Brandon

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Newt Visits Mike's America

The former Speaker and current GOP frontrunner wowed a SC crowd with calm, understated brilliance!
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Newt in Bluffton, SC November 29, 2011
photo by Mike's America
After spending over an hour listening to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich I came away feeling good that there was at least one politician who was willing to say what he believed and not to pander to the audience he was speaking to.

A large crowd of several hundred gathered on a cool, blustery day here in Bluffton; the heart of what we call the South Carolina Lowcountry. It's prime conservative territory and a very welcoming crowd of mainly retired Americans who stood for hours for a chance to hear and question the former Speaker.

There was no band, just an older Tea Party guy with a guitar to warm up the crowd. No balloons, no introductory speaker to get the crowd revved up. People didn't come to see Newt Gingrich because they wanted to cheer and engage in hero worship. They came to hear Newt because of the calm and persuasive power of his ideas and experience.

The Speaker's remarks were brief; about 20 minutes. During that time he tossed out plenty of red meat to the crowd which had no love lost for Obama. The best line, among many good ones, was when the Speaker said that Obama is the worst combination of a leader. "He is both radical AND incompetent." Either one is bad but in combination terrible.

Another great line was when the Speaker questioned Obama's reliance on foreign courts in his bid to overturn South Carolina's immigration law. "Obama doesn't behave as if he is President of the United States of America." Newt would get the government off the back of states like South Carolina in immigration, labor relations and health care.

Newt repeated that this campaign must be more than just an effort to elect him President. He knows better than anyone that to change the way Washington works for the better (as opposed to Obama's idea of change) voting for one winning candidate isn't enough. He expounded on the need to elect conservatives to every office across the land and build a movement that will sustain newly elected officials as they work for real and fundamental reform.

Contrary to news reports from nearby Charleston, there was no mention of Mitt Romney. Only a vague reference to his "friends" in the GOP debates and Newt's desire that they stop misrepresenting his views on immigration. Newt reviewed again his position which is that those who have been here for many years might be allowed to stay but not granted citizenship or voting rights. He pointed listeners to his web site for more information on that issue as well as others. Above all else, on immigration Newt reminded listeners he would do what it takes to control the border even if that meant a law to waive all federal regulations currently standing in the way of a fence. Newt promised that within a year of his being sworn in as President there would be "complete control of the border."

A listener as well as a Speaker!

The remainder of Newt's time was spent listening then responding to the questions of those in attendance. It's important to note that he was clearly LISTENING, to those who stepped forward to be heard. One gentleman disagreed with Newt's stand on ethanol subsidies. Newt reminded the crowd that he has a comprehensive and strategic view toward energy (web site) and that subsidies for biofuels may one day go away but they are part of an overall energy independence scheme. Better to support ethanol than to send more money to the Middle East. The man who asked the question said he disagreed but Newt was proud to say "I don't expect you to agree with me on everything," then went on to cite how his wife and even his grandchildren sometimes disagreed with him.

Another gentleman raised the issue of patriotism and had some rather unusual suggestions. Newt supported the general premise of the man's question but said that he would prefer other solutions.

No pandering here. No attempt to be all things to all people. Just Newt being Newt!

I left wondering can Newt win? Will another old, white man stand up to the media obsession with Obama's style over substance? I don't know. But I do know that despite all the criticism of Newt for his past he remains one of the most capable and honest candidates running today. Perfect? No. Better than Obama? Absolutely!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Dems Throwing Mud on Mitt

Dems Paint Mitt's Flip Flops as "Two Men Trapped in One Body!"

I wondered why the Dems had been so quiet lately on Mitt Romney. They went after Cain, Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich and the rest and I thought perhaps Dems wanted Mitt to be the nominee due to the former Massachusett's Governor's flip flops on policy positions. But it appears the smear machine just couldn't wait to throw the mud at Mitt and frankly, GOP voters might want to listen. After all, if Mitt is the nominee, we'll be hearing a lot of this:


Mitt: "I'm running for office for Pete's sake!

A 30 second version of the ad will be playing on television in Albuquerque, N.M.; Columbus, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wis.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Washington, D.C.

Democrats have even set up a web site to promote the video called "Mitt v. Mitt."

Maybe we should thank the Dems for this one. After all, we wouldn't want to wait until Mitt is our nominee before finding out he's not exactly the conservative he currently portrays himself to be!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Obama & Dems Torpedo Deficit Super Committee By Singular Focus on Raising Taxes

Dems refused to cut spending or to consider Republicans offer of $500 billion in new revenue!

No one should be surprised by the collapse of the so-called "Super Committee" tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. The very idea that Democrats would compromise on REAL cuts in spending with a rational and balanced compromise with Republicans was doomed from the start. Besides, we have seen this movie before and we know how it ends.

The Super Committee was born as part of a compromise on lifting the debt ceiling at the end of July. Prior to the Super Committee idea, President Obama rejected Speaker Boehner's offer of $800 billion in new revenue which did not raise tax rates was rejected by Obama who demanded $400 billion more in tax increases. At the time, Boehner complained that Obama "moved the goal posts."

