What Liberals Believe...

The Party Of Intollerance: The Democratic Party

Even Jon Stewart is getting tired of the hypocrisy of his party of choice.  The intollerance shown at the DNC by delegates is stunning:

<

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

WOW!

"Dutch" Ruppersberger, MD-2 (D)

I just tried to contact my Congressman, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. According to the Baltimore Country, Maryland supervisor of elections, I'm in his district. You can tell he's a Democrat because he's set up his website to refuse any and all zip codes. I tried several times to enter various zip codes + 4's, to send him an email...protesting his support of SOPA, but couldnt' get through. When I called his office to voice my objections...I got voice mail. Feel free to call this elected scoundrel, who hides from his constiuents at any of the numbers below. I plan to do so all day long tomorrow.

Washington, DC
2453 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2002
Phone: 202-225-3061
800-877-8339 (voice/TTY)
Fax: 202-225-3094

Timonium, MD
The Atrium
375 West Padonia Road, Suite 200
Timonium, MD 21093
Phone: 410-628-2701
800-877-8339 (voice/TTY)
Fax: 410-628-2708

DC Staff List:
Tara Linnehan Oursler Chief of Staff
Cori Duggins Deputy Chief of Staff
Ann Jacobs Legislative Director
Walter Gonzales Senior Policy Advisor
Deborah Haynie Director of Special Projects
Jaime Lennon Press Secretary
Lauren Gring Military Legislative Assistant
Justin Brower Legislative Correspondent

District Office Staff:
Tara Linnehan Oursler Chief of Staff
Cori Duggins Deputy Chief of Staff
Jennifer Riggs District Director
Carol Merkel Scheduler
Michael Baker Outreach Director
Lynn Yates Constituent Liaison
Walker Coale Constituent Liaison
Jessica Facini Constituent Liaison
Danielle Akwara Constituent Liaison/Staff Assistant

Obama's No New Tax Pledge Was A Lie

During the 2008 presidential campaign.  Senator Barack Obama in nearly every single speech gave this promise:

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”  Barack Obama — Dover, NH –September 12, 2008

Here's video of that pledge:



This morning, his Budget Director, Peter Orszag has stated that wasn't a pledge, but a "preference,"

This morning at a Manhattan breakfast sponsored by Thomson Reuters, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag threw that pledge out the window. Instead, he described Obama’s “read my lips, no new taxes” pledge as a “stance” and a “preference” that is subject to study by the president’s newly-formed bipartisan Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.  “The president has been very clear about what he prefers,” Orszag said under questioning from Thomson Reuters’ Chrystia Freeland.

I guess that means that the commission that he appointed to "review" the tax code and taxation will be the cover he needs to institute ever more taxes.  It seems that his plan is getting clearer:   This "commission" of his was formed in order to raise taxes (via a VAT) and thus continue the Democratic Party's far left wing's expanding  the level of interference the government has over our lives and businesses.  Thus, it can and will be used by Mr. Obama and Congress to deflect blame away from themselves. They'll then be able to point to the commission and say, “It’s not me! I would *prefer* there not be a huge (and historically gigantic) tax increase, but the "bi-partisan commission" says there must be and so there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
But there is something we can do about it.   A number of years ago, in the 1980's there was a movie staring Richard Pryor and John Candy.  Richard P's charactor in order to inheret $300 million, had to spend without having ANY assests...$30 million in 30 days.  One of his plans was to run for Mayor of NY City...but his slogan  was "Vote NONE OF THE ABOVE!"  That sounds like a great plan, but take it in a different tack...vote against every incumbent.

Already many incumbent politicians are running scared.  In the past 5 special elections, the favorite/incumbent of the "majority party" has failed to either gain the nomination, or has lost  out right.  This is what we as a nation must do...VOTE ALL OF THE THIEVING BASTARDS OUT OF OFFICE!

ESTTHE PROGRESSIVE COUP D'E'TAT THAT FAILED

Some astute observations from the comments section of the story by  POLITICO.com on the release of the CBO Report that ObamaCare will  cost $115,000,000,000.00 more than Congress and Barack Obama promised...
Susan Harkins
Party: Libertarian
Reply #9
May. 11, 2010 - 4:37 PM ESTTHE PROGRESSIVE COUP D'E'TAT THAT FAILED

The Progressives/Liberals/RINOs & CINOs/Socialists & Communists picked the absolute WORST time in U.S. history to pull off the takeover of America.

