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Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

Notable Quote – Dr. Walter E. Williams

(Emphasis mine) The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are demanding "people before profits" — as if profit motivation were the source of mankind’s troubles — when it’s often the absence of profit motivation that’s the true villain. First, let’s get both the definition and magnitude of profits out of the way. Profits represent the residual claim … Read more

Pension?

(H/T: Big Government)

Self-reliance: much better than dependence

A little while ago, Obama took a lot of flak for this (H/T: Weekly Standard):

"I mean, there are a lot of things we can do," Obama said. "The way I think about it is, you know, this is a great, great country that had gotten a little soft and, you know, we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades. We need to get back on track."

Now combine that with this from ABC (via The Corner)

At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.

“The one thing that we absolutely know for sure is that if we don’t work even harder than we did in 2008, then we’re going to have a government that tells the American people, ‘you are on your own,’” Obama told a crowd of 200 donors over lunch at the W Hotel.

“If you get sick, you’re on your own. If you can’t afford college, you’re on your own. If you don’t like that some corporation is polluting your air or the air that your child breathes, then you’re on your own,” he said. “That’s not the America I believe in. It’s not the America you believe in.”

Do you think that one is related to another?  If being self-reliant is a bad thing, doesn’t that truthfully lead to conditions under which one would become "soft" – lazier, more indolent, and a sense that someone else will take care of things (and I’m not going to touch his unstated and wrong-headed premise that it is only Government that keep us from ‘being on our own" or being "painful")?

A simple example of why he is wrong.

The Eldest, a couple of years ago, called us up and said "I need some help!".  Turns out, the landlord of the house that he and a couple of friends had been renting had been accepting their payments but not paying the mortgage – it was eviction time through no fault of their own.  Of COURSE, we grabbed his stuff, loaded it up, and stuffed it into our house (I keep joking that his stuff is in every room of our house except my bedroom).  Parents are and should be there for their children in times of need – that’s a given.   

Well, we came to a rent agreement as it became obvious that he was not moving out soon; knowing that I’ve got a really bad back and limited physically in what I can do, we also agreed that part of the rent would be "labor in kind" for the things that I could do (but for which I would pay a high penalty later in pain).

To be truthful, it has been a hit or miss situation with…

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2012 Presidential Primary – Herman trucking along

I try to hit Rassmussen (I actually got called last night!) and Gallup on a fairly frequent basis to see what some of the "statistical" pulse of things politics, and was fairly surprised to see this: With the non-stop media coverage of the Republican primary, I’m not surprised that his name recognition has gone up.  … Read more

Sweetheart? If you want our hug, stop lookin’ at the other guy!

Union Leader: CONCORD – Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has filed by mail to be a candidate in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. Her one-page declaration of candidacy arrived at Secretary of State William Gardner’s office early Wednesday. Bachmann late last week lost her five-person New Hampshire campaign staff in an internal dispute. She has focused … Read more

More English vocabulary redefinitions from Progressive-in-Chief Obama

UPDATE:  I got a call from a loyal ‘Grok reader saying that my math was wrong (" I’m willing to pay $500 extra") saying that it should have been $5,500.  My caller was right, but when I pointed out that those words were Obama’s, there was a stunned silence for a couple of moments.

Yes, ObamaMath, not GrokMath.

Update II:  Apparently, a number of people have caught it, as The Corner has a post on it as well ("With math skills like this, no wonder the federal deficit is $1.3 Trillion").  Perhaps, this Hahvad trained Constitutional lecturer needs to visit Education Secretary Arni Duncan and get him some learnin’?

——————————————————————-

"For Patriots willingly gave and continue to give up their lives for their families, neighbors and Country, and never had or have to be Asked. "

The Washington Examiner has this snippet from Obama’s recent trip to Las Vegas to act like the House in taking $$ from the rubes (hey, didn’t he once say that we shouldn’t go to Vegas using tax money??)(emphasis Washington Examiner):

But last week, we had a separate vote on a part of the jobs bill that would put 400,000 teachers, firefighters and police officers back on the job, paid for by asking people who make more than $1 million to pay one-half of 1 percent in additional taxes.  For somebody making $1.1 million a year, that’s an extra $500.  Five hundred bucks.  And with that, we could have saved 400,000 jobs.

