Politics – Page 40 – Really Right

Sacramento Utility Flips off the Middle Class

As a homeowner in Sacramento County, I live in an area “served” by the “Sacramento Municipal Utility District” (SMUD). This is our local monopoly providing electricity to well you guessed it, Sacramento and a couple surrounding areas. What we have here is a government created monopoly, if you live in SMUD’s service area you must be hooked up to a SMUD electric meter and receive a bill from them each month. Just to be fair, SMUD does have pretty low rates compared to the other major electric providers here in California, and I’ve never had any service related issues in my three years owning my house.

Now to the point of my article, every month in your billing statement you get a couple small fliers (usually 1/3 of a page) stating they are filing for a rate change. This flier is written in such legalese that no common man can reasonably ascertain what is being said, so as a result you wait for a commercial or some sort of article saying what is happening to rates. Newsflash, they never go down. Similar to your credit card company, when they claim the reward benefits are getting better for you, do not buy it. In this case SMUD got very creative, saying peak rates will increase (5-8pm) and all other rates will decrease. What is happening here is rates will go down for the seniors, the stay at home mom’s, and for folks who telecommute or work from home. Every other group gets absolutely soaked under this new plan. Oh, if you didn’t read that little flyer, rest assured, under the new rates, the electric rate you will be charged between 5 to 8 PM triples from what you were paying!

Think about it, when do you do your cooking? Dishes? Laundry? Watch the latest series of Survivor…yep all between 5-8 pm. So, your bill is going to go literally up in flames. As far as the discount, well when you are working what electricity is being used while you are away? Your fridge? That’s fair, but your other appliances are either off or EnergyStar ® certified so likely not using much if any power.

The bottom line here is this type of government rule (I know utilities aren’t government but are governed by Public Utility Commission) have created a monopoly and really took away choice from the consumer. I am going to use a perfect example of what allowing competition does. I do not watch much television anymore, but when I do, I’m usually inundated with insurance company advertisements. I mean literally you could see 10-15 commercials per hour for these products. I kid you not: the Lizard, the ditsy brunette, the discount double check, the quirky professor, Esurance, the Liberty, Liberty, Liberty company, and Dennis Johnson hawking Allstate. However as much as I loathe the ads, that’s one heck of a lot of consumer choice right there. This way if a company loses its way; price, service or product quality, you are free to go and send them a message via your wallet. This is not true with our government created utilities that eliminate competition. The utilities have full control over you and the rates, case in point? The only way you can refuse service from them is not paying a bill and having power shut off, and to restart service you will be paying a large fee and back penalties with interest.

Democrats Imploding Right In Front Of Our Eyes

The hearings began on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh today and this atmosphere resembled a Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal continually asking for the hearing to be adjourned…well because. Kamala Harris kept trying to delay the hearing on the basis the Democrats haven’t had enough time to read all the documents from his prior rulings. Elizabeth Warren ran for every open camera for chances to stop Kavanaugh and try to boost her attempted future Presidential run. Dick “Turban” Durban was at his very best as well, trying to delay the nomination hearings until next year, when Democrats may have a Senate majority. Here is the main problem with those 4 Senators, competence aside, they reside from; Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and Connecticut. While quite a few people live and vote in those states, I don’t think the Americans who live and vote in the heartland of this country appreciate this one bit. Need some proof? Claire McCaskill of Missouri has been largely silent, Joe Manchin of West Virginia…silent, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota…nothing, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, also quiet. Make no mistake; these Senators know their constituents want the judge confirmed and the games to stop.

Interestingly enough Kavanaugh has released more documents from his past then all of the previous five judges nominated combined. The excuses about transparency need to stop. Kind of funny when two of the least qualified judges in the history of the Supreme Court were nominated, nary a Democrat had an issue with the lack of information. The bottom line is Kavanaugh has a nice family and they are being dragged through the mud by Democrat electeds and their paid for protestors. Why are these hearings open to the public? It has become a safety issue, make it press only, show it live on every news channel, but this is a disaster. Code Pink people interrupting, the Coyote Ugly chick being arrested, people screaming and causing outbursts, Kavanaugh didn’t ask for any of this. Worst yet, his family was present while going through this grilling.

