http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18637190/detail.html

I like the fact that both 7-11 clerks recognized the sword as a Batleth.

Funny how it is Democrats that keep wanting to raise taxes but don't actually pay them:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/03/white-house-performance-czar-nancy-killefer-withdraws-candidacy/

WASHINGTON -- Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, has withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, the White House said Tuesday.

Killefer was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after President Barack Obama announced their selection.

More recently, Timothy Geithner was confirmed as Treasury secretary despite belatedly paying $34,000 in income taxes, and Tom Daschle is still waiting to see if his late payment of more than $128,000 in income taxes will harm his nomination to be health and human services secretary.

A majority of Americans want Congress to either reject or make "major changes" to the economic stimulus package on Capitol Hill, a poll out Tuesday finds.

The Gallup poll, conducted from Friday through Sunday, found that 75 percent of Americans want Congress to pass some version of the plan, which is tagged at about $900 billion in the latest Senate package.

But the survey reflected deepening doubts about the effectiveness of the programs and spending items currently being considered by federal lawmakers. Only 38 percent of those polled favored the existing stimulus proposal, down from a slight majority holding that view in the Jan. 28 Gallup survey.

Thirty-seven percent want major changes and 17 percent reject the plan outright. The poll also found only 10 percent think the economy will improve this year as a result of the plan. Fifty-three percent said the plan will either have no effect on their families or make their financial situations worse.

The poll reflects a substantial partisan divide, with 59 percent of Democrats calling for passage without changes while 43 percent of Republicans want major changes and another 35 percent reject it outright.

The poll was based on interviews with 1,027 adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/03/americans-reject-want-major-changes-stimulus-poll-finds/

And by the way, here is some more info for you:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/02/key-democrat-says-lawmakers-strip-tens-billions-stimulus/

A key Democratic senator told FOX News on Monday that he wants to strip "tens of billions" of dollars from the economic stimulus proposal, rejecting the White House claim that senators are complaining about just a tiny fraction of the package.

Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Republicans and Democrats alike want to gut the nearly $900 billion program of items that he says will not stimulate job growth.

President Obama and his aides have downplayed disagreements over the package as it comes before the Senate for debate. Obama said Monday that "modest differences" should not stall the package, and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said GOP objections center on about $700 million worth of items -- or "seven one-hundredths of one percent" of the total package.

Not so, said Nelson.

"It's more money than that," he said. "We're talking in the billions, and tens of billions, that we're looking to exclude from this particular program."

He singled out provisions in the bill for programs like U.S. Department of Agriculture computers and medical research as items that are worth funding -- but not in a stimulus package.

Lawmakers like Nelson, along with Republican congressional leaders who are noisily slamming the program, could complicate the administration's efforts to push through the stimulus in the days ahead.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the plan must do more to address housing and make mortgages more affordable. He said the package his colleagues would support must be "dramatically different" than the $819 billion version that passed on the House side last week without any Republican support.

"Nobody that I know of is trying to keep a package from passing," McConnell said. "We're trying to reform it."

Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold also released a statement saying the bill must not include wasteful spending and should direct funding to job-creating projects.

"Any amendments or provisions that would add to our deficit need to stimulate the economy; otherwise, they should be paid for," the senator said.

Gibbs would not say how the bill might be re-shaped on the Senate side.

"The bottom line is this -- you've got a piece of legislation that creates jobs," Gibb said. "I'm gonna leave the legislating to the legislators."

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said part of the problem for Obama is that some Democrats, and many Republicans, can't afford to vote for the measure.

"Some people will lose their jobs for voting for this measure. Nobody will be harmed by voting against it," he said.

Norquist, who vehemently opposes the stimulus package, said he expects the Senate to craft a plan that is "slightly less horrific."

Well, you can thank the democrats for doing the right-thing by trying to bailout the American people - which the republicans oppose, as always, even though they were the ones that tanked the country in the first place.

Very few are against the bailout, most are protesting the blatant pork $$$ going to groups like abortion centers/advocates, ACORN, etc., none of which involve job creation/stimulus, the purpose of the bailout.

Edit - and I don't think that the proposed tax cuts are necessarily being targeted correctly. I do think that the bailout $$$ need to be focused where people can be put to work, and industry and construction are two areas that could use the shot in the arm. Providing abortions and registering more democrats to vote doesn't rank high on my "job creation" wish list.

This comment was edited on Feb 2, 2009, 18:09.

Let's try a modified, but still true version:

"Our idiot republicans legislators in CA refuse to stop blocking the passage of the budget, so here we go."

The republicans are demanding a budget that has structural fixes in it that would prevent this state from digging itself further into the mess we are in. It is an entirely reasonable demand. The problem is spending, not income. And I have seen no effort by the left to try to remove the current spuermajority voting requirement. The proposed budget fixed none of the problems and just increased taxes, so year after year we would keep getting deeper in debt. I want it fixed and not just passed on to next year. The majority of the legislature (but not quite a supermajority) is democratic; it is up to them to be able to fashion a budget that will pass a vote. The governor has tried to walk down the middle, but the left has been unwilling to listen to the voice of responsibility coming from the right on this issue. Well, now it is coming back to bite us in the ass.

You know what makes me sick about that WH - not ONE of those lawmakers would consider a pay cut, pay freeze, or halting their checks....yet they are going to ruin countless lives by not paying those people....

