Many visitors to AmericanTusk.com have emailed me specifically about the Employee Free Choice Act or as many of us call it, the “Employee NO Choice Act”, which amongst many other detrimental features, would eliminate the secret ballot voting implemented today.  I am particularly interested in this topic due to my own personal experiences with Unions.  First, allow me to state that I am in a Union.  Second, believe me when I say that I am very much against Unions.  I was forced to join the Union because years ago when I got hired on a new job, it was already a Union position so my choice was to either join the Union or not accept the position.  I have worked many non-union jobs and in those positions I have expanded my talent base, was offered new opportunities, and was treated fairly to the extent of the law.  My Union position, after my bi-weekly dues, did not offer me much more money than when I held non-union jobs and completely restricted many opportunities and training.  Unions have become blackmailers of corporate America.  A good friend of mine entered a position that was non-union about two years ago.  The Union, which oversaw the majority of the jobs in his profession, wanted my friend’s position to become Union as well.  He was not opposed, however, the Union insisted that my friend not accept any work until Management unionized him.  Unfortunately, my friend was not in a financial position to turn down any work so while he supported the Union efforts, he continued to work.  The remaining weeks included Union thugs calling him and persistently threatening him.  They would also resort to attempting to sabotage his work whenever possible.  These are the people who were supposedly “looking out for him.”  Modern day Unions are, I believe, unnecessary.  In the past they were essential to the creation of safe and secure jobs in the workplace and they were instrumental in the creation of many of our labor laws.  These labor laws have become more than sufficient in ensuring the safety and security of employees.  The Unions now focus on obtaining more and more benefits for less and less work.  The auto industry is a perfect example of how Unions have crippled an entire industry.  Their greed and arrogance has caused an industry that was created in America to fall behind foreign competitors.  Now we are witnessing the fall of the American auto companies.  Employees know this and they understand it.  Given the choice, 74% of Union workers favor keeping the current system of secret ballots.  If workers were forced to publicly decide, they would be subject to harassment and intimidation, much like my friend was subjected to.  The Government knows this, so why do they support the EFCA?  Perhaps the Democrats want this passed because this Bill would expand the Government’s control over privately owned companies.  If Employees and Management cannot come to an agreement over a contract, the EFCA would allow the Government to step in and create a contract for all to abide by for 2 years which would be when the negotiations can be reopened.  The Government would dictate all facets of the company from benefits for workers to mergers, subcontracting, and general management.  This is a further example and a testament to the socialist state that we are turning into.  We were promised “Change”.  Boy, are we getting it!

by Thomas Craig

Have I forgot anything?  I just wanted to run down the list of ways we pay for the outrageous spending in Washington. 

Accounts Receivable Tax 
Building Permit Tax 
CDL License Tax 
Cigarette Tax 
Corporate Income Tax 
Dog License Tax 
Federal Income Tax 
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) 
Fishing License Tax 
Food License Tax 
Fuel Permit Tax 
Gasoline Tax 
Hunting License Tax 
Inheritance Tax 
Inventory Tax 
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) 
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) 
Liquor Tax 
Luxury Tax 
Marriage License Tax 
Medicare Tax 
Property Tax 
Real Estate Tax 
Service charge taxes 
Social Security Tax 
Road Usage Tax (Truckers) 
Sales Taxes 
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax 
State Income Tax 
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) 
Telephone Federal Excise Tax 
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax 
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax 
Telephone State and Local Tax 
Telephone Usage ChargeTax 
Utility Tax 
Vehicle License Registration Tax 
Vehicle Sales Tax 
Watercraft Registration Tax 
Well Permit Tax 
Workers Compensation Tax 

Call me crazy, but I enjoyed the press conference last night.  I was highly amused at the awkwardness between the President and several members of the Press.  I laughed when Obama got agitated and snapped at CNN's Ed Henry.  There were legitimate questions being asked and the President danced around each one.  I think it is because of this reason that the Press was getting frustrated and kept asking follow up questions which were simply just reiterating the original question.  It's great when Obama gets angry at the media for not just rolling over and wagging their tails as if he wants to say, "how dare you question me!"  The greatest question of the night was definitely about the deficit and the passing on of trillions in debt to future generations.  This, of course, is in direct contrast to his campaign promise of not pushing our problems on down the road to our children.  I was also pleased to see that the expansion of Government which the President is requesting was brought up.  The President wants to grant the Government the power to take control of financial companies.  I would love, just once, to hear a reporter ask the President or his pets in Congress a simple question.  I want to hear "How much Government is too much?"  I want to see what the President says about that.  To a much lesser degree I'm interested in Congressional Democrats answer to that as well.  I want to hear it from all of them except Pelosi and Frank.  To be honest, the sight and sound of Pelosi and Frank make me nauseas now.  (I'm becoming allergic to bullsh*t.)  We are down a troubling path but next year we have a chance to start correcting our mistakes.  I believe it is crucial for us to vote out these socialists in Congress.  That is the beauty of Democracy, we can vote them out.  That is, until the Government takes that away as well.

