Category Archives: Politics

2010 Election, Media, Pensacola, Politics

Khavari For Governor – Press Release

2 Comments

Below is a press release from the Khavari For Governor of the State of Florida Campaign, because you’re likely to not see it anywhere else in the Panhandle. That, and because he is the only candidate from either party who has a plan for Floridians.  Press release follows . . .

There is hope for Florida Democrats, despite Alex Sink

Miami, FL Feb. 16 —  Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink’s candidacy for governor in 2010 has many Democrats worried. Polls show her 10 points or more behind the leading Republican candidate, state Attorney General Bill McCollum. After months of campaigning, it is becoming clear to Florida Dems that Sink has no message and no plan to lift Florida out of its economic mess.  Voters look at her lackluster performance as CFO, and many assume that the next occupant of the governor’s mansion will be a Republican.

However, more Democrats are turning to the number two Democratic candidate in the primary race, noted economist Farid Khavari. Khavari’s plan to create 1,000,000 new private sector jobs in Florida, without subsidies, is winning support from Democrats and Republicans alike. His plan to create a state-owned bank has gained national acclaim, and candidates in other states are jumping on the public banking bandwagon.

“Many Democrats are outraged that the state party leadership anointed Sink as the favored  candidate without any input from the local chapters,” said Khavari. “The Democratic Party of Florida has thrown over $1.2 million in support behind Sink, making her look like a champion fundraiser. In Florida, the media only pay attention to which candidates have raised the most money, not where it came from. The Party is not supposed to support any candidate until after the primary.

“But people from all parties are disgusted with crony politics,” Khavari continued. “They have gotten sick and tired of politicians who look after the interests of banks and insurance companies, while neglecting the people.  We have a different approach. We’ll never get – or take–  a dime from a bank or an insurance company, but our plans will help millions of Floridians get jobs and achieve real financial security, without higher taxes.”

Noting Sink’s focus on counting paper clips while over a million Floridians are out of work and 800,000 Florida homes are in foreclosure, Khavari said, “As CFO, Alex Sink stood by while the State Board of Administration lost tens of billions of dollars. McCollum is also responsible, along with Charlie Crist.
The only people who profited from the SBA in the past three years are investment bankers who sold so-called securities to the geniuses at the SBA.” Sink, McCollum and Crist are the three trustees of the SBA, which handles state retirement funds and other funds from about 1,000 government-related entities.  “Ignorance, neglect, or corruption?” asked Khavari. “The results are the same. We can’t afford crony politics any more.”

Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is an economist and author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.

related link: Pensacola News Journal, related story of how to get off of the grid

Daniel Nocera, the MIT Ph.D. who enthralled a standing-room only IHMC audience last week with his matter-of-fact confidence that he and his research colleagues have solved the world’s energy problem.

Note: Dr. Khavari wrote the book on it, Towards a Zero-Cost Economy

Not to make this a ‘who invented the internet’ discussion, self chest-pounding is not important here. Forget that. But isn’t it good that we have a candidate running for Governor of the State of Florida who is not only knowledgeable about the technology, but knows how to incorporate it in Florida’s economy?

Examiner: Dr. Farid Khavari just what Dems ordered for Florida governor?

Economy, Media, Politics

Democrat Governors Want "New Strategy"

Democrat governors at the National Governors Association’s weekend meeting, are troubled about President Barack Obama’s track record on responding to Republican political attacks and urged him to better connect with anxious voters. Some calling for ‘a new election-year strategy focused on the economy.’

A new strategy? Focused on the economy? The truth finally comes out. Despite what the administration said all last year, and the media dutifully repeated, the focus never was about reviving the economy. Contrary to what candidate Obama said to get elected, that turning the economy around, fixing the home mortgage crisis, and creating jobs was going to be his top priority, once in office that priority quickly shifted to a takeover of health care .

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered this advice to Obama: “Rapidly decide what we’re doing on health care and then move to jobs and the economy.”

Bad advise Governor Bill. Democrats’ best chance of saving their political butt is to drop their version of health care. Recognize the fact that the folks (after 70 years) still don’t like it. Stop attacking businesses, and do something to promote economic activity outside of government deficit spending. Do something to help in the private sector, where money is made and jobs, permanent jobs, are created.

Unfortunately, the governors showed no regrets for the huge debt incurred with little to no results. Gov. Richardson, I think that’s Obama’s problem.

Not taking responsibility for anything he messes up is another. Community organizers like to form commissions. Takes the heat off of them, puts it elsewhere. Obama doesn’t need a commission to tell him how not to spend money he does not have. All he needs to do is what we have to do. Look in the checkbook. If you see red, don’t spend, don’t borrow, and don’t steal.

AP: Democrats worried about Obama track record.

