So here we are, with the last days of November quickly bringing the month to a close. The temperatures today were in the mid thirties, much warmer than it's been previously. With the warmth being generated on top of the snow it's causing a slight melt, and boy that melt makes it very slippery when you're walking in the yard or the driveway. But what makes matters even worse is that with the early snow we've received at the beginning of the month, totaling 16 inches, it was followed shortly there after with another eight inches of fresh powder. Now that means a total of twenty four inches on the ground. The yard has been plowed multiple times, but the tire tracks have now glossed over from frequent driving in and out. But the underneath the ground is still not frozen, and this makes for a slippery mess.
Now a while ago, in September, I took delivery of a new ODES 800 Pro Utility Vehicle. It also came equipped with a snow plow. So I thought I was all set for this winter, and last winter, the volume of snow was just too much for my small snow blower, rendering it totally ineffective and useless. Because of that, I got my four wheel drive pick up truck stuck in the driveway twice. I had to call in some favors from friends to dig it out, and then tow it out. Thank God for great fiends.
So this year I thought I was all set.......WRONG! Even though my driveway is plowed, it's not plowed down to the road gravel. There is still a couple of inches of snow that we leave purposely to cover it. The reason for this is to allow us a good foundation for when we take the snowmobiles out in and out of the yard. We need some snow to drive on, and that is where my problem started today. I couldn't get out of the driveway with my truck. I just kept sliding and sliding up the ever so slight hill to the road. Finally it happened, I was stuck and there was no getting it out. So now what?
ODES TO THE RESCUE! Now this is the second time I have had to do this this year, and it's and inconvenience, I know, but it's also a life saver. What is it? Well would you believe that little 800cc UTV is strong enough to pull out the truck when it's stuck. Yup! Just a 20 foot tow strap hooked onto the front tow hooks of the truck and the other end to the winch of the UTV on the back, and with one person behind the wheel, and me driving the UTV, ZOOM!. We were out in a flash.
So for all my retired friends who move South during the winter, you might be thinking, why in the world would you want to do this? Well, we'll never be stranded, with the truck, UTV and two snowmobiles we have at the ready, we're well equipped transportation wise, and money can't buy the beauty we have to enjoy, and the large group of good friends we have up here. Friends who enjoy the same things we do, and who are always there to lend a hand should you need one.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Thanksgiving, what does it mean to you?
Thanksgiving, what does it mean to you? For some, it is a time to get together with family and friends, raise a glass, and enjoy each others company over a good meal. For others, it is a day off of work, a day to enjoy a day of eating and merriment, or for others, it's a day to watch football.
Some people will travel great distances to make this happen. They'll travel the crowded highways, they'll "enjoy" the hustle and bustle of crowded airports and other transportation complexes. All in the quest to be there with their family and friends to celebrate a great meal and great company.
But for some it is just another day, another day to try and cope with the everyday struggles that some people go through, through no fault of their own. Nobody actually asks to be poor, homeless, or lonely. It is those people who we have to think about.
Did you ever think that the first Thanksgiving was just that. That the participants, the Pilgrims, were the lonely, the homeless, and the dissolute? Think about it? First of all they came to the continent with nothing but what they could carry with them. The only food they had is what they brought. They stepped off the Pinnace that brought them ashore and onto the rock to assist them getting their feet on the new land.
Did they land in Plimoth (old English spelling)? Well not really, they actually landed in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod in November. They could not make it there so they set sail again and traveled farther North finally landing in Plimoth in December, 1620. So here they are standing on the beach and looking at the forest ahead of them. No shelter, no streets, no roads, they were now homeless. They were in dire need of help. Oh sure, they could chop down a few trees, and build a shelter. But anyone who has ever seen what these shelters looked like, with amazement, and wonder, "how did they survive the harsh winter?" Well the fact of the matter is that they did not do that well after all. A typical dwelling for the first Pilgrims was a simple structure comprised of sticks and twigs. It was not the log cabin one would have thought, there was not time enough to fell a tree, hand hewn the log and put together a sturdy structure. If anyone has ever been to the New England coast in December, it is brutal. The wind comes off of the ocean and travels right through a person. Winter coats, well not for them. There certainly was not any clothing that provided warmth like clothes of today. So they were forced to move inland.
There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower when it landed, and 45 would meet their demise in that first winter. Seven of those were children ranging in age from four to seventeen. There were thirteen woman and twenty-eight men. The first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims was Samoset who would not make contact until the following March, so until that time, the Pilgrims were strictly on their own. So here we are, the Pilgrims, Americas first homeless.
