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Congressman Gephardt is truly one of the wind driven politician we hear about so much these days. Actually, much more conservative than his constituents, he plays the liberal to the St. Louis unions, and minorities in an effort to keep his job. When all the living Presidents came out in support of NAFTA, Congressman Gephardt signed on with them. On his return to St. Louis, however, he was told by the unions to get ass back to DC and change his support. Being the strong willed individual he is, he sold out his countries needs, and did exactly that.
He has done little for Missouri and next to nothing for his country. Now he
wants to be President. I think not. I hope not. Dick Gephardt
gives the word "shallow" a much deeper meaning.
Winston Rogers, February 19, 2003
Getting Old
Getting old was never one of my objective. Staying alive was. That is how it happened.
Winston Rogers, January 23, 2003
Missouri Governor Bob Holden on Taxes
Missouri Governor Bob Holden announced today, in his State of the State address, that he would tax the people of Missouri out of the recession. The state budget is forecasted to fall well short of expectations next year because of the recession. Cutting back on government an equal amount would be "un-democratic" so the governor purposes to raise taxes of Missourians by the said amount.
Now, let's see? Taking money out of the economy-- is that going to help the recession?
I'm a middle of the road Republican that was once a Democrat. But, I can not believe that even the most social mind could buy into this stupidity.
Then again, someone somewhere had to vote for this idiot.
January 15, 2003
Healthcare Crisis
I find it alarming that our legislators cannot figure out where the money is going in Healthcare thee days.
It does not take a brain surgeon to realize that pharmaceutical companies are dominating television network advertising with prescription drug spots. Last night during prime time I saw five prescription drug spots, back-to-back. At a cost of hundreds of thousands a minute for network time it doesn't take long to figure out that drug companies are spending billions on advertising prescription drugs. This cost, of course, is added to the cost of the product and is paid by the consumer.
Why in the hell do we allow prescription drugs to be advertised on television anyway? If the general public is smart enough to make decisions on taking the drugs, they shouldn't be prescription. Prescription drugs are already over-prescribed, have serious side effects, and are probably contra-indicated in people who breathe.
This is capitalism at its worst. A Republican said that.
Is Al Gore Running in 2004?
Sure he is. He started running the day he shaved off his beard. Will he get the Democratic nomination? Sure he will. Who else is there? Baring any dark horse candidate like Kennedy or Carter, he has the nomination. Will Liberman be on the ticket? Surely not. A more conservative Democrat will replace him, in an attempt to draw votes away from Bush. Has he changed his colors? Surely not. He will be conservative in Florida, liberal in California, and all things to all people in between.
Can he be elected? Regrettably, yes, if the cards fall his way.
Cable Media News
Cable media news is no longer news. It is just a bunch of people sitting around second guessing authority.
It is little more than entertainment and editorial, mostly in poor taste by largely uninformed commentators. Paula
Zahn is the exception.
Local TV News
The local TV news media is, in all but the major markets, fluff news designed to fill time between advertizing. In some low markets here in the Midwest it has reduced itself to where if someone blows up the Statue of Liberty in New York local reporters will flock to the statue of "who ever" in the local town square and do a "What if it happened here" story. It is interesting to note that these are the same stations that will not let us watch major market network programing on satellite.
What Is With This War
Is it the American people or our government that has become such wimps? Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died defending our way of life in my lifetime. War is dirty, and seldom makes sense. Why is it then that now every time American personnel are killed we have an investigation?. Sometimes I wonder if our government, or the American people if that is the case, have the stomach to commit to a real war. There sure would be a lot of investigations.
Bipartisan Politics and Gridlock
Bipartisan politics and gridlock are not always bad. One of the most successful administrations is present times was President Eisenhower's. Very little was accomplished during his eight years in office. This translates to, very little bad happened during his administration.
If the ultra left liberals their way we would require a license and training to walk on public sidewalks. If the ultra conservative republicans had their way they would enact the death penalty for speeding. So as you can see a little gridlock can go a long way.
In my opinion, when speaking of Congress, less is better.
Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is the act of breaking a law we don't believe in, while being prepared to pay the consequences if we get caught.
The Boston Tee Party was an act of civil disobedience that inspired Americans to rise up and rebel against the British.
To a much lesser degree, we practice civil disobedience every day. When the national speed limit was 55 miles per hour few drove at that speed on the open road. They thought it was a poor law and chose to violate it knowing they would have to pay the price if caught.
It is my opinion that if you believe strongly in what you are doing, there is no dishonor in breaking a law that is not the will of the people. But, you must be prepared to pay the price. I fully realize how someone could take this philosophy to extremes. It is important, however to be able to resist laws that are not the will of the people. Someone in the Justice Department once said, any law that is not enforceable is, not a good law. In my opinion, any law that is not the will of the people is not a good law and should be tested, by disobedience, if necessary.
The MISSOURI DEPARTMENT of REVENUE
In a state that is not known for forward thinking anyway, the Missouri Department of Revenue (MDOR) has to be the most backasswards bureaucracy in the country. MDOR licenses and registers vehicles from privately owned offices in each county. These offices are gimmies (political appointments) to political friends of the raining governor of the state of Missouri. Perhaps this is why Missouri remains in the dark ages when it comes to vehicle licensing and registration.
To register and license a vehicle in the state of Missouri you must show up at one of these less than efficient offices with your property tax receipts, vehicle inspection (which is a farce in Missouri), your renewal application and proof of insurance. Then you must stand in line, usually for ever, because these appointees don't want to hire people that will take away from their profit. They know that we are a captive audience and have no choice but to wait.
Add to this confusion, the fact that someone like myself has to take a half day off for each of four cars, three boats, three trailers and two outboard motors. All of these items are licensed separately in Missouri, for revenue purposes, I am sure. Until recently we even had to register and license trolling motors. I once bought a trolling motor at a garage sale and it cost me more to register and licence than it cost to buy.
Now, if this does not qualify the Missouri Department of Revenue (and the Missouri Congress and Governor for that matter) for the most backwards bureaucracy in government, I fear I do not want to know who is……in my opinion.
The DRUG DEALERS of the 21st CENTURY
The drug dealers of the 21st century are your family doctors. Under the pressure of drug companies, the daily drug advertising blitz on television and the greed of some doctors to churn patients to enhance their own practice, doctors push more drugs than all the illegal drug dealers in the world.
I see young people walking away from the pharmacy carrying bags of drugs these days. Anyone over sixty seems to need a cart to haul away their drugs. While these drugs are not going to get us high, they do, in almost every case, have side effect that may be worse than the symptoms they are prescribed for. Some have even been found to be deadly.
Hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol, and arthritis drugs seem to be the main drugs being over prescribed. One hypertension drug sold for years that successfully reduced blood pressure is now known to have labored the heart in the process doing much more damage then good. Muscle pains and deterioration are common complaints from cholesterol drugs. Many have experienced serious and permanent damage to their digestive systems from popular arthritis medicines.
It became apparent to me several years ago that if I lost significant weight and eliminated a majority of the carbohydrates from my diet, I could eliminate most of the drugs I was being prescribed. I did that and today I feel better than I did 30 years ago. I still take an antihistamine, but that is all.
The moral of this story is, manage your own health care. Use your doctor as a paid consultant. Get knowledgeable and evaluate what he says. But, all decisions are yours. You are the one that has to pay the consequences of your actions.