Oh, I know. They even get paid extra for the additional time they spend working on it. The industry I work in (engineering for public works projects like bridges, roads, water tanks, utilities, light rail, etc.) has been hammered in the last few months with no funding moving on projects. We are probably at about 10% of our normal workload right now, and everyone is really getting nervous about having a job at all. In discussions with other firms locally, a lot of folks have been laid off or had to go part time because of the lack of work.

Talk about stimulating the economy - what they are doing right now is driving more nails in the coffin instead.....

We have been sending out more RFP/RFQ responses, making more marketing calls, whatever we can to drum up more projects to work on, but so far nothing is coming in the door. We are consciously pursuing work traditionally a little outside our geographic area to increase the "net" of work. It is just dead. We are hopful once something changes work will flow quickly, but this slow spot means that for the next couple months we have very little billable hours to invoice, so our company will have a hard time bringing in $$$ each month.

Edit - what this state has not done, but needs to do, is set a cap on spending equal to the previous year's budget (or maybe a couple percent higher or lower, depending on certain economic/demographic indicators) to kick in automatically if a budget can't be decided. Lawmakers should not get any additional pay (including per diem or any other "benefit") if the budget is not passed on time. Some have even suggested fining the legislative members something like $500-$1,000 per day for every day the budget is overdue, and I don't know if I would be adverse to that at all.

This comment was edited on Feb 2, 2009, 16:51.

Our idiot democrat-controlled legislature in CA can't figure out how to cut spending and get a budget together, so here we go. The budget was due JUNE 30 of LAST YEAR!

California Stops Paying Many Bills

http://www.kcra.com/politics/18619826/detail.html

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California has stopped paying many bills after elected leaders failed to meet a self-imposed end-of-January deadline for solving the state's budget crisis.

Checks are not being issued for Cal Grant college scholarships, county social services and even the California Highway Patrol. No state tax rebates will be issued until a plan is adopted to deal with the state's huge deficit.

In addition, more than 200,000 state workers are scheduled to take two days a month off without pay starting Friday as part of a furlough plan backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

more....

If I add taxes to the store bought games I am a tiny bit better off with the store bought games but the comfort and availability of the games on Steam justifies the small premium cost I have to pay. For instance FEAR2 is available as soon as it is released, when if I buy it from the store they might not get the game in until a few days after release day ad I still have to drive there pick it up etc.

Comfort and availability? I would much rather have a manual and a CD - I am more "comfortable" with that. Last I checked, there are more games available in a store and online (preorder if delivery date is that important!), generally for a much cheaper price, than at Steam.

I like Steam. It works well. But I do not buy games there. I buy much cheaper at retail....and I can wait a few days to get it - doesn't bother me in the least.

I'll get blood on they keys

Exactly which keys are the "they" keys again?

And take it easy Dan. Hope you are feeling up to speed soon.

Oh no they didn't make off with the car

I meant they had your phone to call for a ride. Sorry, bad joke.

Hmmm... my automobile was burgled last night

Assholes. I hate fucktards like that. Sorry to hear it.

Who steals loose change?

I'd say thieves who need to call on a pay phone for a ride home, but they did have yours....

While I hear it's a decent BR player, I don't see any reason currently to upgrade my library of movies.

Just a minor quibble - you wouldn't have to upgrade your movies - DVDs play just fine on BR players.

For the record, we own a Wii.

I don't like to think what would have happened if my favorite color was green.

You wouldn't be nearly as popular, since Green's News doesn't sound very good????

Our lives aren't going to be any better because of Barack Obama.

Not according to a bunch of my wife's liberal friends and others I know. They sound like he's the straw that stirs the drink, and I am still trying to figure out why. They are SO excited he got elected, for whatever reason.....

For example, from some Facebook posts:

xxx is watching an emotional moment in history...in awe...

amazing...

I'm at a loss for words...

xxx is crying. And very, very proud.

xxx wishes she could get a dance with Barack!

xxx wonders how her work in the world will change in this new era.

xxx is in love with our new First Family!

I mean really, why are people so gaga over this guy????

Edit - in going back and reading the OotB today, I see a lot of these topics have been discussed, but I missed them earlier. I think some have stated the same thing I have in different ways and maybe more eloquently.

This comment was edited on Jan 21, 2009, 01:28.

And you're the 80-year-old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. Except it's not even your lawn.

???

And can we please stop with the Obama worship now that he is in office and let him get to work? The nation is fawning over him like he cured cancer, instituted world peace, and improved everyone's golf game and he hasn't done anything more in his life (politically) than give some really good speeches. Come on now people, get a grip and get a life. Y'all are acting like lovestruck 12-year old girls. It's pretty sad to watch.

I sincerely hope he does great things for the country. I want every president to succeed. But this is our president, not the Beatles. Chill out. Let the man do his thing and let his actions speak for themselves.

Back from Vegas - wife and I had a good time!

Well, the wife and I are off to have some fun this weekend!

We have massages scheduled for tomorrow, then we are off to Las Vegas on Sunday and will return Tuesday night (this is a belated anniversary gift to ourselves). Should be a great trip!

It's been great out here in Cali, it's in the 70's during the day. We must be stealing the heat from the rest of you.

Yeah. It's almost 50 here now, with a high of around 65 in Sacramento today. Feels like spring.

Of course, we are way behind on our rainfall for the year, but that is another story....