Rational Nation USA

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released some very interesting numbers with respect to the cost of the Iraq war compared to the cost of the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic led Congress in 2009. CBO numbers published this month in the Budget and Economic Outlook put the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom at $709 billion. This cost includes military operations as well as the cost of training Iraqi forces and the cost of diplomatic operations. Estimated (projected) costs for the stimulus package  passed in February 2009 was $862 billion. The expected "shelf" life of the stimulus package is two years. And there is serious consideration in some circles that more stimulus will be needed. The United States deficit for 2010 is expected to come in at 1.3 trillion dollars according to the CBO. A huge increase over the 2007 deficit of $160.7 billion and a 2008 shortfall of $458.6 billion.  As a percentage of GDP (gross dome

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Senator Tom Coburn, in recent remarks at a small gathering was critical of Democrats, Republicans, Newt Gingrich, and the military industrial complex as well as teacher unions. Reading the article in Tulsa World I found myself in agreement with his remarks. They sound to me like Senator Coburn is what I call an independent conservative that is speaking truth to power and is deserving of being listened to. For the sake of clarity lets put labels aside and focus on what he said. Excerpts with editorial comment from the news source omitted.: "The real problem is that America is asleep, America is not involved. I think this election they'll be more involved than they ever have been, and the reason is they're scared."  "If the conservatives in Congress gain control and don't live up to expectations," he said, "the Republican Party will be dead."  "I'm not capable of telling you, because

by: Pamela D. Hart I attended Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally Saturday. My decision to attend wasn’t planned. As a matter of fact it was completely spur of the moment. My dad called me Friday afternoon, when I was at work, and asked if I would be interested in going with him and my mom, thus with my answer being affirmative, he told me to be ready at 3:30 a.m. We arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 11 a.m. with the rally already in full swing. The crowd was immense. People were sitting between the columns, on the steps and walking around it. They were packed full on both sides of the Reflection Pond and beyond. The aerial view photos are a bit distorting because you can’t see all the people who were beneath the Cherry Blossom trees. I know because I walked the cement pathway from the Lincoln Memorial to the WWII Memorial, which was tree-covered and it too was packed full with people sitting on chairs, blankets, the grass or just standing. We found a nice shady spot on the Atlantic si

By: Bastiatarian The other day WHO announced that the swine flu "pandemic" had ended . I was surprised, because based on all the hysteria stirred up by the federal government and the mainstream media, I had assumed that swine flu was going to significantly depopulate the world, change civilization as we know it, and make it hard to get a good burrito. None of that happened, so I started wondering about it all. First, H1N1 (swine flu) has resulted in just under 19,000 deaths worldwide. That's a lot of dead people, of course, but then I considered the fact that, according to WHO's own statement, normal seasonal influenza is responsible for about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide . Swine flu's not so impressive in that context. So why was this outbreak of H1N1, small from the start, declared to be a pandemic? Because WHO changed the definition of a pandemic before declaring H1N1 a pandemic. When most people think of a pandemic, they think of a

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA I am sure a lot of you saw Glenn Beck on Fox News today with Chris Wallace. I admit to being a somewhat tepid supporter of Glenn Beck. This is not because he is wrong on everything, but rather that he is often too theatrical...  sometimes over the top. Today I saw a different Glenn Beck. I saw a man whose beliefs I now believe are sincere and one who is dedicated to this nation and it's inherent goodness. I saw a man who has grown in his role as spoke person for the average American of conservative beliefs. I saw a man who seems to be moving towards a more reasoned and perhaps conciliatory tone. And I believe he is sincerely not considering political office. At least not the Presidency. Something the progressives now doubt are thrilled over. They now that if Beck should ever decide to announce his candidacy for the office of President he may very well be elected. An event they would simply shudder over. The leftist press is alread

