We Need to get These Idiots Out of Power

What’s new Today

Our #1 story relates the results of the Iowa Caucuses.  #2  is an update of the recall election of Governor Walker.  In #3 we have more of an analogy of how the left is similar to a religious cult.  Here we have their blue laws popping up in various states.  #4 relates that like a religious cult that don’t have any tolerance for other religions and their beliefs.  #5 shows the bi-polar mental state of the government.  #6 has three different articles pointing out accomplishments of the left. 

1.  Iowa Caucus Results

Mitt Romney beat Rick Santorum in the Iowa caucuses early this morning by the astonishingly narrow margin of just eight votes as the Republican presidential race got off to a dramatic start.

Former Pennsylvania senator Mr Santorum secured 30,007 votes, while former Massachusetts governor Mr Romney emerged the winner with 30,015 in one of the closest votes in American history.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul came a close third. Mr Santorum, Mr Romney and Mr Paul were neck and neck for much of the night before Mr Paul slipped when results from rural counties came in.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081986/Iowa-caucus-2012-Mitt-Romney-Rick-Santorum-deadlocked-Iowa.html#ixzz1iUZQlIuC

The election season is now officially on. 

2.  Wisconsin:  Walker Faces Recall

… So how is Walker doing? He has raised a fair amount of money to defend the recall, although he probably will be outspent two or three to one. (The cardinal rule of American politics is that if money can buy victory, the Democrats will win.) Walker has started running anti-recall ads like this one, which strikes me as very effective, as it reminds voters that 1) the policies Walker’s administration implemented are the ones he campaigned on, and 2) they have worked:

Ann Althouse, who lives in Madison, has followed these events closely and seems optimistic that Walker will prevail. She notes that the Democrats are waffling on how many signatures they now have on petitions to recall Walker and his lieutenant governor, and suggests several possible explanations, all of them more or less optimistic.

Meanwhile, Ed Morrissey points to another front on which Walker is coming out ahead:

The [Democrats'] failure to win back control of the state Senate this summer after spending millions on those recall efforts may have tempered the expectations of success for the Walker recall, but a better indicator might come from an entirely different reform Walker and the state GOP enacted once in control of the state legislature. Their new “shall issue” law on gun permits has resulted in an overwhelming response from Wisconsin citizens:

Wisconsin residents have overwhelmed the state Justice Department with so many concealed weapon permit applications agency officials say they probably won’t meet deadlines for issuing approvals this month despite pulling dozens of employees from other tasks to help.

A state law that allows Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons went into effect Nov. 1. Under the law, state residents 21 or older who submit $50 to the Justice Department, pass an agency background check and prove they have received some firearms training can obtain a permit to carry. …

As of Dec. 28, DOJ had received 64,832 applications, issued 36,373 permits and denied 800….

I don’t suppose a lot of those Badgers who appreciate the right to defend themselves will be voting to recall Scott Walker.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/01/is-walker-winning.php

The democrats and the unions are probably doing themselves more harm than good with all these attempts at recalls.  They appear to be spending a lot of money and seem like spoiled children who are holding their breath to try and get what they want.

3.  The Left’s New Blue Laws

Montgomery County, Maryland is the latest locality to impose a 5-cent tax on shoppers or restaurant-goers who need a plastic bag to take their purchases home. Next door, Washington, D.C. imposed such a tax already; environmentalists are pushing localities everywhere to do the same.

The tax is insignificant as a revenue-raiser -- perhaps $1 million a year will be collected, and probably less. The tax is in fact designed not to be collected. Relative to the actual price of producing such a bag -- not even 1 penny -- the tax is outrageous, at a 400-percent rate. Few people will pay 5 cents for something they value at zero -- they will go to significant extremes to avoid it, even if it adds "only" 25-50 cents' added costs per trip to the supermarket.

Defenders of the tax say this is exactly the point. They happily gloat that this is a tax which results in a change in behavior that they have long wanted to see. Suffice it to say, it is nice that liberals occasionally acknowledge that taxing something produces less of it.

But that intellectual victory for conservative principles of taxation is probably a one-off. This is not an ordinary public policy discussion….

…But plastic bags are terrific devices. They are feather-light, yet hold several pounds of goods. They can be reused multiple times. Dog-owners are grateful to have them for some disposable protection when they pick up after their pets. Parents of newborns are thrilled to encase a particularly nasty diaper on the fly.

