Tag Archives: Politics

Florida, Pensacola, Politics

Who Is Marco Rubio?

2 Comments

He was the Speaker of the House in the Florida legislature in Florida’s 111th district. Now Marco Rubio is running for the senate seat currently being wasted by Sen. Mel Martinez.

If all I know about Marco Rubio is what I see in these two videos, this is the kind of republican that conservatives appreciate. And as an added bonus, he can communicate conservatism well. And with a passion that does not come from a teleprompter.

The first video is his farewell speech on the floor in the Florida House. The second is a TV interview on MSNBC. In these videos, his principle core beliefs are laid out in a sincere and heart-felt manner. The third video is a big endorsement for Rubio, Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Unlike his challenger and current favorite Gov. Charlie Crist, from what I’ve seen here, I feel I can trust that Rubio will cast votes consistent with those principles.

MSNBC TV interview . . .

Mike Huckabee sees the good in Rubio too and is endorsing his candidacy.

Update 06/25/09: My Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) District 1 came out today and also endorced Marco Rubio. And for all the right reasons.

“This race has tremendous implications for the future of Florida and the very foundation of conservatism in America. Marco Rubio possesses an impressive combination of idea-driven, principled leadership and the ability to communicate conservative values in ways that resonate at the kitchen table. Americans deserve better than the current big government, borrow-and-spend road we are on, and I believe Marco Rubio will be a compelling voice to lead us to a stronger and more prosperous America.”

link: PNJ, Jeff Miller backs Rubio

Politics, War On Terror

Homeland Security Secretary Attacks Patriot Act

3 Comments

Consistent with what President Obama and others in his party ran on, Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, is taking a valuable tool out of the war-on-terror toolbox.

Let’s try this again. The head of Homeland Security, that’s the new cabinet level position in The White House responsible for preventing terrorist attacks and keeping us as safe from terrorists as possible. That one.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to kill a program begun by the Bush administration that would use U.S. spy satellites for domestic security and law enforcement, a government official said Monday.

Napolitano recently reached her decision after the program was discussed with law enforcement officials, and she was told it was not an urgent issue, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about it.

The program, called the National Applications Office, has been delayed because of privacy and civil liberty concerns.

Tearing up the Patriot Act by removing the tools from the toolbox means Obama is willing to take a gamble with your life where his predecessor would not.

link: AP, DHS to kill domestic satellite spying | Free, But Not Free To Kill, Patriot Act

Media, Politics

President Obama’s Gift For King Abdullah

I guess one could say that President Obama is making some progress in gifting heads of state. But you would never know it from the US media.

Obama has a record on this since becoming President. One of the first things he did to outfit the Oval Office was to give the bust of Winston Churchill back to Great Britain after the offer to keep it for at least the next four years was turned down by The White House. That was in February.

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government’s art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

How far that move helped our image around the world is debatable. British diplomats were not impressed.

Considering the reason the gift was offered in the first place says more about Obama’s views of the war on terror and the attacks on 9/11 than his sensibilities for international diplomacy and relations with Great Britain.

The first gift exchange came later when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had his first State visit to The White House.

Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk), Obama offered up … 25 DVDs of American movie classics.

Then came Obama’s trip to Great Britain where he and the first lady met the Queen.

The president, who was accompanied by the first lady, gave Her Majesty an iPod loaded with video and photographs of the queen’s 2007 visit to Jamestown, Richmond and Williamsburg, Va. He also gave her a songbook signed by composer Richard Rodgers.

In return, the queen gave the president a silver-framed, signed photograph of her and her husband, Prince Philip, which is reported to be a standard present for visiting dignitaries.

I'm not bowing. I'm not bowing.The next gift exchange happened in Saudi Arabia when the King presented the President with the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit, which is the country’s highest honor. From the picture, it could be easily confused with bling from MC Hammer or MC Obama. But to the Saudi Arabian people, it is a high honor bestowed on special people.

What has not been reported in the US media, strangely enough (I’m kidding), is the kind of gift that President Obama gave King Abdullah. No, this time it is not something off an end-cap in Best Buy. For this visit, the president put a lot of thought into this gift, which took 5 months to make. So at about the time Great Britain was being insulted by all the above, a gift based on the Quran for Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was being made. It’s not that he doesn’t know any better.

President Barack Obama’s invaluable gift to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has a noble connotation.

It is a Qur’anic verse which says: “O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the most righteous of you. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Qur’an, 49:13)

From the picture it looks like a nice gift. So why is it that the US media hasn’t reported on it? You have to look at Saudi media to find out. Doesn’t it show that the president has made some progress in gift giving? Besides, it does go a long way to reinforce the president’s sensitivities to Islam that he spoke of in his speech in Cairo. Do you think that’s why?