The Democrats have only themselves to blame for this blow back. They changed the rules to shepherd the nomination and confirmation of both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, now it’s coming back to bite them. They have politicized our judiciary, it started at the Supreme Court level but has now reached deep into the appellate judiciary as well. Judges should not be political at all, but this is what it is now. It’s a very horrible development. Useless, clueless Senators, and I’m talking both sides now by the way, get to pick apart humans who just so happen to be nominated for a federal judgeship for life. These are not elected positions, and these are not politicians. Things in a judge’s past not related to legal precedent or any past encounters with the law should be off limits! Somewhat ironic, these Democrats are going full tilt when they didn’t have a care in the world when Sotomayor or Kagan were nominated….no sir, they are thinkers and far smarter than any smelly Wal-Mart shopper who dared vote for Bush, McCain (well not anymore since he passed) Romney, or Trump. Bottom line, ask questions regarding his/hers opinion on set legal precedent all you want, but these interruptions and demonstrations showing no respect for decorum are over the line.

Take a look back at previous judges nominated by past Presidents and confirmed by the Senate; look closely at the vote totals. One party seems to not like to confirm the other party’s nominated judges….looking at the Democrats here. Heck Ruth Bader Ginsberg was confirmed like 96-0, and I don’t think anyone would call her a conservative! But Clarence Thomas…..Democrats decided there was no way a black conservative could be nominated anconfirmed so they went on a “high tech lynching” Thomas’ words not mine, and he went on to be confirmed 52-48. With Ted “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy leading the charge. Neil Gorsuch replaced Antonin Scalia, so really no change on the court ideologically (more on this later) 55-45 even though he was rated more than qualified by nonpartisan groups. Don’t take my word for it look back at history, the Democrats seem to prefer to stonewall anyone from the other side.

Now on to the ideology of the Court, I love it when folks say its 5-4 conservatives with Kennedy as the swing vote. Not true, not many rulings are 5-4 believe it or not, most tend to be 7-2 especially since Kagan and Sotomayor joined. This is due to judges looking at past rulings and cases to dictate their rulings. The term constitutionalist or originalist applies here, when a case has been adjudicated such as Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court doesn’t just “vote on it” again. The case has to first be ruled on in a court, then a federal appeals court (think the 9th Circuit) then the ruling of that 3 judge panel can be appealed to the Supreme Court. Here is where a big hurdle comes into play. Before anything is even scheduled on the docket, the court needs to agree to hear the challenge, think death penalty cases, and the baker who refused service to the same sex couple. The Court often rejects cases; appeals regarding cruel and unusual punishment regarding the death penalty seem to be the most common. The reason for this is because most aspects of the death penalty have been well documented and finding a challenge these days will prove very difficult. If you need proof “democrat/liberal” justices also decline to halt the execution. This is why our judiciary works so well at the highest levels. These justices do not contact the RNC or DNC to find out how to vote, too bad not a single Democrat adult sees it that way. My point here being, a challenge to set law likely takes around 20 years to finally make it to the Supreme Court, and even then may not get a hearing, heck how many conservatives thought for certain the Unaffordable Care Act would be overturned? It was a “republican” who voted with the four liberal judges, also see gay marriage. This is because the judges decided set law was already in place and there was not precedent to overturn it.

Back to my central point, the Supreme Court is the final non-political arm of the government that we as Americans have to keep a check on those coconuts in DC. The Democrats are making this confirmation process a political theater and it is very sad. Having a Code Pink protestor interrupt thinking this judge will overturn Roe V Wade is just strange, the judges don’t vote….but then again liberalism is a disease so… I don’t know what they think. In all seriousness I recommend watching/listening to oral arguments involving the Supreme Court, the justices usually interrupt the Solicitor General (works for the White House) or the opposing council, stating case law already having been ruled on…it’s very interesting, Ruth Bader Ginsburg usually just sleeps, but when you’re like 500 years old I guess you earn that right. Oh by the way, the justices don’t “vote” they form their own legal opinion based on prior rulings and look for a consensus for a majority. When they form a consensus, the Chief Justice John Roberts (no relation to “The Chief Blogger”) who I believe is a satirical idiot writes the opinion for the Court, sometimes he can delegate this to an associate justice. If there is a dissenting opinion from the justices, they choose a justice to write the opposition, sometimes there can be multiple differing dissentions, in some cases justices arguing it went too far, and didn’t go far enough.

Don’t try to explain this to a liberal, they just assume Kavanaugh is a fire breathing, Roe V Wade opposing, gay marriage taking awaying, don’t need to cake baking, conservative who is retarded. He is so dumb he will be calling any Republican current or past president to find out how he should “vote” because he obviously cannot think for himself. Gorsuch will be doing the same by the way. Anyway it’s fun to watch this circus, literally unfold. My prediction….55-45 Kavanaugh is confirmed, maybe more so that now we have a real conservative….listen up Ted Cruz supporting sheep from CRA, John Kyle is back as a Senator from Arizona, so 52-48 at least, if that happens look for some GOP gains in November.

