Lighthouse Patriot Journal

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September 17, 2008 Posted by Keith Lehman | Announcements, Sticky Post | | No Comments Yet

A Praise and Annnouncement for Patriot Post – Fellow Patriot Mark Alexander and Staff

Mark Alexander sent out an announcement that I would like to pass on here [October 8th 2009 …

!cid_part15_07080300_02050301@earthlinkFellow Patriots, we made some significant changes this week at The Patriot Post. When I launched The Patriot as The Federalist back in August of ‘96, I did so with the mission of advocating for individual liberty, restoring constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. … My objective was to provide grassroots conservatives across the nation with a brief, informative and entertaining analysis of relevant news and policy matters from reputable research, advocacy and media organizations. … Obviously, if we were to have any success with our mission and objectives, we would need an outstanding group of Patriots to manage every aspect of the organization. In addition, we would need an abundance of sound advice.

Read more »

October 9, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Advocacy, Announcements, Citizen Journalism, Conservative, Constitution, Patriotism, Politics & Political Science | | No Comments Yet

Broken Promises: Government Transparency and Accountability

Government Accountability – A Thing of the Past

elizabeth warrenHarvard professor, Elizabeth Warren, Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Panel states that financial institutions in the government bailout that amounted to $700 billion through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and at least $200 billion has disappeared into the financial system with no knowledge where it went or what it was used for. In other words, there is not only no transparency as candidate Barack Hussein Obama promised, but there isn’t accountability either. But what could anyone expect from an administration whose Secretary of Treasury, appointed by President Obama and approved by the lame Congress, is a tax evader.  In respect to taxation, the middle class are getting the shaft – far from the campaign rhetoric of one Barack Hussein Obama. In regards to the banks who received bailout funding, Rolfe Winkler reports that:

thirty-three TARP recipients missed their scheduled payments

Folks, I don’t know about you, but this is an example of how inefficient our government has become and how carelessly they handle the people’s tax funding provided for operation of our government. It also indicates how banks will foreclose on your home because you fall behind in payments, but they are behind on government payments of their own.

Do you really want to trust this government with your health care?

The government, with the help of special interest groups, has botched Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – and still people think the government can do a better job in the private sector. For decades, since the Franklin Roosevelt era the government has conveniently and quietly intruded upon the private sector of banking and investment institutions under the name of the Federal Reserve, and according to Ron Paul – there isn’t any oversight concerning that unconstitutional act of Big Government, just as Lyndon B. Johnson extended the New Deal in the name of the Great Society and furthered the socialist agenda of the Democrat Party. President Obama and his associates are now accelerating that endeavor.

Read more »

October 9, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Business, Economy & Budgeting, Government Watch, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Spending & Waste, Taxation | | No Comments Yet

American Health Care: We Need Ideas and Realistic Solutions, not Political Diatribe and Agenda

Finally a Suggested Solution Making More Sense than what Congress Proposes

Martin Feldstein wrote October 8th, A Better Way to Health Reform

The American health-care system suffers from three serious problems: Health-care costs are rising much faster than our incomes. More than 15 percent of the population has neither private nor public insurance. And the high cost of health care can lead to personal bankruptcy, even for families that do have health insurance.

Read more »

October 8, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Economy & Budgeting, Foreign Policy, George W. Bush, Government Watch, Health Care, Income Redistribution, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Sociocrats, Spending & Waste | | No Comments Yet

Afghanistan Situation: Overlooking the Details and Reality

One of the problems of the Vietnam War was that it was conducted from Washington by bureaucrats and office-chair generals instead of by the field commander and thus the policy of enemy body count marked successful military campaigning – that and the fact that the media turned the public view of the war negative through bias and untruthful reporting of the situation. The other thorn in the side of victory was the media. I guess the sociocrats are right, some things don’t change …

When one starts to read anti-war rhetoric in a blog (Pheisty Blog) instead of the usual support the troops rhetoric – something is amiss and tends for one to step back and take a longer look at the possibility that something was missed. The Obama Nation administration who whined about troops unnecessarily a part of a war that America should not have been involved with, have overlooked, forgotten or just plain ignored the fact that America was attacked by a lethal, fanatical world organization (Islamic fascists) who not only fight physically, but economically, through cyberspace propaganda and treachery, as well as ideological banter promoting the concept that the war was lost before it even began. Basically they use our policies and procedures against us. This administration is not listening to its field commanders, but instead the buffoons in the cabinet and czar staff that proclaim they know better than those who are professional soldiers and military strategists.

