The Strength of Our Flag

In a recently published study we see the strength of our flag. The study, LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF U.S. FLAG EXPOSURE ON REPUBLICANISM, was an eye opener. It makes many points on the positive effects of the flag on our political leanings. We have always known that our flag had an effect on how we feel. We have felt its power consistently throughout our nation’s short history. Francis Scott Key felt its power during the birth of this great nation. Our parents and grandparents felt its power when the stars and stripes were raised over Iwo Jima during WW2. We felt the power of old glory when it was rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center towers after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. This study proves beyond doubt that it is a truly powerful banner.

Here are a couple of good quotes from the study:

"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months,"

"A single exposure to a small American flag during deliberation about voting intentions prior to a general election led to significant and robust changes in participants' voting intentions, voting behavior, and political attitudes, all in the politically conservative direction," 

That study's findings argued that attending July 4 parades are more beneficial to the Republican Party -- they boost turnout of GOP voters, increase Republican patriotism and turn kids into Republicans.

I love this country and I love our flag.

Hugo

Revenue

Revenue: noun, the income of a government from taxation, excise duties, customs, or other sources, appropriated to the payment of the public expenses.

In the U.S. we have the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service).  The I.R.S. is the federal entity responsible for the collection of taxes. The taxes are then treated as revenue and used to pay for government and all the programs that we are privileged to have. Half of us pay all the taxes for the whole country in the form of income taxes. The other half for whatever reasons doesn’t pay anything. Perhaps that includes the unemployed, retired, disabled and of course we can’t leave this group out; the swindlers who play the system to have all their taxes refunded. That’s a huge problem and it will only get worse. The retired and the disabled are another problem that has to be addressed. The retired persons sector will only increase in numbers as time goes by. As everyone knows, the average lifespan of Americans has been growing for decades now. To wit, the longer the retirees live the longer they burden our government programs that are there to help them. For some time now it seems that the trend in illnesses that warrant disability has been on the increase. Maybe we are becoming a less healthy nation or is it that people have found ways to work the system to take advantage. This will lead to a smaller section of Americans paying a larger portion of the taxes. And in the current economic climate with 9.2 % unemployment the actual number might be about 40%. It doesn’t take a financial wizard or a mathematician to see that the bottom line isn’t a healthy one. It’s also easy to see that the development of new social programs or the extension and enlargement of existing programs by the federal government is a horrible idea. The federal government must learn to live within its means. That’s economics 101. 

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Get Me Out of Here

The leftists are at it again. This week the governor of California, Jerry Brown, signed a new bill into law. The new law will mandate teaching about gays in public schools. It doesn’t make sense to force any of our children to learn about gays. How is forcing our children to learn about gays something that should be taught in our schools. That subject should be left to parents to teach. Also, if it is to teach about the contributions that certain members of certain groups have made then the contribution should be the focus not the group that the person belongs to. If you focus on the group then the accomplishment diminishes. When the reason an accomplishment is noteworthy is because you belong to a certain group then that accomplishment isn’t as noteworthy. It’s like saying “well done, for girl”. The heart of the matter is that children should not be subjected to any part of the curriculum that their parents do not agree with. What’s next, math period one, transsexual education period two, and fetishes period three?  When will it stop? When is the move for teaching diversity going to reach its limit? I found this quote and I think it is very fitting.

"If children in other countries are learning math and science, and American children are learning about the private lives of historical figures, how will our students compete for jobs in the global economy?"

Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster (Los Angeles County), the vice chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Education.

 Keep out of our children's textbooks!

Get me a one way ticket out of here!

Hugo

Killing Grandma

Welcome to the real word “scare tactics”. Like the show of the same name, the democrats are scaring the heck out of unsuspecting Americans. I have seen the new anti-conservative attack ads and can’t, for the life of me, understand how they can be taken seriously. There is a particular ad that shows a man in a suit pushing a grandmother-looking person in a wheelchair while the announcer spews rhetoric and at the climax on the commercial the man shoves grandma off a cliff. Now, with the budget argument in D.C., all you see are democrats saying that they don’t know if soldiers will be paid or that seniors won’t get their social security check. The truth of the matter is that they will. There are many places where the government can make cuts before social security and soldier’s benefits are touched. Obama has created 40, 000 federal government jobs. That means that the government now has to pay a greater payroll than before. Obama has a net loss of 3.3 million jobs. That is what is truly scary.

Here is a quick solution; create jobs in the private sector and shrink the federal government. Creating jobs in the private sector create revenue. Creating jobs in the federal government creates a liability in the form of payroll checks. There is another somewhat quick solution; the government can sell land that it holds and create a revenue stream from that. They can also sell it for development so that it can lead to job creation. So let them kill grandma every day, but know that they are just blowing smoke. They are only looking out for themselves and their bank balances.

