Monday, March 02, 2009
Your kids aren't good enough for Obama's children's school
From The Liberty Papers:
"The Washington Post takes the Democrats to task for playing political games with the District of Columbia’s school voucher program:
REP. DAVID R. Obey (Wis.) and other congressional Democrats should spare us their phony concern about the children participating in the District’s school voucher program. If they cared for the future of these students, they wouldn’t be so quick as to try to kill the program that affords low-income, minority children a chance at a better education. Their refusal to even give the program a fair hearing makes it critical that D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) seek help from voucher supporters in the Senate and, if need be, President Obama.
Last week, the Democrat-controlled House passed a spending bill that spells the end, after the 2009-10 school year, of the federally funded program that enables poor students to attend private schools with scholarships of up to $7,500. A statement signed by Mr. Obey as Appropriations Committee chairman that accompanied the $410 billion spending package directs D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee to “promptly take steps to minimize potential disruption and ensure smooth transition” for students forced back into the public schools.
We would like Mr. Obey and his colleagues to talk about possible “disruption” with Deborah Parker, mother of two children who attend Sidwell Friends School because of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. “The mere thought of returning to public school frightens me,” Ms. Parker told us as she related the opportunities — such as a trip to China for her son — made possible by the program. Tell her, as critics claim, that vouchers don’t work, and she’ll list her children’s improved test scores, feeling of safety and improved motivation.
Sidwell Friends, of course, is the school that President Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia attend. It’s also the school that Chelsea Clinton attended while her father was President.
Apparently, it’s good enough for the children of Presidents, but too good for the children of inner-city Washington, D.C."
A Taste of My Interview With Sen. John Cornyn
Ok, here is just a bit of my interview. Now remember, this is an interview for a written piece for Texas Magazine. I have my recorder on. This video was filmed by my daughter just for me to use. In other words, I don't want you thinking this was suppose to be a professional videotaped interview. The sound is terrible because we are in the cloak room off the floor, with people coming in and out and all kinds of noise. Enjoy the first part where I am describing where I am and Sen. Cornyn comes up and surprises me.
In case you can't hear at all, the first question was about up and coming Republican candidates for 2010. He names a few and where our expectations are. The second question was about running Republicans against Specter, Snowe, and Collins because of the anger out here from Republicans. The answer simply is we can't afford to lose Senate seats at this point. Maybe that is not what many of us want to hear, but there is truth there. If a liberal Democrat wins their seat then we get 0% voting with us.
I'll say this about my impression of Sen. Cornyn. Anderson Cooper has nothing on Cornyn's blue eyes. Very intense. Very focused. He believes in conservatism and will fight for it, but he won't fight Republicans. His experience of being a judge and an attorney general comes through. He is thoughtful and pragmatic. Remember, this is a guy who put McCain in his place when McCain was running for President.
Big Bad John indeed.
Keep your eyes on this guy. Five years in the Senate and he is head of the NRSC. Bigger things are yet to come.
Update: This bit of news might change things for Sen. Specter in Penn. Pat Toomey says running against Specter is "back on the table."
The Kiss of the Culture of Death
The most pro-abortion President selects the most pro abortion governor as Health Secretary. This administration just keeps getting worse.
Update: And....it gets unbelievably worse.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Final thoughts on CPAC
I will try and get some of my interview with Cornyn uploaded tonight. But you will get my full interview in a Texas Magazine edition coming out soon.
I know that Rush has taken over all the coverage on CPAC. Rham Emanual has seen to that. And that's too bad.
Look, Rush is an entertainer. He is the first to admit that. He is also highly intelligent. He speaks the truth, even if it's hard to hear. The rhetoric that he speaks hate couldn't be farther from the truth, and anyone who really listens to him knows that. On a personal level, he is far from perfect and he would also be the first to tell you that. Rush's gift is being able to put in simple terms how destructive liberalism is and how powerful and empowering conservatism is. That's the bottom line.
But it's too bad that the media focuses on the entertainer (Ann Coulter is an entertainer as well, highly intelligent also), because the REAL leaders of our party did speak at CPAC and had incredible things to say. When I get back from Church I will link the texts of John Cornyn, John Boehner, Michael Pence, and Jim DeMint. They are the ones who really inspired me. They are not entertainers my friends, they are LEADERS. Everyone should listen to what they have to say. Impressive doesn't even begin to describe it.
I know that Newt Gingrich is brilliant with brilliant ideas, but to be honest with you, I cannot get over the fact that he cheated on his wife at the same time Clinton was cheating on Hillary. Hypocrite is too mild of a word. I can't get past it. So I didn't even try to see him speak while there.
Bottom line. Let the media go on and on over Rush. We have little control over the media. But here in the new media, we do have control and we should use to advance the conservative agenda that was laid out by our leaders that spoke at CPAC.
There was a lot of excitement and energy at CPAC. We need to use it for our good and the good of this nation and not let the msm confuse and define it on their terms. Here, it's on our terms. Let's use it wisely.
