Sequestration: Obama's Abandoned Baby

Sequestration: Obama’s Abandoned Baby

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 28, 2013

There’s the old adage that there’s lies, damn lies, and statistics. Fast forward to the Obama administration and the issue of sequestration, where there are lies, Obama speeches, and a complicit media that swears to it.

A media that takes Obama’s words at face value without questioning fails to do its job. A media that does not question when Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says the administration does not have a spending problem. A media that does not question Obama becomes complacent and a wing of the administration.

This is an administration that, in 2011, called for this sequestration that strikes at midnight March 1. This is a sequestration automatically cutting a mere $85 billion dollars from a $3.8 trillion budget, and only $44 billion of which is slated for this year’s budget. FYI, that amounts to a paltry 2.4 percent cut in the deficit when Obama vowed to slash the deficit by 50 percent in his first term alone, proving his sheer incompetence, or his overblown ego.

As Charles Krauthammer, a regular on the Fox News Channel explained, of the 35 cents per dollar borrowed from China, under sequestration the US will “only” borrow 33 cents from the Chinese. What the nation has here is a decrease in the increase – meaning, the administration will spend $14-16 billion MORE than what was spent in 2012, as opposed to spending $60-70 billion more than in 2012.

Yet according to Obama, author of this plan, economic Armageddon is soon to follow. Obama has traipsed around the nation – all at taxpayers’ expense – like Chicken Little squawking how the sky is falling and it’s all because of the awful Republicans. (I’ll deal with the GOP’s role in this charade shortly.) Most recently, Obama visited Newport News, VA to berate the Republicans, at a cost of more than a half million dollars when he could have stayed in DC and done so for pennies.

But instead, Obama likes to take his show on the road as the United States continues to emulate the decline of the Roman Empire via its Bread and Circuses during the first two centuries C.E. For an excellent column on Bread and Circuses, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-02/the-danger-of-living-on-bread-and-circuses-alice-schroeder.html

While bloviating to anyone who will listen, Obama, the fear mongerer in chief, said these automatic cuts will see shortages in border patrol agents, teachers and day care workers being laid off, air traffic controllers laid off with a concomitant delay in air travel requiring passengers to arrive up to four hours prior to domestic flights, research on cancer and Alzheimer’s will be cut, meat inspectors will be reduced to the point of making meat unsafe, as well as cuts in the military.

“This is a manufactured crisis,” said US Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC).

Even Democratic Senator Max Baucus (MT) blames the White House and reporter Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame, has been castigated by both the White House and the left wing media for his “revelation” that Obama is the impetus behind sequestration. Make no mistake, Woodward is no conservative, but he is an honest broker – something most members of the liberal media should emulate.

And yet, Obama continues his “excellent adventure” decrying the sequestration calling the cuts wrong, not fair, not right, even though he called for them, now saying he can’t stop the runaway train. Obama “signed it into law and complains about it,” said Gowdy.

Complaints also come from Obama supporters such as Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who said “border patrol agents will see their hours reduced.”

“Sequestration equals unemployment,” said Pelosi.

“These automatic spending cuts will be devastating to the American economy,” said US Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY).

“FBI agents will be furloughed,” and “federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go,” continued Obama, in his efforts to panic Americans and blame the GOP.

The problem with the Republicans is that they are shirking their responsibilities by hiding under their collective desks refusing to make appropriate cuts to the budget and deficit instead of allowing the mandatory cuts via sequester to take effect including cuts to military spending. Legitimate cuts need to be made and not with a scalpel, but with a hatchet. The GOP needs to garner the intestinal fortitude to tell the American people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, make the cuts that are in the best interest of the nation and future generations as opposed to the best interest of their reelection coffers and efforts to retain their cushy-tushy jobs.

“You should be able to find $85 billion in the ashtray of your car with a budget of this size,” said Gowdy.