McCain—Controversial Life

I promised not to write about John McCain but I found someone that seems to have a some interesting thoughts on the guy.

Who Was the Real John McCain?

I’m not sure what to believe about John Sidney McCain III.

He has the most ferocious detractors, who accuse him of informing on fellow captives in a North Vietnamese prison, and betraying critical military information that enabled the enemy to shoot down more U.S. aviators. His accusers range from obvious flakes to some people who appear pretty credible to me.

But he has credible die-hard defenders, too, who insist that he conducted himself honorably under the most extreme conditions. All we know for sure is that he went into harm’s way in his country’s service, was held in captivity for five years and came home in great pain, unable to comb his own hair. Like most Americans, I’m inclined to give a banged-up ex-POW the benefit of the doubt.

But McCain himself was not so generous toward POW/MIA activists, whom he ridiculed as “hoaxers” and “charlatans.” I have no firm opinion whether we left a significant number of soldiers and Marines behind in Vietnam. I don’t pretend to know. But if the government sent one of my loved ones off to war and he or she never came back, I think we would be entitled to the utmost transparency. At last count, there are 1,597 unexplained missing. The government is accountable for each citizen it sent into harm’s way.

The senator reportedly was hostile to transparency in the Vietnamese government, as well. U.S. files about the extent of POW collaboration and cooperation with the enemy remain airtight (classified), but the North Vietnamese kept records, too. Some were reportedly archived at a museum there.

Fellow U.S. delegates who visited Vietnam with Sen. McCain said he became visibly agitated on the subject, and warned their Vietnamese counterparts that Vietnam would never get diplomatic recognition if it released those records, which included his own.

Without trying to guess McCain’s motives, it’s obvious that he considered government service a personal domain in which he was free to move the chess pieces around without any particular accountability to the pawns.

He once ditched a plane and bailed out while returning to Norfolk after the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. He said the engine quit. He lost a plane in the water during training because, he said, that engine quit, too. When the Navy recovered the plane, the engine fired right up but the admiral’s son continued the course in a new plane.

The fact-checking websites have lined up to absolve McCain of responsibility for the catastrophic U.S.S. Forrestal fire in 1967 that killed 134 and injured 161 crew on the aircraft carrier. But it’s still controversial among fellow sailors who said he was notorious for “wet starts” that produced a flare to startle the pilots behind him on the flight deck. He was immediately transferred off the stricken ship after the disaster, to a public relations position in Saigon, far from embittered crewmates.

But it matters if he has lied to us or let his supporters lie to us in order to shame us into acquiescing in his politics, or discouraging us from exercising our best judgment. We’ll never really know whether the North Vietnamese tortured Lt. Cdr. McCain, partly because Sen. McCain used his political power to ensure that the relevant records are unavailable to us. On this subject and others, the senator strongly preferred that we just take his word for it.

Who Was the Real John McCain?

Saturday Quick Hits

The Blog Father okayed overtime for The Chief, mostly because he needs more money to support his family. Here are some quick hitters in the news from the past 24 hours:

The Las Vegas/Oakland/Reno/Henderson/Los Angeles well anyway the Raiders traded their only good player on defense for a couple first round picks. How did the last time you traded for two first round picks end up? Oh wait… The Chief’s favorite team the Buccaneers beat you in the Super Bowl…so betting advice, take “Da Bears” to win it all. Glad you guys are paying coach Jon Gruden like a billion million dollars over 10 years man….because you traded your only defensive player that could play for like nothing man. Why am I saying man, all the time man? Because that’s how Gruden talks man. Also you guys y=traded for AJ McCarron man…he’s got a hot wife according to Brent Musberger man…….he even ogled her during the national championship game man! Rumor has it you cut back-up quarterback Connor Cook because he never understood the only play in the Gruden playbook of “spider 2 Y banana.” I should probably say man….man. In reality I heard McCarron can inhale a 50 piece at Hooters in about 4.42 seconds ….man!

By the way Mark Davis still looks like Jon Gruden microwaved leftovers…..man!

In addition I heard the Oakland/Vegas Raiders cut weed aficionado Martavis Bryant, rumors leaked to “The Chief” say he failed another drug test…personally I would blame it on the CA wildfires….man! Or maybe because you are in Oakland, blame it on second hand weed….man!

In other non-sports news…we have William Jefferson Clinton….experiencing high levels of excitement!

Clinton; spotted sans Hillary (which is normal for him, when excited)…and again we aren’t sure they have slept in the same bed more than once btw!

Wow…Bill I’ve gotta hand it to you, not needing to pull a Bob Dole, you are always game for a cute chick.