Key Downfalls Listed:

• They made their move when BOOMERs were getting older, and subsequently, more conservative in their ways.
• They made their move right after a market crash, which caused about 1/3 of Boomers’ retirement to evaporate. This instant loss of wealth shifted public perception to, highly anti-establishment sentiment.
• They made their move thinking that, all they had already gained control over mainstream media (ie: MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS); however their media power grab failed to include the internet as a major media outlet that would circumvent their control over the media AND allow for immediate postings of ALL sources of info (including info damaging to progressives and their adjenda).
• Because of the collapse of the economy, they sped up their takeover plans (turned up the heat too fast). From massive bailouts to private sector takeovers, they forced open the eyes of the American people to their plan of transforming America into a Socialist republic. Had they gone slower, it might have worked.
• Because they sped up their plans, they had to scramble in their efforts to disarm America, further convincing the American people that a passive takeover underway. Why else would the government disarm its people?
• Much to their surprise, the two-party system has now become suspect, by ordinary U.S. citizens, who now investigate their political parties for treasonous, anti-Constitutionalist participants: Liberal Extremists, Progressives, RINOs and CINOs.
• From Climate/Carbon taxation, to attempts of small weapons treaties to circumvent the Second Amendment, they are pulling out all the stops to have the U.S. people answer to U.N. (global) mandates, in an effort to consolidate control. It is glaringly obvious in recent bills. Since then, states have begun to fight back, passing FireArms Freedom Acts, to protect their citizens from the Federal Government’s desire to confiscate weapons.

Bottom Line: They lost their ‘goldilocks’ moment to grab power, and the American People have awoken and are turning against the current Progressive-infected Government! Internet posts, from citizens’ all across America, are urging a common reply to this attempted takeover: VOTE ALL THE INCUMBENTS OUT and put true Conservatives in office. There is a massive political shift to the right, underway – you are witnessing a crumbling progressive coup at this time, which will go down in the history books as the failed hijacking of America.

It will be a long time before the American People extend them any degree of legitimacy and trust, again. Another 30 years will have to pass, whilst they change their identity, and turn up the Progressive/Socialist heat on our citizens again.

Reply


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37081.html#ixzz0nm2B8SEt

Guam Will Tip Over?

Democrat Hank Johnson Afraid Guam Will "Tip Over and Capsize" from the addition of 8,000 US Marines and their families...




Yet more proof that the majority party is (collectively) a bunch of morons...

Howard Stern: I will Never Vote Democrat Again

WOW!  Obama has lost the support of Howard Stern?  That's incredible.  He's mostly centre left in  political views...and if he's turned against Obama and the Democrats, you can bet he'll use his bully pulpit to turn his listeners against them as well.

HT:  Instapundit

Obama's 10 Year Deficit to Top $9.8 Trillion Dollars!

The Congressional Budget Office has released it's analysis of the future of Mr. Obama's planned budgets.  The CBO says that his budgets will produce deficits that are much, much larger than what the Obama Administration says will arise.  The total will  reach almost $10,000,000,000,000.00.  That figure is as much larger as last years budget deficit was in total.  

The agency says its future-year predictions of tax revenues are more pessimistic than the administration's. That's because CBO projects slightly slower economic growth than the White House.  The deficit picture has turned alarmingly worse since the recession that started at the end of 2007, never dipping below 4 percent of the size of the economy over the next decade. Economists say that deficits of that size are unsustainable and could put upward pressure on interest rates, crowd out private investment in the economy and ultimately erode the nation's standard of living.

A deficit that large, every single year for the next ten years will double the size of the national debt.  That is unsustainable by any measure, and will cause this country to have a budget crisis of epic proportions.  It's time to get our political "elites" attention and let them know that we will not have spending like this any more. 

It's well past time for a a balanced budget amendment  be added to the Constitution.  This Congress has made a mockery of PayGo legislation that can easily be side stepped by labelling it as an "emergency" provision.  Thus cuts don't have to be made elsewhere in order to make up for that specific bill. 

Vote smart, relect no one.

The Coffee Party, Movement or Astroturf?

The "Coffee Party was started by Annabel Park, of Silver Spring, Maryland. The article by the WaPo is a wonderful airbrush of her life. It just leaves out that she has spent nearly all of her life in one political PAC or another,excepting only when she work for the NY Times.

She formed the "grassroots" movement "Real Virginians for Webb" and "Real Viginians for Obama." Here's her Linkedln bio page...before it disappeared, any way:

Annabel Park
Producer-Director 9500 Liberty
Washington D.C. Metro Area

• Contact Annabel Park

Add Annabel Park to your network
Current

• Producer/Co-director at 9500 Liberty

Past

• National Coordinator at 121 Coalition
• Strategy Coordinator at The New York Times

Education

• Boston University
• Unversity of Oxford

Connections

Something tells me that this isn't someone who is a "grassroots" organizer. Who does she actually work for? Where's the money coming from? All of the "grass roots" organizations that she's formed in the past were rubber stamps for the Democratic Party.