Read more »

October 8, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Anti-Terrorism, Barack H. Obama, Foreign Policy, Support Armed Forces, War Against Islamic Facism | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch: Health Care, Cap-and-Trade, Millennium Development Goals

The pitch for a bad, unconstitutional program continues in the health care reform arena, Heritage Foundation’s Robert Moffitt wrote …

SaintObamaIn his address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he and his allies know how to spend your health-care money better than you do. It’s a matter, you see, of ’shared responsibility’: You share your dollars with the feds, and the feds are responsible for making your decisions. … On ’shared responsibility,’ the president brooks no dissent. ‘Unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek — especially requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions — just can’t be achieved,’ he said. ‘That’s why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance.’ This requirement is known as the ‘individual mandate.’ The president’s proposal is historic — though not in a good way. Never before has Congress forced Americans to buy a private good or service. In fact, for those with a traditional understanding of the Constitution as a charter of liberty (as opposed to the ‘living’ version), the list of Congress’s powers in Article I, Section 8, grants it no authority to require any such thing. … Requiring everyone to buy government-specified health insurance, whether they need it or not, is an unacceptable violation of personal liberty. It is a way of taxing healthy people without calling it a tax. Since that is an irresistible temptation to politicians, the list of required benefits would be certain to keep expanding. The choice between freedom and responsibility, as the president and his congressional allies portray it, is a false choice. We can and should have both.

Read more »

October 6, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Congress, Economy & Budgeting, Foreign Policy, Government Watch, Health Care, Income Redistribution, Legislation, Presidential Authority | | 1 Comment

Washington Post Offers A Chance To Become a Paid Pundit

Washington Post is offering a chance to win a spot as a pundit through a sponsored contest pitting each other in competition to be a Washington Post columnist receiving $200 per post and a chance to be a professional citizen journalist.

The offer ends on October 21st at midnight.

You enter by sending a short opinion essay concerning a news topic and a paragraph about yourself and why you should win. Ten prospective pundits will be chosen for the final debate and face off in a test of skills that a columnist must possess.

Each will have a deadline and hold their own video, as well as field questions from Post readers. After each round of the competition a panel of personalities and readers will determine who final winner will be by process of elimination.

If you are interested in such an opportunity, cooltext91126296

October 6, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Announcements, Citizen Journalism, Journalism | | No Comments Yet

Tax Refunds for Illegal Aliens Deported and the Obama Nation Foreign Policy Doctrine

Joan Bartelson, Friend of LPJ, sent me information the other day in reference to the report that illegal immigrants who have been deported back to Mexico are receiving their tax refunds via US postal service. As I continue keep in the back of your mind that American citizens are out of work, the government is in serious debt and the FACT that the last annual estimate of overall cost of illegal immigration totaled to the amount of $57 billion.

At National Review’s Blog Row – “The Corner”, Mark Krikorian wrote in September 28th posting, Get Deported, Get a Refund

MEXICO CITY—A partnership between a Pennsylvania accounting firm and a Mexican human rights group aims to seek out Mexicans recently deported from the United States and offer to help them file for thousands of dollars in tax refunds. The Center for Border Studies and Human Rights Promotion, based in the border city of Reynosa, already has registered 15 such migrants as of Sept. 11, just days after the program’s Sept. 3 launch, the center’s legal coordinator, Felipe Gonzalez, told BNA. Undocumented Mexican migrants may have worked illegally in the United States, but they are still entitled to their share of U.S. tax refunds, say officials with the center and with Warminster, Pa.-based accounting firm Warminster Financial. …

April-15thNow tell me again, those of you have stated so, how income tax (16th Amendment) should not be repealed and forever thrown in the trash bin. There are those what have been steadily against the Fair Tax Act bill and who have prevented it from getting out of committee (despite extensive research and evaluation by leading economists in America) to be voted upon (and approved) to replace the inefficient, intrusive and unfair tax system that our national government and some states cling to. This entry alone is a testament that the government cares little about watching the taxpayers’ funding and making sure that the federal government (and state governments) is running as efficiently and frugally as possible. Good for government and good for the people. As Mark at the aforementioned blog wrote:

Of course, the IRS has given tax ID numbers to millions of illegal aliens who criminally acquired a social security number so they can get refunds, so, heck, why not mail them checks after they’ve been deported, too?

Read more »

October 4, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Afghanistan, Amnesty Issues, Barack H. Obama, Congress, Foreign Policy, France, George W. Bush, Government Watch, Illegal Immigration, Income Redistribution, Iran, Law Enforcement, Law, USA, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Presidential Authority, Propaganda, Spending & Waste, Taxation, Voting | | 1 Comment

Govt Watch: Government Give Aways, Health Care and the Economic Crisis – October 2009

Despite an increase in the outcry against the health care legislation that Democrats propose – they steadily plod forward. The people didn’t want it when Hillary initiated it, why is Obama’s sociocrat plan any different?

