There are actually two messages here. The 1st points out the incredible benefits of Universal Healthcare and is very interesting; the 2nd is absolutely astounding - and explains a lot.


1.A recent "Investor's Business Daily" article provided very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization.

Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
U.S. 65%
England 46%
Canada 42%

Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:
U.S. 93%
England 15%
Canada 43%

Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
U.S. 90%
England 15%
Canada 43%

Percentage referred to a medical specialist
who see one within one month:
U.S. 77%
England 40%
Canada 43%

Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:
U.S. 71
England 14
Canada 18

Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":
U..S. 12%
England 02%
Canada 06%


Check this last set of statistics!!


2..The percentage of each past president's cabinet who had worked in the private business sector prior to their appointment to the cabinet.

Here are the percentages.
T. Roosevelt................... 38%
Taft............................... 40%
Wilson .......................... 52%
Harding.......................... 49%
Coolidge....................... 48%
Hoover ......................... 42%
F. Roosevelt...................50%
Truman........................ 50%
Johnson........................ 47%
Nixon............................ 53%
Ford............................. 42%
Carter........................... 32%
Reagan..........................86%
GH Bush....................... 51%
Clinton ......................... 39%
GW Bush...................... 55%

And the winner is:

Obama.................. 08%


This helps to explain the incompetence of this administration: only 8% of them have ever worked in a job not supported by tax money!

That's right! Only eight percent---the least, by far, of the last 19 presidents! And these people are trying to tell our big corporations how to run their business? They know what's best for GM, Chrysler, Wall Street, and you and me?

How can the president of a major nation and society, the one with the most successful economic system in world history, stand and talk about business when he's never worked for one? Or about jobs when he has never really had one? And when it's the same for 92% of his senior staff and closest advisers? They've spent most of their time in academia, government and/or non-profit jobs or as "community organizers." They should have been in an employment line.

China builds super-scary-secret-weapon...

...That we've known about for 40 years.

Couldn't resist. Getting sick of all these diversions around the world that our political advertising systems uses to help drive us over the cliff.

BigMG

Posted on December 17, 2011 at 8:16am

All this hand-wringing over a retrofitted scrap of 1980′s era Soviet engineering? Those Soviet clowns couldn‘t even properly build things they’d been stealing from us since the 1920′s. That so-called ‘stealth’ plane they rolled out looked more like an anvil with an engine. They can steal our technology, but they can’t steal our innovation. That has to be done from within. And, it is.
China is just getting ready to pick up the pieces after we self destruct. Diversion will be their best weapon.
The only problem is that China is self destructing also. Whole ‘planned communist paradise cities’ are uninhabited. Tens of thousands workers lie dead, mostly buried alive, in China’s proletariat dream. Close to 200,000 protests in less than a decade; where workers would rather face the end of a gun than work in these hell holes.
Let‘s not forget that China’s hell hole work environment is courtesy of United States Unions, who have forced labor overseas for the sake of their own power. We share in the blood shed for global Communism. But, through our dept, we in a sense own them.
So, when we get upset over a 40yr. old scrap heap retrofitted by a nation of slaves, remember: IT IS A DIVERSION.

The most obvious answer is to fix ourselves first.
Is China planning of taking Taiwan? When haven't they been? What FDR failed to do in the 1940's, Obama may succeed in doing if reelected. But, who cares? Walmart is having a sale...

How's That Dope 'n Change? GE Leaves USA.

GE leaves USA

General Electric is planning to move its 115-year-old X-ray division from Waukesha, Wis., to Beijing. In addition to moving the headquarters, the company will invest $2 billion in China and train more than 65 engineers and create six research centers. This is the same GE that made $5.1 billion in the United States last year. but paid no taxes-the same company that employs more people overseas than it does in the united States.

So let me get this straight. President Obama appointed GE Chairman Jeff Immelt to head his commission on job creation (job czar). Immelt is supposed to help create jobs.

I guess the President forgot to tell him in which country he was supposed to be creating those jobs. Then again, perhaps he did exactly as the President instructed (through his Union puppeteers).

If this doesn't show you the total lack of leadership of this President, I don't know what does. Please pass this information to others and think about it before you buy a GE product.

Herman's Harem

Yet another woman comes forward. This one claiming to have had a 13 year affair with the multi-tasking presidential candidate. Either this frisky front runner has a social calendar that looks like that of a dentist who takes Medicare, or there are a lot of people who don't want to see a conservative black man in the race.