Ok, here is Cornyn's speech (text). John Boehner speech (youtube). Forgot to add Mitt Romney's speech as well here(text). Mike Pence's speech here (text) Ace has the Pence video here. Jim DeMint's speech is here (text), but you have to scroll through John Cornyn's to get to it. It's worth a scroll, I promise you.
I think I'll add some of my favorite highlights.
From Cornyn's speech:
So the message to the voters seems pretty clear to me. The American people will support us if we stick to our principles and they will abandon us if we don’t.
Now to reclaim our party’s identity, we must demonstrate our principles in respectful opposition. Principle opposition means supporting the idea of the stimulus bill, if it’s timely targeted and temporary, and opposing when it’s not.
Principle opposition means supporting the administration, when it calls for greater transparency and accountability in government, and exposing their hypocrisy when their rhetoric doesn’t match reality.
And principle opposition means reading the fine print on what the Democrats are actually doing and explaining the American people what they’re trying to get away with.
From DeMint's speech:
When we stand together for Americans to make their own choices about where their children go to school and their way to choose their own doctors and to own a health plan, a health plan that they can afford and keep from job to job; when we fight for them to have a choice to own their own social security account and to keep a larger share of what they earn in their paychecks; when American see us fighting, not just talking, but fighting for their rights and freedom, then we will earn their trust and their votes.
Most Americans don’t expect the government to give them the American dream. But they do expect their elected officials to make sure that they have the opportunity to work for it and to earn it. That dream begins with individuals, not the government.
John Boehner: (The last part is just over the top terrific)
But that’s freedom that we enjoyed, economic freedom is really under assault today. And I think the stimulus was the opening of salvo. It was supposed to be focused on jobs, jobs, jobs and it turned into nothing more than spending, spending, and more spending.
But when you put this in the hands of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed, it obviously became a gravy train for leftwing pork, and I knew something was wrong when I read the first version of the bill, and it had the word contraceptives in it, $230 million.
And I brought up to everyone’s attention and guess what they have finally decided to take it out, but...
Sitting in my desk right when this outline came out before -- long before they have resolved the bill, and I was looking at this outline eating my lunch, getting ready up to the press gallery and talk a little bit about it, and all I could think of was, “oh my god.”
When you look at all of the spending that was in there, for every leftwing idea there whatever it was, you began to realize that we were on the wrong path.
............................
All this is being done though on the backs of our kids and our grand kids, and all of these bills seek to replace our economic freedom of what their wins and mandates of politicians and bureaucrats.
Listen, I took to meet from liberals for my speech on the House floor opposing the stimulus.
They didn’t like it when I pointed out, but no member of the Congress had read the nearly 11,000 -- 1,100 pages in this bill.
And they didn’t really didn’t like it when I toss this bill on the floor of the House. They called it disrespectable.
Well, I tell you it was disrespectable, it’s taken a trillion dollars from our kids and grandkids and giving it out to people like A. Corman (ph) and other liberal groups at America.
Disrespectful is spending a trillion dollars of money that our kinds and grandkids going to have to pay for in the dark of night behind closed doors without even giving the Americans more -- less than a day to actually read the bill. Don’t talk to me about disrespectful.
Rush
I didn't get to see Rush and I wouldn't have even if I had stayed. The line to get into see him at CPAC started 4 hours before he was to speak. I can think of no person on earth I would stand in line for four hours for. I almost didn't get to see Mitt Romney for the same reason, but we managed to get in. Transcript of Romney's speech here (video link in the comments)
Hot Air has compiled video of Rush's entire speech on their website, and the full transcript can be read here.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
CPAC PICS!
Stephen Green/VodkaPundit and his evil drinks.
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame!
Me and Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs
Me and Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House.
Remember this guy's video's here? Alfonzo. I'll to go back and find his videos.
JOE THE PLUMBER!
My Girl Michelle Malkin. Sweet as EVAH.
More CPAC pics!
Me and my baby girl, and Teri Christophe from Smart Girl Politics
Ken Shepard from Newsbusters and my buddy Melissa Clothier.
Melissa and James Joyner from Outside The Beltway on blogger's row.
My girl and former Senator George Allen
More Pics!
Ann doing a radio interview.
Congressman John Boehner. Very inspiring.
Congressman Tom Tancredo
Sen. John Cornyn
Bay Buchanan
Finally checking again from CPAC!
This weekend has just been so much fun and productive that I didn't have time to blog. My good friends Melissa Clouthier and Ed Morrisey at HotAir were liveblogging it for all of us. Tons of other great bloggers there. James Joyner from OutSideTheBeltway. Stephen Green from the VodkaPundit was there and he has some sort of evil power that makes martinis 3 times more powerful just by being near him. I was a victim of his evilness. It was fun though.
I can't begin to name all the people I met, from National Review writers to Joe the plumber, who I got a pic with (I'll put up all the pics tonight) Joe turned down doing "The Bachelor." Can you believe that? He didn't want to get into that cheesy stuff especially when it comes to finding someone to love. He really is just a humble good guy.
