BIG WIN FOR BIG LABOR

You may not have noticed it, though I don't know how you could have missed it, but the left in this country is engaged in a war against Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart employees have thus far resisted efforts at unionization.  Labor unions don't like this.  Labor leaders generally think that it is entirely fair for employees of a company to vote to unionize, but there is no fairness at all in rejecting unionization.  And, of course, workers should never be allowed to eliminate their union.

Well, when Wal-Mart workers reject unionization that is something that just can't be ignored by Big Labor.  After all, Wal-Mart is America's largest employer with over 1.1 million workers.  Something just had to be done.  So --- when the workers won't take voluntary action, the left has another solution at hand ... make laws.  Last week this tactic succeeded wildly in Maryland.  The Maryland legislature, controlled by Democrats of course, has passed a law over the Governor's veto which requires any business in Maryland that employees more than 10,000 people must spend no less than 8% of its payroll on medical benefits.  Now you might be wondering just how many private companies in Maryland employ more than 10,000 people.  The answer would be just one; Wal-Mart.  The Unions were mad at Wal-Mart, so they successfully used their considerable clout with Maryland legislators to punish the object of their anger. 

I could write thousands of words describing what's wrong with this legislation.  Let's just stick with some bullet points:

• The only legal obligation that an employer operating in a free market should have toward its employee is to provide a safe working place and to live up to the terms of its employment contract with that employee.
• How did we get to the point that an individual's health care is the responsibility of everyone but the individual?  If the employer is responsible for the employee's health insurance, why not the employee's life insurance and home insurance?  What about auto insurance?  We all need cars to get to work, right?  We can't drive cars without insurance, so we can't get to our jobs without auto insurance.  So why shouldn't the employer foot the bill?
• The labor movement will try to use their success in Maryland to pass similar laws in other states.
• The new law in Maryland will constitute a pay cut for every Maryland resident who shops at Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart will probably have to raise prices in Maryland to cover the cost ... that money comes out of the consumer's pocket.

The best solution?  I'd like to see Wal-Mart do one of two things:  (1)  Close a few stores in Maryland to bring the total number of Maryland employees to under 10,000.  Let the unions explain to the people why they lost their jobs.  (2)  Announce that the required 8% spending for health care will come out of future pay increases for Wal-Mart employees. 

This Maryland law, by the way, is further support for my contention that socialized medicine is inevitable in the United States, and you won't like it one little bit.

NEW ORLEANS --- THE "BIG CHOCOLATE!"

Prior to Katrina we knew New Orleans as the "Big Easy."  Let's all now celebrate the arrival of a new New Orleans nickname!  The "Big Chocolate!"  Ray Nagin, the New Orleans' submission and sure-winner for the Mayoral Incompetence award, is a bit nervous.  Yes, people are moving back to New Orleans.  It just seems that those people don't reflect enough of the Louisiana sunlight.  They're too white. 

The problem, you see, is that the neighborhoods that were most affected by the flooding were black neighborhoods.  Neighborhoods that were spared much of the devastation were largely white.  Now there are more whites moving back to their homes in New Orleans than there are blacks.  This could result in a dilution of black votes in the upcoming mayoral race.  Ray Nagin doesn't particularly like this.  After his show of incompetence he is going to have to rely on the propensity of blacks to vote for blacks in order to keep his job. This is why a "chocolate" New Orleans is so important to Nagin. 

Now ... before we move on, might I ask you to consider an alternate scenario?  What if the racial roles were reversed here.  What if it was a white Mayor looking at a diminution of the white vote in an upcoming election?  What if that white mayor stood up in front of the media and said that his city was going to be white again?  No need to ask ... you know what would happen.  Bigots Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would swoop down on that white mayor like a crow on a June bug. 

For now, Nagin has a problem.  Those votes he needs are sitting in 81,000 hotel rooms in 47 states.  As long as FEMA continues the free ride for these people they won't be in New Orleans to cast their votes for Nagin's dream of a chocolate city. 

AL GORE STILL BITTER

Just over 5 years after storming out of politics and off the national stage, Al Gore still can't let go.  After being defeated in the 2000 election (yes, he lost....fair and square,) the former Vice President has followed a pretty consistent pattern.  Every 6 months or so, the chip on Gore's shoulder grows too large to bear....and he makes some sort of public statement bashing George Bush.  And so it is with his latest public screed...and it concerns the NSA wiretapping that President Bush approved...without a warrant.

Al Gore gave a speech yesterday ...condemning the wiretaps and saying they crossed the line.  If what's being reported is true, then he's right...it did cross the line.  Want a wiretap? Get a warrant.  If the secret court that would grant the wiretap takes too long, then fix the process...but get a warrant.  But in his speech, Al Gore also mentioned several things, one of which was this:

"Last week, for example, Vice President Cheney attempted to defend the Administration's eavesdropping on American citizens by saying that if it had conducted this program prior to 9/11, they would have found out the names of some of the hijackers.  Tragically, he apparently still doesn't know that the Administration did in fact have the names of at least 2 of the hijackers well before 9/11 and had available to them information that could have easily led to the identification of most of the other hijackers. And yet, because of incompetence in the handling of this information, it was never used to protect the American people."

