If common sense is applied, however, this is the dumbest idea of the week. This is like a murderer’s family moving next door to the victim’s family. It is insensitive and political correctness run amuk. I could not believe the statement from Mayor Bloomberg that somehow this is going to help us with the terrorists. He thinks this makes some kind of positive statement to the world.

I do think some statements should be made. A statement coming from the Mayor or city council is meaningless. There are some statements that could be made, but they would all come from the Muslem community that will be using this facility. I would like to hear these statements:

Statement One: We are citizens of the United States and support the freedoms espoused by this country and will fight any agressor trying to destroy those freedoms.

Statement Two: We abhor the events of 9/11. We fully reject the teaching and violence of Al Quaeda and all other Islamic extremist groups. None of those teachings will be tolerated in this building.

Statement Three: We will gladly submit any evidence to the authorities, that show these facilities as being used to recruit people to terrorist causes.

Statement Four: We love America and desire to use these facilities to make our community and the world a better place through the peaceful teachings of the Koran.

If I heard these statements I would feel better. One of the issues for me is not hearing the condemnation of Muslim extremists from other Muslims.

Here is what I have noticed about Muslim extremists – they hang out with each other, attend mosques, hate America, and adhere to a lifestyle based on the Koran. Obama is guilty of joining and attending  a Christian church for over 20 years, hung out with 60′s radicals, and belonged to liberal organizations. Does evidence even matter to the people making these accusations?

Why can’t we just disagree with Obama’s philosophy without trying to destroy the man and his family? He believes that the government is the best solution to social problems. So the government is getting bigger by the minute. He thinks professors make the best decision makers. So there is not much common sense being used to handle the nations problems. He is not a big believer in capitalism, but he does take a lot of nice vacations. The bottom line – not exactly the philosophy or lifestyle of Bin Laden.

Get a grip people. Stop attacking the man’s character and began offering common sense solutions to our problems. And by the way, help the economy by working harder and spending more.

Only in politics and the press is racism the supreme issue of the land. I am really getting sick of it. I am not saying that there is not a problem with race, there is, and always will be as long as people are different. Race has now become the lens that every issue is viewed through.

If one disagrees with Obama it is because of race. If an illegal immigrant is arrested it is because of race. The NAACP declared officially a couple of weeks ago that the Tea Party was racist. If this trend continues our country will never return to it’s greatness.

We need to change the tone and direction of the race discussion. I have a suggestion on where to start. Take race out of the census. The only question asked about the people living in a household was what color they were.

A final suggestion for everyone is to grow a spine. If the worst thing that happens is someone calls you a derogatory name, then life is really pretty good. It wasn’t that many generations ago that there were lynchings and slavery. This is no longer happening. Progress is being made toward reducing race discrimination with education and toleration continuing.

The most racist thing that can be done today is this – point your finger at another person or group and call them racist.

Do you really want to end government waste and inefficiencies? The result of this would be a whole lot of people losing their government jobs and pensions. Are we willing to drop some programs and eliminate some entitlements? What handouts or services are you willing to cut back? The time to do so is right now.

My idea to get the job done is to establish volunteer citizen task forces in every local area. They would have access to all financials, projects, buildings, and government organizational charts. The goal would be to cut government budgets in half. Private businesses and families are familiar with the awful task of cutting things out of their budgets when they don’t have enough money. In over 200 years I doubt the government has ever done this.

We hear of teachers and police officers being laid off. At the same time, I drive around seeing endless unnecessary government projects. Do we really need landscaped medians in our roadways? Seldom do I ride my bike through forest preserves and not see multiple government trucks with employees. In my town there are two school districts, each with 6 elementary schools, 4 junior high schools, and 2 high schools. Each district superintendent makes close to $200,000 per year. Why not combine the two districts into one and lose a bunch of bureaucrats?

On a larger scale, there are 10,000 employees at the Department of Education in Washington. What would change at a local school is this department were eliminated? Ever wondered why we still need a department of agriculture when only 2% of the population now farms?

The examples of waste in government could go on forever. Let’s get these task forces going. They should be made up of volunteers willing to do the work for free. No lobbying would be allowed. Just give a day each week to the cause. The press could record the results and the task force could make recommendations to appropriate government boards.

As an American citizen we have more than a right to vote, we have the right to hold government accountable. This is supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

In politics perception is much more important than reality. Hype and spin can overcome the most obvious truth. When Ben Franklin was in France attempting to get military support for the revolutionary war, he received a message that Philadelphia had fallen to the British. Knowing this truth would keep the French on the sidelines, he proudly proclaimed, “our soldiers defeated the British at Philadelphia and saved the American capitol!”

