At WalMart the other day I noticed a sign on one of the little cubicles in the front of the store where Jackson Hewitt does tax preparation:  “9 out of 10 Jackson Hewitt filers receives a refund.”

This is not a commentary on Jackson Hewitt.  It’s a commentary on people who get their taxes prepared at WalMart.  People who treat their withholding like a Christmas Club account.  Every January is like Let’s Make a Deal to them.  January, not April because, you know, it’s OK if the govt holds your money for 12 months, but not 2 1/2 months longer, that’s for sure.  Anyway, each January they know they are getting something.  Whether it’s a wheel barrow full of Jiffy Pop or a pile of cash remains to be seen.

This is one of the things I need to catch up on from when my sites were down over the weekend.

I’m watching Fox and they’re talking to a Tea Party organizer.  Organizer talks about her event and calls it a gathering of conservatives or something along those lines.  Fox anchor is puzzled.  She observes that a lot of Tea Parties don’t want to be affiliated with a political party.  But this organizer has used the word “Conservative.”  Do they not mind being tied to the Republican Party?

Yes, even on Fox, although admittedly it was the holiday weekend so the “B” team was on.  But in their tiny, photogenic brains, the need for simplicity trumps accuracy.

Conservative = Republican

This is easy to “understand” and doesn’t require a lot of thought or analysis.  In fact it actually requires that there not be a lot of thinking going on.  Because if one were thinking as they observe they might notice, as many of us have, that Conservatives haven’t been fairly represented in Washington, or the media for that matter, in a long, long time.  Upon observing this and then thinking, one might become confused.

Just to be very clear, in case there are any aspiring weekend news anchors reading.  I am a Conservative.  Not a Republican.  OK, actually I am a Republican because in KY you have to be affiliated to participate in the primaries.  But, I am not a locked in Republican vote just because I am a Conservative.  On this front right now the GOP is only marginally favorable to the Democrats, and it is a party in flux trying to find its way, so who knows where we’ll be down the road.  But whatever happens, the calculation remains the same.  My vote follows my Conservative worldview.

Yeah, you read that right. I’m giving Obama an “A”. Hear me out. I’m not saying I agree with very much, if anything, of what he’s doing. I just think that he’s doing a yeoman’s job of accomplishing what he’s trying to accomplish.

He’s not trying to do things that I agree with ideologically, so why would that be the criteria? And his incompetence hasn’t hindered his pursuit of agenda in the slightest.

So, I almost have to chuckle at my compatriots who proudly announce that they’ve given our President “F’s” on his report card. Like he cares. He knows you disagree with him. The time to have that argument was last fall. Actually it was last spring when you were busy nominating John freaking McCain. But it was also in fall when so many Republicans were itching to fall in love with the cool candidate who gives good speech.

They were looking for a reason, any reason, to drink the Kool-Aid, and that’s exactly what Obama gave them. Just enough rope. He didn’t campaign as a moderate. He campaigned as whatever the audience he was speaking to at the moment wanted him to be. If you looked past the smoke and mirrors at his tell-tale record, there was no reason to believe he’d be anything other than an ultra-liberal. So if you’re surprised, it’s on you, not him.

Yes, he paid lip service to bi-partisanship, and transparency, and change. Every candidate does that. And in reality he’s simply same old. Every politician also does that. So if you’re surprised, it’s on you, not him.

Now it’s the morning after. You’ve got a pounding headache and horrified “What the hell did I do?” pangs in your gut. Nowhere to turn. You surely can’t admit this to your friends. All you can do is quietly wallow around in your own shame for four years and pray that you aren’t the next person Herr Commandant decides to fire as he wrestles with his own “reluctance” to control everything.

– B –

And then we have the Arlen Specter story, underscoring the fact that the solution to our problems in government is not as near as some would like to think. This story points out two kinds of politicians. I’m tempted to say THE two kinds of politicians as most are one or both of these.

