Texas governor talking about seceding

Rick Perry said Texas could leave the Union if they so choose to. And I'm sure Texas would have a lot of new citizens if they were to secede. Seems highly unlikely, but with the over taxation from Obama something needs to be done.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"

An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

Perry repeated his running theme that Texas' economy is in relatively good shape compared with other states and with the "federal budget mess." Many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package.

Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.

"There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."

This is the kind of leadership the Republican Party needs.

Obama lied again

During his campaign he promised to talk to Iran with no preconditions. But sadly the preconditions are on the US side.

The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

The proposals, exchanged in confidential strategy sessions with European allies, would press Tehran to open up its nuclear program gradually to wide-ranging inspection. But the proposals would also allow Iran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks. That would be a sharp break from the approach taken by the Bush administration, which had demanded that Iran halt its enrichment activities, at least briefly to initiate negotiations.

The proposals under consideration would go somewhat beyond President Obama’s promise, during the presidential campaign, to open negotiations with Iran “without preconditions.” Officials involved in the discussion said they were being fashioned to draw Iran into nuclear talks that it had so far shunned.

So instead of the Iran giving up the nuclear plant for the privilege of us not blowing them up, Obama has the bright idea to let them build more nuclear plants.

I really hope Israel doesn't bow down to Obama and does what is right and what is needed. And destroys any nuclear plant that Iran might even think of building.

Obama lifting restrictions to Cuba

I guess he just wants to reach out to a fellow communist.

President Barack Obama directed his administration Monday to allow unlimited travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans to family in Cuba, and to take other steps to ease U.S. restrictions on the island, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.

The formal announcement was being made at the White House Monday afternoon, during presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs' daily briefing with reporters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage the president's announcement.

With the changes, Obama aims to create new space for the Cuban people in their quest for political freedom and a democratic government, in part by making them less dependent on the Castro regime, the official said.

Other steps taken Monday include allowing gift parcels to be send to Cuba, and issuing licenses to increase communications among and to the Cuban people. About 1.5 million Americans have relatives in Cuba.

Obama had promised to take these steps as a presidential candidate. It has been known for over a week that he would announce them in advance of his attended this weekend of a Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

"There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans," Obama said in a campaign speech last May in Miami, the heart of the U.S. Cuban-American community. "It's time to let Cuban Americans see their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers. It's time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime."

That's because they risked their lives to leave communist Cuba. There aren't people risking their lives to leave the US yet. Why should we open up trade and give money to an openly communist nation? I'd have no problem with this if Cuba was a democracy or was on the verge and just needed a push to become a democracy. But as far as I know that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

How did she become a Supreme Court Justice?

Especially when Justice Ginsburg thinks it is ok to use foreign law on deciding legal matters in the United States. Last time I checked we have a little thing called the Constitution. And last time I checked the Supreme Court was there to decide whether things are Constitutional or not. And that has nothing to do with any foreign law.

In wide-ranging remarks here, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended the use of foreign law by American judges, suggested that torture should not be used even when it might yield important information and reflected on her role as the Supreme Court’s only female justice. The occasion was a symposium at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University honoring her 15 years on the court.

“I frankly don’t understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law,” Justice Ginsburg said in her comments on Friday.

The court’s more conservative members — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas — oppose the citation of foreign law in constitutional cases.

“If we’re relying on a decision from a German judge about what our Constitution means, no president accountable to the people appointed that judge and no Senate accountable to the people confirmed that judge,” Chief Justice Roberts said at his confirmation hearing. “And yet he’s playing a role in shaping the law that binds the people in this country.”

This is a scary number

And a very sad number. But if you think about it, who was the last one to actually articulate and education the American public of Capitalism? Ronald Reagan. And that was 20+ years ago now. So it is no surprise that only 53% of us think capitalism is better than socialism.

Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

Investors by a 5-to-1 margin choose capitalism. As for those who do not invest, 40% say capitalism is better while 25% prefer socialism.

There is a partisan gap as well. Republicans - by an 11-to-1 margin - favor capitalism. Democrats are much more closely divided: Just 39% say capitalism is better while 30% prefer socialism. As for those not affiliated with either major political party, 48% say capitalism is best, and 21% opt for socialism.

This just goes to show how much the Republican leader nears a true Capitalist as the leader of our party. Someone who will actually champion, explain, and education capitalism. McCain wasn't that candidate. And I am starting to think Sarah Palin wouldn't be either. I'm not sure who this person will be. But if we want to win in 2010 and beyond it won't be with another liberal-lite candidate like John McCain.

We should all be able to make up stories

Just like Vice President Biden. Karl Rove has called him out on his BS story about Biden telling off GW Bush.

Republican strategist Karl Rove called Vice President Biden a "liar" on Thursday, dramatically escalating a feud between Biden and aides to former President George W. Bush over Biden's claims to have rebuked Bush in private meetings.

"I hate to say this, but he's a serial exaggerator," Rove told FOX News. "If I was being unkind I would say liar. But it is a habit he ought to drop."

Rove added: "You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the Vice President of the United States."

Biden's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, although Biden spokesman Jay Carney told Fox on Wednesday: "The vice president stands by his remarks."

Carney was referring to two controversial assertions by Biden, the latest coming Tuesday during an interview on CNN.

