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[Waiting in Cars at Market Bad”] Can’t the people from up north do anything right by you locals? Jeeze, you locals have got to learn to lighten up a little. You’re awfully quick to tell us to relax when it’s you who are so uptight. And another thing, we don’t need to be told how long you lived here in the first sentence out of your booze soaked mouths. |
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| [“Comparing bridge tide lines”] Is it possible the bridge has settled? They were made out of Conch-rete (that’s concrete mixed with salt water). No kidding. They used salt water to mix the concrete for the bridges due to the scarcity of fresh water. That is why they are all spalling. The salt in the water rusted the re-bar causing it to expand and crack the ‘conch-rete’. |
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[“Fried Spiders”] I ate them once in Bangkok. I bought a selection of fried insects from a street vendor and as I was crunching away, a pretty girl approached me. I don’t speak Thai, so I offered her my meal and asked if she’d like some fried bugs. I thought that was terribly funny at the time. I must say, I’ve never offered anyone fried bugs since. |
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 [Trauma Star Saving Lives] To the moron who posted Sunday about Trauma Star responding to a five-car crash on Long Key Bridge last week, bemoaning the fact that the air ambulance is taxpayer supported. It’s also supported by the tourist who may get transported because his insurance company will pay a part of that bill, and he will get billing for the rest. It’s a free transport to Monroe County residents. What is your problem? Would you rather return to the days when virtually all the critically injured in auto accidents on our highways, tourist or resident, died on the side of the road or in the back of an ambulance driving up US1 to get them to the Miami Trauma Center hours after the accident? Monroe County provides a professionally-staffed life-saving service to our residents and visitors, equal to any other air ambulance service in the state, and I’m glad for it. We need the quick transport down to the Miami Trauma Center, there is no trauma center here in the Keys, no trauma surgeons. Have you lived here long enough to remember when the air ambulance had to fly down from Miami to take an accident victim back up to Miami to the Trauma Center? If Miami weather or a Miami-accident was part of the scenario, the Monroe County call had to wait. It could be two-three hours before a surgeon could get a hold of them to start saving their life. At least if one of those idiot tourists clobber me on the highway playing their stupid passing games, I’ve got a half a chance of making it, because Trauma Star will get me to the trauma center in time to have that half a chance to live. My hat’s off to Trauma Star. You can always refuse to have them save your life, die beside the road if you want to, or take your chances in the back of an ambulance. I hope if you need to be transported by air ambulance someday that it is not Trauma Star that takes you, but LifeNet, the private air ambulance service that also works the Keys. You’ll get invoiced for their full load billing, no breaks with them for being a Monroe County resident. You deserve a full load bill, and it will make you appreciate Trauma Star a lot more. |
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| [“Giant Military Gunship Helicopter”] I was told it is an FBI shuttle bus. |
 [Lay-off of top School District Do-Nothings] Thank you, Mr. Porter. Thank you for getting rid of Gentile and Kinneer especially. They have had two years to make something right about the financial reviews by the State, and yet the bad reports keep coming with the same problems. How difficult is it, people, to do the right things, and follow procedures, and send invoices back to the department they came from until they do get it right? Those two guys were professional sweepers, paid to sweep it all under the carpet, except they couldn’t get it all under there, and the state kept rapping them on it. I’m sick and tired of the games of this school district. Mr. Porter, we look to you to set this ship right. I know you inherited both of those fools. Next time you are doing the hiring of a professional for a professional job, please do a complete background check and verify their credentials. No more, “I used to be a certified public accountant, once upon a time, in a another state” garbage. Either they are, or they are not, a current State of Florida certified public accountant, etc.