Hopefully you “enjoyed” Ariana Grande….or were you jealous of this move made by a bishop?

Note Jesse Jackson on the left in this photo

Anyway enjoy these photos folks.

“The Chief”

Editor Note: I did get this on Saturday but was out of town when The Chief sent it; thus it wasn’t posted until Sunday.

Angry White Male Lanny Davis is Unhinged

Lanny Davis used to be a special counsel to President William “I do weird stuff with interns and cigars” Clinton. As such, he was charged with defending the president at all costs against everything he was accused of, like any good attorney on retainer would. In fact, in a very sad attempt to stay relevant following the re-election of George W Bush he published a book and went on tour to promote his tome. One stop on his tour was the University “The Chief” attended when he was a freshman. At first, buying a ticket and his book was required by the faculty (after all the school was in Marin County), but then it wasn’t. As the blessed event drew near, tickets were given away for free so I decided to go. In addition to a free ticket (the event was held at my college) I was able to obtain his book for free. Scandal: How Gotcha Politics is Destroying America. Retail was $24.95 in USA, $32.95 in Canada, thank God I didn’t go to school in Canada, why would I pay $8 extra for the same book? Are these the Trump tariffs? Oh wait, this was 2004.

I was even invited to meet the speaker…again for free, he was so in demand. He walked over to me and started a conversation, we talked shop a little. He was likely triggered by my Bush Chaney 04 shirt I had on. I don’t think he really cared who I was supporting. Turns out his son is Seth Davis of CBS NCAA coverage fame. We found common ground and talked for a while about him. Like any proud father he talked, talked, and talked some more about how great his son was…….Barf. Commentators are a dime a dozen, and especially those who work like 2 months a year tops and are the definition of replaceable. But that is okay. He showed me about 5 photos, his son looked the same in each one. Finally, just as I was wishing I was wearing the “Drunken Jedi’s backpack” he was told to get ready to get on stage. My prayers were answered. I took a seat in the auditorium; it was deemed a sell out by Raider Fan standards… about 70% empty. He actually gave a good talk, basically referencing a sitting President screwing up and the other side immediately moving for impeachment, that rings true in the last 3 administrations by the way.

Lanny Davis: the man, the myth, telling legends

However this blog isn’t to talk about that speech. “The Chief” specializes in hot takes, so here you go. Lanny Davis has a history of being the angry white male while on camera. As you may recall, Lanny Davis was angry on election night while a guest of CNN…what else is new on that network. The Clinton regime sticks together or else… Maybe Davis felt he would be next in the scores of Clinton “confidants” found to have “committed suicide” (I will use the term “allegedly”) had he done any different. Surely its coincidence that those “suicides” seemed like foul play was involved; however, with the Clintons, it’s best not to leave the reservation. Clearly, William “the intern seducer” Clinton wouldn’t have had anything to do it himself because he’s too busy entertaining.

Bill “can you wag your finger and have no shame” Clinton

Anyway, Davis went off the deep end the other day regarding Donald Trump…who by the way is still the President. He went postal so badly that it should have resulted in a 5150 hold. He claimed President Trump knew in advance about a meeting in Trump Tower with Trump’s campaign and the Russians. Well literally on the following Tuesday, Davis back peddled on his story so quickly that if any NFL team is looking for a cornerback, he’s your guy. Davis reversed direction so quickly he lost his lead blockers in the media by saying “I regret not being much clearer in saying I’m not sure about this story.” Davis made this admission to NBC News. “It’s a major mistake for which I am 100 percent sorry. Period. I never should have done it unless I was certain and could prove it.” Hmmmm what is your book titled again? So basically you made it all up, nice job. You’re about as phony as your low rent son.
So Davis, let’s take a look at your clients over the last few decades.
• William “I was just getting a blowie while speaking to that other countries leader” Clinton
• Martha “I knew nothing about those insider trades, I swear I have great timing” Stewart
• The embassy to the Ivory Coast regarding election fraud

You my friend have a monopoly on morally bankrupt clients, glad you share their morals! Chief no like bottom feeders. Now you have been provided a retainer by Michael Cohen “allegedly” a friend of Donald J Trump…by the way still our President. I think Cohen had a role in Shawshank Redemption, you know the grown adult crying for his mommy at the beginning of the film? Yeah, he was beaten and killed but he realized he didn’t want to be in jail, congrats Lanny, you are a failure.

Hot Take: The chief coming in hot: Davis, or should I call you Lanny, do you “hook” yourself out to your clients for free, I’m asking for a friend? Your clients all seem morally bankrupt so do you actually get paid in money or….perks, if you know what I mean?

