Cable is Down...Blogging will be light for a few weeks

My cable internet connection will be down for the next couple of weeks. Some genius in my complex tried to hack into the cable nexus and get free cable...but they fried out the whole complex. It's going to be a couple of weeks while all of the wiring is redone...big sigh

Obama says Cap and Trade Means Green Jobs For America

Mr. Obama says that the "cap & trade" bill means green jobs for America. That's why the huge wind turbine farm in Texas will be built in China. What more lies will he tell?

The Shenyang Power Group has signed on to supply 240 of its massive 2.5-megawatt wind turbines to a 36,000-acre development in West Texas. The Wall Street Journal reports that the wind farm is also slated to receive $1.5 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank of China.

This comes as the U.S. has increasingly out-sourced much of its wind turbine development. Less than a quarter of wind turbine components installed in the U.S. came from domestic production, and Europe currently holds the lion's share of turbine manufacturing. A Norwegian firm launched the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine this September.

Good think Van Jones isn't around to take credit for allowing his ChiCom masters to take credit for this coup.

NY-23, Scozzafava Quits

Politico.com is reporting that Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign for NY-23. Here is her statement. Scozzafava's statement:

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Throughout the course of my campaign for Congress, I have made the people of the 23rd District and the issues that affect them the focal point of my campaign. As a life long resident of this District, I care deeply and passionately about its people and our way of life. Whether as a candidate for Congress, a State Assemblywoman or a small town Mayor, I have always sought to act with the best interest of our District and its residents in mind—and today I again seek to act for the good of our community.

The opportunity to run as the Republican and Independence Party candidate to represent the 23rd District has been and remains one of the greatest honors of my life. During the past several months, as I’ve traveled the district, meeting and talking with voters about the issues that matter most to them, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received as I sought to serve as their voice in Washington. However, as Winston Churchill once said, Democracy can be a fickle employer, and the road to public office is not always a smooth one.

In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this District. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my Party will emerge stronger and our District and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

On Election Day my name will appear on the ballot, but victory is unlikely. To those who support me – and to those who choose not to – I offer my sincerest thanks.

Dede

The White House Was Behind NEA Propaganda Call

The Washington Examiner has found the smoking gun...that the Obama Administration was in fact behind the attempt to politicize and develop propaganda via the National Endowment for the Arts.:

Former actor and present White House associate director of public engagement Kalpen Modi was directly involved in planning the controversial conference call hosted by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) flack to encourage tax-supported artists to create propaganda for President Obama, according to emails obtained by Judicial Watch via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The emails reveal that Modi worked with now-former NEA national communications director Yosif Sargant in planning the August 10 conference call that was first revealed by Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood.com web site. Participants in the conference call were encouraged to use their talents to generate public support for the Obama agenda in Congres

· August 10, 2009, 10:23 am. Email from Yosi Sergant to Kalpen Modi: “[The call is] organized by me…I’d ask you to come on and give the exact spiel you gave on Saturday. Walk them through the WH Arts Policy. They won’t know it. Then I will take them into United We Serve and the NEA.”

· August 10, 2009, 10:29 am. Email from Kalpen Modi to Yosi Sergant: “Oy. This would be awesome to be a part of. Let me know if you think it’s going long, or maybe I can get someone from here to do it if I can’t because of the Social Security mtg.”

· August 10, 2009, 11:04 am. Email from Kalpen Modi to Yosi Sergant: “Let me see if we can move Social Sec by a few mins. Agreed, it would be great to be on the call and helpful for us also.”

· August 10, 2009, 1:37 pm. Email from Yosi Sergant to Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement: “We have an important call at 2pm for UWS (United We Serve) and the Arts with my peeps. Indie producers around the country. Kal can’t join the call. Any chance you can hop on for 5 minutes and intro with Nellie and I?”

There it is...via a FOIA request. Mr. Obama's minions were behind the conference call and did initiate it. Yosi Sergant was merely the front man behind it. If Geo. Bush had attempted to do this, the MSM would have, rightfully, been screaming for his hide. Now, what do we do when a Democrat does it?

NY-23, Should Scozzafava (R) Drop Out?

A poll, hit the link in the title to vote on a poll:

Should Scozzafava drop out of the NY-23 congressional race and endorce Hoffman? The straw poll when I hit it was at 98% for her dropping out.

Bloomberg's Carlson is Anti-Palin

Yet another MSM report files an anti-Palin article. Imagine that. Because Ms. Palin has announced that she will support CANDIDATES for public office regardless of party affiliantion, Bloomberg.com's Margeret Carlson has published yet another anti-Palin screed.

