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Archives - October 2010 |
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Archives |
Sunday, October 31, 2010 - 10:02pm Tea Baggers Pulling Ahead Tea-party blowhard Rand Paul (R) has surged ahead in the latest poll in his battle against Jack Conway (D) for the Kentucky Senate. Public Policy Polling gives the tea-bagger a stunning 15% lead over his fading liberal challenger and suggests Conway's negative attack on Paul's bizarre incident in college has not worked.
While the crazy witch-lady will lose badly in Delaware, other lunatic tea-baggers are looking more and more likely to win Senate seats this Tuesday night. Marco Rubio, Sharron Angle, and Rand Paul are all leading their respective opponents. The most surprising among the favorites is Angle, a painfully dumb racist who has somehow extended her margin over incumbent Harry Reid. Her lead has more to do with Nevada's antipathy toward Reid than anything else, which is too bad. Once she gets into office, the voters will realize they made a serious mistake. Take these three GOP victories and you have a colossal move to the extreme right fringe. The Democrats will move to the center after they get crushed and these clowns will push the right to the edge. Saturday, October 30, 2010 - 9:48am Why Barney Will Win As much as it pains me to write this, deadbeat Representative Barney Frank is likely to withstand the challenge from Sean Bielat, his Republican opponent. Look no further than the map of Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District shown below. The convoluted and bizarre shape of his district was purposely designed with a heavy Democratic concentration in order for the corrupt thug to keep winning.
The area includes the blue-collar cities of New Bedford, Taunton, and Fall River, all strongly liberal. Of course, Barney doesn't want to live in these crime-ridden, impoverished regions, so the map is extended to include his home in Newton, one of the wealthiest towns in the state. The Cook Partisan Voting Index (a measure of how strong a district is toward one party) rates the Massachusetts 4th district as D+14, which means the Democratic candidate receives 14% more than the national average. This is why Barney Frank has never had a serious challenge to his seat until now. The strong leaning toward the GOP this election cycle is softening that inherent advantage. However, voter stupidity may be too much for Marine Corps veteran Sean Bielat to overcome. If they paid attention, they would realize that Barney Frank has served for thirty years and done nothing for them. The cities previously mentioned were a mess before he took office and have deteriorated even further since. With an unemployment rate over 12% in the district in a state below the national average, one could argue Frank has turned his district into one of the worst areas of the commonwealth. I'd love to see Sean Bielat win and make an effort to clean up these cities and bring business and jobs into the region. Unfortunately, Barney's creative map skills make that virtually impossible. Thursday, October 28, 2010 - 11:03pm Democrat Surging in Alaska Scott McAdams (D) is the unknown candidate in the three-way race to become the next Alaska Senator. Thanks to big mistakes by tea-party thug Joe Miller (R) and Lisa Murkowski (R) being a write-in candidate and part of the old establishment, there is an outside chance that McAdams could pull off the upset. Polling before Miller's blunders placed him slightly ahead of Murkowski and a solid 10 percent in front of McAdams. However, the most recent poll from Hays Research shows support for Miller plummeting and the Democrat climbing quickly. Hays polled 500 likely voters .and found a write-in candidate (presumably Murkowski) winning at 34%, with McAdams in second at 29% and Miller dropping to just 23%.
Although Lisa Murkowski could win, polling history suggests that a write-in candidate needs to be comfortably ahead in order to realize the victory. Between misspellings and invalid ballots, it is likely that her final vote tally would not be as high as polls indicate. Miller has admitted to ethics violations and lying to his employer after his personnel records from his time as an attorney were released. In addition, his team of security goons handcuffed a journalist, and detained him against his will for some time. Miller has also decided to refuse interviews and not talk to the media. The combination of slip-ups has crushed his standing as the frontrunner and brought his competitors into the mix. The reason McAdams has a shot in a true red state is two-fold. Miller and Murkowski will likely split the conservative vote, thus giving him an opportunity to win with just 35% of the vote. Since Murkowski isn't actually on the ballot, McAdams should benefit again from the difficulty she'll have to figure out voter intentions and having every vote counted. It's still not likely that a Democrat can win the Senate seat in Alaska, but it is clearly possible at the point. If it does happen, we can thank/blame the Tea Party. Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 8:15pm Thank You Chris Christie!!! New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) today killed a massive, multi-billion dollar spending project aimed at creating a tunnel to connect New Jersey and New York City. The largest infrastructure project in U.S. history was estimated to cost somewhere between $9.8 billion and $12.7 billion, with New Jersey obligated to pay $3 billion plus cost overruns. Realizing the state is broke, Christie quickly canceled the needless plan.
