Did you know you know you were disabled? Start collecting your disability check NOW!

News Flash! Government regulations are STRANGLING the U.S. economy. According to the Small Business Administration, total regulatory costs amount to about $1.75 trillion annually, nearly twice as much as all individual income taxes collected last year.

The government admits there are 4200 new rules or revisions already in the pipeline.
Why do we need 4200 new rules? Why?

In their book, “Red Tape Rising: Obama-Era Regulation at the Three Year Mark”, James Gattuso and Diane Katz detail how the Obama Administration has imposed new regulations costing $46 billion annually, with nearly $11 billion more in one-time implementation costs. That is about five times the cost of regulations imposed during the first three years of President George W. Bush’s administration, but the burden is even higher.

In January 2011, President Obama said that “rules have gotten out of balance” and “have a chilling effect on growth and jobs.” And Obama's right. But that's as far as he goes, and where he breaks with reality is his pledge for a get-tough policy on overregulation and a comprehensive review of regulations imposed by Washington.

In fact, as you listen to President Obama tell the story, you would think he’s a champion of slashing red tape and that his Administration has set its sights on slashing over-regulation. Obama's 10,215 regulations enacted in his first three years in office have greatly added to the drag on the U.S. economy as well as loss of jobs. BTW,  I am no friend of the Bush administration and their added regulations. Bush did not reign in the EPA, the Interior Dept, the Army Corps of Engineers, or OSHA.  So in that sense, I consider Bush a failure when it comes to cutting government red tape.

Do you have chronic back pain? File a claim and start
collecting disability. Is this a great country, or what?!

Here's an example of the idiocy of federal regulations. The Americans with Disabilities Act (Thank-you George Bush Sr. for burdening us with this albatross!) in 2008 vastly expanded the definition of disability to include: 

• people with diabetes (most of western Kentucky)
• depression (most of the U.S)
• heart disease
• difficulty standing, sitting, reaching, lifting, bending, reading, concentrating

This list pretty much includes most of the U.S. Did you know you were disabled? What are you doing at work reading this? Don't you know there is a disability claim that you could be making and you could be sitting at home enjoying those monthly disability checks. 

The new regulations that were enacted in 2008 require contractors with more than 50 employees to document the specific reason why each disabled applicant was not hired. Every contractor is REQUIRED to have a quota of 7% disabled.

The Associated General Contractors of America, a construction industry lobby, has long complaiend that many construction craft positions are inherently unsuited and too perilous for physically disabled applicants. But the government usually scorns common sense.

In 1994, the U.S. govt. penalized and barred Kentucky's Commonwealth Aluminum Corp from federal contracts for REFUSING TO HIRE applicants with SERIOUS BACK INJURIES (in caps, because if I were speaking to you in person, I'd be screaming this out loud so you wouldn't miss the point!). The following year, the U.S. Govt punished Jack Kelley Trucking in Amarillo, Texas for refusing to hire a man who suffered from uncontrollable epileptic seizures to drive a truck full of hazardous waste!

This is our government and its stupid regulations which lack any common sense whatsoever and drive up the cost of doing business $1.75 trillion annually!

Just a reminder that in November, if you vote for Obama, you're voting for more regulations, political-correctness, less common sense, and fewer jobs because of regulation strangulation. If you consider the Internet as a vast frontier of freedom, watch out. Obama wants to regulate the Internet as well. Obama never met a regulation he didn't like.

If you vote for Romney, you are voting for the candidate who has promised to cut regulation on day 1. I believe he will do that, but we need a Republican house and senate made up of radicals like Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and the soon to be elected, Ted Cruz (from Texas) who will help to hold Romney's feet to the fire because I don't think he planning to cut out all the foolishness like what we have here in the ADA, as well as EPA, etc. We have thousands of regulations that need to be SUNSET-ED, and revisited one-by-one to determine if they are truly necessary and what their impact is on the U.S. economy and job creation!

What would you say if someone built a ballpark in your town and the Feds wouldn't let you use it?

For months now, I've wanted to do a series of posts on regulations. Do you realize how all these federal regulations are strangling our economy as well as raising the cost of doing business on a daily basis. 