Florida, Pensacola, Politics

Let Me Be Clear, Liberals And Free Speech

9 Comments

Liberals, including the so-called mainstream Democrats in Escambia County, continue to demonstrate how very un-democratic they are. Their actions speak louder than their words.

The new Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee, James Turner, endorses Alex Sink in his first press release. Months before the Democratic Primary, bypassing the ‘democratic’ process. Not totally surprising either when you consider that the Florida Democratic Party has already given one candidate, Alex Sink, $1,321,502.20. What’s the point in the primary process again?

Then there’s the way Liberals treat Conservatives. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve had the pleasure of being banned from Mike Papantonio’s website, ‘by popular demand’ according to Scotty the administrator.  That’s lawyer-speak for Mike doesn’t want any conservatives posting on his website, which tends to be populated by a handful of lemmings that are just as rabid as he is. I guess the big talker can’t handle it. The Pensacola News Journal however, tends to respect political discourse even though they don’t engage in it themselves. I’m still waiting, however, for their editors to engage in some. Nine months and counting. . .

My next experience of being ‘banned in Pensacola’ is on Escambia Democrats.org. The official website of the Escambia County Democratic Party. They have a peculiar way of welcoming users. I was a registered user there yesterday. After participating in the public forum for registered users, today I get this:

Login

Your login is blocked.

And when I go to any other page on the website, this blurb pops up.

“Login denied! Your account has either been blocked or you have not activated it yet. Did you not get an activation e-mail and follow the validation link?”

Showing an unwillingness to deal with, discuss, or debate issues seems to be a soft spot over there. Here is the explanation from the admin, Henry Coe, Jr.

The reason you were blocked is because what you typed in response to the article had nothing to do with the article. Being that you are treasurer for Escambia County Libertarian Party, what ever that is, I suggest you post your political spin crap on your own website.

I’m not apposed to real debate or real conversation in relation to articles, but you were redirecting the topic and interjecting spin with your posting on our forum. I have better things to do than to spend my time keeping up with people who are manipulative and abusive.

Have a nice day.

The forum article was about man-made global warming mis-statements or some such. I suggested that, in light of more revelations from the Jones guy, that that post should be updated, and something like isn’t it time to move on? But since it and my comments were removed, I think Mr. Coe’s note makes my point. And for further clarification, here is a portion of the Escambia Democrats’ ‘about’ page . . .

This web site is designed to help people be informed.

Specifically it is designed for Escambia County Florida Residence. More specifically than that is it is use to help support, educate and inform Democrats in Escambia County Florida, though we are glad to share and thank you for finding and using our web site.

.

.

We have a forum where topics can be started by anyone and forum conversations can be had by anyone who is a member of this web site.

So you can see why I was surprised to see the ‘blocked’ response. I didn’t see a ‘Democrats Only’ notice. I wonder if I would be accepted if I changed my voter registration to Democrat? They have such an open tent. At least that’s what they claim. RicksBlog is not as sensitive to speech, although all of my comments there are queued for moderation, including one on the ‘IN rising star.’

Other traits, aside from the normal name-calling, of Left-oriented blogs or websites is the tendency to keep their blogrolls free of conservative blogs. There seems to be this need to create a cocoon of liberal opinion and not allow opposing views or blogs that may contain an opposing view. Reference Coe’s comments above, and RicksBlog and the Pensacola Beach Blog blogrolls for example. The latter of which has some old and inactive blogs listed. You will see that The Lunch Counter is not on either of their blogrolls. And it’s not because I haven’t politely asked.

Now let me be clear, (oh I like that pompous phrase, don’t you?) bloggers have control over what they include or exclude on their sites. I’m not suggesting otherwise. I’m merely noting the pattern of liberal bloggers as I see it. Your mileage may vary.

A look at the LINKS page here will show that I encourage all opinion, no matter how nuts it is. I have a special category for The Left because I think people ought to be able to see what others have to say. So I offer up the most vocal and rabid among them. Especially since some of them have the eyes and ears of The White House.

Aren’t political blogs in Pensacola fun?

Politics, War On Terror

Biden Re-writes History On Iraq

Seems like only yesterday that the current administration, before they became the current administration, was poo-pooing General Paetreaus’s plan for the surge in Iraq, which he expected would bring about the change needed to prepare Iraq for self-governance. From the moment it was proposed to months before Gen. Petreaus’s first progress report, the mantra was, the surge won’t work and the war is lost. In fact, Sen. Biden’s plan was to partition Iraq into three pieces.

But last week on the Larry King Show, Vice President Joe Biden said this about Iraq . . .

I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government.