If Samoset did not make contact with them they surely would not have survived at all. The Pilgrims were very surprised that Samoset greeted them speaking English. Samoset was a Sagamore (stature) and was relocated from Maine by some English sailors. He was from the Eastern Abernaki tribe, which was not the natives of the Plimoth area. The local tribes were the Wampanoag and their chief was Massasoit. Samoset was on a journey to meet with Massasoit when he came across the Plimoth colony. He simply walked straight into the center of the village which certainly surprised them as they did not think there was anyone else living in the area. But back to the December time frame.......
They landed on December 16th and three days later after some exploring the local area, they came across an abandoned Indian village which was known as Pawtuxet. During those first three days they stayed aboard the ship as their place of shelter and they needed a more permanent place, and winter was setting in and the temperatures were dropping rapidly. In the village, there were a few dwellings there and they immediately took advantage of them and quickly moved in. Although they wondered where the inhabitants had gone, they were unaware that the entire village had been wiped out by a small pox epidemic that occurred earlier. This is a typical Wompanoag dwelling.
As you can see, it would have been a very cold place to spend a winter. So with that in mind, be thankful for what you have, not what you want. Think, that there are many people on the streets, who wish that they had what you have, no matter how small it is. What is their day going to be like today? Think of those elderly who have no one in their lives or family anymore, how their life is today, and how they will be spending this Thanksgiving day. Extend a hand, invite them in, provide a meal, and give thanks, thanks for what you have, thanks for your family, and thanks that you are not where they are and give help while you can, and when you can..........
Some people will travel great distances to make this happen. They'll travel the crowded highways, they'll "enjoy" the hustle and bustle of crowded airports and other transportation complexes. All in the quest to be there with their family and friends to celebrate a great meal and great company.
But for some it is just another day, another day to try and cope with the everyday struggles that some people go through, through no fault of their own. Nobody actually asks to be poor, homeless, or lonely. It is those people who we have to think about.
Did you ever think that the first Thanksgiving was just that. That the participants, the Pilgrims, were the lonely, the homeless, and the dissolute? Think about it? First of all they came to the continent with nothing but what they could carry with them. The only food they had is what they brought. They stepped off the Pinnace that brought them ashore and onto the rock to assist them getting their feet on the new land.
Did they land in Plimoth (old English spelling)? Well not really, they actually landed in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod in November. They could not make it there so they set sail again and traveled farther North finally landing in Plimoth in December, 1620. So here they are standing on the beach and looking at the forest ahead of them. No shelter, no streets, no roads, they were now homeless. They were in dire need of help. Oh sure, they could chop down a few trees, and build a shelter. But anyone who has ever seen what these shelters looked like, with amazement, and wonder, "how did they survive the harsh winter?" Well the fact of the matter is that they did not do that well after all. A typical dwelling for the first Pilgrims was a simple structure comprised of sticks and twigs. It was not the log cabin one would have thought, there was not time enough to fell a tree, hand hewn the log and put together a sturdy structure. If anyone has ever been to the New England coast in December, it is brutal. The wind comes off of the ocean and travels right through a person. Winter coats, well not for them. There certainly was not any clothing that provided warmth like clothes of today. So they were forced to move inland.
There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower when it landed, and 45 would meet their demise in that first winter. Seven of those were children ranging in age from four to seventeen. There were thirteen woman and twenty-eight men. The first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims was Samoset who would not make contact until the following March, so until that time, the Pilgrims were strictly on their own. So here we are, the Pilgrims, Americas first homeless.
If Samoset did not make contact with them they surely would not have survived at all. The Pilgrims were very surprised that Samoset greeted them speaking English. Samoset was a Sagamore (stature) and was relocated from Maine by some English sailors. He was from the Eastern Abernaki tribe, which was not the natives of the Plimoth area. The local tribes were the Wampanoag and their chief was Massasoit. Samoset was on a journey to meet with Massasoit when he came across the Plimoth colony. He simply walked straight into the center of the village which certainly surprised them as they did not think there was anyone else living in the area. But back to the December time frame.......
