When will liberals get it?

When it comes to almost anything these days, I must ask the question that is
the title of this blog post. When willliberals get it?

It's obvious they don't get it when it comes to jobs. They insist on
passing numerous laws that affect small business. This shows in legislation
that they enact such as the misguided financial reform measures which will
only serve to further tighten credit. What will the regulations for this
legislation require? Noone knows yet and that will further fuel uncertainty
by business which will in turn mean fewer jobs and les investment. Why
should business create jobs if they are not certain what will be coming down
the road in terms of regulation and taxes? As for taxes, there are a ton of
these in the health care legislation. Talk about more uncertainty, you have
it in a large piece of legislation which amounts to a government takeover of
health care. Don't forget what they did to the student load program either.
Talk about uncertainty. There is some for students as well. What will
those regulations look like? I don't think anyone knows.

You have liberals talking about energy independence. What this means is cap
and trade which would choke off industry and necessarily, by Obama's own
admission, raise electric rates. How is this a good thing for business or
the individual? One more example of where liberals don't get it.

Then there's uncertainty at the state level. Providers and others aren't
getting paid due to state financial problems. When will the Dems realize
the problem and begin working across the isle to help fix the problem? Who
knows.

Noone really knows what the future holds. The liberals don't seem to
understand that uncertainty is no friend of business. They just think that
business is evil and needs to be regulated. They think that the government
knows what is best rather than the individual. Whatever happened to free
enterprise? I don't know but we had better figure that out before we become
so like Europe that there's no turning back, something we're really fast
approaching.

November can't get here fast enough.

ADA 20 years later

We have an important anniversary to celebrate tomorrow. What is that
anniversary? It's the signing of the Americannnnns with Disabilities Act
(ADA) by then-President George H.W. bush. It gave those of us with
disabilities the right to be included in all aspects of society including
success and failure. It gave us access to the built environment, to state
and local government programs and services and places of public
accommodation. This meant stores, restaurants, bars, amusement
parks,festivals etc. We could go where everyone else goes. We have a right
to get material from city council meetings in accessible format.
Transportation became accessible so we could get out and go where we need
and want to go. This includes fixed route and paratransit service. These
are just a few things that the ADA has allowed us to do.

Is there still a ways to go? Yes there certainly is. There is the issue of
access to goods and services sold over the Internet. The Dept. of Justice
will be dealing with this issue very soon so that is a step in the right
direction. Are there still access issues when it comes to voting?
Absolutely there are but voting is something that we can do independnently
now thanks in part to the ADA and I for one am not going back.

Pedestrian access is something that still needs work but will improve.
Access to state and local government programs and services is better but
again could improve.

There is, however, one thing that legislation will not change no matter how
hard you try; and that is attitudes. There will continue to be problems
with employment when you have attitudes which say that PWD can't work or
live independently. These attitudinal barriers will come down much more
slowly than the physical barriers have come down. All of us have attitudes
that we have acquired since a veryh young age. It's hard to change those
attitudes but we must continue to try.

Does the ADA hold promise for equal rights? You bet it does, especially if
we make full use of its provisions. If we don't make full use of its
provisions, then we won't realize the true power that this law gives us.
Let's dedicate ourselves to realizing the full potential of this landmark
legislation.

Arizona

Once again I must ask if people have actually read the Arizona immigration
law or even understand how it works? If you're a liberal, the answer to
that is probably no on both counts because it doesn't fit your agenda of
open borders. If you're a conservative, the answer is likely yes because
you understand the issue and know that the feds aren't doing what they need
to and you want to see the boarders secured.

Liberals say this law is or will lead to racial profiling. Well, if there
is documented racial profiling going on then let's deal with it; but until
then let's enforce the laws that are on the books. How many people know
that there is a federal law on the books, signed by a Democratic President,
that requires aliens to carry their papers on their person? I'd venture to
say not many, especially among the liberal crowd as once again this doesn't
fit their agenda.