by Thomas Craig

We all have heard about the rhetoric coming from Russia lately.  Comrade Putin is reverting the place back to a disaster zone, faster than you can say "Nyet!".  The KGB is heavily promoting this political scientist who is insisting that the United States will break up, much like the Soviet Union did.  In general, things are bad.  Now, as every Conservative realizes, President Reagan had a big hand in destroying the "evil empire".  While we can all debate what it was that finally put the nail in the coffin, we know that the largest factor was the total collapse of the economy.  You see, the Soviet Union was in economic crises mode for almost the entire 20th century.  They always managed to get by because the international community was there to help them out.  Western nations kept them going by supporting them with our cash in the form of loans, investment, and most importantly, peace accords that bought the USSR time.  This was always so until President Reagan stepped in and put an end to it.  Reagan allowed their economy to crumble, doing them in once and (what we thought was) for all.  One strong Leader took the reins and decided it was time for us to allow our enemy to implode.  Fast forward to 2009.  The United States, in economic crises, is depending on the loans, investment, and support from hostile Nations in the east... especially China.  I call China hostile because as we all know, China isn't exactly being invited over for Thanksgiving dinner anytime soon.  Hypothetically, and I know you are reading this thinking it could never happen, but what if there arose a strong leader in China who decided that they no longer wanted America around?  You can take your pick of the reasons why.  Perhaps he doesn't want a competitor who poses a military challenge to China's empire, or maybe he wants China to have greater access to dwindling oil supplies.  Who knows, maybe he even wants America to collapse based simply on a moral agenda which portrays America as evil.  The point is, what if this Leader decides to stop the flow of money to us?  What if he decides that China will no longer invest in America, loan to America, or support it?  Would we end up like our former adversaries?  It seems far-fetched.  I'm sure it sounded just as ridiculous to a group of Russians before they ever heard the name Ronald Reagan.

by Thomas Craig

If you happened to miss Mitt Romney on Larry King Live this past week, I highly recommend you try to watch it online.  Romney brings up many interesting points but what stuck out to me was his statement that Obama is "learning on the fly".  He pointed out that Obama has never run a business (and certainly not a Nation) and that he is learning by trial and error.  The inexperience of our President is troubling to many, as it should be.  This inexperience has allowed the Congress to run wild.  It almost feels like they are saying, "George W Bush almost destroyed this Country, so now it's OUR chance to try to destroy the Country".  The AIG debacle is the first instance where the President and Congress cannot flat out blame Bush.  How did they react instead?  They tried to cover their butts by passing an unconstitutional bill which will tax AIG bonuses at a 90% rate.  I am amazed at how quickly the House introduced this bill and passed it.  Imagine if Congress worked that fast on solving our real problems.  The President is being taken advantage of by the radical elements of his Party.  Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Dodd... these are the faces of the true Leaders of America.  People who do as they please and serve only themselves.  Leaders who believe enforcing illegal immigration laws are "un-American".   You can't turn on the news without seeing a story about another State in financial disarray.  It is downright scary that States are depending on the stimulus funds to keep operating.  What happens when the stimulus funds run out?  They will be right back where they started only with more debt.  I wish we could just focus on the economy but our inexperienced President, unfortunetly, is lacking the ability to focus.  He is seeing this as an opportunity to exapnd Government programs and control.  Tea Parties are symbolic and fun, but they aren't getting the message across.  Americans need to bring their protests to the doorsteps of every Politician.  Let us protest in D.C. at the steps of the Capitol.  Let us go to our Representatives offices in our own districts and protest there and demand answers.  It is coming my friends.  We have two choices.  We can stand up now and demand responsibility or we can lay and wait until we wake up one morning, stripped of all our abilities to take ownership of our Government.

