Archive for the ‘Gregory D. Lee’ Category

Gregory D. Lee

Last week the Obama Administration announced that it is delaying a decision to build an international pipeline from Canada to U.S. refineries until it can further study alternative routes and safety concerns. The president said, “We should take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood.” According to the Associated Press, his decision will most likely delay a decision on constructing the pipeline until after the 2012 presidential elections.

So much for this “shovel ready” project that would have lessened America’s dependence on Middle East oil by at least 700,000 barrels of oil a day, enhanced national security and provide upwards of 20,000 good paying U.S. jobs. As it turns out, according to the AP, some liberal donors threatened to withhold campaign contributions to Obama’s re-election if he approved the project. Think that might have influenced the president’s decision to shelve the pipeline?

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

After forgoing my weekly columns for a year while on active duty as an Army reserve officer, I’m back. I retire today after 39 years, four months and three days of active and reserve service. But who’s counting?

The last year has been a whirlwind of experiences. I reported to the Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany as a special law enforcement advisor for the Commanding General (CG) and Director of Joint Intelligence. By February, I was in Kabul, Afghanistan researching the “Rule of Law” counter-insurgency strategy and the Afghan legal system. I also worked on developing a template for special operation forces in conducting what is called “Evidence Based Operations.”

The essence of the strategy is to show the populace that the Afghan central government is strong, relevant and capable of enforcing its laws and bringing criminals to justice. The strategy changes the rules of engagement for special operations forces from killing or capturing the enemy to assisting Afghan police forces in arresting insurgents in most, but not all cases.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

I wrote two columns about my son, U.S. Army Infantry Captain Christopher B. Lee, about his going to war in Afghanistan and then coming home. Thank God!

Now it’s my turn. As an army reserve Chief Warrant Officer Five going on 39 years of service, I volunteered to go on active duty to support the Special Operations Command – Europe and be the

Afghanistan, here I come.

Officer in Charge (OIC) of a combating terrorism intelligence analytical team for one year. I report on November 1, 2010. The duty station will be in Stuttgart, Germany; however, my team will rotate into Afghanistan for a four-month period to support and conduct joint special operations in the theater.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

You know it has got to be bad for Democrats when the AP, MSNBC, Washington Post and the New York Times all run articles about the probable Republican takeover of state governorships, the House of Representatives and maybe even the Senate. The president himself gave an interview for the New York Times Magazine where he provided analysis of why the Democrats did so poorly in the election that hasn’t even happened yet.

Restoring regularity.

Republicans are fired up as never before. They have a gut feeling that this November’s mid-term election will be like the 1994 midterms, but on steroids. They’ve been celebrating since long-term incumbents like Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania) are being defeated in primaries by either members of their own party or by Tea Party newcomers. They sense that all incumbents are endangered species, especially Democrats. Republican political bosses are beginning to understand that something has happened in the past two years that has transformed grandmas, grandpas and apolitical working men and women into a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

If Nancy Pelosi approached and offered to pay you $250 to vote for a Democrat on November 2, would you take the money?

That’s what she and her fellow Democrats are attempting to do after the mid-term elections. They are to schedule a vote to give a one-time $250 payment to all current Social Security recipients. She is pushing the proposal since, for the second year in a row, the Social Security Administration will not be providing a cost of living increase due to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Shameless.

If there is no measurable inflation, or possible deflation, how can Congress justify borrowing another $14 billion to give away to retirees? Because of the way the CPI calculates inflation, in the third quarter of 2008 Social Security recipients received an unjustified and unprecedented 5.8 percent raise. The fluke calculations came when gasoline was selling at $4 a gallon. But it dropped rapidly after the cutoff date for the CPI survey. The following year, inflation was flat, as it is this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

The New York Times recently editorialized that Secure Communities, a federal program instituted under the Bush administration and being pushed by the Obama administration, “snares innocent immigrants.” The program checks names and fingerprints of anyone arrested against immigration records to determine if the arrestee is an illegal alien. The police then turn the person over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings. So what’s wrong with that? How does it snare innocent immigrants if they are arrested and here illegally?

Ivory tower.

The New York Times claims that this program is a “source of anxiety and anger for cities, counties and police departments that want to preserve a bright line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement. Their valid concern is that local officers should never be seen by immigrant communities as arms of immigration enforcement.” Then the editor wrote: “Fighting and preventing crime are unrelated to detaining and deporting immigrants and should stay that way” (emphasis added).

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

Viewers of Gloria Allred’s press conference the other day witnessed an attempted robbery in their presence. Allred announced that she is filing a lawsuit on behalf of her new “victim” client, Nicandra Diaz-Santillan. Allred alleges the evil billionaire Whitman owes Diaz back pay and mileage while she was Whitman’s housekeeper. In reality, Diaz is an accomplice to Allred in attempting to rob Whitman of the California governorship.

Of course.

Allred wants California voters to believe that Whitman lied about knowing Diaz was an illegal alien, and that she only fired her after she decided to run for governor. But who is the real liar here?

Diaz lied on her employment application and stole someone’s Social Security number. Only after ‘fessing up to Whitman that she was in the country illegally, she was fired from her $23.00 per hour job. Why isn’t this woman on a bus to Mexico, instead of filing a lawsuit against a prominent U.S. citizen? If you believe that Allred isn’t using Diaz as a means to destroy Whitman and throw the election to Jerry Brown, then you need to see your doctor for a dose of reality.

Allred is a donor to Jerry Brown’s current campaign, and donated to his past gubernatorial campaigns in the 1970s, and his bid for the Senate in the 1980s. She has given campaign contributions to the likes of John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, to name a few.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

Last week, a national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was released and concluded, “The use of illicit drugs among Americans increased between 2008 and 2009. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows the overall rate of current illicit drug use in the United States rose from 8.0 percent of the population aged 12 and older in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009. This rise in overall drug use was driven in large part by increases in marijuana use.”

So it begins.

The Director of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske, said, “The findings are disappointing, but not surprising. Youth attitudes about the dangers of drugs have softened in the past couple of years (emphasis added). In the past this has often signaled that increases in use are coming.” The drug czar got it right, and you can count on further increases of drug use.

In the past couple of years, so-called medicinal marijuana clinics have flourished in California, especially in the Los Angeles area. The city council finally woke up when it realized that in some places in the city, over a dozen marijuana clinics exist within a mile radius. It now is considering taking steps to control their spread. In the meantime, this November, there is a proposition on the California ballot to legalize the “recreational” use of marijuana.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

Last week, while I was on a North Atlantic cruise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) proposed an amendment to the defense authorization bill he calls the Dream Act. If passed, it would be the Nightmare Act for our national defense.

The so-called “Dream Act” would reward illegal aliens who violated federal law by sneaking into the United States before age 16, and avoided arrest for five years, by allowing them to get a green card after they either go to college for two years (at in-state tuition rates) or serve in the military for two years. In a blog he wrote on The Hill website September 14, Reid says the passage of this bill would also “overturn the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ rule for our armed forces.”

Thanks for protecting America.

He should have named it the “Illegal Alien and Homosexual Dream Act.” According to Sen. Reid, the bill “will ensure that millions of children who grow up as Americans will be able to get the education they need to contribute to our economy,” and “will finally send a loud and clear message that everyone who steps up to serve our country should and will be welcomed regardless of sexual orientation.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Gregory D. Lee

As a retired federal government employee, I’m offended when I hear Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and a host of other conservative talk show hosts bash all levels of government employees. It seems the all-time favorite government employee to bash works for the Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, federal government employees in 2008 earn an average of $67,691 compared to $60,046 in the private sector. This doesn’t count the benefits all federal government employees enjoy.

Who do you think made this happen?

Not all federal government employees make as much as their private sector counterparts, but many do. For example, a registered nurse working for the Veterans Administration might make $74,460 compared to a nurse at a private hospital making $63,780. However, a federal government optometrist makes about $61,530 compared to an optometrist working in the private sectors who makes $106,665 salary.

What people like Limbaugh and Hannity probably don’t realize is that there are downsides to working for the federal government. Employees face severe restrictions and sanctions on many things everyone in the private sector take for granted. Congress alone determines federal employee salaries and benefits, not the marketplace. Employee organizations lobby Congress, but it’s unlawful for employees to strike if they don’t get what they want.

Read the rest of this entry »