Most people making more than $1 million, if you talk to them, they’ll say, I’m willing to pay $500 extra to help the country.  They’re patriots.  They believe we’re all in this thing together.  But all the Republicans in the Senate said no. (emphasis added)

That triggered four thoughts: Ask, Patriots, We could have saved 400,000 jobs, They believe we’re all in this together

"Ask"

Ask: Say something in order to obtain an answer or some information

You have to love politicians when they say that they are "asking" for folks to do something, do more of it, or give something.  Especially when the operative word really is demand or require and it is codified into law or regulation.  There is no voluntary "asking" going on here.  Asking something of someone else means you will get one of three answers: yes, maybe, or no. Two of which, by definition, results in a "do nothing" outcome.

When Obama is saying that he is asking, he has no intention of allowing a voluntary reaction and has already gamed the outcome.  In fact, he really wants no answer at all – it is the Progressive way of redefining the language of saying "I’m taking this from you – and you have no voluntary action in this at all. But I’ll make you look bad first (after all, that is the Community Organizer way)".  Just think of what happens when your answer is "no" to his asking?

"Patriots"

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Patriots? I watched THOUSANDS of them yesterday

As I wrote here, Obama wishes to twist the traditional value of what a Patriot in the typical Liberal fashion – lowest common denominator.  You know, one of the events that most Liberals disdain (and even the effete, elite Republicans) is NASCAR, especially at the Sprint Cup – simply put, "redneck NASCAR fans" – the … Read more

So, LRGHealthcare, with an expensive build program, now is crying poor mouth?

In today’s Laconia Sun (P 8) was this paid ad – snippet here and entire ad after the jump:

LRGHealthcare: PUBLIC NOTICE
LRGHealthcare Closes Primary Care Offices to Medicaid Patients

No later than mid November, the following LRGHealthcare primary care offices will be closed to new and existing patients with Medicaid as their primary coverage…The plan, recently approved by the Board of Trustees, responds to unprecedented financial challenges faced by the organization and other hospitals and healthcare institutions across the state.

…LRGHealthcare has sustained several years of reductions in Medicaid payments, which have resulted in an annual reduction of $4 million….

Recent budget actions by the NH State Legislature further compromise the well-being of healthcare organizations in New Hampshire. We are saddened to have to take this action but, regrettably, have no choice. We intend to assist all patients in making a smooth transition of their records.

*****

Now, what they DIDN’T mention, in recent years, was all of the buying of surrounding or affiliated physician practices, buying (ok, "merging" with) Franklin Hospital, buying the Laconia Clinic, and using the CON Board to bring the the fledgling OPA ‘runaways’ to their knees financially (who had fled to Gilford to set up a competing day surgery practice).  And their failure (big time failure) in trying to run an adult day care for dementia patients.  And just spent $2.6 million knocking down and rebuilding a Meredith facility.  Trust me, they have spent big bucks on facilities and non-competitive activities.  Think Borg ("You will be assimilated") only with a stethoscope. While Medicaid does not cover costs (I will give them that), this is seeming to be a "Washington Monument" moment (which might be better be explained by "Budget cuts? Layoff fire, police, and teachers first – that’ll teach’em").

In fact, they’ve spent plenty in making sure that their marketplace is swept clean of any competition,  as I believe this is payback for what happened at a recent Belknap County Republican meeting when (video to follow) NH Rep. Ken Wyler came to speak about the budget.  Of COURSE, I asked about the CON Board, then Nancy LeRoy complained (as she is a member of the LRGH Board) about payments, and Ken (with the question from Elaine Swinford) talked about some of the "money swashing around".

But ask yourself – BRAND spanking new facilities, worthy (as it says in the Laconia Sun picture) of Boston?

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REAlly! This is hysterical – American socialists can’t believe what a former USSR citizen thinks of socialism!

This shows the difference between someone who actually lived in a socialistic system and has seen its terrifying results, versus Americans / useful idiots at Occupy Wall Street who haven’t but think its better than sliced bread, have more anticipation for it than a 5 year old waiting for Christmas, and know that babies don’t … Read more

GrokTALK! Special Interview – Rick Perry Tax plan blogger call

Update:Here is his plan. Even though we at the ‘Grok have endorsed Herman Cain for President, the Gov. Rick Perry campaign reached out and asked if we would cover the blogger call held this morning with the architects of that plan.  Given our mission of "citizen journalists", we present the talk given by the campaign … Read more

Herman Cain’s latest campaign ad – looking to help?

