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In Memoriam: Sgt. Robert D. Sanchez

Someone I grew up with in grade school recently hit headlines again in our hometown.  

He grew up from the kid who joked around as a goofball to everyone and even had his own share of crude nicknames we all shared for fun, into an Army Sergeant who served five tours of duty, three in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.  

On Oct. 1, during combat with insurgents, he was killed by an improvised explosive device.  
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Democratic Rep. calls American health care system “holocaust”

A “holocaust in America”? Really? Honestly? Truly? Is this for real?

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) thinks so, or should I say, vehemently knows so.
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Tens of thousands outraged over “Obamacare”

Not just thousands, but tens of thousands of Americans marched up to the Capitol yesterday to voice their upset over Obama’s “outrageous” health care plan.

Some of the more colorful demonstration pieces showed the president as the Joker, just like the famous — or infamous depending on your political perspective — posters to hit telephone poles and random walls in California last month. Of course, they feature Obama with eyes blacked-out, face chalk white and a bludgeoned, bloody red smile spread across his cheeks. Below the Photoshop likeness came “SOCIALISM” and “FASCISM” on some signs.

Other signs read “One nation under plunder,” “Obamacare makes me sick,” “Go Green Recycle Congress” and “I’m Not Your ATM” — and let’s not forget voices that chanted things like, “Enough, enough” and “We the People,” “You lie, you lie!” and my personal favorite, “Pelosi has to go.”

Thousands protested Obamacare.
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Wilson’s outburst a missed luxury in politics

The last few months in politics have revolved around a campaign keystone for Obama: his promise to push through a health care reform bill claiming to help millions of uninsured become insured.  

The majority of the news at the start centered around questioning Obama’s statements on how the bill could be afforded and what exactly it would entail.  Then, as time went on and people began doing research, many found Obama was blowing smoke up the people’s collective butt, because the numbers failed to verify the possibility that government sponsored health care was possible under the Obama plan.

Wednesday added to Obama’s health plan woes during his speech to the nation, with the now infamous Joe Wilson’s “You Lie!” moment.
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Obama’s education speech gets A+ in my book

The other day I was stuck in traffic behind a huge truck covered in anti-Obama stickers. It had the one of him looking like Heath Ledger’s character from The Dark Knight, the Joker. There was another one claiming something about how Obama is going to ruin our country, and then, my personal favorite, one claiming that President Obama is actually a socialist.

This is always an interesting argument to me because I do not believe that Obama is trying to make America a socialist nation. I simply do not see the logic behind that idea. It’s one of those ideas that you just keep to yourself because you know that it’s… illogical.

This senseless thought has returned to the forefront thanks to President Obama’s televised speech on American education yesterday.
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Oxymoron: 60 Plus Association

The oxymoron of the week is a conservative nonpartisan organization.

Any organization that claims to have both of these things under its belt clearly doesn’t understand the meaning of conservative and nonpartisan.

I have decided to outline its meanings. I hope you’re listening 60 Plus Association. I’m talking to you.

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Pros and Cons: Free public health care

One of President Obama’s main platforms was a reform on U.S. health care. It’s difficult to deny that our healthcare system isn’t as good as it could be. Millions of Americans have no insurance and can’t afford to get the necessary medical help they need. Between people’s benefits being cut and unemployment at an all-time high, the idea of nationwide health care seems like a great idea.

As the Obama administration tries to figure out a healthcare deal, all we can do is wait. On Tuesday, it was announced that a decision will probably not be made before Congress comes back from its recess next Friday.

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Taxing the plastic, surgery that is

It seems the King of Plastic Surgery, ahem, the King of Pop, may have gotten away just in time. The Senate Finance Committee has discussed the possibility of a 10 percent excise tax on cosmetic surgery; essentially any procedure intended to “improve” your looks vs. improve your health.

Of course (why else?), the idea behind this is to bring in extra revenue, but would it?
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Legal system, politics make a terrible couple

When we turn on the TV and watch Law and Order, or any of its other spin-offs, we are all treated to this display of legal action where they always seem to be aiming to get the guy and somehow get the job done most of the time by grasping at straws until everything makes sense.  It’s a win for the good guys, and in the rare cases where an innocent person is prosecuted, things seem to work out so that everyone ends up happy.

The fiction in the show does well to describe what hardships exist in our legal system, but it does an even better job at attempting to display how our legal system should work.  It should make every attempt to get the bad guy and make sure justice is served.  It should make every attempt at uncovering the whole truth before presenting the case before the judge.  It should make the attempt at discerning whether the defendant is actually guilty, or if he or she is innocent.

How often those actions are omitted.

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Unemployment figures: Half truths wrapped in bacon

Since the recession started, unemployment has been a closely watched figure, and every time it increases, the stock market seems to take a tumble.  As people lose their spending cushion and lock down their finances for future hardships, the recoil sent back into various industries forces further contraction.  Where spending makes up the entirety of our economic success, when we fail to spend, we also will fail to grow.

When companies start to follow the same path as individual consumers, unemployment figures begin to change.  This has generally increased over the last year, with a few brief spurts of life, but generally the numbers inspire uncertainty and fear into those with jobs and those looking for work who have been laid off.

Eight to 9 percent, or even 10 percent of our total population (350,000,000) is 35,000,000.  That isn’t necessarily a bad figure when you take into consideration all those who file for benefits with no intention of ever getting employment again and are content with living off of the government’s paycheck and free handouts for their miserable existences brought on by massive amounts of underachieving and lack of motivation.

The real problem is far greater than a small number like 8 to 9 percent.

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