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Archives - August 2010 |
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Archives |
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 7:55pm The Occupation Ending? No matter what the President tells you tonight, we're not leaving Iraq anytime soon. He'll tell you that combat operations are over and the United States armed forces are down to 50,000, but the truth is the illegal occupation in Iraq will persist for years. That was the whole point.
President Obama's speech tonight is pure semantics. The American military will continue to conduct military operations throughout the country. He will call the 50,000 soldiers that remain a "residual force", but will neglect to mention the 18,000 support personnel and 70,000 contractors that will accompany them. Even when Obama supposedly pulls troops out at the end of next year, the United States will still maintain a significant presence, whether the Iraqis want them there or not. There is talk of actually crediting George Bush with this absolute failure of a war. Make no mistake: the invasion of Iraq by then President Bush was a crime against humanity. George Bush belongs in jail for killing over 150,000 Iraqis, 4,400 American soldiers, and wounding tens of thousands of others. All of those people would be alive today if not for his decision to invade the sovereign nation. The fact that politicians like Republican Senator Mitch McConnell are out there crediting Bush with anything is absolutely disgusting. This war has done nothing but give people a reason to hate America. Monday, August 30, 2010 - 8:30pm Alaska Libertarians Make Mistake Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R) only option should she lose to Joe Miller (R) closed this afternoon as the five member executive committee for the Libertarian Party of Alaska voted unanimously not to allow her to represent their party in November. Murkowski has yet to lose to Miller as absentee votes have not been counted, but the hope was that the Libertarians would give her the slot on the Alaska ballot that they've already secured.
The only embarrassment here is the Libertarian Party. They hold zero seats in the Senate, House, or Governor's office. A golden opportunity presented itself to them on a silver platter. A strong candidate who could actually get elected would give them representation in Washington for the very first time; and they passed. The Libertarians could've negotiated with Murkowski to further their agenda and focus on the topics they could agree upon such as less government and taxes, but they declined. The Alaska Libertarians instead decided to repeat their outlandish desires to abolish the income tax and the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, their platform is like a tree falling in the forest when nobody is arouind to hear it. Without any seats in Congress, nobody will listen to what they have to say, whether it's a legitimate concern or not. Sunday, August 29, 2010 - 5:10pm Katrina Anniversary Highlights Bush Failures President Obama visited New Orleans today to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the destructive storm that killed 1,800 people and flooded eighty percent of the city. The president remarked that his administration would stand by the people and fight with them until the job is done. He cited the progress in small business, the school system, and the number of residents no longer living in emergency houses. Obama's visit stands in stark contrast to the prior administration's incompetence and indifference to the people of New Orleans during one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
On this day five years ago, George Bush was on Day 28 of his vacation at the Crawford ranch in Texas. Shockingly, he decided to actually work that day and flew to Arizona and California to talk about Medicare prescription drugs. The following day, as it had become clear that New Orleans was in serious trouble, President Bush pledged to do all he can to help. Of course, then he went back to Crawford for two more days of vacation time. It wasn't until August 31st that President Bush flew back to the White House, but not before getting a ridiculous photo-op from Air-Force One flying over the devastation of New Orleans. At the time, people were trapped in their homes, starving, and dying, but George Bush just kept on going. Meanwhile, the unqualified cronies he had appointed to head FEMA, such as director Michael Brown, were off having gourmet dinners at five-star restaurants. It would be another two days before any federal help arrived. However, Bush tells Michael Brown on Friday, September 2nd that he's doing "a heckava job." Bush would later use Michael Brown as the scapegoat for his incompetence by firing him, but he couldn't escape the reality that he didn't know what to do and probably didn't much care either. Saturday, August 28, 2010 - 2:45pm White People Rally Conservative nutjob Glenn Beck has gathered as many white, tea-party people he could find to a controversial rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands of loons have descended upon the city to listen to wackos like Sarah Palin and Tony LaRussa (St. Louis Cardinals baseball manager who police recently arrested after being found drunk and asleep in his car at a red light in Florida). Between the three of them, I'm sure it'll be a wonderful and glorious event.
Beck claims the event is to restore honor in America, which is completely laughable. The man is simply trying to boost his image and popularity by riling up a bunch of dim-witted conservatives with hostile and disturbing rhetoric. At the end of the day, he is just a manipulative talking head. Friday, August 27, 2010 - 8:15pm GDP Revised Down The United States economy is dramatically slowing down, as revised second quarter GDP figures released this morning dropped from 2.4% to 1.6%. The economic numbers sparked renewed fear that the world's largest and most powerful country is headed back into recession.
