Common Sense

Glenn Beck ended one of his shows last week with an obituary. The sad and untimely passing of Commom Sense (???-2009).





Poor Common Sense...We Hardly Knew Ye...

End of Era

GM announced that it was shedding the Pontiac nameplate as part of its restructuring plan. Sad that the once proud Pontiac that built the first American "muscle car", the GTO, will be no longer. Bu GM and the UAW have no one to blame but themselves. The following is a letter written by a supplier to the GM/Saturn plant from its inception following the now infamous letter written by a current supplier to GM, Greg Knox:

About 20 years ago, my company bid and was rewarded the opportunity to provide indirect materials to a "bold new venture" within GM to compete with the Honda, Toyota, and Nissan for the American small car market called "Saturn". They bought hundreds of acres in rural middle Tennessee, built a state of the art manufacturing facilty, and forged a new, streamlined partnership with the UAW. Unfortunately, they transplanted 5000 UAW workers, UAW mentality, and GM practices to middle Tennessee as well and the rest is history. I was an account representative assigned to the plant where I worked with procurement, engineering, and UAW skilled trades to provide products and services. Our task as a "supplier partner" was to bring products, services, and ideas to provide quality, efficiency, and cost saving ideas to venture. I took my job seriously and felt that I was playing a small role in a great idea to bring back American inqenuity and know-how. Boy, was I to be disappointed.

As we all know to well, Saturn did not turn out to be a rousing success. Greg’s letter and stories brought back so many memories that I accrued in my 6 years working with Saturn:
- Spending vast majority of my day waiting on union electricians to "get around to" meeting with my myself and an engineer just in case we might need them to turn open an electrical panel even though the equipment was not yet running.
- "Team" centers where skilled trades would set reading newspapers and watching game shows and soap-operas throughout the day (no kidding!) so they could come in on weekends and holidays to make double or triple overtime.
- Instead of pride in this new venture for GM to reclaim some of the small car market, nothing but empathy and apathy toward the whole program.
- A permeating sense of entitlement.
- Instead of being thankful that GM had relocated them and their families to a new start, complaints about "Why in the hell did GM build a plant out here in the middle of nowhere?" and condescending comments…"I like the South, especially all of the 2nd place trophies on your courthouse squares…hehe."
- The mentality towards suppliers as enemies, not partners began creeping back into the picture. The we’re GM/UAW and you’re not attitude. The running joke between suppliers was, "How many GM/UAW employees does it take to screw in a light bulb?…Answer: Just one…they hold the light bulb while the rest of the world revolves around them."

As a result, Saturn never made as many cars, nor the quality of cars they expected. As a thumb in the eye, Nissan built a plant about 40 miles up the road in Nashville that employed local workers, at a competitive wage, and turn out twice as many Altimas (500K vs 250K / yr.) as Saturns, with better quality ratings and resell value. The Saturn experiment, although good intentioned, was a resounding failure in terms of gaining market share on the Japanese. Why? Because they simply could not breakaway from the old GM/UAW mentality. They were hancuffed by the UAW contracts and GM bureaucracy. No room for new ideas, concepts, or hard work.

One could see the end of GM 20 years ago unless something drastically changed. Obviously, nothing did. I as an American hate to see a once great company such as GM go by the wayside, but the management and the union doomed this company long ago. This dinosaur needs to die.

Speaking of cars, what a finish in the NASCAR race at Talladega yesterday! Shades of Ricky Bobby...Talladega Nights!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlytg1bYI0

Dying Priest

Friday Humor from my brother-in-law:

The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation's capital. He motioned for his nurse to come near. "Yes, Father?" said the nurse. "I would really like to see Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi before I die", whispered the priest. "I'll see what I can do, Father" replied the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to them and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived. Harry and Nancy would be delighted to visit the priest. As they went to the hospital, Harry commented to Nancy "I don't know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images." Nancy couldn't help but agree.

When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Nancy 's hand in his right hand and Harry's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest's face. Finally Nancy spoke. "Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?"

The old priest slowly replied "I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

The old priest continued... "He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same."

Have a Great Weekend!

Astroturf??

TEA Parties

Yesterday, an estimated 1 million people gathered in 2,300 communities around the country to voice their dissatisfaction with the way our Federal government is operating. The people that gathered (peacefully by the way), were not Republican or Democrats, but Average Joe and Jane, small business owners, concerned citizens who have HAD ENOUGH of shenanigans in Washington.

Do you think Washington listened? Here is what our esteemed Speaker of the House had to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P44q7Jt68DA

Guess Not! To her highness, we are "Astroturf". How nice.



Surely the mainstrean media covered the events objectively right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMxKMr2wnhk

Ummm...Guess Not

Where do we go from here? We CANNOT let this end. We have to keep having our voices heard! Take 5 minutes...Write your Congressman, your Senator, our President. It is your civic duty as an American.

This is not about whether the President's plans work or not, this is not about Republican or Democrat, this IS about our future, your children's future, our Country's future....

Two Trillion Tons...

How appropriate for April 15th!

Would be funny if not true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U6Yg9ckZv8

Taxes - What Are They Good For?

Senator Tom Daschle’s take on tax cheaters in 1998:
“Make no mistake. Tax cheaters cheat us all. The IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.”
I wonder if former senator Tom Daschle feels that way today….

WOW…just finished my taxes. 48 pages of Federal tax returns for itemizing deductions and having a little investment property that I can’t seem to sell! HELP!