They landed on December 16th and three days later after some exploring the local area, they came across an abandoned Indian village which was known as Pawtuxet. During those first three days they stayed aboard the ship as their place of shelter and they needed a more permanent place, and winter was setting in and the temperatures were dropping rapidly. In the village, there were a few dwellings there and they immediately took advantage of them and quickly moved in. Although they wondered where the inhabitants had gone, they were unaware that the entire village had been wiped out by a small pox epidemic that occurred earlier. This is a typical Wompanoag dwelling.
As you can see, it would have been a very cold place to spend a winter. So with that in mind, be thankful for what you have, not what you want. Think, that there are many people on the streets, who wish that they had what you have, no matter how small it is. What is their day going to be like today? Think of those elderly who have no one in their lives or family anymore, how their life is today, and how they will be spending this Thanksgiving day. Extend a hand, invite them in, provide a meal, and give thanks, thanks for what you have, thanks for your family, and thanks that you are not where they are and give help while you can, and when you can..........
Monday, November 24, 2014
Another Good Man Bites the Dust!
Well if you have not heard by now, I'll break the news for ya. Today Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense was forced out of the White House. This is the third Secretary of Defense that have left the Obama administrations since he has taken office. He looks for good people, appoints good people, gets bipartisan approval on his appointments, and then as soon as he hears something he does not like, they are out of there. Obama has done this with a lot of his "advisers" that come from the military side of the house, especially the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Many top level military generals have been put out to pasture since he has come into office.
So just who is left to advise him on matters of National Security? Well when he calls together his National Security Council, There isn't one person who has any experience in protecting you from enemies.
So let's start with the National Security Council who are they and what is their history when it comes to protecting us. The Chairman of the National Security Council (NSC)is the President. Regular attendees (both statutory and non-statutory) are the Vice President, Joe Biden, the Secretary of State, John Kerry, the Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew, the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hegel, but now vacant as of 11/24/2014, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Susan Rice. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the statutory military advisor to the Council, and the Director of National Intelligence is the intelligence advisor. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting. The Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget are invited to attend meetings pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are invited to attend meetings of the NSC when appropriate.Starting with Obama himself, he has no military experience or foreign affairs experience.
Joe Biden was a Senator before becoming vice-president. Most of his life after college and law school was involved in politics. Jo Biden has never served in the military. During those early years, Biden received five student draft deferments during this period, with the first coming in late 1963 and the last in early 1968, at the peak of the Vietnam War. In April 1968, he was reclassified by the Selective Service System as not available for service due to having had asthma as a teenager.
Susan Rice, one of Obama's top advisers. This is the woman who gave wrong statement regarding the Benghazi fiasco. According to Wikepaedia:
"Rice served in the Clinton administration in various capacities: at the National Security Council (NSC) from 1993 to 1997; as director for international organizations and peacekeeping from 1993 to 1995 and as special assistant to the president and senior director for African affairs from 1995 to 1997.
At the time of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Rice reportedly said, "If we use the word 'genocide' and are seen as doing nothing, what will be the effect on the November election?" Rice subsequently acknowledged the mistakes made at the time and felt that a debt needed repaying. The inability or failure of the Clinton administration to do anything about the genocide would form her later views on possible military interventions. She would later say of the experience: "I swore to myself that if I ever faced such a crisis again, I would come down on the side of dramatic action, going down in flames if that was required."
Islamists took control in Sudan in a 1989 coup d'état and the United States adopted a policy of disengagement with the authoritarian regime throughout the 1990s. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, however, some critics charged that the U.S. should have moderated its policy toward Sudan earlier, since the influence of Islamists there waned in the second half of 1990s and Sudanese officials began to indicate an interest in accommodating U.S. concerns with respect to 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, who had been living in Sudan until he was expelled in May 1996. Timothy M. Carney, U.S. ambassador to Sudan between September 1995 and November 1997, co-authored an op-ed in 2002 claiming that in 1997 Sudan offered to turn over its intelligence on bin Laden but that Rice, as NSC Africa specialist, together with the then NSC terrorism specialist Richard A. Clarke, successfully lobbied for continuing to bar U.S. officials, including the CIA and FBI, from engaging with the Khartoum government. Similar allegations (that Rice joined others in missing an opportunity to cooperate with Sudan on counter terrorism) were made by Vanity Fair contributing editor David Rose and Richard Miniter, author of Losing Bin Laden.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a longtime mentor and family friend to Rice, urged Clinton to appoint Rice as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in 1997. Rice was not the first choice of Congressional Black Caucus leaders, who considered Rice a member of "Washington's assimilationist black elite". At a confirmation hearing chaired by Senator Jesse Helms, Rice, who attended the hearing along with her infant son, whom she was then nursing, made a great impression on senators from both parties and "sailed through the confirmation process".