First you have Specter, the opportunist. He pretends that his decision to come out of the closet that we all knew he was in had something to do with conviction and principles. Actually it’s just the opposite. His decision to switch teams shows a complete lack of principles and conviction. He’ll do or be whatever he needs to do or be in order to win elections.

Voters are culpable here as well. The moment Biden introduced the Senate’s newest Democrat, Specter became the favorite to win his own seat in 2010. Apparently Specter isn’t the only Pennsylvanian who could care less about integrity.

The second kind of politician is one who runs about wringing his hands and counting R’s and D’s on the Senate roll. Other than calling himself a “Republican” what good was Specter to the party? He was a major pain in the ass to GWB’s judicial nominees. And any time you heard about a vote where three or four Republican Senators crossed party lines, you knew he’d be one of them. Card Check was a minor miracle.

Medved was even on this the other day, talking about how the Republicans needed to recruit candidates to compete in blue states and districts. So you have someone who will vote like a liberal but call themself a Republican. Again, what good is this? The only reason you want numbers in Congress is so you can pass legislation. If you’ve got a contingent of representatives who will consistently oppose what you are trying to do, they are effectively not in your party, regardless of what label they wear.

It’s not about the name, it’s about the core values. Something which we see, once again, being in short supply in Washington.

– B –

Also, would someone please tell anyone named McCain that the election is over and we don’t have to pretend to respect them as Republicans anymore. This is even more annoying than the angry little man’s “I wanna try! I wanna try!” every four years.

Like just about everyone else, I am angered by the mortgage relief bill. But what really pisses me off is the argument that homeowners who do pay their mortgages should be thankful because of what foreclosures in the neighborhood would do to their property values. As usual, (and really, I guess by now we should know not to expect any more of our “leaders”) a short-term, short-sighted philosophy. In essence, people should be thankful not to be rid of slacker / no-loads because of what a boon they will be for the neighborhood.

Go pay a visit to neighborhoods that are heavily populated by people suckling at the government teat and then come tell me what happens to property values where those with their hands out gather.

People take care of things when they pay for them. And we’re not just talking about the residence itself. Your location is a package. If they can’t afford the home, then the car that is parked in their driveway is either not in keeping with the neighborhood norm, or about to be re-possessed. And someone who slacks on supporting themselves and their family probably isn’t very diligent about the mowing and shoveling and general upkeep. I mean, surely Barak Obama can have someone come out and take care of those things. Why should they be the homeowner’s responsibility?

Admittedly, in the short-term, having a bunch of foreclosures in the area will not help, especially since those who are in housing where they don’t belong, being the desirable neighbors that they are, tend to trash their residences when they are foreclosed on. If an honest person happens to be selling during that time they may be hurt by it (like anyone who is looking to sell right now isn’t taking it in the shorts). In the long term however, when you move shitbags to housing that is more appropriate and bring in residents who pay their way, everyone wins.

The new stimulus withholding tables kicked in on our payroll this week … an extra $17.56 per paycheck!

With this windfall, I’m going to run right out and hire 20 people to come in and clean my apartment every day. Then, I’m going to go buy a 500 in. flat screen TV. And finally I’ll invest what’s left over in the stock market, hopefully getting that back on track. Mission accomplished, President Obama. I’m going to become a regular monsoon of economic activity. When as huge a wad of cash as $17.56 drops in your lap every two weeks, how can you not?

Seriously, I’m so glad to know that those who create jobs and those who provide substantial support to worthwhile charitable causes are being punished so that I can put an extra $35 in savings every month. Surely we’ll be out of the woods in no time. Also, I can’t wait to see what will happen when this kind of carefully thought out leadership is applied to our foreign policy and dealings with hostile terrorist regimes.

It seems Chrysler has taken out a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal to thank us for “investing” in Chrysler. Well actually, what am I saying? We, the taxpayers, out of the pure goodness of our hearts, took out a full page ad in the WSJ …

Anyway, Mark Cuban is on it and not pulling any punches.