Compared to these benefits, how awful is the environmental damage plastic bags are alleged to cause? We cause far more environmental damage for far less practical benefit. There are other pollutants of our streams -- pesticides, fertilizers, and old tires, for example -- but we don't impose 400-percent taxes on them.

No, the only obvious reason to impose such a tax is that it is purely symbolic. Those who hate plastic bags hate them so much that they also hate the people who use plastic bags. A 400-percent tax on something is passed not to capture the external negativities of a product. It is imposed to punish the person who might ever want the product.

Of all the things that supposedly imperil society -- cop-killing bullets, unsecured nuclear waste, deadbeat dads, gas-guzzling SUVs, factory farming, just pick your poison -- plastic bags alone are targeted for punishing tax rates and, it is hoped, disappearance.

Is that because plastic bags are worse than the other evils? No. It's because the use of plastic bags at the store is considered a moral evil by the nags of the retro-puritanical environmental movement. When they can't change behavior through gentle or annoying suasion, they turn to the powers of the state. So they have resorted to the equivalent of blue laws -- a state-imposed ban on otherwise harmless behavior to satisfy the moral urgings of a powerful political bloc….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/green_blue_laws.html#ixzz1iUbfdR8k

A perfect example of what the world would be like under a progressive government.  They will impose their values on society just as they scream about how the right wants to impose its values. 

4.  The Left Intolerance on Display

Colorado Christian University in Lakewood is taking the federal government to court. The school says it’s being coerced into violating its deeply-held religious beliefs.

The beliefs involve strong opposition to abortion.

There are some 4,000 students and 500 employees associated with the university. The school offers a group health plan to its employees and students. Under a federal mandate the plan must offer contraceptives. That leaves the school’s administration, led by former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong, facing an important ethical question…

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/01/03/colorado-christian-university-sues-federal-government-over-health-care/

Another example of the left imposing its beliefs on others.  This is one of the things many Europeans came to America to escape.

5.  Democrats Haven’t Learned Anything about the Financial Crisis

Just days before Christmas, the Obama administration gave Bank of America a big lump of coal, levying a hefty $335 million dollar fine on the company for discriminating against minorities in its lending practices.

Supposedly Countrywide, a mortgage company bought by Bank of America in 2008, had not given out enough low interest rate loans to minorities from 2004 to 2008.

What the large fine reveals is that President Obama hasn’t learned anything from the recent financial crisis.

What the president sees as discrimination in awarding a mortgage, lenders saw as wise business decisions.

If a borrower can’t afford a down payment, Obama appears to view charging a higher interest rate as discrimination. Lenders also think that they shouldn’t treat borrowers whose sole source of income is welfare or unemployment insurance, the same as those applicants who have a job. But Obama, again, appears to view this as discrimination….

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/02/obama-has-learned-nothing-from-mortgage-meltdown-mess/#ixzz1iUeozXee

We have to get these idiots out of power. 

6.  Some of the Left’s Accomplishments

Worst Product of the Year Award

General Motors' much-hyped Chevy Volt has yet another distinction to add to its long list of commendations. We had all heard repeatedly about Motor Trends' Car of the Year award, Consumer Reports' recommendation and Jay Leno's love affair with the car, but the Volt now gets a less publicized, more deserved distinction from Yahoo Finance's 24/7 Wall Street site. The Volt has made the list of "The Worst Product Flops of 2011" and apologists for the vehicle are sure to, once again, attack the credibility of those issuing the opinion.

The Obama Administrations' favorite car has had a rough time of late with sales goals not being met, exploding cars at NHTSA and media exposure of the high cost to taxpayers regarding Chevy Volt subsidies and federal funding of township purchases. Considering all the money spent by GM to hype the vehicle, the Worst Flop award is well-deserved….

http://nation.foxnews.com/chevy-volt/2012/01/03/obamas-chevy-volt-gets-worst-product-award#ixzz1iUuSAeVH

Another “Green” Project

A San Jose-based company has pulled out of plans to build a multimillion-dollar solar cell factory in Saginaw, Mich.