Hotter Take: Is the reason you are so triggered that you slept with Hillary? If you did no big deal, every guy needs a
slump buster…but a couple questions, how many paper bags? (Too bad plastic bags are outlawed in Liberal places.)
And how many bottles of Viagra, I’m asking for a friend? Because no way it took just 4! Hotter Chief! Hotter! Lanny did you “hit your knees as well for el presidente?

Chief get out the flamethrower! Is this the reason you still have all your hair because you and “el presidente” did the dirty? If not why do you have a still semi-full head of hair, and Carville and Begala are bald! Chief singe your hair now! Take that!

Chief, drop a hot take from the clouds! Lanny is your son really an illegitimate son conceived by William “just the tip” Clinton and your wife…I’m asking for a friend! He looks more like Bill then you!

Don’t bring that weak stuff near The Chief. Me steer clear of swamp people in home of Great White Father.

Lies about School Shootings

Believe it or not, NPR (National Public Radio) is reporting that 2/3 of all school shootings reported during the 2015/2016 school year never happened.

This spring the U.S. Education Department reported that in the 2015-2016 school year, “nearly 240 schools … reported at least 1 incident involving a school-related shooting.” The number is far higher than most other estimates.

But NPR reached out to every one of those schools repeatedly over the course of three months and found that more than two-thirds of these reported incidents never happened. Child Trends, a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization, assisted NPR in analyzing data from the government’s Civil Rights Data Collection.

We were able to confirm just 11 reported incidents, either directly with schools or through media reports.

In 161 cases, schools or districts attested that no incident took place or couldn’t confirm one. In at least four cases, we found, something did happen, but it didn’t meet the government’s parameters for a shooting. About a quarter of schools didn’t respond to our inquiries.

The School Shootings That Weren’t

The article goes on to report:

A separate investigation by the ACLU of Southern California also was able to confirm fewer than a dozen of the incidents in the government’s report, while 59 percent were confirmed errors.

When Liberals are honest enough to admit that “there are lies, damned lies, and statistics” it makes you wonder.

Original article from Joe Miller

John McCain

Hopefully this is the last time I will ever have to write about this man. John McCain was the posterchild of what is wrong with members of Congress.

As you know, McCain was another Vietnam era veteran that capitalized on his experience in that conflict and turned it into a lifetime political career. McCain was the son of a high-ranking Navy Admiral. The story goes that daddy pulled some strings and got John into the military as a pilot. McCain flew planes off the carrier USS Forrestal. He was a crew member during the 1967 fire aboard the carrier. The fire left 134 men dead and 161 more injured. It was the worst loss of a life on a U.S. Navy ship since World War II.

McCain’s troubles did not end there, later the same year he was shot-down over Vietnam and captured. When he was shot-down, his rank was Lieutenant Commander. He remained a POW until 1973. McCain was always haunted by stories that he collaborated with the North Vietnamese. This in part was due to him being offered an early release from the POW camp and turning it down. He also made a propaganda film for the North. This was a result of torture. McCain retired from the military as a Captain in 1981.

(FYI give the number of years in service (1958 – 1981) and his background, this is not a very high rank.)

US Navy Officer Ranks
From 1973 to 1981, McCain advanced only two ranks

The following year, voters in Arizona elected him to the House of Representatives. After two terms he was elected to the Senate, replacing Barry Goldwater.

Sadly, McCain is best known for his grandstanding and obstructionism. He was a frequent foe of conservatives and like Goldwater, had an open hatred for Christians in the public square.

Shortly after his election to the Senate, McCain was part of the Keeting Five scandal that sank three of the five political careers of the participants. As was frequently the case, he was the only Republican involved.

McCain blocked immigration reforms and judicial appointments. At one point, he flirted with switching parties, but the Democrats didn’t make him a good enough offer.

In a year when Republicans offered their worst possible Presidential candidate and Democrats did likewise, McCain lost to Barack Obama in a landslide. It was his second and final time to run for the highest office. Like Bob Dole before him, Republican leadership cleared the decks of opposition because it was “his turn” to run.

McCain is best known for courting the Liberal media and thwarting Republican legislation.

Even after his diagnosis with terminal cancer, he refused to resign. His hatred of Donald Trump was so deep that he wouldn’t step aside. Much of this Russian election tampering attack on Trump over the last year and a half is the direct result of McCain’s hatred of Trump. He chose to team with Hillary Clinton and the Democrat’s proven fake dossier on Trump just, so he could hurt a person that he didn’t like.

But that has always been the case with McCain, he was so thin-skinned that every disagreement with him is personal; never policy. At his core, he was a selfish, petty, and vindictive man. Any time he could take someone or something down a few notches, he felt it elevated him.