Mark Alexander, Patriot Post wrote [October 2nd 2009, Vol. 09, No. 39]:

April-15thSen. Max Baucus (D-MT) certainly doesn’t think so. Using a tried-and-true leftist tactic — two steps forward, one step back, gaining position under the guise of “losing” ground — Baucus re-grouped by championing his health care bill, the core of which rests on mandatory health insurance and massive Medicaid spending. How massive? Weighing in at $1 trillion, the bill is threefold the total cost of Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs of the ’60s. Democrats want to cover everyone up to 33 percent above the federal poverty level (about $30,000 for a family of four), adding more than 11 million new bodies to Medicaid rosters by 2019. The total covered would be 70 million people, or roughly one-quarter of America’s population. Oh yeah: “Everyone” includes illegal aliens, or so say at least 21 House Democrats who signed a statement from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus affirming the same. The Congressional Anglo Saxon Caucus has yet to weigh in. As an added bonus, those not covered under Medicaid must purchase health insurance (the so-called “individual mandate”) or face fines up to $25,000 and/or one year in prison for tax evasion. You may recall the “individual mandate” as the “not-really-a-tax” tax (an IRS “excise tax,” to be precise), which President Barack Obama lamely defended last week when confronted by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos with his promise not to raise taxes on middle class families “by a single penny.” At $1,900 per person for the tax-that’s-not-a-tax, and not withstanding his creative wordsmithing, Obama would be into most Americans for a couple hundred thousand pennies’ worth of broken promises.
However, since entitlements are leading the charge toward national bankruptcy with the lion’s share of the nation’s $12 trillion debt and $100 plus trillion in existing un-funded liabilities, isn’t it required of citizens to ask whether more entitlement spending is warranted when we can’t even fund existing programs? This question is even more relevant at the state level, where all but two states face either substantial or severe shortfalls. Notably, Medicaid is on average the second largest element of state budgets, trailing only slightly behind K-12 education. … Sens. John Rockefeller (D-WV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) both promised to raise amendments to the Baucus bill adding — you guessed it — the “public option.”

Read more »

October 3, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | American History, Barack H. Obama, Congress, Constitution, Cost of Living, Economy & Budgeting, Employment, Government Watch, Health Care, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Poverty, Spending & Waste, Voting | | 3 Comments

Fishing Knot, 2010 Tackle and Peninsula Fishing Report – October 2009

For many years now I have used the Palomar Knot – and old reliable where the line has broken on occasion – but never the knot. The Palomar in the Knot Wars of BASS magazine was the winner in 2008.

The Fish-n-Fool Knot [photo below courtesy of NAFC magazine] shines when using mono line and does well with fluorocarbon and braided lines as well. Presently the Palomar and Fish-n-Fool knots are being tested to see which will determine the winner for 2009. It should be a close tie if the Palomar doesn’t win.

Fish-N-Fool Knot

Fish-N-Fool Knot

  1. Run the tag end through the hook eye twice, then bring it up the main line before forming a loop.
    2. Run the tag end through the loop five times.
    3. Lubricate the line, and then pull the tag end to tighten. The knot will tighten up the line from the hook eye.
    4. Finish by sliding the knot down to the hook eye, after wetting once more.

Read more »

October 3, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | From My Desk | | 1 Comment

Govt Watch: The Pulse of the Nation and the Obama-Congressional Fiasco of Economic Endeavors

XMNT_053A little early to be discussing matters concerning the holiday known as Christmas, but Bob Unruh wrote in his article – Guess Who’s Now Banned from Capitol Christmas Tree

Our government, the part called -

U.S. Forest Service has banned the name of Jesus to be used in decorations being assembled by children in Arizona for a blue spruce from the state that will become the Capitol Christmas Tree this year, and a legal firm is challenging the censorship.

The Alliance Defense Fund organization has sent a letter to the Arizona state and federal morons that includes Arizona Governor Janice Brewer to stop enforcing such a prohibition.

First, whether people celebrate the Christmas season with the traditional Santa Claus or the celebration of the Nativity – or both; the holiday is called CHRISTmas for a reason! That reason is a celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who later was named Jesus the Christ. In addition to this, Saint Nicholas has been honored by his kindness towards children in his life and legends and traditions developed towards the Santa Claus of today – the tradition originating in Europe (Father Christmas) and carried to the United States of America in the youth of our established nation. The only ones complaining are atheists, which makes up about 1% of the population, if even that. The others are liberal-socialist do-gooders and people who enjoy getting into other peoples’ affairs and honoring a minority’s perceived right over a majority peoples’ rights. Because of America’s diversified religions stemming from the fact that people are free to choose what faith they believe or even choose to believe in nothing – but their rights end when they step on other citizens’ rights. It is a simple and workable rule of thumb if the sociocrats were really interested in being truly fair. It seems that the major complaint is that Jesus of Nazareth purported founder of Christianity has been deified to where he has been worshiped in lieu of the one true God in the ideology of monotheism and religions such as orthodox Hebrews (Jews) and Islam.

Read more »

October 1, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | 1st Amendment, Barack H. Obama, Big Brother, Congress, Economy & Budgeting, Government Watch, Spending & Waste, Taxation | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch: Health Care Legislation Update – October 1st 2009

Senators working on writing (rewriting) a healthcare bill rejected a proposal to add a provision (amendment) to it that would reinforce the anti-abortion provisions already within the bill. The Senate Finance Committee voted 13-10 against the proposal.

Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, stated the reason was to ensure that restrictions for government health care would include abortion funding. One Republican, Olympia Snowe of Maine voted against the amendment.

