What Does $1 Trillion Look Like?

Tags

1 Trillion Dollars, Bailout, Spendulus, Stimulus

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?  All this talk about “stimulus packages” and “bailouts,” and the standard amount seems to be one TRILLION dollars.  So, what does that look like?

We’ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2″ thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet:

And $1 BILLION dollars?  Now we’re really getting somewhere:

Next we’ll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we’ve been hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it’s a million million. It’s a thousand billion. It’s a one followed by 12 zeros. $1,000,000,000,000.

You ready for this?

It’s pretty surprising.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you $1 trillion dollars:

(See how small the person is now?  And notice those pallets are double stacked!)

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase “trillion dollars”… that’s what they’re talking about.  Pretty scary, huh?

It’s All Just a Little Bit of History Repeating…

Tags

Budget, Obama, Orszag, Raise Taxes, Tax Cuts

You’d think people would be smarter.

You’d think people would realize that when a Democratic candidate for President promises a tax cut as part of his campaign, he’s actually going to turn around and raise taxes.   It’s all just a little bit of history repeating:

2009:
President Obama’s budget chief hinted Wednesday that the president’s signature campaign issue — a middle-class tax cut — will not likely survive a budget battle with Democrats on Capitol Hill. On a conference call with reporters in advance of the president’s trip to the Hill to speak before the Senate Democratic caucus, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag indicated that, while 98 percent of the budget mark-ups in the House and Senate are on par with the administration’s budget blueprint, some campaign trail promises, like middle-class tax cuts, may get left on the cutting room floor.

1993:
Seeking to explain why he is backtracking on a campaign promise to cut taxes for the middle class, President-elect Bill Clinton said Thursday that the plan was never a major theme in his race for the White House. Mr. Clinton, speaking at a news conference a day after saying he would have to “revisit” his tax-cut plan, said Americans voted for him because of the “big things” he wanted to do.  The middle-class tax cut, he said, was not among them….

Mr. Clinton spoke throughout the campaign of the need to redress declining middle-class incomes during the 1980s. He proposed a tax cut for the middle class nearly a year ago, in New Hampshire, and repeated the pledge frequently.

Back to today:  Orszag said such deficits, in the range of five percent of the Gross Domestic Product, “would lead to rising debt-to-GDP ratios in a manner that would ultimately not be sustainable.”   What that means in the language of the average person: if the Congressional Budget Office projections are correct, we’re headed for hell in a handbasket.

Just this week, former Clinton budget director Alice Rivlin conceded that Obama’s budget could present a “scary scenario” that would “raise deficits to unsustainable levels well after the economy recovers.” The solution, she wrote, is higher taxes, and not just for the richest of the rich.

Obama’s budget cannot sustain itself without throwing the country into a money-printing scheme that will devalue our currency overnight, returning the US to inflation like the 1970′s but on a must more drastic scale.  Or…he can raise taxes.  On everyone.  Not just the evil rich, or those making $250,000 a year.  EVERYONE.  The Bush tax cuts that have helped families like mine make it in this world will expire, and everyone: teachers, tradesmen, average Joes and Janes, are going to get socked by this administration.

The sad thing is, you and I don’t get the option of telling our neighbors we’re going to need them to give us money to pay our bills.  You and I have to make decisions on what we will spend and not spend money on.  We cut our spending when our income does not match our output.  The government does not do this.  And when the elected officials do not truly follow the will of the people (all recent polls show a rejection of more spending, a rejection of bigger government, etc., being where most Americans are at), then you have the very trouble that led to the American Revolution.   This is not change you can believe in.  It’s taxation without representation.  And that’s not fair. 

Change You Can Believe In, Part XXXVI

Tags

Constitution, Dave Reichert, Freedom of Religion, GIVE Act, Hitler Youth, HR 1388, Obama, Young Pioneers

“The Audacity of Hope” and “Change You Can Believe In” didn’t appear to be about restricting the free practice of religion, a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.  However, a bill passed overwhelmingly in the House last week, does just that.  And worse, it’s aimed at the young people of America.

The bill, HR 1388 (sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) with 37 others), was introduced to the floor of the House of Representatives where both Republicans and Democrats voted 321-105 in favor. Next it goes to the Senate for a vote and then on to President Obama.

This bill’s title is “Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education” (GIVE).   I’ve already posted on this before, showing that it has serious undertones of the Young Communist youth movement of the Soviet Union and the Hitler Youth.  The plan is to require any young person receiving school loans or basically any government help to serve at least three months as part of this “mandatory volunteer” brigade. 