Talked Michelle Malkin again , who is just a living doll. My daughter was so excited to meet her. Glenn Reynolds and his wife Helen of "instapundit" was there as well and as sweet as can be. We saw Stephen Baldwin for just a second. We listened to Mitt Romney sounding very Presidential. There is no doubt he will run again. William Bennet spoke about us not using over the top rhetoric with Obama . We shouldn't even use the word "socialism." We just need to be factual.
Sen John Cornyn spoke yesterday and was very good. He has presidential qualities imo. Congressman John Boehner was fantastic! Very funny and nice looking. Very inspiring. He had us giving him about 3 standing O's. Sen Jim DeMint was also charismatic and down to earth. I was very impressed with him. There was a very "fighting back" spirit in the place. Very upbeat and I liked that.
We stood close to Ann Coulter doing some interviews (so skinny!) and I got to speak with former Senator George Allen, and Jim Pinkerton of Fox News, and Tom Delay (who I am not overly fond of), and guess who else I met?? Alphonso from the videos I always embed here. The young black guy that slams Obama and tells it like it is. He was so cool and sweet. I got a pic of
him too.
When I get home tonight I will put all the links in and I'll try to remember all the things that happened. I had such a good time!
Friday, February 27, 2009
ON RADIO NOW http://kchnradio.com/3.html
Quick Update
Yesterday was so much fun! When I got to Sen. John Cornyn's office she asked me if I could conduct the interview off the floor! Cornyn was in a vote. So she takes me to this beautiful room off the floor and there was Orrin Hatch standing there and several more Senators! I saw Specter (ugh) sitting right beyond the door (there was glass in the doors).
The interview went great and I videotaped it, but I don't have time yet to download any of it!
We got a private tour of the Capitol and that was awesome as well!
I'm off the hear speakers Romney, Boehner, Cornyn, DeMint, and many others. I''ll check back in later!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
CPAC
I'll be leaving tomorrow for CPAC and an interview with Sen. John Cornyn. I will probably be too busy tomorrow to say much, but check back in the evening for updates and videos. Especially Friday and Saturday. Should be fun.
Pres. Obama's address and Gov. Jindal's response
Pres. Obama, as we all know, is a fine speaker. He promises us rainbows and unicorns while he also speaks of dark clouds and hard times. His best line was "We are not quitters." And he is certainly right about that. But Pres. Obama's solution always remains with the government, and that is the problem. Obama saying that he didn't believe in bigger government was on it's face, laughable. Obama has gotten very good at saying one thing and doing another.
I don't doubt Pres. Obama's sincerity. He believes that what he is doing is what is best for the country. He simply believes in the role of government over the role of the market and the people.
Liberty and freedom should never be diminished because of fear and uncertainty. Hard times are not reason enough to hand over to our government what makes us great, the free market and the decisions we make for ourselves.
But the first line of Gov. Jindal's response was exactly on point:
Who amongst us would ask our children for a loan so we could spend money we do not have on things we do -- we do not need? That is precisely what the Democrats in Congress just did. It's irresponsible. And it's no way to strengthen our economy, create jobs, or build a prosperous future for our children.
He also pinpointed our fundamental differences:
In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government. We oppose the national Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs.
Meanwhile MSNBC tries to regain some semblance of journalistic integrity by actually fact checking Obama's speech. They call him on saying that only deserving homeowners will receive help in the mortgage crisis among many other things.
McCain called Obama out on the "no earmarks" comment. McCain said to Katie Couric: "But when he says there are no earmarks - I just picked up a bill that we are going to take up tomorrow that has 9,247 earmarks in it,” a combative McCain continued. “What am I supposed to believe here?” Pres. Obama reminds me of a snakeoil salesman. Saying all the right things with a charming smile, promising us cures, but none of us really know what we are buying.
One thing not mentioned by Pres. Obama of course, is the taxes he is planning and the effect it will have on all of us.
As someone at NRO noted, PBS, Mark Shields said that the President is more popular than his policies. True. People just like Obama as a person (and some, of course, are wacko over him). Not enough people are paying real attention to what this "change" really means for America.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tea Party Madness
It all started when CNBC's Rick Santelli called for a "Chicago Tea Party" Thursday. It was this shout out (and you have to watch it) that caused this ripple of revolution that touched a nerve. People are frustrated to no end about this stimulus bill that passed too quickly, and not even properly read by anyone who voted on it. Along comes this mortgage bailout and the frustration mounts.
Santelli called for the "Chicago Tea Party" but it's gone national now. Michelle Malkin has a bunch of stuff on it.
Bottom line? Responsible homeowners who worked hard to put a good sized down payment on a 30-year fixed mortgage should not have to bail out those who bought more house than they could afford.