More pictures here.

Media, Politics, War On Terror

It's What Passes For Safe That Matters

2 Comments

That the Obama administration has made America less safe in the war on terror isn’t even debatable, but you’re welcome to try.

Starting with

  • conferring constitutional protections afforded to US citizens to foreign terrorists
  • to trying to dismantle the most effective parts of the Patriot Act that the Left calls domestic spying
  • to the apology tour where the words terrorist and terrorism were not mentioned
  • to the revelation (whether or not they are ultimately released) of more 6 or 7 year old fun pictures of terrorists being uncomfortable
  • to closing Club Gitmo (11 months remaining) and trying to put the jihadists in the American prison system, where they can do some recruiting
  • to re-defining acts of terrorism as a ‘man made disaster’ for the purpose of not offending the enemy that wants us dead
  • to limiting missile defenses and halting development of missile defense systems while North Korea fires off ICBMs and nuclear bombs
  • to the seismic shift from fighting a war to a law enforcement task where the FBI will be mirandizing terrorists captured alive on the battlefield
  • to putting a lawyer/professor/politician in charge of the CIA.

Putting people with no experience in top positions seems to be a hallmark of this administration. Leon Panetta was Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff from 1994-1997. With change like this, hope is all that’s left.

Taking all that into consideration, you’d have to be a fool to think that what vice president Cheney said was not true. He said the policies of this administration have made and will make America less safe. Fact is, Cheney didn’t say he hopes we get attacked again.  That is the Left’s spin of what he said which, the AP dutifully repeats as an unchallenged fact.

Which brings us to this article in the AP where CIA director Leon Panetta is doing what liberals are quick to do. Ignore the message, attack the messenger. Close debate, end of discussion.

CIA Director Leon Panetta says former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s approach to terrorism almost suggests “he’s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point.”

The reason Cheney spoke up to call it as he sees it was because no other elected Republicans were. He loves this country and believes the people need to know what this administration is up to, including its attempt to re-write history. Which is especially important right now because the media will not. The Liberals in charge of Washington don’t like that inconvenient truth but, it is what it is.

Remember the infamous 911 Commission’s report that liberals were quick to pounce on in some areas, while ignoring other parts? The parts that the Left chose to ignore speak directly to Cheney’s remarks and our security at home and abroad.

They (the terrorists, al-Qaeda) were at war with us and we were not at war with them. And, it is not a matter of if but a matter of when another attack will come.

The same article quotes Vice President Biden on the NBC show ‘Meet the Press’ this morning who said ‘I think Dick Cheney’s judgment about how to secure America is faulty, I think our judgment is correct.’

What say you?

related links: CIA head says Cheney almost wishing US be attacked | Cheney Responds to Panetta

Economy, Politics

Small Business Loan Program (ARC)

1 Comment

Compared to the trillions of dollars being dumped on future generations of Americans to grow government and to create temporary jobs with make-work programs, here is one program, maybe the only program, that is designed to help small business. Emphasis on small.

America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program is a new temporary guaranteed-loan program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act). ARC Loans provide small businesses access to the capital needed to drive economic recovery and to retain and create jobs.

ARC Loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 available through SBA’s 7(a) participating lenders. Potential borrowers are viable, for-profit small businesses located in the United States that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing, qualifying loans. ARC Loans are interest-free to the borrower, 100% guaranteed by SBA to the lender, and have no fees associated with them. SBA pays the interest to the SBA 7(a) lender making the loan. ARC Loan funds are to be used for payments of principal and interest for up to six months on existing, qualifying small business loans.

The program sounds good to those that don’t own or run a small business,  though not near as bold as the programs the administration is implementing to grow government.

The practicality of a program like this is limited in scope and effectiveness. $35,000 would only last a few months at best for a typical small business, depending on the overhead, number of employees, and benefits associated with employment. It is fair to say that the economic troubles this economy is in will last a lot longer than a few months. However, it does account for the ‘save or create’ rhetoric coming out of Washington.

Why this program isn’t in the news is another story.

Below is a communication sent to SBA employees by Eric R. Zarnikow, Associate Administrator for Capital Access.

Continue reading Small Business Loan Program (ARC) →

Media, Politics

When Good Is Bad, Obama Fires IG

3 Comments

In what will become the most unreported action by President Obama, in his supposedly open and honest administration, Chicago-style politics rears its ugly head yet again. The president removed the Inspector General in charge of overseeing how government grant money is spent after he found discrepancies. After he found the abuse of public funds, the U.S. Attorney balked at having the justice department take a look at it.