The economic stimulus packaged passed by the Obama administration in March of 2009 is the primary reason economic growth occurred in the last year. Even though the $800 billion spending plan was filled with frivolous pork-barrel projects, it did contribute greatly to economic growth as the federal government became the only entity that was spending. Since the economy was headed toward the next Great Depression as consumers had stopped spending to previous levels, the government had to make up the difference in the short-term. The question today is whether the U.S. economy can stand on its own two feet without more government intervention. The majority of stimulus funds will work their way out of the system by the end of this year and a second stimulus package is politically unpalatable. In addition, the braindead people in charge (see Obama, Barack) are preparing to raise taxes at the beginning of next year, which will further restrain GDP levels. Economics 101 tells us to raise taxes (if you have to at all) only when the economy is strong and can handle money being taken out of the system. The professional left has yet to figure that out. Friday, August 27, 2010 - 7:32pm Shumlin Wins VT Primary State Senate President Peter Shumlim has officially won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Vermont with just 24.5% of the vote. Doug Racine finished second with 24.2%. The miniscule difference of 0.3%, or 197 ballots has prompted Racine to immediately call for a recount As stated previously, a recount could take weeks and that time will cost the Democrats in their quest to defeat Republican Brian Dubie. Thursday, August 26, 2010 - 6:57pm VT Governor Primary Too Close to Call Two days after the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Vermont, the race has yet to be decided. Peter Shumlin, the state Senate President, has claimed victory despite leading state Senator Doug Racine by just 192 votes and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz by 497 votes. About the only thing that has been decided is that Matt Dunne and Susan Bartlett have lost. An official vote count is taking place today, but election officials are only counting tally sheets and not the actual ballots. It will be up to the second or third place finisher to request a recount if the results show the candidates within two percent of the leader. Unfortunately, it would take weeks to go through the process of hand-counting 72,000 individual ballots. With less time on the calendar to prepare for the general election, the victor of this primary will face an uphill battle against Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie, the Republican hopeful. Already, Dubie is polling ahead of all three potential Democratic nominees, with his largest spread over Shumlin, the self-proclaimed winner. Vermont Governor - Dubie vs. Shumlin
The last time the State of Vermont had a recount, the decision was flipped after a 239-vote swing showed the presumed 2nd place candidate as the winner. This time the margin is even thinner a third candidate is in the mix. Hopefully it gets settled in time to give the Democrat a fair shot against Dubie. Wednesday, August 25, 2010 - 5:55pm Miller/Palin Combo Leading Murkowski Thousands of absentee ballots have yet to be counted, but if they show no advantage either way, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski will lose the Republican primary to attorney Joe Miller, Sarah Palin's favorite Tea Party Express nutjob. Currently, the ballots show Miller with a 51-49% lead over Murkowski, but that spread accounts for less than 2,000 votes.
Most of the absentee ballots were mailed in before Sarah Palin and her Tea Party thugs ran a heavy advertising blitz on behalf of Joe Miller. Conventional wisdom is that Murkowski had a distinct advantage before that time. The latest tally from the Alaska Division of Elections is that 16,000 ballots pwere requested and 7,600 had been returned to their offices. For Senator Murkowski to make up the deficit and catch Miller, she would need to win about 63% of the absentee votes that have been submitted. It would be marginally lower if more absentee ballots are mailed back. While that appears a difficult figure to reach, it does closely match her polling numbers taken prior to Joe Miller's surge. Unfortunately, it will be a week before election officials being counting absentee ballots and two weeks before the final tally. If Murkowski does lose, she could possibly run under the Libertarian Party, who has secured a spot on the Alaska ballot. The party already has a candidate in place, but Murkowski would present them with their first real chance of winning a major election and a seat in Washington. Tuesday, August 24, 2010 - 8:20pm
Murkowski Battles The Republican primary in Alaska pits Senator Lisa Murkowski against attorney Joe Miller, but you would think Sarah Palin was running in place of him. The loony, racist, half-term governor has fully endorsed the Tea Party man in her home state and recently started making robocalls on his behalf. In the robocalls, she forgets to mention having a personal vendetta against the good Senator.
Despite the smear campaign, the Palin/Miller combination is expected to crash and burn. The most accurate poll coming out of the state showed Murkowski with 62% of the vote and Miller at 30%. Alaska voters were fooled by Sarah Palin the first time around, but they have grown wise to her charades since she abandoned the state and forced herself on the national scene. Her approval rating is merely 46% in the state, a far cry from the 80% number she enjoyed before being chosen by John McCain as his running mate. Monday, August 23, 2010 - 6:04pm Tight Race in VT Democratic Primary Five strong candidates headline tomorrow's Democratic gubernatorial primary in the small State of Vermont. In no particular order, the contenders are Deb Markowitz, Susan Bartlett, Peter Shumlin, Doug Racine, and Matt Dunne. With the exception of Bartlett, who is expected to finish in last place with less than 10% of the vote, it's anyone's election to win.
