Drunken Pumpkin

Just to start off I only think it’s fair to mention that I was raised as a Democrat. My Grandmother was president of her local International Chemical Workers Union for about a decade. So, I come to this with a bit of baggage, and it tends to tip me toward the Liberal side of things. Luckily, I carry an AK in the other hand, and that tips me more toward the middle.

If you look at the two present contendors for the Democratic nomination, it’s difficult to tell them apart. (Okay, if you look at their platforms it’s difficult to tell them apart.) Both talk a lot about change and giving out money willy-nilly. Big business is bad and our nation’s schools are churning out idiots. And I have to say, I agree with the sentiments. But we have a problem.

Obama’s plan to deal with our education problem is similar to something I’ve been saying for years; spend lots of money making smart little kids and you can spend less on them as they grow up. Hillary has pretty much the same thing to say on the matter.

And when they talk about the economy both talk about middle class tax credits and providing health care that everyone can afford and all these wonderful things. Both of them have the same agenda, but there’s a bit of a problem.

The problem is the language that they are using.

Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need.

The President can’t do that. Remember the last Political Primer? Tax code is a job for the Legislative branch, not the Executive. And Hillary isn’t much better:

End the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind.

Remember, Executive does NOT hold the purse strings, so she can’t do this. Nor can she revoke the bill, if that’s how you choose to read this statement.

The people that can do these things are members of the House and Senate. People like Hillary Clinton (D) New York and Barack Obama (D) Illinois, but they’ve never proposed that legislation.

I wish that Hillary and Barack were the first to pull this kind of subterfuge, but they aren’t. Every president I can remember campaigning has promised things beyond his power. (Remember, “Read my Lips, ‘No New Taxes!’”? Boy that was a crock.) And Senator McCain is no angel on this matter either, but we’ll get to him next time.

So, if you want my suggestion, wait until after the primaries are over and we know who is running, then write to the other one and remind them that the job they currently have is the appropriate jurisdiction to get their campaign promises fulfilled. Hell, give me a week and I’ll work up a letter you can download and email off to them.

We live in a republic, and the people that are in power are there at our request. Make certain they know what you expect, and if they don’t give it to you, get rid of them.

Tune in next time when we look at a Republican gnome.

The federal government insists it does it’s best to keep the traveling public safe and secure, but apparently dozens of federal inspectors failed to do that with their own credentials.

Aviation expert Denny Kelly says “the FAA badge of all the badges is probably the most dangerous of any other.”

An NBC5 investigation reveals over the past 5 years, 112 FAA aviation inspector badges have been stolen or lost.

Denny Kelly says “with that badge you can get in the cockpit in flight.”

Reported here

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At least 50 people in Kottayam district have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary.

Full story found here.

Now comes the mystery.

evangelist
died March 8, 1887

Righto, let’s recap Cicero. “Make sure you’re barking up the right tree, or you’ll just get pissed on by squirrels.” Got it? Good. Let’s move on.

In the United States we have three branches of Government; Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

The Legislative, at the federal level, is made up of two houses, Senate and the House of Representatives. They make the laws by bickering and trying out all of the stuff that they want to make illegal, just to make certain that it’s wrong. These are the folks that decide what the law of the land is, and how the money is spent. Keep that last bit in mind.

The Executive branch makes sure the laws get followed. Cops are part of the executive branch. You can tell why Bush wanted to be a part of this branch of government, it has “execute” in it. Anyway, at the federal level we have the president and his cabinet that are in charge. They make sure the laws get followed and can suggest legislation and have final approval on bills that come from Congress. The President cannot spend federal money. Seriously, if he wants a candy bar, he has to beg money on the street.

The Judicial branch interprets the law. They get that cool Judicial Review thing to see if laws are constitutional and all of that, but really, their job is to keep politicians out of jail and small time drug dealers watching cable.

Okay, there’s your bargain basement reminder of how our government works. It will get more messy as we go on, just like any other time you talk about politics, it’s hard not to get any on you.

Tune in next time when we look at our Democratic hopefuls.

The Presidential election is humming right along, even though there aren’t any official candidates yet. Okay, it looks like McCain is a candidate, but I rarely count Republicans. Anyway, with the avalanche of bullshit about to come flooding at us from those that wish to rule the free world, I thought it important to arm you against their insanity. In order to do that, we need to go all the way back to Rome, 2000 years ago.

Cicero was not only a Roman Lawyer and sidekick to Brutus, but he was also a teacher of Rhetoric, he taught people how to argue. (As a side note, that “wising up the average guy” is what got him killed.) Cicero claimed that any argument only had four possible turning points. But I don’t care about the first three here, the last of them is “Jurisdiction”. He said that the last question we need to worry about is whether or not the people we’re arguing with actually have any authority, or right, to handle the problem being presented.

I mention this because, lots of promises will soon be made by people that want you to give them an incredible amount of power. Make sure that they have the authority to live up to those promises before you hand over the keys. Make the Dead Roman Lawyer Proud.

Tune in tomorrow for a brief discussion of U.S. Government.

What better way to remember Gary Gygax?
Where are the Cheetos?