And the School Board! Quit settling for mediocrity. Get the information you asked for, or bring down some repercussions. You have been lied to, and had information withheld, been hornswaggled, and flummoxed. Why? Because you have allowed it, and allowed it to continue once you became aware of it. Stop eating the bon bons offered and stop drinking the kool-aid provided at the school district meeting, and pull your head out of the sand. I am really hoping that the district reserves do go under the 2-3% mark, and that the State steps in and takes over the district. Maybe with their oversight, this mess can get cleaned up. I am so glad my daughter is long grown up and out of this school district. I am really ashamed of this school district. Next time your seats are up for election, it’s time to wipe you all out again and put new people in there. You still are not doing anything but making noise. |
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[Conch Shell Blowing Contest] Dozens of contestants blew their own horns in Key West Saturday, but none did it better than 76-year-old sailing buff Bill Ochse of Ocean City, Md. Ochse won the men’s division of the 51st Annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest, held in the tropical garden of the Oldest House Museum on Duval Street. Winners of the quirky “conch honk” contest are chosen in multiple age groups for the quality, duration, loudness and novelty of the sounds they make. How did Ochse separate himself from the other blowers? Ochse played a “drum roll” and march excerpt on his fluted, pink-lined shell. He said he had performed once in a conch orchestra. |
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[Horse Meat, It’s What’s For Dinner] USDA considers reintroducing horse slaughter in U.S. Link |
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Prime Rib Dinner Live Music
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| Trauma Star, as I am told, charges Monroe county residents only what their insurance pays and if you do not have insurance there is no charge. Now if you are the tourist as stated in Sundays CT you pay the full price. This includes aircraft time, air crew and all costs for the flight. So your tax dollars are for you as they should be. |
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Sorry to see Bilbo’s go, but BBQ in the Keys is tough business.. And us over at Daddy Bones live by the highlander rule. There can only be one! If you’re going to do BBQ you’d better be able to run with the big dogs because we’re not playing, we’re SMOKING! |
| [Be Your Own Printer] This program is a database of more than 25,000 free printable templates and documents in six different categories. Whether you need business cards, fax cover letters or time sheets for your business, you’re covered. There’s a section for the home that includes to-do and grocery lists. And a kids section complete with flash cards, paper dolls and chore charts. Link |
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[Greek Style Pork Chops] These Greek-style pork chops feature classic Mediterranean ingredients like garlic, oregano, yogurt, fresh dill, cucumber, and red onion. Serve toasted pita wedges with the pork chops. Link |
| What’s the story on the naked guy running away from the cops on Saturday at the Ramrod swimming hole? “Expiring minds want to know!” I’m counting on Deer Ed and his/her cadre of investigative reporters to inform and entertain us with all the details. Or, perhaps a really cool gif. |
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| [Censoring] An email containing certain words like “My teen daughter is barely legal enough to drive” would be silently deleted by Apple’s iClouds overly sensitive censorship word filters. Yes Apple is reading your private emails.
Apple responded, saying, “Occasionally, automated spam filters may incorrectly block legitimate email. If the customer feels that a legitimate message is blocked, we encourage customers to report it to AppleCare.” Of course with no notification of a blocked email, how would one know it even existed? |
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[Cables] A visual guide to computer cables and connectors. It’s good to know. Link |
| [“Synthetic pot”] If it grows smoke it. If it is a bad trip don’t do it again. Done. |
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This is why we do not go to Fantasy Fest anymore. |
| There has been a lot of talk about sea level rise in the Keys, I decided to do a search and found the scientists at the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration have been making measurements on Vaca Key for many years, here is the link |
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| [3D Printers] 3D “print” your own semi-automatic AR-15 lower unit, tested to 600 rounds. Watch this guy’s finger getting tired. It’s the 2d video down. Link |
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[Do Not Dredge Sea grass in the Keys] Take a look at this beautiful Walker Island sea grass flat that a private developer wants to dredge. |
