Tony Island Blog - Sane Thoughts for an Insane World

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! I wanted to present you with two quick, but complementary, video reviews that will help you understand the fiscal conservative view. First up is I Want Your Money - this is a neat film that basically summarizes the conservative fiscal viewpoint. It cleverly uses animated Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama sketches to explain various concepts. It also interviews some mainstream conservatives, which was nice to put a face to the books I've been reading by these same conservatives. I recommend the video to get a grounding in current conservative economics and thought. It seems the Blu-Ray version is a Director's Cut with "never before seen footage" - I didn't see this version, but I'm sure the added footage makes it even better than the standard version I saw. Next up is I.O.U.S.A. The film is slightly outdated as it was filmed at the end of the Bush presidency (and thus tends to skewer Bush a bit, though deservedly so) but it st...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Take a moment to read this news article (complete with pictures!) about China's first aircraft carrier . While we bicker how about much more in debt we need to go (which is essentially what raising the debt ceiling is all about), China is developing its military muscle I don't want to sound like a "tin-foiled" alarmist, but I really found that article ominous. I don't think China's going to start a world war or anything, but I do think they will eventually combine their increased economic power with their increasing military power to throw their weight around the world - much like the US did for the latter half of the 20th century (and into the 21st). There won't be anyone to stop their increasing ambitions as the US will be straight jacked with our ever deepening debt problem. We're going to lose the global supremacy war and who knows how a global China will be to live under? Again, I don't think she'll invad...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! I found this cool Presidential Approval Tracker (based on Gallup polling) on USAToday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/presidential-approval-tracker.htm You can compare Presidents' approval ratings or isolate one President. It's fun - try it out and leave your thoughts below! Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Well, Ron Paul is telling it like it is - the debt bill just passed is basically a "fraud". The cuts aren't cuts in spending but cuts in spending increases . Check the video out for yourself: What are your thoughts? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Did you enjoy this post? Want more like it? Less like it? Rate this post to let us know! Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Have you seen any good (or bad) summer blockbusters? I haven't. I'll probably end up watching them on DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming at some point. I keep forgetting to hit the cinema to see some of the movies that really should be seen on a big screen - usually those with lots of special effects (or 3D - though I can't always make out 3D and will not pay extra for it! :). I did see some current movies on DVD and streaming...quick reviews: Green Hornet - sucked. It didn't know if it was a comedy, drama, super hero flick or ... something else. It was too uneven. It's too bad, too. The producers may have had a budding franchise on their hands. I recorded the original 1960s series on my DVR but have yet to see it. It's better than this schlock though (I did see the series one time years and years ago). Check it out only if you have a need to see all the superhero flicks that come out! The Fighter - I was totally confused when I first s...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Radical Leftists claim that the Bush tax cuts all but created the current debt crisis. Sane rational people maintain that tax cuts alone don't cause deficits - it's the combination of tax cuts and continued (or increased) spending that causes deficits. Actually, it's always spending that causes a deficit - correction - it's always over -spending incoming revenue that causes a deficit. It's impossible to have a deficit without spending.That's the definition of a deficit - over spending incoming revenue. But, surely, you say, tax cuts must  some how contribute to deficit spending, no? Well, actually, no. They only contribute to deficit spending when you don't account for the lower revenue they produce and continue to spend at the same rate you spent before you cut taxes. To prove this, let's take a quick trip to Fantasy-Land - a land where everything is milk and honey and the streets are paved with gold. In Fantasy-Land, ...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Please study the graphic below carefully before reading the analysis that follows:  Before I begin my analysis of this graphic, I'd like to mention that it came from a New York Times editorial . Enough said. OK, where do I begin? I must say two things about this graphic off the bat: 1) it's absolutely brilliant! It takes a confusing subject (deficit, debt, budgeting) and confuses it even further. It places Vaseline over the lens of the budget debate to "soften the image" and thus make Obama look better. 2) it does show how fiscally irresponsible President Bush was. Liberal Loons run around calling Bush conservative - this graphic should show them he was anything but. Perhaps he was a social conservative, but he didn't seem to be a fiscal conservative. Now onto some of the gritty details. At first glance, you can easily fall into the Liberal trap that has been set - namely, that Bush's policies all but created the cur...