Most of the Tea Party people I know have never before been involved in politics, beyond voting that is. Many of them are angry that the candidate they voted for, for president last year, has morphed into something vastly different than what he ran on during the campaign. A faux movement paid for by sources within the Democratic establishment won't do well nationally, just look at Air America, the very liberal radio network. It had good ratings for about a month, then everything began to fall...now it's in receivership...

I doubt seriously, the coffee party will last any more than Air America did. Nor do I think in the long run will the Tea Party movement. But I do think the Tea Party movement will affect this election cycle, especially if the Democrats are successful in ramming through their health care seizure. That will cause losses by the Dem's at the polls this fall to rival those of the Federalist Party in the 1816-20 election cycles.

The majority of the voting public supports the idea of reforming health care reform, but not during a time of economic distress. While the individual items within the bill poll well, when they are thrown together is when the popularity of the bills in question falls precipitously.

The coffee party is nothing more than an Astroturf organization that parrots talking points of the Obama administration and the Democratic party, while the Tea Party movement is a genuinely populist, grass roots movement made up of people from widely diverging backgrounds. That's why the coffeee party is merely a distraction thrown up by the Democratic Party and it will be built up by their enablers in Major Media (just like the WaPo, who wrote a puff piece on it) in an attempt to change the narrative that a large portion of the electorate is pissed and had enough of the massive spending that this Congress, under the leadership of the far left (Harry Reid & Nancy Pelosi) and this president who ran as a moderate, but who is attempting to govern as a far left ideologue.

Is Obama on the Way to Failing in His First Year?

I received this today, it's a mish mash of several different columns, the sources of which I've not been able to identify beyond the Daily Beast's column by Mr. Zuckerman.  So, I'm going to post this straight, if I step on someone's toes, please let me know and I will be happy to post the appropriate link to where ever that particular paragraph/sentence, etc, comes from. I have been informed that Paul R Hollrah wrote the majority of what follows:

A most interesting editorial, not from Fox News or Rush Limbaugh, but from Mortimer Zuckerman of U. S. News. The tide is turning.

Mortimer Zuckerman is the Editor in Chief of the U S News and World Report and was a supporter of Barack Obama during his run for the Presidency. This is a staggering appraisal of the President's first year in office- coming from someone who supported President Obama.

In a January 20, 2010 editorial, the Editor in Chief of U.S. News & World Report, Mortimer Zuckerman, had this to say:

“...Obama’s ability to connect with voters is what launched him. But what has surprised me is how he has failed to connect with the voters since he’s been in office. He’s had so much overexposure. You have to be selective. He was doing five Sunday shows. How many press conferences? And now people stop listening to him… He’s lost his audience. He has not rallied public opinion. He has plunged in the polls more than any other public figure since we’ve been using polls. He’s done everything wrong. Well, not everything, but the major things… I don’t consider it a triumph. I consider it a disaster.”

I have found out who has written the following, paragraphs.  I have been informed that they are actually the writings of one Paul R. Hollrah.  I have not yet found an online source that I can link to, but when I do,  I will[according to, Ashley Messenger, Editorial Counsel, U.S. News & World Report--see update below]

And that’s what his friends are saying about him.

As the boy president occupied the White House on January 20, 2009 it was predictable that his presidency would last a year, at most, because the things he promised and the things he stood for were so uniquely un-American. Looking back over his year in office, any reasonably precocious fourth grader could make a cogent argument in opposition to nearly everything he’s done. In fact, his policies have been so extreme and so far outside the mainstream that he was destined to achieve the most spectacular fall from grace of any American president in history. It was easy to see him serving out the final three years of his term as a virtual exile in the White House… afraid to venture out among any but the most rabid partisans.

Seeing his most ambitious initiative, healthcare reform, die in the flames of the Massachusetts Massacre, Obama made a hastily-planned “sortie” to Ohio for yet another Bush-bashing, self-aggrandizing stump speech on job creation. It was vintage Obama… full of left wing hyperbole and planted questions from the Kool- Ade drinkers in the hand-picked audience… but there were just two things wrong with it: 1) Almost everything he said was either wrong or an outright lie, and 2) He is so overexposed that no one in the television audience really wanted to see him.