Obama used Boehner's refusal to surrender on every principle that formed the backbone of the GOP's big win in the 2010 mid-term congressional elections to unleash another round of the class warfare rhetoric which has made Obama the most polarizing president in modern history according to Gallup.

In the Super Committee Republicans once again offered a sweet package of $500 billion in revenue enhancements that actually lowered tax rates by closing loopholes. Democrats refused to even consider it. The Wall Street Journal described the GOP plan this way:
[Republicans] offered to raise revenues by $500 billion over 10 years as part of a tax reform that would lock in lower tax rates in return for giving up deductions. Democrats have rejected it, which is puzzling since it would achieve so many of their stated goals.
But in rejecting the GOP proposal Democrats proved once again that they were more interested in playing politics and continuing with class warfare than they were in finding a solution to the deficit problem. Obama was in New Hampshire on Tuesday talking again about how Republicans want to "protect massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires." In usual hypocritical style, Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA), a member of the Super Committee blamed Republicans for the failure while at the same time insisting that both parties should work together and stop pointing fingers at the other.

It's clear that Democrats have only one thing on their mind: RAISING TAXES! There was no serious effort on their part to present anything like real spending cuts or even to consider tax reforms that would be fair to all taxpayers while raising more revenue.

The game of politics and finger pointing is what they do best and they know they can count on an array of media friendly allies to parrot their talking points as if they are true.

Meanwhile, the deficit has now exceeded $15 trillion and not one deal signed off on by Democrats has cut even the rate of growth!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Occupy Protesters Terrify School Children in the Name of Their Cause

Is this something of which "99%" of  Americans approve?

Set your time machine back to March and April 2010. Less than 18 months ago Tea Party protesters surrounded Capitol Hill to vent their anger at the Democrat's ram rod method of passing ObamaCare over the expressed wishes of a clear majority of Americans.

Despite any lack of evidence (and the place was surrounded with cell phone cameras and other video equipment) Dems insisted that the Tea Partiers had spit on black members of Congress and used the "n" word. The charges were totally bogus and while some Dems distanced themselves from the false accusations, others like disgraced Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) fanned the racebaiting flames for weeks. The story was front page news and the subject of numerous talking head discussions on television.

On Thursday, the Occupy Wall Street mob become even more deranged to the point where they are terrorizing school children and most media outlets ignored the story altogether. Here's it is:


OWS Protesters Chant ‘Follow Those Kids!’ As Small Children Try To Go To School On Wall Street
Tiny Tots, Some As Young As 4, Overwhelmed By Hostility, Crush Of Humanity
CBS New York
November 17, 2011

In the middle of thousands of protestors yelling and chanting — some kicking and screaming – CBS 2’s Emily Smith found little school kids trying to get to class. Nervous parents led them through the barriers on Wall Street. The NYPD helped funnel the children, anything to ease their fears while some protestors chanted “follow those kids!”

“These guys are terrorists, yelling at little kids,” one father said.

“For them it’s horrible. They’re afraid of all the crowds. We’re not even able to get through. They’re just, he’s … very afraid now,” a mother added.

One protester followed a father and his little daughter all the way down the block. As the school day ended just after 3 p.m. children trickled out of Leman Manhattan Prep on Broad Street. Smith heard a 4-year-old boy telling his mom he was scared. He told Smith it looked like a parade.

“There was a parade. It was scary — crowded with school,” the boy said.
Now, no Tea Partier would EVER resort to tactics which frighten small children, let alone threaten to pursue them to their school. But you know that if even ONE Tea Partier engaged in similar conduct it would be the number one item on every newscast that evening and likely for days to come with Democrats demanding Republicans denounce the behavior.

As this is a Democrat supported group, there is no outrage, no call for Democrats to denounce the group and no demand for criminal action against those who put their right to protest above the right of 4 year old kids to get to school without being traumatized.

Welcome to Obama's America where even 4 year old kids can become the target of deranged left wing mobs!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Obama Kills Thousands More Energy Jobs in Ohio Shale Project

Like the earlier decision to delay the Canadian pipeline, this is all about getting Obama re-elected no matter what the cost to average Americans!

A week ago Obama caved into radical environmentalist demands and delayed the Canada pipeline. My title for the post on that topic is: "Cheaper Energy, Billions in Tax Revenue and Thousands of Jobs Tossed Aside in Pipeline Delay to Aid Obama's Re-election!" The same headline would apply here. From the Washington Examiner:
President Obama's United States Department of Agriculture has delayed shale gas drilling in Ohio for up to six months by cancelling a mineral lease auction for Wayne National Forest (WNF). The move was taken in deference to environmentalists, on the pretext of studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing.
...
The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) recently estimated that drilling in the Utica shale, which is affected by the suspension of the mineral lease auctions, would produce up 204,500 jobs by 2015.

"The President’s plan is to simply say ‘no’ to new energy production," House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash, said to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar during a hearing pertaining to hydraulic fracturing. "It’s a plan that is sending American jobs overseas, forfeiting new revenue, and denying access to American energy that would lessen our dependence on hostile Middle Eastern oil."