For my first post of 3 in this series, I want you to consider the words of Congressman Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, who received a standing ovation from the other members of Congress when he spoke in the House of Representatives last Thursday. Now, this is so extraordinary because no applause is allowed for members of Congress.

Rep. Mike Kelly began his speech by holding up a stack of paper: 11,000 pages of lending requirements and he's on the warpath about how regulation is killing jobs in his district. 

Here's what fired Mike up with righteous anger:

Someone built a ballpark in his district, a Little League ballpark, and federal regulators came in and wouldn't open it. They wouldn't allow it to open. On the day they were going to play the first game, the little kids are all there about to have their first baseball game, and the federal regulators said, "Nope, you can't open it because the mirrors in the men's room were a quarter of an inch too low on the wall."

Here's what Kelly said on the floor of Congress:

KELLY: We renovated a ballpark in my hometown. A guy named Tom Bernadowski -- veteran -- [spent a] couple million dollars to renovate our ballpark. The day we were gonna open up, I got a call at the dealership. It said, "Mike, would you come down?" I said, "Why? What's going on?" He said, "We're having trouble with the occupancy permit." So I went down to see it. I said, "What's the problem?" He said, "Well, here. Come in the men's room. Let me show you what the problem is." I said, "We have 1,500 people want to come see the opening ball game tonight." "Yep, but we've got a major problem. You see the mirrors in the restroom are a quarter of an inch too low."

HOUSE: (smattering of laughter)

KELLY: "So you can't possibly open that ballpark!"

KELLY: So you want to know the price of regulation? You want to talk about the thousands and thousands of pages that we put on the back of the job creators? You want to talk about creating jobs in America? When you want to see a nation that doesn't want to participate but wants to dominate in the world market, then let them rise! Take the heavy boot off the throat of America's job creators and let them breathe!

HOUSE: (cheers and applause)

KELLY: The jobs we are talking about are not red jobs or blue jobs. They are red, white, and blue jobs. They are not Democrat jobs or Republican jobs or independent jobs or Libertarian jobs. They are American jobs!

KELLY: We are so out of touch with the American people. And you know what all this does? It adds layer after layer after layer of cost. And that cost is ultimately paid for by the American consumer. You want to have more revenues, then let the tide rise for all boats! Let us be able to not only survive, but to thrive. I urge all my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle. This is not a left or right issue. This is an American issue. I urge you to rise today and vote for HR-4078, and let's let America get back to work! With that, I yield back.

HOUSE: (cheers and applause)

ACTING SPEAKER: (banging gavel)

HOUSE: USA! USA!

ACTING SPEAKER: (banging gavel)

HOUSE: USA! USA!

A Must See Video: "If I Wanted America to Fail"

Here is a "must see" video that sums up where we are at as a nation at this point in time. This is a viral video that you need to see, so STOP what you're doing and watch this video NOW. It runs 4 min. 39 sec. but it will be time well spent.

In fact, there is so much information thrown at you in this video that you will need to watch it a 2nd or 3rd time. Then, pass it on to others and pray for our nation, for us as a people. We need a wake-up call. Maybe this video is just the beginning. I hope so.

                                       

Why We Couldn't Build The Golden Gate Bridge Today

Here's what President Obama has said about China:

"China is making investments in the future...they're making investments in infrastructure...we USED to  have the best infrastructure in the world...had the best roads, the best airports, the best ports, the best highways, the best internet service, now we're second, we're third, we're fifteenth, we're twenty-first, we can't win that way...listen, Abraham Lincoln helped build the  intercontinental railroad in the middle of the Civil War..." 

Golden Gate Bridge, built in 4 yrs (1933-1937)

Once again, we have the President of the United States "running down" the U.S. in comparison to China. 

I believe in American exceptionalism. I believe in American ingenuity--just look at Apple and the new iPad. I believe that we can do whatever we set our minds to do as a nation.

