The price of Cigarettes goes to $11.00 dollars a pack in New York.

The price of cigarettes are going to be at least $11.00 a pack in New York beginning July 1st. The New York state Legislature just passed a resolution adding additional $1.60 to the price of cigarettes which will bring the total amount of taxes to $6.85 a pack. New York leads the way with the most taxes on cigarettes in the entire country by far. The additional $1.60 is expected to raise an additional $290 million dollars to help combat the 9.2 Billion dollar short fall New York State is facing with its budget. The state who comes in second with the highest cigarette taxes is Rhode Island with $3.46 a pack. According to the American Heart Association this additional tax is going to make at least 100,000 people quit smoking in New York. Smokers seem to be a fast growing minority and the new tax is helping them quit at a faster rate and creating more revenue for the state, this seems to be a win win for New Yorkers. Do you think there should be a limit or a cap on the amount you can keep on taxing Cigarettes? Are smokers being taking advantage of why don’t they add these additional taxes on fast food and the like? I don’t smoke for all the obvious reasons but it does seem that smokers are easy targets for tax hikes.

NY Daily news - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2010/06/22/2010-06-22_nail_in_coffin_legislature_oks_raising_cig_tax_160_to_us_high_435_a_pack.html#ixzz0raaf1Ptg

Minerals Management Service, Bp’s oil spill, (R) Rep. Joe Barton from Texas and Judge Lynn Hughes it all comes full circle.

 In earlier posts I have connected the dots as to how this entire travesty began. In short MMS rubber stamped anything that Bp submitted to them in order to drill the Deep Horizon well. In turn Bp took advantage of that fact and corruption and took even more short cuts which were abundantly clear from what I believe was great questioning during the Congressional hearings with Tony Hayward. In those hearings Rep Joe Barton from Texas apologized on behalf of himself for what he called a shake down by the White House for the 20 billion dollar escrow account to help all the people in the states that were affected. Rep Barton also takes money from the oil industry a lot of it in the form of donations, wink. I wonder If the Gulf residents feel as if it was a shake down, maybe Barton should take a swim in the Gulf  or eat polluted seafood and lose is income for the next five years and see if he still thinks it was a shake down. Now for the grand finale the judge that Bp wants to reside over the law suits has MAJOR OIL ties. Let’s see to start in 2008 Judge Lynn Hughes received between 50 and 100k from ConocoPhillips , he also receives money from Sun oil , Everest oil and Wagner oil for drilling on property that he owns, conflict of interest you think? Judge Hughes also leases land to Devon Energy to drill for oil in Oklahoma. Devon energy pays him only 15k for the rights to drill 10 wells, maybe the Judge was in a genorous mood that day and wanted to give Devon Energy a great deal. I am sure it has nothing to do with Judge Lynn Hughes ruling in favor of Devon Energy in a 2009 dispute with its insurance agency. I don’t think it can be any easier to connect the dots and see how our country works, it’s called money rules. We the people have to let our politicians know that we are not stupid and that we care. Because they obviously only care about one thing, money. Check out the links below and send a message to Representative Joe Barton and also tell us how you really feel and leave a comment.
Cnn - Judge favored by Bp has financial ties to oil industry -
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/17/bp.judge.oil.ties/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

Rep. Joe Barton webpage - http://joebarton.house.gov/Default.aspx

Judge Lynn N. Hughes Bio - http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/district/judges/lnh/biography.htm

Bp suspends Dividend for the wrest of the year and sets up escrow account. Progress?

The Gulf of Mexico is still a mess, the oil is still gushing out but we are making some progress on dry land at least. President Obama held meetings today at the White house with the top heads of the Bp oil company. I am happy to report that significant progress was made and the public should feel a little better about this entire crisis. Bowing to tremendous pressure I believe Bp did the right thing and suspended its dividend to its share holders for the rest of this year. Bp is going to also set up a 20 billion dollar compensation fund which will be overseen by Kenneth Feinberg the same man who oversaw the 9/11 victims fund. In addition to that Bp is also going to set aside 100 million dollars for oil workers who have been out of work due to President Obama moratorium on drilling in the Gulf. To date Bp has already spent over a billion dollars between the clean up and compensating workers in the Gulf States that have been affected by the oil spill. Mr. Feinberg also received an endorsement from one on my favorite Senators from New York Charles E. Shumer. Senator Shumer said that Mr. Feinberg did an amazing job with the 9/11 victims fund and thinks the people in the Gulf will feel the same way. How do feel about today’s events and Bp suspending its dividend?

Ny Times - Bp agrees to create fund to pay for spill -http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/us/politics/17obama.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

Not to worry U.S. Oil companies Say they have the right Safety Plans in place in case of similar Bp oil Catastrophe in the gulf.