GlobalWatt CEO Sanjeev Chitre blamed the shutdown on the poor economy and competition from overseas; however, many critics are wondering if there really was much of a factory to shut down. Far from a mega-factory promised in early paperwork, GlobalWatt's Saginaw operations actually employed slightly more than a dozen workers….

http://nation.foxnews.com/solar-power/2012/01/03/solar-company-scraps-factory-leaves-mich-dark#ixzz1iUv337AM

Debt Now Equals GDP

While not news to Zero Hedge readers who knew about the final debt settlement of US debt about 10 days ahead of schedule, it is now official: according to the US Treasury, America has closed the books on 2011 with debt at an all time record $15,222,940,045,451.09. And, as was observed here first in all of the press, US debt to GDP is now officially over 100%, or 100.3% to be specific, a fact which the US government decided to delay exposing until the very end of the calendar year. We wonder, rhetorically, just how prominent of a talking point this historic event will be in any upcoming GOP primary debates.

http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2012/01/03/thanks-obama-us-debt-now-100-gdp#ixzz1iUvWtP4F

We have to get these idiots out of power. 

Wednesday: Truth and Liberals

Politics

Another anti-TEA Party movement

….Throughout his speech, he repeated many of the same tropes of the left that we’ve heard before: THAT AMERICA IS NOT BROKE, THAT THE WEALTHY DON’T PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE, THAT UNION MEMBERSHIP IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS,THAT WAGES HAVE REMAINED STAGNANT, ETC.
Jones ended by questioning the patriotism of the Tea Party movement. With a nod to Vice President Joe Biden, he discussed the patriotism of paying higher taxes AND TOOK TO CALLING HIS FELLOW PROGRESSIVES THE “DEEPER PATRIOTS,” AS IF PATRIOTISM IS DETERMINED BY HOW MUCH OF OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY YOU CAN SPEND.

But perhaps the major conceit in Jones’s address was the notion that the economy is a zero-sum game where the success of one person hinders your ability to succeed. If you’re not doing well, it’s because someone else is getting ahead at your expense. “We’re not broke,” Jones said early on in his presentation, “We’ve been robbed.”…

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/06/24/why-van-jones-anti-tea-party-will-fail/

Progressives view of economics is based upon evenly dividing up the pie, not in making the pie larger. In fact progressive policies are designed to make the pie smaller in America.

They told me if I voted for McCain, whistleblowers would be fired

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is being accused of retaliating against an agent who helped publicize the agency’s role in allowing thousands of guns to cross the U.S. border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.

The agent, VINCE CEFALU, WHO HAS SPOKEN OUT ABOUT THE ATF'S SO-CALLED "PROJECT GUNRUNNER" SCANDAL, SAYS HE WAS SERVED WITH TERMINATION PAPERS JUST LAST WEEK, AND HE CALLS THE MOVE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
“Aside from Jay Dobyns, I don't know of anyone that's been more vocal about ATF mismanagement than me,” said Cefalu, a senior special agent based in Dublin, Calif. “That's why this is happening.” Dobyns, an ATF special agent based in Tucson, has appeared several times on Fox News to discuss the scandal.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/27/atf-to-fire-gunrunner-whistleblower/#ixzz1QZEThWMl

I kind of suspect the real crime wasn’t so much blowing the whistle, but appearing on Fox News.

House Democrats feel jilted by the president in budget, debt talks

HOUSE DEMOCRATS FEEL LIKE JILTED LOVERS.

They’re looking down Pennsylvania Avenue for some sign of affection from President Obama in the White House. But all they feel they’re getting in return is the back of his hand.

“How is it that the House Democrats played such an important role [in the majority], and all of a sudden [the White House says], ‘FORGET IT, WE’LL WORK WITH THE SENATE AND THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP?’ ” asked Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), vice chairman of the Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee….

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/168713-house-democrats-feel-jilted-by-the-president

It appears the Democrats in the House don’t realize the budget talks Democrats already have two of the three major players.

Obama: Ignorant or incompetent?

….An incomplete report card on his "accomplishments" would include the following:
• the economy worsened
• discretionary military efforts ("kinetic" if you prefer) increased
• an unpopular, flawed health care plan was forced on the public
• inflation increased, especially in critical goods like food and gasoline
• job prospects decreased
• the stimulus failed miserably
• "transparency in government" became a laugh-line for late night TV
• corruption in government accelerated to Chicago-style warp speed
• Housing worsened and shows no sign of bottoming soon
• Government debt and spending spun out of control
• Wall Street was bailed out and continues to enrich themselves
• Main Street was ignored and becomes poorer as bankruptcies and foreclosures mount
• race relations appear to have worsened

There are a plethora of other problems that could be attributed to Obama. IN SHORT, IT IS DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN WHAT, IF ANYTHING, HAS IMPROVED OTHER THAN THE DEMISE OF OSAMA BIN LADEN.

