Halloween at the White House

Democratic Monster Mash

Remember November : The Final Act

Remember November: The Final Act from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

God in Grand Junction Article in Huffington Post

I read the Huffington Post so you don't have to....

Michael Conniff: God in Grand Junction

Should We Legalize Online Poker?

This is a ReasonTV interview with David "Doc" Sands about legalizing online poker. I just thought this was interesting and I know one reader of Plumb and Square would be interested so, here you go Dad...

Amendment 63

Don't Barack the Boat

Another good one by jdfluid...

Don't Call Us No Names

Great song....

The Crazy Metaphor

The "ditch metaphor" is getting really old. There are many different versions surfacing. Here is one the President used in Minnesota...

"We were at a rally right before we came here and I’ve been using this analogy around the country -- they drove this economy into a ditch. And Nancy and I, we've had to put our boots on -- (laughter) -- and the rest of the congressional delegation, we had to rappel down into the ditch, and we're trying to push to get that car out of there. And the Republicans are just standing on the sidelines watching us, fanning themselves, sipping on a Slurpee -- (laughter.) They’re kicking dirt back into the ditch. (Laughter.) We're getting it into our eyes. Didn’t lift a finger to help -- all they did was point and say, you're not pushing hard enough, you're not doing it the right way.

We finally have gotten this car out of the ditch -- and it’s taken a lot of effort. And, yes, the car is banged up; it is dented, it is in need of some body work and a tune-up, but it’s moving in the right direction. We're about to go forward.

And suddenly we get this tap on our fingers and we look back and it’s the Republicans asking for the keys back. And our basic attitude is, no, you can't have the keys back. You don't know how to drive. (Laughter and applause.) You don't know how to drive.

Now, I want to be clear, they are more than happy to join us for the ride -- but they’ve got to sit in the backseat. (Applause.) Because we want America’s families in the front seat. We want them in shotgun -- not special interests, not the folks who’ve been calling the shots in the past. "

While the Democrats are off playing in the ditch, our country is going to hell. We are having our taxes raised at the end of the year. Ten percent of us are out of work. Millions are getting there homes foreclosed. We will be forced to purchase  health care which we do not want. We are told that we belong in the back seat of their little "car" and speaking of cars we became "investors" in two failing automobile companies!

We are continually told that we are not smart enough to understand Democrat policies by saying that  they (the Democrats) have not explained the issues well enough." We have been called racist, fascists, and Nazi's. Our liberty is being taken away while at the same time you allow for a flood of illegal immigrants access to our services.   We are tired of the garbage. Tired of the metaphors. These are the facts! So while you are off pushing an imaginary car out of a ditch, we are hurting. Quit blaming Bush or banks or insurance companies, or, or, or.... Now is the time pull your head out of the ditch (whatever hole it is in) and to listen to your greatest resource, the American people, and do something about the issues. 

Step Aside Mr. Maes

A letter to Dan Maes...

It is now one week until the election and about 450,000 people have already voted. Now it is time for you to "man up", to use a popular phrase, and drop out of the gubernatorial race. You will have no honor if you stay in this race. Every bad decision that is made by a Hickenlooper administration will be laid directly on your shoulders. You have the power to stop this madness and help a fellow conservative win the Governors race. Do not let your disagreements with Mr. Tancredo stop you from doing the right thing.

These are the possible scenarios:

If you leave the race - Tancredo will win and we stop the crazy liberal tax and spend politics of the left.


If you stay in the race and Hickenlooper wins - You and I and 5 million other Coloradoans will be subjected to a "mini-Obama" regime and Colorado economics will look a lot like Michigan's model economy. You will be called a fool for not leaving the race and never have a chance in the political arena again.

If you stay in the race and Tancredo wins - Colorado gets a conservative Governor and you will be called a fool and never have a chance in the political arena again.

If you stay in the race and you win -This scenario will not happen.

The only way for you to retain some sort of dignity and honor is to gracefully leave the race now. If you are the honorable man you claim to be, now is the time to call it quits.

Sincerely,
Todd Transmeier
Plumb and Square

Did You Know You Contributed to the Bennet Campaign?