What is especially rich with irony is ACORN's nationwide effort to not allow banks to evict homeowners who have failed to pay their mortgages. It's called being a "Home Defender." They become "squatters" at a home and sit there until the money from Obama comes though. It's rich with irony because it was ACORN that blackmailed banks into giving those same questionable loans. ACORN was all about the 1977 federal law, the Community Reinvestment Act, which forced banks to make bad loans to the poor. In order for banks to get approval for mergers and acquisitions they need to prove they have not discriminated against minority communities in their lending. The CRA gave “community groups” the opportunity to lodge complaints against the banks. And you better believe ACORN was all about that. ACORN developed a lucrative side business as an “advisor” to banks seeking regulatory approvals. In other words, banks had no choice but to give risky loans and ACORN was there as the watchdog to make sure it happened. Banks then took hundreds of individual mortgages packaged together and sold them to investors as “mortgage-backed securities." And we all know how that turned out.
Now, many on the left say "where were you protesting with the bank bailout?" And they would have a legitimate point. What idiots we were. We bought into the scare tactics. The Republican leadership bought into the scare tactics and voted for this insane bailout. How could we have EVER been fooled into thinking that a govt bailout was every going to solve anything?! Bush was wrong about the bank bailout and Obama is wrong about the stimulus bill (as it was passed anyway) and this mortgage bailout.
Tarp I and Tarp II. What a joke. Tim Geithner doesn't seem to have a grasp on what is going on. It's like we are watching a nightmare we can't wake up from, and it's made worse by the fact that we contributed to it big time.
Here is the "Tea Party" protests site. There seems to be one being planned for CPAC in Washington D.C. this week. I'll be there, so I'll bring it to you.
I'm all for it, but you have to admit that Republicans aren't very good at "protests." We just don't have that "Che Guevara" mojo going. I remember during the 2000 presidential vote recount when a bunch of Republicans invaded the voting counting offices. I had to laugh at all the khaki and white button down shirts. Let's face it, we don't exactly scream "revolution!"
But it's time for something. It's time to just stop sitting here watching our an economic meltdown and do nothing.
If the thought of nationalizing our banks doesn't send a chill up your spine, then you aren't paying attention.
Maybe we can't match the papier mache Bush and Cheney dolls or the stepping on the flag, or the lying "dead" in protest. Maybe we will look like the responsible nerds that we are, but at least our voice will be heard.
And that's kind of important. Especially now.
Forcing States
Good Stuff here at WSJ:
These Governors -- Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Butch Otter of Idaho, Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina -- all have the same objection: The tens of billions of dollars of aid for health care, welfare and education will disappear in two years and leave states with no way to finance the expanded programs. Mr. Perry sent a letter to President Obama last week warning that Texas may refuse certain stimulus funds. "If this money expands entitlements, we will not accept it. This is exactly how addicts get hooked on drugs," he says.
I can't think of a more apt analogy. The Federal Government is our drug pusher and the people who have long depended on them, need their fix. This is the vicious cycle of government dependency.
Consider South Carolina. Its annual budget is roughly $7 billion and the stimulus will send about $2.8 billion to the state over two years. But to spend the hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to the likes of Head Start, child care subsidies and special education, the state will have to enroll thousands of new families into the programs. "There's no way politically we're going to be able to push people out of the program in two years when the federal money runs out," Mr. Sanford says.
Once a government program is introduced into the system there is almost no way to eliminate it. That is why the government has become the real life version of the movie, "The Blob."
For example, the stimulus bill temporarily increases the share of state Medicaid bills reimbursed by the federal government, but in 2011 almost all the $80 billion of extra federal Medicaid money disappears. the Democrats in Congress know that no state is going to just dump people when the money from the federal government runs out, so it's their sneaky way of making states pay for programs that that they themselves want.
The Democrats get millions more on the dole, and then come election time pat themselves on the back for being so benevolent with our money and ask those same people who are receiving their aid...to vote for them.
See how this works?
I suppose the Democrats in Congress saw that many Republican Governors would see this ruse, so they stuck in a little-noticed provision into the stimulus bill giving state legislatures the power to overrule Governors and spend the money "by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution." Since legislatures are a lot like Congress, in that they simply adore spending our money, most of the Governors will be overruled.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Blackmail and Funding
From Politico:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday that he will decline stimulus money specifically targeted at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage, becoming the first state executive to officially refuse any part of the federal government’s payout to states…
“The federal money in this bill will run out in less than three years for this benefit and our businesses would then be stuck paying the bill,” Jindal said. “We must be careful and thoughtful as we examine all the strings attached to the funding in this package. We cannot grow government in an unsustainable way.”
Jindal says he will accept money for transportation infrastructure and a modest increase in unemployment benefits, but says that unemployment insurance would mean a $12 million tax hike for Louisiana businesses three years from now.
via HotAir
I just love Jindal. He is the real deal.
The Federal government has long used blackmail to get States to do it's bidding. It also does this kind of thing where it funds something in exchange for a State to give into what the federal government wants. And then years down the line, the funding dries up from the federal government, and the States then have to then fund it themselves. So the federal government gets what it wants, and then ends up not continuing the funding it blackmailed states with. This is exactly what Jindal is trying to prevent happening here.
It's hair pulling out crazy and I cant' stand it.