Whether those would be DNC, or GOP, or both, remains to probably never be seen.

What is clear at this point is:
Herman, you should have run as a Democrat.
Your alleged sexual prowess would have made you a liberal's super star. Your ascension to the presidency would have been a lock.
Bill Clinton has Herman beat by a mile.

What is most puzzling about this whole thing is how much this reminds me of the Clarance Thomas kerfuffle. Women popping up like 'Whack-a-Mole', all with financial problems. Anita Hill, for example, wasn't someone anybody wanted on their team, but was good enough for a cush job as a legal professor after the hit was over.

Journalists seem attracted to the same old stories that the racist Democrats loved in the 1800's: The amorous black man stealing the white plantation owner's daughter. Why they still love that story tells us more about who journalists are today than who Herman Cain was a decade ago.

I suspect that Herman may have been careless in the manner in which he handled himself around women. Restaurants aren't exactly the place to find a Harvard grad, unless she was an art major -- but I digress. There may be an abundance of women tired of smelling like the 'soup du jour' and see this as a way out.

Wasn't it Democrat strategist James Carville who said about Bill's trysts, that finding women like this to come forward was as easy as "Dragging a $100 Bill through a trailer park"? But, with Bill there were other witnesses, hush money was paid, threats were made, and many uncooperative folks ended up dead. Especially cops, who can be very influential where testimony is concerned.

Not one member of Herman's Harem seem to mention any hush-money, or any attempt at containment. It's like he never saw any of this coming.

Just sayin'

More Like 'Lack of Class' Warfare

More Like 'Lack of Class' Warfare
Today, Occu-parasites all over the U.S. are demanding things they have no legal right to take.
Class warfare is at its best/worst laziness, ingratitude, and greed. Just look at the environment they have left behind during these tantrums.

The Real Story of Stuff

The slackers who are getting the free stuff don't like the workers who are paying for the free stuff, because the workers who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the slackers free stuff and the stuff the workers have earned for themselves.

And,

The workers who are paying for the slackers free stuff want the slackers free stuff to stop, while the slackers who are getting the free stuff, want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!

Now

The politicians, who are forcing the workers, that pay for the slackers free stuff, have also told the slackers who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the workers who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So

The slackers, who are GETTING the free stuff, have been convinced by the politicians that they need to hate the workers who are paying for the slackers free stuff. But, it's the politicians who are forcing the workers to pay for the slackers stuff, and then giving it to the slackers as free stuff in the first place.

We have let the politicians give free stuff for so long that there are now more slackers getting free stuff than there are workers who are paying for the free stuff.

There is something in between the workers and the slackers that is preventing the two from coming to an agreement. That would be the POLITICIAN, or in other times, the MERCENARY.

It is the politician's job to make sure that the workers and the slackers hate one another so that the need for intervention is constant and escalating.

Now understand this.

All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 and 250 years after being founded. The reason? The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The United States officially became a Republic in 1776, 231 years ago. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that in 2012. Failure to change that spells the end of the United States as we know it.

ELECTION 2012 IS COMING

A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!
Unless YOU Take a Stand!!!

Obama: Gone

Borders: Enforced

Language: English

Culture: Constitution and the Bill of Rights

Compassion: Hand-Up, Not Hand-Out -- Mandatory Drug Screening before Welfare

NO freebies to Non-Citizens whatsoever!

If someone came to this country looking for equal opportunity: Welcome, there is room for them to do it the right way.

If someone came to this country bringing the culture of lawlessness, murder, and corruption with them: Go home. We have no room for criminals.

Proof Uncoverd: The Links between the ACLU and the Communist Party

What has this to do with anything? First, we have ACLU members in the highest positions of power, including the Supreme Court. Their agenda is quite literal: Replace this Republic with a Socialist / Communist State. Occasionally, they will defend an issue that is consistent with conservative ideas, but that's just a smoke screen.

Proof Uncoverd: The Links between the ACLU and the Communist Party

We all knew the ACLU really stood for American Communist Labor Union.

John Rossomando reports, via The Daily Caller:

Noted author Paul Kengor has unearthed declassified letters and other documents in the Soviet Comintern archives linking early leaders of the ACLU with the Communist Party.

Kengor found a May 23, 1931 letter in the archives signed by ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, written on ACLU stationery, to then American Communist Party Chairman William Z. Foster asking him to help ACLU Chairman Harry Ward with his then-upcoming trip to Stalin's Russia.

