The Way I See ItBy cj pollickLandmark For Boaters – The AquaLea Hyatt currently under construction on Clearwater Beach will most certainly become the new “landmark” for boaters seeking to enter Clearwater Pass. The very pink color resembles the Don Cesear on St. Petersburg Beach. Belleair Beach Bridge – Apparently still planning for traffic to use it by the end of this month. Awesome. License Plate Uproar – Quite frankly I don’t care what design is on the plate but I do care whether I can read the number and the state from which it originated! Why do we allow “frames” on the license plate that cover the name of the state? Is America Broke? - An investment author recently stated in MSN Money that US government obligations for Social Security and Medicare may soon exceed the combined net worth of every household and non-profit group in America. Unfunded liabilities of social security and Medicare are about $10.5 trillion and growing at $2 trillion a year, and when you combine this huge debt with a federal deficit of $1.75 trillion in 2009 and $1.17 trillion in 2010, you have a recipe for going bust. (Much like Iceland, Hungry and maybe soon Ireland.) Decisions made by US politicians in Washington have put America on the brink of financial disaster. Add to this financial mess recent changes by Obama and friends in Congress to add millions of Americans and illegals to an expanded Medicare health plan, the result is trillions of added dollars to the growing debt. Runaway inflation will surely become a realty. AIG Mess Gets Worse - Under President Obama billions of tax dollars have been given to failing AIG in hopes that the large insurer would repay such loans to the US government (taxpayers.) AIG was "too big to allow failure," said Congressional leaders. Our government gave the money to AIG and AIG spent the money. Interestingly, billions of US tax dollars went to repay AIG debts to several foreign banks, such as Credit Generale and Deutche Bank, plus billions of US tax dollars were directed to Goldman Sachs and other US financial firms who had dealings with AIG. The way AIG dispersed US bail-out funds seemed to be without government oversight. Worse. AIG paid over a 100 million of bail-out funds to top executives, so said AIG to government officials. Yet, that was not fully true, over $400 million of bail-out funds was spent by AIG to AIG employees (and not $100 million.) That news was released last Thursday and has made many Washington officials and President Obama wonder about fiscal oversight of bail-out funds. Who in the heck is looking over taxpayer bail-out funds? Billions of US tax dollars are being spent in places, such as AIG bonuses. One thing is for sure, taxpayers will not be repaid the amount of money they have lent to AIG. Sarah Palin Vs John Edwards - Remember in the last election when media types investigated ad nauseam the Governor from Alaska? In fact, the media even had the nerve to investigate her children, friends and even outfits she wore to snowmobile races. Most folks saw through all of that biased political nonsense; yet, there were some people that bought into the swayed nightly news and began to believe the lies and deliberate distortions about Palin. Political hackmanship at the highest levels. You could notice some of the deliberate distortions on NBC, ABC and CBS news broadcasts. Yes, the so-called unbiased media made it clear that they supported Barack Obama, just ask Hillary Clinton. However, the unwarranted attacks on Palin pitted women against women. So-called "women rights" groups differed from one another regarding how they should respond to media attacks on a ranking woman politician. For the most part, they allowed the attacks on Sarah Palin even though they would not have allowed the same attacks on Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi. Bottom line? Women groups across America that proudly proclaimed to be non-partisan were unveiled. On the other hand, there is former presidential candidate John Edwards. Remember him? He was the darling of the liberal media and super-star of woman groups across America. Women loved to see and hear John Edwards. And, yes, he was a giant friend of unions and Democrat leaders in many important states. Ironically, there are political consultants that still believe it was John Edwards that cost Hillary Clinton the Democrat primary. How many media types investigated John Edwards as they did Sarah Palin? Not many. How much news time was given to cover the breaking John Edwards scandal? Not much. How much nightly news is being presented about possible campaign fund and other abuses by the Edwards campaign? Not much. Elizabeth Edwards is, interestingly, being given air-time to voice her views about John's activities. Another book deal where millions of dollars will be made. John's book will likely be next. While all of this money is being made, the media has carefully avoided the name of John Edwards and...yes, the same media still probes and prods Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin, a good and decent woman who happens to be a conservative who admits to living and dealing with real-life family issues (and, she has had to deal with family issues.) If perception can become reality, then there is an attempt at high levels to discredit Gov. Sarah Palin and remove her from national politics. A sad commentary on the status of modern-day politics. Then, There Is Gov. Charlie Crist - There was a time when Charlie Crist was the darling of the Florida Republican Party. Everyone loved Charlie, especially in Pinellas County. Times have, nonetheless, changed for Charlie and he is no longer the GOP darling. Not everyone loves Charlie Crist, just ask the former Pinellas County GOP chairman Tony DiMatteo who said he would support former State Rep. Marco Rubio in the GOP US senate race (against Pinellas County's Gov. Charlie Crist.) "Charlie Crist left us," stated DiMatteo to a newspaper reporter last week, "We (GOP) don't need another Arlen Specter." According to DiMatteo, Crist’s decision to run against Rubio would leave the Governor's office and other top state offices vulnerable in the next election. DiMatteo is correct, if Crist runs for the US Senate seat while not finishing his work as Florida's governor, Crist would leave Florida's GOP vulnerable to popular Democrat candidates. Yet, Crist does not seem to care about the Florida GOP, he will run for a higher office How might Florida's GOP react to Charlie's move to run for the US Senate? Gov. Crist will have divided party support and will hurt the Florida GOP. Quick, Call A Doctor - It has been reported that there is, and will be, a growing doctor shortage in America. Baby-boomer doctors are planning to retire and there are not enough younger doctors to fill the growing need for doctors in America. What might make matters even worse is the plan by President Obama to expand "national healthcare" to include many uninsured people; thus, millions of more Americans will have insurance coverage provided by the government requiring more doctors. Why the doctor shortage? Let's see, smart college students are thinking of a well-paid professional career. They qualify to be enrolled in medical school, law school or a school of engineering-- all well-paid professions. They review the benefits of each profession and, when it comes to med school, they not only examine the years of study plus clinical experience before making good money, but compare the financial and other benefits of, say, law school or school of engineering. Things like professional lawsuit liability, government interference, mode of reimbursement for professional services, continuing education, cost of education, and a host of other issues would likely be examined. The result? They might not select med school. Yes, we truly need those good students to become doctors, but without government grants and more med school openings, there will be a doctor shortage in America. Pakistan In Trouble - Taliban soldiers have taken-over some cities in Pakistan and plan to extend their rule. It has been estimated that over 500,000 innocent people will flee certain sections of Pakistan as Taliban troops enter cities. Peace efforts of President Obama are clearly being tested by radical Islamists who seek nuclear weapons located within Pakistan. Last week President Obama assured the American people that nuclear weapons in Pakistan will be protected from the Taliban. With recent Taliban activities threatening the protection of nuclear weapons in Pakistan, world leaders continue to worry about peace in the Middle-East if radical Islamists obtain nuclear weapons. Life – Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive. – Elbert Hubbard |