No big surprise

Well the U.s. government finally got downgraded by Standard and Poor's
today. That should be no surprise since such a move was hinted and expected
by some earlier this week. You'd think it was a big surprise to the Obama
administration though as the Treasurery Dept. reacted with indignation about
it. Should that be a big surprise either? No it shouldn't considering this
administration has no plan to deal with the matter.

They have no plan because they don't know what they're doing. They're in
over their heads. The stimulus plan, a lot of borrowing in a hurry
according to Sen. Mark Kirk of IL, failed miserably as it did not create any
jobs at all. The unemployment rate still hovers around 9% and the
administration has no clue why either. They have no clue that all their
regulations on things like energy and health care are what is driving
business not to do anything even though they have money. There is so much
uncertainty out there and uncertainty is the enemy of business.

It has been said that if domestic energy production were opened up, several
thousand jobs would be created. How about start by lifting the moratorium
on off-shore drilling. One accident, horrific as it was, should not shut
everything down and bring the domestic energy production to a grinding
hault. This is not the way to increase our energy independence either. Oh
wait, Obama is beholden to the environmental zealots on this one as well.
Remember that he said that electric bills would necessarily go up under cap
and trade. That's another reason not to create jobs as business doesn't
know what their energy costs will be.

The biggest driver of costs for a business is personnel and there are
reasons that business wont' hire. Just look at Boeing V. the NLRB. The
administration is using the NLRB to try and tell business where they must
locate jobs. This will put a damper on any business trying to create jobs,
especially in a right to work state such as South Carolina. There's
legislation in the House to address this matter. Hopefully it will pass but
I wouldn't hold my breath on that getting through the Senate. Reid has
shown his willingness to play politics with jobs. Just look at the recent
squabble over the FAA reauthorization. Much of that hinged on a change that
the GOP wanted but the Dems didn't because it would hurt their union
buddies.

Then there's the issue of the job-crushing Obama Care legislation. They can
say all they want but it's a back door way to get a single payer system and
business doesn't know what their costs will be under this monster
legislation so they're not hiring. Costs will go up under Obama Care not
down. If this legislation were so good, why has the administration granted
over 1,000 waivers? Why don't they just give the entire country a waiver
and repeal the damn thing. By the way, when will Reid bring up repeal in
the Senate under the FY 11 budget deal? The GOP needs to hold him to this
one. If they don't then Reid will make any deal he has to and then break it
when it's convenient for him.

Given all this, is it any surprise that S&P has downgraded the U.S.
government? It's not to me and it shouldn't be to anyone else either. This
situation won't change either until Obama is kicked out of office in 2012.
Vote as if your life depends on it because it does. Maybe then we'll get
some certainty and thus job creation. Time will tell which course the
country chooses.

Can we move on

Now that there's been a compromise on the debt ceiling issue can we move on
? I sure would like to.

Did everyone get what they wanted out of the deal? Absolutely not.
Republicans didn't get the full amount of cuts they wanted. The Democrats
didn't get what they wanted on the tax hike issue either. As Speaker
Boehner said, it's not a perfect bill. It's not either. Now we'll see if
things move forward.

There will be a committee created to work on finding $1.50 trillion worth of
cuts. This will necessarily include some of the biggest drivers of the
deficit, that being entitlement programs and health care. Health care needs
to be dealt with by repealing Obama Care as this will contribute mightily to
the deficit if not repealed. It adds new mandates on insurance companies
which will increase costs to the taxpayers. Remember that much of this
kicks in after the 2012 election. How convenient for Obama.

Entitlements such as Medicare are on the table but the Democrats won't even
look at Rep. Ryan's plan for it. If we don't do anything, then there won't
be a Medicare program for future generations. It won't be there for my
nieces and nephews and certainly won't be there for my great niece. If we
do something, then there's a chance the program could still be viable.
Let's move on to deal with this problem.

Looking for villains on both sides won't help us move on either. Sometime
you have to compromise which means neither side gets everything they want.
That's just the nature of compromise. I only wish we would see more of it
in Washington.

So I say let's move on and do the business of the people.

The budget and the future

We hear a lot about the debt, the budget and deficit spending as these are
topics of major concern. They impact all of us and affect the economy,
something liberals don't seem to understand. Just look at the fact that the
Senate hasn't passed a budget and is trying to maneuver its way out of cut,
cap and balance.

What do you expect from a body that is controlled by the Democrats? More of
the same I'm afraid. They don't want to address the real issues which are
the rising cost of health care which does include Obama Care. Entitlements
are another issue they won't' address because some poor person might get cut
off and they won't be able to control that person anymore.

Make no mistake about it. This fight is about control of the people and
liberals want to control people. They will do things that will get you to
do what they want you to do. Just look at environmental and energy
regulations for all the proof you need in that area.

Then there's the overreach of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB),
telling a private business where it must locate jobs. Hopefully the House
can stop this government excess before more jobs are lost. There might
even be a budget cut there.

As for entitlements, we have to look at reform of this as the current path
is unsustainable. We can't keep throwing money at the problem. There
needs to be reform so that people are encouraged to get off programs as
these were never meant to be permanent.

