A Day That is Super

This coming Sunday culminates the season of my favorite spectator sport.  Football and especially the National Football League (NFL) is America's National Pastime.  Say what you want about baseball but it pales in comparison to Football and its championship.  The only thing that any sport has better than the NFL is hockey's trophy.  The Stanley Cup is pretty cool and is better than the Lombardi trophy.

I enjoy the Super Bowl every year whether the Patriots are in it or not, and to be honest, being a spoiled New England sports fan I have enjoyed it more over the last decade.  Up until a few years ago I always hosted a Super Bowl party and then I decided I just wanted to be a guest for a while and my friends happily obliged and took it over.  This year’s Super Bowl is just as interesting as it is annoying.  The storylines have taken over the actual football game and it center around a handful of players.  If I were one of the other players I would be saying "What about me??  I am here too” So here is my take on some of the popular storylines and some so not popular.

The "Har-Bowl" - I like this story line and I think it should get more play.  I like it because not only are these guys brothers but they are pretty good coaches.  It was a matter of time before older brother John (Baltimore) got his team to a Super Bowl, because he is that good.  I think it's more impressive that it was done in a year when nothing was expected of his team in the playoffs.  Younger brother Jim (San Francisco) has done a wonderful job in the two years he has been at the helm and he is just the motivator that this team has needed.  The one thing I would like to see in this story line is if the score gets out of hand on either side I want the other brother to call for his mom.  That would be poetic.

Interesting New Orleans Super Bowl Stat - Of the nine Super Bowls played in the Big Easy the average margin of victory is almost 20 points.  If you take away the Patriots last second three point win, the average is 22.  So if history is any indication don't be surprised if this game is a blowout.  The NFC leads 5-3 with the AFL winning the other one.

The QB triangle - I have to admit that I have been a Flacco hater, but he is slowly winning me over.  I have never been a proponent of one QB outplaying another because the defenses are never taken into account.  But last week Flacco just outplayed Tom Brady.  The Patriots could have had the '85 Bears defense and I don't think it would have made a difference.  Keep playing like that Joe and I will eat crow.

I think Colin Kaepernick is a good quarterback and could be really good.  But he is letting this whole thing get to his head with his "Kaepernicking", his tattoos, and the enormous chip on his shoulder.  He reminds me of "Steamin' Willie Beamon” Jamie Foxx's character in the movie "Any Given Sunday".  That character annoyed me to.

Alex Smith is the Drew Bledsoe of this Super Bowl.  The unwritten rule in sports is that you should never lose your starting position to injury.  As a Patriots fan I cannot support that rule.  If it wasn't for an injury to Bledsoe, who knows what would have become of the Patriots.  Just saying.  If the 49ers lost every game after the injury with Kaepernick and the owners wanted to fire Brother Jim.  He doesn't get to use the excuse that his starter was hurt.  He went with the hot hand and it worked.  That's why he is the coach.

Finally someone else (At least for the AFC) - Since the Ravens were last in the Super Bowl in 2001 there have only been four AFC franchises to represent the conference in the Super Bowl.  The Patriots, Steelers, Colts and Raiders.  In that same time frame the NFC has had ten and only one repeat, the Giants.

Ray Lewis' last game -  Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker.  Those are the two men that died on January 31, 2000.  If you have never heard their name or never hear them again, they are synonymous with Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.  It's hard not to think of Ray Lewis and not immediately think of the two men lay dead possibly at the hands of Ray Lewis.  I commend Ray Lewis for turning his life around after the incident and becoming an ambassador for the NFL.  He is strong in faith, strong in family and just as strong on the football field, but Lollar and Baker still hovers in my mind.  Lewis has had much help restoring image.  He is the only Super Bowl MVP not to "Go to Disney World", and that was because of what happened in Atlanta.  Ray Lewis' contribution to football is enormous.  His contributions to society, those are still up for debate.  So when you watch the umpteenth puff piece that ESPN or CBS does on him up until kickoff, or when you see his crying face during the national anthem, remember the names Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker.

There are many more story lines for this Super Bowl, these are just the ones I had strong opinions about.  Who am I rooting for?  I haven't decided.  It may even come down to me being the minority when I get to the party I'm going too.  The only thing I am rooting for is that my family and I have a great time with some great friends.  I think I will get what I am rooting for.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife

Oh, Deval!

For those of you wondering what Governor Deval Patrick is going to do when he leaves office in 2 years no need to worry, given last week's State of the State speech I can think of a few jobs he has lined up for when he leaves.  Some I have heard people tell me, so I can't take complete credit.  One was Director of New Hampshire Redevelopment Authority.  One was Governor of New Hampshire.  My favorite was being an actor promoting New Hampshire.  Because that was the effect that his speech had to lawmakers and constituents in Massachusetts,  let's move to New Hampshire.

