Monthly Archives: May 2010

2010 Election, Media, Politics

Republicans, Don’t Count Your Chickens . . .

REPUBLICANS ON TRACK TO SNATCH DEFEAT FROM JAWS OF VICTORY

Republican consultants are doing a wonderful job raising expectations sky-high for the November elections, so that now, even if Republicans do smashingly well, it will look like a defeat (and an across-the-board endorsement of Obama’s agenda). Thanks, Republicans!

That’s what happened in the 1998 congressional elections, nearly foiling Clinton’s impeachment. It’s what happened to the Conservative Party in Britain a week ago. And that’s what happened this week in the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, formerly represented by Rep. John Murtha.

Note to Republicans: Whenever possible, victory parties should be held after the election, not before it.

The result of the election in Murtha’s old district on Tuesday was that the rabidly anti-ObamaCare, pro-life, pro-gun candidate won! Yippee!

But the news on Wednesday morning was that the election “dealt a blow to Republicans,” as The New York Times reported.

The reason the Times’ description was not utter madness (in violation of New York Times’ official policy) is because the anti-ObamaCare, pro-life, pro-gun candidate was a Democrat and, for the past two months, every Republican on TV has been predicting a Republican victory in Murtha’s district.

Thanks to all the happy talk, if the Republican actually had won, it would have been Page 16 news. But when the Democrat won, it seemed like an against-all-odds, come-from-behind Hoosiers victory!

Why were Republicans predicting victory in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1? Given a choice between two candidates who both hate ObamaCare, why would lifelong Democrats not vote for the Democrat?

Republicans are playing the same raised-expectations game with the November elections. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner is ludicrously predicting Republicans will pick up 100 seats in the House in November. Newt Gingrich puts the figure at an equally insane (and weirdly precise) 78. He also predicts the Cubs will win 132 games this season and six games will be rained out.

Keep it up, Republicans, and I’m going to keep naming names. I have Nexis.

For more than half a century, the average midterm pickup for the party out of power has been 24 seats.

Your job, Republicans, is not to go on Fox News and whisper sweet nothings in conservatives’ ears. Your job is to repeal the Obama agenda. Raising expectations so high that a 30-seat Republican pickup will seem like a loss is not helping.

Moreover, we’re not going to pick up any seats this November if Republicans keep chumming around with the Democrats’ pals on Wall Street.

Roughly since the Harding administration, Wall Street has overwhelmingly favored Democrats. According to a recent report from ABC News, for example, the five largest hedge funds gave “almost all their donations to Democrats.”

For the past year, the Democrats’ Wall Street BFFs have had lower public approval ratings than Hitler. (When I say “Hitler,” I don’t mean Dick Cheney or George W. Bush; I actually mean Adolf Hitler.) While Hitler continues to enjoy great personal popularity, there is a growing dissatisfaction with his policies.

How could Republicans possibly screw that up? We try harder.

No sooner had the news come out that Goldman Sachs (Joseph Goebbels in this metaphor) had given Obama an astronomical $1 million in campaign donations, than Republican John Boehner decided that this was the time to suck up to Wall Street! So Boehner flew to New York to meet with Wall Street bankers and ask them to be Republicans’ friends.

Boehner is like the guy who just got raped in prison and doesn’t know what happened to him. Hey — what was that? Should I have thanked the guy?

As Pat Caddell says, Democrats are whores, but they expect to be paid; Republicans’ names are scrawled on the bathroom wall: “For a good time, call the GOP!”

As depressing as it is to watch the Republican Party dive headlong off a cliff, at least we have Dick Blumenthal.

Connecticut’s attorney general, pompous, freakishly ambitious, self-righteous, hold-a-press-conference-every-day Blumenthal, was a shoo-in to take Chris Dodd’s Senate seat this fall.

After all, he was a Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart winner from his days as a four-star general in Vietnam. (And captain of the Harvard swim team to boot!)

But now we find out from a front-page article in The New York Times that, despite Blumenthal’s repeated references to serving “in Vietnam” — he was never in Vietnam. He got five draft deferments and then joined an elite unit of the Marine Reserves to avoid going to war, serving in their heroic “Toys for Tots” brigade.

He also wasn’t on the Harvard swim team. (Oddly enough, though, the story Blumenthal likes to tell about owning a necklace of human ears? That one’s actually true.)