The Bill would forbid any student in the brigade to participate in “engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.” That means no serving in church, Sunday School teaching, teaching in Christian schools, or witnessing.

Really?  I have to ask anyone of faith who voted for Obama–really?  Is this seriously what you voted for? Here is HR1388′s exact wording:

SEC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.

Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is amended to read as follows:

SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.

(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:

(1) Attempting to influence legislation.

(2) Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.
…

(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

This is in direct violation of the Constitution, which clearly states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

And in case you don’t care for religion, you may have an issue with the fact that the bill also prohibits engaging in protests, boycotts, petitions, or strikes–which is violation of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government…”  Whatever it is, it is direct attack on the rights of Americans as guaranteed by the Constitution.  Just one of many our President and his supporters in Congress have done in the 3 months since taking office.

By the way, my representative, the supposedly conservative Dave Reichert, voted for this bill.  I have already contacted his office to voice my displeasure.  Guess we can’t even count on the conservatives to stand up for the Constitution anymore.

Somewhere, Marx is laughing.  And James Madison is weeping.

“Tomorrow Belongs to Me” Bill Passes in the House

Tags

GIVE Act, Hitler Youth, Indoctrination, Obama, Tommorrow Belongs to Me, Volunteers, Young Pioneers

One of the most chilling scenes in the musical Cabaret is the moment when a bunch of youth begin singing the song “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.”

We are one wonderful step closer to bringing this type of youth organization to the United States.  One of President Obama’s campaign promises was that he would establish a “volunteer” program for all young people.  His fans in the House passed a bill yesterday which includes disturbing language indicating young people will be forced to undertake mandatory national service programs.

The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act, was passed yesterday by a 321-105 margin and now goes to the Senate.

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate, “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”

Section 120 of the bill also discusses the “Youth Engagement Zone Program” and states that “service learning” will be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency”.

“The legislation, slated to cost $6 billion over five years, would create 175,000 “new service opportunities” under AmeriCorps, bringing the number of participants in the national volunteer program to 250,000. It would also create additional “corps” to expand the reach of volunteerism into new sectors, including a Clean Energy Corps, Education Corps, Healthy Futures Corps and Veterans Service Corps, and it expands the National Civilian Community Corps to focus on additional areas like disaster relief and energy conservation,” reports Fox News.

How does a mandatory program count as “volunteerism?” Call it whatever you will, but the fact is, this is government stepping in to “educate” our children even more than they already do in the public schools.  Service learning is just a new-speak way of saying “indoctrinating your children to further the leftist agenda.”

They passed this bill while all the anti-AIG hoopla was going on.  The bait-and-switch tactics of this administration and Congress are at it again.  And it will pass in the Senate unless people with saner heads prevail.  Call or write your senators.  We don’t need new versions of the Communists’ “Young Pioneers” or the Hitler Youth.  Seriously, does America need to see its children looking like this?

Future "Volunteers" of America

Are You Punch-Drunk?

Tags

60 Minutes Interview, Gallows Humor, Obama, Obama; Punch-Drunk; Gallows Humor; 60 Minutes Interview, Punch-Drunk

Last night, on 60 Minutes, President Obama did an interview with Steve Kroft.  The interview is telling in many ways.  But the above clip, I think, underlines the seriousness of the issues I have with Obama.  People who didn’t like President Bush found many things to dislike, and I didn’t always agree with everything he did.  But to sit and laugh as you talk about what you personally have called the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, well, it’s no wonder the reporter asks you if you’re “Punch-Drunk.”

And “Gallows Humor” is not the best terminology to discribe keeping your sense of humor in bad times.  The definition of “Gallows Humor” is a type of humor that arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations; often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable.  Wow.  Really, Mr. President?  Is this what you want the people you are leading to feel is your assessment of our situation is a nation?

I feel better when he doesn’t talk.