This is on top of the 19,000 jobs lost along the Gulf Coast after Obama's moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

American workers have lost BILLIONS in wages that would be paid if these and other projects were allowed to proceed. Billions in tax revenue are also lost to the government and Americans are more dependent on foreign sources of energy at a higher cost.

But none of the above is as important to Obama than currying favor with radical environmentalists who might sit on the sidelines during his re-election campaign if he made decisions that were in the best interest of ALL Americans.

Pelosi and Top House Dems Embrace Disgraced, Censured Charlie Rangel

One year ago the House voted to censure Rangel. But now, House Dems are heaping on the praise to help him get re-elected!

I've often said that one of the big differences between Republicans and Democrats in Washington is that once a scandal touches a Republican elected official party leaders give him the bum's rush to the door. On the other hand, Dems like to leave the garbage sitting in the middle of the room and don't seem to mind the stink.

Another great example occurred this week when Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) held a top dollar fundraiser at a D.C. restaurant attracting lobbyists willing to shell out $5,000 a piece to get up close and personal with the top Democrat leadership. Odd considering that Rangel was the first member of Congress to be officially censured by a vote of the House for his ethical problems in nearly 30 years.

Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi herself read the resolution of censure after Rangel was called to stand in the well of the House in shame.

That was then, this is now:
“Last night marked a momentous evening in my campaign for re-election,” Rangel wrote in a letter to supporters on Thursday. “At a special event in Washington, Democratic leaders including Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, Sandy Levin, John Conyers, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Steve Israel stood by my side and pledged their unwavering support on my behalf. I am so humbled and grateful for their involvement.”

As further evidence of how he had gone from opprobrium to affirmation, Rangel attached an article from Politico headlined “What Censure? Rangel’s Back.” The article included quotes from Rangel taunting the House ethics committee members and saying his censure was all for show.
...
when it comes to hypocrisy, you have to raise a glass to the Democratic leaders who went for cocktails with Rangel donors paying $500 for individual access and $5,000 to be Political Action Committee “chairs.” “No corporate checks, please,” one solicitation reminded, under Rangel’s name.

The early solicitations promised access to “special guests” such as Hoyer, before the “great news” came out that Pelosi would attend. For lobbyists too busy to join, the campaign “would be willing to set up your own event” with Rangel.
Don't expect the "news" media obsessed with Herman Cain and decades old unproven charges to spend much time reporting on Rangel's speedy rehabilitation. It would conflict too much with their approved story line that Republicans are the source of corruption and scandal in Washington. Like every other story contradicting that line (Fast and Furious, Solyndra) this too will be swept to the back pages or downplayed if not ignored entirely.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

British Prime Minister's Cat Disdains Mouse Catching Role and Just Sleeps and Eats

Even the cats in Europe are becoming lazy socialists who expect someone else to do the work!


This story is on a lighter note but one with an important lesson. Apparently Larry, the cat rescued from an animal shelter earlier this year with the expectation that a street animal would help control mice at Number 10 the British Prime Minister's office and residence in London. The mice have apparently been running rampant in the building yet Larry the cat seems to think his role is to sleep and eat, but not catch the mice. The Daily Mail has the full story.

What else would a socialist do but expect the government to take care of his every need so he can nap all day and get up long enough to eat food that was provided by others?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Occupy Protester Threatens to Burn NYC "to the ground!"

Imagine the hell storm that would break loose if ANY Tea Partier said anything remotely similar!

Once again here we are. The same Democrats who lectured Tea Partiers on civility a year ago and have embraced the Occupy Wall Street protests are silent with this kind of incitement going on:


PROTESTER: "We gonna burn New York City to the f***ing ground.
...
Ain’t no more talking, They got guns we got bodies. They got bricks we got rocks. Let’s see what they got.

[Young man in the background] They got missiles, we got bombs.

I want them, I want them to make that decision so they can see, in a few days you going to see what a Molotov cocktail can do to Macy’s.
Whoa! Yet the reaction from most of the same "news" media that saw the Ku Klux Klan around the corner at every Tea Party dismisses nut jobs like the above or ignores them altogether.

With at least one Jewish neighborhood in New York City already set ablaze in the wake of anti-Semitic Occupy Wall Street threats shouldn't Democrats who demanded Tea Partiers watch their words do the same now and condemn threats of violence from the left? Don't hold your breath!

UPDATE: White House Shooter Part of Occupy DC?

Oscar Ortega Hernandez was arrested Wednesday after allegedly shooting at the White House on Friday. The Secret Service searched the Occupy DC encampment on Monday looking for Hernandez was eventually found in Pennsylvania. Imagine the hell that would break loose if a Tea Party member were implicated in such a crime. Elected Democrats would be knocking each other over in a rush to the nearest microphone to condemn ALL Tea Partiers and conservatives for the crime. Not one peep out of them in this case. What a surprise!

UPDATE: Occupy San Diego Honors White House Shooter!

