Blog entries

Time To Kill the Czars Again

John Coonen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:00:00 +0100

It's clearly time for the current administration to recall what happened to the last "dynasties" which believed in Tsarism. They got the axe. Tempting as it is, and seemingly justified by practice and precedent laid down by misguided past administrations, Obama must avoid the temptation of tipping the balance of power toward the Executive Branch, and kill the dangerous practice of appointing so-called "Czars" to key governmental positions.

If he doesn't do it, our elected Read More...

Catholics Coming Home.

John Coonen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:00:30 +0100

This year, I decided it was time to stop wandering, stop searching for the truth, and let it find me. I finally gave up and gave in. I finally woke up and realized that the Truth was right next to me all along. I don't know whether I converted, because I think I've been Catholic all along; it was just a matter of clearing away all the fog, the noise and the negativity.

While I grew up in multiple protest faiths - Presbyterian, Episcopalian and "non-denominational" - I neRead More...

Joe Wilson Proves Congress Impotent

John Coonen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:14:33 +0100

Let's See:

- The President comes into OUR Chamber - The Peoples' Congress - and in rather thinly veiled lawyerspeak, calls those who disagree with him untruthful...In essence, Resident Obama calls those who disagree with him, "liars."

- The House Leadership (and Senate, for that matter) won't even let conservative lawmakers participate in policy formation, let alone have time for debate or at least public Q & A, which is standard operating procedure for ANY lRead More...

Bonnie Hunt, I Heart You!

John Coonen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:55:48 +0100

This is the can of whoop-ass (you know, the truth slapping him in the face?) our ex-Governor needs to understand he was fired for good reason. Bonnie's one of my favorite Chicagoans.

Republicans and Libertarians Must Unite To Be Relevant

John Coonen — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:12:56 +0100

Let's face it, the last time Republicans had any street cred, Ronald Reagan was in office. His plank of "less government, less waste" was hammer-clawed right from the Libertarian platform. He knew then what we still know now: that while Libertarian philosophy - for the most part - makes great sense, the party itself is impotent, at best.

These days, most Republicans are closet Libertarians. I am, for sure. They read Reason Magazine; they steal concepts from the Lib's andRead More...

Being This Far In Debt Is Pure Hell.

John Coonen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:24:55 +0100

More than once in my lifetime, I've been to someone's house, and seen a stack of unopened bills in their inbox. We're not talking fresh-from-the-mailbox bills either. We're talking yellowing-paper, crispy crinkly-old envelopes, sent two or three postal rate increases ago. The bills never got opened; the bills rarely get paid.

Meanwhile, the voicemail box message on their land line says, "Sorry this voicemail box is full." You and I know what's on every one of those messRead More...

Question: If Ted Kennedy Were On the Obama Healthcare Plan...

John Coonen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:16:10 +0100

News came out last night that Senator Edward Kennedy passed away, after over a yearlong battle with brain cancer. While I disagree with the Senator's philosophy and underhanded tactics, I do recognize, respect and support his God-given right and Government-given freedom to choose to secure the best medical care providers he can find.

While the Senator enjoyed a juicy-sweet benefits package that only Congressmen and Senators are privy to, while the rest of us minioRead More...

Glenn Beck Has "Acorns"

John Coonen — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Thank you, Glenn Beck, for giving ACORN their 15 minutes (scratch that...less than 15 minutes). The citizens of the US need to put ACORN out of business.

Non-Considerate Zeroes Won't Like This

John Coonen — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I've got to share this video with you, from a comedian Louis CK, guest on Conan.

Housing Scam Didn't Start Recession. The Promise of Change Did.

John Coonen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0100

Let's suspend reality for a moment, take ourselves out of the political mêlée and economic stress. Let's gently place ourselves into the future. Imagine the year is 2020, and we're looking back at this economic debacle to figure out what caused it. Let's look at it with perfect "2020 hindsight," as it were.

What do we see as the real catalyst for the economic crash of 2008-2009? While foolish and corrupt policy making on the part of legislators (including ObRead More...

Bootstrapper vs Barney-Bail-Out

John Coonen — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0100

My next vehicle won't be a Chrysler or GM. It'll be a Ford. I'll never bank with Citibank; I'll continue doing business with my small town bank here in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Teddy Roosevelt would be out on Capitol Hill, kickin' a little tail right now if he were around. No folks, the answer isn't to bail out our companies and organizations; it's all about bootstrapping. Those that can't make it need to either file for bankruptcy or go under.

To contiRead More...

Can You Smell the Snake Oil Yet?

John Coonen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0100

After he was elected and before he was sworn in, I made peace with the fact that a velvet-tongued elitist who lacked the courage to vote anything but "present" on several critical bills (in order to conceal his true stripes) was going to be our Commander In Chief. I told my wife and my friends here in my home state of Illinois that I would bite my own tongue and stay open minded to the possibility that the "change" promised by "Present Obama" could actually be of value to Americans, desperateRead More...