Obama Kool-Ade drinkers in the media, and elsewhere, like to describe Obama as a “very bright man, a true intellectual (compared to George W. Bush and Sarah Palin, of course).” If that is the case, why has he demonstrated such a great inability to learn from his failures? The strident words and the in-your-face attitude of his Ohio speech were proof that he has totally misread the meaning of the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts .

Whatever hopes and dreams he had for his time in the White House, whatever grandiose plans he had for transforming the United States from a constitutional republic with a free market economy into a socialist dictatorship with a centrally planned economy, were all lost on Tuesday, January 19, 2010… one day short of a full year in office. Yet, he appears to have learned nothing from the experience.

Comedian George Gobel once asked, rhetorically, “Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?” In the context of 21st century American politics, and assuming that he has any capacity at all for honest self-examination, Obama must be feeling today very much like a pair of brown shoes at a black tie soiree.

When a politically naïve and totally inexperienced young black man, with a glib tongue and an exceptional ability to read words convincingly from a teleprompter, announced that he was ready to serve as President of the United States, liberals and Democrats saw it as a perfect opportunity to expiate whatever white guilt they may have felt… which was apparently considerable among those on the political left. It didn’t seem to bother them that, as one pundit has remarked, “every time he walks into a room he is the least experienced and the least qualified man in the room.” Nevertheless, his friends in the worldwide socialist movement and the international banking community figured out how to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal campaign funds into the country, the black community rallied to his banner, and American liberals and the mainstream media jumped on board the bandwagon. Together, they made it happen for him. But now, just one year later, Obama appears destined to become the unhappiest man in American politics… unhappier than even former Senator John Edwards, who runs a close second, and former president Bill Clinton.

Clinton will be the third unhappiest man because, after capturing the big prize, he frittered away whatever chance he had of ever being compared favorably with Franklin D. Roosevelt as one of the 20th century’s greatest Democratic presidents. Not only was he a politician of unusual skill and insight, he was widely known as a policy “wonk” among policy wonks and he had the drive and the personal charm to be loved and respected around the world. Unfortunately, he was never able to put the public trust at the top of his priority list. Instead, he surrounded himself with a large cadre of trusted enablers who allowed him to conduct himself as if he were, not the President of the United States , but the class stud on an extended spring break in Acapulco .

Now that he’s been out of office for nearly a decade and he’s married to the current Secretary of State, he spends his days trying to find something useful to do without calling an undue amount of attention to himself. Having lied so shamelessly to the American people, having perjured himself in a court of law, having turned the Oval Office into a sexual playpen, and having suffered the humiliation of impeachment, he’s smart enough to know that he has little reputation left to protect. So in order to protect whatever legacy remains, he walks a tightrope every day… and he has many more years to walk it without falling off.

Former Senator John Edwards is destined to be the second unhappiest man in American politics because he will be known forever as the most thoroughly despised scumbag in the political arena. A trial lawyer, Edwards amassed a $60 million fortune by winning large jury awards against doctors, hospitals, and corporations. His specialty was cases in which children were born with cerebral palsy, which he blamed on doctors who had waited too long to perform C-sections, a claim that doctors and medical researchers have described as “junk science.” Then, like Obama, he decided that his experience in the courtroom, his glib tongue, and his one term in the U.S. Senate qualified him to be President of the United States . He entered the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, raising an incredible amount of money for a newcomer to elective office… most of it raised illegally by “bundlers” in plaintiffs’ law firms across the country. He was unsuccessful in his quest for the Democratic nomination but was selected by his Senate colleague, John Kerry, as his running mate.

Two years later, in 2006, Edwards met a young blonde film producer, Rielle Hunter, and embarked on a love affair with her. On February 27, 2008, Hunter gave birth to a daughter, for whom Edwards has consistently denied paternity… until now.

Taking into account that all of this was happening while his wife was waging a long battle with breast cancer, Edwards now has the well-deserved reputation of being the sleaziest of the sleazy. He is so universally despised that, if he is on the lookout for a friend, he might as well resign himself to getting a dog… or moving in with O.J.

Simpson. Terry Moran, host of ABC’s This Week, put it all in perspective. He said, “What’s interesting to note is that Edwards’ latest admission (that he is the father of Hunter’s child) came while he was in Haiti . As if the people of that sad place didn’t have enough problems.” Clearly, the one thing Clinton and Edwards share that places them near the top of our list is their sexual peccadilloes, a shortcoming that Obama does not appear to share with them… at least from what we know so far.

What we do know about Obama is that, since his teen years, he has been mentored by, gravitated toward, and surrounded by the most dangerous sort of America-hating socialists, communists, and Marxists… from Frank Marshall Davis and Saul Alinsky to Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, George Soros, and countless radical left college professors.