Remember that without ANY evidence that Tucson shooter Jared Loughner was influenced in any way by the Tea Parties the "news" media immediately lapped up Democrat charges that the shooting was connected to rhetoric coming from the likes of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh?

Well now we have the protesters at Occupy San Diego honoring the accused White House shooter with a moment of silence. Video and full story at Newsbusters.

Where are all the media types who openly spread the lie that Tea Parties or conservatives were to blame for Jared Loughner's crime when we have actual Occupy protesters embracing Hernandez?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Obama Administration Knee Deep in Political Corruption Over Solyndra Despite Denials

Did anyone really believe their denials in the first place?

Well, this is interesting. The Washington Post broke the story Tuesday that officials at the Department of Energy pressured green jobs firm Solyndra to put off the announcement of layoffs scheduled for October 28, 2010 until after the 2010 mid term election on November 2. From Soylyndra emails subpoenaed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee comes this nugget:
“DOE continues to be cooperative and have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet,” a Solyndra investor adviser wrote Oct. 30. “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd – oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date.”
So, basically $40 million in taxpayer funds was used to keep Solyndra quiet until after the election.

Obama Contributor and Solyndra Investor Frequent White House Visitor

White House officials have repeatedly denied that frequent visits to the White House by billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama fundraiser, had any connection to lobbying on behalf of Solyndra. That assertion is directly contradicted by the emails from Kaiser and his top staff. [1, 2]

The evidence of corruption surrounding Solyndra is reaching levels that cannot be ignored even by the mainstream "news" media. The question is, will they give it the same amount of attention they do to negative stories about Herman Cain and other Republican challengers to Obama? Don't hold your breath!

If Perry and Cain Are Disqualified for President for Mental Lapses, What About Obama?

Oh, sorry. I forgot the "news" media have a much higher standard for Republicans than they do for Democrats!

First, there was Rick Perry's unfortunate "brain freeze" at the recent Michigan GOP debate.

Well now, the "news" media is jumping all over Herman Cain who took a very long pregnant pause to gather his thoughts after being asked a question on Libya during an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel [video].

Don't you wish the national "news" media had given the same level of attention to Obama's missteps? This beats Perry's and Cain's brain freeze any day:


I'd settle for the "news" media to pay at least as much attention to Obama's scandals with Fast and Furious and Solyndra as they do to Cain and Perry but for some reason, deaths of Americans in Fast and Furious and billions wasted in green energy bailouts to Obama campaign contributors doesn't seem newsworthy!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Is Newt Next at Number One?

And will that make the latest anti-Romney candidate the target of Cain-style attacks?

One after another the anti-Romney GOP hopefuls have shot to the top only to sink. Some faster, some slower. It's almost as if someone was out there manipulating the process to give Romney an edge. Other than Romney, who could that be?

Recent polls show support for Newt Gingrich on the rise as support for Cain and Romney begins to taper off. From Real Clear Politics:
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Described by Fox News analyst Brit Hume as "Uncle Newt" for his positive role in debates and refusal to engage in bashing rivals seems to be paying off for the former Speaker. But how long will it be before Newt gets the Cain treatment? Whether it's some new attack on Newt or just a replay of the attacks that did so much to damage his reputation over the years it seems inevitable that as Newt rises, powerful forces will do what they can to destroy him.

Fingers might point to Romney as the source of attacks. But the Chicago cronies who dominate Obama's campaign aren't above taking out the candidates they perceive would be a stronger challenge to Obama than Romney. Romney's flip flops on so many issues and his advocacy of state run health care create a hole in Romney's vaunted electability big enough for Obama to drive a union truck through.

Hold on to your hat Newt! You're about to get Cain treatment!

Cheaper Energy, Billions in Tax Revenue and Thousands of Jobs Tossed Aside in Pipeline Delay to Aid Obama's Re-election!

Once again, Obama proves he cares more about leftist causes than he does about average Americans!

Mike Brownfield writes at the Heritage Foundation's Morning Bell:
Over the last several months, radical environmentalists along with Hollywood celebrity activists descended on the White House in protest, urging President Barack Obama to block the construction of the $7 billion pipeline that would bring in more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf coast. Last week, they got their wish.

The Obama Administration on Thursday announced that it would delay a decision on the pipeline until after the 2012 election. In siding with his leftist environmentalist, big Hollywood base, President Obama’s ambition is nakedly apparent, as is his total disregard for the 14 million unemployed Americans sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Washington to get out of the way so they can get back to work. And it also shows that for him, politics is more important than achieving true energy independence for the United States.

And here’s why: The Keystone pipeline would have done what the President’s hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus spending failed to do. It would have created thousands of jobs (tens of thousands, by some predictions), while generating $5.2 billion in property tax revenue for Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas. And it would have done it all with private dollars–not taxpayer dollars.
Scaremongering environmentalists whose doom and gloom hype knows no bounds successfully forced this delay even though the Obama Administration had determined their were few environmental risks.

But now actor Robert Redford and his no-nothing Hollywood buddies who always want to tell the little people how to live are happy with Obama's decision.