I was reading the top 100 contributions to the Bennet campaign on opensecrets.org and here are some contributions that stuck out:

University of Colorado $13,800
State of Colorado $10,805
Denver Public Schools $10,325
US Government $9,700
Colorado Office of Economic Development $9,600

I am no expert on campaign finance but don't these seem a little on the unethical side? We are running in the red in Colorado and the nation and they are contributing to political campaigns? Is that some sort of yard sign stimulus? I sure would hate to tell someone I had to cut their job because we contributed to a political campaign. This is not how I want my taxes spent that is for sure.

Remember what Michael Bennet Said about the Health Care Bill?

I say we take him up on it!

How Would You Ax the U.S. Budget?

With all this talk about NPR firing Juan Williams and all the politicians wanting to cut NPR's funding it got me thinking about what things in the budget I would ax if I had a say (and if they actually made a budget). This is my top 10, discretionary spending items I would cut,...

1) NPR - There are thousands of radio stations why are we supporting stations with our tax dollars.

2) PBS - There are 15,000,000 channels out there and never anything on, PBS is no exception. More taxpayers wasted.

3) NEA- The National Endowment of the Arts. If you can't make it as an artist, get another job.

4) Department of Education - Let the states run their own education system not the federal government.

5) Department of Energy - Created in the 70's to help us save energy, didn't work. More dependent on foreign oil now than ever.

6)Amtrak - Never made any money just costs money, sell it already.

7) Post Office - Privatize this monstrosity so it can make money.

8)IRS - Implementation of the Fair Tax would eliminate the need for tax collectors.

9) Fannie Mae/Feddie Mac - I combined these two cause I don't think the government needs to be in the mortgage business.

10) Selective Service system - We haven't had a draft for 40 or so years, maybe we should think about trimming this one down a bit or even eliminating it all together. When we need more troops, I bet a law could be passed to re-create this government agency. For now it is just a waste.

This is not a complete list but it would be a good start. Another thing I noticed when I read the budget was that there are lots of "departments of statistics". There is one in about every government agency or department. Why don't we cut all those number crunchers into one department and actually throw away all the numbers that nobody actually gives a damn about. I know the list is far from complete, feel free to add to this list.

Too Late to Apologize

Tancredo is Within 1 Point in Latest Poll

The latest poll by Magellan Strategies has the Governor's race at Hickenlooper 44%, Tancredo 43% and Maes at 9%. Time has come Danny Boy to call it quits and save Colorado from liberal insanity ....

Hick Calls Rural Areas Backwards Thinking

Here is a hell of a reason to not vote for Hick. There is the backwards thinking remark, then we also get the social justice and social equality garbage...

Barney Frank Shuffle

Amendment 62

This amendment to Colorado's Constitution states the term "person" shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being. So essentially you have the right to life and be not aborted.

I am a pro-life guy, to me it is a simple choice. The opposite of pro life to me is anti-life or death (one of the reasons I am not to fond of the death penalty either, but that discussion is for another time). I don't believe we as humans need to be making those choices. Those choices should be left to God.

There is the argument about health of the mother, rape, and incest and how the family will not have a "choice" to abort the baby in those cases. Less than 1% of abortions are because of those reasons. The answer to me simple if God wants a baby to be born, he makes one we do not.

For me and my family we will be to voting YES on Amendment 62.

Klavan: The Extremists are Coming!

Need to be alert to watch this video...

Patton Addresses the Tea Party

A little election motivational speech by Patton.....

John Salazar Campaign Finance

Here is a link to the Open Secrets web page about John Salazar's contributors. The ones I find interesting are:

Oxbow Corp $19,200
Oxbow Carbon & Minerals Holdings $10,000
Oxbow Carbon $9,600
Oxbow Mining $9,600
Oxbow $4,800
Oxbow Power $4,800
They must really want that land swap huh?

Pueblo Chieftain $4,800
This just doesn't seem ethical to me.

Napolitano for Congress $4,000
I bet those folks in Arizona were not betting that their money was going to Colorado.

Cobank $9,600
That one is interesting because John Salazar ads have been lying how Tipton worked for a bank that took stimulus. But for some reason Congressman Salazar is the Congressmen that received the most money from the savings and loan industry. I could be wrong, but this one just "smells fishy" to me.

The Barack Obama Shuffle

This video is too funny...

Rebels take Yorktown!!!

On this day in 1781 the rebel American Army accepted the surrender of Chuck Cornwallis at Yorktown, for that I felt a little Yankee Doodle was in order...