The letter suggests Ward intended to visit the Soviet Union to find 'evidence from Soviet Russia' that would undermine the capitalist profit motive.

Baldwin wrote the letter at a time when Stalin was deporting 1.8 million Ukrainian peasants to Siberia under his policy of the forced collectivization of agriculture, which resulted in the deaths of up to 10 million Ukrainians in the two years that followed.

The Ukrainian government considers this to have been an act of genocide.

Foster was a key figure in the early years of the American communist movement who belonged to the ACLU's National Committee in the 1920s, according to FBI documents. He later wrote a book titled 'Toward Soviet America' in 1932 and also testified under oath before Congress that he opposed American democracy.

Another letter on ACLU letterhead Kengor found in the Soviet archives dated Sept. 2, 1932 asks the Communist Party of America for a schedule of Foster's trips around the country and offers to help keep the police at bay. It also asks for the names and addresses of Communist Party representatives in the cities where Foster was speaking.

Kengor also found a flier from 1933 advertising ACLU board member Corliss Lamont as the headline speaker for 'Soviet Union Day,' which its organizers hoped would 'answer lies and slanders of enemies of the Soviet Union.'

The documents found their way into the Soviet archives because the Communist Party sent all of its correspondences to the Comintern in Moscow for safekeeping, according to Kengor.

Other documents released in the 1990s by KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin show the American Communist Party was under the Moscow's direct control until 1989.

'These guys were advocating a regime that arguably was the biggest mass murderer in all of human history,' Kengor said. 'Where is the moral authority in that?'

Kengor told The Daily Caller he found numerous other documents in the Soviet Comintern archives that also show a close relationship between the Communist Party and the ACLU.

Declaration of Rights & Responsibilities

Enough of this world's foolishness. It is time to take responsibility for ones own actions.

Beck is dead-on right. It is time for the idiots of the world to stop blaming good people when these idiots bring bad consequences upon themselves because of their own irresponsibility.

Thus, we the people do hereby declare not only our rights, but do now establish this bill of responsibilities.

1. Because I have the right to choose, I recognize that I am accountable to God and have the responsibility to keep the 10 commandments in my own life.

2. Because I have the right to worship as I choose, I have the responsibility to honor the right of others to worship as they see fit.

3. Because I have freedom of speech, I have the responsibility to defend the speech of others, even if I strongly disagree with what they’re saying.

4. Because I have the right to pursue happiness, I have the responsibility to show humility and express gratitude for all the blessings I enjoy and the rights I’ve been given.

5. Because I have the right to honest and good government I will seek out honest and just representatives when possible. If I cannot find one then I accept the responsibility to take that place.

6. Because I have the God given right to liberty, I have the personal responsibility to have the courage to defend others to be secure in their persons, lives and property.

7. Because I have the right to equal justice, I will stand for those who are wrongly accused or unjustly blamed.

8. Because I have the right to knowledge, I will be accountable for myself and my children’s education…to live our lives in such a way that insures the continuation of truth.

9. Because I have the right to pursue my dreams and keep the fruits of my labor, I have the responsibility to feed, protect and shelter my family, the less fortunate, the fatherless, the old and infirm.

10. Because I have a right to the truth, I will not bear false witness nor will I stand idly by as others do.

Many people like slavery because they have everything handed to them and they never have to make any difficult decisions. Problem is, when your usefulness as a slave is no longer needed, you become a liability. They shoot you, or more likely, just starve you to death.

Dem Rep Cites ‘Racism’ as Top Reason for Black Unemployment

First, why would anyone elect some fool in a shiny red hat.

Who only cares about color in America today as a way of fracturing society and fomenting hatred?
Oh, the racist slave owners, *cough-democrats*.

Who cares what color you are when it comes to denying some people a quality education?
Oh, the racist slave owners, *cough-democrats*.

Who advocates the targeted abortions for one particular community?
Oh, the racist slave owners, *cough-democrats*.

All REAL Americans want is competent, hard working, educated, and capable citizens.
No matter what color.

All REAL Americans want is for their fellows to join together and support the greatest nation the world has ever seen.
No matter what color.

Why is it so hard to see that the people pretending to be helping the black community are actually herding them into a plantation of the mind.