The good news is that all five politicians agreed early on not to attack each other, which should help the winner tremendously in the general election against the Republican. Vermont is an awfully liberal state, but has elected a conservative to the governor's office four times in a row. Perhaps the Democrats are learning from their past mistakes. These candidates are tied because nobody differentiated themselves on issues that matter to Vermont voters. From abortion views to health-care reform to education, they all basically have the same position. As a result, not one of them has been able to separate themselves. All that said, if I had to make a prediction, I would go with Peter Shumlin, the State Senate President. He has surged in the last few months and has the organization on the ground to get over the top. Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 1:25pm McCain Expected to Win Primary Senator John McCain, another man who will say and do anything to get elected, is projected to defeat former Congressman J.D. Hayworth in Arizona's Republican primary on Tuesday. After launching an expensive television campaign to attack his opponent, McCain stands comfortably ahead in the polls.
The cost of winning this primary is John S. McCain's reputation. The politically moderate politician ran to the right as hard and fast as possible, contradicting and abandoning many viewpoints. He suddenly cracked down hard on illegal immigration, despite trying to work with Democrats for years on some form on amnesty. McCain even denied being a maverick, his main slogan during his failed presidential run and for many past elections. John McCain has been a Senator for nearly 24 years and will be 74 years old when his next term in office begins. I'm not an advocate for age restrictions, but I am for term limits. At what point do you step aside, relinquish your wretched grip on power, and give other citizens a chance? Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 12:30pm Sweden Revokes Arrest Warrant In a complete about-face, Sweden's chief prosecutor has revoked their arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. They now state the rape and molestation charges were "unfounded." This wreaks of a massive smear campaign against Julian Assange. A full and complete investigation should be launched to determine who started it. Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 10:20am WikiLeaks Founder Charged with Rape The controversial founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been accused of rape and molestation in Sweden, according to a local tabloid. Assange has called the charges "without basis" and that they are "deeply disturbing." An arrest warrant has reportedly been issued for the Australian citizen, but it is unclear if he is currently in Sweden.
The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has been all over the news lately, as they have released thousands of pages of classified Pentagon documents that paint the American military in a particularly negative light. Assange received the information from an American soldier who wanted to reveal violent crimes perpetrated by the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan. WikiLeaks reportedly has an additional 15,000 pages of classified material that would, among other things, reveal secretive Afghan sources the U.S. military has employed. At one point a couple months ago, the Obama administration and the Pentagon were actively hunting Julian Assange to prevent him from disclosing the information. He had since been in contact via his lawyers and was reportedly working with the Pentagon to protect the identity of classified sources before releasing the new documents on his website. However, it is unclear if they were able to come up with any resolution as the Pentagon sought to bring criminal charges against the website. WikiLeaks has already tweeted that they expected "dirty tricks" stemming from the high-profile release of documents and now they have their first one. Obviously, the timing of these charges are extremely suspicious. My first reaction is that they could well be true, but logic tells me that this man has created many powerful enemies in the highest reaches of the American government and they are trying to bring him down one way or another. If these accusations are without any merit whatsoever, I find it very disturbing and frightening that the American government, the Pentagon and the Barack Obama administration would conduct themselves in such a disgusting and criminal manner. Friday, August 20, 2010 - 6:00pm Unemployment Rises in 14 States More states reported an increase in jobless rolls in July than in prior months, with 14 states taking a negative turn. Although 18 states reported a decrease in unemployment, the direction has taken a step back as June's overall report was much better.
Nevada reported the worst jobless rate at 14.3%, followed by Michigan at 13.1% and California at 12.3%. Nevada surpassed Michigan in May and has held the "top" spot since. The latter two states are suffering from the housing market crash, while Michigan continues to struggle from dreadful union contracts and mismanaged car companies. The states with the lowest unemployment rates were North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. However, all those states have small populations. There is not much Democrats can do between now and November to lower the unemployment rate. They already have too many government workers on the payroll, so therefore need the private sector to step up. The problem is firms hire slowly after a recession and Democrats are running out of time. Thursday, August 19, 2010 - 6:05pm American Idiots A growing number of people in this country believe the President Obama is a Muslim. A new poll by Pew finds that a stunning 18% of adults in the United States believe our leader practices the Muslim religion. That figure is actually up from 11% one year ago. Only 34% knew that Barack Obama was a Christian, which was also down from 48% in the same poll last year. Even though the mainstream media consistently reported his Christianity throughout his presidential campaign and beyond, many brain-dead people believe otherwise. Conservatives lead the way in the race for stupidity, as a full 31% of Republicans believe he is Muslim. Unfortunately, that even beat out the number of GOP'ers who had the answer correct, which checked in at just 27%.