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Our No Name Key washer and dryer. |
| [Hailstorm] How to protect your car from hail damage if you still have a lot of payments on it. Link |
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| You can buy a 5 lb block of Silly Putty from the Crayola store. Link |
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Ribbons for everyone. |
| [Reduce Ads] You can choose to opt-out of every advertiser. You can also select specific advertisers to opt-out of. Clicking an advertiser link tells you more about it. The system places an opt-out cookie for each advertiser you select. Those cookies are good for several years. They should keep your activities from being tracked. Note that this doesn’t cover every advertiser out there. Some don’t have easy opt-out systems. Additionally, clearing your browser’s cookies clears the opt-out cookies as well. You will want to bookmark this site and check back occasionally. Link |
 [Monique Acevedo] Attention All Keys Residents be on the look out for escaped criminal Monique Acevedo she was last seen in Vero Beach heading south. Shots were fired but she was able to escape. Authorities think she is headed south and will apply for Quality Control Director of the Monroe County School Board. Should you see the suspect do not approach as she may try to buy some of your personal items of quality. Contact the authorities immediately as they are better skilled at handling her persuasive ways. A reward will be provided for all citizens that do vote for her. |
| Does anybody know what is going on with the Water Water company? They haven’t serviced our house in months. In fact they haven’t even picked up their empty bottles that have been setting outside my home blowing around in the wind. |
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| I wonder what the Keys would be like if there were no bridges? |
 [Sheriff Complaints] Lately there seems to be many complaints about our Deputy Sheriffs, so let me pile it on. Last Friday my wife had a flat tire on Summerland Key. She called AAA and was told it would be about an hour. She asked someone where she should have her truck towed. A Deputy Sheriff overheard the conversation and asked her why not change the tire. She told him she didn’t know where the spare was located. He pointed out it was under the bed of the truck and changed the tire for her and in 10 minutes she was on her way.
Oh wait, this isn’t a complaint. It’s a compliment. This is a super kudos to the Deputy. Sheriff Ramsey, track this guy down and tell him how thankful we are. In the twelve years living here, this is type of interaction we have had with the Sheriff’s Department. |
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| [Corned Beef Dinner] Lower Keys Property Owners Association is holding its annual all you can eat corn beef, potatoes, cabbage, onions, & carrots with bread & condiments on Monday, March 11 . Serving starts at 6:30 with take out available. Adults $15.00, children 1/2 price. Located at our Club House 1668 Bogie Road Big Pine Key ( just before the No Name bridge ) For tickets or information: Bulletin Board |
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| [Bilbo’s is gone] I will not drive all the way to frigging Key West for a rib dinner. That will make a rib dinner even more expensive with the gas added in. I’ll make my own, thank you very much. That’s probably why Bilbo’s is gone, and the one in there before that. Don’t over-price a simple rib dinner, they won’t be back, even if it is good ribs. We still have Porky’s, if I really want a nasty fatty pork rib dinner I can always go there. I’m not crazy about their ribs, the quality is not good, the ribs are almost all fat, the bar-be-que sauce is not very good, I always wish I’d grabbed my bottle of good BBQ sauce out the frig and brought it with me, and two teaspoons full of coleslaw and beans in stupid little Dixie take-out condiment cups is an insult. I do like their sweet potato fries, but the burger isn’t anything to rave about to anyone either. Now Burdine’s has the Beef Angus Swiss burger to beat anyone’s in town, I love their angus burger and homemade fries. Yumm. |
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| [New Rule] Pole and troll zones for third of Florida Bay. Link |
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[“Military Helicopter Gunship in Marathon] The story behind the couple of days the big military helicopters flying over Marathon, is that they were up here from Boca Chica doing training maneuvers at the Marathon Airport. They come as far away as Fort Bragg in North Carolina. It was a fabulous show and I got some great pictures! |
| [Marathon Journal] 1. Marathon’s Comprehensive Plan addresses a need to identify, propose improvements, and place historical markers. There are some recent markers made of coral rock with a bronze plague. I know there is a historical organization putting up these markers. They are independent from city but should get support. The problem is identifying who is that organization.