Much like the Big Dig tunnel endeavor in Boston that cost ten times original expectations, this project was already way over budget and headed toward a financial disaster. The overruns are especially pathetic considering the tunnel hasn't even been started yet. All they've done thus far is planning and design. Democrats and union leaders are up in arms over Christie's decision, claiming that tens of thousands of jobs will be lost by eliminating the project. They failed to mention that those jobs would be created with money the state doesn't have and from everyone else's taxpayer dollars. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) was one of the harshest critics, calling it the biggest blunder in New Jersey's history. Of course, Lautenberg has no answers on balancing the budget without stealing from state residents. He simply believes his state can spend money on whatever they want with zero consequences. These types of unnecessary, expensive projects backed by politicians and corrupt unions are exactly why all these states are running massive deficits. While Republicans hook up defense contractors with huge contracts, the Democrats are funneling money to their union brethren in the form of open-ended public works projects. Nobody controls the costs and these jobs can last for decades. Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 10:15pm A Replacement for Dingell? 84-year old Michigan Representative John Dingell has been in Congress for an incredible 55 years. He took the seat in 1955 from his father (typical of politicians) and has been in Washington, D.C. ever since. Rather than retire and give someone else a chance to inject fresh thoughts and ideas, the career politician has continued to cling to his position for over five decades.
Fortunately, Dingell is finally facing a serious GOP challenger by the name of Rob Steele, a 52-year old cardiologist who has never run for political office. Dr. Steele was mortified last year as he watched Dingell approve spending bill after spending bill (see healthcare), often without even reading the legislation. As a result, he decided a change was needed in Michigan to oust the out-of-touch fossil. I don't know how good Steele may be as a Congressman, but if you're already a successful, well-respected doctor who has never run for office, you're two steps ahead in my book. Dingell still has the lead in recent polling, but Steele has an outside shot of pulling the upset. Maybe Michigan voters in the 15th district will wake up and realize that an 84-year old Congressman who doesn't even read the bills before him is not a good choice for the state. The bottom line is that John Dingell has stayed in office far too long. He is a prime example of the desperate need for term limits. We need elected officials that serve the people for a fixed amount of time and then step aside for the next person. The last thing this country needs is for decrepit folks with no ideas to stick around. Monday, October 25, 2010 - 7:45pm Karzai Receiving Cash from Iran
The President of Afghanistan and supposed ally of the
United States, Hamid Karzai, is under fire today for
receiving bags
stuffed with cash from the government in Iran.
Karzai freely admitted getting the
Tehran has reportedly given Karzai somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000 euros once or twice a year. That is the equivalent of nearly $1 million. While that may not sound like a large sum, it can go a long way in a poor country like Afghanistan. Unfortunately, it appears that none of the money went to help the desperate citizens who actually need it. Taking bags of cash from Tehran confirms the belief that corruption is rampant within Karzai's government. The Obama administration is never going to get anywhere in this nine-year long war if the Afghan leaders are taking bribes from the other side. The U.S. may need to remove Hamid Karzai and his crooked thug government before making any progress in the country. If President Obama doesn't make hard decisions, the American military could stay bogged down in the land-locked nation for another decade. Sunday, October 24, 2010 - 9:00pm Toomey Clings to Lead in PA Democrat Joe Sestak has been surging in Pennsylvania's Senate race, but he still lags behind Republican Pat Toomey in most of the recent polls. Not surprisingly, the tone of the campaign has become increasingly negative as both candidates are running ads with false accusations and snapping at each in the debates..