Governor Patrick just doesn't get it, just like everybody else in the public sector.  When there is a problem with the budget and there is a shortfall, they look at the wrong solution.  They immediately go back to the coffers and ask for more money.  Then they go again, again and again.  Given that the Federal government just celebrated raising our taxes, Governor Patrick's timing couldn't be any worse.  That wasn't even the worst part of his plan.  Once again when the budget comes up short lawmakers raise taxes on the people that have been "bailing" them out all along.  Governor Patrick thinks he is doing us a favor by lowering the sales tax.  The sales tax is the only thing that guarantees EVERYBODY pays taxes, so let’s lower taxes on people who don't pay income taxes and raise it on the ones that do.  Then people don't understand why there is money in tax sheltered and off shore accounts.

I just don't get how when lawmakers look at a budget and see they are coming up short the first inclination is to raise taxes.  How about looking at the budget and seeing why we are coming up short.   Governor Patrick touts the growth we have had in Massachusetts while he has been Governor.  Since then we have lost a seat in the U.S. Representatives, why?  Because either people are leaving Massachusetts or they are not coming. That's why we have come up short.  So when you lose that income, you don't increase spending.  It's that simple.  

The money that would be collected from this $2 billion tax hike would go to expanding a rail service, providing schools for infants and toddlers, raises for teachers and possibly bridge the gap in the state pension fund.  Great!  Once again I am funding two retirements but only able to collect one.  “The people we work for want the schools I have described; they want the rail and road services we have laid out,” Governor Patrick said in his speech.  Well, I want a house in a small Tuscan village.  That doesn't mean I get it, and do you know why?  I can't afford it!  Yes Governor, people do want better rail services, but as a Worcester resident I don't need to pay so you can create a rail from Fall River to Boston.

It's the spending, it’s the spending,  it’s the spending.  If you didn't hear me I will say it again, it’s the spending.  Our lawmakers, both federal and state feel that just throwing money at the problem solves it.  Wrong, it compounds it.  Thomas Jefferson once said "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."  The problem with government spending is that it is sold to you that it is directly going to help you.  I have found that in the last 20 years, none of my taxes help me.  Everything I have "I built it" and that goes for most middle class Americans.  There is nothing I have gained from government spending, so it needs to be curtailed.

In closing I would like to ask you to make your voices known that these tax hikes are not the answer.  It's a quid pro quo world we live in.  If they want to raise my taxes, I want you to cut your spending, plain and simple.  Government spending is out of control needs to be reined in. 

"In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife

Easier Said Than Done

I have never been one to believe in conspiracy theories.  I never believed that President Bush ordered an attack on the World Trade Center to push an agenda of war.  I was never a believer of President Obama's birth certificate conspiracy and I truly believe that rapper Tupac Shakur died on the streets of Vegas, although he has released more songs dead than alive.  So when during the final weeks of the election and the weeks following people were telling me that President Obama was positioning himself to repeal the 22nd Amendment eliminating Presidential term limits and becoming "President for Life".  I truly believe that is not the case.

Now do I think the President is narcissistic enough to believe he can pull this off, I do.  Do I think he is dumb enough to try, I don't. The reason this has caught my attention is that last week Rep. Jose' Serrano (D-NY) proposed a House Joint Resolution to committee for the repealing of the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Such a repeal would eliminate the two term limit for President of the United States.  However, the repeal still would not institute a "President of Life" because the law would still require elections every four years.

Needless to say, this report got my wife in an uproar first thing on a Monday morning.  As I said from the beginning of me hearing this, not only would it not get done, it's just not that easy.  So President Obama is smart enough to know that he would not benefit from such a proposal because, even if by chance the Amendment was repealed, he would be long gone from office and would have to run a campaign again to be elected.  That's if it gets repealed, which I will repeat, it won't.

Given the current status of affairs in Washington no Amendment will ever get repealed because the numbers just aren't there, and that's just to get it out of Washington.  Neither the House nor the Senate have the majority in which to repeal or amend the constitution which is two thirds.  As we have seen over the past few weeks the only way a two thirds majority can be achieved is if votes are bought on the proposed bill.  Since there should be no appropriations attached to such a bill, votes should not be able to be bought.  However, crazier things have happened.