Why the sudden shift in strategy when they could just blame Bush? For some evidence in Vice President Biden’s re-writing of history, follow any of these links:

Link: Biden Takes Credit for Iraq’s Progress

Politics, War On Terror

Cheney, Biden, And The War On Terror

In his interview on Meet The Press today,Vice President Biden affirms Cheney’s assessment that this administration is not fighting the enemy as our enemy. I would add that the administration does not know or will not acknowledge who the enemy is.

MR. GREGORY: What about the general proposition that the president, according to former Vice President Cheney, doesn’t consider America to be at war and is essentially soft on terrorism? What do you say about that?

VICE PRES. BIDEN: I don’t think the vice–the former vice president, Dick Cheney, listens. The president of the United States said in the State of the Union, “We’re at war with al-Qaeda.” He stated this.

Biden’s answer obfuscates who the enemy is. It’s Biden and Obama who are ignoring reality, if not re-writing history.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The real enemy here is Islamic extremists all over the world. It is not only alQaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In that respect, Cheney is right and Biden is just trying to spin his way out of Obama’s inability or unwillingness to express the truth of exactly who our enemy is and what it is we are fighting.

For a real look at who our enemy is and the religious fanaticism that is aimed at killing us, check out this piece from David Horowitz from 2002 entitled Know The Enemy.

Link: ‘Meet the Press’ transcript for February 14, 2010 |  David Horowitz, Know The Enemy

Energy, Politics

New Energy Strategy? Not!

President Obama called for “a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants” in his Jan. 27 State of the Union speech. According to the AP,  “He wants to use nuclear power and other alternative sources of energy in his effort to shift energy policy.”

Right, and he also wants Iran to quit its nuclear bomb ambitions, and Republicans to participate in health care reform in a bi-partisan fashion from square two instead of square one.

Don’t buy this as a new shift in energy strategy. It is his community organizers way of appeasing his critics, which is everyone to the right of  Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

The other thing that community organizers do to avoid personal responsibility, like voting ‘present,’ is to appoint commissions. It is how he allows the environmentalists to shape America’s energy policy. Which explains why Obama has cut funding for the long-planned nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository started in 1987, was approved by Congress in 2002, and in 2009 Mr. New Energy Shift cut funding for it. Instead, he has appointed a commission to find a ‘safe’ solution for dealing with nuclear waste, but in the meantime the government has no long-term plan to store commercial radioactive waste. ‘Safe’ for Obama must mean politically safe, not materially safe.

So what’s the end result? There won’t be any new nuclear plant construction unless and until a place to put the waste is operating. That, and higher energy cost, continued dependence on foreign energy sources, and the crippling of our economy on the energy front.

Link: Obama nuke plant loan reflects new energy strategy

Politics, War On Terror

Criticizing The President Strengthens Our Enemies?

According to White House assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism John Brennan, if you criticize the President, you’re helping the enemy.

Imagine that? Gee, I thought John Brennan’s wanting to release the remaining Gitmo detainees from Yemen back to Yemen would strengthen the enemy.  Silly me. Flashback to January 4, 2010 . . .

According to John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, sending them back to Yemen isn’t a problem. Today on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, he said . . .

“We are making sure that we don’t do anything that’s going to put Americans at risk,” Brennan said. {emphasis added}

Sorry, anyone with our national security in mind would conclude that sending these folks back to Yemen is doing way more than ‘anything’ to put us at risk.

Besides all that, the short memory span of this White House hack (and winner of the M.R.I.O.T.D. award) is breathtaking. That, and criticism of the President or the administration apparently is only warranted when a Republican is in The White House. Need a few examples? Who’s politicizing the war effort again?

Remember the Hillary screech? Here it is . . .


Link: Criticizing The President Only Strengthens Our Enemies – haystack’s blog – RedState.

Politics

Inside The White House Bubble

It’s not only The White House personnel, but Democrats in Congress. They’re all in the enact-health-care-legislation-at-all-cost bubble. By contrast, other Americans are outside that bubble more concerned with the state of the economy, which is broke now and for generations to come.

Sen. Al Franken ripped into White House senior adviser David Axelrod this week during a tense, closed-door session with Senate Democrats.

Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration’s failure to provide clarity or direction on health care and the other big bills it wants Congress to enact.

Failure to provide clarity? For whom? Clarity is what spelled the end of Hillary-care. When the folks learned what was in it, they found that it wasn’t the kind of ‘reform’ they wanted. Or is Franken upset at the realization that neither clarity nor direction comes from an empty suit? Maybe the clarity Franken is talking about is how can we fool the folks this time to get it passed? Or at this point, maybe it’s all of the above?

Democrats seem content to ignore everything rational about fixing the economy first, then chipping away at health care reform in some sort or any sort of bi-partisan way. Gaining the intimate control of the lives of Americans has been their brass ring for decades, and they plainly see this as their moment to grab it.