Two hypotheses are often cited to explain why things have gotten so much worse:

1. Obama is incompetent.
2. Obama knows what he is doing and is deliberately destroying the country …
.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/president_quixotes_legacy_confused_ill-educated_and_not_too_bright.html

An excellent article laying out the problems with the “intelligence” of this president and perhaps the entire left wing. Intelligence doesn’t mean much when it is subservient to ideology.

Obama and the Debt Deal

NEWS REPORTS INDICATE THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS “ENGAGED” ON REACHING A DEAL TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING. Let’s hope so, and about time! The president is the key to getting a deal in the first place, and if he chooses, it can be substantively good, but it will only happen when he chooses to make it happen.

Let’s start with the substance. IT IS CLEAR THAT JUST RAISING THE DEBT CEILING WILL PROVIDE NO REAL COMFORT TO MARKETS. RECKLESSLY RAISING THE DEBT CEILING WOULD PROVE THAT WE ARE ON TRACK TO SAIL DIRECTLY INTO THE TEETH OF A SOVEREIGN DEBT CRISIS. So any real deal has to both raise the debt ceiling and deal with the substance of the problem. Namely, that THE PROJECTED EXPLOSION IN SPENDING OUTSTRIPS ANY REASONABLE EXPECTATION THAT THE U.S. CAN GROW ITS WAY OUT FROM UNDERNEATH AN ALREADY DANGEROUS FEDERAL DEBT OVERHANG. So, a real deal would include near-term (“discretionary”) spending cuts, caps to control medium-term discretionary spending, and real changes to actual entitlement programs that would signal a commitment to controlling the spending explosion.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/270612/obama-and-debt-deal-douglas-holtz-eakin

This is a win/win situation for the Republicans. The Democrats can only lose. They know the debt will have to be dealt with, but they are hoping to put it off until after 2012. The debt ceiling stops them from being able to do this. Their call for tax increases doesn’t really play even for Democrats who know this will be another blow to the economy. So it will have to be spending cuts which is what the TEA Party called for and most of the country agrees with.

Liberals and history

Sigh.

YOU'D THINK LIBERALS WOULD LEARN.

Of course not.

George Stephanopoulos made the mistake of going after Michele Bachmann on history -- and promptly proceeded to get his history foolishly wrong. Said George:

For example earlier this year YOU SAID THAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS WHO WROTE THE CONSTITUTION AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WORKED TIRELESSLY TO END SLAVERY. NOW WITH RESPECT CONGRESSWOMAN, THAT'S JUST NOT TRUE

.

Actually, George, it is true...

http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/28/levin-stephanopoulos-is-foolis

The article goes on to show how Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and George Mason all tried to eliminate slavery and these people are considered Founding Fathers. Just as with Sarah Palin talking about Paul Revere’s ride and how he announced to the British that they should try to take our arms (which he did after he was captured) the left seems content with grade school history not looking to go beyond that to get the full story. But what should be truly embarrassing to them is that when caught, they try to pretend that it didn’t happen or didn’t count.

More from details on Wisconsin’s Chokegate

…According to one witness, Bradley charged toward Prosser, shaking her clenched fist in his face. ANOTHER SOURCE SAYS THEY WERE “LITERALLY NOSE TO NOSE.” PROSSER THEN PUT HIS HANDS UP TO PUSH HER AWAY. As one source pointed out, if a man wants to push a woman who is facing him, he wouldn’t push her in the chest (unless he wants to face an entirely different criminal charge). Consequently, PROSSER PUT HIS HANDS ON BRADLEY’S SHOULDERS TO PUSH HER AWAY, AND IN DOING SO, MADE CONTACT WITH HER NECK.

At that moment, another justice approached Bradley from behind and pulled her away from Prosser, saying, “STOP IT, ANN, THIS ISN’T LIKE YOU.” BRADLEY THEN SHOUTED, “I WAS CHOKED!” Another justice present replied, “You were not choked.” In a statement following the incident, Bradley maintained Prosser “put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold.”
On Monday night, Bradley called Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs to talk to him about the incident. On the morning of Wednesday, June 15, Tubbs joined the justices in a closed-door meeting, where he discussed “issues relating to workplace violence.”

