"You're Fat"......."Well, You're Stupid"

The following is an excerpt from an article written by Rachel Dissell, for “The Cleveland Plain Dealer”……..

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“CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An 8-year-old Cleveland Heights boy was taken from his family and placed in foster care last month after county case workers said his mother wasn't doing enough to control his weight.

At more than 200 pounds, the third-grader is considered severely obese and at risk for developing such diseases as diabetes and hypertension”

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The article goes on to quote Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services who said that the mother's inability to get her son's weight down was a form of "medical neglect”…..Keep in mind that this statement was made, in spite of the fact that records show the child's only current medical problem is sleep apnea….. and that condition is being treated successfully.

Right about now, someone is saying to themself…..”David, you haven’t written anything for some time now…...why did you choose this subject to start back up with your brilliant commentary?”…….Well, since you asked, let me first say…”thank you for the ‘brilliant commentary’ comment”….and secondly, let me say that ”this kind of crap, is the foundation for almost everything that is wrong in this country”

First of all, I agree that an 8-year-old should not weigh 200 pounds…..but then again neither should the 5 foot tall, 65-year-old woman, wearing spandex pants and a tube top….who was standing in front of me at WalMart yesterday. As much as I was hoping that the “fashion police” would swoop in and take her away….alas, it didn’t happen. And as hard as it is to admit this….it really shouldn’t happen. For one reason it would take a lot of the fun out of going to WalMart….but that’s another story. Back to the fat kid…….

So basically what we have here is a group of people (who are obviously smarter than everyone else)….who step in and take this kid away from his family….and put him in foster care. We all know what a good idea that is. After all, no kid was ever mistreated, molested, or malnourished (that’s all the “m” words I could come up with) in foster care…..right? And ALL kids from the foster care system end up mentally, physically and socially superior to kids who were not in the system….right? Leave the kid alone.

While you're pondering that......ponder this. Do you think that any of this kid’s teachers....case workers at the Cuyahoga County DCFS....or any of the other people who were so concerned about him…..smoke cigarettes? I only ask that since according to a 1997 California EPA Report on Secondhand Smoke… “53,800 people die every year from secondhand smoke exposure”….and “children are at significant risk”. While I’m certainly not an expert on the subject….I’m guessing that the number of kids who die from exposure to second-hand smoke every year….far exceeds the number of 8-year-olds who die from being fat. So the question is this: Should we take away the kids of all people who smoke in order to save them from a seemingly certain death from second-hand smoke? If we use the same logic as the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services….and the statistics from the California EPA Report….the answer is a resounding "YES"....and smoker's kids should not only be taken away from them…the smoker's should also go to prison for child endangerment. (A 3^rd degree felony in Ohio, if you're taking notes....Actually it's a 3rd degree felony in Ohio even if you aren't taking notes)

Do I really believe that? Of course not....but where does it end? What the government should do, is stay out of these type of situations entirely. If the kid was in immediate danger….then sure…someone should step in and protect him. But that wasn’t the case here. Everyone involved admitted that he wasn’t in any immediate danger. This action was done entirely based on the possibility of danger. What’s next? The government doesn’t like your religion, and feels that it could possibly have a negative impact on your children…so they come in and take away your kids? The government doesn’t like your political leanings…and they feel that it might cause some type of mental stress on your children….so they come in and take them away?

Before you say….”Oh that would never happen”…..think about this….Did you ever think the government would come in and take away a mother’s 8-year-old kid because he was fat? Of course not. This is just one more example of government over-stepping their boundaries…..just like outlawing “Happy Meals” in San Francisco. It is also the same type of governmental action that strives to completely take away a person’s personal responsibility. Even an 8-year-old should have a certain amount of personal responsibility for what they eat. After all, there were NO reports of the mother force-feeding the kid.

