Only I can give to my buddies!

President Obama wants more control over the country's budget, and plans to ask Congress for it this week.
Obama will be requesting an alternative to the line-item veto known as rescission, which would give him -- and future presidents -- the power to submit a package of changes to spending bills that Congress would be required to vote on, up or down.
The Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act of 2010 would be the latest attempt by a president for more spending control since the line item veto was struck down as unconstitutional in 1998. Since then, presidents have urged Congress to give them what most governors have.
But members of Congress in both parties are reticent to give away what they see as one of their most prized responsibilities -- control over the spending. That makes the Obama proposal a tough climb on Capitol Hill.
The president's budget director, Peter Orszag, will explain the proposal in a conference call Monday morning, and his deputy will head up to Capitol Hill tomorrow.

By by Michael D. Shear  |  May 24, 2010; 10:29 AM ET

Great Wall of China

By B. J. Lee | Newsweek Web Exclusive

May 21, 2010

 

For South Koreans, it's official: North Koreans sank their warship Cheonan on March 26, killing 46 Southern sailors onboard. The evidence leaves little doubt. And with this clarity comes the realization that, after 10 years of engagement and aid, North Korea remains a dangerously irrational and belligerent country, willing to gamble that it can disrupt peace on the Korean peninsula at no cost. Problem is, there's nothing South Koreans can do about it—even they've faced the facts—because China is standing in the way.

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What South Korea wants is to ostracize the North, elicit a reprimand from the United Nations, and possibly even enact international sanctions. (They have not talked openly about military retribution.) But while China is the South's biggest trading partner, largest investment destination, and a close ally, its government is hearing none of it. In fact, China will always favor the North and turn a blind eye to its antics. After all, they are socialist allies who fought alongside each other during the Korean War.
The willingness to indulge the North was evident right away. First, Beijing refused to criticize Pyongyang after the attack, and now authorities continue to bite their tongues even after the joint probe produced seemingly incontrovertible evidence linking the Stalinist regime with the sinking. The investigation recovered parts of a torpedo at the sinking site that had North Korean writing. Its structure was identical to a blueprint shown on a brochure the North put out to export its torpedoes. Immediately after the announcement, the U.S. and Japan issued sharp criticism of the North, but China called on all parties to "stay calm and exercise restraint."
Beijing also flummoxed Seoul early this month with its warm reception of Kim Jong Il, during the dictator's visit to China just five weeks after the Cheonan sinking, when all of South Korea was mourning the deaths. Furious, the South Korean government summoned China's ambassador to a minister's office and chewed him out. Southern authorities were particularly upset that the Chinese didn't even bother to tell President Lee Myung-bak of Kim's upcoming visit when the South Korean leader visited China three days before his northern counterpart.

Who would have guessed?

By Jan Larimer

Posted May 21, 2010

Jan Larimer is the co-chair of the Republican National Committee.

In the 222 years since our Constitution was ratified, the trajectory of American ingenuity has always been on the rise. It was Americans who through their sweat and toil drove innovation in agriculture and powered the industrial revolution. It was Americans who through their entrepreneurial spirit sparked the technological revolution that gave rise to the internet and the digital era.

Nancy Pelosi made it clear last week that she would bring all of that to an end. Does she think America is not a place for men and women to rise through the virtue of hard work? In Nancy Pelosi's America, work is not much more than an unnecessary distraction. In her view of the American experiment, the primary function of government is to provide welfare benefits—not to serve as a protector of rights endowed by our Creator.
[See which industries donated the most to Pelosi.]
Nancy Pelosi's world view became clear last week as she spoke at an Asian American and Pacific Islander summit about the recently enacted health care legislation. While speaking to the group, she said: "We see (the health care bill) as an entrepreneurial bill, a bill that says to someone, if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care. You won't have to be job locked."
One wonders if Pelosi understands the nature of work and the history of America at all. Generations of Americans before us did not grow our nation into a superpower by ignoring their talents, their skills and their passions so that they could toil away in jobs in which they were locked. The great leaps forward that built America came about precisely because inspired Americans pursued their dreams within a system that rewarded innovation. Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb because he felt locked in his job. He found his passion, focused his talent and applied his skills toward work that would reward him.
The same could be said of the Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell, or Henry Ford. In America, people have the freedom to apply their labor toward work that is personally as well as financially rewarding. That is a powerful combination.