As further proof that this is getting nasty, there was news that an ACB
affiliate has withdrawn an invitation for the Maricopa County sherrif to
speak at there convention this summer in Phoenix. Once again, if people
would read the law, they would know what it says. People cannot be stopped
primarily because they might be here illegally. They can, however, be asked
as a result of a stop for another offense or reason for contact with the
police. What's so damn hard to understand about that?

While the convention will be fun this summer, I'm not looking forward to the
freaking politics due to the location of the convention. Can we just do the
organization business without getting involved in an issue that IMO we
should not be involved in? I pray that the answer is yes but I'm afraid it
won't be given GDUI's action on the speaking engagement of the sherrif.

He has every right to be angry over that one as it's real disingenuous to
invite someone and then pull the invitation just because you don't agree
with a law that was passed and that he only enforces.. If anyone has a
better solution out there, I'd like to hear it but let's not get the
convention or the organization involved in this one please.

BP and anyone else can't get it right

We've all heard about the explosion of the deep water horizon oil rig in the
gulf of Mexico and the oil spill that has resulted from this explosion.
We've also heard how the beaches and marsh lands have been fouled by this
oil. With each passing day, we also hear about the fact that BP hasn't a
clue how to stop this. It's been said that everything they've tried hasn't
been tried at these depths. You've got to be kidding me. Why would a
permit even be issued in this situation?

The answer to that question is certainly open for debate and the fact that
deep water drilling has been closed for now is a good thing despite what the
Mississippi Governor Haley Barber says. We do need to know how to deal with
something like this if it were to happen. And we don't right now. BP
certainly hasn't got a clue.

I go back to the 60 Minutes broadcast done about three weeks ago where the
gentleman from Transocean who was on the rig at the time of the explosion
said that BP wanted to move too fast and that there were problems with the
ring on the blow out preventer. Well, the blow out preventer did not do its
job, that's for sure. Did BP move too fast on production? I think that the
answer is likely yes. Did they ignore signs of trouble with the blowout
preventer? I think that we will find out that the answer to that one is
likely yes. Come on, when there's rubber where it shouldn't be, that's a
problem.

Does the government have some blame here? Certainly they do and Obama, if
he can bring himself to do it, needs to take responsibility for it too. The
response has been slow at best. Come on, Louisiana is waiting for answers
regarding , I believe, the digging of berms or something to protect the
coast line and marshes. The last I had heard on this was that they had not
yet received an answer. What's taking so long for that answer to come? As
for the finger pointing game in front of Congress by the companies involved,
there'll be enough blame to go around by the time this investigation is
finished so no one needs to worry about anyone escaping responsibility on
this one.

BP certainly can't get it right though. Everything they try doesn't work;
and it'll be two months before the relief wells are done. That's no
comfort to the coast states, especially Louisiana who stands to lose big on
this one. What will they try next? Stay tuned to find out.

Thank You To All

On this Memorial Day, I pause to say thank you to all who have served,
especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. It is because of
you that we are free today. Those who went to war did so out of a sense of
patriotism and a call to serve their country. They did so because there was
a danger to our country and our way of life.

This Memorial Day I am reminded of the Greatest Generation, the men and
women who served in WWII. They came home and quietly assimilated back into
society. At the time, they were not properly thanked. Thanks to the Honor
Flights, they are finally getting the thanks they truly deserve for what
they did. So many never made it home either. It is these men and women
whom we remember this weekend.

Please take a moment out of your busy day to remember these men and women
from all wars who gave the ultimate sacrifice. To very loosely quote a Toby
Keith song, Courtesy of the Red, White and blue, " When you see Old Glory
fly, there's a lot of men dead so we can live happy and free..." Please
remember that as you go about your day today.

Reflections on local news

Yesterday was certainly a busy day in local news rooms. You had two big
stories happen at once with no rhyme or reason to either one of them. These
two big stories happened within a half hour of each other which I'll bet is
a nightmare for any news room.