These numbers are quite pathetic and show the downright idiocy and apathy of the American public. Are these the people we're entrusting to vote for the leaders of our nation? If so, they should really stay home on election day and let the rest of us who actually pay attention make the decision. Wednesday, August 18, 2010 - 5:45pm States Not Hiring Teachers After Getting $$$ President Obama signed a $26 billion federal assistance package last week that included $10 billion for school districts. Democrats proclaimed the funds were absolutely vital as they would be used to re-hire teachers and counselors.. The mantra became their defense when critics questioned how the monies would be spent and why the federal government was needed to bail out bloated state budgets.
Not surprisingly, the newly appropriated federal aid is not being used to hire teachers or anyone else for that matter. Many states have decided to "conserve" the money to avoid future layoffs. School districts that have been questioned point to their massive budget deficits and their hesitation in expanding payrolls for a one-time distribution of money. The victims in this scam are the laid-off teachers and counselors who expected to be re-hired after their school district received the new funds. Instead, they are forced to look elsewhere for work after being strung along for months. The truth is that more teacher layoffs are coming. Budget deficits continue to be a major problem as state revenue has declined sharply across the board. Governors and legislators are looking to cut tens of thousands of teachers in the next fiscal year in order to balance the budget. This is just another example of politicians lying to the American people in order to push a giant spending bill through Congress. The Democrats came up with a great story about saving jobs, but the reality was they were just funneling the money to their inept cronies in the State House. Tuesday, August 17, 2010 - 6:10pm About Fannie and Freddie Housing and financial industry experts convened today to debate the future direction of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two entities that were officially taken over by the Bush administrations two years ago. The talks centered around the government's role and whether or not the two firms should exist. Treasury Secretary led the debate and was joined by bond guru Bill Gross and many banking leaders.
At stake is the future of the housing market. Fannie and Freddie now guarantee 62% of all mortgages in the United States and over 90% of new ones that come to market. However, this wasn't always the case. As recently as 2006, only a quarter of new loans were backed by one of those entities. The increasing government backing is the only viable solution in the short-term, but is a disaster in the long run. The system currently in place keeps interest rates artificially low in order to stabilize home prices. This tactic has been working as prices have bottomed-out over the last year nationally, but the cost to the American taxpayer to subsidize this strategy is astronomical and unsustainable. The plan coming out of this conference should be to gradually phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If the Obama administration pulls the plug too quickly, we would incur another sharp home price decline, which could push the economy into a double-dip recession. If they never remove themselves from the market, they will continue to expand the deficit and take money away from other, more important programs. Phasing them out steadily allows the economy to fully recover and avoids skyrocketing interest rates. It returns the mortgage market to the private sector and frees up hundreds of billions of dollars in cash flow for the federal government. It also takes the government out of another part of the economy where they don't belong. Monday, August 16, 2010 - 6:15pm Republican Leaders Bash Islam Now that President Barack Obama has come out in support of building a Muslim community center two blocks away from Ground Zero, leading GOP politicians are wasting no time proving their intolerance of other religions. The typical culprits and a slew of others chimed in to voice their blatant prejudice. Even Minnesota Governor (and wannabe President) Tim Pawlenty made the outlandish comment that a mosque would "degrade and disrespect" the site of the September 11th attacks.
There are extremists in every religion and the Muslim faith is no different than Christianity. In fact, just last year, Dr. George Tiller was gunned down in a Wichita, Kansas church by a fanatical pro-life Christian named Scott Roeder. To use the logic of Republicans, we should never allow a Christian church or community center to be built anywhere near that act of domestic terrorism in Wichita. People fear what they don't know or understand, which is precisely the reason conservatives oppose this community center. They equate Muslims with terrorists, despite all evidence to the contrary. Someday this country will progress, but it's not today. Sunday, August 15, 2010 - 12:58pm Whitman Adds Another $13 Million In the hotly contested gubernatorial race in California, Meg Whitman (R) has contributed an additional $13 million to her campaign war chest, bringing her personal donation total to over $100 million. The record-breaking total is merely a small portion of Whitman's enormous net worth, which is estimated to be a stunning $1.3 billion. Her opponent, Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) has spent $774,000. The former CEO of Ebay is giving new meaning to the charge of buying an election. Yet despite outspending her opponent 100 fold, polling data shows the two candidates in a statistical tie.