Herman is looking for volunteers (even Politically Incorrect ones!): And I know just the person to contact if you are looking to assist Herman defeat Obama: Jack Kimball 2012 NH For Cain Co-Chair Email: JackForCain2012@gmail.com

10 Golden Rules of Effective Taxation

Obama on "effective" taxation:

GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, "I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton," which was 28 percent. It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent.

…

GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down.

So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.

…

GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up.

Fairness?  A very subjective judgement – another Hope and Change, which is not something on which to base public policy revenues.  This is when things go off the rails – when tax policies enforce ideologies instead of their main purpose – to fund the essential functions of government.  I’d rather go with something much more objective.  To the rescue- Art Laffer on Effective Taxation (Rich States, Poor States, 4th edition, ALEC.ORG):

1. When you tax something more you get less of it, and when you tax something less you get more of it.

2. Individuals work and produce goods and services to earn money for present or future consumption.

3. Taxes create a wedge between the cost of working and the rewards from working.

4. An increase in tax rates will not lead to a dollar-for-dollar increase in tax revenues, and a reduction in tax rates that encourages production will lead to less than a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax revenues.

5. If tax rates become too high, they may lead to a reduction in tax receipts.  The relationship between tax rates and tax receipts has been described by the Laffer Curve.

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Team-NH of the Bachmann Campaign

News has been floating around for a few days about whether or not some of the staffers for Michele Bachmann had quit, none had quit, or all had quit.  Here is their joint statement (and I have a comment at the end):

Manchester, NH – October 23, 2011: For Immediate Release

The Team-NH of the Bachmann Campaign has chosen to release a joint statement regarding their departure from the campaign. This statement explains the following:

  • The NH Team didn?t want to leave the campaign, but it should be clear the entire NH team has departed.
  • Everyone should understand that the NH Team realizes the importance of this election
  • The NH team is committed to making Obama a one-term president, but it will be through other organizations/campaigns.
  • The team holds no ill will towards the candidate, but not longer feels relevant based on their poor relationship with the national team.

Team-NH of the Bachmann Campaign has decided to disband. This decision comes after much soul-searching by each individual and after countless hours of discussion as a team. Although the team members regret our departure from the campaign, we know there was very little choice.

The team also wants to clarify some of the confusion regarding their departure. While they collectively felt loyalty to the candidate, they no longer have faith in the national team. This is a sentiment that has been building since June, and was expressed on numerous occasions to members of the national team; it is now apparent that Team NH?s concerns were not fully shared with Congresswoman Bachmann, and were not taken seriously by some members of the national team. These are symptoms of the disease that infects too many members of the national campaign team.

It is also important that the chain of events of our departure is properly reported. During Congresswoman Bachmann?s recent trip to New Hampshire, several incidents happened that concerned some members of Team-NH. Those incidents will remain private, but they were serious enough for some members to depart the campaign. Jeff Chidester, the NH Campaign Manager, sent an e-mail on Thursday, October 13, 2011 to a person he trusted who was connected to the campaign announcing that Chidester was „done,? and would no longer stay with the team. The recipient of that e-mail asked if the entire NH team was also departing. Chidester informed this individual that some members of the team might be interested in staying, but that major changes needed to occur and that the national team must make contact with each member.

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Breaking News! Sununu endorses Romney!

Of course he does…did anyone really expect otherwise? I did get a kick out of Jon Huntsman’s campaign comment on this endorsement: Governor Sununu, Over the course of this campaign you have made it abundantly clear that you would endorse a conservative governor – a laudable criterion. However, I am surprised that you believe Mitt … Read more

Jeff Chidester speaks about the Bachmann TEAM-NH mass resignation

Well, in addition to the joint memo that the former Bachmann staffers released earlier today, Jeff Chidester went on with WGIR’s Paul Wescott to talk about the strife that the National campaign staff that led to that mass resignation of the entire NH based staff. I watched Michele on the Sunday show (FoxNews Sunday with … Read more

GrokTALK! – Podcast page for 10/22/11

Podcast – week of 10/22/11 GrokTALK! Streaming Live! from GraniteGrok To play (or "stream") a clip now, just click on it.  To download it to your PC, right click on it and tell the process where to save the file for you. When we are live – join in by emailing us at GrokTALK@GraniteGrok.com or … Read more

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