During the meeting, Chief Justice Abrahamson actually reenacted the incident on Chief Tubbs — no doubt an amusing sight, as the diminutive Abrahamson mimicked choking the tall, portly police chief. During her demonstration, Abrahamson emphasized that Prosser had exerted “pressure” on Bradley’s throat.

“THERE WAS NO PRESSURE,” INTERRUPTED THE JUSTICE WHO HAD INITIALLY BROKEN UP THE INCIDENT BETWEEN BRADLEY AND PROSSER. “THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE YOU BROKE US APART,” SHOT BACK BRADLEY. This exchange led several meeting attendees to believe Bradley was making up the charge, as they took her rejoinder as an admission that there was no pressure applied to her neck….

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/270679/more-details-emerge-wisconsin-s-chokegate-christian-schneider

These people are supposed to be judges. Claiming to be choked and then admitting she wasn’t “only because you broke us apart,” and then going to the press claiming to be choked seems to be cause for Bradley to resign. Women making false charges it should be held accountable for it.

Economic Freedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1U1Jzdghjk&feature=channel_video_title

Here is a 2 minute video that makes a great point

Healthcare and civility

House Passes Repeal of Healthcare

HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASSED A BILL TO REPEAL PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE PLAN Wednesday, taking their first major step toward rolling back the massive overhaul that has dominated the American political landscape for almost two years.

THE VOTE WAS 245 TO 189, AND UNANIMOUS GOP SUPPORT GAVE THE VOTE THE SAME PARTISAN FEEL OF THE MARCH VOTE TO PASS THE LAW, underscoring once again the hardened political lines of the health care debate. Only three Democrats backed the repeal, a smaller number than Republicans had once predicted.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47831.html#ixzz1BZQStlHx

A partisan vote to be sure, but the repeal passed by much more than the original bill passed by.  The reason for this is that the Democrats knew voting for it would hurt moderate democrats and Pelosi let some vote against it.  Evidently voting for repeal will not hurt Republicans.

Democrat show his civility: Compares Republicans to Nazis

The newfound civility didn’t last long. POLITICAL RHETORIC IN CONGRESS DOESN’T GET MUCH NASTIER than the words of one House Democrat during the debate on repealing the health care law.


In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN) INVOKED THE HOLOCAUST TO ATTACK REPUBLICANS ON HEALTH CARE and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "YOU SAY IT ENOUGH, YOU REPEAT THE LIE, YOU REPEAT THE LIE, AND EVENTUALLY, PEOPLE BELIEVE IT. LIKE BLOOD LIBEL. That's the same kind of thing. And Congressman Cohen didn’t stop there.

The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it--believed it and you have the Holocaust. We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care. Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover," Cohen said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/abc-news-jonathan-karl-reports-the-newfound-civility-didnt-last-long-political-rhetoric-in-congress-doesnt-get-much.html


Blood libel anyone? How absolutely irresponsible and just plain stupid. I guess Cohen is going for the Grayson award for outrageous speech.



Sheila Jackson Lee Says Repealing ObamaCare Violates Constitution

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, said on Tuesday afternoon that repealing the national health care law would violate the Constitution.

Arguing that the Commerce Clause provides the constitutional basis for ObamaCare, Jackson Lee said repealing the law by passing Republicans' H.R. 2 VIOLATES BOTH THE FIFTH AMENDMENT'S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS AND THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT'S EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE.

“The Fifth Amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process," she said in a speech on the House floor moments ago. "That is what H.R. 2 does and I rise in opposition to it. And I rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured

http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/18/shelia-jackson-lee-says-repeal


The more I heard from Congresswoman Lee, the more I think we need to go beyond reading the Constitution to actually having classes on it for our Congress people. Unless I’m reading this wrong, it appears Ms. Lee is calling for Obamacare to take the 5th. One of the comments on this story said: “I'm a lawyer and reading that "analysis" made me nauseous. Never has so much stupidity been put into so few words.”

Two thirds of Doctors Surveyed see a decline in quality of care under Obamacare

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors surveyed fear healthcare reform could worsen care for patients, by flooding their offices and hurting income, according to a Thomson Reuters survey released Tuesday.

The SURVEY OF MORE THAN 2,900 DOCTORS found many predict the legislation will force them to work harder for less money.

"WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE IN THE U.S. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, 65 PERCENT OF THE DOCTORS BELIEVED IT WOULD DETERIORATE WITH ONLY 18 PERCENT PREDICTING IT WOULD IMPROVE," Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, said in a statement.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41149280/

Perhaps Rep Cohen should read this before he libels Repubicans.

The answer that no one wants to take seriously: the debt ceiling

For months, some political leaders and commentators have argued that failure to raise the debt ceiling would necessarily cause the U.S. to default on its debt. President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors chairman, Austan Goolsbee, recently warned, "If we get to the point where you've damaged the full faith and credit of the United States,that would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity. I don't see why anybody's talking about playing chicken with the debt ceiling."


In fact, IF CONGRESS REFUSES TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL STILL HAVE FAR MORE THAN ENOUGH MONEY TO FULLY SERVICE OUR DEBT. Next year, for instance, about 6.5% of all projected federal government expenditures will go to interest on our debt, and tax revenue is projected to cover about 67% of all government expenditures. WITH ROUGHLY 10 TIMES MORE INCOME THAN NEEDED TO HONOR OUR DEBT OBLIGATIONS, WHY WOULD WE EVER DEFAULT?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576089963912388314.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


This is the dirty little secret no one wants to public to know about. If we didn’t raise the debt ceiling government would have to cut spending by 33%. That would be a very difficult cut to take, but in the last three years, government has increased spending by 30%. Maybe it isn’t so ominous after all.  It also explains why the Republicans will have a lot of leverage with Obama.  Obama and the Republicans know that failure to raise the debt ceiling will not cause a default.

The gathering storm

Illinois is caught in a trap of its own making, agreeing with unions (the Democrat base) to pay EXORBITANT AMOUNTS OF RETIREMENT AND HEALTH BENEFITS TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEES THE STATE CANNOT AFFORD. Governors in nearby states are inviting Illinois residents and businesses to move from Illinois. No doubt many will accept those invitations, taking their money and their jobs with them.


States that have had enough have Republican governors who are committed to reducing spending and taxes.


In his State of the State address last week, INDIANA REPUBLICAN GOV. MITCH DANIELS PROPERLY TOOK CREDIT FOR POLICIES THAT HAVE PLACED HIS STATE AMONG THE FINANCIALLY STRONGEST IN THE NATION: the lowest property taxes in the country and matching spending to income by eliminating "nice to do" programs, focusing instead on "must do" ones.


Daniels noted, "Elsewhere state government payrolls have grown, but here, we have the nation's FEWEST STATE EMPLOYEES PER CAPITA, fewer than we did in 1978."


He said that during the current recession "AT LEAST 35 STATES RAISED TAXES, BUT INDIANA CUT THEM. Since '04, the other 49 states added to their debt, by 40 percent; WE PAID OURS DOWN BY 40 PERCENT." Other states went into the red, he said, but in Indiana "our savings account remains strong, and our credit AAA."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/01/tale-two-parties-and-their-priorities#ixzz1BWLG7Y95


You will be reading about this more and more in the next 21 months. This, along with healthcare are the issues that will determine the 2012 election.

'I WISH I COULD'

 Just as a new report details how state-run media networks have used the Arizona shootings to attack conservative voices (by an eight-to-one ratio), ONE LIBERAL HATE-TALKER HAS DECIDED TO DOUBLE-DOWN ON HIS NOTORIOUSLY-EXTREME RHETORIC.

Syndicated/ XM-Sirius Satellite-based MIKE MALLOY, no stranger to Radio Equalizer readers, spent part of last night's show defending his violence fantasies and even REVEALED A NEW ONE: A DESIRE TO CHOKE RUSH LIMBAUGH TO DEATH.

In the past, Malloy's "fantasies" have targeted Dana Perino, Matt Drudge, Dick Cheney and many others. As conservative hosts have come under fire by left-wing media outlets over the past week, Bill O'Reilly and others have called attention to Malloy's greatest hits, leading to Mike's on-air "explanation

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com//

Malloy is a poster child for “hate radio.” Here are a couple of his tirades.