Updated: 1/6/2010

Link: Al Franken lays into David Axelrod over health care bill – Manu Raju and Andy Barr – POLITICO.com.

Economy, Politics

Spend More, Cut Little

The House has an important vote today that directly affects your wallet and those of future generations, again. Apparently, all the new cuts and freezes that Obama is talking about requires raising the debt limit another $1.9 trillion.  That amounts to $6,000 for every U.S. resident. Already, the accumulated debt amounts to $40,000 per person. What is important about today’s vote is that if the House does not pass this increase, then there’s not enough borrowed money to implement the budget that Obama just presented to Congress.

The nut of Obamanomics is for the government to spend its way into prosperity and borrow its way out of debt. So in order to say he wants to cut spending and freeze spending (by less than 1%), he first needs to borrow and spend another $1.9 trillion, raising the cap on federal borrowing to $14.3 trillion. It’s obvious that neither Obama or his advisers are economic geniuses, but rather tax and spend idealogs where increases are cuts and up is down.

Related links: FOXNews.com – House Faces Tough Vote on $1.9T More Debt. | Obama’s Economic House Of Cards

Economy, Politics

Obama's Economic House Of Cards

It’s a good thing the President has a handle on the economy now. I mean, after all, the deficit he inherited from the Bush administration was enormous. Last year’s deficit surged to $1.42 trillion, more than three times the record of the previous year. So Bush’s last year budget deficit was $454.8 billion. Obama’s budget deficit last year was $1.42 trillion. That’s nearly $1 trillion more that he added to it in fiscal 2009. This business that he “inherited a $1.3 trillion budget deficit” is a lie. It’s a lie through and through. He has added $1 trillion.

Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) went on MSNBC today to put the lie to what Obama had said at the retreat in Baltimore to rest. Hensarling . . .

If you look at the 12 years when Republicans controlled the Congress, the average annual deficit was about $104 billion. I’m not proud of that number. That’s too high. But in the three years that Democrats have controlled Congress, the average annual deficit is now $1.1 trillion. Do the math. What used to be an annual deficit under Republicans has become a monthly deficit under Democrats.

But he’s got a grip on it, or us, now. Now, his budget is built on a house of cards that takes the deficit to between $8-15 trillion dollars (depending on whose numbers you want to use) in the next 10 years. And that is dependent upon Congress voting to raise the debt ceiling another $1.9 trillion. In just this past year, his budget is a mere 35% greater than they said it would be 12 months ago. Imagine how their estimates for health care and all the other government-building spending they propose will be?

The President asked for ideas from us serfs during his SOTU speech. Here’s one. Repeal the drug program that you criticize Bush for creating, the one you voted for as a Senator. The one that you said couldn’t be paid for. OK, so kill it. Now. Viola, look how much of the deficit you just ‘saved.’

Do you get the impression that this administration doesn’t care how much they spend as long as they reach their goal of destroying the economy so as to reduce it to a socialist utopia via his facist economic policies? I do.

The house of cards, which I call this budget, is based on tax increases, it is based on the economy growing, it is based on taxes from cap and trade, it is based on costs of health care decreasing. Essentially, this budget buster is based on receiving trillions of dollars from from programs that are not in place and based on the most optimistic of projections. It is the definition of ‘smoke and mirrors.’

Here’s something else to ponder about our economic circumstances. At the current interest rate on bonds, which is at 3%, a historic low, in 5 years the interest on our debt will be nearly a trillion dollars a year. That’s over a third of our GDP and about equal to all the money raised by income taxes. What happens when China stops buying our debt, which it is already signalling it intends to do, and interest rates rise? The interest on this debt, and by this debt I mean the debt we’ve got right now. That’s not including the debt that Obama wants to pile on. When interest rates go up further, the interest payments on this debt will be more than our GDP. The only way out then is hyperinflation, the devaluation of the dollar.

After taxing the rich, the spending programs will end up taxing the rest in increase cost all the way down the scale. So what’s left for the government to get their hands on when all else is maxed out? Your retirement plans, your 401K’s, your IRA’s. Whether this happens before or after hyperinflation kicks in is just a matter of timing. They’ve already got their eyes on the trillions of dollars Americans have managed to save for themselves. If only the government ran its business like you and I have to, we wouldn’t be in this precarious economic condition.

Best bet now is to salvage what you have left before the government takes it and gives you an IOU like they did with your Social Security. Asset protection now means cashing in your retirement funds and investing it somewhere where the government can’t get its greedy little hands on it.

You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating. You can’t spend your way into prosperity, nor borrow your way out of debt. Sir Winston Churchill

Updated: 9:43
link: Big bang gives way to busted budget