Here's the kicker from The Hill:
The Obama administration’s decision to postpone a verdict on the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline might boost President Obama’s difficult reelection campaign.

The administration said Thursday that it would review alternative routes for the proposed pipeline, pushing a final decision on the project well past Election Day and into 2013.

The move buoyed environmentalists who mobilized against the pipeline with a series of headline-grabbing protests at the White House. They bluntly warned Obama that approval of the project would sap their appetite for working on his behalf in 2012.

Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said the delay helps neutralize the issue for the president.

“It helps in that postponing tough political decisions does dampen some of the heat the president must take going into Election Day,” Zelizer said. “The president can spin the issue any way he wants, leaving himself room by not clarifying what he will do.”
In the same article former Clinton aide Paul Bledsoe praised Obama's move: "Nothing is more populist than avoiding a decision that pits one important policy objective and constituency versus another."

Reaction from Canada: Oil, and jobs, to go to China Instead?

Delay in the pipeline which runs from Canada across the United States has left the Canadians with little choice but to look elsewhere to market their energy. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper informed President Obama on Sunday at the Asia-Pacific summit that he would move to sell the oil to Asia instead. Along with that sale would go jobs. Just as the oil rigs and the jobs that went with them left the Gulf of Mexico after Obama's moratorium on drilling created a worsened jobs situation in that region, this new decision, or lack of decision, will also have it's consequences.


So, Obama votes "present" once again in order to save his job at the expense of American jobs, higher tax revenues and cheaper energy. Does this sound like the action of a leader?

Is Anti-Semitism from Occupy Protests Leading to Anti-Jewish Vandalism in NYC?

Will Democrats who praised the protesters now be held accountable for their words? Don't hold your breath!

Three cars torched and swastikas scrawled over the scene in Brooklyn New York on Friday.

The Occupy Wall Street protests nationwide have been a hotbed of the kind of anti-semitism that could inspire acts such as this. Here's JUST ONE of many examples that can be found all over the Internet:


The Jews "Need to be run out of this country!"

When will all the top elected Democrats from Obama on down who cautioned Tea Party protesters to watch their words do the same with their spawn at Occupy Protests?

Just How Biased Can the "News" Media Be? Watch This Clip from CNN

Is it any wonder that Fox News beats all other cable news networks combined?

From Real Clear Politics [video]:
"Last night at the Republican debate, some of the hopefuls, they hope to get your job, they defended the practice of waterboarding which is a practice you banned in 2009. Herman Cain said, quote, 'I don' see that as torture.' Michele Bachmann said that it's, quote, 'very effective.' So I'm wondering if you think that they're uninformed, out of touch, or irresponsible?" CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian asked President Obama in Hawaii.
Did it not occure to the reporter that there might be a fourth option and that is that waterboarding of JUST THREE TERRORISTS saved American lives and lead to the killing of Osama bin Laden?

Friday, November 11, 2011

Big Labor Takes Money Away from Disabled for Contributions to Democrats

The people who claim to care so much for the needy in our society are robbing them!

During her tenure in office Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich, instituted a plan whereby family members who care for the disabled in the home would be classified as public employees who would be automatically considered members of a labor union though without any tangible benefits. Furthermore, under the plan, those families who receive Medicaid benefits to support the care of their disabled family member would have a portion of that money deducted automatically for union dues.

In an update on the story, the Washington Examiner has this:
If you're a parent who accepts Medicaid payments from the State of Michigan to help support your mentally-disabled adult children, you qualify as a state employee for the purposes of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). They can now claim and receive a portion of your Medicaid in the form of union dues.

Robert and Patricia Haynes live in Michigan with their two adult children, who have cerebral palsy. The state government provides the family with insurance through Medicaid, but also treats them as caregivers. For the SEIU, this makes them public employees and thus members of the union, which receives $30 out of the family's monthly Medicaid subsidy. The Michigan Quality Community Care Council (MQC3) deducts union dues on behalf of SEIU.
...
“We're not even home health care workers. We're just parents taking care of our kids,” Robert Haynes, a retired Detroit police officer, told the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Our daughter is 34 and our son is 30. They have cerebral palsy. They are basically like 6-month-olds in adult bodies. They need to be fed and they wear diapers. We could sure use that $30 a month that's being sent to the union.”
...
Mr. and Mrs. Haynes, of course, are both the parents (the employer) and the health care providers for their children, but they still lose money to the SEIU every month, despite having no interest in joining the union. They have been arbitrarily classified as state employees so that the union can take money from them.
The amount collected annually for SEIU by the state is $6 million. That's $6 million that won't go to families to provide care. That's $6 million that will be used by the union to fund Democrat political campaigns at the expense of the disabled!

The Forgotten Lesson of Veteran's Day

The "War to end all wars" was a prelude for worse to come in the 20th Century. Have we learned the lesson?

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The First World War, the "war to end all wars" had devastated Europe since 1914. To the horrors of poison gas and trench warfare was added the new threat of air warfare and the bombing of civilian populations.