I HAVE A GOOD NEWS TO REPORT; GLEN BECK APPEARS CLOSER TO SUICIDE - I'M HOPING THAT HE DOES IT ON CAMERA; suicide is rampant in his family, and given his alcoholism and his tendencies towards self-destruction, I AM ONLY HOPING THAT WHEN GLEN BECK DOES PUT A GUN TO HIS HEAD AND PULLS THE TRIGGER, THAT IT WILL BE ON TELEVISION, because somebody will capture it on YouTube and it will be the most popular video for months. -- Mike Malloy



THE REAL INTERNAL TERRORISTS ARE THE REPUBLICANS, I mean, isn't that clear? RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIGGER THREAT TO THIS COUNTRY THAN OSAMA BIN LADEN. He's a bigger threat than anybody that the CIA can invent. He's a bigger threat than any terrorist that ever leveled its sights against the United States, Limbaugh is, SO WHY ISN'T HE ARRESTED AND SENTENCED FOR TREASON?... -- Mike Malloy



Why We're a Divided Nation

By Walter Williams

Some Americans have strong, sometimes unyielding preferences for Mac computers, while most others have similarly strong preferences for PCs and wouldn't be caught dead using a Mac. Some Americans love classical music and hate rock and roll. Others have opposite preferences, loving rock and roll and consider classical music as hoity-toity junk……WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU HEARD OF ROCK AND ROLL LOVERS IN CONFLICT WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC LOVERS, or Mac lovers in conflict with PC lovers, or football lovers in conflict with golf lovers? IT SELDOM IF EVER HAPPENS. When there's market allocation of resources and peaceable, voluntary exchange, people have their preferences satisfied and are able to live in peace with one another.

Think what might be the case if it were a political decision of whether there'd be football or golf watched on TV, whether we used Macs or PCs and whether we listened to classical music or rock and roll. EVERYONE HAD TO COMPLY WITH THE POLITICALLY MADE DECISION OR SUFFER THE PAIN OF FINES OR IMPRISONMENT. Football lovers would be lined up against golf lovers, Mac lovers against PC lovers and rock and rollers against classical music lovers. PEOPLE WHO PREVIOUSLY LIVED IN PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER WOULD NOW BE IN CONFLICT…..

….The best thing the president and Congress can do to reduce the potential for conflict and violence is REDUCE THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT ON OUR LIVES. Doing so will not only produce a less-divided country and greater economic efficiency, but greater faith and allegiance to the vision of America held by our founders — a country of limited government. Our founders, in the words of Thomas Paine, recognized that, "GOVERNMENT, EVEN IN ITS BEST STATE, IS BUT A NECESSARY EVIL; IN ITS WORST STATE, AN INTOLERABLE ONE."

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williamns011911.php3?printer_friendly

It amazing how simple this solution is and how intolerable it is to those on the left.

AGW is dead: warmists answer, change the definition of alive

What Eschenbach says is so pure and simple and obvious you’d need to be as dumb as Chris Huhne not to get it:

THE THEORY LINKING MAN-MADE CO2 WITH DANGEROUS GLOBAL WARMING IS DEAD. It has been falsified. It has run smack bang into a “null hypothesis.” It has met its Waterloo. It has bought the farm. It has gone for a Burton. It has cashed in its chips, fallen off its perch, gone south, gone west, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible. MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING HAS CEASED TO EXIST…..

… What Eschenbach focuses on, though, is TRENBERTH’S ABSURD DEMAND that THE “NULL HYPOTHESIS” ON AGW THEORY BE REVERSED. That is, instead of having to prove AGW exists, what PEOPLE SHOULD NOW BE REQUIRED TO PROVE THAT IT DOESN’T EXIST. (!)….

…. The reason for this is that “Climate Change” has long since abandoned any connection it had now with actual science. IT IS AN IDEOLOGY. A RELIGION. A PSYCHOPATHOLOGY....

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100072360/warmists-we-cant-win-the-game-so-lets-change-the-rules/


Watching what is going on is like watching Bret Farve this past year for Minnesota. At one time he was great. Now he’s a shadow of his former self. Trenberth and the other high priests of AGW now preach a pathetic doctrine and try to back it up with fraudulent data. It is sad.

One Week From Today!

In Wash., illegal immigrants canvassing for votes

SEATTLE -- When Maria Gianni is knocking on voters' doors, she's not bashful about telling people she is in the country illegally. She knows it's a risk to advertise to strangers that she's here illegally - but one worth taking in what she sees as a crucial election.


The 42-year-old is one of dozens of volunteers - many of them illegal immigrants - canvassing neighborhoods in the Seattle area trying to get naturalized citizens to cast a ballot for candidates like Democratic Senator Patty Murray, who is in a neck-to-neck race with Republican Dino Rossi.