Of course, Max Baucus, D-Montana voted against the amendment because he stated that the bill already incorporated federal law that bars abortion funding, except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. It would require health plans to keep federal subsidies separate from any funds used to pay for abortions in all other cases.

First of all, it is not the government’s business to condone nor use taxpayer funding for abortion – especially on the mass scale it has become.

Senator Baucus stated, according to NewsMax:

This is a healthcare bill. This is not an abortion bill. And we are not changing current law.

Democrats failed to include a government-run insurance option in the legislation. The Finance Committee is the last of the five congressional panels completing the work on the Obama health care endeavor. It looks like it probably won’t be scrapped or changed to something that would actually benefit citizens (and citizens only) and prevent government take over of a private sector issue.

Citizens must warn their senators and representatives in the US Congress who continues to uphold the movement toward bigger and bigger government, to expect to lose the next election. And maybe it is time that no single political party be allowed to be a majority – in some way or means where it becomes an amendment to the Constitution – like not raising or creating new taxation without two-thirds majority vote in Congress and signed by the President of the United States. A political party should never be allowed to hold more than 50% majority in Congress – this would alleviate what is happening in the Obama Nation administration where one political entity controls all three branches of government – through majority and stacking the Supreme Court with activist justices, like Sotomayor. Since there are three years left for the Obama administration to wreak more damage against constitutional law and freedom/rights of the American people – it is a scary future for America.

October 1, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Constitution, Government Watch, Health Care, Legislation, Politics & Political Science | | No Comments Yet

Lightside of Lighthouse: “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”

lighthouse_oval_cj_Joan Bartelson sends an email …

Now let me get this straight:
We’re going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose head says he doesn’t understand it,
passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it,
signed by a president that also hasn’t read it, and who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes,
overseen by a surgeon general who is obese,
and financed by a country that’s nearly broke.
What could possibly go wrong?

October 1, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Letters to the Editor, Light Side of Lighthouse | | No Comments Yet

Sometimes What President Obama Says and Does ….

As you recall, sociocrats like Nancy Pelosi described Washington gatherers in peaceful demonstration as a mob, among other descriptive names – her hypocrisy is only matched by her steady lies and propaganda diatribe … Investor Business Daily wrote:

nancypelosiplansImage1House Speaker Nancy Pelosi berated town hall and tea party protesters this month, tearfully warning they’d incite violence. Well, there’s been violence all right, at Pittsburgh’s G-20. But it wasn’t the tea partiers. It takes gall to characterize ordinary Americans, freely exercising their rights of speech and assembly in civic forums, as ‘mobs’ while ignoring a pack of leftist thugs now smashing a U.S. city. But that’s what Pelosi did, directing her righteous tocsin to the Norman Rockwell-like gatherings of Americans who opposed her expansion of government this past summer. ‘I have concerns about some of the language that is being used because I saw … I saw this myself in the late ’70s in San Francisco,’ Pelosi said, choking up, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘This kind of rhetoric is just, is really frightening and it created a climate in which we, violence took place and … I wish that we would all, again, curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made,’ she told a congressional forum Sept. 17 in a bid to silence peaceful protesters. Scroll ahead one week to the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh: Some 1,000 hooded rioters descend on the city waving signs such as ‘Smash the G-20‘ and ‘Eat the Rich.’ Many take ‘direct action’ to ‘challenge capitalism’ in what organizers brazenly call an ‘unpermitted protest.’ Unlike the town hall citizens, they didn’t ‘hurl’ statements — just tire irons, bricks and rocks, in an effort to damage private businesses. … This kind of violence is nothing new. It was found in Seattle in 1999, where former Obama administration green czar Van Jones got himself arrested. It was repeated at other summits in Turin, Italy; Washington, D.C.; and London. These leftists detest capitalism, abhor private property — and have ties to the Democratic Party. The unwillingness of the Democratic establishment to defend free markets emboldens the rioters. In destroying private property and impeding trade, these anarchists prove their aims aren’t democratic. They resemble the mobs of Castro’s Cuba who engage in violence against citizens to enforce conformity. The outrage of it all raises questions about Pelosi’s real agenda in her one-sided criticism of tea partiers. By criticizing only tea partiers and ignoring rampant thugs, she seeks to repress peaceful dissent. With that setup, it’s no surprise that there’s a mudslide of violence now rolling down on us from an energized radical left.

Read more »

September 30, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Anti-Americanism, Civil Protest | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch: Policy, Unions and Presidential Authority

Sarah Palin May be down – but not Out

Sarah-Palin_01Hardly had the announcement that Sarah Palin was running as Vice President Candidate with Senator John McCain and the media set the dogs on her. Unknown in the Washington circle she was something the political opponents hadn’t counted on – a grassroot conservative outspoken and spunky governor of Alaska won hearts immediately. She really didn’t deserve to be running as a candidate on the McCain ticket because John McCain had lost his Reagan ideology and joined the Washington elite as a fence rider – an example of a RINO.