Rather than endorse the Republican nominee, or just keeping quiet, Palin trashed Dede Scozzafava in favor of an independent, conservative Doug Hoffman, potentially handing the seat to a Democrat for the first time in about a century.

Honestly, it ain't what Margie says, it's HOW she say's what she say's...the left (i.e. EVERY JOURNALIST who EVER WENT TO JOURNALISM SCHOOL) genuinely hates Sarah Palin (despite the simple fact that this woman represents everything feminism has ever hinted at wanting to be...

But I digress...Dede S. is a RINO plain and simple. This woman is a Democrat (and a far left one at that) who is masquerading at that! She didn't actually "win" support of the local Republican party...but rather stole it in back room deals...if you follow this "local NY link" then you'll come to the conclusion that I did...Dede S was the winner of "the fix is in" deal of recent memory....

follow the link:
http://www.tcotreport.com/wholiedtonewt.html
for a detailed local report of just how this dark horse won the GOP nomination...it's friggin' ugly!

Obama Has Leaped Off the Precipice

Mr. Obama has leaped off the precipice when his minions initiated the assault on Fox News. He joined Richard Nixon and the famous enemies list with one of his own.

Mr. Obama's includes an news organization (Fox News), an organization of business ownder (US Chamber of Commerce), the Health Care Industry (1/6th of the economy)...and who else?

Who will be next to be named an "enemy of the state"? Who will be our 2 minute hate victim? Who?

The Donner Party...oh sh...t

I love this quote:

If you're an elected Democrat anywhere to the right of Barney Frank, and trying to defend a competitive seat next November, you've got to be starting to sweat.

You wake up in the morning and just like every other morning as far as the eye can see the only thing in the news is the president's health-care reform. It's starting to look like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are leading the Donner Party, the snowbound emigrants who bogged down in the Sierra Nevada winter in the 1840s and resorted to cannibalism to survive.

Well Nancy...are you part of the Donner Party? 1990 pages of health care seizure...sure must make you feel like it.

Pelosi Unveils New House Health Care Seizure Bill

Nancy Pelosi, for now, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has unveiled the new House Bill that will seize control of health care in the United States of America. All 2,000+ pages of it. Over the next few weeks I'll attempt to wade through it and post my analysis of it. It's not yet available online, when I discover where Ms. Pelosi, et al, have hidden it, I'll post that link as well.

Officially, it's supposed to be "deficit nuetral", but of course the CBO only analyses what it's told to analyse. What's missing from bill already, is a $250,000,000,000.00 deduction for Medicare costs that the Senate voted down last week. There are other smoke and mirror provisions as well, to the tune of $300,000,000,000.00 so far...but I've not pinned them down yet. I'll let you know what I find, when I find it.

Valerie Jarret, Child of the Revolution (wannabe)...

I don't, at least not often, quote entire entries from another blog...it's not nice and is considered bad form. But when a far better writer than I writes something that makes a great point...I copy it and bring it here. The link in the title take you to the raw feed from the Baltimore Mullet Wrapper (oops the Balt Sun).

From the WSJ blog...James Taranto:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574501570805744470.html#U10231168307Gc

David Zurawik, TV critic for the Baltimore Sun, notes a revealing exchange between CNN's Campbell Brown and White House consigliera Valerie Jarrett. (Note that neither Brown nor Jarrett is as fat as she appears in the video; CNN, for some reason, insists on presenting its online videos with the wrong aspect ratio.) Here's the transcript:

>Brown: So do you think FOX News is biased?
Jarrett: Well, of course they're biased. Of course they are.
Brown: OK. Then do you also think that MSNBC is biased?
Jarrett: Well, you know what? This is the thing. I don't want to--actually, I don't want to just generalize all FOX is biased or that another station is biased. I think what we want to do is look at it on a case-by-case basis. And when we see a pattern of distortion, we're going to be honest about that pattern of distortion.
Brown: But you only see that at FOX News? That's all that--you have spoken out about FOX News.
Jarrett: That's actually not true. I think that what the administration has said very clearly is that we're going to speak truth to power.

Good for Campbell Brown for sticking up for a competitor (albeit at the expense of a lesser competitor). And it's pretty funny how Jarrett, after smugly asserting, "Of course they're biased," did not make a pretense of standing by her position when Brown asked a question she would have been prepared for if she had spent any time thinking this through.

Even more risible, though, is the claim that the administration "is going to speak truth to power." Hello, Valerie? Your boss is the president of the United States! No one is more powerful. As we suggested Friday, it really seems as if Obama and his men do not understand what it means to be president. Because their power is constrained--thank you, Founding Fathers!--they labor under the delusion that they are powerless.

