The Sanchez Report

Surprise, Surprise! France, Greece And Spain Require The Most Vacation Time

I'm sure you've heard that Europeans are lazy and do not come close to having the American work ethic. Well. that stereotype happens to be true. The Economist Magazine just published their latest study that ranks Western Nations by the amount of mandatory vacation time required by their respective governments. This vacation time is broken down by public and private sector employees. What's interesting is that those countries that happen to be in the headlines for causing economic turmoil and throwing the European Union into a crisis, are the same countries that top the rankings. Perhaps these countries should slash the amount of mandatory vacation and force their citizens to be more productive and work for a change!

From The Economist:

Which countries give employees the most generous holidays?

WHEN considering the amount of holiday each employee is entitled to in any particular country, some clichés hold good. North Americans are more industrious than South Americans, according to data compiled by Mercer, a consultancy. Asians work harder than Europeans. Among the feckless workers from the old continent, those in the troubled economies of Greece, Spain and Portugal have among the most generous holiday allowances. Take a look at this videographic for more detail.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem...Merry Christmas

One day before I die, I want to spend Christmas Eve in that little town of Bethlehem. I can only imagine what an experience that would be. I did some research and found out some interesting facts. Bethlehem is a small town, located only five miles south of Jerusalem and has 30,000 residents of which 30% are Palestinian Christians. The Bible identifies it as the "city of David", the place in which King David was born, crowned King and anointed by the prophet Samuel. It's also the city in which Rachel, the matriarch of Abraham died, and her tomb stands at the entrance to the city. However, Bethlehem is known more for being the birthplace of Jesus. We're talking serious history here people!

Enjoy from The Daily Mail:

Centrepiece: Crowds gather round the 50-foot Christmas tree in the city's Manger Square. An estimated 90,000 pilgrims are expected to visit the Holy Land over the Christmas period

Popular attraction: Visitors tour the Church of the Nativity, the site widely believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ

Star of Bethlehem: A boy prays at the Grotto in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity next to the gold star which marks the spot where Jesus was believed to be born

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078371/90-000-pilgrims-descend-little-town-Bethlehem-Christmas-celebrations.html#ixzz1ha5Is8hV

 



The Ugly Reality of Obamacare and Socialized Medicine

I found this interesting article that reminded me why Obamacare and Socialized Medicine is bad. Once again, the American people have been led to believe that Obamacare is a wonderful thing that will provide free healthcare to all Americans. Not only will everyone be insured, but the cost of providing that care will come down. But wait, there's more, not only will we cover everyone at a lower cost, but it will pay for itself and will not add a dime to the national debt. On the surface this sounds great, except for the fact that it has been tried in many other countries before and there's plenty of evidence to prove otherwise. Read this gem of an article!

From Forbes:

The worldwide recession has forced countries around the world to curb public spending — or risk defaulting on their debt.

The United Kingdom is the latest to tighten its belt. The National Health Service (NHS) — the centralized public agency that runs Britain’s government healthcare system — is being forced to shave $31 billion from its budget by 2015.

These cuts are leading to a precipitous drop in the quality of care patients receive. The NHS has been living well beyond its means for quite awhile. And now brutal government-enforced cost controls are exacting a heavy human toll.

Thanks to Obamacare, America will soon face the same sort of reckoning.

Other nations with government-dominated healthcare systems offer a preview of the fiscal woes and substandard care that lie ahead thanks to the president’s spendthrift reform plan.

In order to realize some savings, the NHS is raising the threshold at which patients qualify for treatment and lengthening wait times for surgeries determined “non-lifesaving.” The Service is also cutting more than 20,000 NHS jobs over the next two years and shuttering a number of hospitals.

The British healthcare system may “guarantee” access to care — but that doesn’t mean patients actually receive it.

Read "The Ugly Realities of Socialized Medicine Are Not Going Away"

US Forces Hold End Of War Ceremony But No Iraqi Leaders Bother To Show Up

After nine years of war, 4,500 dead Americans, 32,000 casualties, $800 billion dollars in spending and 22 million liberated Iraqis, the Iraq War has come to an end. Today in Baghdad, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta presided over an end of war ceremony with US troops and guess what? None of the Iraqi leaders bothered to show up. This lack of gratitude speaks volumes about the strain in the relationship between the US and Iraq. Having served in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom myself, I take this as a personal insult. These people would still be living under the tyrannical fist of Saddam Hussein if it weren't for the United States. We've seen this story time and time again in the Middle East. We have liberated and saved more Muslim lives than any other country in modern times and yet we continue to suffer from the lack of support on the Arab Street. It was reported that Iraqi's in Fallujah burned American flags to celebrate the withdrawal of US troops. Oh how memories are short in that part of the world!