I will simply echo my sentiments from the other day – Chrysler, shut up! WE didn’t willingly give you anything. It was ripped from us, and might just as well have been thrown to the wind for all the good that money is going to do. So mainly leave well enough alone and just shut up. You got our money, but you won’t get our hearts.

You know, when you get over on someone it is almost instinct to hush up and maintain a low profile. You realize you got away with one and you don’t want to draw attention to it. My thought is, when you get over on an entire nation you would want be even more discrete. Not so for everyone apparently.

Today as part of the news that Bush caved on the bailhandout they played a sound bite of some random auto-worker: “Thank you, George Bush! Thank you! I never thought I’d say this, but thank you George Bush!” Man that burns me. After eight years of “Bush is stupid,” “Bush is a monkey,” “Bush is illiterate,” “Bush can’t pronounce ‘nuclear’ correctly and this is a colossal short-coming,” etc. now all of a sudden he’s a good guy because he handed you some money?

This guy is happy, mind you, not because his job was spared. He’s happy because he was saved from joining the real world where folks have to survive on the value of the services they provide. The gravy train just keeps rolling right along for him.

And all the “we really mean it this time, you guys need to get serious,” talk is just laughable. My favorite part is where they have to pay back the loan if they don’t have a plan for viability in x months. If they don’t have a plan, that money is history! If they do have a plan that money is history because a ship this large turns slowly. So, what would they use to pay back the loan should you decide to recall it under that provision?

And are we really expected to believe that Larry Pelosi, Mo Reid, and Curly Obama are going to crack the whip with these guys? I’m even willing to concede that Obama, in his heart of hearts, might have been in earnest with his tough talk today. I just don’t think he has the juice to stand up to his two Congressional leaders and a very powerful constituency of the Democratic Party.

It’s hard to picture our leaders objectively scrutinizing GM and Chrysler’s plans next spring and actually considering asking for the money back or denying further gifts if said plans don’t pass muster. And even if they did tackle this in earnest, these are the folks who have been running our country for decades with a community organizer taking over at the helm. Collectively they wouldn’t recognize viability if it crapped on their heads.

No, come next spring we’ll be all the way back to square one. Gettelfinger won’t have budged an inch, the sky will be falling and the world will be on the verge of collapse if auto-makers don’t get some taxpayer money immediately. The thought is that we can’t afford to leave that many workers at the mercy of Chapter 11. My thinking is that we can’t afford a perpetual cycle of paying that many people to provide nothing of value.

Auto-woker, you got over on us and even you know it. Keep your glee to yourself!

Unbelievable. This is a record even for us. A new standard in shortness of memory. This morning Blogging Stocks has a post about the dangers in falling oil prices:

“…there is evidence that Americans are driving more and, in some cases, moving back to buying less fuel-efficient vehicles. Alternative energy companies, particularly in the ethanol business, are trading at 52-week lows. Some may even go out of business.”

Yeah, cuz it’s not like gas is going to go up to $4 / gallon or anything, right?

Apparently a whole week and a half of low gas prices has been met with a collective sigh of relief and hearty, “Whew, glad that’s over.” You’d think we’d all be celebrating even more savings by continuing the conservation measures we each learned when prices were high. Nope. Instead, right back to wastefulness and unpreparedness.

One of the post’s main points is that OPEC nations have their own economies to worry about and that drastic supply cuts are coming. Americans are headed for a double-whammy. They’ve resumed gas-wasting habits just as we enter heating oil season. Stand by for a whole new round of “poor me, the government should do something about this” stories when the barrel price begins a new assault on $90.

And if you really must have an SUV, wait 4 weeks. When gas prices once again eclipse $3 you won’t be able to drive a city block without seeing one parked by the side of the road with a “For Sale” sign on it and most will be motivated sellers.