If the intent of this bill is to help our veterans than maybe they need to rethink this.  One facility in Texas isn’t going to do much good if it’s 600 miles away.  Perhaps they should rethink!

Sponsored by
U.S. Representative Guinta and U.S. Representative Bass

Feds Force Okla. Bank To Remove Crosses, Bible Verse – Oklahoma City News Story – KOCO Oklahoma City.

via China Said to Expand Rare Earths Embargo to West – NYTimes.com.

So do you think this maybe has something to do with his re-election?

When Congress reconvenes after the election, lawmakers will vote on a measure to give an extra $250 to Social Security recipients, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised Monday.

Democrats are billing the measure as a necessary helping hand for seniors in a year when they won’t be seeing any incremental increase in their benefit checks, as usually happens from year to year.

via Harry Reid: Give extra $250 to Social Security recipients – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 | 4:17 p.m. – Las Vegas Sun.

If this was a real summit and both sides really want to accomplish something they would have rolled up their sleeves, got out the white board list the options and see what compromising could be reached instead of repeating talking points and criticizing each other. And Hey Obama that McCain remark was really uncalled for, let the American people decide what is a talking point and what isn’t.

Give me 40 everyday Americans, scratch that there was 40 politicians, give me 10 everyday Americans a whiteboard and a weekend and we could work out a comprise. It might not be one liked by big business or those who favor socialized health care but it would be honest and have a better chance at working than any of the current proposals.

But a solution is already in our midst. And it comes from an unlikely source, the sage of the Alaskan tundra, Sarah Palin. Last year, the former Alaskan governor suggested that the federal government might be setting up “death panels” to decide who does and does not get health coverage, and therefore who lives and who dies. Ostensibly, the claim was made to inflame the hardcore ultra-conservative masses, already torqued into an anti-Obama rage by cable news, in order to further her political career. Although she subsequently backpedaled on her claim, the genius of her suggestion had already been laid bare. The Final Health Care Solution was born.

These panels would exist to identify and eliminate the waste presently dragging Medicare and Social Security into insolvency. A typical death panel hearing could reduce the taxpayer burden by millions of dollars simply by speeding up the aging process to its natural conclusion. Much like the movie Logan’s Run, terminally ill patients can be launched into the air and vaporized for our amusement. But why wait for the patients to become terminal? Surely the very elderly, with their attendant laundry list of medications and doctor’s appointments, could reach a pre-set monetary threshold upon whose passing the patient would then be fed to the Sarlacc. Besides removing the burden on the taxpayer, the upkeep for the poor Sarlacc would be dropped to virtually nothing. Its a win win!

But who should man these panels? These unenviable positions demand men and women virtually devoid of sympathy. They would need the rare gift of not just callousness, but also cruelty to their fellow man. Of course I’m talking about game show hosts. Simon Cowell, Anne Robinson, and a seemingly endless list of cruel, twisted Japanese game show hosts can be counted on to cull the herds of sick and infirm. Much like deer populations who exceed the sustainable level of their environment, Medicare rolls can be pared down ruthlessly in order to bring their number down to a level that the taxpaying public can be comfortable supporting. Or if the sitting U.S. President decides that another war is in order, more death panels can be seated to clear up space in the budget. Simply put, the business of America cannot afford to not embrace these panels!

The McDonald vs. Chicago case currently being heard in The US Supreme Court will decide rather the Chicago hand gun law is constitutional. To decide the matter one only needs to look at the above quite by the man who wrote so much of the constitution he is called the Father of the Constitution. I think his statement alone should be enough to establish the intent of the amendment and that the laws outlawing guns are unconstitutional.

If one needs to look farther for support they can also look at the quote from Thomas Jefferson who was the driving force behind The Bill of Rights. “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.”

The tragic accident has galvanized both supporters and critics of offshore drilling. Critics, such as Sen. Bill Nelson – (D) Florida, were quick to call for a halt to further offshore development, citing the danger to the environment and the maritime economy. Supporters point to the long history of accident free drilling in the Gulf. Currently there are 3,858 oil rigs operating there, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Yet the last time there was a significant oil spill in the Gulf was 1979, when Ixtoc_1 dumped over 450,000 barrels of crude into the ocean. Still, smaller oil spills have happened since then, but managed to stay under the public’s radar.

President Obama has ordered a temporary halt to further exploration until the reason for this blowout is pinpointed and the administration can feel confident that this accident couldnt happen again with the other existing wells in the Gulf. But given that nobody even has a clue what caused the BOP (blowout preventer) to malfunction, its possible the halt could extend for months or even years. In a perfect world we wouldnt need to depend on oil for our energy consumption needs, but until then the Gulf of Mexico petroleum bounty is vital to America’s economy. Even more critical than stopping the oil geyser on the bottom of the ocean, is quickly finding out why that geyser exists in the first place. Offshore drilling, as dirty and dangerous as it is, can not be stopped because it can not be replaced. Until it can we will have to continue to drill, and hope that the BP Deepwater Horizon is the last major oil spill in America.