Salazar and Tipton Debate

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3   Watch at about 8 min mark...real good...




Part 4


This debate proves what I believe; that Salazar and Pelosi are the same person. Salazar used the whole debate defending the crazy Democrat policies. Spending money and PROUD of it. Tell your children that they will be broke and beholden to government because John Salazar wanted to get reelected. Vote Tipton and get rid of Nancy Pelosi John Salazar

Amendments P, Q, and R and Proposistion 102

I believe this photo fits the alphabet soup we have for amendment and proposition names. I thought I would give a run down on what I think of as the "minor amendments" and proposition.

Amendment P
This is an amendment to change the regulation of gaming currently done by the Colorado Department of State to the Department of Revenue. To me it makes more since that the Department of Revenue regulates a source of revenue and not the department that regulates elections. Any time you can separate elections from money I think it is a good thing. My Vote: YES

Amendment Q 
This is an amendment that gives an official plan to move the seat of government to a different location in case of an emergency.  Only took 9 years after 9/11 to come up with this idea. My Vote: YES

Amendment R
This exempts taxes for people who have "possessory interest" fees from those interests valued less than $6,000. Now in English; it means we quit collecting taxes from people whose tax bill is lower than the cost to collect the tax. This is the quandary of the 25 cent phone bill. Would you mail out a late notice on a 25 cent phone bill? The cost of the stamp is more than the bill. My Vote: YES

Proposition 102
This changes the criteria for release to pretrial service programs. What that means is if a criminal is in jail on a minor offense they must post bail or use a secure bond (bondsman) and not use pretrial services. To me this sounds like a way for bail bondsman to make more money. The argument for this proposition is that more people would show up to court if they are already in jail.  While that may be true, it sounds expensive to me. Housing people in jail for minor offenses costs a  lot of money and would end up with us having to build yet more beds for the jails. My Vote: NO

Newt Vs. Nancy

Survey Says?

This is an interesting political season and with that comes the surveys and poll telephone calls. It seems that every election they become more frequent and annoying. It used to be that I would kind of enjoy getting these calls. My thinking was that I am important enough to garner a questionnaire from Gallup or some other big surveying name. Oh how wrong could I be? All that answering one poll does is open you up for calls from 5212 other polling companies.

I now receive about six calls a night from these survey or polling places. It is driving me insane. With that let me explain what I believe are the problems with these polls.

First off, polls have no bearing on anything. What I mean is there is no honesty required. So a person could say anything on the poll and do something else at the election polling booth. For example, I am pretty set how I am going to vote. So I like to "play" with the pollsters. I might give them answers that are totally contrary to what I believe. I think that gives the Dems a "big head" and maybe they won't spend so much money on television advertising (It is a dream, I know).

Next is the cell phone factor. I know A LOT of people who no longer have a land telephone line. The pollsters do not usually call my cell phones and if they did I would hang-up or not answer because I am not going to pay "minutes" charges for somebody to ask me a bunch of questions. I don't have the exact numbers, but I would be willing to bet that if you eliminate a whole class of people (those without land lines) your poll results would be inaccurate. What about the folks with no phone at all? In these poor economic times I believe that may be skew your results a bit. I mean I would rather have a meal than a telephone wouldn't you?

Next is the questions. The folks on the other end of the phone do not live in Colorado and no nothing about politics. They are reading from a script. They always pronounce the names wrong (including mine). Do you remember the first time you heard the name Hickenlooper? They will get the party incorrect or attribute an issue with the incorrect person. More bad results.

Lastly I get these calls from people who are promoting an issue and they only want to promote the issue. I often try to start a dialog with these folks and argue with their positions, but it doesn't work. They are reading from a script. They know nothing about the issue, the call was intended to be a monologue not a dialog. That frustrates me and I hang up.

So as you read the polls, remember that they are not real life. Question their accuracy and take the only poll that really matters; the one on November 2.

Scott Tipton on FOX News

Salazar wouldn't show up for free national TV time and he won't show up in Grand Junction, so why should we vote for him again?

Happy Birthday U.S. Navy!

On October 13, 1775 the United States Navy was established. The U.S Congress established the U.S Navy, deciding to outfit two sailing ships with guns.

