Busy week for email and comments. We talk about the vital service zoos perform in the War on Terror; we straighten a few liberals out on illegal immigration; and we uncover the diabolical plot of mortgage brokers first started under Reagan.
Only after reading do you get to start your weekend.
Lilly wrote: Ransom, if your child or grandchild develops a rare form of cancer that your local doctor doesn't know how to treat, he will very probably consult MEDLINE. You chose a zookeeper to mock: now make the same jokes about a doctor doing advanced research in childhood leukemia, because both are federal employees. -in response to Obama Saves/Creates Us!
Dear Lilly-
Want a joke about doctors? OK.
A doctor and a duck walk into a psychiatrist's office….
I'm not mocking the zookeeper. But being a zoo employee is hardly a "vital service" as our president claims.
The Smithsonian saw a $1.8 million cut out the nearly a billion-dollars-a-year the federal government gives them. They choose that $500,000 then be cut out of the budget of the National Zoo. In the meantime they are spending $125 million on improvements to the Smithsonian buildings including turning a parking garage into storage at the cost of $18 million.
It cost $400,000 to take care of the pandas at the National Zoo. Would you rather see them starve, Lilly, in cages?
I can't tell them how to make budget decisions, but when Democrats are scaring the elderly with stories about eating cat food if the GOP passes a budget, it' only fair to show the hypocrisy from the other side.
I'd prefer that we ask all departments and welfare programs to make immediate cuts of ten percent, to have truly shared sacrifice.
That's the problem with liberals: You guys seem to believe that everything begins and ends with a government check. Most medical research is performed not by federa. researchers, but by private industry.
There's a place for academic research, but it shouldn't be funded by the federal government.
It belongs in our university system. You suppose that if the federal government decided not to fund science research, that it wouldn't be funded. But that's just not true.
And if my child were sick I'd take them to the Children's Hospital Research Center.
RomanLion wrote: But you Repukes will fall RIGHT INTO THE TRAP of slandering not just illegals, but Hispanics as well. Here's the way you really solve the illegal problem. Instead of going after the undocumented immigrants, you go after the scumwads who hire them. -in response to Crass and Cynical on Illegal Immigration
Dear Roman-
There have been a number of laws passed to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants.
"The Legal Arizona Workers Act requires employers to verify the eligibility of new workers through a federal database," PBS cites is one example. "Violators can have their business licenses suspended or revoked."
It would be much better if Obama would support those efforts. Instead, he has the federal government suing states to stop implementation of such laws.
Despite rhetoric by the president declaring the border is secure, it's not. And the refusal to enforce the laws has serious consequences.
As Eisenhower noted when confronted with a million illegals crossing the border every year: "The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican[s]… to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government."
Senior1 wrote: Presidential IQ - - there is already a moat - - it's called the Rio Grande River. -in response to Crass and Cynical on Illegal Immigration
Dear Senior1-
If Obama were serious about immigration reform, he'd probably we well advised to learn a little more about the geography of the country. Maybe he thinks that Mexico is the 53rd of 57 states in the Union.
Wes wrote: G. Bush took us from a 5 trillion dollar positive to a 5 trillion dollar deficit....don't know about your arithmetic....but that by itself is 10 trillion. Behind that was a more secretive and clandestine crime that began with R. Reagan and A Greenspan. If you vote for a Rep[ublican] you vote for someone far more clever...and dangerous...they are owned by Mortgage Bankers and Brokers. – in response to The Democrat Debt Mess
Dear Wes-
Your math is wrong. So let's stick to concepts.
Any surpluses that Clinton had on "on-budget" items as opposed to "off budget' items like money from the social security trust fund were small. Much of that fiscal discipline came from a GOP controlled Congress. In 2000, the "on budget" item surplus came in barely at 1 percent of GDP.
As for the diabolical plot to take over the world by mortgage brokers: Your theory is that the collapse of the real estate industry was just another genius stroke by the GOP to further the aims of their true masters Mortgage Bankers and Brokers?
This reminds me readers: Don't do drugs, They can have long-term negative side effects.
Kermujin wrote: Irony. Obama criticized the rating agencies for misleading people. The rating agencies then downgraded U.S. debt. Gotta love it. -in response to the column The New Cradle of Debt-ocracy
Kermujin-
Both sides got what a little comeuppance. The shame is that when it comes to jobs and the economy, Obama is way out of his depth.
He doesn't even know enough to know what he doesn't know.
Beyond outcome based ideas of "fairness' I don't think Obama has any mature beliefs in the area of economics.
Kirk wrote: There's a lot here to think about. If the law stopping/banning science trade with China is not being followed, is that not against the law? Just asking. - in response to the column Obama's Anti-American Activities
Kirk-
We have this chronic condition where the government exempts itself from laws that it passes. They do this as a matter of course.
Obama can get around the ban by claiming that sharing research is part of his foreign policy.
It's akin to Clinton claiming executive privilege when he didn't want to talk about the Monica Lewinsky case; or the Obama folks meeting with lobbyist outside the White House so they don't have to disclose who they met with.
Thomas wrote: Even though I respect both Palin and Bachman, I don't think American voters are ready for a relatively young woman president. Nor do I think West is ready. HERMAN CAIN has the maturity and leadership experience we need, in addition to his truly conservative principles. –in response to the column This Week's Top Tweets
Dear Thomas-
I'm neutral in the race. But the concern that I have for Cain is that it's very easy to tell who you are. Voters want someone who can demonstrate who they are by votes and leadership in the past.
They bought a bill of goods from Obama. They need to know exactly what they are getting this time.
Robert wrote: John Ransom is full of right wing crap. Fortunately, there are only maybe 5 readers of his columns including myself. - in response to the column Obama's Anti-American Activities
Dear Robert,
Thanks for freely choosing to be one of those five who read me faithfully.
And thanks for mentioning my name with the term "right wing."
It helps my Google rank very much :-).