Yet while this is all hilarious, it is also scary when you think it through. Great power entails great responsibility. There is little to suggest that Obama and his aides appreciate their responsibility, and much, including their incessant complaining that the previous president did a lousy job, to suggest an attitude of total irresponsibility.

The job of those in power is not to "speak truth to power," though it would be nice if they spoke the truth once in a while. It is to exercise power responsibly. The effort to bully Fox News Channel would be an abuse of power were it not so pathetically inept.

**Mr. Taranto makes a strong point. The Obama Administration really doesn't have a clue about what they are doing. When you are on the outside, it's really very easy to throw grenades...but when YOU ARE THE BOSS, it's vastly different.**

DC Seeks $4.8 Billion Transportation User Tax

First of all, Washington, DC "city" government squanders millions of dollars that Congress, and their own gas tax (one of the highest in the country) brings in, BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! Now they want to put a transponder in your car to track where and how far you drive and where you go...Big Brother is alive and well in DC.

"A comprehensive road-use pricing initiative in the Washington metropolitan area would be an extremely ambitious experiment," Brookings Institution authors Benjamin K. Orr and Alice M. Rivlin explained in a policy paper designed to garner the interest of regional authorities. "Leadership and upfront investment from the federal government would also be essential to get the experiment off the ground and ensure comprehensive implementation. Some recent indications of interest at the federal level suggest that this might be possible. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently stated that, due to the failure of the Manhattan congestion pricing initiative, the US Department of Transportation still has funds available for pilot congestion pricing programs."

"Vehicles would be fitted with a GPS transponder device similar to an E-ZPass, perhaps as part of the registration process," Orr and Rivlin explained. "This device would record the type of vehicle, the distance traveled, and the time and location of travel." Despite the privacy issues, DC officials insist that tolling is necessary for making up for the shortfall in gasoline tax revenues. The proposed mileage tax would solve this problem by increasing motorist taxation levels by a factor of ten. The additional revenue would be diverted to spending on buses and rail service.

"State gas taxes raise approximately $420 million in the Washington urbanized area every year," Orr and Rivlin wrote. "Revenues from the road-use pricing scheme described above would be between $2.96 billion and $4.79 billion, depending on the average fee.

I live in the "DC Metropolitan Planning Area" and I have 2 words for this entire transponder idea: F--k You!!! If you bureaucrats didn't waste so much money (just look at any county/state road crews...8 guys standing around, 2 guys ACTUALLY working...then you wouldn't need another FIVE BILLION DOLLARS!

5 Very Important Votes on the Senate Health Insurance Seizure Bill

From Keith Hennessy, the five steps toward passage of Mr. Obama's seizure of the US health care industry:

I. Cloture on the motion to proceed – Reid needs a majority (51) to pass the motion to proceed so the Senate can begin debating and amending the bill. If Republicans filibuster this motion, he will need 60 votes to invoke cloture and shut off debate. Members of the majority party traditionally stick with the leader on all votes related to the motion to proceed. If a D or Sen. Lieberman threatens to vote no on this cloture vote, then the bill is in huge trouble. If cloture is invoked on the motion to proceed, then the vote to adopt the motion to proceed becomes routine.

II. Sen. Lieberman’s recent comments suggest he will support cloture on the motion to proceed, but may oppose cloture on the bill (step 4 or 5 below). And Republicans may not even filibuster the motion to proceed. One can argue that the best way to kill a bad bill is to get on that bill quickly (and avoid looking obstructionist by granting the motion to proceed) and start offering amendments. The motion to proceed may be a non-event.

III. One or more votes to waive the Budget Act – If the bill in any way violates the numeric requirements set forth in the budget resolution, then a Senator (almost certainly a Republican, and a safe bet would be Budget Committee Ranking Republican Judd Gregg) could raise a budget point of order that would kill the Reid amendment. Reid can avoid this if he gets all the numbers right (very difficult). The politics of building a compromise among 60 Senators may, however, force him to spend more money than the budget resolution allows, or at different times than it allows. If so, he will have no choice but to violate the Budget Act. In this scenario he will need 60 votes to waive the Budget Act.
The Baucus/Finance Committee bill appeared to fit within the budget resolution parameters. This is unsurprising since the most experienced budget staffer on Capitol Hill works for Chairman Baucus. Will Reid’s version be as rigorous?

IV. A motion to strike or amend the public option – I assume someone will try to strike (delete) or amend (change) the public option part of Reid’s amendment. Assume all 40 R’s would support such an amendment. Q: How many D’s support it?
If 9 or fewer D’s support it, then the amendment fails and the public option as drafted by Reid remains in the bill.