What destines Obama for the top spot on the list of unhappiest American politicians… aside from the failure of his economic recovery program, the failure of his radical cap-and-trade proposal, his failed attempt to give labor bosses unprecedented power to intimidate blue collar workers, and his ill-fated attempt at healthcare reform… is the fact that he carries on his shoulders the hopes and aspirations of every black child in America. It is unfortunate that, because he is so far outside the American mainstream, and because he carries so much hatred in his heart for the country he seeks to lead, his failures will be viewed by generations of black children, not as the failure of a black socialist attempting to bring down a constitutional republic, but simply as the failure of a black man.

A man can fail in the eyes of his countrymen and still be dearly loved by those closest to him. But in Obama’s case, his wife and his two daughters will be there to suffer every agonizing step of his fall along with him. And for the rest of his life, each time he looks into their eyes, and into the eyes of black people everywhere, he will see the crushing disappointment that his ill-fated attempt at national transformation has caused them.

He will be the country’s unhappiest man, living the rest of his life knowing that his daughters know that the whole world sees him as a failure. He is simply the wrong man, in the wrong job, in the wrong country, at the wrong time in history.

I strongly suspect that IF the bill authorizing the government to seize control of the health care industry is rammed through, the election this fall will damage the Democratic brand tremendously.  I think that the leadership of Democratic party both in Congress and in the White House have seriously under estimated the anger that is building across the country in opposition to the free spending ways of this Congress and this President.  But the one of the final things Mr. Obama said after Thurdays Blair House Kabuki theatre is telling.  Roughly he said that,  if the country is unhappy with this plan, that's what elections are for...

Let's just hope that Messers Obama, Reid and Mrs. Pelosi aren't successful either with this bill or with the Cap & Trade bill, Mr. Obama would like passed this spring.

UPDATE:  I received the following rather threatening email from US News & World Report:

To Whom It May Concern,

Your post (http://thevailspot.blogspot.com/2010/02/is-obama-on-way-to-failing-in-his-first.html) contains a copy of an article written by Paul R. Hollrah, however the article is not attributed to him. Mr. Hollrah's name was left off the post. The first sentence of the article, however, begins, "In a January 20, 2010 editorial, the Editor in Chief of U.S. News & World Report, Mortimer Zuckerman, had this to say:…." This sentence, in conjunction with the fact that the copy of the article is not properly attributed to Mr. Hollrah, leaves the reader with the false impression that Mr. Zuckerman wrote the entire post that follows. We demand that you correct this error, either by noting that the article copied onto your site was written by Mr. Hollrah, or by removing the post in its entirety.

U.S. News & World Report and Mr. Zuckerman do not by this letter waive any of their rights in connection with these matters and specifically reserves any and all rights it has against you.

Please notify me -- directly or through your attorney -- as soon as possible to confirm that the correction has been made.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Ashley Messenger
Editorial Counsel
U.S. News & World Report
contentmanagement@usnews.com

So, Miss Messenger, the appropriate changes have been made as I stated in the opening paragraphs.  Now, when I have a specific source for the above material attributed to Mr. Hollrah, I'll gladly link to it.

Reconciliation: The Democrats View

From Naked Emporer News, a compilation of Democratic Senators denouncing the use of reconciliation to pass legislation.

Rhetoric vs Results

Republican Whip, Eric Cantor, R-VA

H/T-Gatewaypundit

Pelosi Leading Charge Against Citizen Commision Redistricting in California

In 2008, the people of California passed by referendum Proposition 11 that changes the method used to redraw state Assembly and Senate districts. This proposition calls for the Redistricting Commission to be made up of 14 Californians that will include Democrats, Republicans as well as independents to redraw those districts instead of the traditional methods of the State Legislature. This non-partisan commission would then redraw the districts instead, however, the Legislature would continue to draw Congressional districts.


The traditional process of redrawing legislative districts has over preceding decades led to the creation of "safe" districts for both Democrats and Republican. One of the less healthy aspect of this gerrymandering has been a serious polarization of the state house. When politicians use the census statistics, they draw districts in such a way as to give one party or the other a majority in each district. Often times those newly drawn districts ignore geography completely creating districts that wend and wind impossibly.

By gerrymandering representatives districts',.

... has led to oddly shaped districts that split up many communities and, analysts say, favor lawmakers who are further to the left or right than their constituents as a whole. That means a legislature filled with liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans and few if any moderates.