• We built the Golden Gate Bridge in just over 4 yrs (from 1933-1937) and 11 men died during its construction.
• We built the Hoover Dam in five years (1930-1935) and an estimated 112 deaths occurred which included a drowning as well as heat-related deaths. The Hoover Dam provides water to over 25-million people in the Southwest.
• The Panama Canal was built in 10 yrs (from 1904-1914).
• The Brooklyn Bridge was built in 13 yrs. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world (from 1870-1883).

Hoover Dam, built in 5 yrs (from 1930 - 1935)

But, having said that, here's why we could not accomplish these same feats today in the same amount of time, and why China can run circles around us as far as building bridges, highways, etc.:

1. EPA (The Environmental Protection Agency)
2. ESA (The Endangered Species' Act)
3. Army Core of Engineers
4. Labor Unions
5. Federal regulations (otherwise known as "red tape")
6. OSHA (Occupational, Safety, Health Administration)

These are the 6 culprits which comprise the reason why we CANNOT compete with the Chinese. 

Panama Canal built in 10 yrs (from 1904 - 1914)

We could NOT build the Golden Gate Bridge now in less than 30 yrs because of regulations, required studies, endangered species, labor unions. Again, the Golden Gate Bridge in all probability could NOT be built today because it would be cost prohibitive due to federal & state regulations. Also, it would be studied to death by the Army Core of Engineers and if there happened to be a nest of endangered eagles at the proposed site, the entire project would have to be relocated (like how are you going to relocate a bridge. It needs to cross exactly where it has been planned).

Brooklyn Bridge built in 13 yrs. (1870-1883)

The Hoover Dam could NOT be built today because of endangered species act, the Army Core of Engineers (a bunch of environmental-whackos) who care more about endangered fish, snails, rats, owls than they do about the progress and well-being of our nation, and the added expense of union labor along with thousands of pages of regulations which would make this cost-prohibitive. Also, the moment one person was killed or seriously injured, the entire project would be shut down for safety evaluations and fines. 

So keep all this in mind the next time you hear our President praising China and deriding America as second, third, or fifteenth to the rest of the world in its infrastructure.

Imagine this: You're being sued for attempting to build a home on your own property.

John Adams wrote: "The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence."

Mike and Chantell Sackett on their Idaho property

Today homeowners, farmers and businesses are subjected to a host of government restrictions and prohibitions that reduce the use and value of their properties, including laws relating to wetlands and endangered species. YOUR RIGHTS as a property owner are in jeopardy thanks to your federal government! This is how the Eco-statists (like Obama and his minion, Lisa Jackson of the EPA) restrict our right to use our private property for whatever purpose we deem necessary or desirable. 

For your consideration, I offer up exhibit A: Sackett v. EPA.

Peter Bella writing in the Washington Times: 

Imagine this: You buy a vacant lot in a residential subdivision across the road from a small lake.  The lot is zoned for residential building.  It is surrounded by other homes and homes being built.  You submit your plans and blueprints and receive a building permit. You start grading the property to build a home.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps. of Engineers show up and accuse you of building on a “wetland”.  The EPA issues what is known as a “compliance order”.  You must stop all building.  You must restore the land to its natural state.  You must replace and plant trees.  You must place a fence around the land and maintain the property in a pristine condition.

You have no right to a pre-enforcement challenge of the order.  You must comply with the order or be sued by the EPA and face fines between 35-75 thousand dollars per day.

“Unlike other regulations and enforcement orders, the EPA under clean air and water laws can issue an order without giving the recipient a chance to challenge it in court before the agency initiates a lawsuit for noncompliance.” (IBT)

You are punished by being forced to spend money to correct an unproven accusation of a violation of the law- no probable cause or preponderance of the evidence.  No way for you to prove or argue your case until the EPA decides to sue you.   

This is at the heart of Sackett v. EPA. The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments on this case Tuesday.  A decision is expected by June.  The case started in 2007 when the “compliance order” was issued.  The case is based on very complicated, some say senseless, enforcement policies and procedures governing the Clean Water Act. 


Check out this video to hear the Sackett's story in their own words.

Tuesday, Nov. 6, can't come soon enough.

If I were President, here's what I'd do to create jobs and turn the economy around....

