If the 'economic crisis' advertisement is right above this...

Then I blame Nancy Pelosi for the economic crisis.

I am of course joking, but I just genuinely can't stand the woman. Politics aside, who has the audacity to request her own private jet when Congress has already lambasted bailout companies for having the same? Additionally, where does she get the nerve to claim that enforcing American immigration law is "un-American"? She really is a despicable human being.

More to come on her in a future post/opinion article!

-Patrick

The Fleecing of America

Pardon my borrowing this phrase from NBC, but recent events that have transpired (or almost transpired) most accurately fit the expression of the "Fleecing of America".

I know I will catch some flack from more liberal readers, but that’s not why I’m writing this column; the topics I will mention should make any red-blooded, tax-paying American irate.

First and foremost, let me discuss the indignity of the AIG bailout and subsequent performance bonuses. There is such great distaste in the amount of irony from this situation; contractual performance bonuses are being paid to top executives who failed at their jobs. This is contrary to everything that even corporate America has come to know. If your job is to secure the longevity of your company and you fail, normally you are terminated. However, with AIG, the top executives who epically failed in their job have not been terminated, but rather have collectively received $165 million in bonuses from the $182 billion we as tax payers (and our children and their children) provided to bailout their company.

And that’s the most astonishing part.

We, the American citizens, the members of non-corporate America, through our Congress and our President, decided that it was in our best interests to ensure that AIG did not fail. We bought our way into the company and currently, we are the 80% shareholders of the company. However, instead of the company trying to do what is in the best interests of the shareholders (us), they have instead opted to take the money we provided them to reward the incompetence of top executives who put AIG in such a position.

It is my opinion that; (1) the recipients of these bonuses should have been fired for their incompetence, (2) the company should have suspended the bonuses much like other companies that received bailout funds, or (3) all of the bonuses should be returned. Some of the recipients of these bonuses have elected to voluntarily return the bonuses, but not all of the bonuses have been returned. Congress has recently started talks of taxing (at 90%) the bonuses provided to the executives of the companies that receive bailout funds. At least this time Congress has decided to clean up their own mess.

The lack of integrity and intestinal fortitude demonstrated by the executives of AIG should make everyone angry. My next example should make people just as furious.

Recently, the Obama administration kicked around the idea of suspending the health insurance benefits of veterans that have their own private insurance coverage. This would even include those veterans that have sustained service-related injuries. This was proposed as a cost-savings measure for the nation. President Obama would have these veterans who have served so bravely to go without one of their most important benefits. Why should a veteran who sustains an injury serving our nation have to pay the costs (any in my opinion) of serving his or her country?

(To steal and manipulate a famous quote from John F. Kennedy) In the case where these soldiers (past, present, and future) have asked what they could do for their country, the least the country could do is ask what they can do for these men and women. Rather, President Obama has not asked what he can do for the people that serve(d) his country, he has instead asked where he can send the bill.

President Obama did back off from this proposal (thank goodness) but only because it was so unpopular with the people. The fact that he even proposed the idea is a slap in the face of the people who serve(d) their nation. Obama’s lack of sound policies is becoming more evident, daily. Obama’s lack of military experience has no doubt aided in this hair-brained idea of stripping veterans of their health benefits. What happened to the days when a President could not get elected unless he had served his country in the military?

So go pick your final four, President Obama. Go on the Tonite Show with Jay Leno. Enjoy your private concerts in the White House. Go on being the "rockstar" that people selected as their president. During the events of 9/11, President Bush opted (at least out of respect) to put his social life on hold. I highly suggest that you take the examples set forth by other leaders during the current crisis America is facing.