Sestak is attempting to tie Toomey to Christine O'Donnell, the loony, tea-bagging GOP candidate in neighboring Delaware, but it remains to be seen if the strategy will have any effect. The witch may be geographically close, but she resides in her own world far, far away from reality. The Democrats have a solid ground-game in Pennsylvania and benefited greatly in 2008 from an increase in voter registration to further their lead, so they should have the edge in a statistically tied race. However, Pat Toomey is still holding the lead, albeit a small one. This race could go either way at this point, but if they Republicans have any hope of capturing the Senate, they'll have to win this election in Pennsylvania. Lose it and the Democrats should maintain control. Saturday, October 23, 2010 - 7:46pm Last Minute Political Campaigning Our leader was in Nevada and Minnesota to help fellow Democrats in their heated races for Senator and Governor. Senator Harry Reid is actually losing in the polls, despite being up against one of the worst politicians this cycle. I'd say tea bagger Sharron Angle is one of the worst candidates in decades, but then again, I wouldn't be doing any justice to Christine O'Donnell. Angle is benefiting from a banner year for the GOP and a staggering 15% jobless rate in Nevada, the highest in the nation.
Half-term Governor Sarah Palin was down in Orlando, Florida to rally the troops and get as many Republicans elected as possible. Palin attacked the president and other Democrats for creating a huge debt burden and not enough jobs. Of course, Palin forgot to mention that the deficit is actually around the same level as when President Obama took office. Republicans have succeeded in wrongly painting Democrats as running up the federal deficit. While that's clearly true at the state level, it's a patently false argument at the national level. Unfortunately, the left has been unable to string a coherent message together to combat these attacks from the right. Look no further than Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as abject failures at leading their party. Friday, October 22, 2010 - 10:30pm WikiLeaks Exposes Rampant Abuse Know we now why the Pentagon was trying to kill WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The controversial website disclosed over 400,000 pages of classified military documents that detail abuse, rape, torture, and murder by American troops against Iraqi civilians for years. Even after the Abu Ghraib scandal, widespread war crimes were committed by coalition forces.
Among the revelations were an American attack helicopter killing Iraqi's after they surrendered, random murders at military checkpoints, and a stunning 15,000 dead civilians in previously undisclosed incidents. In all, there were hundreds of allegations from the Iraq war in this document dump. Regrettably, these are the types of things that occur during war and occupation. Whether it's the United States or any other nation, these types of crimes happen all the time. This is precisely why nations should do everything in their power to avoid going to war. WikiLeaks will come under fire for this release as they paint the U.S. government in an extremely negative light. However, provided that Julian Assange and his people have not specifically put anyone in danger, they should be commended for being brave enough to take on Washington and the corrupt Pentagon. Thursday, October 21, 2010 - 11:59pm NPR Overreacts Political commentator Juan Williams was fired from the liberal organization National Public Radio (NPR) for comments he made recently on Fox News. Williams was quoted as saying that he gets nervous when he flies on a plane alongside Muslims dressed in their traditional attire. While the comments may be considered inappropriate, they are not grounds for firing a well-respected media personality.