A Few Random Thoughts

I’ve been thinking about a lot of things recently, here are some of them:

1. I enjoy watching old cartoons with my children.  One of the best things about “On Demand” cable is that we can watch The Flintstones or Scooby-Doo, Where are You? or old Looney Tunes cartoons that were the staples of Saturday mornings when I was a child.  They are still pretty darn funny, and there’s really nothing better than hearing the belly laughs kids give when they see something funny.  They don’t laugh like that at Hannah Montana or Sonic-X or whatever else is “kids programming” these days.  We watched classic Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 1930′s the other night and I guarantee they laughed more during those four cartoons (including the classics The Brave Little Tailor and Thru the Mirror) than they laugh during a 1/2 hour of regular Disney Channel programming.  Seems like the programming executives could learn something here.
2. I am convinced the iPod is one of the greatest inventions of all time.  When I was a teenager, I made mix tapes so I could enjoy all my favorite tunes.  I even had a “classic” one that we listened to all through my senior year of high school.  Classic songs by artists like OMD, a-ha, The Housemartins, Psychedelic Furs, etc.  I loved being able to listen to “my” music when I wanted to, without hearing commercials or yammering radio DJ’s.  I made mix tapes for the loves of my life, although it had to be a sign that I was finally going to get married to my wife because she received nearly 30 mix tapes in the year before we got married.  It had to be love.
   I received one of the first commercial CD burners (before they were standard in our computers) from my wife for our first Christmas.  The power of creating my own CD’s was even cooler than creating my own tapes.  I made a lullaby CD for my yet-to-be-born daughter (starting a tradition I have continued through the subsequent three children), my own Chrstmas CD’s, etc.  I was thrilled when advancing technology allowed us to create data cd’s full of music I had burned to my computer harddrive–now I could hold up to 300 songs on one CD!  I made classic mix cd’s full of my favorite genres: showtunes, film music, Disney songs, great pop music, etc.
   But all of this pales in relation to the power of the iPod.  I can’t put all my music on my 30GB iPod–I have nearly 80 GB in music, not counting the extra 40 GB of Christmas music I have–but I can create my own random playlists of favorite songs and enjoy them whenever I want.  And my car radio seemlessly interacts with my iPod so I can shuffle through songs at the touch of a button while sitting in traffic.  The sheer joy of having that much music available for me is just awesome.  The hard part is, I’m constantly skipping forward to hear what the next song will be!
3. I’m a huge fan of the Xbox 360.  I love being able to stream music and videos from my computer, to use Netflix instant streaming, and to play amazing games.  I’m currently playing Bioshock, which I got for Father’s Day last year (cool gift!), and am absolutely loving the graphics, the moral choices, the art deco goes to hell design of the underwater city of Rapture, the music, and the way it all sounds in digital surround sound.  When I get enough money to buy a new television, I will enjoy playing it in beautiful HD as well.  I am grateful that my friend gave me our Xbox 360 as a gift for the birth of my third child.  Best.  Baby Gift.  Ever.
4. The funniest show on television right now is The Office.  Last night’s Willy Wonka themed episode was masterfully done.  Second funniest show is How I Met Your Mother.  It gets funnier all the time, and it pays to pay attention–even the slightest sight gag can become a major joke.  I’m also really enjoying CSI: New York and the original CSI: right now.  I like NY because I’m a huge fan of Gary Sinise.  The man is a great actor and a great American.  I’m enjoying Laurence Fishburne on CSI:and the way the show is helping us see what we’ve become so familiar with over the years through his “new” eyes.
5. I am disgusted by what I continue to see happen in Washington, DC and believe we have never had a more hypocritical, inept, and foolish bunch of people running our country.  Seriously, they are giving the administrations of Ulysses S. Grant and Millard Fillmore a run for their money.  Does anyone there know what they are doing?
6. I do not think God has an iPod.  He doesn’t need to, because he gets the live music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc., every freaking moment.  When you have an entire eternity full of people singing to you, you probably don’t need to put on your headphones and listen to the latest offerings from iTunes.
7. Social networking sites are awesome.  I love reconnecting with old friends, keeping track of what’s going on in the lives of people I care about, etc.  But I am not going to do Twitter.  That almost seems a little too OCD.  If you want to know what I’m doing, just ask me.  I typically just put movie or TV quotes in my Facebook status anyway because I like to see if people can figure out what I’m talking about.  It’s funny when they don’t realize it’s a quote–because it makes my life sound even stranger than it really is.
8. I have the most amazing wife and kids in the universe.  Yes, they are better than yours.
9. I have been a bit obsessed with Alan Menken and Tim Rice’s modern “oratorio,” King David.  It has only been perfomed a handful of times.  Originally written to premiere at a huge amphitheater in Israel (the peformance was cancelled due to safety concerns), it was instead the premiere show at the reopening of the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York (the original home of the Ziegfield Follies).  The original concert recording was released in limited availability and I managed to snag a recording a few years ago.  It’s an amazing piece of work, with some phenomenal songs and performances.  I suggest you look it up.
10. I can’t believe how many people are reading my post on the gum commercial.  Yes, it’s the 3rd most popular result when you google the darn thing, but it’s kind of crazy.  I hit nearly 200 people here yesterday.  Crazy!