Sailors have served and died all over this globe for your freedom, if you know a sailor let them know today.  There were two members of my family that were members of the Navy. My brother which crossed the "Line of Death" near Libya and my father-in-law who was a Senior Chief and was in the Navy for 23 years. To them and all the sailors everywhere, Thank you and Happy Birthday!

(I apologize for missing the actual date by a day)

Craftsmen of Honor - Chi-Chi-Chi-le-le-le

This month's Craftsmen of Honor goes to the 33 Chilean miners and their rescuers. The miners were underground for 69 days and at least at first were living off meager rations, in cramped quarters. At first the miners had to be wondering if they would ever be found. Once they were found they had to ponder their fate even as they rose up in the rescue capsule. Those miners working as a team for those 69 days, not knowing your own fate, is truly honorable.

The rescuers also deserve this award. There were hundreds (thousands?) involved all over the world to free the miners. This was truly remarkable how many people with many different skills and cultures did everything they could to free these men.

A special honor of note: Manuel Gonzalez was the first rescuer to be lowered into the mine via the rescue capsule and he was the last man pulled from the mine. It takes incredible courage and honor to be lowered via an untested capsule, 1/2 mile down a newly drilled hole, not knowing if you you will survive or the rescue, all to save your fellow man.

Watching the men as they arrived at the surface was an awesome sight to see. One in particular choked me up a bit. The second man removed from the mine, Mario Sepúlveda got to the surface and went into a bag he brought up with him from the mine and started pulling out rocks and giving them to his rescuers and the Chilean President. All I thought was this man has given them all he could give, all he had was rocks and he gave them to the rescuers. A very touching site.

The last thing that I noticed as I watched the rescue efforts through out the day was the patriotism of the miners, their families and the rescuers. I don't think I could have seen any better examples of honoring God, family, then country. I know much will be written about this event (as should be) but let me start by saying...

Chi-Chi-Chi-le-le-le

Larry Hunt October 12, 1921 - September 28, 1981

Today I drift away from politics and into the personal for a post. If you have noticed there is a Black Panther on the right side of the blog page. That is the unit that my grandfather was a member during World War 2. If you click on that picture you can read a post I wrote about an event which happened to his unit during the war.

Everybody has a mentor and some sort of hero. Larry Hunt (Grandpa) was mine. I was very young when he passed away, but I still think WWGD (What Would Grandpa Do?) when I make decisions.

Grandpa was very quite and a very hard worker. He was wounded on June 20th just after the war with Europe was over. He was wounded by an accidental shooting in the barracks while a fellow Panther was cleaning his rifle.

Grandpa was an Ombudsman for Public Service (remember Public Service?) and when he wasn't working or "on call" with them he hauled oil to and from Brush, Colorado and Denver. In his "spare time" he was a volunteer fire fighter. He never stopped. Ever.

I was always in awe of the work he did. I've seen him shimmy up a power pole in seconds with spikes to install a light. He gave me a personalized trip to the yard where his truck was stored. I got the privileged to ride with him in his truck from the parking space to the fueling pumps. It wasn't a long trip but a good one.

On the weekends when he wasn't working, and I am sure exhausted, He would take "naps" in on the living room floor. He would rest his head in his arms, his knees on the floor and his grand kids would slide down his back.

I remember a move my family made from Montrose to Sterling (about 400 miles). It was the middle of winter. Grandpa drove that U-Haul truck over Monarch Pass in the snow to Sterling. We unloaded the truck and he drove it back to Montrose the same day. I was in awe.

So this is just a post to say Happy Birthday Grandpa, I miss you.

Young Cons - Master of My Destiny

Update - 33 Chilean miners

The holes that are being drilled to free the 33 Chilean miners are expected punch through today or tomorrow. Then the engineers will examine (by camera) the whole shaft to decide if it needs to be cased or not. Right now they are deciding the order the miners will go up the hole. The entire update story on FOX can be found here. This is the link to my original blog post about the incident.

Continue praying for these miners they really need a bit of comfort from God at this time.

Remember! Only Four Weeks till Election

Virginia Ironside - OK to smother child

Talk about a moon bat. This lady seems to think that it is OK to smother your child with a pillow if it was really suffering.



I just can't resist saying my piece here. First off, children are not "just a couple of cells" as this nut job says. They are people, and more importantly YOUR CHILDREN!

If you actually thought that the murder of your child was the correct thing to do to stop their suffering, why would you use the method of murder that causes the most suffering?