We need drones!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Unbowed by a raft of boycotts over her immigration policy, Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer has requested helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles from the White House to patrol the border region with Mexico.
Brewer, in a letter to President Obama, asked that the National Guard reallocate reconnaissance helicopters and robotic surveillance craft to the "border states" from other parts of the country.

The governor specifically asked for OH-58 Kiowa helicopters, used by the military for reconnaissance, noting that Arizona currently has only four of them "available for border missions."
"These helicopters are extremely valuable assets in supporting law enforcement efforts on the ground," she wrote. "The number available, though, is inadequate to provide the kind of support needed on the Arizona border."
The governor said that a fleet of eight to 10 Kiowa helicopters "would enable us to double our border coverage to 2,000 hours per year. To be effective, these additional aircraft must be equipped for day and night operations."
Her letter included a map showing the state-by-state allocation of Kiowa helicopters, as well as newer Lakota helicopters.
The governor also requested "wider deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along our nation's southern border." UAVs are flying, remote-controlled robot drones that are widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There are several different military models that fall under that description, including the Hunter, Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk, but the governor didn't request a particular type.
"I am aware of how effective these assets have become in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, and it seems UAV operations would be ideal for border security and counter-drug missions," said the governor.

Update on Jamica

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Masked men defending a reputed drug lord sought by the United States torched a police station and traded gunfire with security forces in a patchwork of barricaded slums in Jamaica's capital Sunday.
The government declared a state of emergency as sporadic gunshots rang out in gritty West Kingston, stronghold of Christopher "Dudus" Coke, a Jamaican "don" charged in the U.S. with drug and arms trafficking. His defiant supporters turned his Tivoli Gardens neighborhood and other areas into a virtual fortress with trashed cars and barbed wire.
Four police stations came under heavy fire from gangsters roaming the streets with high-powered guns. In barricaded Hannah Town, close to Tivoli Gardens, black smoke spiraled into the sky from one that was set aflame by molotov cocktails.
Officers fled the burning station in impoverished West Kingston, where a 2001 standoff between gunmen and security forces killed 25 civilians as well as a soldier and a constable.
Authorities said two security officers had been wounded by Sunday night.

Police said the attacks were unprovoked. It called for all "decent and law-abiding citizens" in the troubled areas to immediately evacuate their homes and said security forces would ferry them out safely.
Police Commissioner Owen Ellington said "scores of criminals" from gangs across the Caribbean island had traveled to West Kingston to join the fight. "It is now clear that criminal elements are determined to launch coordinated attacks on the security forces," he said.

For you Larry...

This is what Larry wrote about my bio...

From Thurstonblog, May 24, 2010 @ 12:08 AM

First a math lesson for the wannabe CPA - you're 40 and you spent 4 years in the military, and 10 years working at your manufacturing job. That leaves 26. So who did you mooch off from 18 to 26? Mommy and Daddy? I worked 34 hours a week while I attended college, as did 22 other guys that worked along side me. Some were Viet Nam vets, but they had families to raise so they worked while the GI bill paid their tuition.

You're getting a college education because FDR signed a bill. You bitch about the Stimulus Bill, but basically, without government funding, you'd be up the creek without a paddle.

The Conservatives reward companies that outsource jobs overseas (like what happened to you).

You are one more in a collection of ass-backwards people that vote against your own best interest. Luckily, you can be a 40 year old schoolboy. The rest of us work and pay taxes so that you can have GI benefits.


There's Lesson #1. They'll get tougher as it goes along. Since you like to start shit, let's see how you handle this.
Posted by Larry 



From 18 to 21, I lived with my mom and worked as a busboy. When I was 21, I joined the Navy and got an honorable discharge at the age of 25. At the age of 26, I found a job working in a manufacturing plant. I got married at 28 and had a beautiful daughter, too. I lost my job at the age of 36. I cashed out my 401K and have been living off of it. My wife has a good paying job. I realized at the age of 37 that most manufacturing jobs in this area are gone. At the age of 38, I went back to college because nowadays, you need a degree to get a job. I will be getting my ATA in Accounting next year. Oh, I almost forgot, I can not collect on the GI Bill because it expires after ten years. I would have been 35 then. I am paying for college myself though my 401K money.

And thanks for reading olympiabloggers, Larry!

P.S. This was the first and only time I will give you, your five minutes of fame on my site. Your name will not be mentioned by me again.