Recently you may have read about 100 college Presidents who are trying to get the drinking age lowered to 18 again (which I am for btw). When I was in college the drinking age was 18. I have two children in college now and I can promise you that the drinking has in no way abated. Now it's just a system of clandestine drinking, fake ID's, and a big local enforcement business of making money off of MIP's (minor in possession).
What a lot of people don't know is how getting all states to lower their drinking ages happened. In 1984 the federal government said (threatened) that they would withhold 10 percent of federal highway funds from any State that did not prohibit selling alcohol to those under the age of 21. By 1988, 49 states had complied.
Louisiana happens to be the one State that fought this law in the courts for years and didn't join the rest of the States until 1995.
Just one example of many.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Mortgage Mess
If you have been trying to make sense of Pres. Obama's mortgage proposal thing, you are not alone. I've been shifting through stuff trying to figure it out and here is what I've come up with.
Obama is promising $75 billion in incentives to coax lenders and mortgage holders to work with homeowners facing foreclosures. He also want to infuse another $200 billion for....(get this!) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. That's right, the agencies that got us into this mess! They are now completely government owned, and hold many of the nation's mortgages that are suffering from this subprime mess.
Almost one in 10 home mortgages are either delinquent or in foreclosure. The first to be helped will be those people whose homes are now worth less than the amount of their mortgage. Obama's plan is to help the approximately 4 million people at risk of losing their homes by offering incentives to lenders to modify their loan terms to make the payment more affordable. And lastly, the $200 billion infused into FannieMae and Freddie Mac will help jumpstart the housing market by buying more new mortgages.
$75 billion will be used to entice lenders to work with the homeowners. $1000 for every mortgage modified. There are a more incentives to get the payments down to 31% of the homeowner's gross monthly income.
The most troubling question to me, which was brought by Rep. Boehner and Rep. Cantor is this; Will mortgage providers be required to verify income and other eligibility standards before modifying the mortgages? This isn't even addressed in the proposal! Can you say "fraud waiting to happen?" Also, how can we be sure that those who get this help won't be in the same position a year from now?
How frustrating it must be for those of us who have always paid our mortgages and have never bought more house than we could afford or more houses than we could afford, to be essentially paying for those who did.
The responsible get punished and the irresponsible get awarded.
It's pure outright crazy.
Be On Guard
Did you happen to catch Glenn Beck on Fox and Friends this morning? He had Gretchen literally under the table by the time he finished his doom and gloom speech. Beck sees worldwide turmoil and chaos in the next five years. Worse than the depression, he says.
Geeze.
Honestly I don't see it that bad, but we are in for some very hard times, no doubt. If I had advice for anyone, it would be pay off all your debts as fast as you can. Tighten your belt and let go of any extravagant spending. Cut up your credit cards except one for emergencies and save, save, save (maybe in your mattress...;-)
The thing that is scary to me is the world wide thing. There are bad things brewing outside our borders. Some bad things brewing are REALLY close to our borders.
No one seems to be reporting this much, but the other day protesters blocked bridges between Mexico and Texas. I can't remember that ever happening before. Mexico is practically at war with the drug cartels. Kidnappings and murders are common. Some people believe that the violence will soon spill over into our country. Yesterday we closed a bridge connecting Brownsville Texas with Matamoros, Mexico because of a gun battle and officials were afraid that the battle would spill into Texas.
I heard Sen. Dan Patrick from Texas on Fox News yesterday describing the extra manpower we have activated at the border as of yesterday, but I can't find one bit of news on it. Back in January The El Paso Times reported that Texas officials were working on a plan to respond to the "potential collapse of the Mexican government" and that thousands could flee in fear of their lives. I am assuming that was what Sen. Dan Patrick was speaking of was that plan being put into place. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, it's now too dangerous for Americans to travel across the Texas-Mexico border. But as you can see at the link, they are being hush hush about it.
I'm not as worried as I might be, being this close to the border, because we do have state officials who are not afraid to protect our border. Sen. Dan Patrick said on Fox News that even if the federal government fails to protect us, Texas is ready to do so.
Add to that Charles Krauthammer's piece on what is happening with Russian and Iran and I start feeling a bit like...Glenn Beck.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Blago/Burris soap opera continues...
This part of it is just coming out though.
Back in November when Burris was running for Governor he came out strongly against Mayor Daley's plan to expand O'Hare Airport. Burris said he could not support a plan that displaces O'Hare neighbors.
But Burris changed his mind while his appointment was in limbo with the Senate saying that people sometimes change their minds.
Now, what would make him change his mind?
Maybe the $20 billion for the O’Hare expansion which federal authorities are now investigating for alleged links between Blago and the contracts given to several construction companies working on the project that had raised funds for Blago – deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The investigation appears to be an outgrowth of the probe of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose fund-raiser Christopher G. Kelly was a top roofing contractor at O’Hare. Kelly worked at O’Hare when John Harris was a top city aviation official. Harris, who later became Blagojevich’s chief of staff, was arrested with Blagojevich on Dec. 9 on federal corruption charges.