He was a deplorable character on the national stage and I for one will not miss him. I hope Arizona can find a statesman to take his place and not another politician.

Verizon Wireless a Firefighters Worst Nightmare

Loyal followers know that The Chief very seldom holds back when it comes to hot takes, but this story actually had blood gushing out of my eyes. Verizon Wireless serves many purposes, largely they are known as a wireless provider “allegedly” they also are the second largest of wireless provider behind AT&T. Fun fact: Verizon is actually a former “Baby Bell” spun off from the breakup of the old AT&T. As almost anyone with a cell phone knows, every so often you get the dreaded message “You are close to going over your data limit” or “You must upgrade your plan to get faster download speed” knows you generally must relent and agree to the additional charges. As far as I am concerned, I don’t have much of an issue with this practice, since usually a swift change in your lifestyle will yield your old plan working just fine.

Here is my “chief issue” with Verizon, they used a similar practice on firefighters fighting a blaze in Mendocino County. They used a term called throttling which in laymen’s terms means reducing the data speed rates that are used by folks surfing the internet. While I disagree with data throttling and other manipulation, to do it to firefighters, in the midst of fighting a major forest fire, is downright despicable. Verizon Wireless in their infinite wisdom, cranked down the data usage by our firefighters fighting a huge blaze. Yes, you read that correctly, they were in Mendocino fighting the biggest fire in state history—which as of this writing is still only 67 percent contained—one where communication among everyone was key. Just to clarify for all of you from Rio Linda as Rush likes to say, this was not a drill, or a daughter or son texting their boyfriend or girlfriend and causing a data overage, this was a real life or death situation.

Mendocino Complex Fire – currently combined 425,177 acres have burned

In order to get more data for their command center in the midst of fighting this fire, they had to agree to pay double
their current monthly bill even though they supposedly had an unlimited plan.

Verizon says the fire department was subscribed to an “unlimited” data plan that was limited. The company has come under fire for its use of the word “unlimited” while placing limitations on plans. In this case, the plan firefighters were under was “unlimited” until they hit a certain data point, then their data would be throttled to a slower speed.

Fire Chief: Verizon Throttled Data During Mendocino Complex Fires

Look at this quote from Santa Clara Fire Chief Anthony Bowden “This throttling has had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services. Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire’s ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services .”

Per KOVR’s report, the fire Chief went on to say:

“Verizon representatives confirmed the throttling, but rather than restoring us to an essential data transfer speed, they indicated that County Fire would have to switch to a new data plan at more than twice the cost and they would only remove throttling after we contacted the Department that handles billing and switched to the plan.”

At this point, Bowden says fire personnel had to rely on their own personal devices rather than the mobile command center. Verizon eventually lifted the throttling, but not until the department signed up for a new plan.

Editor’s Note: In the same testimony the fire chief listed other fires he had fought where Verizon did the same thing to them in the midst of firefighting.

How many additional structures burned as a result of this action Verizon took? Also, one firefighter died; was he trying to get into contact with his colleagues but unable to due to “data overage?” While I am no fan of investigations led by the government this is one that needs to happen. Was Verizon responsible for any structure being destroyed or fire fighter deaths? If so they should be charged criminally, very similar to how PG&E was held liable for some of the fires their wires started. Verizon may actually be the lowest of the low, Warren Buffett may be blushing. Verizon has since come out and apologized, interesting that the apology was issued as Congress announced they would be investigating. Also, this has not been reported but Verizon announced today, they would offer a new program with unlimited “emergency data” to first responders plan for about double the normal price for an unlimited data plan, I guess as Rahm Emanuel said, “never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Verizon messed up badly, and likely are responsible for additional millions in damage and likely the death of a firefighter due to their “greed.” Exceptions can and should always be made, and during emergencies is one. While most people run from fire, firefighters run towards the fire with every intent to save structures and any people in its path. Verizon halted that, all due to corporate greed. They put additional structures and people in harm’s way all in the name of profit. In all likelihood they will be fined, both federally, the state will also get their pound of flesh, a couple of counties may get a pay off as well, but nothing will change. No lessons will be learned, apologies do not bring back memories or loved ones unnecessarily killed or destroyed. I’m sure Verizon has their legal department on overtime looking for ways that their insurance policy can cover this. Who is more morally bankrupt? Wells Fargo, PG&E or Verizon……I’ll take all of the above.

The lesson here is life goes on, regardless of whether your possessions or loved ones do, corporate profits are far more important, got to hit next quarter’s numbers!