The former Alaska governor has just finished her memoir and her publisher will release the book November 17th 2009 instead of spring of 2010.

Rush Limbaugh stated on his show a couple of days ago, according to NewsMax:

I have been pointing out that the Democrat Party and the media will tell us who they fear most – and they’re not afraid of Huckabee, and they’re not afraid of Mitt Romney and they’re not afraid of Rudy Giuliani. But they have gone out of their way to destroy Sarah Palin. They have gone out of their way to destroy me … I hope Sarah Palin sells five million copies of her book. It’s going to be interesting to see just what connection she does have with the voting base, conservatives and Republicans. I hope she sells five million copies. I hope it does great. It will be interesting to see because that will just send them into an even greater tizzy on the left.

Read more »

September 30, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Big Brother, Constitution, Foreign Policy, Government Watch, Health Care, Income Redistribution, Legislation, North American Union, Politics & Political Science, Presidential Authority, Spending & Waste, Taxation, Unions, Voting | | No Comments Yet

Myth Blaster: Martha Cothren and the Lesson to Her Students

Joan Bartelson sent this via email as a true story …

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . . . and colleges.
Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at
Robinson High School in Little Rock, did something not to be forgotten.  On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
‘Ms. Cothren, where’re our desks?’
She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’
They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’
She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period, still no desks in the classroom.
By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.  Now I am going to tell you.’
At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.  The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.  By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.
Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks.  These heroes did it for you.  They placed the desks here for you.  Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.  They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education.  Don’t ever forget it.’
By the way, this is a true story
.

Myth Blaster Verdict …

TRUE

Read more »

September 27, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Letters to the Editor, Myth Blaster, Patriotism, Support Armed Forces | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch: ObamaCare, Taxation and Internet/Media Regulation

ObamaCare

CaduceusI think that one of the worst parts of the Obama health care plan is that it is compulsory health insurance, which means some other underlying factors could be applied that folks didn’t think about. Based upon the history of sociocrats in America we could first of all know that they don’t stop until there is nothing else to gain or empower over others. That, of course, hasn’t happened to that degree – yet.

In a Cato briefing paper – All the President’s Mandates: Compulsory Health Insurance Is a Government Takeover by Michael F. Cannon, director of Health Policy Studies well written and documented and citing Larry Summers’ description of health insurance mandates as

public programs financed by benefit taxes

Mr. Cannon estimates that the tax rates would go to higher than 50% on fall upon the middle-income folks, the middle class as traditionally called. Of course, the cost would force Americans to switch from insurance coverage to the government coverage – and you know what will happen then.

Read more »

September 27, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | 1st Amendment, American Media, Barack H. Obama, Civil Rights, Government Watch, Health Care, Income Redistribution, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Taxation | | No Comments Yet

Lightside of Lighthouse – “You Can’t Fix Stupid”

Joan Bartlet is on a roll

Sure wish someone would invent something to keep the sun out of my eyes! …

You Can't Fix Stupid!

You Can't Fix Stupid!

September 25, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Light Side of Lighthouse | | No Comments Yet

Light Side of Lighthouse – Friend of LPJ Says Congressional Members Should Have Limted Terms

Joan Bartelson wrote:

Limit all US politicians to two terms.
One in office, One in prison.
Illinois already does this!

WSJ-photo

WSJ-photo

1230_blago_460x276burris

September 25, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Light Side of Lighthouse | | 1 Comment

ACORN Complete Investigation Demanded and Long Overdue

Kathleen Parker did her homework when she wrote – ACORN’s Overdue Unraveling published at Washington Post. The media has been downplaying the long history of scandals from an organization that began in humble beginnings because impoverished mothers in 1970 were trying to figure out how to purchase school supplies. It began in Arkansas at one of the mother’s kitchen table and ended up a multi-million dollar operation to help folks afford education and obtain employment. It is actually the story of so many large “non-profit” organizations that begin with a good idea and sound agenda and then, after the entity grows the agenda changes and more often than not the corrupt original idea only has to do with money and power. We have seen noble organizations turn into political power tools – Sierra Club, NAACP, and so on. Socialites and Sociocrats get in the picture or the organization has accomplished its original purpose and has to seek out a reason for existence or expand itself with false data and advocacy like the global warming theory or some of the programs of environmental organizations.

Government Reform Overdue

It is the same with our government – it outgrew what was originally intended and now, using the Congress as an example, makes it more important concerning the quantity of legislation rather than the quality – and legislating our liberties away in trade for false promises of security and life happiness.

Time for ACORN to Go

One certainly cannot blame an organization for the corruption of a small group or individual within an organization, although the sociocrats do that regularly, these occurrences (charges) that include voter registration fraud, embezzlement, cheating on income tax, aiding and abetting illegal immigrants, prostitution, tax evasion and child abuse – even the misleading media cannot ignore this. There may be some within the organization that truly perform what they believe and preach – but the name of the organization is now forever stained and must take its place in history and soon forgotten pages of books about corruption and deception. And, like other corrupt entities, the 44th President of the United States is much too familiar with ACORN and certainly shows his true character.