It appears NPR was looking for a reason to fire Williams, probably because he was a regular contributor on Fox News as their liberal voice. NPR, sounding more foolish by the minute, claims he was really fired for being a pundit rather than an analyst. Um, yeah, right. Is there actually a difference? I realize media people often say stupid things, but when everything you say can be played back and analyzed, I believe a little lee-way is in order. Nobody is perfect and Williams is no exception. The man was just being honest. That doesn't mean I agree with him (I don't), but I do understand with all the media firestorm around Muslims and airplanes how someone can become worried in that situation. I hear Williams is getting a multi-million dollar contract in an expanded role with Fox, so there is no need to feel sorry for him. However, this case just shows how overly sensitive our society has become. Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 8:55pm Massive Weapons Deal to Saudi Arabia The largest arms dealer in the world, the United States government, has just reached a multi-billion dollar agreement to sell weapons to the unstable nation of Saudi Arabia. A total of 84 new F-15 fighter airplanes, 200 helicopters, and 70 older F-15 jets were approved for sale by the Obama administration. The hypocrisy here is astounding. The most powerful nation on earth, one that professes peace and democracy, one that's led by a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has decided to arm another country in one of the most volatile regions in the world. The strategy is supposedly to protect everyone from Iran, but I believe President Reagan already tried that approach when he gave weapons to Iraq under Saddam Hussein in the 1980's. I wonder how that idea worked out. Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - 8:08pm Tea Party Candidates Falling Apart Yesterday it was Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller and his goon squad; today it's Sharron Angle disrespecting a group of Hispanic students and Christine O'Donnell making a gaffe about the Constitution. Angle, the tea-bagger hopeful for Senator of Nevada, spoke in front of a Latino high school students and proceeded to tell them that they look Asian. Not to be outdone, Delaware candidate O'Donnell asked her opponent to show her where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state. The law school audience in attendance laughed at the stupidity of the question, while Democratic candidate Christopher Coons tried to explain it to the ignorant tea party loon. O'Donnell couldn't quite believe that the separation of church is detailed in the first amendment, the most well-known part of the Constitution. The amendment begins by establishing that Congress shall make no law regarding the organization of religion and cannot prohibit its free exercise. Thomas Jefferson, one of the writers of the Constitution, was very clear that the wording was to create the separation of church and state. Crazy Christine was positively dumbfounded. Her camp did damage control after the fact by claiming the exact words don't exist in the text, but the defense was comical. Sharron Angle, on the other hand, might be actually be more clueless than O'Donnell. She was already in damage control mode after she aired a questionable commercial depicting dark-skinned people crossing the border in the United States. It was then that Angle told the Hispanic audience that they looked Asian and then rambled incoherently about being called the first Asian legislator in the Nevada legislature. The scary part is that some of these candidates could actually win when the calendar hits November 2nd. Although the alternatives are not great (see Reid, Harry), they're a better option than these tea-party nuts. Monday, October 18, 2010 - 8:15pm Joe Miller's Thugs Kidnap Reporter The security team for Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R) confronted a reporter for the Alaskan Dispatch and decided to handcuff and detain the individual against his will. The journalist was attending a public event at a school and attempted to ask questions of the candidate when Miller's goon squad roughed him up, put him up against the wall, and handcuffed him. The kidnapping lasted until the real police showed up, but unfortunately they did not arrest Joe Miller's mercenaries. The definition of kidnapping is to be abducted by force or to be held against the person's will without legal authority. The reporter, Tony Hopfinger, was held for approximately thirty minutes at a public event by three of Miller's guards, who used force to detain him. It looks like a clear-cut case of kidnapping to me. Dropzone Security Services, the firm that employs the kidnappers, have claimed the event was private and that Hopfinger was trespassing. Even if that were true, it doesn't give them the right to unlawfully detain an individual and handcuff them. The ignorant security firm didn't mention that the event was a town hall meeting with advertisements from Miller on Facebook and Twitter inviting citizens to come. I don't know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like a public event. The Anchorage police need to wake up and arrest the three security guards. You can't go around kidnapping journalists just because you don't want them to ask tough questions of your boss. Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 10:59pm No Good Choices in CT The race to replace nightmare Senator Chris Dodd (D) in the State of Connecticut pits Democrat Richard Blumenthal versus Republican Linda McMahon. Although Dick is currently in the lead in this blue state, he appears to be one of the worst Democratic candidates to come along in decades. Fortunately for him, Blumenthal's opponent, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) might be worse.