Domestic Abuse and Infotainment

Enough about Chris Brown and Rihanna, already. I’m sick and tired of hearing about this story. It’s inescapable. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has their own analysis. Everyone has turned into a domestic relations counselor.
Why is this even news? Why does everyone care? Aren’t there more pressing matters to discuss?
How is Chris Brown even famous? I had never heard of him before he beat up Rihanna. I had vague familiarity with Rihanna only because the radio stations play her songs on loop to the point of repetitive annoyance.
This is obviously a horrible situation I would never wish on anyone, but certainly I think there is a line to draw between reporting celebrity "news" and obsession. We were (and are) obsessed with the OctoMo and we are obsessed with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Jennifer Anniston.
This is part of the new phenomenon of selling "infotainment"; information that is packaged along with entertainment. The "news" we are receiving is becoming more and more infotainment (with a decreasing amount of information and an increasing amount of entertainment).
There has been some lively debate since the news broke on February 8th about the events that transgressed that evening between Rihanna and Brown. Should she take him back? Who was the mystery woman involved that started the fight? Should Brown be removed from Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards? Should both of their sponsorships/endorsements be pulled because Brown attacked Rihanna and because Rihanna took Brown back?
Who cares? I am tired of being bombarded with this story. Rihanna and Brown are this generations Whitney/Bobby, Ike/Tina. I guess we feel that we need all the information on this story because to us, it’s juicy gossip. Like a car accident or train wreck, we can’t help but look. Because most of us want to know everything we can about the story, the paparazzi has went to such lengths as to even find and release the photos of a battered Rihanna that being used for the criminal investigation. That’s pretty low, even by paparazzi standards.
I still can’t wrap my head around why this is a news story worthy of all the pandemonium it has been given. Granted, I know that Rihanna and Brown are celebrities, but this amount of media attention is too much in my opinion. The story is everywhere and inescapable.
So because Rihanna is a celebrity, any right to privacy she might have had was immediately disregarded. Most journalists refuse to name victims of sexual abuse and domestic abuse in their reporting. I guess one positive is that because Rihanna has celebrity, it can help to put a face on domestic abuse and provide a role model for other women if she decides to separate from her attacker.
The same invasive reporting would not be done with a domestic abuse victim sans the celebrity of Rihanna. Rihanna has received "special treatment" which I’m fairly sure she (a) does not appreciate and (b) does not want.
Domestic abuse is a horrible thing. I feel bad for Rihanna for being the victim of such abuse and shun those who blaming her for taking him back; that is essentially blaming the victim. There are just too many factors to consider in her decision. And besides that, it’s none of our business anyways. This is largely a private matter that has been thrust in front of the eyes of the world.

Broken Promises Can’t Be Fixed with Super Glue

President Obama was elected on the message of hope and change. As recent events of his presidency unfold, we are learning more and more that his campaign promises are being broken. The message of change he once represented is really just "more of the same" that we experienced under former President Bush.
How did I arrive at this point? Well, I actually listened to the debates and the promises he made that helped get President Obama elected into office. I pay attention to his policies and what he has done throughout his short time as President. Need I remind you, President Obama accused Senator John McCain of being "more of the same", but in fact, President Obama has been quick to conform to the standards of the very political system he promised to reform.
John Stewart is one of the best comedians to scrutinize our nation’s politics. Most know that he is very liberal in his own ideology, however does a very good job of holding members of both parties equally accountable for their actions.
For instance, just the other day Stewart compared the remarks President Obama made regarding withdrawing from Iraq to remarks former President Bush made regarding the same subject. Upon comparing the two different speeches, from two different speech writers, from two different presidents, during two different periods of time, the message was almost exactly the same. Let me say that again... exactly the same.
The President who promised a speedy withdraw from Iraq has instead informed us he was going to keep about 35,000 troops in Iraq who would serve in the same advisory capacity the troops overseas are currently serving in. Broken promise number one.
Secondly, President Obama chastised the Bush administration for putting the nation into a large deficit during his time in office. The bailout package increases the deficit in one year what it took Bush five years to achieve. However, it was President Obama who promised financial responsibility and accountability. Broken promise number two.
President Obama also promised to reform pork spending, ear marks, pet projects, and wasteful spending during his campaign. However, with the federal budget at the threshold of his desk for signing, he has opted not to review each line item to remove wasteful spending. In fact, he has argued that because the budget bill was debated during Bush’s presidency, he should not be held liable for any pet projects and ear marking contained in the bill. Isn’t this the man that campaigned for change and yet he refuses to change the status quo? Sounds like broken promise number three to me.
But he has done some good. My wife and I will benefit from the $8,000 refundable tax credit for first time home buyers (which was originally a $7,500 loan from the government under Bush). So essentially, President Obama has helped me pocket a free $8,000. But when I think about this free money and how much my taxes will increase under the Obama administration, I begin to wonder at the end of his term, if my bank account will still be in the black or if it will be in the red (just like the state of our nation).
But hey, everything is okay so long as you and I don’t have to pay for it right now, right? Just our children and their children.