Rice supported the Rwandan, Ugandan, AFDL and Angolan invasion of Zaire (later known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) from Rwanda in 1996 and overthrew dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, saying privately that "Anything's better than Mobutu." According to Gérard Prunier, a staffer to the Assistant Secretary said that "the only thing we have to do is look the other way", with respect to Rwanda's continued intervention. New York Times correspondent Howard W. French said that according to his sources Rice herself made the remark. It should be noted the Congo Wars spearheaded by Rwanda led to over five million deaths. In 2012 when serving as U.N. ambassador, Rice opposed efforts to publicly censure Rwandan President Paul Kagame for again supporting a Congolese rebel group, this time in the 2012 Congo conflict Despite the sacking of the regional capital of Goma. The Rwandan government was a client when Rice worked at Intellibridge in 2001–02.
On July 7, 1998, Rice was a member of an American delegation to visit detained Nigerian president-elect Basorun M.K.O. Abiola. During this meeting, Abiola suffered a fatal heart attack.
Although Rice supported the Lomé Peace Accord, some observers criticized the Sierra Leone agreement as too indulgent of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and for bringing the war criminal Foday Sankoh into government, leading to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1313, which blamed the RUF for the continuing conflict in the west African country." So it is no wonder that we have a person advising the President to stay clear of ISIL issues in the mid east.
Secretary of State John Kerry. A lot of people may or may not know of John Kerry's military service. he enlisted in the Navy Reserve in 1966, and went on active duty to Vietnam for an abbreviated four month tour aboard a swift boat. He received the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. However, upon his return and release from the service he joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and demonstrated at various protests. He has been in politics ever since.
Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew, another career politician. Harvard Law School and Georgetown University for his law degree.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel According to Wikipaedia, "volunteered to be drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War, rejecting a draft board recommendation that he go to college instead. He served in the United States Army infantry in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. As a Sergeant (E-5), he served as an infantry squad leader in the 9th Infantry Division. Hagel served in the same infantry squad as his younger brother Tom, and they are thought to be the only American brothers to have done so during the Vietnam War. They also saved each others lives on separate occasions. Hagel received the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, two Purple Hearts, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge." He went from an enlisted man in the Army to the Secretary of Defense. He was the only one of the members of the NSC to have served on the ground with the troops as an enlisted man, and after returning became a news broadcaster and reported on the war.
There is going to be a tough nomination process for the next individual to be nominated by the Obama administration. They certainly do not want to listen to issues and advice on foreign policy where it might involve putting any troops into the picture, whether on the ground or in the air. It seems like a slap in the face to all those who fought and those who died when this administrations takes a pacifist attitude towards other countries walking all over us. The President more than likely already has a replacement in mind and we will see in the next few weeks as the person is put up for the position. Obama will surely try to get this all done before the next Congress is seated, where he will surely have a much tougher time getting his nominee seated. Meanwhile ISIL continues to kill......... The new Congress will not be here soon enough for this person to enjoy the future encounters.......
Monday, November 17, 2014
Observations of the Recent Elections!
Is it just me, or do others see the humor in some of the analysis that is going on in the media with regard to the results of the recent elections, where the Republicans have, or will, now assume the majority rule in both houses of Congress?
But let's take a look at what really happened. There were many positions in both houses that were up for re-election. The President campaigned for some Democrats who were running for election, and then there were statements in the news media, the talk show circuits, and on radio, that some Democrats running for election did not want the President campaigning for them because of his low ratings in the polls. They were trying to distance themselves from the President. They felt that if it were seen that they were in favor of the President that they would somehow lose perspective votes, because a no vote for them was a vote against the President and his policies. On the other hand there were those who felt that Congress was going nowhere, could not get anything done, and were simply fed up.
So the Republicans won the election and will assume power soon in both houses of Congress come January. As of right now, we don't know what their agenda will be.We have some preliminary indications, but what ever they pass, unless it is passed with a 2/3rds majority, the President is sure to veto it if it is not in his best interests. On the other hand if the bill is a bi-partisan bill and the Democrats vote in favor of it there should be no problem in getting it passed and becoming veto proof. However.........would the President implement the new law in the same fashion that he would if it was a new law he was in favor of?