News flash! Our economy is in the tank. Yesterday, August 4, the stock market suffered the worst sell-off since the 2008 financial crisis, down 513 points. 
We are 10 million jobs short of full employment, and the fraction of adults at work full-time is at a 28-yr. low.  Yesterday,  Jake Tapper of ABC News asked Press Secretary, Jay Carney, what the President was doing to help create jobs. Carney's response was telling. He said: "Uh...uh...uh...uh...uh...uh....there is no silver bullet."  He went on to blame our poor economy on the Arab Spring, the Japanese Tsunami, and the European Economic Crisis. At least, they're no longer blaming George Bush (for now).  


We have a President who has publicly stated that the first thing on his mind when he wakes up and the last thing on his mind when he goes to bed is how to create more jobs. That's when he's not on vacation or out golfing, or attending a fund-raising dinner, or hosting a pop concert at the White House. 


Obama repeatedly says he's tried everything and that if you  (or I) have any ideas on how to stimulate this economy and create more jobs, he's open to hearing them. Sorry Mr. President, but once again, you are being disingenuous (look it up) because the ideas I'm proposing, if implemented, would reduce our unemployment to well below 4% while reducing our national debt due to increased revenue from the 10 million new jobs that would be created. However, none of my ideas are new. They've already been offered in writing to Obama by the Republicans, and he has rejected every one of them. He's not really open to any new ideas, only HIS ideas or ideology. 


But, if I were president, here's what I would do to turn our economy around:


1. Kill Obamacare. I'd simply admit that it was a bad idea. Obamacare with all of its uncertainty and hidden mandates, hidden taxes, etc. is keeping companies from hiring or expanding. They have no idea what future costs will be because we still haven't experienced the full impact of Obamacare.

2. Remove Lisa Jackson from her post at the EPA and de-fund the EPA. The Environmental Police Authority is a now a political movement bent on destroying private property rights and capitalism.  EPA's regulations will cost the coal industry 200 billion dollars and cause our electric rates to skyrocket. It's estimated that the EPA's regulations cost 1.4 million jobs and a 12% increase in utility bills.

3. Cut or eliminate most federal regulations. Regulations force oil drilling in deep water when it is safer, cheaper and easier to drill in shallow water. The BP oil spill never would've happened if they had been allowed to drill in shallow waters. Regulations even prevented the Dutch from responding to the BP oil disaster. It could've been contained within the first 2-3 wks. except for our regulation and enslavement to the unions which kept us from accepting help from the Dutch. 


Toilets, showerheads, light bulbs, mattresses, washing machines, dryers, cars, ovens, refrigerators, television sets, and bicycles” all cost much more because of questionable regulations. It is estimated that the cost of regulation is a drag on U.S. businesses to the tune of 1.75 trillion a year, twice the amount of individual taxes collected last year! Thanks to the EPA, they will soon enjoy higher prices for cars, food, appliances and mortgages.


4. Cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. Currently, we have the 2nd highest corporate tax rate of the top 30 most economically developed countries in the world. This tax rate is driving businesses to locate the facilities overseas. And we are the ONLY country in the world that taxes its businesses on what they earn overseas.

5. Finally, Drill Baby Drill. 
When Obama took office, the price for a gallon of gas was $1.84 per gallon. Today, the average price is $3.86 per gallon. According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), America’s combined supply of oil, coal, and natural gas is the largest on Earth. Put another way, America’s recoverable resources are far larger than those of Saudi Arabia, China, and Canada.

According to economist Joseph Mason at Louisiana State University, the drilling moratorium in the summer of 2010 eliminated 20,000 jobs in the Gulf of Mexico. Mason also noted that unemployment in Louisiana alone jumped from 6.2% when the moratorium was announced to 8.1% in October when the moratorium was officially enacted. By the way, during the embargo, Pres. Obama told was in Brazil telling the Brazilian people how he just couldn’t wait to help them drill for oil off their shore. 

The Wall Street Journal estimated that our drilling moratorium both offshore as well as on land in places such as Anwar in Alaska will cost us over 1 million jobs over the next five years.

These are my ideas for turning our economy around. Do you think they might "work"? While Obama is occupying the White House, we won't be given a chance to find out.