Editor’s Note: Hey Chief, if they do this for a rural fire what do they do when we finally get hit with “the big one” and much of L.A. or San Francisco is in rubble?

Manafort & Cohen

The Left is getting all charged up because they think they finally may have the leverage to take-out the President. Sorry but I don’t get it.

Paul Manafort was found guilty of stuff that happened long before he ever went to work for Trump. He was convicted of on 8 of 18 counts. That means the prosecutor threw everything including the kitchen sink at him and less than half stuck. We all know that you only prosecute what you think you can win because almost everything gets plea bargained.

What you have to remember about Trump is that he came into the political world when none of the established campaign consultants were available. His only choices were second and third tier players—bottom feeders if you will. Those with proven track records were already committed to other candidates.

Nobody took him seriously as a candidate. Hiring quality personnel has always been a problem for Trump. Those he knew in the business world were often ill suited for the political world and frankly couldn’t afford the pay-cut even if they could handle it.

Cohen, Manafort, Omarosa, and a host of others have made the Trump campaign and subsequent Administration a revolving door. I knew this would happen and said so many times before he even took the oath of office.

Trump has done nothing criminally wrong. His ethics are not in question either. Trump trusted people to do what they were hired to do but many were deeply morally flawed and gold-diggers. Anything they did illegal is on them. The liberals and many Republicans are hoping for guilt by association that somehow translates into Trump being impeached or resigning.

Richard Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment; not for committing a crime but for subsequently covering it up to protect his friends and associated. He was guilty of blind loyalty.

Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath and nothing happened to him. He and his surrogates attacked— vilified is more like it—his accusers and destroyed them in the public. He just laughed it off and stayed in office.

Trump has had the full power of one and a half political parties plus much of the Obama era appointees gunning for him for three years now. They have unleashed hell on him. Most of what they have done has been based on demonstrably false and phony information but as the old saying goes, why let the truth ruin a good story.

Don’t forget that the backdrop of this is that the unions and Democrats are fighting for their very existence. November is their last shot to change the direction of the government. The amount of money they have been able to spend in the past will no longer be available after this cycle. The Democrat Party is in turmoil. After this cycle, the unions will diminish and the Silicon Valley billionaires will be in a position to take the reins of power. Their Party will never be the same either way but if the existing leadership wants a hand in how the Democrat Party will be remade then they need to have a good showing in November.

So the real story is not that Trump’s existence is at stake, the Democrats are trying to nationalize their fractured party by uniting against the strawman of Trump that they themselves created. Remember that in the weeks ahead as Mueller does whatever he does. Mueller’s goal is the bleed Trump prior to November not to take him out.

Government Regulations Gone Wild

Regulations come in many shapes and sizes and from every state in the Union, red states included; however, today I want to take a closer look at the devastating effects these regulations have on businesses.

Let’s take New York City’s famous, 32 oz. soda ban for example. With the stroke of a pen, if you owned a convenience store, you had to immediately remove any cups over 32 oz. from your store effective immediately. In addition to being a small business owner or franchisee, you are now an officer of the City Council. As such, it is your job (via your employees) to see to it no customer purchases a soda over 32 oz. Failure to adhere to this law will result in severe monetary penalties, potential jail time, and probably could lead to you losing your franchise. Government entities know no bounds these days. Never mind the fact you could still buy multiple quantities of 28 oz. drinks and still be in compliance. So much for banning large quantities of soda for human consumption. Also why just ban soda? Have you seen the ingredients list of a bottle of Sunny Delight? Or even some Iced Tea varieties? Those can have as much or more sugar then soda…..yet because orange juice and ice tea seem to be “healthy” they are spared the hammer from Big Government. This type of lunacy encourages folks to work for the government rather than in the private sector. Image having to run a business with all the heartache that causes, but now you must police your clientele and see to it they aren’t drinking too much soda.

The next example takes us to Soviet California where legislators (notice I didn’t just say Democrats, the GOP is complicit as well) devised a ban on single use plastic bags, like the ones you can get at a grocery store. Never minding the fact the company that produced those bags is located in California, they went ahead and banned anyway. So I guess they want to literally ban entire companies from doing business even in the state they call home. The ban passed at the ballot box with just token opposition. Now as a result we have ugly multiple use bags and paper bags that cost $.10 apiece. No one the Blog Father is aware of (I left California a while ago) actually remembers to bring these bags to the store with them which yields additional “revenue” for the stores.

Editor’s note: Grocery stores agreed to join environmentalists to support the ban as long as they got to keep the ten cents per bag and not give it to the State.

Despite efforts by the plastic bag companies, retailers will keep revenue from sales of alternative bags to cover the costs of complying with the ban, as outlined in Proposition 67.