As Kathleen Parker put it:

When asked about ACORN, Obama feigned slight knowledge of the group’s federal funding, though did concede that an investigation of the pimp ‘n’ prostitute revelations was appropriate. Although the president is inarguably focused on more pressing concerns, his long history with ACORN is familiar. Just as Republican leaders should renounce those who race-bait and peddle anger, the Democratic Party’s leader should recognize that ACORN has become an obstacle to its own mission.

September 25, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | American Media, Corruption/Scandal, Crime, Op/Ed | | No Comments Yet

Random Thoughts on an Indian Summer Day

BayOnPeninsulaIndian Summer, a term that goes back farther than my life. It’s the title of a Brookes & Dunn song. It is a term that began in early America, as Wikipedia describes it:

An informal expression given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn in the northern hemisphere, typically in late October or early November, after the leaves have turned but before the first snowfall.

In some regions Indian Summer begins in September and the hot days of July and August are referred to as Dog Days

in reference to the position of Sirius, the Dog Star and the brightest star in the northern hemisphere – alongside the sun.

Indian Summer is also a festival time for some American communities.

The rest of the description can be read at Wikipedia entry – you get the picture, now to the random thinking …

Read more »

September 25, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Patriotism, Philosophy, Random Thoughts | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch: Obama Nation Administration Foreign Policy – September 24th 2009

War Against Islamic Fascism

Peter Finn, Washington Post reported that –

POW Gets TV Privileges - Abuse?

POW Gets TV Privileges - Abuse?

The Obama administration has decided not to seek legislation to establish a new system of preventive detention to hold terrorism suspects and will instead rely on a 2001 congressional resolution authorizing military force against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to continue to detain people indefinitely and without charge, according to administration officials. … The administration’s decision avoids a potentially rancorous debate that could alienate key allies at a time when President Obama needs congressional and public support to transfer detainees held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States for trial or continued incarceration. The administration’s decision avoids a potentially rancorous debate that could alienate key allies at a time when President Obama needs congressional and public support to transfer detainees held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States for trial or continued incarceration. …a spokesman for the department told The Washington Post in a statement. “Specifically, that the administration would rely on authority already provided by Congress under the [Authorization for Use of Military Force] as informed by the laws of war in justifying to federal courts in habeas corpus litigation the continued detention of Guantanamo detainees. The Administration is not currently seeking additional authorization.” … About 200 detainees have filed suit under habeas corpus, a centuries-old legal doctrine that allows prisoners to challenge their confinement through the courts. The government has lost 30 of 38 habeas cases in U.S. District Court, with the judges often citing a lack of evidence to justify continued incarceration. However, 20 of those detainees continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay because the government has not found countries willing to take them, according to statistics compiled by David H. Remes, a habeas lawyer.

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September 25, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Foreign Policy, Government Watch, Politics & Political Science, Prisoners, War Against Islamic Facism | | No Comments Yet

Sociocrat Shell Game – Political Games of Those Sworn to Uphold the Constitution and Serve the People

govt_we-the-people_b-wLast week Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), a Finance Committee Chairman, released a draft of the Senate health care bill – specifics still requiring completion. The draft references eligibility verification to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining benefits that the bill provides, which also includes prevention of their use of tax credits to help pay for health insurance. Of course, the Open Border folks immediately protested – their agenda being that Mexican nationals can come and go as they please – talk about a major national security and sovereignty issue.

FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) quoted Frank Sharry, Executive Director of the pro-amnesty group called American Voice [i] as saying:

Quite frankly, it seems now that the politics of health care reform is to dump on immigrants even if it means bad policy. [ii]
Luis Cortés, chief executive officer of Esperanza USA, argued that the inclusion of the verification requirement indicated “that the U.S. Congress is losing its moral barometer (Congress Daily, September 16, 2009). Furthermore, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) has scheduled a “national call on the state of health care reform” to discuss what people “can do to ensure that health care reform is inclusive of all communities and the President and Congress do not throw Latinos and immigrants under the bus.”

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September 24, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | American Media, Amnesty Issues, Barack H. Obama, Big Brother, Civil Protest, Civil Rights, Congress, Constitution, Corruption/Scandal, Economy & Budgeting, Elections, Family Values, Government Watch, Health Care, Illegal Immigration, Income Redistribution, Legislation, Mexican Invasion, Nanny State, National Security, Politics & Political Science, Presidential Authority, Propaganda, Sociocrats, Spending & Waste, Taxation, Unemployment, Voting | | No Comments Yet

Letter to Congress and Notice of Constitutional Party

A Letter to congressman [September 22nd 2009] …

I was astonished by Barack Hussein Obama’s speech to the United Nations
this morning. The main thrust of his speech seemed to be that food shortages, famines, and the associated civil unrest, are caused by climate change, specifically global warming.
This is just flat wrong.
While weather-related catastrophes can and do occur, there are mechanisms in place to assuage the damage, pain and suffering caused by such catastrophes.  Furthermore, such events are relatively rare. The main cause of famine and food shortage is government interference.  Whether through evil intent or incompetent bungling, most such events are the direct result of government policy or government neglect.
The President’s program in regard to climate change is ill-advised and will be mostly ineffective in modifying the climate, but will surely cause great disruption and pain in our country and our economy.
Please do not support such foolishness
.