Obama Care is another place to look for budget cuts. This legislation will
only raise health care costs not lower them. It does this in many ways,
including government mandates which have the added harmful effect of choking
off jobs. Decisions should be made between the doctor and the patient
without interference from the government. This would not be the case under
Obama Care. Just look at the bureaucracies created under this law. Budget
busters to be sure, not to mention getting in the way of the doctor-patient
relationship. I won't even get into the dirty deals that were hatched to
pass that law.

To say that it's time to cut the budget is an understatement. This is one
frustrated voter's view.

Day three at AADB

Well I can't believe day 3 is in the books already. I came back to the room
early as I was tired after not sleeping well for reasons I won't go into
here.

It was a jam-packed ay as I knew it would be though. Where do I start?

How about from the beginning. I got up and had breakfast , followed by my
first workshop on board roles and responsibilities. Some key points that
were stressed:
1. The importance of getting your paperwork done correctly and timely.
2. The fact that personnel information is confidential.
3. If board member has conflict on an issue, they cannot vote on it and
cannot participate in discussion.
4. Related to that is if session is closed on this issue, conflicted board
member needs to leave as he is considered member of the public in this
instance.
5. Fundraising is one of the functions of a nonprofit board.
6. ED handles day to day operations while board sets mission, budget and
other matters.
7. President is liaison between ED and Board.

Another important point that Howard Rosenblum mentioned was that the board
must follow the law in an ethical way.

After the two session on this subject, it was time for lunch and some work
at the AADB table taking sign-ups or pledges for the walk-a-thon to be held
on Thursday here in Ft. Mitchell. Please pray that the weather cooperates
for this event as it was stormy today and there is concern about the
weather for Thursday.

I managed to end up at the last hour of the business meeting where the board
and the ED were taking questions from the membership. Financial issues
topped the list of questions. S it's getting a little late here and I want
to get to bed, I won't go into great and glorious detail here.

This evening there was a Special Interest group for those who primarily
communicate using speech. It was interesting but turned into a political
discussion. I went upstairs after this to pick up a couple of small silent
auction items I had successfully bid on.

After that, I came to my room and went on-line. Now it will be time to go
to bed shortly. Let's hope we don't get any more rain here as we got some
noisy storms this morning.

Stay tuned for another jam-packed report tomorrow.

Day two at AADB

Well today was a much busier day here at AADB. There were things to do and
people to meet.

I helped out with the raffle whose drawing will be held tomorrow. I looked
at some silent auction items and put in some bids. I came back to the room
and rested for a while before the opening ceremony.

We had the opening ceremony tonight where several things happened. It
started with the singing of the National Anthem and "Oh Beautiful", both of
which were done very well. One of the teens from that program did the
signing for the National Anthem. That had to be a thrill for her.

We next had Lynn give some announcements about the symposium. The
communications coordinating team was introduced and all of the team leaders
were introduced. That goes up to letter P as they're doing it by letter
this year. The team leaders are the ones delegates go to if there are
problems with SSP matches and the like.

There was next a plaque given in memory of Tom Sprinkle, a former Board
member, who recently passed away. After this was completed, we had the
introduction of the board. After that was completed, there was the call of
the states and then questions from members. These questions ranged from
issues with the symposium to issues outside of it.

All in all it was a jam-packed day with more to come tomorrow.

One more thing about the restaurant. The food is good and there is plenty
of it. I had a chicken Cesar salad for lunch today. When it arrived, I
could not believe how big it was. It had to be one of the larger salads
I've seen. Last night I had a grilled cheese BLT. Before you think, yuck
or whatever, just know that I wasn't sure how I would like it either.
Actually it wasn't bad at all. It was certainly different.

Now off to catch some zzs as things start early tomorrow.

First night at AADB

This report won't be long as not much is happening and this netbook wil die
if I don't get off of it.

I had a safe trip down. As the title implies, there's not much going on
tonight. Have seen a few people I know and met some too.

Things really get started tomorrow.

Concealed carry: A Bad Idea

Just last Friday an 11-year-old girl in Cleveland was shot for getting too
close to a man's car while playing. More info at
www.crimecrawlers.com/?p-6338.

That is likely not the only situation to come to light either. What about
other populations, such as senior citezens and people with disabilities?
They would be vulnerable if there were concealed carry. Are there numbers
available for states that currently have concealed carry? If so, I've never
seen them and the vulnerability issue is something that is not talked about
by advocates for concealed carry either. Why is that? Might it be because
there are no reliable statistics to back up their view that it makes
everyone safer. Might it be because these statistics would punch a gaping
hole in their arguments? Whatever the anser is, it is never mentioned and
you'd better have good statistics if you're going to argue with some of
these people who want this so bad they wont' listen to the other side.

The other problem with concealed carry is that the arguements for it are
based on the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What the
proponents forget is that this amendment refers to a militia which means the
military or national guard. It does not mean civilians outside of law
enforcemetn or the military. When will these people understand that?

The guy who shot the 11-year-old was a vigilante, nothing more and nothing
less. Hopefully he will pay the price for it. How many more like that will
there be if there is concealed carry? Safety is at stake.

As the title of this blog states: Concealed Carry: A Bad Idea. Let's get rid
of it once and for all.