   
   
   


5. Raising the Minimum Wage
   
   
   
   1. "The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage." Can't wait until those worker-owners hear that demand!
   
   
   
   


6. Pay Equity for Women Workers
   
   
   
   1. "Women workers today earn 78 percent of what their male counterparts make." De-bunked repeatedly.
   
   
   
   


7. Trade Policies that Benefit American Workers
   
   
   
   1. He will "develop trade policies which demand that American corporations create jobs here, and not abroad."  Can't wait until he finds out that the President does NOT control every business in the USA.  Which, if he wins, will be VERY few.
   
   
   
   


8. Making College Affordable for All
   
   
   
   1. This is too amazing to cut short - here it is, complete.  "In today's highly competitive global economy, millions of Americans are unable to afford the higher education they need in order to get good-paying jobs. Further, with both parents now often at work, most working-class families can't locate the high-quality and affordable child care they need for their kids. Quality education in America, from child care to higher education, must be affordable for all. Without a high-quality and affordable educational system, we will be unable to compete globally and our standard of living will continue to decline."  So, in addition to taking over the cost of college, the federal government will also pay for child care.  At least, the Institutional Kind of Care - not that sweet grandmotherly woman who watches your kids now.
   
   
   
   


9. Taking on Wall Street
   
   
   
   1. "The function of banking is to facilitate the flow of capital into productive and job-creating activities. Financial institutions cannot be an island unto themselves, standing as huge profit centers outside of the real economy."  Boy, oh, Boy!  I guess no one has let him know where the majority of the money the Democratic Party has came from!
   
   
   
   


10. Health Care as a Right for All
    
    
    
    1. "We need to establish a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system." Ya' think we should let him see the figures for Obamacare?  Better not - he might stroke out.
    
    
    
    


11. Protecting the Most Vulnerable Americans
    
    
    
    1. Except for those oooky little bundles of tissue.  Those Americans only live due to the benevolence of their Parental Unit - the XX ones.  Or if both are XY, the most Twinkly one.
    
    
    
    


12. Real Tax Reform
    
    
    
    1. " It is not acceptable that major profitable corporations have paid nothing in federal income taxes" - however, it IS acceptable that almost 1/2 of the working age population pays NOTHING, and is a net beneficiary of government money.
    
    
    
    

From all of this, I'll bet that you have figured out that "Uncle Bern" is unlikely to receive my vote.  In fact, I think it's a fair bet that Al Sharpton is likelier to get my vote.

Some Catholic Things

I was watching a video from Word on Fire (Fr. Barron), and thought it was a useful explanation of the role of the Pope in the Catholic Church.  If you are not a Catholic (and, maybe, if you are/were), the authority of the Pope is not well understood.

Some non-Catholics think that we blindly follow every statement from the Pope (do those people KNOW any Catholics!), others that everything the Pope says is divinely inspired, still others believe that Catholics are not familiar with the Bible, as they are believed to be forbidden to read it.

Addressed in order:

• NO, we don't all follow the Pope's religious instruction - many, for example, insist on using contraceptives, do not attend Mass regularly, ignore what is said about charity, war, modesty, et al.
  
  
  
  • One issue is that once baptized, and unless formally excommunicated, you are considered a Catholic for life.  The great majority attend only at Christmas and Easter, and ignore the little bit of doctrine they actually know.  Others, like Joy Behar, continue to self-identify as "raised Catholic" - not practicing in decades,  disagreeing with everything, and woefully ignorant of just about anything in the actual Catholic church.
  
  
  
  


• Everything the Pope says is NOT divinely inspired - only those things relating to faith or morals teaching are considered infallible.  So, don't take his advice on how to bet on a horse race (no more reliable than any other person).  Also, this does NOT mean that the Pope never sins - he does, after all, have to make his Confession just like everyone else (and I assume he also loses his temper, tells "white lies" to avoid hurting someone's feelings, and harbors ill feelings towards annoying people - he is, after all, human).


• Practicing Catholics, whether they realize it or not, are intimately familiar with the Bible - Old and New Testament - a good portion of it is read each day in the Mass - a reading from the Old Testament, one of the Psalms, a reading from the New Testament, and the Gospel.  It's on a 3-year cycle, rotating from the various Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and other books of the Bible.
  
  
  
  • Most Catholics own at least one Bible (I have 5-6 of them, in various places).  True, most don't often break it out, unless it is to check out something someone said, but it's a rare home of a practicing Catholic that doesn't have a Bible.
  
  
  • I own:
    
    
    
    • A Gideon NT - received from the Gideons when they were doing a distribution at my college - portable and useful for comparing with the Catholic versions.
    
    
    • A Douay-Rheims - Big, seldom taken off the shelf, bought during our first year of marriage.
    
    
    • Several St. Joseph versions - often used in Catholic high schools.  One is very small (about 4 x 6), and useful when traveling.
    
    
    • New American version - I think it's my husband's.
    
    
    • New International version - can't remember when we got that.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • I also facilitate our Wednesday Adult Faith group, and read the next Sunday's Mass readings, as well as help focus the discussion of their meaning following that.  Right now, we're also viewing a video about the Gospel of John, and how it applies to our lives.
  
  
  
  

I'll be posting about once a week more about the Catholic faith, and how its teachings are a part of my life.

Government Waste

So many things that governments spend money are not worth it.  But THIS hits a new low.