Blumenthal is now famous for lying about serving in Vietnam, even though he never set foot in the country. He has made that statement to veterans throughout the state and did not fess up until he was called out a few months ago. He is also well known for his shakedown of AIG employees, figuring he could score political points for getting the employees to return their bonuses. The only problem is that Blumenthal threatened to release their name and address to the press, knowing the media would harass them and create a firestorm around their lives. What Dickie forgets to mention is that the AIG employees were not the ones responsible for bringing down the company. They were the ones hired to fix it. Of course, Linda McMahon is no prize either. The wife of Vince McMahon has earned her reputation as a corrupt and vile executive, running a company that advocated steroid abuse that often resulted in death. The couple has run the WWE for nearly thirty years, but the streak was nearly halted after Vince was indicted on steroid distribution in 1994. Although he was acquitted, he admitted taking the drugs himself. Unfortunately, the rampant use of steroids (allegedly) by their wrestlers has resulted in multiple deaths. Despite all the dead wrestlers and a pending lawsuit over one of them, Linda McMahon is trying to turn her time as executive of the soap-opera company into a political plus. WTF?!?! I could continue, but it's late and they're not worth the effort. All you need to know is that one of these degenerates will be the next Senator of Connecticut. God help us. Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 10:00am Barney's Seat in Jeopardy It pains me to admit that the Congressman in my hometown is none other than Barney Frank, one of the worst politicians in Washington. The 70-year old Democrat has represented the 4th district seat in Massachusetts for thirty years, but is finally being challenged by Sean Bielat, a Major in the Marine Corps with a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School.
Barney is currently the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which means he oversees the entire financial sector. The prominent position is fairly shocking considering Frank has never held a job in any banking or financial company. In essence, he holds a job with no education or experience in the field. As a result, his mindset regarding financial regulation, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and the foreclosure moratorium is irrational and nonsensical. If he doesn't understand how financial markets work, how in the world can he enact any policy measures that are good for the American people? Running as a Republican in Massachusetts, Sean Bielat has an uphill battle. The Commonwealth has ten members in the House and every single one of them is a Democrat. However, with Scott Brown's victory over Martha Coakley a few months ago, there is hope that a moderate conservative could sneak in. A recent poll shows Barney with a 48-38% the lead, but the gap has been narrowing and is the closest a challenger has been to the old Democrat in years. Beyond the fact that Barney Frank is a arrogant, angry, and incompetent politician, he is also a man that has held the office for thirty years. He has become yet another Washington politician that clings to power and refuses to step aside to give someone else a chance. His time in office gives even more credence to strict term limits. Although I no longer live in Massachusetts' 4th district, I would hope my people wake up and vote for Sean Bielat. He's an intelligent man who fights for his country and would provide a fresh face in Congress. Thursday, October 14, 2010 - 9:05pm Deficit Declining Hard to believe with all the rhetoric spewing from the tea bagging right, but the U.S. federal budget deficit has actually been falling of late. After rising to an astronomical $1.42 trillion, the annual shortfall for the last fiscal year is under $1.3 trillion and approaching the level at which President Obama took office last year. While we're moving in the right direction, it's not nearly going fast enough. Deficits greater than $1 trillion never occurred in the United States until the fall of 2008. It wasn't until then President Bush decided to bail out Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG and then spend $700 billion for the TARP program did the deficit balloon to these massive, unprecedented levels. When President Obama took control, he inherited an astronomical $1.2 trillion deficit. It was a shocking figure, especially considering that George Bush came into office with a $236 billion surplus. Unfortunately, Barack Obama proceeded to make the deficit worse with the fiscal stimulus package, but it is now declining as the TARP program has turned out to be less costly than originally anticipated. Although the deficit will continue to fall until 2014, it will rise sharply when the massive cost of the health care reform law is taken into account. If nothing is done to correct the problem and the United States continues to run large annual debts, the country will be in serious trouble. The value of the currency will depreciate, the credit rating of the nation will fall, interest rates will rise, and the U.S. may face bankruptcy.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - 10:32pm The Witch Debate The Delaware Senate debate was held tonight between crazy, witch-lady Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons. Expectations were very low for the east coast version of Sarah Palin as the national media thought her as dumb as the Alaska original, but O'Donnell surprised with a decent grasp of policy issues. Unlike the half-term Governor's debate debacle against Joe Biden two years ago, O'Donnell was able to hold her own against her opponent. She was also not intimidated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, who seemed to be begging to be part of the story as he constantly interrupted both candidates.