However, I feel proud of myself because I just accomplished what Tim Geitner, Tom Daschle, Charlie Rangel, and a host of other Federal Government officials and Presidential appointees can’t figure out or failed to do.

Just my luck, over qualified for high paying job in the public sector, under qualified for high paying job in the private sector!

If this wasn’t so sad or so important, this would be laughable. Unfortunately, it is not…
The hard-working, law abiding, tax paying citizens must stand up and be heard! A good start:

1) Find your local Tea Party tomorrow and attend.
2) Write your Congressman, Senator, the President and let them know how you feel.
3) Stay involved, talk to others

It is bad enough that Washington is wasting your tax dollars, but worse that they are wasting your children’s and grandchildren’s tax dollars!

This is not the America that was handed to us by our forefathers and our parents. Don’t let it be the America that we hand down to future generations.

End of Week Funny - KIDS IN CHURCH

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese:
"Our Father, Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little boy was overheard praying:
"Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the christening of his baby brother in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally, the boy replied,
"That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One particular four-year-old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
"And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
One bright little girl replied,
"Because people are sleeping."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
"If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
"Ryan, you be Jesus!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand
"Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked.
"He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then asked,
"Why did God throw him back down?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
"Would you like to say the blessing?"
"I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied.
"Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
"Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And if you don't send this to at least 8 people ----- who cares?!
Peace, love and happiness

The Pied Piper

There was a Pied Piper who said, "We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change it!"

*And the people said, "Change is good!"


Then he said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats and redistribute their wealth."

*And the people said, "Sock it to them!"


And then he said, "Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody."

*And Joe the plumber said, "Are you kidding me?"


And Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized.

*And one lone reporter asked, "Isn't that Marxist policy?"

And she was banished from the kingdom!


Then someone asked, "With no foreign relations experience, how will you deal with radical terrorists?"

And the Pied Piper said, "Simple. I'll sit down and talk with them and show them how nice we really are and they'll forget that they ever wanted to kill us all"!


Then the Pied Piper said, "I'll give 95% of you lower taxes."

*And one, lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes!"


So the Pied Piper said, "Then I'll give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!"

*And the people said, "Show me the money!"


Then the Pied Piper said, "I'll tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes"!

*And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.


And he said, "I'll mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage."

*And the people said, "Gimme some of that!"


Then he said, "I'll penalize employers who ship jobs overseas."

*And the people said, "Where's my rebate check?"


Then the Pied Piper actually said, "I'll bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will sky-rocket!"

*And the people said, "Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates."


So the Pied Piper said, "Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we'll bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over! Then he said, illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing."

*And the people said, "Ole`! Bravo!" And they made him King!"


And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy slowed even further.


Then the Pied Piper said, "I am the Messiah and I'm here to save you! We'll just print more money so everyone will have enough! But our foreign trading partners said, Wait a minute. Your dollar isn't worth what it was. You'll have to pay more."

*And the people said, "Wait a minute. That's not fair!"


And the world said, "Neither are these other, idiotic programs you've embraced. You've become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you'll play by our rules!"

*And the people said, "What have we done?"


But it was too late.


If you think this is a fairy tale, open your eyes and ears. It's happening RIGHT NOW!

Word to the Wise

Abraham Lincoln is revered by not only Americans, but worldwide for his leadership, honesty, wisdom, and strength of character. His words are quoted and published probably more than any other American President. He is admired by both the left and right and President Obama likens himself in many ways to Lincoln and seeks to emulate himself in the Lincoln mold. Maybe the current leadership in Washington should heed these words of the great man from Illinois:

"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of many by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."
--Abraham Lincoln

Honey, I Want A Divorce

The following letter has been going around the internet for the last few weeks, but I think it is too funny not to post here:


Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters,

We've stuck together since the late 1950s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know that we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and just will not ever agree on what's right. So let's just end it right now while we can do it on friendly terms. We can smile, shake hands, chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and each go our own way.

So here's a model separation agreement. Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by land mass, each taking a portion. That's going to be the difficult part, but I'm sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate taste. We don't like redistributive taxes so you can have those. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. And since you hate guns and you hate war, we'll take the firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. But you are going to be responsible for finding a biodiesel vehicle big enough to haul them around.

We'll keep the capitalism, the greedy corporations, the pharmaceutical companies; we will keep Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have the homeless, the homeboys, the hippies and illegal aliens. We will keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, the greedy CEOS and all of the rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and we'll let you have NBC and Hollywood.

You can be nice to Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer anybody that threatens us. You can have the peaceniks and the war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we will provide them with security. You won't have to worry about it. We will keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley Maclaine. You can also have the UN, but we will no longer pay the bill.

We will keep the SUVs, the pickup trucks and the oversize luxury cars. You can have the compacts, the subcompacts and every Subaru station wagon you can find. You can give everybody healthcare, if you can find any practicing doctors. We will continue to believe that healthcare is a privilege and not a right. We will keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the national anthem, and I am sure you will be happy to substitute in their place "Imagine." I'd like to teach the world to sing "Kumbaya" or "We are the world." We will practice trickle-down economics and you can give trickle-up poverty your best shot. And since it so offends you, we will keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots. And if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the friendly spirit of parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in about 15 years.

Sincerely,
John J Wall
Law student and an American

P.S. You can also have Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda