Author: Mulder

Virginia Representing Twice Over

Mulder

Virginia’s fight against health care reform to go to court.

They also seem to be supporting Arizona’s stance on enforcing immigration laws.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is having quite a day. As Todd Gaziano explains, a federal district court denied the U.S. Justice Department’s request that the court dismiss the lawsuit Cuccinelli filed on behalf of the citizens of Virginia against the unconstitutional mandates in Obamacare.

News also broke today that Cuccinelli issued an official advisory opinion on July 30 that was another shot across the bow of the Obama Administration in the ongoing fight over enforcement of federal immigration laws.

In response to an inquiry from a state representative, Cuccinelli advised all Virginia law enforcement officers that, just like Arizona police officers, they can “inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested.” Moreover, local officers can arrest any individual who has “violated a criminal law of the United States, including a criminal violation of the immigration laws.”

Bravo Ken Cuccinelli!!

He Woulda Been 68 Today

Mulder

68 Years ago today one of musics legendary figures was born. I really wanted to showcase the man so below you will see a clip that really gives you a good look at his fingers dancing across the frets. The song is “Deal” and the band behind him is the Jerry Garcia Band.

Very few outside of Deadheads ever put him up there in terms of guitar skill.  Perhaps this clip will open a few more eyes. Hit the vid.

Jerome John Garcia  (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)

When Ideology Is Imposed On The Private Sector We Get Garbage

Mulder

Charles Krauthammer, one of the smartest (and best dressed) men in America chimes in on the Chevy Volt.

“The only people who are going to buy it are going to be very rich people who are going to park it outside their townhouse for ostentatious show of how virtuous they are while they drive around in their Cadillac Escalade”

Let’s compare:

Chevy Volt – 64km on a single charge from a government owned big three car maker in business since 1908 which is comparable to the….

Zenn Motor Company LSV – which also gets 64km on a single charge from a small independent Canadian company that just went public in 2006.

Stepping up we have the Nissan Leaf which can go 160km on a charge.

But the big boy on the block is still high tech startup Tesla Motors.  The Tesla Roadster is a Lotus-like all electric sports car with high speed , hot acceleration and about 400km per charge but it costs quite a bit.  So Tesla is releasing their Model S (sedan) in 2012 with similar performance at a price point around $50,000.

Saturday Night Jam Session

Mulder

This comes via an old fraternity brother of mine whom I have hooked up with again by way of Facebook. Thanks Paul. The sheer enjoyment that exudes from both of these musicians is clearly obvious and is reflected in the beauty of the jam.

This is Guitarist  Tommy Emmanuel and Uke phenomenon Jake Shimabukuro playing George Harrison’s “While my guitar gently weeps” on stage together in Holland (we believe).

Hit the video to have it play.

Ontario Liberals creating further Eco Fee Ass Co.

Mulder

$5M of our money to keep Eco Fee Ass Co. going.

Why is everyone celebrating?  There was NO win for taxpayers yesterday when the Liberals put a 3 month moratorium on the new Eco Fee.   A fee that turns out to be the biggest tax grab in our provincial history which is a pretty lofty achievement considering the previous two biggest tax grabs were just put in by our Liberals with their health levy a few years ago and the new HST.

At the same time they announced this moratorium, they committed a further $5M out of our regular taxes until an assessment of this ridiculous tax grab is made.  I would go so far as to say that this is meant to appease complainers like me in hopes I will forget that in three months the moratorium will expire and the program will likely be slipped in under the radar again.

So now instead of taxing us at the till, we are being taxed from general revenues to fund a program that needs assessment.   Think about that.  They admit it needs assessment.  Yet they still continue to fund it.   Why do we always end up losing out?  Why can’t they just put a halt on the program outright?

OfficiallyScrewed … again.

ADDENDUM

Lowell Green on CFRA brings up a good point.  Why are we paying a further $5M while assessing this?  Stewardship Ontario has a reserve fund close to $73 Million invested in GICs, Money Market and Bonds which are part of their assets. From Stewardship Ontario’s own website financials.

Below is the Balance Sheet indicating how the assets. (note the comment on Investments)

Below is their statement of variance.  Note how much money they spend in a year and mostly on our Blue Box program.  I always thought my municipal taxes paid for blue box programs.

And now the kicker.  Where the $72+ Million in Investements are.  Completely liquid assets.  So instead of taking a minor hit on the interest and selling $5M of investments, the stinking Liberal McGuintyites are taking the $5M from our general tax revenue when they have completely liquid assets.

McGuinty Robbing Us Blind On Auto Insurance

Mulder

Christina Blizzard has the lowdown here.

Remember the Liberals promising to roll back insurance premiums by 10%? That worked out well, didn’t it? Have you checked your bill lately?

Two sets of numbers released last week suggest Ontario is still one of the highest priced jurisdictions in the country when it comes to auto insurance.

Kinetix, a company that provides on-line insurance quotes, reported Ontario insurance rates had increased 15.2% in the second quarter of 2010 over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, in Quebec, rates fell 8.2% in the same period.

In Alberta, auto insurance decreased 0.2%, the fourth consecutive quarter Alberta car insurance decreased.

OfficiallyScrewed by Dalton McGuinty … Again.