The flawed Versailles treaty, toothless security alliances with allies and the static Maginot Line defense were not sufficient to deter German rearmament under the Nazis. When Hitler ordered the re-occupation of the Rhineland demilitarized zone in 1936 the French Army had the strength, the legal authority but not the will to act. Had they done so, history suggests that Hitler might well have been deposed by his own generals and the world saved from the nightmare that followed.

As Winston Churchill, and later Ronald Reagan understood: peace comes through strength and the united will to act to deter aggression. That lesson has largely kept the peace in Europe since World War II but in more recent times it is apparently being forgotten.

The situation with Iran today is one where a united, resolute will to apply the means necessary to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons might risk a small military conflict. But the failure to apply those limited means may mean a nuclear holocaust at some later date.

Remember today the sacrifice of our veterans who have given their lives to protect our freedom. But do not forget the lessons that their sacrifice calls to mind. Let us preserve peace by remaining strong and united in the face of aggression and threat. The world may not survive another "war to end all wars!"

Smell the Coffee?

Who is behind the sex campaign to destroy Herman Cain? Look no further than the Chicago hit team that did it all before on behalf of Obama!

Ann Coulter nailed it! She traces the hit job on Cain to connections to Obama through the National Restaurant Association and David Axelrod.
Herman Cain has spent his life living and working all over the country -- Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, D.C. -- but never in Chicago.

So it's curious that all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago: home of the Daley machine and Obama consigliere David Axelrod.

Suspicions had already fallen on Sheila O'Grady, who is close with David Axelrod and went straight from being former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley's chief of staff to president of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), as being the person who dug up Herman Cain's personnel records from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
...
Axelrod and Daley have a history of smearing political opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them.

John Brooks, Chicago's former fire commissioner, filed a lawsuit against Daley six months ago claiming Daley threatened to smear him with sexual harassment accusations if Brooks didn't resign. He resigned -- and the sexual harassment allegations were later found to be completely false.

Meanwhile, as extensively detailed in my book "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America," the only reason Obama became a U.S. senator -- allowing him to run for president -- is that David Axelrod pulled sealed divorce records out of a hat, first, against Obama's Democratic primary opponent, and then against Obama's Republican opponent.

One month before the 2004 Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, Obama was way down in the polls, about to lose to Blair Hull, a multimillionaire securities trader.

But then The Chicago Tribune -- where Axelrod used to work -- began publishing claims that Hull's second ex-wife, Brenda Sexton, had sought an order of protection against him during their 1998 divorce proceedings.
...
Hull's substantial lead just a month before the primary collapsed with the nonstop media attention to his divorce records. Obama sailed to the front of the pack and won the primary. Hull finished third with 10 percent of the vote.

Luckily for Axelrod, Obama's opponent in the general election had also been divorced.
...
Axelrod's courthouse moles obtained the "sealed" records and, in no time, they were in the hands of every political operative in Chicago. Knowing perfectly well what was in the records, Chicago Tribune attorneys flew to California and requested that the court officially "unseal" them -- over the objections of both Jack and Jeri Ryan.

Your honor, who knows what could be in these records!

A California judge ordered them unsealed, which allowed newspapers to publish the salacious allegations, and four days later, Ryan dropped out of the race under pressure from idiot Republicans (who should be tracked down and shot).

With a last-minute replacement of Alan Keyes as Obama's Republican opponent, Obama was able to set an all-time record in an Illinois Senate election, winning with a 43 percent margin.

And that's how Obama became a senator four years after losing a congressional race to Bobby Rush. (In a disastrous turn of events, Rush was not divorced.)

Axelrod destroyed the only two men who stood between Obama and the Senate with illicitly obtained, lurid allegations from their pasts.

In 2007, long after Obama was safely ensconced in the U.S. Senate, The New York Times reported: "The Tribune reporter who wrote the original piece (on Hull's sealed divorce records) later acknowledged in print that the Obama camp had 'worked aggressively behind the scenes' to push the story."

Some had suggested, the Times article continued, that Axelrod had "an even more significant role -- that he leaked the initial story."

This time, Obama's little helpers have not only thrown a bomb into the Republican primary, but are hoping to destroy the man who deprives the Democrats of their only argument in 2012: If you oppose Obama, you must be a racist.
I'd like to hear from the Dems who insisted that Gov. Rick Perry's campaign was the culprit in the Cain leak and have them explain the "coincidences" that show the Axelrod-Obama connection to this attack on another black candidate!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Michigan Debate Highlight for Cain, Lowlight for Perry Opening for Gingrich?

Romney continues to plod along while Gingrich may be catching up!

Their were two most memorable moments from the CNBC debate [full video] at Oakland University in Rochester Micghan on Wednesday night. The first came when Herman Cain was asked by the moderator Maria Bartiromo questioned Cain's "leadership...character and [] judgment" in regard to the charges of sexual harassment leveled against him.

Video shows the crowd booing the question and cheering as he said "The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded accusations."

The other big moment at the debate was the unfortunate and highly embarrassing "brain freeze" when attempting to list the three agencies he would close [video]:
While answering a question about the federal tax code, Perry announced that he would eliminate three agencies.

