Obama's Book Club

Disclaimer: The following blog is not necessarily the expressed opinion of the other residents of the Morgan household. The following should not be considered professional political advice nor should you light a torch to any of your belongings as a result. Viewer discretion is advised. If you own an Obama scarf, I do not recommend that you continue.

Before you begin, you may want to figure out what the heck I'm talking about.

Dear Defense Department Pentagon Officials Big Brother Government,

I want to thank you so much for saving me the hassle of having to go out and decide for myself which books I want to read and which books are best for kindling. Although I probably would not have wanted to read the first edition of Anthony Shaffer's book Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan – and the Path to Victory, I appreciate you using taxpayer dollars to buy up all 9,500 copies (at a discount of $47,000) of it so I don't even have that temptation. Whew, what a relief! That was so kind of you. One question, though, did you invite pastor Terry Jones to your lovely bonfire? Did he bring anything to the barbeQuran...I mean, barbecue?

Well, since you've decided to take the liberty of choosing which books I am allowed to read (see Germany, 1933), I suppose I have no other choice but to become a member of Obama's Book Club. I can't wait to see what book you'll choose first. My guess is that it won't be anything written by Ann Coulter.

But you know what has to happen before you've got this whole censorship Book Club thing in order? You must first get rid of all the other "threats to national security" I've got sitting on my shelf at home. Let's see...

• David Allen's Getting Things Done: Clearly, this is not something you want me to read. You'll just do it all for me. Torch it.
• Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover: I mean, why would we want a book that promotes debt freedom and living within our means? A balanced budget? That's just dangerous thinking. Torch it.
• Madelyn Burley-Allen's book called Listening The Forgotten Skill: Tell you what, you may want to hang on to that one.
• Augustine's Confessions: Let's just leave all the confessions to our most upstanding Senators.
• What to Expect The First Year by Heidi Murkoff: I'm "expecting" you'll just take care of my family for me. Torch it.
• Gospel-Powered Parenting by William P. Farley: Not PC enough. Let's not go mixing God and parenting. Let's leave the parenting to the Nanny State. Torch it.
• Podium Humor by James C. Humes: You can go ahead and burn that one. I think Mr. Obama has a copy already. But, I dunno. This might just make the Book Club list.

Thank you so much for taking the time and my taxpayer dollars to make sure I'm not saying or reading anything derragatory dangerous.

Love,

Katy

As a side note: I'm ALL FOR making sure our national intelligence remains secure so that our troops are safe. Obviously, I have a vested interest in that! What I do question is whether or not there is anyone in our current government who is fit to discern "intelligence." Boom, roasted.

Obamacare Versus NHS

In the spirit of full disclosure, I won't claim to know too terribly much about what's been going on with the healthcare debate back home. Honestly, it's all I can do to listen to it from across The Pond. However, Brian forwarded me an email he received from our State Representative in Florida (which is where we're registered to vote). I found it very interesting:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL-01) issued the following statement following the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

“After over a year of trying to ram through a trillion dollar government takeover of our health care system, Nancy Pelosi and the majority party waited until the middle of the night to take one of the most important votes in history.  This bill was written behind closed doors using backroom deals to buy enough votes to pass, and puts the future of our great country at great risk.  It does nothing to protect the sanctity of human life, will not lower health care costs for the American family, cuts Medicare by $500 billion, and raises taxes on middle-class Americans.  I strongly denounce the passage of this bill and will work for its swift repeal.”

Call me cynical, but I don't see how anything passed this quickly with this much secrecy can be a positive step forward for our nation. However, having never worked in the health field or political arena, I can only tell you what I know from experience living and working in a nation that has universal health care. It lessens the quality and the quantity of care we all receive.

In our "labor rehearsal" class last week, the nurse midwife explained that those who chose to have their baby on base would receive 24-48 hours of care after the birth. And for those who chose to have their baby at Cambrige Hospital (one of the best in this nation): two hours recovery. Two hours after giving birth, those who chose the NHS (National Health Service) would be asked to pack up and get out of there. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Inconveniences like this are only minor compared to what is likely to come as a result of this bill. I fear that immigrants will soon flock to America they way they come to Britain for "free abortions." Let's just hope that future leaders will be able to undo some of the negative things this current Administration has chosen to implement.

...I know I do!

Update on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 11:53AM by Katy

I found this very interesting. Especially since it was aired on CNN. It appears the American media is a bit disenchanted with this whole process as well. Sure, there are plenty of people who want to see the health care system reformed...but why all the secrecy?

Put a Fork In It

Pork, anyone?

I admit I've hesitated writing another political blog (Remember the controversy the last one caused?), but I'm having a hard time sitting quietly on this side of The Pond and waching my hard-earned income contribute to pig odor research in Iowa. So, I have a great idea. Give me the $1.8 million, fly me first class to Iowa, and I'll let you know all about swine odor. Better yet, fly me to D.C. and I'll give a strikingly similar report (bah dum dum).

Didn't I hear somewhere that "pork ... as a strategy" is over and that this administration would "stop business as usual in Washington"? Someone please explain, then, why lawmakers on BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE (and I want to emphasize that here) have turned a blind eye and an outstreached hand to billions in frivilous spending. Call me cynical, but how exactly will swine odor research "keep the federal government running through the rest of the fiscal year"? Let's be optimistic...maybe they're planning on employing 2.6 million people to conduct that research. Well, sign me up!

I think they ought to change the pet name of these earmarks from "pork" to "mutton." Talk about pulling the wool over our eyes! In the midst of all this madness, apparently our nation's wise leadership has turned to their "How to Reassure the American Public in order to Avoid a Major Depression" (Version 2) handbook and gleaned some wonderful wisdom:

1) Scream, "George made me do it!" Of course it's George Bush's fault...EVERYTHING is George Bush's fault.

He [Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget] argued that the White House had little choice but to support the $410 billion omnibus spending bill, which it inherited from the previous administration. The bill would keep the government running through 2009.

(See article)

2) Claim, "I PROMISE we won't do it again!" Pretend to do better in the future while crossing your fingers behind your back.

"We'll change the rules going forward," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday when asked about the legislation.

(See article)

"[Such bills] will not happen when the president has the full legislative and appropriations process in place," [says] Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. "...this was negotiated last year. We think we should just move on. When we are engaged in the fiscal year 2010 appropriations process, it's going to look a lot different."

(See article)

3) When all else fails, just deny it. "Earmarks? What earmarks?"

In a prime-time address before a joint session of Congress, Obama last week praised the $787 billion stimulus package signed into law, telling the nation, "I'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks, and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities."

But some in the audience found that hard to swallow.

"There was just a roar of laughter -- because there were earmarks," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri.

(See article)

4) Be vague...be VERY vague.

PRESS SECRETARY GIBBS: "The President you will see and hear outline [sic] a process of dealing with this problem in a different way, and that the rules of the road going forward for those many appropriations bills that will go through Congress and come to his desk will be done differently."

REPORTER: "So he'll have a new standard that he's going to lay out for the appropriations bills that will come to his desk that are actually written while he's President?"

MR. GIBBS: "Yes, sir."

REPORTER: "And when is this?"

MR. GIBBS: "Soon."

(See full press briefing)

I have an idea. Let's take just a TINY portion of that "simulus" money and send these crazies to a Dave Ramsey conference. At the very least, they could take a look at some of his ideas for improving this mess.