In most of these polls, Jerry Brown is actually ahead of the free-spending Whitman. While California is a liberal state, it does currently have a Republican Governor with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Brown still has $23 million in the bank, which will be spent on television advertisements in the months leading up to the election. It remains to be seen who will pull out this election, but the State of California would be much better off right now having a conservative Governor in office. Democratic legislators have destroyed the budget over the last few decades to the point where the Golden State is essentially bankrupt. They're answer is to (shocker) raise taxes! The only people stopping the liberals from jacking up taxes and fees to astronomical levels is Schwarzenegger and Republicans representatives. If California now elects a Democratic Governor, taxes will be elevated to the point where economic growth and development completely suffocates. Saturday, August 14, 2010 - 5:25pm Obama Backs off Mosque Comments Yesterday, Barack Obama took a stand and defended freedom of religion in this country. He made remarks late Friday about the rights of Americans to build a Muslim mosque near Ground Zero. The timing of his comments were designed to avoid media attention, but the strategy didn't take.
Boehner, King, and Gingrich are purposely fanning the flames of bigotry and racism in this country in order to score political points. Heaven forbid they explain to their dim-witted constituents that the Muslim world did not attack lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. Perhaps these politicians weren't aware that only ten crazed individuals flew planes into the World Trade Center buildings in New York that morning. That they happen to be Muslim is irrelevant. I suppose these Republicans believe we should just repeal the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They're already hell-bent on repealing the 14th Amendment, so why stop there? Unfortunately, our spineless President is already backing away from his original statement. Like I said yesterday, he checks which way the wind is blowing before offering a strong opinion. Now that he misjudged the direction of said wind, he's backtracking in a hurry. Friday, August 13, 2010 - 10:55pm Obama (Finally) Comments on Mosque Barack Obama spoke at a White House dinner on Friday and defended the rights of Muslims and all Americans to practice their religion in any way they choose. The President stated that "our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable." He also believes those rights include building a religious center in downtown Manhattan near the Ground Zero location.
This is when our President makes a controversial stand: Friday night after the news cycle for the week has passed. It is common knowledge in political circles that you drop all news bombs late in the day on Friday. That way, by the time people are paying attention on Monday, the media has moved on to another topic. These were the first public comments made by Mr. Obama about the Muslim mosque, despite weeks of fiery and emotional debate in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country. While I applaud the President for making the remarks, I can't help but be disappointed about how long it took him to comment and the politically strategic (i.e. devious) manner in which he made them. Maybe someday the leader of the free world will man-up and offer his opinion without looking at a poll or testing the political waters to see which way they're moving. Friday, August 13, 2010 - 5:25pm General Petraeus Backs Off While President Obama may claim we'll start getting out of Afghanistan by July, 2012, his new commander may have other ideas. General David Petraeus backed off the goal of pulling American forces out of the country by that date. In his response on Meet the Press, Petraeus stated that if significant progress hadn't been made by next summer, he'd tell the President that troops should stay.
I'm afraid the reality is the U.S. will never completely leave Iraq or Afghanistan. Our government has spent too much money building themselves permanent bases to establish a strategic foothold in the Middle East. Whether a Democrat or Republican is in charge, the last thing they'll do is give that away. The Iraqis and Afghan people want the Americans to go, but it isn't going to happen anytime soon. The best we can hope for is that our civilian and military leaders bring the majority of our soldiers home at some point in time. President Obama will find a way to spin this truth when he runs for re-election in 2012 He'll point to troop reductions as a sign he's trying to end the occupations, but once he's elected for the second time, that story will end. Like his first run at the presidency , he'll over-promise and under-deliver. Thursday, August 12, 2010 - 7:00pm Congress Approves Border Security Funds A $600 million bill was approved by Congress today to strengthen the Southern border of the United States. The bill now goes to President Obama's desk, where he is expected to sign. The monies will pay for 1,500 new border patrol officers, some customs inspectors, and two unmanned drone airplanes. The border region already uses a few drones, and these will reinforce their efforts.
