Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republicans. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Google Test

Tim Pawlenty wants to apply the Google test to the Federal government, saying “if you can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it.”  He wants to kill the Postal Service, Amtrak, and federal home-mortgage agencies.  I say while we’re at it kill national parks, regulatory agencies, health insurance, and schools.  Then let’s kill libraries, sidewalks, and help for the poor.   Kill unemployment insurance and financial aid to college.

When we’re done, we’ll be super competitive.    Growth will be incredibly high and businesses will be humming as we will have fought the “unrelenting trench battle against the overregulation that’s suffocating America’s entrepreneurial spirit. (Pawlenty)”  Life will be wonderful once again.

Don’t have the $30 entrance fee to the national park?  Sorry, maybe you can go next year.

Can’t afford the $30,000 for a private school?  Come on, pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Shy of the $10 you’ll need for the internet cafĂ© because the libraries closed?  Maybe you can ask a friend.

Recently unemployed with 3 kids to feed?  Sucks to be them.  Maybe a church will help.

Can’t afford the lawyer to fight the chemicals in your drinking water from fracking? Walmart sells bottled water.

Don’t have the 20% down payment for a house? Renting is nice.

Yes, government costs money to run.  But the alternative is a place where, like Washington state and its state parks, only the rich can afford anything. 

The cycle of destroying our very social fabric is upon us and my small example is Mackworth Island.  Seems simple enough.  Budget in Portland is in trouble so you suspend payments to the park.  With suspended payments and the need for maintenance on the island, fees are charged.  What once was a nice island for hiking near the ocean with my girls is now a luxury at $3/person and we haven’t returned since.  And you could make a case that I could afford it.  But what about lower income people in Portland?  Mackworth Island might as well be Disney World.  In Tim Pawlenty’s world, we make everything pay per service.  Everything.

For Tim Pawlenty, the Google test represents the awesomeness of limited government.  But for most people, applying the Google test just leads to an empty search bar.

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Thursday, September 23, 2010

A Pledge to Stupidity

A PLEDGE TO AMERICA

America is more than a country.  (It’s actually not a country at all, it’s a continent)

America is an idea – an idea that free people can govern themselves, that government’s powers are derived from the consent of the governed, that each of us is endowed by their Creator with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America is the belief that any man or woman can – given economic, political, and religious liberty – advance themselves, their families, and the common good.   (Please don’t ask for any help while advancing yourselves, just rely on your nuclear perfect family)

America is an inspiration to those who yearn to be free and have the ability and the dignity to determine their own destiny.  (Yes, we’re an inspiration but immigrants, we don’t want you to actually come here)

Whenever the agenda of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to institute a new governing agenda and set a different course. (Can’t we all just go back to the same course we were on when the economy destroyed itself)

These first principles were proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, enshrined in the Constitution, and have endured through hard sacrifice and commitment by generations of Americans. In a self-governing society, the only bulwark against the power of the state is the consent of the governed, and regarding the policies of the current government, the governed do not consent.  (Huh?)

An unchecked executive, a compliant legislature, and an overreaching judiciary have combined to thwart the will of the people and overturn their votes and their values, striking down long-standing laws and institutions and scorning the deepest beliefs of the American people. (You’re right, the overreaching judiciary that gave business unfettered political access through campaign donations should be checked … oh wait)

An arrogant and out-of-touch government of self-appointed elites makes decisions, issues mandates, and enacts laws without accepting or requesting the input of the many. (Because the great leader Boehner is the champion of not being arrogant, being in-touch, and he’s definitely not elite or anything)

Rising joblessness, crushing debt, and a polarizing political environment are fraying the bonds among our people and blurring our sense of national purpose. Like free peoples of the past, our citizens refuse to accommodate a government that believes it can replace the will of the people with its own. (Good thing Republicans will bring an end to the polarizing political environment)

The American people are speaking out, demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles and apply those principles to solve our common problems for the common good. The need for urgent action to repair our economy and reclaim our government for the people cannot be overstated. With this document, we pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America. (San Demos High School Football rules!)

We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. (but I was so captured by the need to do something against the rising joblessness, now you’re saying it’s the states role)

We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity. We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values. (Yeah, Islamic people and kids in non-traditional families go f$ck yourself) 

We pledge to make government more transparent in its actions, careful in its stewardship, and honest in its dealings. (Except on Fox News, where we’ll spin even our stinkiest poohs as nice and shiny)

We pledge to uphold the purpose and promise of a better America, knowing that to whom much is given, much is expected and that the blessings of our liberty buoy the hopes of mankind. (We love you mankind, but we hate the UN and giving money to other countries)

We make this pledge bearing true faith and allegiance to the people we represent, and we invite fellow citizens and patriots to join us in forming a new governing agenda for America. (And in conclusion, the Patriot, a fine male white warrior we can all  relate to)