To all of you boneheads in government……listen up; For the most part, you can’t even do the jobs that you were elected or appointed to do….so until you get that under control…..stay out of everyone’s personal lives…and go back to whatever it is you’re supposed to be doing. If you continue to insist on being the self-appointed “fat monitors” for the country…..then I guess I will be forced to become the self-appointed “stupid monitor”. Then when we meet on the street, you can say to me “You’re fat” (which isn’t true)…....and in response I will be forced to say “Well, you’re stupid” (which, of course WOULD be true). Then Again….That’s Just Me

Keep Your Hands Off Of My Jet

On Wednesday June 29th, while speaking on the evils of being what he considers “rich”….President Obama said the following…..“I think it’s only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that’s doing so well to give up that tax break….I don’t think that’s real radical.” I can only think of one reason for a president to say such a thing (other than to get re-elected) and that would be that you are trying to stir up some type of class warfare between the proverbial “haves” and “have-nots”. One of the many problems with a statement like that, is that he included those who make $250,000 per year, in that group of “rich folks” (as he likes to refer to them)…..What’s wrong with that you say?….Well hold a minute and I’ll explain………

In order to make sense of all of this…..allow me to explain the reasons for me having my own private jet…..

It all started when I bought a private island in the South Pacific, and I needed a way to get back and forth to said island from my various vacation homes. Believe me when I tell you that even if you are making $250,000 per year, you cannot buy a private island these days, that is big enough to have its own airstrip. Not having my own airstrip makes things very difficult for me, because it forces me to land at the nearest island that does have its own airstrip. This, in and of itself (I really love saying “in and of itself”….) presents another problem. How do I get to MY private island from the one with the airstrip? Most wealthy people who make $250,000 per year would say…”Why don’t you dock your 55’ yacht at the island that has the airstrip….and then use the yacht to get to your private island?”…..To which I would snort “Duh….my yacht is not in the South Pacific…it’s at my beach house in the Caribbean….Mr. or Ms. Smartypants”. So what was I forced to do? The only sensible solution was to buy a helicopter. One that I could leave on the island that is big enough to have its own airstrip….then after my private jet lands there.....I use my helicopter to fly to my pathetic little private island.(pathetic in the sense that it doesn't even have an airstrip) You see Mr President, $250,000 just doesn’t go as far as it used to.

Since our president is so good with numbers….here are some numbers to consider. A used Gulfstream IV jet can be purchased in the $14 million dollar range. While that is a pretty nice jet….its wasn’t good enough for Nancy Pelosi when she was Speaker of the House. It seems that Ms. Pelosi made it clear that she wouldn’t fly on anything less than a Gulfstream V (G-5) A Pelosi aide wrote a scathing e-mail regarding the lack of availability of a G-5 during a particular Memorial Day break…..“It is my understanding there are no G-5′s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable......The speaker will want to know where the planes are”. I guess when the taxpayers are footing the bill, an elected official SHOULD demand a G-5, that sells for between $45 and $70 million dollars. Why would someone of Ms. Pelosi's importance settle for a trashy $14 million dollar jet? On another note....if you are going to run out this afternoon and buy yourself a Gulfstream V (and you know who you are)....keep in mind that even if you pay cash for your Gulfstream V (which should be no problem since you’re making $250,000 per year)…the average annual upkeep on a jet like that is in the $600,000 range. (again....paying $600,000 per year in upkeep on an obscenely high $250,000 per year income should be no problem)

Here is another problem with this whole discussion. Obama said that if he were elected president, he would be a “uniter not a divider”. Since he was elected however, he has proven over and over that he was lying through his teeth. He has attempted to divide people by race; black versus white…..latino versus black or white, by class; rich versus poor, by political party affiliation; Democrats versus Republicans…..Tea Party supporters versus Republican or Democrats, by religion; Christians versus pretty much everyone, and by political ideals; those who love America the way it was founded versus those who want America to be nothing more than another Socialist-style member of a one-world-government. Now it seems that he is even trying to divide the rich people who make $250,000 and the rich people who make $250,000,000. Yeah, I would say that he’s doing quite well at that whole “uniter” thing.

As far as I’m concerned, his statement on who is rich….follows right along with his thought process on other things as well. Remember that he (and fellow liberals) believe that a government can survive while continuing to spend far more money, year after year, than it takes in. With that “spending money that you don’t have” mind-set, it really shouldn’t be a problem for someone making $250,000 per year to have all of those things (private jet, private island, helicopter, etc.). It’s just money….if you run out, just print some more. (Oh wait…that’s illegal for you and me to do….Only the federal government can do that) Here’s another great idea using liberal thinking…..Why not take $150,000 of rich guy’s $250,000 per year income….leaving him with $100,000 to buy his island, jet, etc……Then give that $150,000 to someone else and let them be rich too? After all, we know that everyone is guaranteed those things in the Constitution.....right?

