Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Pfizer leaving MI "a punch in the gut"

The big economic news in Michigan today is the Pfizer is all but closing up shop in this state, leaving only a reduced presence in Kalamazoo.

Listening to the Governess on The Paul W. Smith Show this morning was a mixture of stuff. On one hand, you have to say "that must have hurt"when someone gets whacked by news like that. On the other hand, you have to say "if you had any economic sense at all, you would have seen this coming years ago".

Dear reader, when you base your policies on the failed system of socialism, this is what you get. When you think that taking more money from your citizens is what it takes to make your economy work, this is what happens. Businesses move away from you and your greedy government.

I expect that the letter and the statements that the President of Pfizer gave to you are all about political cover, not reality - although moving some of the Michigan operations to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Kalifornia makes no sense on the face of it. Perhaps they have a sweetheard deal with the Governator or the Legislaturat out there?

After the interview with the Governess, Paul W quoted the former State School Superintendent Tom Watkins from the article in todays Detroit Free Press: "Michigan adds jobs in teardrops, like Google, and loses them in roaring tsunamis". What an apt description.

So, what was the Governess' response to the Pfizer news? "We have to keep working my plan".
Madam Governess - your plan was a failure before it began, because the foundation of it is socialism - a failed economic model. When Government meddles in the economy at any level, it is a disaster for everyone. Start cutting the size and scope of government, start cutting taxes and regulation, and you will see an economic miracle that you will get to take credit for.

We don't need more laws and more government - we need to be set free from them.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Congressional Power Grab Alert!

Our august Senators, convened in Washington DC, have selected as their first bill of the new Congress, a measure to further stifle free speech in the former land of the free and the home of the brave.

S.1 is ostensibly a bill to regulate lobbyist influence in Congress. Possibly a good idea, although if these worthies don't have sense enough to know a bribe when they see one, and to take appropriate action, one must question their ability to make the great decisions of state which come with the office they occupy.

In reality, this is a bill to stifle the political speech of millions of American Citizens, by requiring the organizations they use to monitor the activity of Congress to file paperwork with the Feds whenever they communicate anything of a political nature to those who are not members. With mounds of Federal paperwork to file for each and every message that goes to "the general public" (the actual words used in the bill), these organizations will not be able to afford to send any of those messages due to compliance costs. Thus, the right of Citizens to petition their government for redress of grievances is seriously hindered.

In my own case, I subscribe to mailing lists of several organizations which I am not a member of (GOA, JPFO, Right to Life, etc.) , yet I am not a member of any of these organizations. I rely on these organizations to give me information on the happenings in Congress or my State Legislature. But this source of information would dry up on me if this bill passes.

Dear Reader - please contact your Senators and urge them to vote against this bill, and to support the amendment being offered by Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Robert Bennett which would delete the offensive part of S.1.

You won't hear about this on the old media (Us? Bias?). But contact your Senators before the end of the week.