One Citizen Speaking...

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• Government accounting problems: I am shocked; shocked I tell you!
• MUSLIM PROPAGANDA OR PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT?
• GLOBAL WARMING: conscience + corruption = unintended CONsequences!

Government accounting problems: I am shocked; shocked I tell you! Posted: 10 Aug 2012 04:42 AM PDT I couldn’t help laughing when certain California lawmakers condemned government officials for hiding $54 million from those creating the budget. Excuse me! But aren’t the legislators supposed to provide oversight to government operations? And in California, where political corruption and hidden finances are the rule rather than the exception, I find these legislators disingenuous to say the least. From the Sacramento Bee … 'Betrayed' lawmakers question California state budget accounting In their first examination of state accounting problems, California lawmakers condemned parks officials Thursday for hiding nearly $54 million from budget writers. The revelation has damaged the integrity of state government and its budget process, lawmakers from both parties said at an Assembly budget subcommittee hearing. "Many of us here today feel betrayed," said Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D–Woodland Hills, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee. "It's our constitutional duty as state legislators to craft the state budget. And the credibility of this year's budget has been tarnished." What bull-pucky! There is little or no integrity left among California politicians and the only betrayal was that someone was caught scamming the public. Are they going to fire those who were involved in crooked accounting? Of course not. These are the people who know how to manipulate the system to hide things legislators and elected officials want to keep hidden. Officials from the Department of Finance and state controller's office told legislators they will install new cross-checks to verify that figures for 560-plus special funds are consistent across their different sets of books. Previously, state departments were largely responsible for keeping their own special fund accounting in order. Speaking of special fund accounting, how many of those funds have nothing but paper IOUs that replaced the funds that were withdrawn to paper-over existing deficits or were spent for purposes not designated by the voters? And about those multiple sets of books which are rarely reconciled? What’s up with that? Finance Director Ana Matosantos testified thather department has found no other instances where departments purposely shielded funds in the way that parks officials apparently had for years. Probably because she and her predecessors didn’t bother doing their job. In a quick audit released last week, the Finance Department found $268.5 million of accounting errors, both positive and negative, in a special fund universe that spent $33.4 billion in 2010-11. The errors netted $196.7 million more in state accounts than finance officials knew aboutin late 2011 as they crafted Gov. Jerry Brown's January budget. Matosantos told the committee that $143 million of surplus money found in a beverage container recycling fund and a children's health account was discovered before the budget process ended in June. Was it real money in those accounts or paper IOUs that cannot be used to pay bills? Jason Sisney of the Legislative Analyst's Office testified that while the hidden parks money was "unacceptable," the Department of Finance uses different accounting than the controller's office and may have legitimate reasons for having separate figures. "Different reports are prepared at different times for different purposes," he said. Garbage! There should be one set of consolidated, reconciled and audited books. If any business manipulated their books as does the state, the accounting executives would be in jail. Matosantos said her department is still exploring whether any of the erroneous accounting means funds are actually available. Among the most likely is $28.8 million in the cash-strapped Restitution Fund, which reimburses crime victims for funeral expenses and health care. Sisney said, "I take them at their word for that." <Source> Funds actually available? Why wouldn’t they be available? Oh, I forgot – those IOUs! Take politicians and government officials “at their word.” In California, that’s insane given the duplicitous nature of all concerned. Bottom line … Crooked politicians. Profligate spending. Dishonesty and lying to Californians. This is the rule rather than the exception. We need to clean house and remove all of the democrats and their cronies from the cesspool that is Sacramento. Starting with that addlepated idiot Jerry Brown who wants to spend billions on a train to nowhere and which will never provide any return on investment – except to the unions and special interests who plunder the California treasury. 2012 folks and time is running short. The aging grey-ponytail socialist hippies are destroying our state with their nonsense. Time for a change. A clean sweep. -- steve