Here Come The Chinese

Looks like China has launched their first aircraft carrier. This will only intensify the growing Chinese military threat to the United States. The Chinese government claims that this will be used as a "research vessel." Umm, yeah right!

From Fox News:

DigitalGlobe Inc., a commercial satellite company, said Wednesday that it took a photograph of China’s first aircraft carrier during a sea trial in the Yellow Sea, off the Chinese coast.

The Pentagon did not confirm the image, but Stephen Wood, the satellite company’s director, said he’s confident about the Dec. 8 photograph due to the carrier’s location.

Although China insists the carrier is intended for research and training, its use has raised concern about the country’s military strength and its increasingly assertive claims over disputed territory.

While the development of carriers is driven largely by bragging rights and national prestige, China's naval ambitions have been brought into focus with its claims to disputed territory surrounding Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy claimed by China as its own, has responded to the growing Chinese threat by developing missiles capable of striking carriers at sea. An illustration at a display Wednesday of military technology in the capital Taipei showed a Hsiung Feng III missile hitting a carrier that was a dead ringer for the former Varyag.

Jerry Brown's Tax Proposal Has Support? Yeah Right

According to the latest poll conducted by Public Policy Institute of California, we are to believe that 65% of Californians support raising taxes on the rich and raising the sales tax. What a crock! I don't care what this poll says, Californians have seen this game before. It's the same story although the sob story has some variations. The victim could be the Firemen, Police or Schools who will suffer if we don't give Sacramento more taxes. I say forget about raising taxes until after we reform the pension program for State workers and cut spending back to the levels seen in 2001. We don't need more revenue, we just need Sacramento to stand up to the Unions and cut spending. In real dollars, not the baseline cuts that politicians try to pass off to voters.

Obama Continues To Beat The Class Warfare Drum

The President has made it known loud and clear that his theme for reelection will be class warfare. So much for Hope and Change! He campaigned as a new politician. Someone who was going to change the tone in Washington. Instead, what we have is your typical liberal politician who can't explain why his socialists policies have failed. Never mind that these same policies, ideas and programs have failed everywhere else in the world. He'll go back to the same old tired Democratic playbook. You know how it goes. The rich are out to screw the poor and middle class. They only got wealthy by exploiting those under them. The rich need to pay their fair share. We need to raise taxes on the rich or else the poor will die and grow hungry. Public education will suffer and on and on and on!

From the great Larry Kudlow:

Following the GOP debate that nearly the whole world watched on Saturday night, the president on Sunday made it very clear that he will not back off his class-warfare vision in the coming year. Obama told Steve Kroft on 60 Minutes that middle-class inequality will be his big theme, and that somehow successful earners, investors, and small-business owners are to blame.

The president said that while fat-cat incomes went up 200 to 300 percent over the last few decades, middle-class incomes didn’t grow. This is not true, according to James Pethokoukis, whose blog posts citing various studies show that real median income rose at least 40 to 50 percent.

In any case, whatever the exact numbers, it’s still a mystery to me why successful people getting ahead cause anybody to fall behind. The Jack Kemp idea was always to foster a rising tide that would lift all boats. How can this happen if we penalize success and raise top tax rates on work and investment to 50 percent or more? That’s a mystery.

I should think, in a system of democratic capitalism, that more millionaires are a good thing. Show me a system of redistribution, and I’ll show you a system of economic stagnation.

Jerry Brown's Answer For California ... Higher Taxes

Last month I wrote about the current anti-business climate in California. For more than a decade, California has been in a free fall economically due to higher taxes, more costly regulations and an aggressive expansion of government spending and bureaucracy. Rather then elect new leaders with fresh ideas, last year Californians sent the 1970's washout, Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown back to Sacramento as Governor. In a classic case of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks, Jerry Brown has come up with a radical new approach to solving our state's problems. Wait, Wait, Wait for it... He's asking voters to approve the largest tax increase in California history. This proposal is being sold as a "tax on the rich and wealthy" in order to save our schools and infrastructure. Ladies and Gentlemen, we generate enough tax revenue in this state. The problem isn't taxes, it's too much spending. You know, the type of spending that provides cushy pensions to state employees, generous benefits and overtime thanks to the SEIU and other shake down unions.

When will Californians wise up and stop falling for the scam in Sacramento? When will voters begin to ask why our school test scores are low? Why are prison populations are so high? Why do we allow state employees to earn on average over $100,000 and retirement at age 55 with full salary?  When will voters begin to ask why we're falling behind other states with far lower tax rates in jobs, infrastructure and education? Raising taxes is not the answer. That's the same liberal solution for every problem. When have the liberals controlling Washington or Sacramento have EVER called for lower taxes and lower government spending/ NEVER. Wise up Californians. Stop falling for the same lie that's been told to us for decades. The poor will not suffer, the elderly will not die and children will not suffer if we begin to follow the path of other states that have figured it out.