Blumenthal may as well have shown up for a press conference in a dress. Suddenly, Connecticut is in play!

Naturally, therefore, Republicans are planning on running a World Wrestling Entertainment “impresario” against Blumenthal. Yes, in Connecticut … a state that is among the wealthiest and most highly educated in the nation … a state that isn’t Minnesota. The average Nutmegger doesn’t even know what a turnbuckle is, and that includes me.

Republicans could run Rob Simmons, a Connecticut legislator with a distinguished record of service in the House of Representatives, the CIA, and as a Yale political science professor — who actually did serve in Vietnam, winning two Bronze Stars and retiring as a colonel.

But defeat is so close! Republicans can almost taste the bitterness of yet another crushing loss!

The above lovingly snatched from Ann Coulter.com

Economy, Europe, Politics, Venezuela

aSide Order

April 28, 2010, Obama was concerned about Greece’s ‘debt problems.’ They’re monitoring it closely.

“This is something that is of great concern to the president and we’re monitoring it very closely,” Burton told reporters on Air Force One, adding that the U.S. Treasury Department and other agencies were “in close contact with folks in Europe about the issue.”

Have you heard anything from the administration since?

What has happened since is this; Obama urged Germany and the EU to go the bail-out route. Why should we be the only country in debt for generations to come? The Euro is falling, Greece is burning, the dollar is gaining at the expense of the Euro. The dollar gaining causes the bolivar to tumble, bringing Venezuela’s inflation up to 30%.

Missed in all of this is the common thread; welfare state economies are not sustainable.

Does watching it closely make it better? Maybe we could refrain from becoming like them? Do ya think?

Scientists in mainly Muslim Kazakhstan have come up with an instant test for the presence of pork in food.

Pork? Our genius politicians in Washington don’t know what it is.

Used copy machines can be a good deal in the wrong hands. Check out this video before you get rid of yours.

2010 Election, Politics

Bu-bye Arlen

Pennsylvania democrats weren’t convinced that they needed more of Sen. Arlen Spector (D-PA) after sending him packing, choosing instead U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) as their nominee.

Dependent on the City of Brotherly Love to carry him to victory, Philly rejected him.

Tonight’s results also has Obama batting 1000 for killing the chances of people he campaigns for. Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and now Arlen Specter. Seems Obama has inherited the kiss of death from Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Or maybe it’s something more than that?

Link: Specter rejected by Pa. Dems in bid for 6th term

Economy, Venezuela

Chavez Goes After Another Industry

Spelling disaster to an already weak, unproductive, and inflationary economy, the hemisphere’s idiot, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, considers controlling the financial market next.

The failed socialist / Marxist / communist economic system often praised by the Left and Hollywood elites, is experiencing the same shortages on the supermarket shelves and rationing as it always has, only this time the strengthening of the dollar, facilitated by the falling of the Euro under the weight of debt there, has caused the bolivar to lose half its value in one day, increasing the cost of everything for Venezuelans. Not insignificant considering Venezuela has to import half of the products it consumes.

Consumer prices jumped 5.2 percent in April alone, driving the annual inflation rate to 30.4 percent – the highest in Latin America – according to the Central Bank and National Statistics Institute.

The Chavez regime is raiding brokerage houses with the threat of criminal action. Next is the demise of the industry, leaving it under complete control of the government. Sound familiar?

It remains unclear how local brokerages will continue turning a profit. Maria Fernandez, a local banking analyst, predicted the new regulations would lead some brokerage firms to bankruptcy.Many brokerages will be forced to impose “a significant reduction of employees” in order to survive, but others probably will close because the business “is no longer viable” for them.

Step-by-step and not by mere coincidence, the Obama administration is doing its part in usurping one piece of the financial industry after another. And we can expect the exact same result with the private health insurance industry here under Obamacare.

What ought to be disturbing is how, despite the example of Europe and Venezuela, this administration is taking us down the same road? The only thing left to do now is to decide whether President Obama’s political philosophy is more like the socialist Europe or the Marxist Venezuela. Then realize that there is no choice that is good for America.

How’s that hope and change working out for ya?

Link: Venezuela temporarily halts bond trading

Media, Politics, Whiners

Gov. Chris Christy, Honest And Refreshing

2 Comments

In case you missed it, this two minute twenty-five second video is the conservative that replaced years of Democrat control and subsequent debt in New Jersey.