2. Councilman Chris Bull met me at Jesse Hobbs Park for a walk through around the Rock community. Before other councilmembers have a cow, they are welcome to the same walk through one councilmember at a time. We walked 42nd and 41st Streets and part of Louisa. We discussed Jesse Hobbs Park improvements playground sand removal and lay down a deck of the kind of the Sombrero Beach. Other issues were discussed. 3. Did you know that you could get your annual free credit reports? You have the opportunity to fix errors free. Start here:https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp. 4. The Journal sat down with Key Colony Beach candidate Jerry Ellis. He was excited about Key Colony Beach days celebrating the city’s upcoming 56th birthday. Jerry is 70, a 9 year resident, and retired from computers commercial scale. He has two grown children. He was appointed to the commission but still classified as an incumbent. Jerry is proud that with property values down and loss of income, the commission is maintaining high quality services expected by the voters and residents. Property taxes have not been raised. Jerry talked about infrastructure projects to repair roads, bridges, city hall, and sewer and stormwater systems. One observation and concern was that reserve fund is not enough to withstand high storm surge during a hurricane. Marathon recovered quickly because of reserves used for immediate and emergency needs. Later FEMA funds refilled reserves. Contracted Fire and in-house Police departments are still operating at a high degree of quality service. My opinion is about Key Colony Beach contracting Marathon for fire/rescue services. When the contract is up for renewal, both cities need to meet. The joint meeting should be face to face. Maybe the acrimony would be less. Development is heating up. The city has new structures and existing structures. The development will increased business activity across the board. This will improve Key Colony Beach at all levels. Jerry is an active independent and volunteer. He likes to meet residents face-to-face often. There is no substitute for meeting residents in a live, unprepared community meeting. Commissioner Ellis asks residents to be understanding and patient. He is a fair and flexible person with only the residents’ welfare in mind. Interviews coming up are candidates Jeff Vorick, Ron Sutton, and Ryan Schraffenberger. Be counted, vote! 5. Keynoter reports the Crane Point zip line is nixed by the county. The county is posturing about not having all the information that they would want. One little fact lost on the county is that Crane Point will fail. The zoning is such that home could be built in place of the preserve. I think that Crane Point was ill prepared with convincing the commissioners and naysayers. Proper prior planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance or commonly called the P-Theory. 6. Marathon council meeting still has not put the pig situation to rest. Pigs, pigs, pigs – when are we moving on to more important items? What next? Ferrets? 7. I don’t care for generalities and stereotyping. The discussion over 15th Street situation was a delicate one. Those talking to newspapers were very careful on all sides. Some would call this politically correct. I say neighborhoods deserve such circumspection. 8. Marathon deserves a multi-purpose city hall. Obviously, there must be office space. Parking would be ground level with two stories up from there. Then enhance the park with a back deck for residents to enjoy the rest of the park going back to the kayak launch near ocean access. A multi-purpose meeting room is needed. This is for all council, committees, task forces, commissions, and any other public meetings. That meeting room must be equipped to televise all meetings by podcasting, internet streaming, providing a feed to the public channel the county runs, and any other meeting requirements our residents would like. 9. Frank Zappa implored us not to eat that yellow snow. A similar call out is to avoid Girl Scout fat-producing new cookies. Thanks to the Keynoter for the basis of that little news tidbit. Anyone know who Frank Zappa was? 10. Visit the Journal Seafood Fest vendor tent on a corner near the entrance. |
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| Middle East veteran faces time for using marijuana for PTSD. Link |
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| [“Conch Color Self Promotion”] I’ll tell you who puts their own picture in their magazine: Oprah on O Magazine. I think she’s only shared the front with Michelle Obama and Ellen Degeneres. Link |