Willful slavery is something that this world hasn't seen to this degree, ever. We often state that the last civil war was fought to free the slaves. Did you ever think that the next civil war will be fought to set free slaves who will be fighting to remain slaves. Of every color.

In reality, though, roughly 1/2 of the entire American population has become a slave of the mind. The people who have lost interest in freedom and only want a handout. This is no longer a black-white issue. This is a 'those-who-get-it' issue and a 'those-who-are-wondering-what's-on-TV-right-now'.

By fracturing society and dividing people into smaller, more self-important, insular groups, the slave owners are sapping your life away. Who will care about Social Security or Medicare when the government collapses from millions of paper cuts. How can the slave owners maintain power when they've finally squeezed the last dollar out of the working man and handed it over to the idle male.

Time for Orrin to Go

After reading Michelle Malkin's assessment on Orrin Hatch, it's pretty much a fact that Orrin is only a Tea Party supporter inasmuch as leech is to the back of your leg. Hitching one free ride after another, while sucking Utah dry of qualified representatives, he has used America to satisfy his ambition.

If anyone thinks for one second that Orrin wouldn't throw any one of us under the bus, think again. His newsletters turn my stomach as I've seen what he really believes through his actions for 36+ years.

We don't need career politicians on either side. Government has become so overwhelmingly large that the demise of this country is a certainty. And, Orrin is leading the charge.

Stop Orrin before he and his RHINO buddies take us all over the cliff.

Orrin Hatch is the antithesis of the Tea Party spirit. He is a mascot for big-spending Beltway entrenched incumbency who has consistently joined hands with destructive Democrats.

He slobbered over corruptocrat Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd.

He co-sponsored the $6 billion national service boondoggle and dedicated it to his good friend Teddy Kennedy, with whom he also joined hands to create the ever-expanding SCHIP entitlement.

He supported tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner from day one, lavished praise on Joe Biden’s balls, and embraced and defended Attorney General Eric Holder’s nomination because, he said, “I like Barack Obama and I want to help him if I can.”

He was an original sponsor of the open-borders DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout and voted for the massive TARP bailout.

How do real Tea Party people feel about Tea Party pretender Orrin Hatch?

The same way they feel about his former big-spending entrenched incumbent in Utah — former Sen. Bob Bennett — who got the boot in May.

...

Now, the six-term Hatch — first elected in 1976 on an anti-entrenched incumbent platform (Hatch’s campaign line then against his opponent Frank Moss:“What do you call a Senator who’s served in office for 18 years? You call him home”) — wants to stay in Washington yet another term after FOUR DECADES in government. He has been lining up some big conservative names. And now there is some sort of pro-Hatch, anti-Freedomworks website using my words to support Hatch.

I don’t know what the beef is between Dick Armey and Orrin Hatch. But I will tell you this: While Armey’s pro-amnesty stance bothers me, bailout Swamp Creature Orrin Hatch’s desperate bid to cling to power by morphing himself into a Tea Party cheerleader aggravates me far more.

I will do whatever I can to support Hatch’s challenger — likely the staunch conservative GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who is a fiscal warrior, tough on illegal immigration, and has a terrific record taking down the GOP establishment.

Time to elect responsible, adult, leadership. Not Marxist children.

Why We All Need To Pay More Taxes

It's apparent that we all need to pay more taxes. A whole lot more.

Why?

• Not for much needed upkeep of our roads, bridges, and highways. (That's a State issue anyway)
• Not for a viable space program that emphasizes scientific progress and economic innovation. (Should be privatized today)
• Not for the best military in the world, and providing the tools for their protection. (One of the THREE constitutional duties of the Federal Gvmt)
• Not for maintaining law and order, and crafting fair law applicable for all US Citizens. (That's #2, and completely neglected as well)
• Not for regulating the supply and stability of a national currency. (#3 and, well, let's ask FDR about that one)

No, we need to pay more taxes for ENTITLEMENTS which will gobble up 58% of the budget.