Californians say farewell to the plastic bag

This ban was deemed necessary due to the quantities of these bags that ended up in your “lakes, rivers, streams, and alongside roadways” I call BS on this as I believe this was done simply to make life more difficult on smaller grocery chains and due to the fact the old bags were not biodegradable. I claim it affects the smaller stores the most due to the fact that they now have to renegotiate a contract with a supplier or terminate the agreement and find a new supplier, this is not easy. While a large chain like Wal-Mart, Safeway etc. would not find this very cumbersome. They are systematically killing business in California and this is just another nail in that coffin. Don’t be misled, this is a direct attack on private workers, the goal of the dictator Gavin Newsom is to eliminate all private sector jobs and replace them with government jobs. (Or at the very least government wants to control the means of production including picking winners and losers in the economy.) Get mad at me and don’t believe me if you will but while you are mad, they are taking away your rights and retirement plans! Yes, they are coming for your 401K’s very soon. The State wants to control every aspect of your life from conception to cremation.

Now let’s take a look at all the states that continuously want to raise the minimum wage for workers. This has led to automation. It’s no small error that in Arizona many McDonald’s fast food restaurants are fully automated now, with only 1 or 2 workers in the store. This has led to a full on automation craze that is killing entry level jobs and summer temporary jobs. The hallmark of a fast food or quick service business is to offer food and beverages as cheaply and quickly as possible. Paying every worker $15 an hour (plus government required benefits) no longer plays to the “cheap” aspect of the business so innovators decided they would create a machine to automatically cook in the kitchen and a kiosk to take your order. Again if you do not believe me that’s ok, but remember the TV commercials advertising a dollar menu? The same commercials I see now feature 5 dollar boxes. This is no coincidence. Can you blame the business owner?

Strangely I feel this is the end game politicians want. They want people working for the government, and they want you comfortable in poverty, as well as be able to control every facet of your life. For example why must a child ride in a car seat until the age of 8? Do we not trust a parent’s ability to simply fasten a seat belt across said child’s lap? Why can’t a child order a soda if they want? We live in the most innovative country on the planet so why is it that a single use bag could not be replaced with a compostable one? Ditto on the new crazy—not being able to ask for a straw law recently enacted.

In summary the nanny state has failed us in several ways, first by banning certain things from our lives; incandescent light bulbs, plastic bags, straws, and soda being just the latest. In some cases these laws actually contradict each other, for example why not just buy two 20 oz. sodas? They banned the Big Gulp but not the smaller gulp. Didn’t California go through a rough drought a couple years ago, I thought they banned water from restaurants unless it was specifically asked for? Now they only want to offer water and milk to a child when they can just go back home and drink all the soda they want? So it’s okay for a child to order an entrée containing 2,000 calories but a soda is not okay? Don’t really get the logic there. By the way I am a supporter of calorie counts existing on a menu as it gives you the chance to re-think your options, not take it away. Regarding those plastic bags, I have heard it from multiple people that take-out places, Home Depot as well as a few other big box retailers still use the single use bags. I guess the rule applies only to evil grocery stores, not everyone else.

Riddle me this: one California law says no water at restaurants while another says only water can be offered

Finally I want to discuss some aspects of our lives that could use regulation, but never will be. I want to give two very concrete examples; tanning beds and smoking. Let’s start with tanning beds, they offer little benefit in the health benefit category, actually zero, and can result in skin cancer issues later in life. Perhaps there is not enough public ire to make politicians act but for health reasons alone tanning beds should be banned. Cigarettes also have zero health benefit, worse yet it is well known they cause cancer and will kill you eventually. Not to mention the fact they litter our streets far more than single use plastic bags and expose people around you to harmful second hand smoke. The reason for this is obvious…tax revenue. Almost 70% of the cost to purchasing cigarettes goes towards taxes, state, local etc. These are two very easy things that could be regulated, but the power of the almighty dollar wins out. Isn’t the real reason pot is legal is to get more tax revenue?

How about this doppelganger of political schizophrenia; the same state that brought you the plastic bag ban and the outlawing of straws, was considering a bill that would keep bars open and serving alcohol until 4 am, thankfully this bill didn’t pass. It is ironic, they want to keep the streets and lakes free of bags and prohibit children from ordering sodas, because, soda causes diabetes, but simultaneously, they want to allow you to hit the bars until 4. So I guess they are okay with you drenching your sorrows and then risking killing yourself or someone else driving home under the influence; but then again, I get it, once again, it’s about government revenue.

PS If no girl’s ugly after 2 AM, what purpose does 4 AM serve?