That’s all for now. New posts coming next soon on various subjects including religion, politics, and more.

The President in Pajamas? What a Sight!

Tags

Indoctrination, Nick Jr, Obama, Propaganda, Viacom

So the other day we were watching a show on Nick, Jr., called The Wonder Pets. It’s actually a pretty cute show, done in operetta style, where animals go rescue other animals.  I like it, and it’s a pretty creative show.   Part way through the show there’s a break and this cartoon starts playing.  I wish I could show it to you, but unfortunatetly, Nick, Jr. is owned by Vicaom and they are pretty strict about letting their stuff show up on YouTube.

Anyway, the cartoon starts with this: “Nickelodeon is proud to salute President Barack Obama.”  And a cute, almost cut-out caricature of our 44th President shows up on screen.  I’m okay at first, and then the narration begins:

Barack Obama is the first African-American to be President.  That is what’s called a historic event.
Leading a country is no easy task. So what does he do to relax you may ask?
He loves shrimp linguini and the chili he cooks. He also plays Scrabble; collects comic books.
He likes classical and hip-hop and jazz music too. He always goes shopping for the same type of shoe.
He reads lots of books and writes wonderful speeches. He goes on vacation and takes walks on beaches.
He loves basketball; it’s his favorite sport. In the White House backyard he’ll have his own court.
He reads bedtime stories to his daughters at night. The President in pajamas? What a sight!
Now you know the President better than before. Which leaves just one thing, when he sleeps does he snore?

By the time it was done, I had to push my jaw closed.  It had dropped open in sheer amazement.  Here, in the middle of programming for children the age of my three year old, was a huge propaganda piece about how awesome our new president is.  Which would have been fine with me if they had done the same thing for the previous president.  But they didn’t.  My two oldest kids were Nick, Jr. watchers when Bush was re-elected in 2004.  But there was no cartoon celebrating all the cute and wonderful things about this president.  And this is probably what made my blood boil.

I mean, seriously.  It’s bad enough that there are schools already named after Obama, in spite of the fact that all he has accomplished in the first month of his presidency is to drive the stock market to its lowest levels in 12 years and to put my grandchildren into debt, enact sweeping changes to our government to drive us ever closer to socialism.  It’s bad enough that one can’t turn on the news without hearing about how wonderful he is and about his next wonderful plan to save America.  It’s bad enough that the children’s book aisles have picture books, board books, junior novels all about his historic life.  Now we have cartoons celebrating him?  Something is wrong with this picture.

Allow me to add a few corrections to Nickelodeon’s great poetry about President Obama:

Barack Obama is the first African-American to be President.  That is what’s called a historic event.
Technically, he is half African-American.  His white mother and grandparents keep him from being entirely black.  But I’ll concede his election is a historic event.  I know this is so because I’ve been hearing about how historic it is every single day since last November.

Leading a country is no easy task. So what does he do to relax you may ask?
Yes, leading a country is hard.  It’s really hard when you’ve never had a real job and your only qualification for the job was the fact that you campaigned for the job.

He loves shrimp linguini and the chili he cooks. He also plays Scrabble; collects comic books.
We also know he loves arugala and $100/lb imported steaks from Japan.  My tax dollars pay for his expensive meals at the White House.  I get the new $3 meals at McDonald’s.

He likes classical and hip-hop and jazz music too. He always goes shopping for the same type of shoe.
I don’t really care about his shoes.  But I know he likes a  lot of great music, because he has big parties every Wednesday night at the White House.  Earth, Wind, & Fire, Stevie Wonder, and others have all partied at the White House.  And they eat those $100/lb imported steaks from Japan.  One of their favorite songs to have performed is a new version of “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”  It’s now called, “Brother, Can You Pay My Mortgage?”

He reads lots of books and writes wonderful speeches. He goes on vacation and takes walks on beaches.
One of his favorite writers is named Alinksy.  He wrote a book called “Rules for Radicals,” which seems to be the playbook by which Obama ran his campaign and is now running his administration.  As to whether or not Obama writes wonderful speeches, that is highly doubtful.  He has speechwriters.  And he only gives wonderful speeches if he has a teleprompter.  We know he likes vacations because he took one right after he got elected, when he flew Air Force One back to Chicago for the weekend.  And I saw all those pictures of him surfing in Hawaii when he was campaigning last summer.

