"The Blob"

I’m pretty old, and I went to quite a few horror movies when I was a kid. Virtually, every Saturday afternoon of my young life was spent watching werewolves, vampires, space creatures and various members of the Frankenstein family on the “silver screen”. I watched Godzilla decimate Tokyo and Saucer-men destroy Washington D.C. while I was eating Milk Duds and box after box of hot buttered popcorn.

I remember a film called “The Blob”.  The Blob was a formless glob of outer space mucous that came out of a meteorite that landed near a small town and, over the course of the movie, absorbed countless innocent citizens as it devoured everything in its path. The more the Blob absorbed, the larger it became, and if left unchecked, it would devour the entire world! When the Blob was first seen, it was only the size of a softball; before its destruction, it was absorbing entire buildings filled with people. The Blob kind of reminds me of the way a cancer metastasizes when left unchecked; exponential growth that eventually destroys and consumes its host.

Horror movies are fun and a way to face danger without any real threat to our well-being. The Blob wasn’t real, Godzilla wasn’t really destroying Tokyo and the Saucer-men weren’t really attacking Washington; it was all make believe!

This week, in Washington D.C., America is getting its first real look at Obamacare, or as it is written “The Affordable Care Act”. The bill that had to be passed before we could find out what was in it, is now showing its face to Mr. and Mrs. America and it hasn’t been pretty.

Several companies have announced that they were going to eliminate their healthcare benefits or cut hours of thousands of hourly employees in order to cope with all of the government mandates they face under Obamacare.

Businesses aren’t the only ones who are facing these extra expenses and mandates. Just two days ago, a gentleman on FOX NEWS said in an interview that the cost of his self-paid health insurance went from $300 per month to $900 per month; a huge increase for a family to deal with.

Oddly, when Mr. Obama was touting his healthcare plan, he said healthcare premiums would go down, yet they are rising in an exponential way. Obamacare is beginning to metastasize before the eyes of every American, growing at a rate we cannot keep up with.

The crippling costs of this program threatens the very existence of America’s economic stability, yet the President, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi continue to endorse this “Blob” that is beginning to devour America.

In an effort to restore economic stability and sanity to our fiscal state, the Republican House has offered a bill to the Senate to extend the debt ceiling with the proviso that Obamacare is defunded, thus giving America a chance to recover some economic stability in these most trying times.

Senator Ted Cruz has filibustered in the Senate in an effort to reach those who will recognize the debacle that Obamacare will inflict on the American people.

Obamacare cannot be allowed to metastasize to the point of “destroying its host”, the United States of America, or we are all going to be “absorbed”!!

"Blamer-in-Chief"

It was 50 degrees this morning when I went out to do my crossing guard job today. The cool temperature reminded me that autumn is only a few weeks away and certain preparations will soon have to be made. Air conditioners will be removed from my windows, furnace will be checked, deck will be cleared, lawn mower will go into my shed and the snow thrower will come out along with my shovels.

Each season brings change that must be dealt with, and those seasons come every year; winter, spring, summer and fall are never a surprise to any of us. The routines we each go through are repetitive and necessary to prepare for each season’s differences. I have never had a year without a winter, summer, spring or fall; have you?

Were any of you surprised to see cold temperatures in January, or heat in August; I think not. We know those things will happen and we address them accordingly.

Every year our government faces the obligation of designing a budget; this is a mandate that is supposed to be followed under certain precepts in our Constitution. Strangely, our Congress has been very lax in its obligation to fulfill this duty. We are once again being asked to extend the “Debt Ceiling” so the government can continue to function, and once again, it seems the Congress is not fulfilling its obligation to confirm a budget.

In the last 5 ½ years we have not had a budget passed by our Congress! This is ludicrous and irresponsible action from our elected representatives.

The United States has been operating on very shaky fiscal ground due to excessive entitlements, pork spending and a health care initiative that threatens to bankrupt the entire economy.

Since the last mid-term election, the Republican controlled House of Representatives have submitted budgets to the Democrat controlled Senate. Every budget proposal from the House of Representatives have been dismissed without regard by the Harry Reid controlled Senate, along with the budgets submitted by the Obama White House; although the Obama budgets didn’t receive even one vote in favor of acceptance.

President Obama made a statement last week accusing the Republicans of obstructionist action in regards to a new Federal Budget. Once again, Mr. Obama is suffering from a loss of memory when it comes to who is actually responsible for the lack of a Federal Budget; or he is once again resorting to political name calling to deflect the blame away from his Democrat controlled Senate.

This situation, like all situations that cause the Obama Administration to look poorly, is being blamed on someone or something other than the failures of Barack Obama and his inept leadership in the face of every crisis. The failure of a budget rests solely in the lap of the Democrats and Barack Hussein Obama, and nowhere else; recent history PROVES this.

Since his first day in office, Barack Obama has yet to accept responsibility for any actions that have gone awry; he blames and that is all he does.

The real question is this; “When will Barack Obama behave like a President?”

"Sorry About That, Mr. Putin!"

Do you know anyone who tries to be something that they aren’t? I have known people who pretend to be wealthy, but don’t have enough money in the bank to finance the purchase of a candy bar. I know some people who think they are wonderful singers, yet they couldn’t carry a tune in a basket.

I used to watch a television show called “Get Smart” starring Don Adams. The show was a satire of the “Super Spy” genre; you remember, James Bond, Matt Helm and the Avengers, all of which were fearless and able to confront any villain in their paths.

The hero of “Get Smart” was Maxwell Smart, an agent who tripped through every assignment with the aplomb of an oaf. When Max confronted an opponent, he would tout his heroic prowess with great vigor. When his villain was a large, dangerous figure, he would say something like, “I can destroy a gorilla like you with one deadly judo chop”; then Max would strike the giant several times, never making a dent in the formidable hulk. Max would then say something like this as he put his arm around the undaunted monster, “I hope you weren’t offended by that gorilla remark”, knowing he was about to get thrown across the room. Max was always pretending to be fearless, when in reality, he knew he was in over his head in a bad situation.

John Wayne always played the hero, and he looked the part at 6’ 4” and well over 220 lbs., a formidable figure to confront. My Dad knew a man who had dealings with “Duke” Wayne and he told my father that “The guy on the screen was the same as the guy that you meet on the street; a real tough guy!” John Wayne could handle himself with no help; he was never trying to be something he wasn’t.

The United States is now in a serious situation in the Middle-East as our president, Barack Hussein Obama, is contemplating military involvement in Syria. Presently, he is trying to find allies to support his efforts to interfere in the Syrian civil war and he has not been too successful in his efforts. England has already refused to back Obama, and Russia has already warned him that they would be supporting the standing government of Syria and told Obama there would be severe consequences if Obama decides to intervene in the conflict.

The only “military victory” Obama can actually tout is the killing of Osama bin Laden and really nothing else.

In the past, Obama has done quite a bit of “sabre rattling” about Iran and Korea, but has never followed through on anything, showing a lack of nerve and resolve to the rest of the world.

Now Mr. Obama wants to play “tough guy”, but his reputation doesn’t back his new persona. Vladimir Putin knows Obama’s track record and he feels he can stand “toe to toe” with Obama and the President will “fold up like a $2.00 lawn chair” if he is pressured. I believe Putin is correct about our President; he is much more “Maxwell Smart” than he is “Duke Wayne”.

America is a “war weary nation” and Congress is not in huge support of Obama’s “red-line” policy toward Syria, yet Obama has intimated he would proceed without Congressional support, but he now seems to be wavering in his resolve.

Perhaps his next statement will be “I hope you weren’t offended by my threat to bomb your nation, I was only kidding!!”