Letter to Diane Sawyer regarding the Appalachian Expose

Dear Diane Sawyer,
As an eastern Kentucky transplant I managed to turn out pretty darn good. I understand that your narrow viewpoint of the mountains is constrained from your limited interaction in the area as well as your stereotyping of the area’s people.
I have met people like you before. I have met people from central Kentucky who accused me of "talking funny" because I had managed to obtain a slight accent for the time I have lived in eastern Kentucky. These people are the bane of my existence.
What gives you the right to portray the people of the Kentucky in the manner? Because you're from central Kentucky (or claim to be so)? You think because you are from a part of Kentucky that is, on average, more educated and more cultured than the southern and eastern parts of the state that gives you the right (and the nerve) to produce this expose and further brand us as "hillbillies"?
If you are from the state, why would you help to perpetuate the negative stereotypes of Kentuckians? This is treason to the people in your home state. Would you do the same to a poor black family living in the ghetto of Atlanta? Would you do a story about the 15 year old mother of 4 who lives in the barrios of east Los Angelas? No. Because if you did, you would be considered a racist, and in no way, shape, form, or fashion is racism considered journalism. However, because the population of the people you are referring to are white and the prejudice you are reinforcing is "regional" at best ("caste" at worst), it is considered acceptable by the viewing public.
Well it is not acceptable by me. Your actions are appalling. You have painted a very narrow, and incorrect, picture of the people from eastern Kentucky. We are a proud people who would like a fair representation of it’s people and not the most entertaining glimpse of life in the mountains. There are many people from the area who have went on to achieve great things in life, of which, I consider myself to be one. I obtained my education from the University of Kentucky and obtained 2 degrees (a Bachelor and Master) there within 6 years. I have a fine paying job and have refrained from falling into the stereotype of people who live in Kentucky.
You, a former Kentuckian, make it hard for people like me to be proud of where I am from. You make it hard for me to avoid judgment and curious stares when I tell people where I am from. You help to make me ashamed to talk about my home in the mountains. You have created a need for me to speak without a southern accent to avoid the stereotyping and prejudgment that comes with one. You have proven to be a traitor to your "home state", a state that I hope officially disowns you in the same way that so many residents currently have.
If you, ma’am are here to serve as a role model for people from Kentucky, then I certainly do not want to follow in your footsteps. You have turned your back on your home state. I, like others in the area, will blaze my own path in an effort to break the stereotypes that have been consistently perpetuated and reinforced by your shameful journalism.
So, on behalf of the proud people of eastern Kentucky, Diane Sawyer, please stop calling yourself a Kentuckian and let the self-respecting, loyal Kentuckians make our own name. We don’t need your help and we never did. In short, shut up.


Sincerely,

Patrick Lawson

Attack of (and on) the Octo-Mom

I think when we all first heard the story of the mother giving birth to 8 healthy babies at Kaiser-Permanente, we all rejoiced they were healthy babies (as healthy as they could be considering their birth weights). However, I began to wonder (1) how she would take care of the babies, (2) if fertility drugs were involved, and (3) as to the identity of the woman. The mother of 8 refused to be identified and everyone was left wondering why.
Then we found out. The mother wanted to remain unidentified because she already had 6 other children. When this news broke, many people found themselves bewildered as to how a woman with 6 children would end up with 8 more. Was this just a tragedy that she got pregnant again and instead of just one more child, fertility drugs resulted in an unplanned additional 7? Surely, no woman who has 6 children would want 8 more, right?
We began to learn more about Nadya Suleman, the OctoMom, and became even more disgusted with her and her actions. News leaks provided us with incremental information until we had the full picture. First we learned that she had 6 other children, then we learned she was unemployed. We also learned that she was unwed at the time of the octuplet birth, declared bankruptcy, and was living with her parents.
But that’s not all. On top of all this, she had the 8 children implanted through in-vitro fertilization; a not-so-cheap medical procedure. My first question is, if she was unemployed, how did she pay for this procedure? Surely Medicaid or Medicare was not used to financed the procedure. That would defeat the purpose right? Use government money to have more children so you can then receive more government money? Surely the people at Kaiser-Permanente know the difference between an elective procedure and necessary one, right? I don’t think an additional 8 children even qualifies in the ball park of necessary.
Even more despicable is that the OctoMom wanted to sell her story to a major news outlet for two million dollars! Two million dollars is probably more than I’ll see in a lifetime and this woman gets that much money for giving birth to more children than are featured in the Brady Bunch! If that’s the case, then shouldn’t we make the standards consistent and give $2 Million to every mother than births 14 children?
In addition to the two million dollars she has received from her interview, there is a website that allows people to make donations to the OctoMom to help her raise the children. How much more welfare does this woman need? She already landed the two million dollars for the exclusive interview and now people are giving her private donations?
I did the math. If she has two million dollars for her interview, and 15 members in her household (14 children plus her), assuming she only supports the children until they’re 18, then she has $111,111 to spend per year. That’s a lot more than I make and a lot more than a lot of people make. The federal poverty level for a family of 15 is $60,800 per year. Annually, the OctoMom has $50,000 more than the federal poverty level. To keep things in perspective, the annual amount of money she has over the federal poverty level is still more than most people make in a year. And the worst part is that we have people that still want to donate more money to this woman.
Some of you may remember a few years ago that a family gave birth to 5 or 6 children as a result of using fertility drugs. People felt sorry for them and donated a lot of money and necessities to help ease the burden of raising the children. The difference between that case and this case is that the OctoMom knew what she was getting into, whereas the additional children born to the other couple was completely unexpected. The OctoMom wantonly requested that all 8 remaining fertilized eggs be implanted because she always felt lonely and wanted to have children "more than anything in the world’. Her poor decision-making abilities are no different than a mother on welfare who has another child to obtain more money from the government. Her actions are distasteful, shameless, and in my opinion, have warranted the outrage and negative media coverage she has received.
Quite frankly, I can see why she wanted to remain anonymous.