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Contrast the "Restoring Honor" rally in which Martin Luther King's niece so eloquently spoke to the Reverend Al  Sharpton's " Reclaim the Dream" rally. Aside from the fact Glenn Beck's rally drew a crowed numbering in the hundred of thousand compared to the Sharpton rally of just a few thousand the tone was significantly different. Beck's "Restoring Honor" was noticeably inclusive while Sharpton's "Reclaim the Dream" was somewhat divisive. Is it any wonder why Alveda King chose to speak at Beck's rally. I am sure the liberal media and progressive politicians are wishing Alveda would fade into the shadows. They may have a long wait. Here now is the video of Sharpton's address followed by Alveda's. You my readers be the judge. And now Alveda... Read the article here . Cross posted to  Left Coast Rebel . Via: Memeorandum 

by the Left Coast Rebel I wanted to carry additional aerial photos of the August 28, 2010 Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally so I put on my Google cap and started searching. First off is this aerial shot that has been circling the intertubes (h/t Newsbusters ) and is one of the most awesome: This photo will be famous: Crowd at the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally Here's another awesome aerial shot of the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally per Right Scoop: Again, here are the aerial shots taken by AirPhotosLIVE.com whereby CBS News estimated the Glenn Beck rally crowd at "87,000": The area around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington during a rally organized by conservative commentator Glenn Beck is seen in this aerial picture taken Aug. 28, 2010. (Credit: AirPhotosLIVE.com) The area around the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington during a rally organized by conservative commentator Gle

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Ah yes, the end of yet another long and sometimes tedious week. But we all made it through and now it is time to relax. Yeah baby, relax with a glass of fine wine and that special person in your life. Turn the lights low, get comfortable with that special person, and listen to some fine blues from jazz great Charlie Parker. I might even run a string of fine jazz for your listening pleasure. Enjoy my fellow conservatives, and occasional progressives who dare into the Rational Nation Zone . Dig it. Definitely doin the groove... Yeah... Get down Buddy! You go Junior, let it all hang out...! Good night folks. Here's to a great upcoming week for all.

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA The progressives are already turning Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally into a political issue. And it was in reality exactly that. The very fact the rally was a call to restore honor to our government made it political. What amazes me is that Beck was not forthright in discussing this obvious fact. I applaud the efforts of Beck in calling for restoration of honor in our political and governmental activities. It is about time. And it took a conservative to do so. Unfortunately because Beck is an outspoken conservative, and lays open the progressive nerve, he will be vilified as a racist, a right wing demagogue, or worse. Such is the progressive way. A short video taken off the Think Progress site is linked  here  and has select pictures in support of the sites obvious bias. Needless to say the sentiments expressed in the video are felt by millions of Americans. Video: I don't know about you but I little wrong w

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA President Ronald Reagan . A man with vision, honor, and an undying love for America and everything that made her great. His legacy of fostering one of the largest peacetime economic growth cycles is unquestioned. His role in the collapse of the Soviet Union is without doubt among the rational thinkers of our time. So where did the Gipper go wrong. It's not  hard to see when one takes off the rose colored glasses of nostalgia. Where he let America down was his failure to reign in Keynesian economic deficit spending. As a conservative, an independent one at that, I must admit that amongst the many great things President Ronald Wilson Reagan accomplished he failed to understand one critical point of basic economics. At some point the books must be balanced. Any successful businessman knows this simple fact. In business failing to do so ultimately results in failure of ones business. Long term deficit spending on the national level wil

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Rational Nation   USA  is   a politically conservative site. For those who have visited and are familiar with my Randian and Jeffersonian leaning you know I am a strong proponent of  fiscal responsibility and limited government . The principals of our Founding Fathers have not been lost on this modern day proponent of Randian and Jeffersonian principals. Having said this I believe that in as much as we live in a diverse nation, with diverse political and economic views, it is prudent to make an honest attempt to find common ground within these opposing views. The healths, indeed the survival of our liberties as we have known them are dependent upon this. As an independent conservative with strong Libertarian leaning I have come under fire from both my brethren conservatives and the progressive elements in America. This is fine and I accept the heat from both sides of the political spectrum. What makes it easy for me too do is that I rec

