Obama worries about what Limbaugh says???

Mr. Obama should read, yes, read this big fat "stimulus" bill. He is not a stupid man. I can't believe, to begin with, that his eyes don't just glaze over when he has to listen to that idiot Nancy Pelosi speak.

Our children are going to be so burdened with all this spending, spending that is not going to do anything but rack up the debt.

Have you ever been in debt? I have and the road out of debt was the longest, hardest yet most rewarding journey I have ever had. To begin with I had to STOP digging the debt hole. No climbing out of that hole if you keep on digging! Secondly I had to decide what to let go so that I could take care of the debt. Thirdly I had to pay the debt off. No instant gratification from that. None, nada, zilch and zippo. I was poor and seemed even poorer because now I couldn't get anything new. But after a year, a dent was made, after two years the light at the end of the tunnel was crystal clear and by the third year doubling down on the payments was rewarding. Along the way I had to make financial decisions that would make Clark Howard's head spin. But they were a part of a calculated plan to get out of debt. Yes, cashed out the retirement account to pay cash for a car way back when.

I see no plan in this Billion, yes with a B, bill that is going to move us in a direction of financial security, growth or freedom. It is one big ass shovel just digging the hole deeper. Someone please stand up and yell Stop the Madness!!!

Limbaugh is a Red Herring. No one voted for Rush Limbaugh. He has no power in the House or the Senate (unlike the useful idiot Pelosi). No one is forced to listen to him and no one is forced to live with any hair brained idea he may come up with! That would be unlike the rest of us that are really, really stuck with the birdbrains that are running the country. For the most powerful man in the world to stand before a group and whine that they are listening to Rush Limbaugh is honestly quite embarrassing.

Casual Obama-oh wait, just crank up the heat, someone else is paying...

I found this article to be quite enlightening in more ways than one. Hopefully Mr. Obama will know to put a jacket on when company comes.....

Many of us conserve energy because we feel it is good for the planet (where on earth is Al Gore on this orchid growing atmosphere in the White House?) and for our pocketbooks. My last utility bill had me lowering the thermostat another few degrees. Told the hubby to put a few more blankets on the sofa. That is the "change" we are experiencing at our home. I think it is silly to waste resources and cranking up the heat and taking off clothing doesn't strike me as efficient. Ask my kids, they were always told to put something on if they were cold! We didn't crank the heat up to avoid layering.

I'm beginning to see Mr. Obama as just rather arrogant. Personally the office of the Presidency should command a special kind of respect, one that is greater than board rooms. I like my President to look "presidential". It is fine for the techies at Microsoft but not really for the most important position in the world. Hopefully we won't see the Jimmy Carter cardigan.

819 BILLION!

Well I guess it is safe to say all those that turned out on election day for "change" sure have gotten it. Now we just have to chart how many people have their homes and jobs saved by this orgy spend fest. Is David Obey smoking something? Does he honestly believe that this will actually stem the unemployment numbers in the near future? Oh Pelosi is right about a new era. If anyone thought the new kid was going to cut the pork, well I guess they know now that isn't going to happen.


The devil will surly be in the details, but bits and pieces already let you know what a stinker this stimulus bill is. A last minute addition of $3 billion for mass transit... Cannot wait to see what other utterly wasteful things will be in this big old pork chop.

I hope the Republicans don't fall prey to Rahm Emanuel's taunt that 80% of the Americans want this. 80% of Americans may be feeling the pinch but I'm pretty sure many of them know you cannot spend your way out of a hole. Most reasonable people knew the housing bubble was just that, a bubble sure to break. People spending $500,000.00 on a $200,000.00 house and banks and crooked assessors going along with false values were a big part of the problem. That market has to correct and it will take time. Add to that the total saturation of excess houses on the market and it just adds more time to any settling down we will see in that market. Did the government step in and protect anyone from those crooks? No, they aided and abetted (think Barney Rubble, er Barney Frank). The only way to get out of this economic mess, and it is global, not the sole creation of the US, is to stop the spending on foolishness, stop protecting crooks and stop playing favorites with those that lobby the hardest. Quit rewarding those that don't produce and reward those that do. The free market, without the interference of government, has a better chance at success than the markets controlled by government trying to pick. Again, the crackpot crooks in government couldn't run a pop-corn stand, we allow them to pick winners and losers in business? Just by who greases their palms the most? That is what is going to have to change before anything gets better.

I fear the great experiment, this grand old dame democracy is in for the fight of her life and I'm not sure she can make it without a full blown revolution.

Obama chooses Arab Network for first TV Interview

I'm all for trying to make peace and I do believe that is the job of the President. But I have a real problem with the Blame America approach. "What I told him {Obama to Mitchell} is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating." WHAT??? Excuse me, the article itself alludes to the fact the "partnership with the Muslim world" has been more or less dead for the past 20-30 years. Yeah, it sort of went to hell in a hand basket when the world watched 444 days of terror.

To say there was a massive backlash against the US because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a touch naive. Don't think we were on their card list before that. 9/11, first bombing at the World Trade Center, the USS Cole, US Embassy bombings -we were not winning the popularity contest with the Middle East then. And chances are the cultural differences will always trump any real peace. Will there ever be a time when we all live in peace? Who knows. Honestly I think the US is better at the live and let live attitude. We believe in freedom of religion, that seems to be a big hang-up in the middle east. We believe in women's rights. Don't recall the last time someone was stoned in the streets of America for a sin. Fighting for freedom is quite a bit different than ethnic cleansing. Freeing people from oppression goes to the core of American beliefs. But for our President to go on an Arab network and say the US was "dictating", well that is just disgraceful. All along I have felt that this administration would end up either being as impotent as the Carter administration or just useful idiots http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/08/islams_useful_idiots_1.html

For the sake of all of us, I hope I am wrong.

Footnote to Croatia Vacation w/friends

We are still reliving the wonderful vacation we had with our friends Bonnie & Rollie. I've completed the photo album (almost a part time job), complete with my notes. What fun to put that together and revisit the great places we were at. I've posted a few notes on Fodor's and have answered some questions other travelers have had. It is nice to have good information to share with other travelers.

When we were at the town with the crystal factory I purchased a present for my secret pal. My pal was Bonnie and of course I couldn't divulge that info when I did that post. And as it turns out she bought her secret pal a beautiful scarf-it was the one I did not have cash for at an island shop. I didn't want to go to an ATM so I passed on the lovely item. Bon doubled back and purchased it. We were both very, very pleasantly surprised with our "pals" and the Christmas presents we received. They are like double bonus presents, given in the true spirit of giving.

Now that all the "paperwork" is done on Croatia we are furiously planning our next adventure, Czech Republic in September of 2009.