One last thought…..If a person making $250,000 per year can afford a “private jet” (obviously just a cheap one in the $14 million dollar range)….then wouldn’t it stand to reason that a person making $25,000 per year could afford a $1.4 million total piece of crap jet? Of course that would eventually lead the government to create a whole new “private jet class” for those who make an obscene income of $25,000 per year. In short….be careful who you pick on….you could be next. Then Again….That’s Just Me

I Need A New Credit Card.......

A small group has gathered in a meeting room that smells of bad coffee and stale cigarette smoke. Half of the fluorescent bulbs are burned out…..and a number of the remaining bulbs flicker in that annoying way that makes you feel somewhere between dizzy and nauseous. I step to the podium….clear my throat and gather my nerve to speak. Then, before I can stop myself.....my mouth opens and the words “Hello, my name is David…and I’m a used car dealer” come rolling out. The group offers a friendly, but monotone response of…...”Hi David”. The hardest part is over…..and thus begins another typical meeting of “Used Car Dealers Anonymous” (UCDA) .

Actually, I made that up, mainly because I just wanted to start off with something different. (Although….I really am a used car dealer) While the main thrust of my business is that of selling pre-owned cars (or "pre-enjoyed" as we like to say)…..we also do some of the financing of those cars. For example; A customer comes in, finds a car that they like....then for whatever reason they don’t want to pay cash….or go get a loan on their own…..we will sometimes finance the car “in-house”. That means that I am loaning them my money to buy my car. Since it’s my car…..and my money….I want to make sure that they are credit worthy, and have the ability to make the payments. If they don't make the payments….then I could lose my car (unless I can hunt them down in order to retrieve it) It seems that no matter how hard I try to qualify the buyer/borrower…..there are times when it all goes bad. That usually means a loss for me….even if I repossess the car. With that said…..when I loan money…..I try to make sure if I am going to put my money and my car out “on the street” that the risk is as small as possible.

Believe it or not, I have had people who I have had to chase down in an attempt to get either my money or my car……who (when I finally catch up to them) have asked me the following question…..”Can I trade my car for something else that's a little newer or nicer?”. Unless you are a liberal Democrat, you can probably imagine my response.

Let me put it another way………

Let’s pretend that you own a bank and you have given a person a credit card. Over the course of time, they have managed to max that credit card out to its limit….and most of the time they are only paying the interest on the balance and the principle is continuing to grow. Then one day you get the following letter……..

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Dear President of “Then Again That’s Just Me Readers” Bank,


I am writing this letter to ask you to raise the credit limit on the credit card that I have with your bank. I assure you that I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t for the fact that all of my other credit cards are maxed out as well, and I am past due on the one from your bank…..so you can see that I really need it. Here is an update of my current status, so that you can make a more informed decision. I currently have no source of income other than what I can steal from other people…..and its obvious that my bills exceed that by quite a bit. I don’t plan on making any changes in my spending habits….although I do plan on trying to take more from the people that I am currently stealing from in order to be able to spend a little more. I see absolutely no way that I can pay you back in the near future (and possible ever), but I am insisting that you raise my credit limit so that I can continue to spend in the in the way that I am accustomed. I would appreciate you doing this as quickly as possible since I have bills that are overdue that need to be paid with this credit limit increase.

Sincerely,


Your Customer

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Does that sound stupid to you? If you are a fiscal conservative….then it probably does. If you are a fiscal idiot/liberal then it probably sounds perfectly fine. Unless you have been living in a cave for the last year or so….then you would know that it sounds exactly like what the Democrats in Congress are trying to do. They want to raise the nation’s debt ceiling so that that they can continue to spend money that we don’t have (and that isn’t theirs) on even more entitlement programs. Their solution isn’t to stop spending more money than they take in (like you and I would be forced to do)…..Rather their idea of fixing it, is to get a bigger credit card (raise the debt ceiling) and then take more from those who are already paying the most in taxes, in an attempt to pay for it. I think its time to not only refuse to raise the Country’s debt limit……I believe that it’s time to tell all of those in Congress who have access to the Country’s credit card….that we are not raising the debt ceiling…..in fact, we just lowered your credit limit……So live within your means without raising taxes….or we will find some fiscally responsible people who will do it the right way…..Then Again….That’s Just Me