What has followed is gridlock. Neither party has any interest in compromise, or actually crafting legislation that is anything but extreme.

"It just seems to me like it puts the cats in charge of the hen house," said Rebecca Ashworth of Highland, a retired kindergarten teacher who applied to be a commissioner. "The way political boundaries were drawn, it just kind of makes safe districts for everybody. I think that's where a lot of our trouble is."

But fear not, Nancy Pelosi and a dozen other Democratic members of the California Congressional delegation have led the charge against this proposition that puts the people in charge, and have donated large sums to a campaign to cast aside the Citizens Redistricting Commission, that was created by the passage of Proposition 11 in 2008. However, their real target is a proposition that will be voted on this fall places Congressional districts within the purview of the Citizens Redistricting Commission as well as state districts. That has them VERY nervous.

The Pelosi-backed measure, called the Financial Accountability in Redistricting Act, or FAIR Act, would ensure all of California's legislative districts - for Congress and the state Assembly and Senate - are drawn next year by the state Legislature, not by the citizens commission. If backers can gather nearly 700,000 signatures supporting the measure, it would appear on the November ballot.

"Congressional Democrats are very concerned," said Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills. "They want control. But it's not their government; it's the people's government." State Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, who represents parts of San Bernardino County's high desert, said the FAIR Act is "why people hate the Legislature and the Congress."

That's the problem...politicians don't want the people to decide districts because that would make things difficult for them. They would actually have to pay attention to the will of their constiuents rather than their own self interest which is exactly why gerrymandered districts must be eliminated in the first place.

Politicians, regardless of party affiliation, on both the state and federal level have worked very hard to lose the confidence of the people they are supposed to represent. One recent poll has found that a majority of people believe that randomly choosing Congressmen from the phone book would be more effective than what we have now...

Democratic Hypocrisy, Obama to Fund Offshore Drilling in Brazil

For more than forty years offshore drilling has been taboo off the coasts of the majority of the continental United States. This ban has been supported by the American liberals, now termed "progressives," and various environmental organizations since its inception. However, Barack Obama has introduced legislation to provide $2 billion dollars in financing for offshore drilling...unfortunately, that drilling won't benefit the United States in any way.

With gasoline and oil prices steadily rising, we won't be exploiting our vast offshore deposits, because that would be bad...but it's ok for other countries to do so on our dime.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that,

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.

What I find most troubling is just who is going to benefit from this. A simple exploration of Petrobras investors will show one of their largest is American billionaire, George Soros, who also happens to be one of the largest contributors to Mr. Obama in the last presidential campaign. Unfortunately, this simple fact isn't being reported by major media. I suspect that Mr. Soros didn't get his payoff in the mass payoff of the "Stimulus Package" last February...and so, betting the US Government to underwrite this must be it.

Mikulski Wants To Delay Her Announcement To Raise More Funds

Journalists from AP are scrambling around attempting to find the leak of the Mikulski retirement story. The Maryland Sentor's office is putting pressure on reporters as she wanted to make the announcement of her retirement after gathering more campaign funds. Evan Bayh, the Sen from Indiana had a $13 million campaign chest on hand for his reelection, and Ms. Mikulski feels that she could raise an additional $3 - 4 million prior announcing her retirement.  Now with the story of her pending retirement now out in the light of day she feels that her funding sources will dry up and then head to other candidates.


Politics - what an honorable profession - just above a whore. Mikulski is no exception...

UPDATE:  While many are panning my two articles on Ms Mikulski...her office has yet to make an announcement of any type.  The only announcement has come from a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Senator Mikulski of Maryland to Retire

I've just heard from an impeccable source that Barbara Mikulski, the Democratic Senator who is up for reelection this November, will choose to retire. Mrs. Mikulski is expected to make her formal announcement in the next few days.

Mrs. Mikulski seriously fractured her right ankle last fall just prior to Edward M. Kennedy's death. Due to the severity of the fracture, she had to have open reduction surgery, that included the insertion of pins, as well as the use of special surgical boots, during recovery. She had tried to arrive in time for Mr. Kennedy's funeral but was turned away.

Her recovery has been exceptionally slow and she is evidently still in a great deal of pain. Reportedly, she has told her physician that she does not desire to seek reelection. Additionally, friends and family have been saying in the near future she will announce her retirement. Because of the very slow recovery, she has been forced to use a wheelchair, a walker or a cane in order to get around.