If 10 D’s support it, then it’s a 50-50 tie, to be broken by Vice President Biden, who is also President of the Senate. If he votes no, then the amendment still fails.

If the VP would or might vote aye, or if there are 11 or more D’s supporting the amendment, then things get really interesting. A majority of the Senate would support changing the bill, but the overwhelming majority of those who would be expected to vote for final passage would oppose such a change. I would expect liberals (like Sen. Rockefeller) to filibuster the amendment, forcing the center-right to get 60 votes to invoke cloture on their filibuster. They won’t be able to do so.

This could provoke a stalemate within the Democratic party, in which liberals refuse to allow a majority of the Senate (all R’s + maybe 11 D’s) to strike or change the public option, and moderate D’s refuse to support cloture on the Reid substitute amendment (see step 4) unless their amendment is adopted.

IV. Cloture on the Reid substitute amendment – I anticipate Leader Reid will move to proceed to a “shell bill,” some random tax bill already passed by the House (so he doesn’t run into a Constitutional problem). If the motion to proceed is adopted, he would then take his proposal and offer it as a complete substitute amendment to the bill. As a technical procedural matter, the Senate will then debate and try to amend the “Reid substitute [amendment].” At some point, Leader Reid will try to shut off the debate and amendment process by filing a cloture motion on his amendment. He will need 60 votes to invoke cloture, and this is probably the determinative vote for success or failure. If he gets 60 votes or more to invoke cloture on his substitute, then adopting the substitute amendment is straightforward (he needs only 51). The fourth step likely becomes routine as well.

V. Cloture on the bill as amended by the Reid amendment – If his substitute amendment is adopted, there will be other procedural opportunities for opponents to slow down or block the bill. Reid will need to file cloture on the underlying bill as amended by the Reid substitute amendment. He will again need 60 to invoke cloture and 51 for final passage.

One Tribe At A Time

My father was a rocket scientist. Literally, he designed space suits and life support systems for, first the Air Force, then NASA. He taught me a profound lesson: If you hire an expert, and he gives you advice...you're an idiot if you don't follow it.

Just the other day, I stumbled upon Steven Pressfields site. On it he had a review and a link to a monograph by Major James Gant, USA, a Special Foreces field grade officer. Maj. Gant's monograph details a way to achieve victory over the Taliban as well as Al Quieda. It wouldn't be an easy victory, and it's a path that's frought with extreme danger and hardship for those chosen to execute it...presuming of course, out political masters are smart enough to implement it. I doubt they will, but "hope and change" springs eternal.

I am going to forward it to all of my Senators, as well as my idiot Congressman, you know the one who refused to hold ANY town hall meetings...I doubt they'll read it. After all it's 45 pages long, and has lots of big words...but any way, I hope you'll follow the link in the title and read it for yourself. It would work in because, once you actually put Americans WITH people in distant lands, they will learn the lie in the anti-American propoganda. But we must use the best and the brightest.

Thank you Maj. Gant for both your service and your excellent plan.

Larry Kudlow On More Government Regulation of the Economy

Mr. Kudlow makes a great point. Heavy government regulation was tried in several parts of the world. The Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are excellent examples of where Mr. Obama and Barney Frank are heading. I only ask, where are the governments of those countries now? More recently, take a long hard look at Venazuala...how strong is the economy there? What is unemployment like? How strong is the agrarian sector? NOT!

Take a look at the video and it will go a long way to explain in only a minute and a half, why this country had a 26 year long boom. That period was marked by only 2 mild and short recessions (economic corrections actually). Then call your Congressmen and Senators...do it now.

A Majority Now Say Country Is Going In The Wrong Direction

According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News (remember THAT network anyone?) a majority of American say that the US is heading in the wrong direction. First politics and the economy:

3. All in all, do you think that things in the nation are generally headed in the right direction, or do you feel that
things are off on the wrong track?
Headed in the right direction...... 26
Off on the wrong track ............... 59
Mixed (VOL)............................ 9
Not sure..................................6

5. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job that Congress is doing?
Approve........................ 24
Disapprove ................... 65
Not sure...................... 11

6a. Do you generally approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing in handling the issue of health care reform?
Approve.......................................... 43
Disapprove ..................................... 48
Not sure........................................ 9

9. In the next election for U.S. Congress, do you feel that your representative deserves to be reelected, or do you think that it is time to give a new person a chance?
Deserves to be reelected .......... 41
Give new person a chance........ 49
Not sure ................................. 10

10. I’m going to read you two statements about the role of government, and I’d like to know which one comes closer to your point of view.
Statement A: Government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people, OR
Statement B: Government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.
A/Government should do more ................... 46
B/Government is doing too many things...... 48
Some of both (VOL).................................. 5
Not sure................................................... 1