So for argument sake, let’s say by some miracle this gets through the House and the Senate it would need just as big of a miracle to get through the states.  Three-fourths of the states would need to approve/ratify the bill for it to become into law and they have seven years to do so.  So not only is math not on the President's side, but time isn't either.  Let's take this past election as an example as why the states don't approve.  If you crunch the numbers where they matter, which is the popular count, the race was closer than it looked.  The President won the Electoral Map in a landslide but constitutional amendments are not decided by the Electoral College, just the presidency.  In picking up the 332 electoral votes the President only carried 27 states, that's just more than half, or if you ask the President, it's exactly half.  A far cry from the 38 (37.5) needed for ratification.  The states can completely ignore the ratification making it null in void, as was the case during the 1970's with the Equal Rights Amendment. 

It is very unlikely that this is on the President's agenda, however, if there is a President that could sell it, it's President Obama.  I don't take much stock in the proposal from Rep. Serrano since this is the 9th time he has proposed this exact bill and it has never made it out of committee.  There have been more proposal's to abolish Presidential term limits than to repeal the Second Amendment, which seems to be the hot topic these days.  In the end Presidential term limits will continue without issue as I believe that every President wouldn't want the job more than eight years anyway.  Now if there was a bill proposal to put term limits on Congress and Senate, I would definitely support that.

3D
If you don't take it from me, ask my wife.

Politics is Perception

While on vacation last week I was able to catch a lot of child's play.  I'm not talking about have my daughters around me all the time, I am talking about that display put forth by our elected "leaders" in Washington.  If the problems in Washington did not make themselves very obvious during the sessions last week then you are a much better person than I am.  If last week's debacle was not the flier on term limits then this nations loves the misery of gridlock.  I am not even talking about the votes that were cast or the deals that passed the house because I knew some unpopular bill would be passed that did not solve or tackle the issue that this country is facing.  It was the way our leaders conducted themselves.  

I am mainly talking about the Hurricane Sandy Relief bill.  First let me say that the fact that this had not been done is somewhat appalling.  In 2005, President Bush took major flack by the lack of response by the government to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  Why isn't President Obama getting the same treatment?  This time it's Congress' fault.  Talk about a media double standard.  Anyway, that's not what I am talking about.  

What I am about to say is my opinion of what happened based on what has been reported by several news outlets and I have been trying to piece together over the past few days.  The Senate overwhelmingly passes the bill that would provide the much needed relief to Northeast states affected by Sandy.  This then moves on to the House for a vote.  Ironically, the vote for this relief was to happen the same day that vote on the Tax Deal bill was to happen.  So, apparently Speaker Boehner cancels the vote because he was mad at the bad deal that was voted on and to get back at the Democrats he cancelled the vote.  So, in a nutshell, he took his ball and went home.  That is what the media wants you to believe.

Let's go back to the Senate portion of the show.  How could a bill pass so overpoweringly in the Senate and not get any play in the House?  Just doesn't make any sense.  So as I read more of what was in this bill almost one third of the money to be dispersed were to go to states on the Gulf Coast and those representatives were coincidentally Republican.  So did Senate Majority leader Harry Reid add all this pork to this bill to prevent it from being filibustered?  I understand that he wants to change the rules to prevent filibusters on the Senate floor, but this is not the way to do it.  This is the problem with Washington.  The billions of tax dollars spent to buy votes.

Back to Speaker Boehner.  He made a bad deal with a group of people that he believed were negotiating in good faith and never had any intention of making any real spending cuts.  Sorry Mr. Speaker, you had to see that coming.  The fair and balanced deficit reduction that they were talking about was that the only fair way to balance the budget will be to raise taxes.  Now if Speaker Boehner did not like the Senate's version of the Relief bill from the get go, and that was the reason he cancelled the vote then there is nothing wrong with that.  But there was no indication of that and he looked like a child by cancelling the vote, giving the illusion he was being spiteful.

So, now the country is in an outrage because of the vote that didn't happen.  But the fact that the elected leaders are once again spending foolishly the taxpayers’ money is not even mentioned.  The fact that only a handful of people negotiate these tax and deficit deals that effect everybody should be the true outrage.  This whole past week was so bad in Washington that Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) did not even support it and this is why “In the end, I could not support this short-term fix which may spawn additional long-term problems, putting off until later the tough decisions on taxes and our nation’s debt and deficits, while also ignoring the biggest deficit challenging America’s prosperity: a jobs deficit. Produce jobs, revenues increase. Produce jobs, deficits drain away. Produce jobs, and the engine of American success – the middle class – grows and strengthens...."  

The problem is clear, the perception, not so much.

3D

If you don't take it from me, ask my wife.