The AIG outrage is understandable.  Americans are well within their right to protest the use of funds by criminally-inept businessmen in a dying company which we were forced to become 80% owners of (despite overwhelming opposition).  That being said, it makes me sick to my stomach to listen to all the empty rhetoric coming from Washington about this.  Why is all our outrage aimed at AIG?  Why do we not direct a large bulk of that rage towards our elected leaders, who KNEW about this long ago.  Not only did they know about it, but politicians such as Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) made sure to protect these bonuses by sticking in provisions to the stimulus bill.  I suppose those kinds of things happen when Congress accepts a bill without reading it first.  (Makes you wonder what else was plugged into the stimulus bill.)  Now, everyone is calling for AIG's blood.  We are angry that they were not fiscally responsible with our money.  THEY WEREN'T FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE WITH THEIR OWN MONEY!  If these people knew how to manage money properly, we wouldn't have had to bail them out in the first place.  We should have expected this type of moronic behavior from them.  If your dog gets into your closet and destroys your shoes, is it his fault?  Perhaps it is the fault of the owner who left their shoes on the floor and the closet door open, and assumed that the dog will reason that the shoes hold value to its owner and therefore should not damage them.  Come on!  President Obama knew about this, Geithner knew about this, hell everyone knew about this.  They are getting a free pass on this for some reason.  Perhaps these "Leaders" who are just sooo angry right now can make an effort to show their solidarity with the People by donating the contributions that AIG made to their campaigns to charities which will increasingly be the life support for millions of Americans who lost their jobs, many thanks to AIG.  Politicians such as President Obama or Sen. Dodd who both received over $100k from AIG.  Why would we expect something like that though, from the Congress which receives automatic pay raises every year.  There is something brewing within the American People and we are all starting to get a whif of it.  While Obama governs on a policy of "hope", let us show our Government what something real looks like, for instance... VOTING THEM OUT!

by Thomas Craig

by Thomas Craig

That's right Ladies and Gentlemen!!  The very same place you will find Terri Hatcher promoting Desperate Housewives and John Cena promoting whatever cinematic gem he just churned out recently, you will get a candid one-on-one with the current President of the United States of America.  The Commander-in-chief himself, tired from concerts with Stevie Wonder and dinners with Hollywood's most glitzy, will appear on the Tonight Show to discuss family life, the wackiness of politics, and maybe even a pitch for that record budget of his.  No offense to Jay Leno, but is this really the place for a sitting President to make his case to the American People?  I think it is bad taste and it shows a complete disrespect for the intelligence of the American People.  I suppose the Administration sees this as "thinking outside the box".  Sure, why not?  Anything that can distract People from the bankrupting of their Nation can only be a positive thing when you are amounting a ridiculous debt.  President Obama is running this country based on one notion- trust.  His whole plan is to convince Americans to just "trust" him.  What is worse is that millions of People are falling for it.  While everyone is smiling at the President, the Government is growing and our tab is growing.  Every step towards a bigger Government is a step away from individual freedom.  The Founding Fathers knew that to be true.  Obama is trying to expand government over every single aspect of our lives.  I ask you this, when is the last time the Government did not royally screw up a program that they were managing?  Please, just give me one example.

by Thomas Craig

One word.  Unbelievable.  The Nation, no... the WORLD have unanimously condemned this man as running the biggest ponzi scheme in history.  While I agree that this man is scum, I don't credit him with pulling off the largest heist in history.  For that dubious honor, we must look to our own Government.  Let's take social security for example.  Anytime an American receives a paycheck, a portion of that paycheck is taken out and put towards social security.  (At least Madoff's victims voluntarily gave him their money.)  Our "contributions" are then used to pay for retired workers who paid their dues earlier.  When I retire, my children will pay a portion of their paychecks so that the Government can pay for my retirement.  In addition to this basic ponzi formula, our Government (much like Madoff) continually dips into the money set aside for social security to pay for completely unrelated expenses.  Look up "Ponzi Scheme" on wikipedia.  Their definition is... A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned.  Who will be held responsible when this ponzi scheme fails?  President Bush tried to break this cycle and allow individual investment of one's own money instead of mandatory contributions.  The Democrats defeated this by fear-mongering senior citizens into thinking they will lose their benefits.  A real solution was introduced and the Left rejected it!  Was it a perfect solution?  No, they never are, but it sure was a good start.  I don't mean to minimalize what Bernie Madoff did, but I think it is an ample opportunity to address the ongoing Great American Ponzi Scheme.  As we all have learned, Ponzi schemes inevitably fail.  The larger the scheme, such as Madoff's $65 Billion, the longer the charade might take to unfold.  History, however, has shown that it WILL always unravel in the end.  You think the crisis is bad now?  Unless Washington does something, just watch and wait to see the crises to come.