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[The Blues Pirates] We are famous. We are upper Keys famous. Well we are Key Largo famous. Maybe more or less Tavernier or southern Key Largo. Maybe between mm85 and mm92 famous. Wait. Wrong Coconut Telegraph. Damn, we are unfamous. |
| [Viva la Difference] Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity. ~Gotthold Ephraim Lessing |
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Fresh delicious home made CONCH SALAD is in the case at Fanci Seafood. |
| Sea Level rise at Key West for 100 years averages about 2.2 mm yearly. That is roughly 9 inches for the last 100 years. NOAA states that there is no evidence of acceleration. Look at the comparison of atmospheric CO2 increase with sea level rise near the end of the report. No apparent association. 1st Link
This second link is more user friendly and specifically about Florida and Key West. 2d Link |
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| [No Name Electric] Any governmental agency always takes the same route when faced with a decision that they don’t want to be responsible for and Monroe County is no different: do a long, drawn out study. I wonder who in the engineering and planning firm of Keith & Schnars is connected or related to someone in the Monroe County Government? We already know what this study (funded by us) is going to say: “No power to No Name. Save the barrier islands.” How can elected officials sleep at night? |
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| [Captain Doom and Gloom] My cousin, a retired teacher in NJ (no, not a NJ fat chick) was thinking of moving to the Keys so I sent her a ton of real estate info and Keys links. About a month later I emailed her as to when she would make the move. She said, “Never”! She read all about Florida, the taxes, the laws, the sinkholes, the hurricanes, the flooding, the cost of living, the politics, the school system, and the people who live here. She remarked that it looks like a place she would not want to visit, let alone retire there. That hurt!
“Fried Spiders” a delicacy to you closeted Americans, everything in that part of the world is a delicacy. Do a scan with the adult tool off for cannibalism and local foods. It just might wake you up to see how crazy the human race really is. “Global warming” It should be global poisoning. I agree there as just too much, I hate this thing, or, I hate him/her in the CT. Golly, let’s all hold hams and sing cumboliya. Get real, the hate is out there because nobody takes responsibility for their actions and has to blame someone else. We ain’t gunna make it! “B.O. won a second term” Ah, come on, He didn’t win a first term let alone the second term, his handlers did! Where do you think the Prompt Screen is connected to? For the FTR guy, keep up the good work! Congress should pass the Lip Law asap, in that all lipstick will be 90 proof and also act as a lubricant. Well kiss my sewer needing ass, you bunch of creeps. If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you; but if you really make them think, they’ll hate you. Who cares what they impeach Obama for, just find something to impeach him for before the country is completely gone down the tubes. |
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| I’m better off now than I was financially four years ago. My stocks are all up and my expenses are down. |
| History will damn the persecutors of Bradley Manning. Whether you agree with him or not, whistleblowers should be protected unless they jeopardize the national security. Link |
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SpaceX – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. – has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to keep the station well stocked. The contract calls for 12 supply runs; Friday’s delivery was the second in that series. Ex-employees want to impeach the President because he wants private enterprise to perform NASA’s job. The ‘impeechers’ seem to want the government to fill that job so their jobs can be bloated with federal money (ours). I too saw the sign carriers on US1 Friday and this is what I thought. What I think is that private companies usually do things cheaper and better. |
| Obama says he is willing to talk about making cuts to Medicare and Social Security. I look forward to the folks from the right on here applauding his consideration of cutting back on these long term entitlements. lets see if they now turn around and do a 180 and all of a sudden dont want these entitlements cut. Its one of the major entitlements they demand so lets see if they whine even when they get their way.