He loves basketball; it’s his favorite sport. In the White House backyard he’ll have his own court.
Yes, the President has got game.  And the White House already has a court.

He reads bedtime stories to his daughters at night. The President in pajamas? What a sight!
Oh, man, he is so much better than me.  I only work 4 jobs to keep my family afloat and am sometimes able to read stories to my children before bed.  He runs the free world and still can be there for his little girls.  He truly is the One.

Now you know the President better than before. Which leaves just one thing, when he sleeps does he snore?
From the look his wife normally wears, I’m guessing Obama has to ask permission to sleep in the bedroom even if he doesn’t snore.

I’ve written to Vicaom to complain.  It won’t do much good, but I was able to express my concern.

Duane wrote the company that showed the dumb thing, but he knows in his heart they’ll just think he’s right wing.
The indoctrination of kids is just too darn much–next they’ll be serving “Obamwiches” for lunch.
Between all the praise and high accolades, you’d think that Wall Street would give him much higher grades.
The praises go on, in spite of what’s right, and to all of the spending there’s no end in sight.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go read to my children.  And me in pajamas, well, that’s more than a sight…

The Evolution of Gum

Tags

Creation, Evolution, Extra, Stupid Commercials, Wrigley

I’m not one of those people who look for evil in corporate America.  I’ve debunked the emails that go around saying this company gives their money to the devil, or this company is trying to ban religious broadcasting.  But every once in awhile, something happens that gets my hackels up.

A couple nights ago, I was watching television with Robyn.  A gum commercial came on, for the Wrigley brand Extra. It was clearly geared to a young audience, very cartoony and fun.  The commercial began with the question, “Want to know how long Extra gum lasts?” and proceeds to show the gum being chewed by an amoeba, then a fish, then a lizard, on and on to chimpanzee, then a neanderthal, then finally a skateboarding teen.  The tagline at the end was basically, “Extra lasts as long as it takes for an amoeba to evolve into a skateboarder.”

Well, this is insulting on two levels.  The first level is that they felt I was so stupid that even after clearly watching a commercial implying the gum lasted the billions of years evolution says it took for mankind to happen–they had to tell me it lasted that long.  I mean, really?  Is that not obvious?  Who was the focus group for this thing?  Why not just end the ad with “Extra-it lasts THAT long.“  Anyone, even someone who disagrees with evolution, will agree that a gum that lasts a billion years must be a pretty good gum.

The second level that insulted me was the fact that the marketing geniuses at Wrigley decided that it was okay to potentially offend more than half of their American audience.  Even if you don’t necessarily agree with the Biblical account of Creation, most faiths (Jewish, Muslim, Christian) do not accept evolution as the beginning of life.  And even among people who don’t have a faith background, I’d hazard many of them believe in some sort of Creation as opposed to Darwin’s theory.

As a Christian, I was somewhat taken aback by the commercial and its blazen promotion of something I so strongly disagree with.  Now, I know commercials don’t have to agree with my viewpoint (I don’t think, for example, that if I drink a particular beer I will be surrounded by beautiful women in bikinis, nor do I think that if I drive a particular car I will be better looking), and I certainly don’t think tv shows need to hew to my philosophy (I’m not a big fan of shows that force me to watch gay people kiss, etc.–fine if they want to have a gay character, but do I really have to watch two guys express their love for each other?).

But I do think that companies that rely on the dollars of people like me, people who believe that God created the heavens and the earth, that he formed man from the earth and breathed into him the breath of life–well, I think those companies might be a little more aware that their commercial might put off a large portion of their audience.  Sure, they may not care, but it behooves me to let them know.  I’m not an angry boycotter–who’s gonna boycott Wrigley?  They make almost all the gum in the entire world, and if you don’t chew their gum, your stuck with some weird bark/maple syrup homemade thing that pioneers chewed. 

But I do think if you’re not a fan of a commercial that suggests we evolved, well, let Wrigley know.  Be nice, be courteous, be respectful.  But be truthful.  And then let them know that they didn’t have to spell it out.  We get it.  The gum lasts a LONG LONG time.

To get ahold of Wrigley, click here: http://www.wrigley.com/contact_us/contact_form.do

Here’s the commercial:

Buyer’s Remorse

Tags

Buyer's Remorse, Obama, Oops

An Obama Voter Express His Regrets

I think this pretty much sums it up.