Democrats hailed the new legislation, while Republicans declared it a good start. The odd display of bipartisanship comes at a time when comprehensive immigration reform is going nowhere. New data out today shows that an astonishing 8% of all children born in the United States are from illegal immigrants. The research also showed that nearly 80% of children born to illegal immigrants were born in the United States and therefore citizens. Clearly there is a problem with border security. Republicans are correct that the $600 million in border funding is just a start. If Congress can hand out $26 billion to the states just to cover the incompetent budget planning of state governors and legislators, the least they can do is match that figure to protect our nation. Perhaps with a real amount of funding, we can finally get our Southern border under control. Wednesday, August 11, 2010 - 5:30pm Malloy Upsets Lamont...Foley Wins The results from the primaries in the State of Connecticut show a devastating loss for Ned Lamont, the man who battled Joe Lieberman in 2006. Despite spending over $8 million of his own money and leading in the polls, Lamont was defeated soundly by Dan Malloy by a margin of 58 to 42 percent.
Malloy (D) now faces Tom Foley (R) in November for the Connecticut gubernatorial election. Unions are expected to back any Democratic nominee and Malloy should be no different. It should give him a significant advantage in the New England state. Elsewhere, Democrats had a good night as they nominated strong candidates in Colorado and Minnesota. Republicans appeared split as Tea Party candidates defeated candidates backed by the establishment. The primary showed a sharply divided GOP. In Colorado, right-wing extremist Tom Tancredo will quit the Republican Party and run for as an independent for governor. That will likely split the conservative vote, thus ensuring victory for the Democrat. The Minnesota gubernatorial election will have a similar theme, as a former Republican will run as an independent. The GOP has a golden opportunity to pick up a number of seats this November, but their internal struggle between normal people and Tea Party wackos (see Palin, Sarah) will severely limit their gains. Maybe after they lose races they should win, they will eradicate the nuts and go back to the moderate views that used to define their party. Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 8:00pm Another Primary Fight Voters go to the polls today in the State of Connecticut in a hotly contested battle for Governor. Ned Lamont, the cable TV entrepreneur who nearly defeated Joe Lieberman for the Senate in 2006 is up against Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy for the Democratic nomination. Lamont had actually beat Lieberman in the primary, but later lost in the general after the opportunist ran as an independent.
The Republican gubernatorial race is also close, but favorite Tom Foley is still expected to defeat Lt. Governor Michael Fedele. Foley's lead was once by a whopping 35 points, but recent polls have him ahead by only 8%. Connecticut is an extremely blue state as both Senators and all of their Congressman are Democrats, but the current Governor, Jodi Rell, is a Republican. It would be nice to see a GOP member remain in the State House, if only as a check to the liberal agenda that runs rampant through the state. Monday, August 9, 2010 - 8:15pm Don't Mess with the 14th! The 14th Amendment to the Constitution gives automatic citizenship to individuals born in the United States. The law was initially created over a hundred years ago to ensure the rights of African-Americans after slavery ended, but today it represents a fundamental right and guarantee that you're an American citizen if you're born on American soil. The Hispanic community has taken advantage of this law by illegally crossing the border and giving birth to their children in the United States, thus ensuring citizenship for their baby. As a result, dim-witted Republicans led by Senator Jon Kyl (AZ) have been making an effort to repeal the entire Amendment. While I understand the GOP's frustration, this is not the way to solve the problem. The best way to limit the number of illegals coming to the U.S. to give birth is to prevent them from crossing the border. Duh! It really isn't all that difficult to protect your nation's borders, but politicians (especially Democrats) are too worried about how many Hispanics will vote for them in the next election, so they refuse to deal with the immigration issue. Repealing the 14th Amendment is a short-sighted and weak correction to the problem of illegal immigration. It's equivalent to putting a band-aid on a bullet-wound. It won't solve anything. What repeal would do is create yet another layer of beaurocracy. The federal government would need to verify and document every single parent giving birth to a child in America. Do we really want to create an administrative nightmare that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars? Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 2:02pm Conservatives, Tea Party Activists Prove Their Bigotry The 19 terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on 9/11/01 happen to be Muslim. However, if you listen to conservatives, tea party nutjobs, and Republican leaders, you would think that the entire Muslim religion attacked the United States that day. That seems to be their bizarre rationale for their bigoted protests over a religious mosque near Ground Zero.
In 1995, Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people at a federal building in Oklahoma City. The extremist was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended mass regularly as a child. Does that mean we should then ban Catholic churches near the bombing site at Oklahoma City? Of course not. That wouldn't make any sense. Why then would you protest a different religion's house of worship near another terrorist bombing location? These conservatives who constantly profess their love of this country and uber-patriotism apparently never heard of freedom of religion. See, in this country, we do not persecute people for their religious beliefs. It's part of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in case they forgot. Intolerance and bigotry from the likes of Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and others is disappointing, but they are just showing their true colors. Their attempt to spread fear and prejudice only works with their small-minded base of followers. The rest of us in America are smarter than that. Saturday, August 7, 2010 - 3:50pm Michelle Obama Keeps on Spending Taxpayer dollars are flying out the window in Spain, where Michelle Obama continues to run up a ridiculous tab on our dime. While Mrs. Obama is paying for her own expenses, taxpayers are picking up the bill for dozens of Secret Service personnel and staff members.