The third thing I would like to note is the reporter actually did some reporting, stopping her introduction of another guest to ask additional questions of moon bat lady. American reporters would just "gloss over" the statement.

Lastly a question of you mothers out there; how many of you could smother your child with a pillow? This lady thinks "any good mother would". 

California's Prop 19 and SEIU

If you look at the SEIU web page there is a section called "How a Union Can Help". The first item states: "# 1 - Working together, union members have the strength to win better wages, affordable health care, a secure retirement, and safer workplaces." The SEIU supports the passing of California's  proposition that legalizes the use marijuana in California.

Where does legalized pot fit  into this "help" statement?  I'm sure that it will not fit under the section of better wages (well maybe for the Mexican drug cartels).  I'm sure your health insurance rates will be higher if you are a pot smoker so no help with the affordability of health care. I don't see it helping you to a secure retirement, I actually am of the view that it might even prevent retirement. Last but not least, they state that Unions support a safer workplace. That is the point were I would like to further investigate.

The SEIU's membership is in three sectors: They are: Healthcare (doctors, LPN's homecare workers,etc), property services (maintenance workers, janitors, security officers), and public services (local and state government workers,public school employees, bus drivers and child care providers).

Let's say you have a bit of a cough and head off the the doctors office. The first person you run into is an LPN that wants to give you an injection, did she just roll a doobie on break? How about going to work and you are doing your best to make things Plumb and Square and you step up to the table saw do you wonder if your helper has just had a blunt? Late at night you believe your building is being protected by a quality union security company how do you know that they are not sitting in their car having a little "party"? Do you send your child off to a day care or school with a loaded teacher? The implications are endless.

The support of this proposal by this union makes no since at all to me. A union is designed to help its employees stay safe. This act will only hurt employees and customers. The answer is only money. If you are an SEIU employee you have just been sold out for the all mighty dollar.

Will it grow their union? I suppose it will, because it will now take two employees to do the job of one before.  I just think if you are a Californian and want to help add money to your tax coffers there are better ways (how about getting rid of sanctuary cities or stop spending money?).

Big Government Blues

I've never had a conservative blues song on here before....

A Little Redesign of Plumb and Square

I did a little redesign of Plumb and Square because it was kind of feeling cluttered on the page. I like to give a bunch of information in a small space and I guess I learned I don't have to give it all in 2 inches of space. I'm also planning on changing the tags on the posts because even though I like the idea of making the tags reflect my principles and values it doesn't translate very well when searching for information for the rest of the world. I have over 400 posts so that may take a bit of time. Let me know what you think of the new page design and if you would like something else changed or added.  Thank you for stopping by Plumb and Square.  

John Salazar and Nancy Pelosi Voting Similarities

Here are two lists of key House votes where John Salazar and Nancy Pelosi either agree or disagree (or is it Nancy Salazar and John Pelosi, I can't tell them them apart anymore).  John Salazar votes with Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time. I only listed votes where they both voted. Because of Pelosi's position as Speaker she does not vote on many bills.


These are the key House of Representative votes that John Salazar and Nancy Pelosi DISAGREED:

H.R.1424 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Wall Street bailout bill)
S.1927 Protect America Act of 2007
H.R.3534 Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009 (Ending the deepwater drilling moratorium for rigs that meet safety standards.)
H.R.4899 Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (Setting a withdrawal timeline for Afghanistan.)


These are the key House of Representative votes that John Salazar and Nancy Pelosi AGREED:

S.5 Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
H.R.6 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
H.R.800 Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
H.R.976 Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007
H.R.1591 Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007
H.R.1592 Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007
H.R.2206 U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq  Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 (Iraq war funding bill with no withdrawal timeline)
H.R.2956 Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act
H.R.3162 Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007
H.R.3685 Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007
H.R.3688 United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
H.R.5749 Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008
H.R.6049 Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008
H.R.6304 FISA Amendments Act of 2008
H.R.6899 Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act
H.R.7110 Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008

H.J.Res.45 Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010
H.R.3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act (Passing health care reform.)
H.R.4626 Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act
H.R.5136 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell.")
H.R.2 Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007
H.R.5618 Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010
H.R.5851 Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act of 2010
H.R.5116 STEM Education Coordination Act of 2010

John Salazar should be working for the people of Colorado's Third Congressional District NOT California's Eighth!

Youth "Break-up" with Obama