If you want to talk about a joke then you have come to the right Blog today. Do people still wonder why our country is going down the tubes? In my mind this comes down to two fundamental views whether you believe in big government and more regulations or smaller government and less regulations. The oil spill in the gulf I think falls in the category of smaller government and less regulation and I believe I was proven correct today on Capitol Hill. Rex W. Tillerson Chairman of Exxon Mobil testified today that he does not think that a disaster like the Bp oil spill could happen with his company. John S. Watson CEO of Chevron also took the same line as Rex implying that Bp mishandled the situation. This is where the joke really starts to develop, Bp’s plan in case of an oil spill said that it would be able to handle a spill of up to 250,000 barrels of oil a day. We see how well they are doing with a 30,000 barrel a day spill, not to worry because Chevron says it can handle up to a 200,000 barrel a day spill. Alright that’s seems a little more realistic I suppose so what about the rest of their plan. Well the U.S. oil companies also includes plans to rescue walruses and oh yea they also list the same phone number for the Oil expert Bp listed  that has been dead for years now. So our U.S. oil companies have almost exactly the same emergency plan as Bp does, don’t you feel safer now? What this tells me is it was not only Bp it is all the companies drilling for oil off our coast. Our Government approved these plans and said everything is ok, go ahead drill baby drill. I believe this is a direct result of less regulation the desire for a smaller government. The tone set by our Government tells business do whatever you want to make money, don’t worry we will fix it later. Kind of sounds like what happen when our financial system nearly tanked with the real estate bubble. Profit , profit , profit how many more times can these disasters happen before one day we are not going to be able to make it back from the edge of the cliff.

Ny Times - Oil executives try to explain diffrences from Bp.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/business/16oil.html?adxnnl=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw&adxnnlx=1276628434-qsgEK3MEBwEbaAxfSoO85w

Has America passed the point of no return?

Let me come right out and say that I believe in America and I believe that we as citizens can still make a change and steer this great ship of ours back in the right direction. That is why everyone loves America and as Americans we always believe that were never completely out of the game. I also don’t want you to get caught up in the hype because as a country we have seen and been threw a lot of turbulent times throughout our history and made it threw them all and usually have come out better. All you have to do is look at the headlines in the news papers during these times , the Civil War, Great Depression, WW2 , Vietnam war , the stock market crash in the 80’s and so on and every time people were scared but we came out of the crisis and survived. The difference I think today that separates us now from those crises is technology. Technology has caused these major incidents to occur faster and more frequently. From one end of the spectrum to the other technology has evened the playing field for our enemies and has also sped up the process in which these crises happen. Look at the chain of events and short amount of time in which they have occurred. Starting around 2000 we first had the tech bubble, then 9/11 where guys in caves where able to take down the Twin Towers all organized threw the internet. Within ten years we had the Real Estate bubble explode in our faces and nearly brought our country to the brink of collapse. Now we have the Bp oil spill where they advanced the technology so fast that they can drill for oil over thirty thousand feet below the surface of the earth. The problem is the technology advanced so fast they don’t have the means to correct a problem when it occurs. They were more concerned with drilling for the oil to subdue or appetites and make a profit that safety totally took a back seat. The point I’m making is these major incidents have always been occurring but not as fast and frequent. The common denominator has been the advances in technology and the pace at which it keeps on advancing. Tell me what you think do you agree leave your comments.

Sarah Palin and “Boob Gate” does it make a difference to you?

Rumors are swirling around the internet that Sarah Palin has had breast implants. My question to you is, would Sarah Palin be as popular if it not for her being good looking? According to reports John McCain had a very limited vetting process with Palin. Was it because he was mesmerized by her looks and thought the country would be to. To a certain extent the country is still very infatuated with her and has given her perhaps more opportunities due to her being attractive. Those opportunities hence have given her more exposure and perhaps credibility due to that exposure. So whether she has implants or not I would say that it would only help her. If she came out and said that she had implants would the Tea Party no longer like her, I don’t thinks so. So what do you guys think leave your comments.

Sarah Palin reacts to Breast Implant Rumors
http://www.etonline.com/news/2010/06/88198/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ETTopStories+%28Entertainment+Tonight%3A+Breaking+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Forrest Gump’s Best friend Bubba (aka: Alvin Greene) has just Won the South Carolina Democratic Primary against incumbent Vic Rawl.

