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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.

Paper or plastic……or paper?

 

No, not the kind of question that one would normally get at the cashier’s area, except we all are going to get bagged there, all thanks to our Federal Government.  Specifically, we can blame US Senator Dick Durbin from (D-IL) who decided to monkey with the private sector yet again with his Durbin Amendment (attached to the massive financial regulatory "reform" Act, the monstrosity generally referred to as "Frank-Dodd" with the words “By requiring debit card fees to be reasonable … small businesses and their customers will be able to keep more of their own money.").  And with that, he may well have doomed the debit card to dinosaur status.

Once again, Democrats decided that they knew better than the free marketplace and believed that they could institute changes without any adverse effects – after all, they have better titles than we do! So, instead of letting banks charge the retailers the cost of actually servicing the use of debit cards, they arbitrarily decided that 1/2 the cost was "a fair price" to the banks and let the retailers off the hook – even as they were told that the cost to actually provide the service was higher than that.

So, what’s the result? Enter in The Law of Unintended Consequences.

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GrokTV Event – Granite Oath PAC: Gov. Perry – Q & A

Even though these micro–interviews went up first, the meat of the Granite Oath PAC was to listen to Texas Governor Rick Perry address the crowd in trying to persuade them that he is the Republican to become the Republican nominee at the end of the 2012 Presidential Primary to take on and remove Barack Hussein … Read more

GrokTV Event – Granite Oath PAC: Gov. Perry – Talk

Sure, we are able to get these micro-interviews with supporters, but the crowd (approximately 300 folks under a big tent (and yes, that was deliberate!) were there even on a rainy afternoon to listen to one of the Tier 1 candidates, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.  Here is his presentation to that crowd: It was interesting … Read more

GrokTV Special Interview at the Granite Oath PAC – Union Leader Unionists

Of COURSE other "issue advocates" are going to start showing up at higher profile political events.  In this case, unionists from the Union Leader showed up to make their case why Ovide Lamontagne and Gov. Rick Perry should be confronting their employer to prevent layoffs and pay cuts. 

Gee, when I keep pointing out that the business model for newspapers is crashing, they refuse to acknowledge that technology & the Internet are the disruptive forces that are combining to lessen the demand for their product AND that the lessening demand can be met by using fewer people.

You know, the guy that actually came on camera was genial enough to go on the record (thus, filing this under "Unions" instead of "Union Thuggery").  Yet, I still get the impression that when confronted with the facts (not that I know what the actual books look like at the Union Leader) of being able to do more with less is anathema.  He especially did not agree with my argument that if I wanted to find out the local booking report from the Police that I could find that out on my own and not really needing a newspaper to do that for me.

Like Progressives, the media (and those that work for them) refuse to see that "reporting" can and is being done by citizens – and like what we do here at the ‘Grok is a good case in point.  Sure, there were other cameras there from other organizations – media organizations.  In watching the news last night and this morning, how much of yesterday’s event showed up?  About a 30 second sound bite.  Contrast that with this, this, this, and this.

Plus this…

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President Obama at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner last night

Yes, you are absolutely right, this IS APPALLING!  Bullying is horrible, and somebody has to stop the leaders of Government from bashing those that could help us out of our current economic straits.  Obama even said so at last night’s Human Rights Campaign / LGBT dinner :

Obama reminded the group of the White House summit on the issue, and promised to stand with members of the business community, "who might feel alone or afraid because they’re profit oriented or conservative — who may be getting picked on or pushed around because they’re different."

Bullying isn’t, "just ‘kids being kids,’" Obama added, "It’s wrong.  It’s destructive.  It’s never acceptable.  And I want all those fat cat bankers and stingy business owners that are getting picked on for not hiring new employees and have trillions on the sidelines to spend to know that the President and the First Lady is standing right by them every inch of the way."

Heh!  Obama’s actual words after the jump. 

Dontcha just love it that even as he castigates some for bullying this politically sensitive group, his words and actions can easily be construed as bullying others in pursuit of his political agenda. Gee, isn’t bullying the stock in trade for Community Organizers?  Isn’t demonizing part of the process?  Nice to see he’s brought it to the Oval Office… 

(H/T: Washingon Examiner)

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A nagging irritation from yesterday’s Granite Oath PAC event

Like the questioner said, "This troubles me greatly"

During the Q & A session of yesterday’s Granite Oath PAC, a retired US Marine officer asked this question (3:49-8:25):

This last week, your own Lt. Governor said that your support for in-state Tuition for illegal aliens was wrong and inappropriate.  Why do you continue to support it?"

Well, Gov. Perry launched confidently into his answer and went on to talk at length on his policies and efforts on denying illegals driving licenses, to have voter ID, anti-sanctuary city legislation, and securing the border (and the fault of the Feds in not doing so).

Fine and dandy. 

Perry points out that due to Federal Law, that Texas (and NH) is required to take care of illegal aliens children K-12 educationally and healthcare-wise. And then asks the question:

"We also had to decide what are we going to do with young people that have come into our state by no fault of their own and find themselves going to our public schools, doing the work, and then being prepared to go to college.  These young people, we decided, as a state…those young people who are not being subsidized in any form or fashion, they are paying full state tuition to go to those state Universities in the state of Texas, but here was our choices. We either kick them to the curb and pick up the cost of whatever thats going to be later down the road and we analyzed as they were going to cost more money if we did not allow them to be educated and become part of the workforce in the state of Texas.  That was the right thing for Texas to do.    