MUSLIM PROPAGANDA OR PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT? Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:21 PM PDT I am deeply offended by a purported public service announcement (PSA) from the Foundation for a Better Life (www.values.com) which shows a Jew, Christian and Muslim sharing donuts at a beachside park table. With a voice-over … “I used to wonder. Why would a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim ever get together? And then I finally got it. They had a lot more in common than donuts.Friendship. Pass it on. A message from the Foundation for a Better Life. (Values.com)” See for yourself … Public Service Announcement (PSA) or Muslim Propaganda? It is my opinion that this message is false and misleading. In few places other than the United States do Muslims respect or even tolerate anyone of another faith or holding different beliefs. Simply expressing your opinion can result in your death, dismemberment or maiming. Again, in my opinion, one should consider the majority of Muslims to be a clear and present danger to the American lifestyle. First, because even the silent majority or moderates are dominated by radical activists. Second, because these people are unafraid to die – or kill others – for their cause. And third, because some nations, such as Saudi Arabia, appear willing to support the spread of international terrorism in exchange for the terrorist’s promise not to attack the Kingdom and overthrow the ruling family.  Third, because these people are attempting to spread Sharia law in America. Where barbaric penalties and honor killings are sanctioned. Fourth and finally, because there is no separation of church and state. The promotion of the Muslim faith is the primary business of the state. Even to the extent of causing innocent people to die on the theory that they will be rewarded in the afterlife as martyrs. This is a religion that openly condones lying if it is to promote the faith or save the life of the faithful. Muslim scholars teach that Muslims should generally be truthful to each other, unless the purpose of lying is to "smooth over differences." There are two forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances,taqiyya and kitman. These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause Islam - in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them. <Source> Bottom line … We are dealing with a war-like religion desperately in need for reformation. The religion was founded by a war lord with a religious underpinning which demands that the religion be spread by the sword. One merely needs to consider the Muslim interaction with Israel. Best said by Israeli statesman Benjamin Netanyahu. “If the Arabs put down their weapons, there will be peace. If Israel puts down her weapons, there will be no Israel.” I am willing to change my mind. Show me Muslim tolerance and respect for the religious beliefs of others. Until then promote truth in advertising and keep this propaganda off the public’s airwaves. Don't be fooled. Muslims are a dangerous force in the world. Most terrorism involves Muslims. And should all the infidels (unbelievers) be killed, they will kill each other to decide who is a real Muslim. What a society? What a life? Certainly not a "better life." -- steve

GLOBAL WARMING: conscience + corruption = unintended CONsequences! Posted: 09 Aug 2012 04:43 PM PDT Notwithstanding the question of the legitimacy of global warming to drive public policy which translates into bigger government, higher prices, wealth redistribution and the loss of personal freedoms, one may observe that political corruption often drives government intervention into areas best left to nature. Ask yourself … Why should the world’s grossest polluter, China,  be allowed to “capitalize” on a global warming scheme that results in rewarding the source of significant “real” pollution? Why should gross polluters in the United State and elsewhere be allowed to continue their polluting activities by purchasing “indulgences” which do absolutely nothing to cure “real” pollution? Where are the United Nations’ sanctions on those who deliberately game the system for profit? And why do scientists and others allow carbon dioxide, a necessary component of life, to be demonized based on little more than a speculative hypothesis not backed by any provable facts? As reported in the New York Times … Greenhouse gases were rated based on their power to warm the atmosphere. The more dangerous the gas, the more that manufacturers in developing nations would be compensated as they reduced their emissions. But where the United Nations envisioned environmental reform, some manufacturers of gases used in air-conditioning and refrigeration saw a lucrative business opportunity. They quickly figured out that they could earn one carbon credit by eliminating one ton of carbon dioxide, but could earn more than 11,000 credits by simply destroying a ton of an obscure waste gas normally released in the manufacturing of a widely used coolant gas. That is because that byproduct has a huge global warming effect. The credits could be sold on international markets, earning tens of millions of dollars a year. That incentive has driven plants in the developing world not only to increase production of the coolant gas but also to keep it high — a huge problem because the coolant itself contributes to global warming and depletes the ozone layer. That coolant gas is being phased out under a global treaty, but the effort has been a struggle. So since 2005 the 19 plants receiving the waste gas payments have profited handsomely from an unlikely business: churning out more harmful coolant gas so they can be paid to destroy its waste byproduct. The high output keeps the prices of the coolant gas irresistibly low, discouraging air-conditioning companies from switching to less-damaging alternative gases. That means, critics say, that United Nations subsidies intended to improve the environment are instead creating their own damage. China and India, where most of the 19 factories are, have been resisting mightily. The manufacturers have grown accustomed to an income stream that in some years accounted for half their profits. The windfall has enhanced their power and influence. As a result, many environmental experts fear that if manufacturers are not paid to destroy the waste gas, they will simply resume releasing it into the atmosphere. <Source> The cycle of corruption … A portion of the large profits are reinvested into lobbying activities which result in campaign funds to support corrupt politicians who now have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo or even enlarging the ability of the special interests to plunder the system. All costs being passed along to consumers in the form of higher energy prices and higher prices for all goods and services which depend on that costly energy. Take the word of Barack Obama … “You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” Bottom line … Never before has the United States faced a crisis where so many corrupt self-serving politicians have reigned unchecked by the mainstream media or the checks and balances built into the Constitution. Never before have we had a President – reputedly a constitutional scholar – openly defy the constitution; full well-knowing that legal remedies in the courts will take years – years after the damage to our way of life have been done. Years when those who should be tried as criminals will have been long gone and beyond the public’s will to prosecute. Never before have both political parties been so corrupt. Continually promoting “energy independence” while secretly doing everything in their power to keep prices high and the United States dependent on foreign energy sources. If pollution of the land, air, and water is so harmful to humans, how can these corrupt charlatans allow gross polluters to continue their polluting ways by purchasing politically-controlled indulgences that enrich the special interests? Pure corruption of the political system is the only answer. So in 2012 and 2016 we need throw these corrupt politicians out of office. Starting with Barack Obama and his fellow communist travelers in 2012. -- steve

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