It is so fascinating that the Democrats say that they did not win because their voters chose not to vote, and if they had voted the Democrats would have won. That's exactly right, and if the entire voting population voted Democrat they would have won too, and if those who DID vote voted Democratic instead of Republican they would have one too. HOW LUDICROUS! The Democratic party is fooling itself if they think that their apathetic vote was not sending a message to them. They need stop thinking the American voter is stupid! I am not talking about the recent MIT professor who stated on three occasions that the voters are stupid, or the fact that Nancy Pelosi denied knowing him and lied to the public about it only to be caught later in the lie. What I am talking about is their arrogance in thinking that THEY know what is best for the American people. I do not believe there is one elected official in Congress that can empathize with the lower and middle class, and how the economy affects them. The salaries they earn takes them right out of that class immediately. People are simply fed up, period!
There are three branches of government. A lot of people forget that. There is the Executive Branch where the President is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and when he is sworn in he takes an oath of office to uphold the United States Constitution, and the Laws of the United States. Then comes the so called "Executive Order". Which in itself is OK, as long as the order does not conflict with the current laws on the books. The President cannot make his OWN laws. He cannot choose which ones to enforce and which ones to ignore. If he does he is in violation of his oath of office and is breaking the law himself and can be charged and tried for it. This is the process of Impeachment.
According to WIKIPEDIA: "Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself." (See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States). In other words look at impeachment as when a Grand Jury (Congress) indicts the offender. Just because someone is impeached (as in the case of Bill Clinton)does not mean they are tried for the crimes they President Obama, then surely President Biden would do the same. And.....are you ready for "President Biden"?
Will there be a government shut down in the next two years? The founding fathers when drafting the Constitution put in there protections so NO President would EVER have the powers of a Dictator or a Monarch. The way they did this was to give all of the purse strings to the Congress. So when this is ever exercised as it was in the past during this Presidents term, it is not a bad thing, but a good thing. Yes we all know that folks were financially hurt by the shutdown, and services were certainly cut, and the folks in the executive branch did some pretty nasty things that were not necessary, like closing the war memorials to veterans, among other things, but the Executive branch could have also sat down with Congress and iron things out as they finally had to do. If Congress has NO powers in this area, as some would like, then we might as well just throw the Constitution out the window.
The arrogance of this administrations was demonstrated from the very beginning when newly elected President Obama stated to the Republicans in the oval office "WE won the election!". It was evident then that his entire term would be nothing but a battle. Some Democrats would like to make all differences with this President about race, when race has nothing to do with it. It is a difference of policy, about where the country should be, and where it is headed. When people like to point out all of this Presidents accomplishments, these were a lot of accomplishments that would have happened, no matter who was in office. Folks like to give credit to the Clinton administration of balancing the budget and economically good years. But they forget this was all put into place by President Reagan with his Reaganomics. I remember him sitting there with charts and graphs, back then, and looking at the dates these were all going to com to fruition and it was way beyond the end of his term. The Arabs and OPEC had placed oil embargoes on the US. The Arab nations wanted a minimum price for a barrel of oil, and we had to deal with it. Today, we have plenty of oil reserves, and are not worried of another embargo, and a lot of that can be directly attributed to Presidents Bush, and the things he put into place. As consumers use more and more oil throughout the world the supplies will certainly diminish and prices will continue to rise. One of the solutions to curb this is to implement the Keystone Pipeline, which will bring raw oil to the refineries we have. This will be oil from Canada, but also oil from the fields in South Dakota. The last time a refinery was built in the US was in 2008 in Wyoming with a capacity of 3000 barrels per day. This is very small considering the one in Louisiana built in 1977, which is the last time a large capacity refinery was built, will do in excess of 200000 barrels per day. So it is in the countries best interest to get the keystone pipeline built. Just this past week both houses of Congress, passed a bill Okaying the pipeline. It is now on the way to the President. Will he sign it, or put us behind the rest of the world.............Time will only tell!
But let's take a look at what really happened. There were many positions in both houses that were up for re-election. The President campaigned for some Democrats who were running for election, and then there were statements in the news media, the talk show circuits, and on radio, that some Democrats running for election did not want the President campaigning for them because of his low ratings in the polls. They were trying to distance themselves from the President. They felt that if it were seen that they were in favor of the President that they would somehow lose perspective votes, because a no vote for them was a vote against the President and his policies. On the other hand there were those who felt that Congress was going nowhere, could not get anything done, and were simply fed up.