Regarding the potential release of criminals, roughly 10,000 illegals were reported to be marked for release, even before sequestration goes into effect, demonstrative of pure political posturing by Obama and worse yet, a punishment inflicted upon the American people, mostly in Arizona. No doubt Arizona suffered the slings and arrows of Obama due to his animus toward Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ) who deigned to stand up to Obama on a visit to the Grand Canyon State a couple years ago.

“It’s wrong, and it’s outrageous and it is appalling to do something of this magnitude and not contact myself or my homeland security people, is just unbelievable,” said Brewer, who represents a border state, on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”

Obama’s behavior is simply vindictive and juvenile, but could cost lives with his churlish actions. As it is, the nation wouldn’t be staring down the barrel of sequestration if the Senate could manage to pass a budget.

“The last time the Senate passed a budget, four years ago, the i-pad didn’t exist,” said Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).

But not all members of the Senate are as concerned about a budget, the ramifications of sequestration or the overall fiscal health of the United States. “I am not going to keep cutting the discretionary budget, which by the way, is not out of control despite what you hear on Fox News,” said Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) on the Senate floor February 1.

While the deficit fast approaches $17 trillion and will reach $20 trillion before Obama checks out of the White House on January 20, 2017, a date that can’t arrive soon enough, Medicaid expenditures have risen by 37 percent over the last three years. “Food-stamp spending, which more than doubled in four years to a record $75.7 billion in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2011, is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s biggest annual expense.” (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-04/food-stamp-use-climbed-to-record-46-7-million-in-june-u-s-says.html)

Our debt is a bigger enemy than any foreign force, as by 2020 the interest on the debt to China could approach funding their military.

I refer people back to the Bread and Circuses analogy, reminding them that although Obama has a favorable rating of 60 percent, no doubt from the Occupy Wall Street crowd demanding government support from womb to tomb, America burns while Obama fiddles.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

CO Dems Insult Women on House Floor

CO Dems Insult Women on House Floor

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 20, 2013

For all the women who believe in choice, they should have a few choice words for Democrats Joe Salazar and Paul Rosenthal, both members of the Colorado State House.

In voicing their opposition to HB 13-1226 prohibiting concealed weapons on college campuses, the two liberal legislators specifically took aim at women in the precarious position of being raped.

Salazar pole vaulted way over the top in suggesting campus co-eds would be too hysterical to know whether they were in danger of being sexually assaulted or not to be permitted to carry a firearm. He brought women’s mental state into question saying they would not be in the right frame of mind to pass judgment in such a tense moment.

“It’s why we have call boxes. It’s why we have safe zones. That’s why we have the whistles, because you just don’t know who you’re going to be shooting at. And you don't know if you feel like you're gonna be raped, or if you feel like someone's been following you around or if you feel like you're in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop ... pop a round at somebody,” said Salazar.

Rosenthal added that women in physical jeopardy should carry mace or use the buddy system.

In condemning Salazar, liberal pundit Leslie Marshall said “I am a woman before I am a Democrat,” on the Fox News Channel on Tuesday, February 19.

"It is so enormously inappropriate to assume that a woman that is trained and has a concealed-carry permit will just pop off," said Colorado Rep. Lori Saine (R) from the House floor. 

Sadly, HB 13-1226 passed the House and is headed to the CO State Senate, much to the chagrin of anyone possessing common sense, but to the glee of the University of Colorado.

The Colorado Springs campus already had a series of “defense” options for potential rape victims prepared. The list includes instructing women to tell their attacker they have a disease or that they are menstruating. The list also suggests women vomit or urinate on their assailant.

Aside from the absurdity of such suggestions, women should be insulted by both those who voted against HB 13-1226 as well as a campus, known for its liberalism that would support disarming them and all but announcing it is open season on women on campus.

Rape and sexual assault have been the dirty little secrets on college campuses around the nation for years. Such statistics are rarely released and often those numbers that do reach the public are a far cry from reality. Why? Well for obvious reasons. What parents want to send their daughters to a campus labeled a danger zone or rape haven?