Like a good politician, O'Donnell sought to downplay her controversial comments from a decade ago as being young and naive. She attacked her opponent as a career politician, someone who will be a rubber stamp to the Obama administration, and basically being a tax-and-spend liberal. The attack was standard operating procedure for a candidate down 20 points, but they should play well with her base supporters. A pet peeve of mine in recent debates is the ridiculous Supreme Court question. O'Donnell couldn't cite a recent court ruling that she disagreed with, while Coons quickly named one. Of course, Coons has a law degree and O'Donnell does not. The same question was asked of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin (only Biden has a law background). Personally, I think the quizzo portion of debates needs to be left out. Don't get me wrong, though. Christine O'Donnell is still a fanatical nutjob. Beyond the witch background and her opinion about mice having fully-functioning human brains, her overall views about government and how she may vote in Washington should scare us all. Typical of a tea bagger, she wants prayer in the public schools, but only if that involves her religion. All others need not apply. O'Donnell wants to cut federal spending, but is too afraid to point out specific programs that can be slashed. She spoke of not spending the rest of the stimulus funds and instituting a hiring freeze on public employees, but she failed to point out anything significant. O'Donnell will likely lose to Coons by double-digits, but her "stardom" is already well established. Look no further than CNN falling all over themselves to televise a state-level debate before a national audience. Much like her west-coast equivalent, Christine O'Donnell will become a fixture on the political scene for years to come. The media loves good-looking extremists!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - 9:19pm Foreclosure Crisis Barry Ritholtz, CEO of an investment research company, appeared on CNBC to argue the merits of a foreclosure moratorium throughout the country. Correspondent Diana Olick took the other side, arguing that halting foreclosures would be a huge mistake and that although banks have problems, the vast majority of homeowners in the foreclosure process are there for a reason. Ritholtz believes the system is rampant with fraud and needs to be frozen to prevent banks from taking homes away from mortgage holders.
I have to agree with Diana Olick here. There are always stories of wrongdoing, but by-and-large the foreclosure process is relatively fair and balanced. The banks simply tried to speed up the process because they have been flooded with a massive number of defaulting homeowners who weren't paying their mortgage. While I can fault the banks for cutting corners, I have little sympathy for individuals who bought more house than they could afford, were too lazy to read the mortgage contract, and then decided to stop paying. Ritholtz is just making excuses and Kudlow is afraid to agree with President Obama on anything. A national moratorium would absolutely crush the housing market and cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Fort Myers, and elsewhere will be devastated. Politicians and others who spout about a freeze need to understand the ramifications of that action. It could easily push the country back into recession.
Monday, October 11, 2010 - 7:35pm Murkowski Works the Write-In Angle Alaska's senior senator is doing her best to win as a write-in candidate over tea bagger Joe Miller and Scott McAdams in the upcoming general election. A major obstacle is the spelling of her name, which can be difficult for some people. If voters cannot spell her name correctly, Murkowski may not receive credit for the individual ballot. To combat the problem, she has released this commercial throughout the state.
There is scant polling for all three candidates, but CNN did conduct a poll in late September that showed Miller with just a two point lead over Murkowski, with McAdams trailing badly in third. The poll asked likely voters which person they would support, rather than imitating the actual circumstances voters will face when the enter the booth. Typically, a write-in candidate will receive far less support than what a generic poll demonstrates. For Murkowski to win, she will need to be comfortably ahead. That poll is stale at this point, so it's impossible to tell who is currently in the lead. Joe Miller's luster is starting to wear off as people become more familiar with his extremist policy opinions. However, he only has to defeat a Democrat in a bright red state and a write-in entrant. Sunday, October 10, 2010 - 10:10pm Comic Relief The terrible writers at Saturday Night Live are thankful for wack-jobs like Christine O'Donnell, as she is the gift that keeps on giving. Her bizarre "I'm not a witch, I'm you" advertising campaign has been running all over Delaware, so the folks at SNL decided a parody was just too easy to pass up.