Obama’s move follows an investigation by IG Gerald Walpin of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group that Johnson headed.

Walpin was criticized by the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National Community Service. The corporation runs the AmeriCorps program.

The IG becomes the focus of the story, that the matter wasn’t handled right, instead of the corruption of the person responsible for handling the public funds.

Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) felt an explanation was needed, since the IG had identified millions of dollars that were mis-appropriated.  White House Counsel Gregory Craig, in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, cited the U.S. attorney’s criticism of Walpin to an integrity committee for inspectors general.

In the end, Chicago style politics takes the day. The bad guy is good, and the good guy is bad. Keeping the matter out of the courts and out of the media, the U.S. Attorney worked out a ‘deal.’

The U.S. attorney’s office reached a settlement in the matter. Brown cited press accounts that said Johnson and the nonprofit would repay half of nearly $850,000 in grants it received.

This is not change. This is more of the same.

Economy, Politics

Prius US Sales Down 45 Percent

It’s fair to say that auto sales of any brand is down, and down significantly and for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is government intervention. Current economic conditions aside, the Prius and vehicles like it are not what the market demands. And for whatever demand there is, there is no demand to eliminate the SUV and American cars as we know them. That demand is coming from Washington, not the market.

Despite claims that Americans turning their backs on gas-guzzlers have contributed to the present dire straits faced by GM and others, Toyota’s latest sales figures point to a stagnant market for more efficient Japanese models as well.

Sales of the Prius in the US were down from 15,011 in May 2008 to just 10,091 for the same month this year. For the year to date, sales of the Prius in the US stand at 42,753 compared to 79,675 in 2008 – a drop of more than 45 per cent.

Markets don’t respond well to political direction. Markets are self-correcting when ‘allowed.’  That is to say, when they are not interfered with.  Above everything else, markets don’t do well in an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. In light of the power grab the Obama administration has perpetrated over various industries and companies within his first 100 days, the only message Barack Obama is sending to business is watch out, you could be next.

Economy, Energy, Politics

'Green' Transport Not All That Green

Here’s an interesting bit of information about how environmentally-green mass-transportation is not simply ‘green’ by default. Written not by politicians, but by scientists, which probably qualifies them as card carrying extremists.

Its authors point out an array of factors that are often unknown to the public. These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple “tailpipe” tally, which is based on how much carbon is spewed out by the fossil fuels used to make a trip.

Environmental engineers Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath at the University of California at Davis say that when these costs are included, a more complex and challenging picture emerges.

In some circumstances, for instance, it could be more eco-friendly to drive into a city — even in an SUV, the bete noire of green groups — rather than take a suburban train. It depends on seat occupancy and the underlying carbon cost of the mode of transport.

Which reminds me of a related subject, biofuels. Did you know that it is greener to burn our fossil fuels than to produce and burn biofuels?

links: Think twice about ‘green’ transport, say scientists | Fossil Fuels Out-Green Biofuels

Immigration, Media, Politics

European Union Moves 'Center-Right'

The European Union held parliamentary elections over the weekend and the results indicate a rejection of socialism as they see it and of left-leaning parties in most member nations.

Conservatives raced toward victory in some of Europe’s largest economies Sunday as initial results and exit polls showed voters punishing left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain.

First projections by the European Union showed center-right parties would have the most seats – between 263 and 273 – in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were expected to get between 155 to 165 seats.

The EU seems to get it. They’ve seen it all before. Even more reason for the Obama administration to keep his socialist plans on the fast track. Before most Americans figure him out and what he is doing. The US media are not talking.

You can kind of tell when a media outlet doesn’t like what they’re seeing. Look how the left-leaning Telegraph.co.uk describes the victories. They get very creative in adjectives for the winners.  Extremists, far-right, fringe parties, anti-immigrant, anti-Islamic immigrant party, anti-gipsy extremist, ultra-nationalist. See any bias there?

Far-Right parties and extremists made gains across Europe this weekend as protest votes and low turnouts marked the European parliament elections.

Support for centre-Left parties and governments crashed across the EU as fringe parties, not the Socialists, picked up protest votes while the centre-Right weathered the storm.

Anti-immigrant and far-right groups made significant gains in the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland.

In Slovakia a low turnout of just 19.4 per cent propelled an anti-gipsy extremist ultra-nationalist into the parliament and Hungary’s far-Right Jobbik took three seats for the first time.

In France, Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-Right UMP group was the big winner, with 28 per cent of the vote, as the opposition Socialists suffered serious losses, plunging the already weak party into further disarray.

Can hardly wait to hear David Axelrod’s spin on the election results. It is the writing on his wall.