College campuses in general are rife with untold crimes and short on honest statistic records for public consumption. After the heinous mass murdering rampage at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007 when student Seung-Hui Cho slaughtered 32 innocent university students and faculty, allowing firearms on campus should have been a no-brainer. People on campus should not be sitting ducks while criminals run amok.

It continues to amaze so many, how unguarded, unsafe, and unprotected future generations are by banning firearms on campuses around this country. If the lessons of Virginia Tech have not resonated with the general public, the schools will remain rape havens and killing fields.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He endorses the recognition of the Second Amendment both on and off campus.

Buca Means Get Your Butt off My Coat

Buca Means Get Your Butt off My Coat

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 20, 2013

Were it not Vicky’s birthday, we would not have braved the oh, so frigid, windy, blustery snowy evening in Indy to enjoy a dinner out. Staying home would have been the better option, by far.

Instead, we combated the elements for comfort food at Buca di Beppo at their Castleton Square location in Indy. Having our pick of spots in the vacant lot, we parked as close to the front entrance as possible and waited for more than a minute before being greeted by a hostess/manager.

Apologizing for keeping us waiting she proceeded to give us a tour of the restaurant where nary a patron could be seen nor heard. We literally had our pick of tables, rooms, and even the kitchen which is equipped to seat a couple of diners.

Choosing a table in the “Cardinal” room, I joked that I don’t even like the Cardinals because I am a Mets fan. Having perused the menu on-line I knew which appetizer we both wanted and placed an order for the fried calamari. In asking about a sauce other than the traditional marinara we were told that was the only option, but when we asked about a garlic-butter sauce we were told they would make some for us. Bonus point for the server, who was pleasant and helpful – not to mention we were the only patrons, so it cost them nothing to satisfy a small request.

Because Buca is a family-style restaurant, the portions are planned as either for two or four people. We were told the two-person portions were generous enough to easily serve three people. Three midgets on diets perhaps, but not three people with dinner appetites.

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar poured somewhat sloppily onto a plate, but bread, a distant future supply which finally arrived with the calamari. While the calamari was good, not too chewy, not over fried, it was a little heavy on the spices and featured an abundance of tentacles by ratio to the rings.

Adding to the unevenness of the kitchen work, the entrée of veal Marsala came out before we were halfway finished with the appetizer. When given the choice of taking the entrée or having it sit under a heat lamp to dry out in the kitchen, opt for the former.

Three veal medallions each roughly the size of two silver dollars sat upon a plate with sliced canned mushrooms and a thin, but tasty, Marsala sauce. This plate should have been service for one, not two to three as advertised.

I was but one bite into my piece of veal when Vicky emitted a gasp from across the table. A hair was embedded in her piece of veal. And by embedded, it was not simply atop the food, but positioned in such a manner that it could only have been cooked into the veal when the medallions were being fried. Beyond gross. We’ve patronized enough restaurants – good, bad, and ugly to know nobody’s perfect, but, eww, hair?

As our server was nowhere to be found for more than several minutes, I wandered into the kitchen to track her down. Returning to the table with me she was extremely apologetic and immediately left to find the manager, who was not nearly as remorseful.

Adding insult to injury, the manager – the same woman who gave us the tour and seated us – instantly took to the defensive, gave Vicky a visual once over then said that no one in her kitchen has long hair. Only then did she manage an apology.

We ordered a chicken dish and our server assured us our meal would be “taken care of.” The chicken dish proved to be barely larger than its predecessor which included artichokes and capers – both favorites of ours. However, the artichoke pieces had a tough exterior indicating that one additional layer should have been removed. The artichokes, like the mushrooms, were canned.

While eating the chicken, the manager returned, at which point I politely informed her that she had insulted Vicky with the insinuation that because no one in the kitchen had long hair, Vicky must have been at fault. The manager attempted to mollify Vicky by assuring her she meant no disrespect. Yet, all she did was make Vicky more upset. The manager imposed herself upon our dinner not just by sitting down, but by sitting on Vicky’s coat, scarf, and phone.