I hate to break it to FTR but im doing a whole lot better then I was 4 years ago. I just started a job working for an environmental company employed by an energy company working on gas wells. Im amazed at how many well sites we are working on and how many well heads are in place but not tapped yet with more coming on soon. All of the employees that I work with are working 65-70 hour weeks. In fact since we drive water tankers we dont even call our days off days we call them resetting days because it allows us to reset our DOT work hours. Ive bought a new house this past July and I have recently purchased a new vehicle to replace the older one because of all the work sites I drive too. My wifes work is hiring more employees and my 401 is growing as we read. So you can try and tell me how bad everything is and how the President has destroyed America but all i see is industry growth with employers here not being able to find enough qualified folks to work.A person can always whine and moan about how terrible everything is but if your world sucks dont look to the President as the 1 responsible its your own fault. The B.S. about American energy being hampered by regulations is baloney. We cant find enough techs to keep up with cleaning out the fracing tanks and putting in environmental protections to even bring up more gas. yeah Im doing much better then I was 4 years ago so you can try and convince me that the world is caving in on us but when you ask am I doing better all I can say is hell yeah. The same way the small towns around here in Western PA, West Virginia and Ohio are coming back to life. Word around the well is that next year even New York will start fracking so theres even more jobs coming up and more companies that will open.Im sure in some wierd way folks will say “Its all because of Bush” but all I can say is Obama damn sure didnt hurt any companies or families around here. Im making more money then any other time in my life and Im working my ass off so you may as well give up trying to convince me how bad Im doing compared to 4 years ago. My 2 nephews are also back form the wars so lifes all good for my family and everyone’s healthy. What more can a hard working man ask for? Guess I could be upset our First lady was on an awards show. |
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Detroit – that shining symbol of the Obama administration’s bailout of General Motors – effectively goes broke. “Mich. Gov Snyder to announce state takeover of Detroit”. We must run our government, local, state & federal more like a business would run. If we don’t balance our books by cutting wasteful spending there will be many more bankruptcies. City, state and federal employees, along with many union pension’s contracts will be null & void. There will be no choice. Nothing is for free. Every giveaway cost money, every program, every sweetheart contract. Government makes nothing, it only takes. Our greed is killing us and the goose that lays the golden egg. |
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| To take from one because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it. ~Thomas Jefferson, letter to Joseph Milligan, April 6, 1816, |
FROM THE RIGHT |
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[Prelude to FTR] Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate your taking the time. While on the topic of kind words, The Big Pine Restaurant has the best rib eye steak in the Keys. They carefully select the beef, then they hand cut each steak. The kitchen sends out perfectly cooked steaks that are tender and delicious, and their wait staff is one of the friendliest you can find. Part 1) Blame game. It’s fascinating that some of left field posters can gin up ire against those of us in the correct (right) field for pointing out that the sequester was fathered by Obama. While there is no doubt that sufficient Republicans and Democrats voted for it, there is also no doubt that Obama signed it into law. Further he vowed to veto any changes to the sequester legislation. As I have said, personally, I think that it is a great first step forward toward reform. The blame game itself has now become relevant and important topic of discussion because it is Mr. Obama who has, at every opportunity, blamed the Reps. I hope you have not bought into the Democrat narrative that the Reps “refuse to compromise”. The Reps did compromise; we accepted Obama’s sequestration legislation. Further, the Reps have sent several bills that were compromises and several budgets to the Senate. The Democrat leadership killed them all. Please also remember that the Republicans have compromised by going along with Obama’s demand for higher taxes. Obama has no interest in compromise, he is tightly focused on class warfare and laying waste to the Republicans. To Mr. Obama, the situation is not a fiscal crisis; it is another chance to demonize the Republicans. Obama is ignoring the impact of the affair except as a political cudgel to be used against Republicans. If you think that Sequestration was a big dust up. Then just wait until March when Congress will begin to attempt to hammer out a budget. It’s worth noting that contrary to the law of our land, our nation has not had a budget since Obama took office. You can’t blame the Reps for that because during the first 2 years of his term, he controlled Congress. In the following two years Republicans, having control of the House of Representatives, following the law, sent budgets and iterations of budgets to the Senate. Reid refused to pass them. In fact, Reid’s Senate unanimously refused to pass the one budget that Obama sent to the Senate. Even Reid could not countenance the obscenely bloated budget that Obama had sent. The Senate unanimously rejected the Obama budget.
Respectfully submitted: FTR@bellsouth.net |
Part 2) In the event that you didn’t think that the new Obama taxes had any impact on American citizenship, you should know that in GWB’s last year in office, 231 American citizens renounced their citizenship. After 3 years of the Obama presidency and his new tax laws, 1,781 Americans kissed America goodbye and renounced their citizenship.