Kristen Weig may be onto something. O'Donnell must be a witch to have made it this far. Perhaps she cast a spell over conservative voters in the state to get the nomination. You would think her luck is about to run out, but you never know. After all, if George W. Bush can get elected (twice), anybody can. Saturday, October 9, 2010 - 8:40pm Tea Party Nazi? Businessman Rich Iott (R), a tea-party candidate running for Congress representing Ohio's ninth district, likes to dress up as a Nazi. Iott was a member of the Wiking Panzer Division, a group that likes to re-enact World War II events. However, the Wikings see the Third Reich as a protector of personal freedom and desire to salute the soldiers from the occupation of Europe. Iott's group goes out of their way to show the Nazi movement as commendable and fighting a principled cause.
Hopefully voters will come to their senses before it's too late. The mid-term elections are only a few weeks away and these crazy lunatics are very close to taking real seats in our Congress. Who knows what legislation they'll enact once they get in.
Thursday, October 7, 2010 - 11:00pm Afghanistan, Nine Years On In 2001, the United States launched an offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Nine years later, American troops are still there fighting. It doesn't feel like we've been there for nine long years though. Maybe that's because George Bush ignored the war for the last six years of his presidency after invading Iraq. However, since President Obama took command nearly two years ago, a greater focus has been made on the conflict. The cost in human lives has been enormous thus far. Over 2,100 American and coalition soldiers have died since the war began and tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have also been killed. The monetary cost has also been staggering as a total of $336 billion has been spent. Unfortunately, the U.S. is no closer to victory than they were at the start. Hopefully, our smooth-talking, liberal leader will figure out an exit strategy sooner rather than later and bring our troops home. Wednesday, October 6, 2010 - 8:45pm Solar White House...Again Jimmy Carter was ahead of his time. Back in 1979, then President Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the West Wing of the White House in order to promote green energy and lead by example. Regrettably, President Reagan, lacking any foresight, removed the panels in 1986 and eliminated many of Carter's programs for renewable energy. This week, solar panels will return to the White House roof as the Obama administration has decided to have them installed.
The Energy Department will establish a competitive bidding process to determine who gets to install the panels, but the early word is that some companies will do it for free. Good thing as I hear the federal government has this little problem called the deficit slowing them down. Installing the solar panels is a good first step, but President Obama and Congress need to increase the tax credits for property owners to go green. It's no secret that the United States has fallen behind many countries on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The government needs to over-incentive their people in order to catch up with everyone else.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - 10:45pm No Foreclosures = No Sales Washington lawmakers are demanding an investigation over dubious foreclosure practices by some of the largest mortgage lenders. Following announcements from Bank of America, JP Morgan, and GMAC that they would suspend foreclosure proceedings, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and thirty others Democrats called for banks to be held accountable for their actions and freeze all foreclosures!
Of course, Pelosi and these other grandstanders have been completely absent from any real financial regulation in the past. They're only crying foul now because they think it will help them politically. I'm sure they won't mention that they created the subprime housing crisis in the first place by relaxing regulations in the 1990's and pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lend to everyone with a pulse. If Congress halts all foreclosures across the country, the housing market will be devastated. It's already in dreadful shape, but this would put the nail in the coffin and push prices further down. Foreclosures currently make up a large percentage of all home sales in the country. In some markets like Las Vegas, foreclosures and short sales account for nearly every sale. Without the ability to conduct this type of transaction, home sales will basically cease to exist. This is yet another example of Congress meddling into the private sector and making a bad situation worse. All they have to do is force lenders to review foreclosure documents (without robo-signers) before they take control of a property. It's not that hard.
Monday, October 4, 2010 - 7:30pm The Not-So-Secret War in Pakistan The United States has never seen a war they didn't like. It's not enough to be fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, but now they are clashing with Pakistan, a supposed ally. Washington will tell us the battle is against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, but an increasing number of drone attacks in Pakistan are finding civilian targets.