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September 23, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Alerts, Amnesty Issues, Barack H. Obama, Congress, Government Watch, Illegal Immigration, Legislation, Letters to the Editor, Politics & Political Science | | No Comments Yet

Bringing in the Reformation Age of America

dont_tread_on_meThere has been bilge water going around in cyberspace and the established media that Republicans, the losing majority of Congress, was major participators of the big September 12th march on Washington and that great moment in history, either ignored or chagrined by mainstream media represents a new wave of patriotism, standing upon principles and true unification. It was purely non-partisan – something that sociocrats just don’t get, although I am certain a portion that participated are supporters of the GOP. Overall, they were Americans who are fed up with the way elected officials treat voters, the way voters blindly vote, and generally that the founding principles of our government is quickly disappearing – limited government, et cetera. It was against non-responsible legislation, against socialism in America, against taxation that is unfair, intrusive and killing America economically. It was the reenactment of the Boston Tea Party or the Whiskey Rebellion – but a nonviolent revolution, something the media made fun of and called the Americans protesting the mob. The revolution is not to create a new nation or imagine something new – but reinstate the democratic republic for which this nation was founded and what made it so great. September 12th represented true unity, not the false promise of politicians.

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September 23, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Advocacy, Barack H. Obama, Big Brother, Civil Protest, Constitution, George W. Bush, Government Watch, Illegal Immigration, Legislation, Politics & Political Science | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch – Economy and Big Government

Joey at Pheisty Blog is great in her posting: Free Market Destroyed by General Motors

We continue to hear from Obama that his involvement in healthcare will create “choice and competition”.  He says that government control will lower costs.  You don’t have to look any further than the automobile manufacturers to see how false this hypothesis is. The great thing about our capitalist system is that the free market helps make companies leaner and more competitive.  If you don’t do things smarter and cheaper than your competition you will not survive.  … General Motors should have been allowed to cease operations.  Upper management allowed the unions to negotiate contracts that were, and still are, wholly unsustainable.  Early retirement at 50 years old with a defined pension and full healthcare for life is ludicrous.  It was bound to catch up with them sooner or later. … When government takes over a company, it’s no longer survival of the fittest but survival of the most connected.  Just like what has happened in government run education, watch for prices to go up and quality to go down.  And because you are subsidizing General Motors with your tax dollars, it will become harder for other companies to compete and harder for you to have any choices whatsoever- Just like government education. The latest promotion by General Motors is a great example of how a company operates when its largest investor (us) has unlimited resources and even the ability to print money out of thin air.  You now get to drive a car for two months or return it if you aren’t satisfied.  Only because GM has the full backing of the federal government (us) can they even attempt such an offer. Take it from someone who currently has three Chevys in the driveway-  It will be a cold day in Hades before I ever buy another GM product

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September 22, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | American Media, Barack H. Obama, Congress, Cost of Living, Economy & Budgeting, Elections, Employment, George W. Bush, Government Watch, Health Care, Legislation, Politics & Political Science, Spending & Waste, State Government | | 2 Comments

Yet Another ACORN Scandal – Is This the Final Straw?

acorn_fbi_081016_mnGood news – ACORN has finally enacted their last scandalous action. ACORN will not be part of the Census. The Senate and the House will vote to stop funding this organization, and hopefully it will go bankrupt soon. Good riddance.

FOX News and other networks showed the video footage where ACORN staffers were providing advice to a prostitute and pimp on how to set up a brothel. In addition, ACORN staffers were part of a child prostitution ring using girls from a foreign country, girls reportedly as young as 12 years old. Beginning with being caught violating election rules and laws and other scandals along the way – finally even the Democrats have to ensure that justice is served. Last week eleven ACORN employees were charged with vote fraud.

Is there anything the ACORN people won’t do?

ACORN had started as a community organization and thanks to Barack Obama and others, grew to spread across the United States with different chapters whose purpose was to help lower-income people get housing. Then they were picked to be part of the 2010 Census, and got their hands on the healthcare reform proposed legislation. ACORN is heavily involved with labor unions, especially in Louisiana.