What a crock.  In fact, the reason that information was never shared was because of the ban on such sharing enacted by the Clinton administration's deputy attorney general...Jamie Gorelick (no relation.)  Because of this "wall," the FBI was unable to tell the CIA or anyone else about, for instance, Mohammed Atta.  So that's a lie, and Gore knows it.

If that weren't enough, Gore then decided to lecture the Republicans on corruption, saying:  "Moreover, in the Congress as a whole-both House and Senate-the enhanced role of money in the re-election process, coupled with the sharply diminished role for reasoned deliberation and debate, has produced an atmosphere conducive to pervasive institutionalized corruption.  The Abramoff scandal is but the tip of a giant iceberg that threatens the integrity of the entire legislative branch of government."  Oh really?

This from Mr. Fundraising-in-the-Buddhist-Temple himself?  How many corruption scandals were there in the  Clinton administration?  Talk about the pot and the kettle. 

Bottom line ... . I agree with much of what Gore had to say yesterday, but I do have one question.  When Al Gore was Vice President his boss (that would be Bill Clinton) used a wiretap to spy on an American citizen named Aldrich Ames.  Clinton never sought nor did he receive a warrant for that wiretap.  Why didn't Al Gore have something to say about this?

UNITED......TO DO NOTHING

China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany have joined the United States in calling on Iran to completely suspend its nuclear program.  So what are these countries suggesting to Iran?  Quit pursuing nuclear weapons or else there will be sanctions?  Military action?  Nope...none of the above.

The aforementioned six countries haven't even agreed to refer the matter to the UN Security Council.  The best they can come up with is to call another meeting.  That's right...another case of "stop or I'll say stop again."  There's now going to be a meeting February 2nd with the inept IAEA...the nuclear watchdog of the UN.  Another complete waste of time.

So where does all this lead?  Nowhere. What will the world community do to Iran? Nothing. What will the end result be?  Iran will have nuclear weapons, the ability to wipe Israel off the map (the Iranian president's words) and the ability to sell weapons to Al-Qaeda.

The situation with Iran is more grave than anything we currently face....and nobody cares. That's most unfortunate.

Farkers Photoshop Senator Ted Kennedy's children's book. See them all.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Now that's one fancy houseboat! More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The Hildabeast said something potentially racist on Martin Luther King Day.....she referred to the House of Representatives as a "plantation."  Now stop and ask yourself something.  If one single Republican had called the House a plantation while it was under Democratic control, what would have happened?  He or she would have had to resign, that's what.  But Hillary Clinton?  Nah...the media will cover for her quite nicely.

CNN, known far and wide for its favorable coverage of dictatorships, is breathing a sigh of relief today.  Iran has lifted their ban on the network's reporting in their country.  If CNN never reports on the Islamic terrorist regime's nuclear ambitions, we'll know a deal was struck.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is shooting down Al Gore's call for a special prosecutor in the NSA wiretapping matter.  There's nothing to investigate.  The White House did it....all Congress has to do is determine whether or not it was illegal.

A study by an Italian "sexologist" (what a job!) says that those who have TVs in their bedrooms have 50% less sex.  Looks like most people are about to have 50% less TVs.

The New York Times has been caught red-handed running a staged photograph of Pakistanis near a supposed U.S. missile. The problem?  The missile in the photograph is old...and unexploded.  The blame-America-first crowd continues to rule at the Times.

The Medicare prescription drug program seems to have slowed out of the gate.  Of the 42 million senior citizens eligible to sign up, only 2 million have so far.  Obviously government isn't doing enough...more money will be the solution!

The Senate confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito said more about the Senate than they did about the nominee.  Thomas Sowell reports on some of the ridiculous things the Democrats said to embarrass themselves.

Since the world isn't going to do anything about Iran's nuclear weapons, Mark Steyn has an idea of what we could do to defeat the mullahs.  It's not bombing...something else. Read on.

Trying to figure out where to send your kids to college next fall?  Professor Mike Adams has a list of colleges to avoid. You won't find these recommendations in any of the normal college guides!

One of the accusations of the leftist, anti-Bush crowd is that there was no link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.  Actually, there was.  Townhall.com columnist W. Thomas Smith will bring you up to speed.

How moronically stupid can the staff at a television station get?  Here we have WACH-TV, the Fox affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina.  Some idiot decided last night that they would cut off the last 10 minutes of Fox's thriller "24" in order to make sure that viewers didn't miss the whole 10:00 WACH newscast.  But wait!  There's more!  I TIVOed the show .. .and guess what!  You got it, the last 10 minutes were cut off.  Just damn.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?
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