Pramila Jayapal, head of OneAmerica Votes, says the campaign is about empowering immigrants who may not feel like they can contribute to a campaign because they can't vote.


"Immigrants really do matter," Jayapal said. "If we can't vote ourselves, we're gonna knock on doors, or get family members to vote."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102201280.html


Kind of makes you wonder if this was why Obama quit asking about illegal foreign contributions to the Chamber of Commerce.


Anti-Incumbent or Anti-Democrat?

One of the question swirling around this election, is this an anti-incumbent election (throw the bums out) or is it an anti-democrat election (throw out the Democrats). Looking at the House of Representatives we see 81 SEATS THE DEMOCRATS HOLD AS EITHER TOSS UPS OR LIKELY REPUBLICAN PICKUPS. On the other side, WE SEE 4 REPUBLICAN SEATS as either toss ups or likely Democrat.



The early vote: Signs of GOP passion

Just over a week before Election Day, signs of widespread Republican enthusiasm are apparent in the early-voter data, including in some places with highly competitive statewide races. Yet at the same time, for Democrats there are promising data in numerous states suggesting that the idea of a devastating turnout gap may be overblown.


POLITICO surveyed early voting through Saturday in 20 states, and IN 14 OF THE 15 THAT HAVE VOTER REGISTRATION BY PARTY, THE GOP'S EARLY TURNOUT PERCENTAGE IS RUNNING AHEAD OF THE PARTY'S SHARE OF STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION — whether measured against 2006 or 2008, when President Barack Obama's campaign led to a surge in Democratic voter registration. As a result, Republicans say they're turning the tables on the Democratic dominance of early voting that paved the way for Obama's victory in 2008 — and that INDEPENDENTS' LEAN TOWARD THE GOP THIS YEAR WILL DO THE REST.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=DF3D938C-C3C9-92EB-6E99C5B626F1D9B9


President Sarah Palin?

PRESIDENT PALIN” is cover of New York mag. (Cover image http://politi.co/cqmtht) John Heilemann teases out the “Morning Joe” theory/dream: SARAH PALIN AS THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE, PLUS MAYOR BLOOMBERG AS A THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATE, COULD THROW THE RACE INTO THE HOUSE (AND JOHN GOES BEYOND “JOE” TO SAY SHE WOULD WIN): “Among two dozen senior strategists and operatives with whom I’ve spoken in recent day -- including many of those responsible for securing the nomination for the party’s last three standard-bearers -- there is a growing consensus that Palin is running or setting herself up to run.

And interesting scenario. Could it happen?

http://www.politico.com/playbook/


Debt Has Increased $5 Trillion Since Speaker Pelosi Vowed, ‘No New Deficit Spending’

(CNSNews.com) - When Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave her inaugural address as speaker of the House in 2007, she vowed there would be “no new deficit spending.” Since that day, the national debt has increased by $5 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.


"After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending,” Pelosi said in her speech from the speaker’s podium. “Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt."

Even if we give speaker Pelosi the benefit of the debt doubt, we know that the deficit was 164 Billion dollars in 2007. Multiply that by 4 (4 years) and we have the debt rising $656 billion. In fact the actual increase was $5 trillion or 762% of what she had when she arrived.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/debt-has-increased-5-trillion-speaker-pe


Why the Democrats will lose next week.

And interesting write up of the difficulties the Democrats face. Are the Democrats coming home? Some of them are, but a number of them aren’t.

But my main thought while reading her rant was—why isn't she an Obama voter?


I'm serious. Was it really necessary to piss people like her off? Tucker's almost a perfect Obama voter. She's a single grandmom. Not rich. Famously worked at Wal-Mart (after being a rock star) and complained about it. A lifelong Democrat—until now. Was what Obama felt he had to do—save Detroit, save Wall Street, jumpstart the economy, pass health care reform—inevitably incompatible with her world view?

Read the rest. She went from a Democrat for Obama to a TEA Party member.

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/kausfiles/2010/10/24/how-did-obama-lose-velvet-underground-drummer-moe-tucker.html


Ed Koch: The Coming Political Tsunami

I predict a Republican victory of tsunami proportions on November 2nd.


For the last six months in various public forums, I have said that Republicans will take both the House and Senate. Most political observers, citing statistics from various states, continue to say that, while it appears certain that the House will go Republican, there are too few Senate seats in play for a Republican takeover

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/10/26/the_coming_political_tsunami_107726.html




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