"It's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, education and ..." Perry said before an exceedingly long, awkward pause.

Finally a rival tried to come to the rescue. "The EPA?" former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney chimed in.

"There you go," Perry said before admitting that that was not the one he had intended. Moderator John Harwood interjected, saying, "Seriously?"

"No sir," Perry replied.

"But you can't name the third one," Harwood persisted. Perry then tried again.

"Education, commerce and the third ... " After another incredibly long pause he gave up. "I can't," Perry said. "Oops."

The whole incident at the Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., lasted an agonizing 52 seconds.

Perry finally corrected his mistake several minutes later when it came time for him to answer another question.

"By the way, that was the Department of Energy I was reaching for there," he said, before going on to answer the next question.
It was painful to watch and especially so after Perry's previous bad debate performances. While we all have experienced similar episodes in our own lives, it's safe to say that none of us have done it in as public a manner.

Gingrich as the newest anti-Romney?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had another solid debate performance last night. While he's watched other rivals rocket to the top only to fall back, he's continued with his slow and steady progress which is being reflected in the latest polls (Real Clear Politics chart).

For those looking for an alternative to Romney, who never gets above 25% in the RCP polling average, Newt Gingrich may be the next flavor of the month. Newt's campaign may be compared to the tortoise who wins the race against the hare by patient, slow work. Dorothy Rabinowitz, writing at the Wall Street Journal describes how Gingrich continues to captivate GOP audiences. The question as to whether primary voters are willing to forgive the baggage in Newt's past, or to nominate another old white male has yet to be answered.

54 days and counting until the Iowa Caucus. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Obama's Tax on Christmas Trees

Is there anything Obama won't tax?
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Obama Couldn’t Wait: His New Christmas Tree Tax
David S. Addington
Heritage Foundation
November 8, 2011

President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.
In response to outrage over this latest money grab, officials at the Obama White House put out a statement saying that the tax would be delayed. Not terminated, just delayed.

Like so many other taxes and other negative consequences of Obama's policies this tax on Christmas will have to wait until after the 2012 election. Then WATCH OUT!

Occupy San Diego Protesters Attack Street Vendors with Blood and Urine

So much for being defenders of the working class. I thought big corporations and the 1% of wealthy Americans were the intended target of Occupy; not people selling hot dogs and coffee!
SoCal Street Cart Vendors Hurting After ‘Occupy’ Group Splatters Blood, Urine
CBS Los Angeles
November 7, 2011

A pair of Southland street cart vendors who were forced to shut down their businesses after “Occupy” protesters vandalized their carts[.]
...
The coffee and hot dog carts were located in Civic Center Plaza, the same location as the Occupy San Diego protesters.

That group first settled in to the plaza Oct. 7 and set up a tent city which has since twice been taken down by police.

Coffee cart owner Linda Jenson and hot dog cart operators Letty and Pete Soto said they initially provided free food and drink to demonstrators, but when they stopped, the protesters became violent.

And according to one city councilman, bodily fluids were used in the attacks.

“Both carts have had items stolen, have had their covers vandalized with markings and graffiti, as well as one of the carts had urine and blood splattered on it,” said Councilman Carl DeMaio.

The damages will likely require at least a complete cleaning if not a replacement of the cart covers, DeMaio said.
So, after getting cut off from the free hot dogs and coffee these brave patriots in the Occupy protest shut down the food carts that are the source of income for the vendors.
From the beginning, these protests have been less about protesting the rich than demanding something free from society even if it means that poor food vendors lose their livelihood. Shaking down a hot dog vendor is nothing to a bunch of neo-Marxists who demand the rest of us pay to support them in the style to which they have become accustomed!

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

If the "News" Media Payed Half as Much Attention to Obama's Past as they Do to Herman Cain We Might Not be in This Mess

But Cain's handling of the scandal does leave room to be desired in a potential president!

I'm so sick of the Herman Cain sexual harassment story. First, anonymous and unspecified charges repeated over and over as if there might be something there and now Gloria Allred (the same woman who joked about getting groped by airport security), sexual harassment's equivalent of the publicity whoring and race baiter Jesse Jackson, shows up with some woman who has no proof whatsoever that the details of what she says actually happened.

The overkill by the so called "news" media on this story is just stunning. William Jacobson who blogs at Legal Insurrection dug up this nugget:
Days as of 8 p.m.Nov. 6 since Politico broke the story - 7
Politico news stories about or mentioning “Herman Cain“: 138
Politico news stories about or mentioning “sexual harassment“: 91
Politico news stories about or mentioning “sexual harassment” not involving Herman Cain: 0
Politico news stories showing what Herman Cain actually did: 0
Politico news stories showing specifically what Herman Cain was accused of: 0
Percentage drop in Herman Cain favorability rating as reported by Politico: 9
Politico news stories about or mentioning “Solyndra“: 9
Politico news stories about or mentioning “Fast and Furious“: 3
Politico news stories about or mentioning “unemployment“: 17
Politico news stories about or mentioning “recession“: 14
Politico’s credibility self-destruction: Priceless
And it's not just the online news source Politico that is feeding the frenzy. The major network so-called "news" shows are in the game too. Funny but they never seemed to pay that much attention to Obama's past as Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters describes:
As NewsBusters reported Monday, the broadcast network news outlets of ABC, CBS and NBC ran a total of 84 stories on the sexual harassment allegations against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain in the week following Politico publishing its hit piece.