But like the questioner said, "This troubles me greatly".

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GrokTALK! Saturday October 1, 2011

Live Streaming local and National News with opinion you could only get from GraniteGrok.

EMail: GrokTALK@GraniteGrok.com  or Call us at: 

603-524-7478

This week, 9-11AM…

This week, we are in studio instead of running around the countryside doing remotes, and we have a full lineup!  We will have Buddy Roemer (former LA Congressman and Governor) who is looking to become the next Republican nominee for President, will be on to talk Presidential Primary.  Also, Jerry Delemus, Chair of the Granite State Patriot Liberty PAC, will be on to talk about State politics and what he sees happening in the near term as politics really start winding up to a higher gear here in NH.  Also Seton Motley, Founder / President of Less Government and Editor in Chief of StopNetRegulation.org, will be on to talk about the FCC instituting Net Neutrality even though the Court said no and Congress said no.

Live streaming video after the jump:

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GrokTV Special Interview – Sean Mahoney at the Granite Oath / Gov. Perry Event

GraniteGrok went to the home of Ovide Lamontagne for the next installment of the Granite Oath PAC Presidential Series featuring Texas Governor Rick Perry.  Sean Mahoney, who ran in the last Congressional race (NH CD-1) is, like Cliff Hurst, is also supporting Rick Perry for President. Although GraniteGrok did not endorse him in his race, … Read more

Govt spending taxpayer $$ to advertise giving more $$ away – for the benefit of a private sector Medical Records Czar?

Here’s the ad (Click here to see a bigger version) from InformationWeek:

Consider this a variant of "Cash for Clunkers" – without the messiness of clunkers of which to dispose.  Same deal, to an extent, as part of Obamacare is to "nudge" (there’s that Cass Sunstein reference!) medical professionals to automate their medical records.  In wit, Obama is willing to pay:

  • $44,000 to get a system for Medicare
  • $63,750 for Medicaid
  • $2,000,00 (base) for hospitals to get with it.

And yes, all your info is going to end up in the Feds hands – databases upon databases full of intimate, personal information online (yes, instant reaction should be "er, black hatters?".  Look what the Illinois govt officials did when Joe the Plumber questioned The One as to why HIS wealth should be "spread around"!).  Sure, a lot of docs are still paper based but have been moving, slowly, to more and more automated systems.  The accounting part is easy – storing the actual medical records is much harder.  Providing robust interoperatibility between systems – harder still.

At my last check up, I noticed that my doc had already done so – working from an iPad.  And no option on my part to opt out (yeah, a medical version of Joe the Plumber in waiting?).

And in keeping with the Obama modus operandi, of COURSE, there is a Medical Records Czar!  And of COURSE, there is a tinge (more of a tinge?) of crony capitalism…

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Notable Quote – Alexis de Tocqueville on soft despotism

It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but … Read more

Data Point – who serves in the military?

2007 data from the Defense Department: 11% of enlisted military recruits in 2007 came from the poorest quintile. 25% came from the wealthiest quintile. 40% in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program come from the wealthiest neighborhoods. "low-income families are underrepresented in the military; high-income families are overrepresented: Bottom household income quintile make … Read more

Margaret Thatcher on “the Public money”

Michael Moore and other Progressives should learn this lesson: Government’s money is not the same as Society’s money – it only becomes Government money after the Government has taken it from Society. (H/T: RedState)

Gee, you think there’s a reason why? Let’s talk…

You think there’s a reason for people not believing in their government?

From The Enterprise Blog – a snippet from Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN):

He also warned that the “whole principle of self-governance as we know it in this country is on trial” as government doesn’t give Americans due credit for choosing life necessities from healthcare to schooling to light bulbs.

…Daniels took a shot at President Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan, “Change you can believe in,” by noting that government needs to promote “Change that believes in you.”

Who believes in you?  Our Founders did – self-governance was one of their main pillars; laid out in the Declaration of Independence and carried out in the Constitution.  But it wasn’t Government that they had in their mind – it was our mind.  Self-governance? No, not our style of Government that we would govern ourselves.  No, not that we would just elect those that would then govern with our consent, but that each of us would govern ourselves.  Their radical idea was that WE, each one of us, had the capability AND THE RIGHT to govern ourselves – Free men with inalienable Rights given to us by our Creator God.  They not just wrote up our form of Government but set up a philosophy by which we became the richest and most power nation in the world.  And we used to be the most free.

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Data Point- Government spending

A couple of facts: The administration of President Barack Obama has already increased the national debt in fiscal 2011–which ends this coming Friday–by an amount greater than the cost of the entire federal government in fiscal 1970, when Richard Nixon was president. Who knew that one day, our debt would be larger than a "modern … Read more

GrokTALK Special Interview – NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien

Last weekend (heck, last week) was a very, very busy weekend for GraniteGrok for covering events and the subsequent process of all the stuff….and this weekend, for me, has been a big zero as yesterday I was under the weather and the sun is just starting to come up now.  So, time to play a … Read more

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