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September 19, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Barack H. Obama, Congress, Congressional Committees, Corruption/Scandal, Crime, Government Watch, Legislation, Spending & Waste | | No Comments Yet

Enemies of Free Nations and Barack Hussein Obama Doctrine

ObamaForeignPolicyForDummies In 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved and the Russians renamed their country Russia, as it has been known in a long history. Then came the process of Russians retraining themselves to think freedom and seek liberties, as well as join the capitalist nations that for so long their leadership had discounted as evil capitalism, like the Democratic Party demonizes free trade, private sector businesses, promotes redistribution of income and continue the class jealousies used as a tool to cause the workers of a nation to believe they are for the little guy. The domestic woes of Russia that occurred after 1991 have been blamed on unrestrained capitalism, but in fact it is not. As Richard M. Salsman wrote in an August 2000 article entitled The “Crony” in Russian “Capitalism” is Socialism that -

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September 18, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Afghanistan, American History, Barack H. Obama, European History, Foreign Policy, Germany, Government Watch, Income Redistribution, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, National Security, Near East, Palestine, Politics & Political Science, Propaganda, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sociocrats, Syria, Taxation, War Against Islamic Facism, World History | | No Comments Yet

Govt Watch – Obama Nation – September 17th 2009

According to RealtyTrac, home foreclosures jumped 18% in August compared to one year ago.

Meanwhile, the Senate congressional panel released healthcare plan without the public option, as Donna Smith and John Whitesides reported at Reuters

U.S. Senator Max Baucus unveiled his plan for a 10-year, $856 billion healthcare overhaul on Wednesday that would revamp insurance rules but does not include a government-run option backed by liberal Democrats. … Many elements of the plan were released last week and closely mirror President Barack Obama’s proposals to overhaul the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system, his top domestic priority. … The Baucus proposal does not include a controversial government-run “public” insurance option but calls for the creation of non-profit cooperatives to create competition in the insurance market and reduce costs. The plan requires all U.S. citizens and legal residents to obtain health insurance and provides subsidies on a sliding scale to help people purchase coverage. Some 46 million people in the United States — nearly a sixth of the population — now have no health insurance. [i] Under the Baucus plan, insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and would be barred from offering limited-benefit plans or placing lifetime limits on coverage. … The bill does not require employers to offer health insurance, but companies with 50 or more full-time workers would pay a fee for employees who obtain policies subsidized by federal tax credits. The proposal also requires that health insurance providers collectively pay an annual fee of $6 billion starting in 2010, with other health companies making smaller collective payments to help fund the reforms in the bill. …

Can someone tell me how this will proposed reform health care bill addresses issues and actually be beneficial to American citizens?

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September 17, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Amnesty Issues, Barack H. Obama, Big Brother, Congress, Economy & Budgeting, Government Watch, Government, USA, Illegal Immigration, Legislation, Mexican Invasion, Racism | | No Comments Yet

Washington DC Protest Rally – National Tea Party Movement – Americans and Un-Americans

AP photo, Daily Mail-UK

AP photo, Daily Mail-UK

Eleven hours before I began to write this, the National Inflation Association released a video to Reuters of the Washington Tea Party Taxpayer Protest that occurred on September 12th 2009, while YouTube featured a four-star video depicting an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Americans who are part of the former silent majority that can no longer remain silent. Daily Mail (UK) released a story of it on September 13th who provided numbers between 1-2 million protestors. The leftist media has been depicting these grassroot Americans as neocons, mob, radicals, et cetera – but not Americans who were peacefully protesting, exercising their First Amendment rights like the sociocrats did constantly during the GW Bush administration, against large vehicles like the Hummer or fast-food restaurants and anything that constitutes freedom of choice. The grassroot Americans were out in numbers protesting runaway government spending, costly (in terms of dollars and free choice) socialist programs like ObamaCare, advocate limited government, overtaxation and the tax system itself and advocating the return of the freedom of choice and other freedoms lost in the process of turning America into a nanny state – an American government that doesn’t advocate a government by the people.

The tea party protests and town meetings had spread across the nation and the road to Washington DC for a concerted effort to wake up this White House administration and Congress, as well as people who believed that Obama’s promise for change was not what they thought it would be (they never really examined the details of just exactly what change he and his associates meant).

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September 16, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Advocacy, Civil Protest, Politics & Political Science, Spending & Waste, Taxation | | No Comments Yet

Patrick Swayze – Dancing Film Star – Remembering His Smile

Swayze_dog Patrick Swayze, the American actor, dancer and song-writer who dazzled movie viewers with his dancing in the film Dirty Dancing and his outstanding acting in Ghost, died September 14th 2009 at the age 57 after twenty months of fighting cancer.

Patrick Swayze was born on August 18th 1952 in Houston, Texas, the oldest child of Patricia Karnes (born 1927) who was a choreographer, dance instructor, dancer and Jesse Wayne Swayze, an engineering drafter.

He had two brothers, Don Kyle and Sean Kyle, both actors, and two sisters, Vicky Lynn and Bambi, who were adopted.

Swayze was athletic and talented in the arts. In high school he attended activities that included ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays.

He studied gymnastics at the Jan Cacinto College for two years and stayed in his hometown until he was 20 years old.

In 1972 he moved to New York City to complete his formal dance training at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools.

As seen in the picture at left – he loved his dogs, his wife and his Arabian horses – not in that order.
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September 15, 2009 Posted by Keith Lehman | Biography, Entertainment World, Obituaries | | No Comments Yet