And, here is the perfect example: Taken down by YouTube

Debt Ceiling

Atheists to Fly July 4 Airplane Banners in 27 States: ‘God-LESS America,‘ ’Atheism is Patriotic’

BigMG

Posted on July 1, 2011 at 7:13pm

…There [is] no law against a man’s belief…
That is the loophole and I don’t have a problem with that. Atheism by its very definition is a philosophy and a belief. By saying that one ‘believes’ that there is no god, they embrace a counter set of beliefs. It is when one hides their beliefs and ridicules another that lies begin to be told. Unfortunately, atheism cannot stand without leaning on a belief in God, and then attacking God for being God.
It’s like how C.S. Lewis puts it, how can you recognize a crooked line without knowing what a straight line is?
If atheists want to promote their beliefs, let them do so; without an appeal to the existence of God.
Now, try not to think of shooting an elephant…

Now the story (always read the end first, then work upwards)

Here is the meat of the story: Atheists are claiming 'persecution' because those intolerant Christians won't help them ridicule Christian beliefs.

Imagine that...

But, the campaign hasn‘t even been implemented yet and it’s already off to a rocky start. According to Justin Jaye of Fly Signs Aerial Advertising, the guy who helped organize the nation-wide blitz, of the 85 people in the nation who are able to fly these banner-bearing planes, only 17 agreed to participate. The fear of public reaction and the confines of personal religious belief led the majority of these individuals to refuse service. SeattleWeekly.com has more:

Scott…tells Seattle Weekly that in larger cities and more liberal areas, he had no trouble finding pilots to take the banners to the sky. But in Southern states like Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas and other conservative states like Montana, Kansas, and Utah, there apparently wasn’t a single pilot to be found who would fly a banner promoting atheism.

...“This is a clear reminder of why we need to keep fighting because the bigotry against us is so thick that a lot of the pilots are afraid to fly our banners.”

Boo-Freaking-Hoo...

Smilin' Jon Huntsman abandons pro-life platform at the drop of a hat.

Great, just what we need, another No-Mo that the liberals love, have no values, and pretend to be one of us.

Smilin' Jon Huntsman abandons pro-life platform at the drop of a hat.

http://www.breitbart.tv/huntsman-says-no-to-pro-life-pledge-yes-to-ebryonic-stem-cell-research/

This leads me to ask of the top 6 Mormons in politics, Reed, Hatch, Bennett, Romney, Huntsman, and Leavitt: If any of them were to be tried as a Mormon, based on voting record or behavior, who would you convict and who acquit?

If politics and a moral compass are mutually exclusive in today's politics, since when did this happen?

Was George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, or any other founding father, pro-secularist?

Then what was the Constitution based on?

Moral Law

That Magical Science Thingey

Team America star, Aleck Bawldwin, head of the Film Actors Guild, has yet another pithy tweet that reveals his deep understanding of science...

"Wind, magnified photo-voltaic, geo-thermal, ocean current could do it all."

How Things Work Around Here

Little Johnny

The kids filed back into class Monday morning. They were very excited. Their weekend assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on productive salesmanship.

Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that approach for my obvious success." "Very good," said the teacher.

Little Mary was next: "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on current events.” "Very good, Mary" said the teacher.

Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn. The teacher held her breath ... Little Johnny walked to the front of the classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's desk. "$2,467" he said. "$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world were you selling?"

"Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.

"Toothbrushes!" echoed the teacher, "How could you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much money?"

"I found the busiest corner in town," said Little Johnny. "I set up a Dip & Chip stand and gave everybody who walked by a free sample."

They all said the same thing, "Hey, this tastes like dog crap!"

Then I would say, "It is dog crap. Wanna' buy a toothbrush?"

"I used the Obama approach of giving you something shitty for free, and then making you pay to get the taste out of your mouth."

The Green Thing

Before environmentalism, there was conservation. They might appear to be the same thing, but they are vastly different. Essentially, environmentalism is an emotion while conservation is an action.

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

~Author Unknown~

I doubt that anyone would have tolerated this back when conservation was practiced and not environmentalism.

Beavis and Butthead vs. Emotional Dead Tree Hippies

Mitt Romney on Newsweek cover

Mitt Romney target of ridicule on Newsweek. What a surprise that is...



Now, this is something we've all gotten used to. A bigoted press attacking a conservative candidate for his/her beliefs. Romney, love him or not, has become the target of such attacks.

"Can a MORMON be trusted in a position of power?"

My question is this:
Why hasn't Harry Reid's MORMONISM ever been brought into question?
Or, more to the point, if he were ever put on trial for being a Mormon, would there be any evidence that might be used against him?

Probably not.

So, taken that conservatives are judged by much higher standards, and that Reid has set the low standard as a politician and Mormon, this ought to be on the next Newsweek front page:

Anthony Weiner Speaks Out !

