Andy Rooney’s Last Essay on “60 Minutes”

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –October 3 –

Andy signed off “60 minutes” last night:

"A writers' job is to tell the truth. I believe that if all the truth were known about everything in the world it would be a better place to live. I know I've been terribly wrong sometimes, but I think I've been right more than I've been wrong....

I've done a lot of complaining here, but of all the things I've complained about, I can't complain about my life. My wife Margie and I had four good kids...now there are grandchildren. I have two great grand children although they're a little young for me to know how great they are. And all this time I've been paid to say what is on my mind on television. You don't get any luckier in life than that.

A bit of humor:

"He could take the long view, but he could also sound like a man out of time or, some would say, out of touch ... I don't know who Lady Gaga is," he said recently, "and kids today probably don't know who Ella Fitzgerald was."

Morley Safer interviewed Andy, and one of the statements Andy made, as I recall, “I’m going to die. I don’t want to die, but it’s going to happen”. Andy is 92 years old. Speaking of old age; Little Jimmy Dickens is 90. He performs regularly on the Grand Ole Opry.

So, I salute Andy, and wish him well.

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Pass The Bill To Find Out What's In It | Pass It Now! | V

“You have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it”

”Pass it now”

The Votes aren’t there

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –October 1 –

“You have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it”

The result: The Supreme Court will decide whether all or part of the bill is unconstitutional. President Obama has stated that the constitution is flawed.

A president that says that the constitution is flawed, and holds his hands near his crotch during the pledge of allegiance, should be removed in 2012. Picture

26 states filed this legal proceeding against Obamacare. 26 states believe Pelosi, President Obama, and Democrats were wrong and incompetent. Several judges have ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional. Republicans will do what they can to oppose Obamacare.

Government has a track record of failure. Fannie, Freddie, and other examples prove it. We don’t want to add Obamacare to the list. Health care will be better in the private sector.

”Pass it now”

President Obama has wasted trillions of dollars. The money that President Obama spent on two buses, the bus tour, the “pass it now” tour of the country has resulted in the following:

DURBIN ACKNOWLEDGES OBAMA PLAN LACKS VOTES: The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, told Chicago media yesterday that Senate Democrats don't have the votes for President Barack Obama's jobs bill. It's an obvious admission, given that Democrats would need 60 votes to advance the bill in the Senate, only hold 53 seats, the GOP will unite against it, and a handful of moderate Dems may oppose it as well. But rhetorically, it gives the GOP another talking point as Obama continues to press Congress to "pass this bill." Reuters   Emphasis added

Sarcasm: President Obama should spend another trillion or so trying to “Pass it now”. It could be completely paid for, by cutting funds to Medicare and Social Security. He and his minions could rent football stadiums across the country, and “pass it now” events could be scheduled!

Pass The Bill To Find Out What's In It| Pass It Now! IV

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –September 30 –

Now we come to the current portion of “Pass It Now”!

Durban says that the Socialist Democrats don't have the votes to pass the "jobs bill". This is another hit on Obama's rhetoric "Pass it now"!

President Obama’s words have become almost meaningless. Even his own party cannot support his outrageous ideas. Krauthammer says he’s delusional. Krauthammer says that  President Obama says he’s ready to discuss cuts, but he has never put a cut on the table. I certainly won’t argue with that.

The Solyndra saga

Green jobs are part of the stimulus bill. Solyndra went broke under suspicious circumstances, but now the saga continues. More loans to “Green” companies may be laundering money to repay losers in the Solyndra debacle. All the shady dealings involve Socialist Democrats.

Steve Mitchell and Argonaut Private Equity might have a chance to recoup some of their losses in the Solyndra debacle now that the Department of Energy has given a $737 million dollar loan guarantee to a company backed by Argonaut that also lists Mitchell as a "board participant." Washington Examiner

So, the Obama administration is participating in a fraudulent racket. When a Socialist Democrat loses money, find a way to funnel money to him to recoup his loses.

Obamacare

The Obamacare supporters, like Jay Carney, are on their soapboxes proclaiming that they are confident that Obamacare will be found to be constitutional. So what?

What I care about is keeping health care out of government. The government couldn’t run the railroads in WWII. Fannie and Freddie are a basket case. The Department of Energy would be a joke, if it wasn’t so sad that they are useless.

Health care should be in the private sector, not in the government sector.

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Pass The Bill To Find Out What's In It| Pass It Now! III

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Anything Wrong With This Picture?