Last week, Kelly and his BCI Commercial Roofing were charged with paying kickbacks to win work from United Airlines and American Airlines. On Wednesday, Kelly, 50, of Burr Ridge, and his company pleaded not guilty.
More about that here.
Blago was going to get his money one way or another.
The Freezing of Kindness
You may remember the story of the 93 yr old man who froze to death in his home in Michigan after the utility company shut off his heat for unpaid bills.
There were implications story of how heartless the electric company was.
A follow up story shows that the electric company sent 6 separate letters over a two year period to the gentleman. It has also been discovered that the elderly man tried twice to pay his bills at his bank, which couldn't accept them.
This isn't the electric company's fault. This isn't the elderly gentleman's fault. It is the fault of every single person that knew him, especially any family members. Even the ones who served him at the bank deserve some guilt thrown their way.
What the hell is wrong with us? Friends and family didn't notice it was freezing in his home and offer to help him??? Shame.
Let's just say for argument's sake that they either didn't know, or that he made some excuse for them. It wouldn't surprise me. For years I delivered meals on wheels for the elderly. It's heartbreaking how neglected an elderly person can be.
I would deliver meals to people who had family nearby who could have easily made lunches for their parents or grandparents, but just didn't want to take the time.
But you don't have to be a friend or relative to have helped this man. Did the bank tellers not see that this man was old and confused? Could they not have offered to help? Perhaps taken the bill, had him write the check there and found a stamp for him and mailed it themselves. Would that have been so hard?
The last time I was in Washington D.C. I was riding the metro and an elderly lady got on. She was looking a the map on the wall of the train and she was obviously distressed. I waited a moment for someone to ask her if she needed help since this was my first trip and I didn't know the metro at all. But it became clear no one was going to help her.
So I asked what was wrong. She was completely confused about what train she was on and where to get off. I found out what location she needed to get to and asked out loud to anyone if they knew how to get to that location. Someone told me. I explained to her that she needed to get off at a certain stop soon and that I would alert her to the stop at that time, but then she had to catch another a certain color train to her location. She seemed relieved, but was still uncertain, I could tell. So when the time came I got off with her and waited the few moments it takes for the right train she needed to come. Luckily she needed to get off on the first stop, so when she got on I told her to get off the very first time the doors opened. I told I would go with her if she wanted me to. She said no, and was so grateful for my help. She left and I got back on the next train. It took me all of 10-12 minutes to help her.
I'm not trying to toot my horn here, I'm just trying to figure out when we stopped caring for those venerable members of our society? Maybe people just figure the govt should take care of things, it's not their problem. Maybe it's a part of the culture of death. I don't know.
We are losing our way here my friends. Depending on the government more and more. We are only making it worse.
The government cannot and will not ever replace simple human kindness, but it can make us forget that that is how we are connected to one another.
When the shoe is on the other foot
Domain specific advanced search for Nazi Mr. Google if you please? What's that? 5090 hits you say? They've called everyone from the Pope, to Rick Warren, to Hannity and Bush a Nazi in headlines at "over-rated and increasingly rudderless" (according to Time) blog DailyKos.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ominous
You guys know how much I respect and listen to Michael Yon. He had the courage to tell us when things were going bad in Iraq when no one on the right wanted to hear it, and he was the first to let us know the surge was working.
This bit in The WaPo has me a bit concerned about the additional troops going into Afghanistan:
U.S. military reporter and blogger Michael Yon says he believes the U.S. army is more capable of fighting in Afghanistan than any other in history. But one paragraph in his article stands out with its deep sense of misgiving:
“The sum of many factors leaves me with a bad feeling about all this. The Iraq war, even during the worst times, never seemed like such a bog. Yet there is something about our commitment in Afghanistan that feels wrong, as if a bear trap is hidden under the sand,” he says.
Michael has always had great instincts.
Color me worried.
"A Nation Of Cowards"
Our new Attorney General thinks we are "a nation of cowards."
Isn't that special?
Connecting With Our Senators!
You want to tell the Senate your ideas? You want to let them know how you feel about the stimulus bill or other issues that the Senate deals with?
You now have your chance. Here is The U.S. Senate of Youtube. A hub to watch, engage, and connect with your leaders.
It has an interactive map that helps you find your Senator's Youtube channel.
Sen. John Cornyn is up today asking you what you think about the stimulus package (yeah, try not to curse, ok?) So hit the link and get in touch with your thoughts and ideas!
The Pope Meets Pelosi
Pelosi put out this nauseating press release:
It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, today. In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church’s leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father’s dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel. I was proud to show His Holiness a photograph of my family’s papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren.
She just forgot to mention the most important thing.....what the Pope said to her. It doesn't surprise me since he reminded her of her of the dignity of human life and our dedication to it as Catholics (which she has no clue about I might add):
Following the General Audience, the Holy Father briefly greeted Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, together with her entourage. His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists, and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of development.
I wonder how she took that since her entire career has been about creating a system of laws the DON'T protect human life.
Good for the Pope. I didn't expect any less from him.