With that said, how can Obama ever lose when the following message will be repeated endlessly.

1. Obama saved the country from economic collapse. No matter how bad things may be it would have been much worse had he not acted with all the handouts.
2. Obama has given every American health insurance and at the same time reduced healthcare costs overall. As part of the healthcare bill he rescued Medicare and wiped out fraud and waste.
3. Obama single-handily restored the image of the United States throughout the world.
4. Obama has helped America forget the terrible reign of George W Bush and his rich cronies, except for the need to blame Bush for anything negative that happens.

The list of accomplishments go on and on but we need to look at the promise of the 2nd term. Here is how to seal the deal.

1. Instead of “Hope and Change” the motto can be “Utopia, at last!”
2. In his first term Obama saved the USA, in his second term he will save the world.
3. George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and the other Iraq military planners will finally be tried for war crimes. Instead of execution they will be given lifetime community service.
4. The 20% unemployment rate will be offset by programs providing free college, a free car, and free housing for up to 10 years.
5. And finally, global warming will be stopped and the rich will pay for it.

There is not need to debate these points since perception is all that matters. Substance will be lost to image and we will elect the same pile of eggheads we did the last time.

The Arizona law has forced illegal immigration to the forefront. Neither political party wants to touch it. The obvious solutions will cost votes to whichever party leads the reform.

In a nanny state with a weak economy, illegal immigration is a huge problem. Illegals will add to poverty and take money from government provided healthcare, welfare, education, and even Social Security. What is the impact of illegal immigration on 10% unemployment? It can’t be helpful, not to mention the added criminal activity.

Small business may be the key to  economic recovery and even provide an answer to illegal immigration.  Over half of the population works for small business and for years the growth of the economy has been due primarily to small business.

Small business is paralyzed and in fear of what is coming next to tax or regulate them. They are certainly taking no risks. It appears that Obama is happy to bailout Wall Street, state governments, and even illegals. He has not dedicated a speech to small business and even shut out the Chamber of Commerce when he held a small business summit last year. He only attended the meeting for minutes.

Imagine the economic impact of reducing illegal immigration and at the same time cutting or reducing payroll taxes for small businesses willing to hire people. Obama seems willing to welcome illegal immigrants with open arms while ignoring small business. What’s up?

What’s up is politics as usual. It is all about votes. Mexican immigrants are a huge voting block for the democrats. Small business is in the tank for republicans. The fall elections will now determine policy and priorities.

Obama ran on the promise of changing Washington. I don’t know if he really believed his own hype, or was just saying what would get him elected. Regardless, the country is now moving in a more liberal/progressive direction. It means bigger government and less freedom.

Whether you are for bigger government or smaller, there is a need for better politicians. The first step is removing the career politicians. Ted Kennedy recently died after serving over 40 years in the senate. This should never happen again. Robert Byrd died after over 60 years in congress. It seems death is the only way to get someone out of office. Why do we continue to vote these guys in?

It should first be said that even the congressmen who passed the 2000 page bill out of committee have confessed they are not really sure how the whole thing will play out. Once passed, the bill will go to the thousands of government employees sitting in cubicles to clarify the rules and develop enough paperwork to destroy all the trees in the Amazon. You wanted big government, you got it baby.

Here is what we know for sure. There will be many more regulations for the lawyers to salivate over. Companies providing financial services will be paying higher taxes and fees. The Federal Reserve already controls the flow of capital to the banks for lending, but the process will now be more limiting.

Basically, the state will run the banking industry. This is great news for Wall Street (they will never be allowed to fail), and as usual, bad news for main street. This will continue the decline of the smaller banks. They will either die or be eaten up by the Wall Street boys. We, the little people, are promised “consumer protection”.

Consumer protection is a misnomer. There are only two reasons we need protection – first we don’t read, and second we make dumb decisions. This bill promises no more “hidden charges”. There were never any hidden charges to begin with, everything is spelled out in financial documents. The small print and the numbers of pages was the problem. America – start reading! It’s ironic that the bill is 2000 pages. The government, just like the banks, know we will never read it and just trust them to take care of us.

Americans love credit. They knowingly signed on to higher rates just to get the cash. It was unwise for many to do so. It was also unwise for the banks to lend to people unable to pay it back. Try to get credit now. The banks have learned their lesson and the people are cutting up their credit cards like mad. This is the free market is working. Do we really need a huge government intrusion to muck up the works?