That is more coverage than they gave to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's connections to domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, convicted real estate developer Tony Rezko, or America-hating Rev. Jeremiah Wright throughout the entire campaign.

According to LexisNexis, from February 2007 when Obama announced his candidacy to Election Day 2008, ABC ran 20 stories on Ayers, CBS did thirteen, and NBC aired 8 for a total of 41.

On Rezko, the numbers were ABC 22, and CBS and NBC both doing nine for a total of 40.

As for Wright, NBC did 31, ABC 27, and CBS 24 for a total of 82.

Add it all up, and none of Obama's scandals in over 20 months garned the attention from the networks that Cain's did in one week.

O.K. I can hear some liberal reader out there sputtering that sexual harassment is just so much more important a story than Obama's connections to a bunch of Chicago crooks, crazies and communists.

Fine, so how do you explain the "news" networks near total indifference to the Clinton sexual harassment scandals? The Media Research Center went back and did the digging and the following chart sums it up:

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Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist and
 associate of Obama.
Allow me digress for just a moment. I would not agree that the character questions raised about Obama's Chicago associations are trivial. After all, the story of his connection to the former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers is entirely relevant in explaining Obama's approach across the spectrum of U.S. policy. Don't you think it says something that Obama is linked to a man who on September 11, 2001 is depicted in the New York Times trodding on the American flag?

Cain Failed Crisis Mgmt. 101

Having said all the above I have serious concerns about the way in which Herman Cain and his campaign handled the scandal. I'm not the only one who has noticed that they were apparently unprepared for the scandal, even though they knew it was coming. Also, Cain's actions, or inactions, contributed to making the story bigger than it might otherwise have been.

Again, it raises the issue of the seriousness and competence of Cain and his campaign team. This isn't the first time Cain has stuck his foot in his mouth. Writing at Commentary, Peter Wehner said that Cain's stumbling explanations not just for this scandal but in other areas has been "incoherent" in regard to "what Herman Cain has said on abortion, trading GITMO prisoners for hostages, appointing Muslims to a Cain cabinet, and his knowledge of a sexual harassment settlement agreement." Wehner went on to sum up Cain's campaign:
If the Cain campaign is not the most amateurish of any presidential campaign in decades, I’m open to suggestions as to which ones were worse.

This is beyond embarrassing; it has now entered the land of Saturday Night Live​ parody. And that’s never a good place for a presidential campaign to be.
That last paragraph of Wehner's is a bit harsh and I would disagree with those who say Cain's campaign is going down the tubes. But time is running out before the voting starts in Iowa on January 3rd and Cain still has not put together the kind of organization one typically would expect from someone at the front of the pack. The same is true here in South Carolina.

In the end, the public missteps of Herman Cain may only be a sign that the campaign as a whole was never really prepared to tackle the nuts and bolts of electoral politics at this level. I could be wrong, but to the annoyance of my liberal critics that doesn't happen very often!

Friday, November 04, 2011

What if This were a Tea Party Event?

The violence at Occupy protests continues to spread yet many in the "news" media continue to paint a far different picture!

Imagine for a moment if the following took place at a Tea Party protest. Video clips and photos of the violence, vandalism and blocking public commerce would be shown over and over and over again on every mainstream news channel. Obama and the Democrats would be attacking the Tea Party and the Republicans for inspiring violence and would call on law enforcement to maintain order.

Curiously, much of the media continues to paint the Occupy crowd as "peaceful protesters." Even in Oakland California where the worst violence has occurred. Keith Olbermann's report on MSNBC (video) gives the impression that all was well until the police showed up. Really? Here's why the cops showed up and thank God they did:


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And you have splinter groups like "Anonymous" saying they are going on a "foxhunt" and "targeting" Fox News for reporting negative stories about the protests. On November 5th the group promises to"commence attacks on Fox News."
Another Occupy group in Arizona put out a flyer with the title "When Should You Shoot A Cop?"

Of course Democrat's have egged on the protesters. "God bless them" said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And Obama's class warfare rhetoric matches the sad and sorry idiocy coming from the mouths of these violent, fools in the Occupy movement.

Finally, if anyone suggests that violence and unlawful behavior is limited to a handful of isolated incidents, they are probably watching MSNBC. But even as most of the "news" media continue to downplay or ignore the violence at Occupy protests, the list of news stories that have made it past the liberal filter are growing. John Nolte at Big Journalism is keeping track:

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Herman Cain Lynching is Deja Vu

 Notice then Senator Joe Biden serving as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in October 1991. Almost exactly 20 years ago.  I wonder if Joe is up to his old tricks again with Herman Cain?

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