So the Republicans won the election and will assume power soon in both houses of Congress come January. As of right now, we don't know what their agenda will be.We have some preliminary indications, but what ever they pass, unless it is passed with a 2/3rds majority, the President is sure to veto it if it is not in his best interests. On the other hand if the bill is a bi-partisan bill and the Democrats vote in favor of it there should be no problem in getting it passed and becoming veto proof. However.........would the President implement the new law in the same fashion that he would if it was a new law he was in favor of?
It is so fascinating that the Democrats say that they did not win because their voters chose not to vote, and if they had voted the Democrats would have won. That's exactly right, and if the entire voting population voted Democrat they would have won too, and if those who DID vote voted Democratic instead of Republican they would have one too. HOW LUDICROUS! The Democratic party is fooling itself if they think that their apathetic vote was not sending a message to them. They need stop thinking the American voter is stupid! I am not talking about the recent MIT professor who stated on three occasions that the voters are stupid, or the fact that Nancy Pelosi denied knowing him and lied to the public about it only to be caught later in the lie. What I am talking about is their arrogance in thinking that THEY know what is best for the American people. I do not believe there is one elected official in Congress that can empathize with the lower and middle class, and how the economy affects them. The salaries they earn takes them right out of that class immediately. People are simply fed up, period!
There are three branches of government. A lot of people forget that. There is the Executive Branch where the President is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and when he is sworn in he takes an oath of office to uphold the United States Constitution, and the Laws of the United States. Then comes the so called "Executive Order". Which in itself is OK, as long as the order does not conflict with the current laws on the books. The President cannot make his OWN laws. He cannot choose which ones to enforce and which ones to ignore. If he does he is in violation of his oath of office and is breaking the law himself and can be charged and tried for it. This is the process of Impeachment.
According to WIKIPEDIA: "Impeachment in the United States is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against a civil officer of government for crimes committed in office. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself." (See more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States). In other words look at impeachment as when a Grand Jury (Congress) indicts the offender. Just because someone is impeached (as in the case of Bill Clinton)does not mean they are tried for the crimes they President Obama, then surely President Biden would do the same. And.....are you ready for "President Biden"?
Will there be a government shut down in the next two years? The founding fathers when drafting the Constitution put in there protections so NO President would EVER have the powers of a Dictator or a Monarch. The way they did this was to give all of the purse strings to the Congress. So when this is ever exercised as it was in the past during this Presidents term, it is not a bad thing, but a good thing. Yes we all know that folks were financially hurt by the shutdown, and services were certainly cut, and the folks in the executive branch did some pretty nasty things that were not necessary, like closing the war memorials to veterans, among other things, but the Executive branch could have also sat down with Congress and iron things out as they finally had to do. If Congress has NO powers in this area, as some would like, then we might as well just throw the Constitution out the window.
The arrogance of this administrations was demonstrated from the very beginning when newly elected President Obama stated to the Republicans in the oval office "WE won the election!". It was evident then that his entire term would be nothing but a battle. Some Democrats would like to make all differences with this President about race, when race has nothing to do with it. It is a difference of policy, about where the country should be, and where it is headed. When people like to point out all of this Presidents accomplishments, these were a lot of accomplishments that would have happened, no matter who was in office. Folks like to give credit to the Clinton administration of balancing the budget and economically good years. But they forget this was all put into place by President Reagan with his Reaganomics. I remember him sitting there with charts and graphs, back then, and looking at the dates these were all going to com to fruition and it was way beyond the end of his term. The Arabs and OPEC had placed oil embargoes on the US. The Arab nations wanted a minimum price for a barrel of oil, and we had to deal with it. Today, we have plenty of oil reserves, and are not worried of another embargo, and a lot of that can be directly attributed to Presidents Bush, and the things he put into place. As consumers use more and more oil throughout the world the supplies will certainly diminish and prices will continue to rise. One of the solutions to curb this is to implement the Keystone Pipeline, which will bring raw oil to the refineries we have. This will be oil from Canada, but also oil from the fields in South Dakota. The last time a refinery was built in the US was in 2008 in Wyoming with a capacity of 3000 barrels per day. This is very small considering the one in Louisiana built in 1977, which is the last time a large capacity refinery was built, will do in excess of 200000 barrels per day. So it is in the countries best interest to get the keystone pipeline built. Just this past week both houses of Congress, passed a bill Okaying the pipeline. It is now on the way to the President. Will he sign it, or put us behind the rest of the world.............Time will only tell!
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