When I seen Alvin Greene on television I honestly thought it was Bubba from Forrest Gump running for the U.S. Senate. Well it turns out I just might be right Mr. Greene might be a republican plant according to Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and I hope so for the countries sake. Vic Rawl sent out 300,000 e-mails, conducted a quarter million robocalls and logged nearly 17,000 miles to Democratic events. Mr. Greene managed to defeat Vic Rawl with no emails, no campaign stops, no money for rallies, no staff meetings and that’s just the half of it. When asked how he won with not resources or money Greene replied by word of mouth. Mr. Greene also was charged with a felony last year for showing indecent internet photos and could face up to five years in prison. Even more Bizarre then Greene himself is why would Republicans even plant him when Republican candidate Jim DeMint is as close as you can get to a sure lock for the general election. I think this is just another example of Government and money overwhelming our society. Just like the financial crisis, the Bp oil spill and now another example with Mr. Green people with money think they can do anything because they can just pay the right people off. This is why we have to take a stand and vote these politicians out and take our country back. If you think things are bad now, the system is not going to fix itself unless the politicians are scared that they will lose reelection and that fear can only come from the voters. Check out the links below more details on this story and check out the video. Leave your comments vent your frustrations let your voice be heard.

Alvin Greene Charged with Felony - http://www.newsoxy.com/politics/alvin-greene-13327.html
Is Alvin Greene a Republican Plant - http://theweek.com/article/index/203990/is-alvin-greene-a-republican-plant
Experts Review S.C. Senate ballots - http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38433.html

It's time Bp gets taught a lesson from the American Public.

We need to take action into our own hands and teach Bp and the oil companies a big lesson. Bp has been getting Government money to drill baby drill in the gulf and this is the thanks we get. The oil companies in the gulf receive U.S. Government aid in order to fund new explorations for oil and that money comes from our taxes. So you can say that we literally paid for this oil disaster in the gulf to happen. Now it is true that the Minerals Management Service issues the permits and ok's whether or not the drilling site is safe and the proper studies have been completed in order to proceed drilling. So I would say that our Government is just as much to blame as Bp, Bp just took advantage of the situation. That is why we need Bp to fail so that our Government sees that the public can and will make changes. If this is not the time to make a final pivot towards green energy and energy independence then we will never do it. We need to Boycott Bp gas stations we need the Bp's stock price to continue to fall we need to contact our Senators and Congressmen and let them know that we are fed up. We have to take this momentum and run with it, now is the time to double down our efforts and make a difference. Read the links below if you want to stage a local boycott in your neighborhood contact me I will help you. If you need the correct Government links to contact people who make policy changes contact me. Now is the time to make moves and make something happen. Please leave your comments about what you are doing to help and just how mad you are.

President Obama an angry black man and the tightrope he has to walk

51 days and counting and the oil is still gushing out like a geyser; is the end of this nightmare in sight? President Obama has been going down to the gulf region on a fairly consistent basis now to show support to the area and to keep on the back of Bp. The President is being criticized for not showing enough emotion and not being angry enough, do you think that he has satisfied the public’s craving for emotion? In an interview with Matt Lauer he even said that he was going to “kick BP’s ass”. Is that all we needed just a little emotion from No Drama Obama to make us feel better about the situation. I thought we voted him in because he was calm cool and collected unlike George W. Bush who was the opposite. It seems to prove the point that Americans are hard to satisfy we want it all calm cool collected, emotions, smarts and in some cases like right after 9/11 all that goes out the window and we just want justice at any cost. Now the next shoe to drop will be that Obama has become an “angry black man” like a new article from Cnn’s website has a talked about. Can President Obama do anything right or does it just come with being a President, an African American president at that? I have the link below check it out and leave your comments about this post.

Cnn link
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/08/rage.obama/index.html?hpt=C1

How low can you go? The Taliban is teaching young students how to become suicide bombers and about virgins.

The Taliban and these terrorist who transform and manipulate children into becoming suicide bombers should be blown up themselves. Every time we catch these Taliban losers we should strap them up with a suicide belt and blow them up in front of the kids and then ask the kids how they feel about being a Martyr. If its so great to blow yourself up how come we never see any top leaders or Bin Laden himself screaming Allah Akbar just before they blow up? In Pakistan's recent offensive into tribal areas their army has discovered more schools where the Taliban is teaching little children how to become suicide bombers. Lt. Col Yusuf of the Pakistani army said these schools are shocking and that all they do is brain wash the kids. The Taliban tells the parents of these children that they will feed their kids and give them an education. I know that their are many different variables but the bottom line is these Pakistani people literally live in mud huts , they have know money , food is hard to come buy, they live in the mountains and don't have any idea what the world can really offer them as far as education and opportunity's. The Taliban has paintings on the walls of the schools of beautiful valleys , flowers and virgins and they tell the children that's where they will go once they die. The children are taught that they will be swimming in rivers of milk and honey , the shore lines will be covered with virgins and they remind the kids how bad their life is and how good it could be. In the school that was closed down by the Pakistani military Lt. Col Yusuf said that at least 200-300 kids had already passed threw the school before it was closed down in late summer. Can we do anything to stop this insanity , we already give Pakistan billions in aid and we have are military there hunting the terrorist, what else can we do? Doesn't it bother you that these low lives take advantage of children and brain wash them to become suicide bombers? I have the link with the full story below please leave your comments I respond back to all.
Cnn - Pakistan school link
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/05/pakistan.taliban.children/index.html