Hugo

Burka

Australia is contemplating a new law. More precisely, the state of New South Wales is reviewing a new law concerning the wearing of burkas in public. The police in New South Wales are asking for the power of law to compel women in burkas to remove their veils so that the officers can identify them. Now, of course, there are civil liberties groups involved. This is not without precedent. Both France and Belgium have passed laws that deal with this subject. In fact, France and Belgium’s laws are stricter than that proposed in Australia. I stand behind the state’s right to enforce a law and to write new ones when the need arises.

Any person who has traveled abroad knows that there are many different cultures and different laws that are specific to the land and the culture. The law of the land must be obeyed, no matter where you are. In particular, if you are in Muslim countries. So then why is it that a county should make exceptions to certain groups merely because they are from different cultures. The answer is; they shouldn’t. If a woman of any ethnicity or religion in any country wore a burka and that country had a law against the wearing of a burka the woman would have to abide by the law too. I would not think that any country would change its laws or choose not to enforce them just because the person breaking the law was a foreigner or an immigrant. I believe that immigrant should assimilate to their new land, not the other way around. They should learn the new culture and the new laws and become a true citizen. And in the case of Muslims, let’s say we listen to them in our land; will we be going to public stonings of women? Will we allow the beating of a woman? Will we further allow men to have a harem?  I believe that some Muslims are too arrogant and ignorant to see that western countries are more evolved than the Muslim countries that want to enforce Muslim law.

A man beating his wives

These two women were accused of prostitution.

The women were executed for that accusation.

I think Theodore Roosevelt said it best for our country:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

This is the mindset that all immigrants should adopt when in a new land. 

Hugo

It’s the Economy, Stupid

Today Obama blamed our economy and unemployment woes of Greece, Europe and acts of god. What the hell is this guy smoking? It is not Greece or Europe and definitely acts of god. It is, in fact, acts of government; his government. Then he alludes to Americans being either ignorant or stupid. He said the average American doesn’t read the Wall Street Journal or other business and economy publications. Therefore, Americans don’t know how to interpret the jobs report or the economic reports. True, most Americans do not read those publications, but we don’t need to. We can see that that in our neighborhoods. We see all the closed business and the unemployed people. It is quite simple for us. We don’t need a multi-millionaire to tell us we don’t have jobs. We don’t need to have them tell us that everything costs more and most of us are making less money. We have a clear vantage point. Up close and too damn personal for some rich bastards to tell us about it. I may not be the most politically knowledgeable person to write about this, but I am smart enough to take offense at Obama’s elitist jabs at the “average American”. This seems to me to be the most out of touch administration ever. They have their agenda and they want to have their way at our cost. They are too busy trying to give animals and trees the same rights as human beings. But that’s another story for another day. There is only one thing that should matter; it’s the economy, stupid.

Hugo

Obama, Get off Your Knees

I really don’t know what this president is doing. I think that most of the country doesn’t know what he is doing either. What’s worse is that most people think that Obama himself doesn’t know what he is doing. He seems to be in way over his head. Most of the decisions he makes haven’t made much sense. There so many examples of it, but I will address his latest.

Obama has asked the Supreme Court to stay the execution of convicted murderer and rapist Humberto Leal Garcia Jr.  Humberto Leal Garcia Jr. happens to be a Mexican citizen. Obama wants to stay the execution until the Congress passes a piece of legislation that would make the state of Texas honor an international treaty. That treaty says that foreigners arrested must be allowed to call their consulates. In 2008 the Supreme Court ruled the U.S. or any state could be made to enforce an international treaty because there was no U.S. law to compelling them to. So, you guessed it, Obama wants to have congress pass laws to protect foreigners and foreign interests. Has he not seen the news in the last 30 years? Has he no idea that countries around the world wouldn’t think twice to execute any American they deemed guilty of much less than murder and rape. Is his nose that high in the air as to not see what is right in front of him? Or, perhaps he is on his knees and the world leader in front of him is blocking his view. Obama, should leave Texas and other states to carry out justice as they see fit. Obama should concern himself with federal matters, like maybe the 9.1% unemployment and the fact that the country is broke. Let Humberto ride ol’ sparky and be done with it.  What will Mexico do? Close their borders to us? That would solve the illegal immigration problem and then there will be more jobs for Americans. Will they stop their trade with us? Heck no. They need the U.S. more than the U.S. needs their poorly made products. Will they deny visas to tourists? Another emphatic no, tourist dollars are a major source of revenue in Mexico. There doesn’t seem to be much of a down side here, on the contrary it looks like all up side.

Hugo