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors - when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you - when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - you may know that your society is doomed.
-- Ayn Rand
(1905-1982) Author
Source: Atlas Shrugged, Francisco's "Money Speech"
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"All New York Times Activities Now Obama-Related"
That is the title of this Gawker post. The following is the post. Keep in mind. I'm not writing this:
Attention, New York Times employees: Form an orderly line and prepare to walk up to 66th street to hear your colleagues discuss their quickie Obama book.
Oh! And we know what you should wear:
You are invited to a Book Signing and Discussion for
Obama: The Historic JourneyThursday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m.at Barnes & Noble at 66th Street(1972 Broadway - 212.595.6859)
The discussion will feature:
JILL ABRAMSON, Managing Editor
MICHAEL POWELL, Metro Reporter
DAMON WINTER, Photographer
JODI KANTOR, Washington Correspondent
Want to buy the book? Times employees are eligible for a 25% discount through The Times's Store.
Can you imagine if this was all for Pres. George W. Bush? That's all we're saying.
All I can say is that the Gawker is used to celebrity cult creepiness and this is getting to them too.
Finally have the podcast up
Here I am on Thursday on "The Christian Politician" radio show KCHNam in Houston. I'm about 53 minutes in.
The Good and the Bad
First I want to say "Hallelujah!" Former border agents, Ramos and Compean, were released from prison today. This is a great day of justice for them. They were wrongly convicted by our government and it's a great thing that Bush at least commuted their sentences.
They cannot speak to the press for 30 days for some reason, but I look forward to hearing from them. God bless them and their families.
The second thing is that I noticed this item out of California. It illustrates how when the people have spoken, there are still those who want the govt to overthrow the will of the people through the courts:
Urging legislators to stop wasting time and resources on non-binding resolutions concerning voter approved Proposition 8, Protect Marriage.com today urged legislative committees to shelve HR 5 and SR 7, resolutions stating that the Supreme Court should overturn Proposition 8 when it hears the matter next month.
“Proposition 8 was adopted with over a 600,000 vote margin, gaining approximately the same vote percentage as Barack Obama did nationally,” said Ron Prentice, Chairman of ProtectMarriage.com - Yes on 8, the campaign committee responsible for passage of the measure. “It passed in 42 out of California’s 58 counties, including the five largest counties in California. It is wrong for legislators to disrespect the vote of the people and attempt to substitute their values for the decision of over 7 million voters.”
HR 5 (Ammiano) and SR 7 (Leno) are authored by legislators who have long opposed Prop 8. Their views were well known and rejected by voters when 52.3% of the electorate approved Prop 8. These same legislators have also signed onto amicus briefs before the Court asking that Prop 8 be overturned. Now they are authoring meaningless nonbinding resolutions that take up the time of legislators and legislative staff who should be focused on appropriate legislative priorities such as solving the state deficit.
“Disrespecting the will of voters and wasting taxpayer resources on meaningless legislative resolutions are among the reasons that public approval of the Legislature has fallen to 15%, the lowest in history.” Prentice said. “We urge the Judiciary committees of the Assembly and Senate to shelve these inappropriate resolutions and return the Legislature’s attention to more appropriate work.”
Politico
Every political blogger I know hit the Politico website daily during the election. It just had good inside reporting.
The New Republic has a fascinating article of Politico's growth (it's actually making money) and future.
Reading through the article one thing struck me, and I wonder if the guys at Politico caught it.
Politico's first major scoop was detailing how Rudy Giuliani had billed the city to pay for personal travel to the Hamptons as he was having an affair with Judith Nathan. The story was picked up by the Times, the Post, and the three network evening newscasts.
Now, The New Republic says that Politico broke the story of Obama visiting Bill Ayer's home. Ben Stein's article didn't break the actual connection between Ayers and Obama though. And the article does more to justify the relationship than condemn it. Which is why Politico took no heat for it.
The next few big stories were about McCain not knowing how many homes he owned and that the RNC had spent more than $150, 000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe.
Wonkette has this to say in the TNR story about Politico:
Wonkette called Politico a "vulgar asshole of a publication" and announced the blog would cease linking to the site. "We will stop linking to these particularly retarded, trollish articles Politico front-pages just to get a crappy two-minute panel slot on [Anderson Cooper] 360 later in the night."
But when Politico reported on Palin's wardrobe, Wonkette was all over it. The number of homes John McCain owned story? Wonkette loved it. The Rudy and Judith affair and expenses? Wonkette linked it.
The New York Time's editor Bill Keller also bashed Politico in the TNR piece, but the truth is that the NYT has cited Politico 200 times since Feb. 2007.
So what did Politico do to earn such wrath? Wonkette and The New York Times obviously loved them before. Why the change of heart?
Because Politico dared to question "The One."