One of her complaints is that the health insurance that is provided for Congress is "poor" with high deductibles and "limitations" on coverage. My contact tells me that she told an aide that she should have inserted in the ObamaCare bill an amendment to improve Congressional health insurance!
Mrs. Mikulski was first elected to the Senate in 1986, and thus is a very senior member of the Democratic caucus. Despite this seniority, she has never been offered any important chairmanships or leadership positions. Born on July 20, 1936, she is 74 years old, come July...it is perhaps fitting that she has choose this year to retire.

Her possible announcement along with that of Evan Bayh and Byron Dorgan of ND will the third Democratic Senator announcing plans to retire. This gives the estimate of Michael Barone, a statistician and columnist for the Washington Examiner much more "legs" than previously. Especially when tied to the election of Scott Brown, (R) of Massachusetts.

Mr. Barone has looked closely at the all of the 435 Congressional districts as well as the 33 Senatorial campaigns from the 2008 election. He then took the gubernatorial elections from last November in New Jersey and Virginia as well as the Senatorial campaign in Massachusetts from last month. His conclusion is that only 103 of the 259 Democratic Party's seats can be considered to be "safe". Additionally, by his calculation, only 1 of the 17 Democratic Senator's up for reelection this year can be considered to be "safe" as well (Charles Schumer of NY).

UPDATE:  Fixed grammar...from the comments, thanks, a few minor mistakes...happens when you're in a hurry to get it up.  thanks for the comments.

UPDATE II: My first instalanche...I hope you'll take the time to look around...and maybe join my 12 loyal readers.  Thanks Glenn!

UPDATE III: While many are panning my two articles on Ms Mikulski...her office has yet to make an official announcement of any type. The only announcement has come from a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Card Check to be Included in 2nd Stimulus Package

I recently wrote to my Congressman, John Sarbanes, MD-2 (D) concerning my opposition to Card Check.  Here's my letter

Dear Mr. Sarbanes,


I have heard that in the new stimulus package requested by Mr. Obama, that there is going to be a provision that incorporates "Card Check". As a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenter's and Joiners, Local 495, Baltimore, MD, Mid Atlantic Region, I am firmly opposed to this legislation.

Card Check removes the provision of secret ballot from unionization elections. Therefore, Card Check is inimical to the entire process of democracy. If you remove the secret ballot from union elections, how long will it be before you do so in other elections? It's not all that long a stretch from removing secret ballot from political elections, to only have a single slate for such elections. What then is the use of having elections if they are not secret?

Passage of Card Check will lead to the harassment and intimidation of those who are opposed to unionization. That is their right to do so, but by removing the secret ballot, you will lead to the eventual demise of our democracy.

Therefore, I strenuously urge you to vote NO! on any provision in which card check is included.

Sincerely,

Richard A Vail:

In a message dated 2/12/2010 10:46:27 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, md03ima@mail.house.gov writes

February 12, 2010

Dear Dr. Vail:

Thank you for contacting me about the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

I would be less than frank if I did not tell you I support EFCA. The right to organize has long helped workers to share in the prosperity of economic growth and I believe we need to restore this bargain. EFCA would give employees the option to form a union by using a secret ballot election or expressing their decision to do so by a majority signing forms designating the union as its representative in bargaining with management.

Though our views may differ on this particular issue, I value your input and hope you will not hesitate to contact me about other issues of concern to you in the future.

Sincerely,

John Sarbanes

Member of Congress

My Response to him was:

Mr. Sarbanes,
I have to tell you that the only reason you support card check is because you have been told to do so by your party leadership. I am a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 495. I would like to know when you will introduce a bill eliminating the secret ballot for political elections? When will you instruct me on whom I must vote for. Your position is anti-democratic.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Vail

I firmly believe that the passage of "Card Check" legislation will be great damage an already weakened economy.

If Health Care Passes...

To put it simply...If Mr. Obama does manage to ram through his ill-conceived health care seizures, what occured in Massachusetts will happen all over the country. He has looked down his nose at Americans openly telling us that he's not "explained this bill well enough." That's not the problem. The problem is, is that it's a terrible piece of legislation that will hobble the economy for generations. Thus it's extraordinary unpopularity.

It's not as if the GOP hasn't put forward proposals, but this administration, has spent that past 6 months attempting to use it's large majority in Congress to seize for the government 1/6th of the economy. The more the public learns, the less they like the proposal. If this administration through it's prime ministers (Mr. Reid & Mrs. Pelosi) do manage to ram this through, the loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts will seem...calm in retrospect.

Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner reviewed the electoral returns for all 435 Congressional Districts as well as the 34 Senators who were up for reelection in 2008. Using that data as a base line...and taking into account, he believes that 16 of the 17 Democratic Senators up for reelection will lose. Additionally, he believes that presently, there are only 103 "safe" Democratic seats in the House this years. That's out of 256 seats the Dem's currently hold. Think about that. That means there is the real possibility of a massive wave of losses for the Dem's as 153 seats in the house and 16 in the Senate would mean. A turnover of this magnitude hasn't occurred since 1816-20 when the Federalist party dissolved.

Think about it...the country overwhelmingly opposes the bills presently before Congress, by nearly 60%...if Mr. Obama, Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi do ram through this bill...it will mean the destruction of the Democratic Party for at least a generation. The electorate is angry...look at the Tea Party. You can write them off as a far right wackjob, but here in blue Maryland, they are all the moderates...and mostly independent voters.

Many voted for Obama...because they thought they were getting a "pragmatic centrist," which is how he ran for president. But he's not. The media willingly painted him as such and are still schilling for his agenda. But he's lost independents by more than 2-1...think about that. Independent voters got him elected, not Democrats. Independents are fleeing the Democratic Party in droves...

Why Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling

Mr. Obama's numbers are falling simply because the country has woken up to the bait and switch that was pulled on the majority of people after the last election. Many people voted for a candidate they thought was a "pragmatic moderate" only to wake up and discover that they'd elected a far left ideologue. That newly crowned president thought he had a mandate to fundamentally change the direction of the country.

Fastforward...one year later, after ramming through a disasterously expensive "stimulus package", one that paid off most of the constiuencies of the party his numbers have come down. When you throw in a very unpopular health care seizure bill along with a massive tax increase masquerading as a "cap & trade" bill, you begin to see why his numbers have come down.

American voters the vast majority of whom are centre/right, don't like to be fooled. When they are, about once every few generations, their wrath it something to behold. This fall's elections are shaping to be a tidal wave against the Democratic Party.

When Nancy Pelosi took power in the House as Speaker, she vowed it would be the most ethical Congress ever. That promise wasn't kept. Her party has tripled the number of extra-constitutional earmarks. They have even more ethic issues in the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee hiding revenue from rental property, renting FOUR price controled apartments in NYC as an "office"...that's only the tip of the iceberg.

When you throw in Gatoraide (florida's bribe), the Louisiana Purchase and the Cornhusker Kickback, all just to barely pass a hugely unpopular government seizure of healtch care industry...after illegally seizing control of two of the three major auto manufacturers (illegal because the government screwed bond holders and then gave 1/2 ownership to UAW).

Then of course there's the budget. Last years $1.46 trillion dollar defict was bigger than all 8 years of George Bush's presidency. Now, toss in 2011's proposed $1.56 trillion dollars deficit...and the country is scared that this president and this Congress have squandered any chance of recovery.

They people are afraid that this government only knows how to tax, tax, then spend, spend SPEND...and there'll be no end. By 2019, if Mr. Obama has his way, trillion dollar deficits will be a fact of life...but where is this money going to come from? Where? The only way is to tax the middle class our of existense. We all know the wealthy hide far more money than they pay taxes on.

November is shaping up into a huge Democratic loss at the polls. As it stands now, it's been estimated that there are only 103 "safe" Democratic seats in the House, and only 1 in the Senate. An upheaval that proportion hasn't been seen since the Federalist party collapsed in the 1810's...That would mean at least 120 seat loss in the House and 16 in the Senate.

Voters are angry...I live in the 'burbs of blue/blue Baltimore Country, MD...and voters here are VERY angry at the Democrats...Don't be surprised if they above senario comes true. If the "powers that be" didn't get the message when a CONSERVATIVE was elected Governor of blue New Jersey, then they should have been very troubled by the loss in Virginia...not to mention the shattering loss of the "Kennedy' seat (now if that isn't an anti-democracy arrogance--claiming a seat belongs to a family) in Massachussets should have been more than a wake up call...

Don't be surprised if Democrats in Congress begin to obstruct and massively slow down Mr. Obama's very unpopular agenda.

Obama's Poll Numbers Since SOTU Address

Someone who has even more time on their hands has taken the time to put together this graph showing agregate polls on Mr. Obama and his policies since the State of teh Union address. The "bounce" he got from the address has vanished. Now we're able to see just what the country thinks about his policies...and it's not pretty. From what I can see, it's basically a repudiation of this agenda. We won't know for sure until this November. If the Democratic Party loses as badly at the polls as I expect, then it's a complete repudiation. 9 months will give us the answer.

As it is, Dem's in leadership positions have been spending a lot of time trying to reasure their minions that they won't be hurt at the polls trying to "stay the course" which is what Mr. Obama intends to do.