Enough about war and terrorism. Now on a lighter note Preisdent Obama appoints his first Transgender appointee.

Gee whiz these days you can really say that you have seen it all. Amanda Simpson was appointed by President Obama to be a senior technical advisor in the Commerce Dept. Amanda said that she was proud to be one of the first Transgender appointees and hopes that hundreds more are coming soon. When Amanda was a man he was a test pilot for Raytheon defense contractor. During her ten year employment there she began and finished her transformation into a women. I guess you can say that Obama really is trans formative! Amanda also was a delegate for Hillary Clinton in 2008 and ran for a seat in the Arizona state Government but lost in 2005. I wonder what the Republicans are going to say about this? I'm sure they will be understanding and accepting. Will this become another distraction for the White House, how come the Republicans are not going crazy about this right now? We have our first African American President , Almost a women President , Gays in the Military and now one of the first Transgender appointees, do you think that you have seen it all yet?  
Click the link for more on this from ABC News
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/01/president-obama-names-transgender-appointee-to-commerce-department.html
 

Tiger Woods Needs Sex Rehab * Breaking News

It is being reported I have the link below that Tiger Woods is in Arizona and allegedly has checked himself into a Sex Rehab. I thought it was every mans dream to play golf all day , be a billionaire and have women throw themselves at you. Who new ...

You think Tiger really has a problem? lol Or is he just trying to get his wife back?

Tiger Woods Sex Rehab Link
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/report-woods-in-rehab/tiger-beat/?cid=cs:headline6

Has Al Qaeda put us in check mate?

It seems that their has been an up tick in attempted attacks by Al Qaeda against the American home land. With in the last four months we have had the Fort Hood Incident before that we had the Bombing plot in New York almost carried out by Najibullah Zazi. Najibullah Zazi is the 24 year old man from Colorado with links to Al Qaeda who had planed to bomb Grand Central Station. I hate to say it and I pray it never happens again but Al Qaeda has not stopped and the attempts are coming faster and faster. Has Al Qaeda backed us into a corner that we can't get out of? When you break it down to it's simplest form on 9/11 a group of men boarded planes and flew them into buildings as acts of war. Almost ten years later how is it possible for a person that is on a watch list who was denied a Visa from Britan, can pass threw multiple security layers and can still board a plane with NO LUGGAGE? Seriously, how after all the new agencies , after breaking down the bureaucracy so we can connect the dots better, after all the security upgrades, updates, has anything really changed in the last eight years? Is the next step to profile and and forget about being politically correct and hurting feelings or should we stop flying altogether? If Al Qaeda takes down a plane what do you think will happen, everyone will be pointing fingers. This terrorist was from Nigeria bought his ticket cash , had no luggage , was on a terrorist watch list and his father called our embassy to tell us about him. Do you think we should of profiled this guy just a little bit, I really don't think with the facts that I just stated anyone would of objected to a little profiling especially the people on that flight. So do we have to profile , do we have to stop flying, has Al Qaeda pushed us to the point where we have to question our rights as citizens in order to remain safe?
Najibullah Zazi Terrorist  from Colorado Link
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/18/terror.raid/index.html

POLITICO Arena: Sherrilyn Ifill's response to '1)Flight 253: Do you agree with Janet Napolitano that "the system worked."2)Iran protest killings: Should the president be speaking out forcefully?'

POLITICO Arena: Sherrilyn Ifill's response to '1)Flight 253: Do you agree with Janet Napolitano that "the system worked."2)Iran protest killings: Should the president be speaking out forcefully?'

Now you have to take off your shoes and Underwear when boarding a plane?