The White House will not disclose the total cost of the trip, but when the President of the United States constantly rails against the wealthy and presses the American people to "sacrifice" in these tough economic times, it wreaks of hypocrisy that his wife is off squandering our money on frivolous adventures. Oh, and this jaunt to Spain is just one of eight taxpayer-funded vacations Michelle Obama is taking this year. Perhaps the Obama's should practice what they preach and stop acting like pampered celebrities. If they insist on spending federal money on luxurious excursions, the least they can do is stop telling the rest of us to give back. Friday, August 6, 2010 - 8:20pm Gubernatorial Projections The House and Senate are not the only places where Democrats are likely to get beat in November. In the races for Governor, the Republicans are absolutely dominating. With only three months to go, the GOP is projected to gain a staggering eight seats, while the Dems are expected to lose nine.
As much as I hate to see one party rule, I must admit that Republicans are much better at running state government than Democrats. Individual states have run up massive deficits over the last decade and the worst offenders have come from the left. While Democrats seem to have the right idea on social issues, they have no clue how to balance a budget and absolutely no interest in controlling costs. The public has finally noticed the incompetence of their state governments and are prepared to vote many Democratic incumbents out of office (unfortunately not in Massachusetts though). Since Republicans focus on cost cutting and less government, I believe they will be more able to get control of state finances. That means making unpopular decisions, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie battling teachers unions to cut benefits, but they are necessary. Thursday, August 5, 2010 - 6:15pm Harvard / Yale Supreme Court Complete Solicitor General Elena Kagan has officially been confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice of the United States. With her appointment, we now have a Supreme Court in which all members graduated from Harvard or Yale Law School. While this may seem like a small point, it is disappointing that our country's Presidents are only capable of picking candidates from these two exclusive schools.
Come to think of it, I guess you have to pass through one of those elite universities these days to become President. Barack Obama graduated from Harvard, while George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush attended Yale. I know President Obama is trying to diversify the Supreme Court through race and gender (so he can get re-elected), but perhaps he can take a few minutes to look past his alma mater or his predecessor's to find someone who actually has a different background. After all, there are millions of kids out there who believe that one day they can become the President of the United States or a Supreme Court Justice. Who wants to tell them that the positions are reserved for elites from the Harvard/Yale club? Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - 5:25pm Senate to Bail Out States
A $26 billion bill from Democrats to
bail out irresponsible lawmakers at the state level
has passed a procedural vote in the Senate. Only
two Republicans, Snowe and Collins, voted with the
liberals, but it was enough to push it through.
Democrats have been trying to push the legislation
through for months, again finding ways to increase
taxes. The measure now moves to the House, but
members have already left for a month-long
Unfortunately, the Democrats in Washington are letting states off the hook for their reckless spending habits. Nearly all states must balance their budgets every year, but since most are running large deficits, they must make tough decisions with regard to spending cuts. Remember that Congress already gave the states $200 billion last year as part of the economic stimulus package. Democrats like Governor Ed Rendell (PA) will tell you that he's not avoiding the tough decision, but the reality is that's exactly what he's doing. In his state, Rendell is relying on federal money in order to balance the budget. He's also ready to spend, spend, spend on his own pet projects. It's a shame he can't grow a pair like his Republican counterpart in New Jersey and get a hold of his out-of-control budget. Will the Democrats ever learn to stop spending money they don't have and stop raising taxes for every project they can dream up? From the federal to the state level, they all have the same disease...yet they now wonder why voters are ready to thrown them all out in the mid-term elections. Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - 10:30pm Bernero Wins, Snyder in the Lead The State of Michigan held their gubernatorial elections tonight and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has won the Democratic primary! He comfortably defeated Andy Dillon. With 2,400 of 5,732 precincts reporting, Bernero received 59% of the vote, while Dillon picked up just 41%. Venture capitalist Rick Snyder currently has a growing lead in the Republican primary over Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, but the race has yet to be called. Snyder has a 37-26% advantage with 2,398 of 5,732 precincts reporting. Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - 5:49pm Close Primaries in Michigan Both Republicans and Democrats go to the polls today in Michigan to decide their gubernatorial candidate to run in November's election. A battle has waged for months to find Jennifer Granholm's successor and tonight's primaries should clear up much of the uncertainty.