Krugman lets the cat out of the bag - Critic of Obamanomics now? by the Left Coast Rebel More lousy economic news this morning. Viva la socialista Obamanomica! NYT : Economic statistics released Friday offered the clearest sign yet that the recovery, already acknowledged to be sauntering, had slowed to a crawl. The government lowered its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter to an annual rate of 1.6 percent, after originally reporting last month that growth in the three-month period was 2.4 percent. The news came at the end of a week that showed the economic retrenchment that began in the second quarter has spilled over into the summer. Existing home sales in July were down to their lowest level in a decade, and sales of new homes that month were at their lowest level since the government began tracking such data in 1963. Orders for large factory goods, excluding the volatile transportation sector, dropped in July, indicating that recovery in the manuf

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Charles Krauthammer  has a great piece in todays Washington Post. It is entitled " The last refuge of a liberal ." He hits the nail squarely on the head as to why liberals, aka progressive, rather than enjoying the ascendancy predicted by James Carville  will in fact become more irrelevant than they have been over the past thirty years. Many progressives simply believe that the only way is the progressive way. They have used the press and academia for years to advance their agenda. America is now finally waking up to the bankruptcy of progressive ideology. Yet when conservatives utilize the press to advance their agenda the progressives sink to the level of making outright fallacious statements. Progressives think... How dare the conservative question our agenda. How dare they think differently than we dictate. Well hello progressives, there are tens of millions in America that are not sheep and refuse to cow tow to your deman

By: Les Carpenter III Rational Nation USA Inflammatory rhetoric and scare tactics ultimately will lose elections in America. Extreme statements with absolutely no foundation in rational reality always, in the end, prove themselves to be false. Such will be the case with Rep. John Flemming's (R-LA) fallacious and inflammatory rhetoric with respect to his recent comments on America's choice as being between atheism and Godlessness, or a Christian Nation. Here is what this demagogue had to say; "We have two competing world views here and there is no way that we can reach across the aisle -- one is going to have to win." "We are either going to go down the socialist road and become like western Europe and create, I guess really a godless society, an atheist society. Or we're going to continue down the other pathway where we believe in freedom of speech, individual liberties and that we remain a Christian nation. So we're going to have to win tha

by the Left Coast Rebel This one's not official yet but it looks like Tea Party fav., US Senate republican candidate Joe Miller may take out incumbent, establishment GOP senator Lisa Murkowski. Here are the results as of 8:00 AM, PST: U.S. SENATE (R) Joe Miller (R) 45,909 51.09% Lisa Murkowski (R) 43,949 48.91% As you can see, this has come down to the wire and is still too close to call. Anchorage Daily News reports: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is battling for her political life this morning against Republican primary challenger Joe Miller, the tea party-backed candidate who has a slim lead as ballots continue to be counted. Miller, a Fairbanks attorney, led from when the first returns came in Tuesday night and was on the verge of pulling off one of the biggest election upsets ever in Alaska. With 429 of 438 precincts counted this morning,, Miller had 45,909 votes (51 percent) to 43,949 (49 percent) for Murkowski. Miller credited the support of former Alaska Gov.

Media-Crafted Controversy This is traditionally a bad season for our sensationalistic, controversy driven 24/7 noise machine known as the "news" media. It's mid-August, and Americans are trying to enjoy what's left of summer. We've unplugged for the summer, so media profits are sagging.  They respond by inventing stuff to get us back and basking in the glow of their corporate-sponsored cliffhangers. So PEW conducts a poll and a news-hungry media is all over it like a pack of rabid jihadis on a cartoonist. 18% of Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim! So what??? The Same poll reports that only 46% of Democrats believe Obama is a Christian!  By their own standards, half of all Democrats are kooks.  20% of adults believe space aliens live among us in disguise 33% believe 911 was an inside job "If Bush ran the car in the ditch, Obama and the Democrats went on a drunken joy ride and drove it the wrong way down I-70, caused a two-tho