Tale of the Sneaky Pringles

One of my many weaknesses is a good can of greasy, pre-processed, stack-able, potato chips. On the days that I allow myself said indulgence, Walmart is the place to go.

Walmart, being the 12th largest country in the world, GDP-wise, is really good at keeping prices low. Not all the time, but generally Walmart does the job.

The brunt of this low price obsession usually falls on the vendor. The employees are getting better treatment these days, but this is retail for crying out loud; if you don't have customers nobody would be working.

Let's face it, Walmart has created a lot of wealth for everyone. Bitching and whining aside, Walmart has done a spectacular job at providing millions of choices in a clean and safe environment. Ever been to Carnita? In Mexico? Case closed.

This one example has me fascinated though. Walmart's emphasis is always on keeping the margin razor thin. Even when it means getting tough with bigger vendors.

Enter Pringles vs Lays. Essentially the same, except that Pringles has raised their prices by 50%. What used to be a buck is now a buck-fiffdy. That is an outrage! Fiffdy cent? Damn!

Anyway, during my infrequent trips to the chip aisle, I've noticed something interesting:

Trick #1, Pringles started monkeying with their price. A buck, a buck & a quarter, back to a buck, up to one fifty, and back.

Trick #2, Pringles, now a solid $1.50, and Lays, holding strong at $1.00, used to be placed side by side. That created a huge advantage for Lays. Then they began to drift apart. It's always over money, isn't it?

Trick #3, Bulk pricing. Pringles featured a 3 pack for $3.00. You were again getting the product for a buck, you just had to buy three of 'em.

The Pringles display is now ensconced in the coveted center aisle. With its own big sign. Lays still flying off the shelves in the corner.

Trick #4, The imperceptible difference. Pringles sneakily made a can that by itself looks like a regular can. The above photograph proves that the devil in the handlebar mustache is even more devious than once thought.

Results: This 14.5 oz. can is now a buck individually vs. the steadfast 15.5 oz. can, for a buck, from Lays. All this wrangling and posturing over FIFTY CENTS?!

In the end, Lays will end up raising prices as well.

That's not what this story is about. The biggest story of this century will be: How private business always ends up being the responsible ones for insane government policy.

Did Pringles or Lays scream for a bailout? How much Stimulus did they get? Where were the Union blockades demanding that the people pay $5.00 a can, just like in Europe?

The fact is that despite the catastrophic policies via our current Socialist President, his Communist cabinet, and illegal ties with some of the worst people in the world; a hopelessly corrupt Congress (Democrat & Republican alike), U.N. pressure, special interest shills, and lobbying groups; private industry is still managing to keep this economy afloat. Barely. They've lost over 1.5 million productive jobs that were converted into 1 million non-productive government positions. Unemployment has been falsely reported for the last two years as being under 10%, when in fact it is close to 20%. Let's not even start with the regulations...

The tale of the Sneaky Pringles is more about compromise, restraint, dialogue, and strict financial responsibility.

Hell, I'd trade the entire political system for Pringles vs Lays.

"I'm a Pringle-o-crat!" vs. "I'm a Lays-publican!" Can you imagine what our world would be like if our political representatives had to work for a living?

We'd be fighting over FIFTY CENTS instead of FIFTY BILLION.

Where's The Baby...

THERE'S THE BABY!!!

And you can play that game with a child for hours. Babies will appear completely surprised and then eventually become bored. But babies don't seem to figure out that the same face appears from behind a curtain of hands because NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

Can't think of a better metaphor for our Media today.

Thanks Mr. Barone for pointing out how stupid they think we are. Of course, when the MSM is pointing that finger, there's three pointing back.

“New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed,” reported cnbc.com May 25.

“Personal consumption fell,” Business Insider reported the same day, “when it was expected to rise.”

“Durable goods declined 3.6 percent last month,” Reuters reported May 25, “worse than economists’ expectations.”

“Previously owned home sales unexpectedly fall,” headlined Bloomberg News May 19.

“U.S. home construction fell unexpectedly in April,” wrote the Wall Street Journal May 18.

Barone goes on to quote “How many times in a row can something happen unexpectedly before the experts start to, you know, expect it? At some point, shouldn’t they be required to state the foundation for their expectations?”

Which brings us back to the baby. How many times do we have to be lied to for us to finally say, ENOUGH!

How can 80% of an entire industry still act surprised by economic facts established over 100 years ago?