by Thomas Craig

I know, the title is maybe a bit much.  I'm having a hard time lately just like I know you are having a hard time as well.  We are standing by and watching our Country change into something and it terrifies us because we don't know what it will become.  What is even scarier is that it seems like our Government doesn't know what it will become either.  I sit and I pray that the Obama administration will surprise us and we will be lifted out of our current state.  Every day that passes, however, seems to convey the message that the President and our Government are in complete disarray.  It seems like our Government is being run no better than a fraternity house.  I'll tell you what I see.  I see a stock market that is failing because of a lack of direction and focus in our leadership.  I see a President who promised to stop earmarks and then goes ahead and signs off to 9000 of them.  I hear a President, who promised America that he has solutions, and instead merely blames his predecessor and throws his hands up as if to say that since he didn't cause it, he shouldn't be held responsible to fix it.  It’s almost as if we should be grateful that he is trying to fix it at all.  I see a Treasury Secretary who has zero faith from the People as well as Congress.  I see Republicans who advocate reforming the Party and vowing to return to our principles, and then go ahead and add in thousands of earmarks themselves.  I see a Speaker of the House who treats her position as if she won the lottery and can say, do, and spend whatever she pleases.  I sense, because my actual sight has never witnessed even a picture of it, trillions of dollars of debt that is borrowed from our Children or China (I'm not sure which is worse).  New taxes will take effect, and old taxes will rise.  Sure, only "rich" people will have their taxes increase.  You won't feel it at all unless of course you happen to purchase goods or services of any sort.  I see trillions spent on bailouts and stimulus.  I hear the call of our Leaders for trillions more to be spent to stop what the free market is naturally trying to accomplish.  Around the world, I see foreign nations test our resolve and flex their muscles and in return we invite them to sit down and talk.  I see Afghanistan failing and Mexican drug cartels pressing hard on our border.
Our individual freedoms are shrinking and our Government is growing.  More than ever before are we so controlled by our Government.  What saddens me is that America asked for it.  They saw a young man who talks a good game and who sold them Heaven itself.  That man is now winging it and trying to learn as he goes.  Of course the alternate option was not much better.
Republicans need to accept the misdeeds perpetrated by the Party during the Bush years.  I supported Bush and so I am guilty as well.  I supported the Patriot Act and I supported the expansion of our Government.  Both violate the Republican principles of individual freedom and limited Government.  I see all of this and I pray that our best days are ahead of us, but I fear that we might not be able to come back from where we are going.

by Thomas Craig

"I have the right to... have a home, have a car, have money given to me for retirement, have all my bills paid, have cable, have welfare, have everything and anything that somebody else has worked hard for."  Well I'm sorry but you really DON'T!  You certainly have rights.  You have the rights to Life, Liberty, and the PURSUIT of Happiness.  Hmm, that one word is pretty sneaky.  You have to admit, the words Life, Liberty, and Happiness are all inspirational and strong.  The Founding Fathers knew something about these ideals.  They had fought a bloody war of rebellion against their government, just to achieve them.  However, the Founding Fathers were not stupid.  They realized, as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently put it, "A Government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."  In their wisdom, they opted to modify what was never a realistic ability for them to grant which is assuring happiness.  Instead, they guaranteed every American the right to pursue their own happiness, whatever you deem that to be, as long as it does not interfere with anothers rights. 

Americans need to get over this "entitlement" issue.  You do not have a right to own a home.  In fact, most people probably should not take on that responsibility. (Most likely myself included)  We have backed ourselves into a dark corner where we cannot withdraw all the "blessings" which our Government has given us.  These blessings, all too often, are mismanaged and poorly ran by our Leaders.  You want to keep more in your paycheck?  Sorry, we need to pay an endless and ever-growing commitment of Social Security payments.  Did we mention that it's broke and you will spend your life trying to replenish it?  You want universal healthcare?  Well, after the great job the Government did with Medicare and Medicaid, you think they will do much better when it comes to your child's fever or your Mother's chemotherapy?  Is this really what you want?  You want the Government, who has their Treasury overseen by a man who could not do his own taxes, running every aspect of your life?  If you do, then you need to think deeply about the history and founding of this Nation.

I'm sorry but you are not entitled to my wallet.  That job has already been claimed by my Wife and even she prefers to use her own money before mine.  This problem is only going to get worse as the generation currently in College and younger believe that they deserve everything and anything, caused by a generation of Parents who catered to their every whim and did not think to encourage work ethic.  Generation X was filled with wannabe musicians, actors, and filmmakers who imagined working hard at their craft and hitting it big.  This is now replaced with a generation of Paris Hiltons who don't want to accomplish anything other than having a camera follow them around as they brush their teeth and make sex videos, mistaking both of them as acheivements.  To those who take the stability and strength of America for granted, it is time to wake up.