Pass The Bill To Find Out What's In It| Pass It Now! I

Pass The Bill To Find Out What's In It| Pass It Now! II

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –September 29 –

August 2010

When Congress passed the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, otherwise known
as the stimulus bill, it passed with assurances that it would stem the loss of American jobs and keep the
economy from floundering. As most can see, it hasn’t.
Eighteen months since the law’s passage, millions of jobs are still gone and the economy is as uncertain as
ever. The only thing getting a boost is our national debt – the stimulus has helped push it 23 percent
higher, to $13.2 trillion, a new record. Source

Now, the whole game has changed. There is a debt limit, a supercommittee, and S&P downgraded our credit rating.

What is the national debt now, September 29, 2011?   The National Debt Clock   $14,776 trillion and rising.

The national debt per taxpayer was $104,000 on August 2, 2011. Wednesday 10 PM EDT September 28 is was $131,686. So it went up $27,000 per taxpayer since August.

All the wealth of the rich, will not pay for what is being spent.

A tax bill was passed on property in Greece today. They didn’t even try to tax the rich, because they knew it wouldn’t work.

All the Marxists in Greece are in for a big, big, surprise.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

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Pass The Bill To Find Out What’s In It| Pass It Now! II

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Pass The Bill To Find Out What’s In It| Pass It Now!…I   previous article

Link to 100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues

 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –September 28 –

As we detail in this third report in a series, some projects accomplish such questionable goals as putting
in new windows at a vacant government building, replacing a new sidewalk with an even newer one, or
money for a park that is only accessible by boat or plane. Link to 100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues

I have noted the following:

To condone a $308 million; 9. Power Plant Construction Won’t Start for at Least Two Years (Kern County, CA), is irresponsible, especially when taken together with the rest of the wasteful spending. $308 million is not chump change, no matter how devoted and loyal a person is to a group of socialist Democrats. This bill denigrates the professional management skills prominent in a capitalistic society. It shows a blatant lack of discipline in running a country. It makes a mockery of the Chinese and other investors, who hope they have a risk free investment in United States securities.. This is just for starters, before I do some research. I promise to come up with more negative adjectives to describe the defensive behavior, which spins the wasteful spending as just a minor, acceptable, behavior.

None of the participants in the stimulus have been punished, except the socialist Democrats in the House, who were removed in November of 2010. The legislators and President Obama should be punished. Their actions should bring consequences, but it possibly won’t. Another possibility would be to amend the constitution, so that whatever it takes; bad behavior is not rewarded, and is in fact punished. I’ll leave specific amendment ideas to the lawyers.

 

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Pass The Bill To Find Out What’s In It| Pass It Now!…I

 

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania –September 27 –

I’m just finding out what was in the almost $1 trillion stimulus bill, which didn’t reduce the nation’s unemployment.

Where some of the money went, and some is still supposed to go:

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1. Forest Service to Replace Windows in Visitor Center Closed in 2007 (Amboy, WA) -

$554,763 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. “Dance Draw” - Interactive Dance Software Development (Charlotte, NC) - $762,372 ............ 6

3. North Shore Connector to Professional Sports Stadiums, Casino (Pittsburgh, PA) - $62

million ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

4. FEMA Stalls Two Texas Fire Stations More Than a Year, Increases Costs (San Antonio, TX)

- $7.3 million ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

5. Abandoned Train Station Converted Into Museum (Glassboro, NJ) - $1.2 million ................... 10

6. Ants Talk. Taxpayers Listen (San Francisco, CA) - $1.9 million ......................................................... 11

7. Stimulus Project Threatens Pastor’s House (Newark, OH) - $1.8 million ...................................... 12

8. Old Abandoned Iron Furnace Gets Facelift after Money Squandered on Same Project Years

Before (Fitchburg, KY) – $357,710 ................................................................................................................. 14

9. Power Plant Construction Won’t Start for at Least Two Years (Kern County, CA) - $308

million ...................................................................................................................................................................... 15

10. Town Replaces New Sidewalks With Newer Sidewalks That Lead to Ditch (Boynton, OK) -

$89,298 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16

http://coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=a7e82141-1a9e-4eec-b160-6a8e62427efb

Please open the link and go to “Ants” $1.9 million ; 6.

Random Pictures

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Corn Cobs
I was born and raised on a farm. I’m fond of simple things like corn cobs. I found these corn cobs at a farmer’s market near Pittsburgh. The grain elevator near where I lived, when I was young, was powered by a steam engine. The furnace to make the steam used corn cobs.

Pittsburgh Mills
Pittsburgh Mills is one of the shopping malls in our area. I took a shot one day, when we went to Olive Garden to eat. The camera that I use has a LCD and no view finder, so it is difficult to see outside in bright light. I drape a sweater or something over my head to make the LCD more visible.

Farm Market
This corn field is behind a farm market, which sells primarily meat. The same people, who own the market, own the corn field behind it. There’s a cow pasture adjacent to the corn field, but the cows weren’t out. They have their own animals butchered, and sell the meat themselves.
 
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