Note to restaurant employees, managers, and even owners: unless invited, do not assume to be so familiar as to join us at our table. We are neither pretentious nor snobs, but we prefer to have a two-way conversation after a long day instead of a three-way conversation. We spent more time talking to restaurant staff than to each other which also detracted from the now less than celebratory mood of the evening.

Exit manager; reenter server, who asked if we were having dessert. Normally the answer would be no, but as this was Vicky’s birthday, we opted for the bragged-about tiramisu. Eh, not so much about which to brag – cold, stiff, and sticking to the bottom of the dish.

The coup de grace came minutes later when the check came and the server apologized before even presenting it to me as she informed us the manager was charging us for the dessert. This after we were told by the server the meal would be “taken care of.”

Clearly, a fine time was not had by all, or even by any.

This column should serve as a warning to diners who care about how they spend their hard-earned dollars. Buca di Beppo should be ristorante non-grata. And a happy birthday to Vicky.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Is Rubio's Sip His Waterloo?

Is Rubio’s Sip His Waterloo?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 14, 2013

Calling it the new Watergate is too easy and salacious, but the liberal media is treating Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s sip of water as more scandalous than both waterboarding and former President Richard Nixon’s waterloo combined.

And while the lame-stream media continues to drone on about the sip slurped ‘round the world, they conveniently ignore Barack Obama’s illegal murder of an American citizen via a drone. This should be an impeachable occurrence, yet is defended by Kool-Aid® drinking liberals, with some exception – namely Fox News contributors Kirsten Powers and Mark Lamont Hill.

Hill, a Columbia University professor, and ultra-liberal, said on FNC’s O’ Reilly Factor on Feb. 11 that Obama’s use of drones was wrong and the left ignoring it, hypocritical.

Have we not seen the likes of Obama, VP Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sip water from time to time while speaking in public? Is the downing of water a political issue so important to supplant any other news?

Of course not. This is a simple example of the hypocrisy of the left making a hurricane out of a drizzle. The water is merely a liberal prop to deflect public attention from Rubio’s important and well-stated message rebuking the ill-conceived points made by Obama in his State of the Union address.

Liberal pundits are claiming Rubio’s one sip of water during the GOP response on Feb. 12 will damage his potentiality at the White House in 2016. This oft-repeated mantra over the past 48 hours is designed to steal attention from Rubio’s refutation of Obama’s call for increased taxes and spending while simultaneously calling for a continued dismantling of the military.

Rubio deftly purloined the issue of the middle class from Obama by reminding Americans that “raising taxes won’t create private sector jobs…. More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back,” said the 41-year-old Rubio.

Rubio is absolutely correct. When more of our hard-earned dollars are stolen by the government to support those who refuse to take personal responsibility for their lives, those earners have less money to save, invest, or spend in the free market place. Spending in the free market requires greater supply and more employees to create that supply. It is government regulation and restrictiveness that prevents success – success condemned regularly by Obama in his attempt to create equality of outcome, a concept contrary to a capitalist democratic-republic.

While Rubio took a harmless sip of water to fight dry mouth it is the liberal media that is left all wet spewing venom over an innocent act while ignoring the substance of Rubio’s message.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Judge Rodriguez-Chomat - Hero to the Civilized

Judge Rodriguez-Chomat – Hero to the Civilized

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 7, 2013

Finally someone who doesn’t suffer fools, pissant derelicts with no respect for self or others, or indolence.

Three cheers for Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat. Not happy with the flippant response from an already disrespectful defendant, Rodriguez-Chomat doubled the amount of bond from $5,000 to $10,000 which elicited an even more disrespectful response and gesture that will cost Penelope Soto, 18, of Miami, 30 days in jail.