The State of the National Past-Time

Given the looming economy and talks of the trillion dollars of deficit spending that we have been inundated with recently, I thought it might be of good use to turn our attention away from politics and the economy and focus on the advent of baseball season.
It was approximately a week ago (depending on when this gets published) when Sports Illustrated leaked the results of the "anonymous" steroid tests that were conducted in 2003. The name that was leaked that fateful Saturday was that of Alex Rodriguez. This so disheartening in the eyes of baseball fans because A-Rod stood to be the most viable opportunity to take back the home run record from Barry Bonds.
Now, I’m no Yankees fan, but to be honest, I was at least hoping that someone would have legitimized the record. That being said, "A-Roid" has dashed the hopes of many. He has been stripped of the title, "Baseball’s Savior", since his record is too tarnished by performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
We have yet to hear all the names that are on the Sports Illustrated report of big-name major leaguers that tested positive in the "anonymous" 2003 steroids tests, but I don’t think the results will be that pretty. The use of PEDs in baseball has been widespread. How many records in the books can we be sure are even true records made by those people who adhered strictly to the rules of the game? The list seems endless; Andy Pettitte, Garry Sheffield, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi (wow, I’m noticing a lot of Yankees are making this list), Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Eric Gagne, and many others.
Commissioner Bud Selig has even talked about reinstating records that were knowingly obtained without the use of PEDs. This sounds like a good idea to me. We need these records to remain in the hands of those players that worked hard to achieve such great feats and didn’t cut corners to get a competitive advantage. For me, part of the appeal of the game is that these players are good at what they do and got where they are because of hard work, dedication, and a genuine talent; not because they have the best drugs.
We need to keep the integrity of the record book in tact and remove the "records" of PED users. Anything less would probably make Ted Williams’ head spin in it’s cryogenic cooler.
Either way, there is something to prove this coming season. Baseball is jaded by the Mitchell Report and who knows what will come of the Sports Illustrated report when it is released. Baseball desperately needs a savior and to see some good this season in order to rejuvenate the faith fans have in the game. I personally hope it comes soon, and that it does not comes from someone that plays for the black and white pinstripes (Yes, I’m talking about you Jeter).
Scott Boras certainly won’t help bring salvation to baseball, rather he might aid in it’s destruction. Every contract he negotiates is like the Midas touch; worth a lot of gold, but when it comes down to it, the money’s not worth the trouble. His contracts get his clients the most money (breaking the banks of these franchises), but often these players are the ones that offer the least to their teams. I mean, really, Barry Zito? Get that big contract and you end up getting benched? Manny Ramirez still wants more money from the Dodgers and played there for what, 3 weeks? Fantastic. Maybe Scott Boras should be cryogenically frozen?
Thank goodness there is still hope; the hope that the Devil Rays (sorry... Tampa Bay Rays) gave us last year by making it to the World Series with a bunch of players the other big-budget teams didn’t want (and that really pains me to say considering I despise the Rays). The same hope that the Phillies can win it all. The same hope that the Yankees won’t make the post-season again. (Just goes to show you that the old saying are true; cheaters never prosper.)
Dear Baseball, I hope this season you bring back some class and leave the scandals at home. I don’t care if A-Roid left his wife for Madonna (and has recently been seen getting "friendly" with 19 year-olds). I don’t care that Roberto Alomar and his wife are going through a nasty divorce proceeding (where his wife accuses him of giving her AIDS). I don’t care about it all. I just care about the game. Please, keep the game in tact. Please, keep the game honorable. For goodness sakes, give me something to look forward to come March. Sincerely, Patrick.