And the funny part is the backwash. The Newark Star Ledger is claiming copyrights to this video. Since those where Gov. Christie’s words and not those of the reporter that got an answer he didn’t expect, to claim so just shows how thin-skinned the liberal media is.

Judiciary, Politics, Supreme Court

Kagan’s Paper Trail

What Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan lacks in the way of academic writing, she (apparently) more than compensates for with her lawyerly output during her time in the Clinton White House Counsel’s Office.  Recalling that former President George W. Bush shared over 50,000 pages of material associated with now Chief Justice John Roberts’s time as a lawyer in the Reagan White House, Byron York of the Washington D.C. Examiner reports which way precedent points in divulging Kagan’s work product.

“There is now a precedent that a White House lawyer’s materials will be produced,” says Bradford Berenson, an associate counsel in the Bush White House. “I think it will be very difficult for the Obama administration, given everything they’ve said about transparency and openness, to withhold these documents.”

Before anyone starts salivating over the thought of reading thousands of legal memos, remember that the current Oval Office occupant is not inclined to share information.  Unlike President Bush, Obama can’t be bothered to take a single question from the press after signing the Freedom of the Press Act.

Constitutional controversy over executive privilege, anyone?

The above is totally lifted from the CFIF website by author Ashton Ellis.

Links: Ashton Ellis: Kagan’s White House Paper Trail |  Byron York: Will the Senate see Kagan’s long paper trail?

Media, Politics, Supreme Court

Obama’s Supreme Court Pick, Elena Kagan

Is Elena Kagan a good pick for the Supreme Court? She wouldn’t be my pick. My pick would be someone with judicial experience. Someone with experience in interpreting and deciding law. A supreme court nominee should be someone who advocates for the Constitution, not a lawyer whose experience is advocating for a client.

Having absolutely no track record to reference in terms of how she interprets law, we have to know what she thinks about the Constitution and her interpretation of it. Whether she thinks the Constitution is ‘the rule’ or ‘a guideline’ is paramount. And that will open up a lot of questions. Nothing against Elena Kagan, but considering who picked her and the track record of other Obama appointments, chances are that this choice is more political than judicial.

You don’t have to look any further than Eric Holder, Obama’s pick for Attorney General. Like Obama, Holder is in denial over the notion of who the enemy is in the war on terror. So he pics an AG with a career in defending them and who to this day, after halting the military tribunals in order to conduct the trials in the civilian court system, has not decided whether to try the Gitmo terrorists in New York City. Obama’s track record seems just as relevant in this pick as Kagan’s background and understanding of constitutional jurisprudence.

One thing getting buzz is the sexual orientation of Elena Kagan. Does it matter if she is a lesbian? As far as I’m concerned, that’s a non-issue for the position. But she will have to convince the Judiciary Committee and Congress that whatever her feelings are regarding homosexuality, that she will not let those feelings have sway in any decision before the court. Again, considering who picked her and with no judicial experience to examine, she has an uphill battle.

Is Elena Kagan the vehicle to assuage the gay community and to be used as such by the President, as ‘political’ as her pick seems to be? In all fairness and with all due respect to Ms. Kagan, the President should go against his own personal beliefs about the Constitution and pick an experienced jurist who Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WVa) would pick, an originalist.

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Links: Politico: Elena Kagan’s friends: She’s not gay |  h/t SodaHead

Immigration

How Mexico Facilitates Illegal Immigration

In case you missed it four years ago . . .

A Mexican government agency is to issue some 70,000 maps marking main roads and water tanks for people wanting to cross illegally into the US. Previously, the Mexican government issued comic-book style pamphlets warning of the dangers of illegal migration, while also giving advice on how to stay safe. Launching the project in Mexico City, officials from Mexico’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) flatly denied they were trying to encourage greater migration.

There’s that word ‘migration’ again. Don’t be conditioned into the notion that there is no way to stop it, like that word and the Mexican government would suggest. People immigrate, animals migrate.

“The only thing we are trying to do is warn them of the risks they face and where to get water, so they don’t die,” said Mauricio Farah of the HRC.

What advice does Mexico have for Mexicans being shot by drug gangs within their borders, so they don’t die?

If Mexico wants to help their citizens, they should do a few things first. Eliminate the influence of drug smugglers from the government, including its police and military. Create an economic system that is not dependent on illegals in the US sending billions of dollars a year back to Mexico, and give them this map instead.