On the evening of January 22, a few hours after his administration's debut news conference, Barack Obama made a surprise visit to the cramped quarters of the White House press corps. It was meant to be a friendly event, and Obama glad-handed his way through reporters and cameramen, exchanging light banter as he went.But Politico reporter Jonathan Martin wasn't there to chat. Martin pressed Obama about the president's decision to nominate William J. Lynn III, a former defense lobbyist, to deputy defense secretary and about Obama's pledge to curtail the influence of lobbyists. The exchange turned tense. "See, this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here," a visibly exasperated Obama said. Martin wouldn't relent. "I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys--that's all I was trying to do," the president added. Within an hour, Martin and Politico writer Carrie Budoff Brown reported the exchange on Politico's website: "OBAMA FLASHES IRRITATION IN PRESS ROOM," the headline read.
It will be interesting to see how Politico proceeds. They must realize how the mainstream media is so biased towards Pres. Obama that it cannot effectively report on this administration.
Will Politico take up the reigns and report the negative as well as the positive? Or will it give in, so that it can continue to be linked and and picked up by those such as the NYT, CNN, and the rest?
We shall see.
Just saying....
As a online newspaper, you might not want to make gun owners angry.
The Commercial Appeal in Memphis Tennessee, for some reason I still can't figure out, decided to post the names of those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a gun.
It seems in the link above the paper is trying to backtrack and say they really are for the 2nd Amendment, but seeing that they were dishonest in that post, I have to wonder.
The paper's spokesman says that the database's search did not allow the display of the date of birth and street addresses of the gun owners. But a commenter points out that the search did indeed allow the display of both date of Birth and Street addresses for roughly 24 hrs before gun permit holders began to contact the paper. Then, and only then was the search and display options modified.
So, being that the paper is being disingenuous there, I don't really buy their excuses.
Read the comments. They are very enlightening.
Scientology is nuts
Scientologists Try to Explain how Psychiatrists caused 9/11 and the Holocaust from Chris Doyle on Vimeo.
via vimeo:
Obliterating Psychiatry is one of the major goals of the Church of Scientology – and replacing it with Scientology.
In this video, from the Scientology front group, "Citizens Commission on Human Rights" (CCHR), a high-level Scientologist claims that Osama bin Laden's "Number Two," Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a Psychiatrist and it is him who persuaded Osama Bin Laden to launch the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon in 2002.
The Scientologist claims that before he met al-Zawahiri, Osama was a nice, regular guy, whose only ambition was to get the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. The Scientologist claims that al-Zawahiri manipulated Osama to start up al-Qaida and that he, and other psychiatrists, are to blame for 9/11 attacks and other suicide bombings.
One flaw in this argument – other than it is totally insane - is that al-Zawahiri is a surgeon. He is NOT a psychiatrist. The Church of Scientology simply fabricated that.
Read more at the vimeo site. It gets even more bizarre.
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Non Political look at Global Warming Finally
SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.
"I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York.
Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.
"They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said.
This has always been the problem with the global warming debate. It became totally political (and monetary) instead of scientific and we couldn't believe a thing we read.
Al Gore and his "Inconvenient" nonsense only made it worse.
It's pathetic.
More:
Schmitt resigned after the group blamed global warming on human activity. In his resignation letter, the 74-year-old geologist argued that the "global warming scare is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making."
Williams said Heartland is skeptical about the crisis that people are proclaiming in global warming.
"Not that the planet hasn’t warmed. We know it has or we’d all still be in the Ice Age," he said. "But it has not reached a crisis proportion and, even among us skeptics, there’s disagreement about how much man has been responsible for that warming."
So finally:
Schmitt said he’s heartened that the upcoming conference is made up of scientists who haven’t been manipulated by politics.
Of the global warming debate, he said: "It’s one of the few times you’ve seen a sizable portion of scientists who ought to be objective take a political position and it’s coloring their objectivity."
___
You guys remember Iraq, right?
Remember the daily updates from every news outlet here when violence in Iraq was at it's worse?
But no news lately, right? Charles Krauthammer has an update in Friday's WaPo:
Washington hardly noticed a near-miracle abroad. Iraq held provincial elections. There was no Election Day violence. Security was handled by Iraqi forces with little U.S. involvement. A fabulous bazaar of 14,400 candidates representing 400 parties participated, yielding results highly favorable to both Iraq and the United States.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had a slam dunk victory. Why is that important? Because his chief rival was a pro-Iranian nut job of the "religious police" variety. Other religious factions also lost. It's an amazing thing that our msm don't seem very interested in. They were MUCH more interested when death and destruction ruled the day. Their narrative of Iraq being a "quagmire" just didn't work out they way they planned.
Iraqis even celebrated St. Valentine's Day.
Indian Muslims recently burned Bin Laden in effigy. I'd call that a step in the right direction.
The winds of change are slowly blowing across the Middle East. Freedom. You can smell it in the air.
Nazis in full color!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Beheading of Journalism
But, when Muzzammil Hassan kills his wife and "the face of Muslim news" is unveiled rather more literally, detached from her corpse at his TV studios, it's all he can do to make the local press - page 26 of Newsday, plus The Buffalo News, and a very oddly angled piece in the usually gung-ho New York Post, "Buffalo Beheading: Money Woe Spurred Slay".