11. How much of the time do you trust the government in Washington to do what is right––just about always, most of the time, or only some of the time?
Just about always............................ 4
Most of the time............................... 19
Only some of the time...................... 65
Never (VOL).................................. 11
Not sure........................................ 1

15. Would you strongly favor, mildly favor, feel neutral about, mildly oppose, or strongly oppose building a new independent political party to run a credible candidate for president in the next presidential election?
Strongly favor ................................. 30
Mildly favor ..................................... 16
Feel neutral .................................... 20
Mildly oppose ................................. 10
Strongly oppose.............................. 20
Not sure ....................................... 4

16. As you know, the president and Congress are dealing with many issues facing our country such as the economy and health care reform. I’m going to read you two statements about these and please tell me which one comes closer to your point of view.
Statement A: When considering issues facing our country, it is important to have unity and compromise between the two political parties to ensure that the country comes together.
Statement B: When considering issues facing our country, it is important to have debate and differences between the two political parties to ensure that all options are considered.
Statement A/unity and compromise ........ 38
Statement B/debate and differences ...... 56
Depends (VOL) ..................................... 5
Not sure ................................................ 1

17. When it comes to the partisanship going on in Washington, do you feel that this is mainly due to an unwillingness of the Republicans to compromise and find a middle ground to work with the Democrats, or that this is due to an unwillingness of the Democrats to compromise and find a middle ground to work with the Republicans, or do you feel that it is equally the fault of both parties?
Due to unwillingness of Republicans......... 24
Due to unwillingness of Democrats........... 17
Equally the fault of both parties................. 57
Not sure................................................. 2

22. Which of the following two statements comes closer to your point of view?
Statement A: The president and the Congress should worry more about boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits now and in the future.
Statement B: The president and the Congress should worry more about keeping the budget deficit down, even though it may mean it will take longer for the economy to recover.
Statement A/Worry more about boosting the economy ............. 31
Statement B/Worry more about keeping budget deficit down .... 62
Depends (VOL) ...................................................................... 3
Not sure................................................................................. 4

Now we move onto to Mr. Obama's Atttempt to seize/nationalize Health Insurance/Health Care:

26. From what you have heard about Barack Obama’s health care plan, do you think his plan is a good idea or a bad idea? If you do not have an opinion either way, please just say so.
Good idea....................................... 38
Bad idea ......................................... 42
No opinion ...................................... 16
Not sure........................................ 4

27a. And from what you have heard about Barack Obama’s health care plan, do you believe it will result in the quality of your health care getting better, worse, or staying about the same as now? If you do not have an opinion, please just say so.
Quality will get better ....................... 21
Quality will get worse....................... 40
Quality will stay the same ................ 27
Do not have an opinion.................... 10
Not sure........................................ 2
* Asked of one-half the respondents (FORM A).

27b. And from what you have heard about Barack Obama’s health care plan, do you believe it will result in the cost of your health care going up, down, or staying about the same as now? If you do not have an opinion, please just say so. **
Cost will go up................................. 47
Cost will go down ............................ 13
Cost will stay the same.................... 25
Do not have an opinion.................... 11
Not sure........................................ 4
** Asked of one-half the respondents (FORM B).

28. Thinking about efforts to reform the health care system, which would concern you more?
Not doing enough to make the health care system better than it is now by lowering costs and covering the uninsured. OR
Going too far and making the health care system worse than it is now in terms of quality of care and choice of doctor.
Not doing enough ............................ 44
Going too far ................................... 51
Not sure ........................................ 5

Switching again...to the War in Afghanistan:

39. When it comes to making major decisions on overall military strategy and the number of troops needed, such as in Afghanistan, who do you have more confidence in to make the right decisions––the president and secretary of defense OR the generals running operations in the country? **
The president and secretary of defense............... 25
The generals running operations in the country.... 62
Some of both (VOL) .......................................... 9
Neither (VOL) ................................................... 2

40. And now, thinking about Iran, if Iran continues with its nuclear research and is close to developing a nuclear weapon, do you believe that the United States should or should not initiate military action to destroy Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons? And do you feel strongly about that, or not?

Should Initiate Military Action
Feel strongly........................................ 45
Do not feel strongly .............................. 7
Should NOT Initiate Military Action
Do not feel strongly .............................. 10
Feel strongly........................................ 27
Depends (VOL).................................. NA
Not sure............................................. 11

It's pretty obvious that a fairly strong majority don't approve of the agenda/direction that Mr. Obama has chosen to take this country...after running as a "pragmatic moderate".