On the GOP side, five candidates are vying for the nomination, with three running neck and neck. Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Attorney General Mike Cox, and businessman Rick Snyder all have a legitimate shot at winning. Even the candidate running in fourth place, Sheriff Mike Bouchard, has an outside chance of pulling the upset. The Democrats have Andy Dillon and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero battling it out for the nomination. Dillon had been ahead for most of the year, but Bernero recently took a small lead in the polls. Michigan has been a solid blue state for more than fifty years, but the Democrats (with union help) have run the economy completely into the ground. The state has the unfortunate distinction of having one of the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Jobs have been lost and are never coming back. It remains to be seen who will emerge as the two candidates, but my money is on Republican Rep. Peter Hoekstra and Democrat Virg Bernero. While I would like to see a GOP Governor to get Michigan's fiscal house in order, the Democrat will have a lot of help from union leadership. Monday, August 2, 2010 - 9:00pm Another Democrat Charged Now that the liberals have power, corruption is quickly taking hold. Today, Maxine Waters (D-CA) became the latest politician to face ethics charges. Three charges were filed against Waters, 71, and a trial is expected in the next few months. In a nutshell, she is accused of requesting federal help for the bank in which her husband served on the board of directors. The husband owned a substantial number of shares in the bank, so Waters stood to gain financially by attempting to exert her influence.
Democratic leaders are crying foul as it happens that both (alleged) crooks are African-American, but they are not disputing the actual merits of the cases. Since Washington politicians on both sides of the aisle continue to break the law, the only solution I can see is to establish strict term limits in the Senate and the House. Rangel has already "served" for 39 years and Waters came into office over 19 years ago. Although it'll never happen, Senators should be limited to two terms of six years and House members restricted to six terms of two years. Sunday, August 1, 2010 - 8:55pm President's Approval Down to 45% While Barack Obama may give himself an "incomplete" when judging his performance in the first 18 months on the job, voters seem to have other opinions. The president's job approval has continued its steady decline and is down to an average of just 45%. In addition, a full 49.7% of voters now disapprove of President Obama's job performance, marking the largest spread in the two figures since he took office.
Barack's ratings are still much higher than his moronic and incompetent predecessor, but they are not a good sign with mid-term elections only three months away. As the head of the Democratic Party, his plumetting numbers reflect much discontent among the public. If he can't turn things around quickly, he could lose both the House and Senate come November.
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David
Haase, the current Alaska Libertarian Senate nominee,
indicated that he might step aside for Murkowski if she
helped push their policy initiatives, but the leaders of
the "party" squashed the idea and declared Haase's
comments as an embarrassment. 
The
brain-dead quitter and her stooge have also
tried to paint the conservative Murkowski as a liberal
who endorses Obamacare and voted for TARP. The
first two statements are ridiculous, while TARP was
actually a Republican measure pushed by then President George
W. Bush
and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
With
four potential nominees running neck and neck, it is
unlikely that any one candidate will get more than 30%
of the vote. In tiny Vermont, that could mean only
a few thousand votes separating first place from fourth
place as only fifty thousand Democrats are expected to
vote in the primary tomorrow.
The most recent Rocky Mountain News
This
is very bad news for Barack Obama and the Democrats.
If there isn't a significant improvement in jobs between
now and the November mid-term elections, the Republicans
are likely to take control of both the Senate and the
House.
These
narrow-minded conservatives don't mention that the
"mosque" will actually house a fitness center, swimming
pool, food court, bookstore, and basketball court.
They won't tell you that because it doesn't fit with
their warped perception of a radical, terrorist bombing
headquarters. Instead, they prey on your fear and
prejudice in hopes of bringing down the President and
other Democrats.
As expected,
Of
course, nobody seems to know what significant progress
actually means. The Commander-in-Chief refuses to
come up with a concrete exit strategy and the military
brass is not in a hurry to leave. We've made
great improvements in Iraq, but President Obama hasn't
decided when to bring our soldiers home from that
sovereign nation. We shouldn't expect a different outcome in
Afghanistan, where the United States is arguably doing
worse.
The First Lady's entourage is occupying 60-70 rooms at
the extravagant Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, Spain,
a posh Ritz-Carlton resort that runs up to
Just last week, the House also filed a whopping 13 charges
against Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), who failed to
disclose assets, income, and improperly used a
subsidized apartment in New York. Rangel, 80,
faces trial in the fall.