The drones are a high-tech CIA killing program that were used sparingly in years past to eliminate alleged terrorist threats. However, in Pakistan the remote-control planes are being used as an elaborate bombing campaign across the whole country. The U.S. is not just using drones to carry out reckless attacks. Under the guise of NATO, they are using helicopter gunships and other weaponry to kill insurgents, Pakistani soldiers, and civilians. For its part, Pakistan has banned American military operations on its land, but that hasn't stopped the CIA death squad from continuing their reign of terror. It is, however, preventing supply lines from reaching the land-locked nation of Afghanistan. The United States had been getting much of their equipment and supplies to Afghan soil by driving it through Pakistan. For now, that route is shut down. At some point, the United States government needs to stop randomly bombing country after country in search of so-called "terrorists". Do they not understand that they're creating ten times as many enemies for every one that they murder?
Sunday, October 3, 2010 - 11:35pm Stay Classy Meg Whitman The richest woman in the State of California is slowly being brought down by one of the poorest. After employing an illegal immigrant, Nicky Diaz, for nine years as a housekeeper, Meg Whitman is denying she had any idea her maid wasn't legal. Now that evidence is surfacing that the former eBay executive did know, she's actually decided to throw her husband under the bus to save herself. Lying about her immigration status is bad enough, but how Whitman acted toward Diaz over the years is even more prevalent. To quote Ms. Diaz, the gubernatorial candidate treated her like a "piece of garbage." Whitman refused to reimburse her for mileage expenses and forced her to perform additional duties without paying for the overtime. Jerry Brown may not be the best candidate in the world, but he's a helluva lot better than the train wreck that is Meg Whitman. Let's hope the California voters get it right....for once.
Saturday, October 2, 2010 - 12:12pm Cahill Running Mate Bails Independent candidate for Massachusetts Governor, Tim Cahill, has lost his running mate. Paul Loscocco resigned from the campaign and immediately endorsed Republican Charles Baker. It was a stunning blow to Cahill, but not a very surprising one as top aides have been abandoning his team recently.
With Cahill running a distant third in the race, it has become increasingly obvious to everyone but him that he has no chance of winning. It's also clear that his presence is helping Deval Patrick, as the anti-incumbent vote is still being split between him and Baker. Timothy Cahill would be wise to join forces with Baker in an effort to defeat the current governor. Many in Massachusetts, myself included, have seen Deval Patrick abuse his office and run the state into the ground. In a time of serious economic difficulty, we need a leader who is more concerned about the people than living the high life. This decision could go a long way in throwing Governor Patrick out of office. Friday, October 1, 2010 - 10:15pm Addition by Subtraction Rahm Emanuel has left the White House. On behalf of the American people, allow me to say Thank God!! The foul-mouthed, pinko, liberal didn't think Chief of Staff was a good enough job for him, so he has decided to run for Mayor of Chicago, one of the most historically corrupt jobs in the country.
Although President Obama sang his praises and hugged his "great friend" a bunch of times, the truth is that the White House is better off without him. He has been one of the most divisive Chief of Staff's in recent memory and was quoted as calling liberals in his own party f*cking retarded. Emanuel is a scary, unstable individual. During a recent dinner with colleagues, he was so angry with his political rivals that he grabbed a steak knife and plunged it into the table, screaming Dead!, Dead!, Dead! after every Republican name he rattled off. If that was an isolated incident, perhaps it could be excused, but Rahm has a long history of making hostile statements and pretending to be a tough guy. We need adults running this country, not hot-tempered bullies. Actually, his mafia-esque rant is perfect for the role of Chicago Mayor. I'm sure the murder rate in the Windy City will rise the minute he's sworn in.
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The
American public is still fascinated with these Tea Party
candidates, despite the fact that many of them are being
revealed as racist, ignorant, or both. Rich Iott is
just another example. He now joins the wacko list that
already includes Christine O'Donnell in Delaware,
Sharron Angle in Nevada, Ron Paul in Kentucky and Joe
Miller in Alaska.