Soto appeared before Rodriguez-Chomat on Monday, February 4, charged with felony possession of 26 bars of Xanax – a drug used to treat anxiety and panic disorder. (www.drugs.com/xanax) While chastised for seeming to make light of the proceedings, Soto laughed, used slang words in her answers regarding the value of her possessions such as jewelry, and was then given bond of $5,000.

The judge said goodbye to Soto, who responded with a disrespectful “adios.” At that point, Rodriguez-Chomat requested Soto be brought back before him where he doubled Soto’s bond for her poor attitude. Soto then offered the judge her middle finger as she belligerently questioned the doubling of the bond figure and said “f-ck you” to Rodriguez-Chomat.

Rodriguez-Chomat called for Soto to again reappear, asked her if she said “f-ck you,” to which she admitted she had used the profanity all the while twirling her hair. At that point he cited her with contempt of court and a 30-day jail sentence.

Although this is Soto’s first brush with the law, it was painfully obvious she lacks respect for the process, the judge, and quite frankly, for herself, and the 30 days will hopefully do her a world of good.

There are some who believe Judge Rodriguez-Chomat, a 67-year-old jurist born in Havana and a graduate of the University Miami School of Law, overreacted to Soto’s disrespectful behavior and should neither doubled her bond nor sentenced her to 30 days in jail. Some suggest the judge did not have the authority to cite Soto with contempt of court.

“Being rude is not contempt,” said Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers on The O’ Reilly Factor Wednesday, February 6.

I couldn’t disagree more virulently with Powers and her ilk. A message must be sent to miscreants like Soto that respect is the order of the day in court, out of court, whether with ones elders or not. And yes, Rodriguez-Chomat had every authority to pin a contempt charge on Soto.

Contempt of court is “an act of deliberate disobedience or disregard for the laws, regulations, or decorum of a public authority, such as a court or legislative body.” It “is behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court.” Further, a judge has “wide discretion… in determining both what constitutes contempt and how it is punished.” (www.legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Soto’s behavior certainly fits the definition of contemptible.

Soto is merely a symptom of the deleterious nature of society in these United States. While Powers would not have sentenced Soto to 30 days in jail for her antics, saying she would have given Soto two weeks of community service, Powers contradicted herself on a similar issue of disrespect in the New York City Public School System.

On the same episode of O’ Reilly, it was noted that the New York City Public Schools disciplinary code has been softened to the point where students cursing at teachers ranks low on the infractions list requiring nothing more than a slight reprimand. Powers objected to this, noting the cursing should be more strongly punished.

“The new rules will keep kids who commit ‘low level infractions’ in class, where they can learn from their mistakes,” said New York City Education Spokesman Margie Feinberg. (New York Daily News, 08/22/12)

As someone who has taught in charter schools and in inner city schools, this decision by New York City Public Schools is disgraceful. Lowering the bar where cursing and disrespect are virtually ignored under the guise of keeping students in school simply encourages others to act out just as churlishly. This then takes more time away from teaching and learning, thus punishing all the students in a given class and setting them further and further behind other classes. Ultimately it gives children carte blanche to push the envelope of worse, more destructive behavior – either towards themselves or others.

Instead, the “Broken Windows” theory should be employed. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in his excellent book Leadership, credited James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling’s theory that one of the best ways to cure the ills of New York City  began with “paying attention to ‘minor’ infractions like aggressive panhandling, graffiti, and turnstile-jumping would greatly reduce all crime, including major felonies.” (P. xiii)

The slippery slope of incivility must be reversed by, as Giuliani said, “sweating the small stuff.” Cut it off at the pass, to use an old Western’s movie phrase. Crack down on the minor infractions before students run amok in schools and take their miscreant behavior to the streets where lawlessness and chaos ensues. Perhaps then there will be fewer Penelope Sotos appearing before Judge Rodriguez-Chomat where jail time is meted out for disrespect and contempt. Until then, job well done your honor.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.