The bottom line for us is a more complicated credit system and more fees. If you think the fee system at banks is ridiculous now, just wait. Free checking will be a thing of the past and who knows how many more fees will be passed on to us. All this in the name of “reform” and “consumer protection”.

The economy is like the weather. It comes in cycles. We’re all responsible for the recent economic bust. A free market economy will correct itself. These reform initiatives from the government at best will slow the recovery. At worst, will bury us so far in debt that money will never flow for the finer things in life again. As the government takes more of the pie, the people will have less to spend. Welcome to America, Mr Marx.

It is not that women are better gifted, skilled, or qualified to serve as leaders. Generally speaking, men and women are equal in their talents. Some individuals will rise above others and it is our job to choose the right ones.

There are two reasons that I think women would make better leaders right now. It appears that the bulk of men cannot handle their wieners or their wallets.

I voted in my first presidential election for Jimmy Carter. That tells you how old I am. How many times during those decades have we watched men lose their power because they were caught with their pants down? Off the top of my head I could ring off a list of men who lost their jobs or ministries, were impeached, or just took deserved public rebuke. I can’t recall a single woman who lost her public position due to a sex scandal. Can you imagine the amount of public money that has been wasted on sex scandals? It might take care of a good portion of our debt.

The recent primaries across the country had a higher number of women running for office. One thing we know for sure, they will not be making choices based on their wieners! Not having one of those may be the best qualification for office. It would be refreshing that a potential scandal would center around the numbers of shoes in the closet (Imelda Marcos) as opposed to a man trying to find gay sex in an airport bathroom stall.

When an elected man has sex with women or other men outside his marriage, it is cheating on his family and raping the public. Maybe we should devise a new penalty for this crime. Instead of removing them from office how about removing their doodlewacker (my mother’s term)?

The second problem for men is their wallets. They will do anything to pack it with illegal money. Again, how many times have we seen the videos of a sting where a politician is caught with his hand out. Women may have a few issues with how they spend money at the  malls, but I don’t see them betraying the trust of voters just to pad their purses with cash.

To enter Capitol Hill where congress meets you have to be searched. Considering the problems our country is facing, maybe all wieners and wallets should be checked at the door.

The following  is the recipe for military disaster and defeat. Never shoot first. Don’t shoot if there is a risk of collateral damage. Make a law against assassinating an evil leader of another country. Never torture a war prisoner, even if they have information that will save thousands of Americans lives. Do battle in a way that will make Americans be seen as kind and merciful to all the other countries in the world. Allow the press complete access to all military planning and actions. And of course, it is not fair that we have all those nuclear bombs.

I read the comments by the guy who tried to blow up Times Square with 3 bombs. He proudly pled guilty and called himself a Soldier of Islam and would kill as many American people, including children, as he could. This appears to be the feelings of a lot people around the world. Almost 10 years after 9/11, Bin Laden still spews his venom from the Pakistani mountains about destroying America.

What the hell is wrong with us? We won and ended WWII by dropping two atomic bombs that destroyed men, women, and children by the tens of thousands in Japan. Game over and maybe lives saved in the millions.

You don’t have to go back in history very far to see what happens when evil rulers declare death and destruction to other cultures. They usually start killing their own people before moving outside their borders. My question for every anti-war person – exactly, how many people must die before we act?

We are spending about $1 million per soldier in Afghanistan right now. And they are being taught to not shoot. A bill is in congress to offer a military award for standing down and not shooting. This is an award that will have to go to a lot of families, since the soldier will not be around to receive it.

Those wanting Americans to become more like Europeans are about to have their wishes come true. Our economy stinks, our military sucks, and our mantra will soon be surrender. The things that made America great are despised, and weakness is favored over strength.

America has a real enemy. For those still in denial, it is Militant Islam or whatever you want to call it. It is Al Qaeda, Hamas, Jihad, and a zillion more splinter groups all over the world. It is Iran. Their goal is unified and simple – world domination and the destruction of America and Israel. Listen to the sermons in the Mosques and you will get all the education you need.

Congress should make it official, declare war on our enemies that want us dead. Go back to the rules of engagement practiced during our last real military victory – WWII. No one wants collateral damage, but it is an ugly fact of war. Ending the war quickly will save more lives than our soldiers fighting with rubber bands in panties.

Some might question my criticism of the military. I am sick of hearing people say they support our soldiers just not the wars. It’s hard for me to take pride in a military that chooses to play nice rather than play to win. This may not be the soldiers choice, but it is reality.