The first story was the death of Metra's Executive Director and the other
was the shooting at the Old Navy store in Chicago's loop.

The shooting , while sensless, was easier to explain but difficult to
swallow. The reason is that an innocent woman was taken down with the guy
who didn't want the relationship to end. There are better ways to handle
that situation than to murder someone and then take one's own life.

The Metra story however gives me the creeps as I have had interaction with
the Executive Director in the past when transportation issues were hot in
the early to mid 1990s. He was one who got it where disability access was
concerned and that was saying a lot for the Executives at that time. The
waythis gentleman chose to end it was what makes this so creepy as he no
doubt saw reports and handled incidents of this type while employed at
Metra. Why would you use a train, something you were in charge of running
the service of, to take your own life? There were obviously more problems
here than we will ever know because the taking of money inquestionable
fashion should not alone be a cause for taking one's own life.

Will I ever look at getting on a Metra train or any other type of diesel
train the same again? Probably not because I knew this person
professionally and that's the creepy side of this story. My condolances to
the family who is left wondering why. May the good Lord give them the
strength to get through this crisis in their lives.

November we need you now

The title says it all. We need November and it can't get here fast enough
for me. I say this for a number of reasons.

First of all, the Democrats so-called health care reform will be the death
of this economy if it isn't repealed and replaced. However, we need
Republicans in office in order to make this happen. Small business, which
is the lifeblood of our economy, will be hurt or even killed if this
so-called reform is allowed to stand. What small business will be able to
afford to open its doors given that its health care costs will go through
the roof and they'll have to hire someone just to keep up with all of the
mandates. Small business' who can afford to do so will choose to drop
their employees into the exchange and pay the penalty rather than deal with
the headaches of this travesty that calls itself reform but is really part
of the democrats plan to create a single payer system by gutting the private
insurance companies.

You also have legislators who want reform of the financial system but who
won't deal with the root cause of the problem which is Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, the two mortgage lending giants who are being bailed out by the
taxpayers because they made loans to people who couldn't afford them. The
Democrats don't want to deal with reform of these two entities because they
don't want to deal with the fact that some people just can't afford a home.

Then there's the issue of terrorism which was brought into sharp focus last
week. You had the Time Square bomber who nearly made it out of the country
and should never have gotten that close. You have the fact that the
administration still feels that this is a criminal justice rather than a
military matter. Something unfortunately is going to happen; it's only a
matter of time. Two close calls should tell you all you need to know.

Now we get to the issue of immigration. The Democrats clearly don't want to
deal with this one as they support open boarders. What else can you say
when they deem a state potentially racist because that state wants
immigration laws enforced. I'm talking about Arizona who has a real problem
with a porous border and the feds aren't doing a damn thing abobut it so
they sent a message. Obama's response is to have the Justice Department
look at it because people's rights might be violated or there might be
racial profiling. Give me a freaking break. Then there's the whole issue
of the border and federal land. That's another matter all together. Not to
metion the fact that theliberals don't even talk about the requirement, on
the books since the 1940s, that aliens carry their paperwork on their person
in orer to prove their status and that they are here legally. Why not
enforce that law while we're at it and the liberals don't need to give any
crap about violation or rights because we would e expected to have our
papers on our person if we were traveling abroad.

Porkulus and the health care debacle have only seved to raise the national
debt. These liberals who are spending like drunken sailors and worse need
to be stopped before we wind up in the same shape that Greece now finds
itself in. We're not going to spend our way out of the recession which is
something the liberals don't understand. And you can't even have a civil
debate about this without being called a racist or anything else. Just
watch how the liberals marginalize he tea party movement which is a
cross-section of America. It's not just Republican but Democrats and
independents as well. It's people who want their country back as I do.

As you can see November can't get here fast enough and we need it now before
the liberals inflict more damage on this country. I want my country back
and I will do what I can to see that this happens.