Meanwhile, we will do all we can to limit immigration to legal immigration, and make it impossible for an individual or business to hire illegals. Mexico has its own problems. Aside from the national security problem of an open border, we don’t need to worsen our economic and social problems (jobs, welfare, education, health care, anchor babies) by leaving the welcome mat out for illegals.

Links: BBC NEWS | Americas | Mexican migrants to get US maps.  |  Mexican Govt. Comic Book, Tips For Illegals |  Still An Issue Of Trust For Obama Administration

China, Iran, Politics, Russia, United Nations

Barack Hits A Hard Place, The United Nations

There comes a time when rhetoric just runs out of steam. Seems that is the case now over getting tough on Iran for its secret nuclear ambitions.

Permanent Security Council member China has joined Russia in opposing Washington’s plans to impose tough, wide-ranging sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment activity and open up fully to U.N. nuclear inspections.

If there ever was a legitimate reason to walk away from the United Nations club and form a ‘new world order,’ this is it.

Seems that limiting alternatives, like the Russia and China are doing, is their game. When the alternatives are limited, if tougher sanctions are off the table, the choice then becomes to let Iran develop a nuclear arsenal or go the military route, including a blockade. Whatever other sanctions could be imposed would be ameliorated by Russia and China.

It is diplomatic propaganda for Russia to characterize sanctions by the United States and the European Union and ‘other western nations’ as being unilateral if it does not include the United Nations. Clearly, they hang their hat on their puppet called the United Nations.

It’s crunch time for President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Their choices couldn’t be more clear. Does the United States stand with the EU and like-minded allies or will we find a face-saving way to leave the EU and the Middle East at risk and back down? I guess we will soon see exactly what Barack and Hillary mean when they speak of improving our image around the world.

Watch for yet another apology tour, while China and Russia are ROTFL.

Link: Russia warns U.S. against unilateral Iran sanctions – Yahoo! News.

Economy, Politics

Capitalism Pays For Socialism

What is happening to Greece, and soon to Spain, Portugal, and Italy is a snapshot of what we can look forward to right here in the United States unless we reverse the course of big government and expanded government control of our lives, higher taxes, and deficit spending amounting to generational theft, like the Obama administration has already done. And they have only just begun.  The picture painted in this post, The State of the Welfare State, demonstrates how socialism with all its good intentions is not sustainable.

Now Greece, with a total population roughly equal to the combined populations of New York City and Chicago, is looking for $146.2 billion for a bailout. The fact is, no amount of money will bail out Greece. Not unless and until Greece dismantles the socialist utopia it has built for itself.

Their utopia is currently running a national debt that is 115% of GDP, and is expected to rise to 149% of GDP by 2013. {actual for 2013 is 156.9% of GDP} By any measure, that is what bankrupt is. Pretty impressive debt, especially when you consider that Greece, like all of the EU, has a value added tax (VAT) in addition to all their other taxes.

Most European countries today operate under economic and labor policies crafted during the height of the post-war baby boom, featuring middle-class entitlements like generous pension systems that allow early retirement, liberal disability programs that exempt many laborers from work, and extended unemployment systems that make going on the dole and staying there easier than in the U.S.. Europeans designed these policies in an era when there were, in many European minds, too many people competing for jobs and a bulging work population to support those who were retired or on disability.

Now, this house of cards is falling down. The demographics are nothing today like they were 60 or 70 years ago. Now, not only are there less people working, but there are more people on the government dole collecting retirement pensions. Europe has their own baby boomers.  Governments, like Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, have no money to sustain this welfare state and they and other countries face riots in the streets at the very thought of trying to reform (take away) the unsustainable benefits they have put in place.

So where are we today? Hopefully, we a learning the lesson that the socialist economic system is not sustainable. Like Margaret Thatcher said, ‘the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money.’ Their socio-economic models need to change to a market driven capitalistic model. Much like the one President Obama is trying to dismantle.

By trying to be more like Europe, actually way worse than Europe, he is heading the country southbound in the northbound lane. And is taking advice from people telling him to ‘speed up,’ instead of ‘turn around.’

And before too long, this great country will be in the same shape as Greece, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, and the rest of them.

Link: Eurozone approves massive Greece bail-out