Example after example after example, is it just a matter of time before we get hit again? First it was Richard Reid trying to take down a plane over Christmas Holiday a few years ago and now in another attempt Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from Nigeria has also attempted to bring down a plane flying into Detroit Michigan. How is it possible that this new attempt almost became a reality? It is almost ten years since 9/11 and we would of had at least two downed planes since then if it were not for faulty fuses. In the latest attempt the suspect actually sewed the explosives into his under pants, is the TSA going to strip search us now? It is obvious that Al Qaeda will never stop trying to take down our democracy and our way of living as long as their still around. The suspect in the latest incident was actually on watch list, his father called the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria to tell them about his sons radical thoughts and beliefs. It is very logical to think if you keep trying and refining your attempts to do something eventually it will happen, so what can we do to prevent another terrorist attack on board a plane? It is hard enough to keep security tight over here in America how can we ensure that other governments are doing their job which would of prevented this man from even boarding a plane altogether. Should we just reside in the fact that something is going to happen and just live with it ? Please leave your comments I respond back to all.

Associated Press Link - Al Qaeda we did it?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIRLINER_ATTACK?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-12-28-14-21-39

Charlie Sheen In Jail on Christmas

One thing you cannot say about Charlie Sheen is that he doesn't keep it real. Charlie managed to get arrested for Domestic Violence before 9am central time in Colorado. Obviously he has a problem if on all days he can't hold back his temper, want to talk about embarrassing. You got to see his Mug shot it is a real  winnner.

Check out the Link for all the details
http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/12/82341/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ETTopStories+%28Entertainment+Tonight%3A+Breaking+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Merry Christmas Ed Hanway. Congratulations on a job well done Ed

Wow you thought the boys on wall street were out of touch, wait until you get a load of this. Ed Hanway The CEO of Cigna Health insurance is getting a nice little retirement package just in time for the holidays. You can really tell the health insurance industry must be very scared about profits with the new health care bill coming out of Congress. Cigna was only able to provide Ed Hanway with a 73 million dollar retirement package , wow poor baby. The best part is Ed Hanway was CEO of Cigna during a outrageous case where Cigna denied a teenage girl a Liver transplant and subsequently the girl passed away because of it. I guess Ed is getting rewarded for denying transplants and saving money for Cigna. Read the entire story with the link below leave your comments I respond back to all.

Ed Hanway Link Written By Jason Rosenbaum
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/20405

KoKo Bird of the day: Should Roland Burris even be considered Normal? What a embarrassment...

After the way Roland Burris paid for his, oops I mean was appointed to his senate seat you would think he would lay low for a while. No, you would be wrong once again if you thought logically. Roland Burris is not only staying in the lime light but he has found a new way to contribute to our great democracy. He now is singing Christmas songs on the Senate floor making fun of the Republicans. Mr. Burris is a Senator from Illinois and  Illinois deserves a lot better then him. Do you think at any point Burris might of said to himself , maybe this is not a good idea? From watching the video it seems that he thought his behavior was amusing. Leave your comments I will respond back to everyone what do you think of this Clown, is he embarrassing?

Roland Burris Christmas Song On Senate Floor.

Our troops in Iraq are getting an early gift this year from General Anthony Cucolo. They are gettinng a Beautiful Court Martial.

A new order has come from General Anthony Cucolo directed at the 22,000 U.S. troops that are stationed in northern Iraq. The order states that if you get pregnant or impregnate another fellow U.S. soldier, you can be subject to a Court Martial. General Cucolo said that he needs all his troops in the field and cannot afford to lose any. I agree I think the decision makes sense but I also understand that a court martial is a little extreme. What do you think leave your comments I respond back to all.

General Cucolo's Link with Video from Cnn by Barbara Starr
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/21/iraq.us.soldiers.pregnancy/index.html

The Health Care bill is getting closer to becoming reality. The health insurance industry can't wait for this cash cow to pass.

What are we getting for our tax dollars with this health care Bill. Yesterday on "Meet the Press" Joe Scarborough really brought up a lot of good points that we should be aware of. According to Joe the biggest winner for the health care bill is going to be the Health care industry itself.
Below is a list of what we are not getting in the Health Care Bill

Still not allowed to cross state lines to shop for Health insurance
Still not allowed to shop for Prescriptions drugs in Canada
Absolutely nothing done with Tort reform
No Public Option
You will not be denied Health insurance due to a pre existing condition but you will pay more for it, up to 30% more then a person with out the condition. Reform?

It seems like we did not get a lot for a year of negotiations. I think they could of provided health care to thirty million Americans with out going threw this entire process. Where is all the competition to bring down the cost of health care for those who have it already? If you are fortunate and already have health insurance, you get to keep it and pay higher taxes for it, sounds good right? The biggest winners are going to be the health insurance companies and health care providers. Many Health insurance companies hit 52 week highs on Friday. I don't think they are to concerned about the passage of this health care bill. Did we get the shaft or is this real reform? You have to look at the "Meet the Press" video and leave your comments I will respond back to all.