"I remember President Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office," Biden began, "'Well, Joe,' he said, 'I'm a leader.' And I said: 'Mr. President, turn and around look behind you. No one is following.'"

The exchange is purely "fictional," said Rove, who was Bush's top political adviser in the White House.

"It didn't happen," Rove, a FOX News contributor and former Bush adviser, told Megyn Kelly in an interview taped for "On The Record." "It's his imagination; it's a made-up, fictional world.

"He ought to get out of it and get back to reality," Rove added. "He's making this up out of whole cloth."

Rove's skepticism was echoed by a variety of other Bush aides, including former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, chief of staff Andy Card and legislative liaison Candida Wolff.

Liberals live in a fictional world anyways. So I really don't expect anything less from these people especially Biden.

April 29th Dinner letter sent out to our members

Dear Fellow Republican,

I am writing to you with some exciting news from Western Mass. Republicans! Jennifer Nassour, our new Massachusetts’ Republican State Party Chairman, is coming to join us for an exciting and motivating dinner meeting to discuss where we are headed as a Party over the next two years.

As you know, WMR is deeply committed to the future of our Party. Our goals are simple: ensure a healthy two party system exists in this state and that the conservative voice of the silent majority of our citizenry is represented throughout our government.

The Executive Committee and membership of WMR has set an aggressive agenda for 2009 which includes bringing in top federal, state and local leaders to help our effort to win more elections at all levels of government.

To be a success, we need your help and participation. This is why WMR hopes you can join us for an enlightening evening with our new State Party Chairman. There will also be a unique opportunity to ask questions directly to her and share your thoughts on our message and strategy going forward. We hope you come and enjoy a very informative evening at a very affordable price.

A Dinner Meeting with the Chairman

An Evening with Jennifer Nassour,

Chairman of the Massachusetts’ Republican Party

Full Dinner Buffet

Only $25 per person

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

6:30 PM Social Time

7:00 PM Dinner

The Wherehouse?

109 Lyman Street, Holyoke

If you would like to speak to me or have any questions, please call me at 538-5519.

With warmest regards,

KEVIN

Kevin A. Jourdain

WMR Chairman

If you'd like to reserve a seat at the dinner please send a check for $25.00 made out to the Western Mass Republicans to PO Box 4662 Springfield, MA 01101.

Don't say we didn't warn you

Instead of building a giant fence and putting our military down at the Mexican border Obama plans to let illegals become legal.

While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Barack Obama plans to begin addressing America's immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system," said the official, Cecilia Munoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration organizations, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Some White House officials said immigration would not take precedence over the health care and energy proposals that Obama has identified as priorities. But the timetable is consistent with pledges that Obama made to Latino groups in last year's campaign.

He said then that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office. Latino voters turned out strongly for Obama in the election.

We tried this before in the past. This just gives other people incentive to come over here illegally. Because they know eventually dumb ass politicians will pander to their votes and make them legal. Why do liberals always want to reward bad behavior and punish good behavior?

This reminds me of some old cartoons

You know the old ones where a character calls another out for doing something right in front of them and they deny it as if it never happened. It is pretty sad that the Obama administration has already turned into a parody of a cartoon.

But Obama is denying he ever bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia.

The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.

"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Washington Times called the alleged bow a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate" and said it violated centuries of American tradition of not deferring to royalty. The Weekly Standard, meanwhile, noted that American protocol apparently rules out bowing, or at least it reportedly did on the occasion of a Clinton "near-bow" to the emperor of Japan.

Interestingly, a columnist in the Saudi-backed Arabic paper Asharq Alawsat also took the gesture as a bow and appreciated the move.

"Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars," wrote the columnist, Muhammah Diyab.

This just makes me laugh on how we have picture and video evidence of something happening and Obama is out right lying and denying it ever happened. It must be nice to live in another alternative dimension.

When in Rome...

Since Obama is turning this country into a socialistic paradise it only makes sense that the Congressional Black Caucus is out praising Fidel Castro.

Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana.

“The fifty-year embargo just hasn’t worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) told reporters this evening at a Capitol press conference after returning from a congressional delegation visit to Cuba. “The bottom line is that we believe its time to open dialogue with Cuba.”

Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. But the lawmakers disputed Castro's later statement that members of the congressional delegation said American society is still racist.

"It was quite a moment to behold," Lee said, recalling her moments with Castro.

“It was almost like listening to an old friend,” said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il.), adding that he found Castro’s home to be modest and Castro’s wife to be particularly hospitable.

I guess we should held our fellow communist comrade. That would be the right thing to do...

Tax Day Tea Party

Got this email forwarded to me today. I'll remind everyone when it gets closer to the 15th.

You can visit their website here.

Please Join us at a peaceful rally on Wednesday, April 15th from 4 to 6 PM.

The time for "typing and griping" has ended. It is time for each of us to take two hours of our time and make this rally as large as we can.

All YOU have to do is make your sign (please no vulgarities) and show up at Park Square.

Let's send a message that the taxpayers in Berkshire County support the national effort to stop our Washington politicians -- NOW.

Thanks

PS: this is the first time I will have demonstrated in my life! You can do it too. It doesn't matter which political party you support. If you pay taxes and want to stop the madness in Washington, you need to be there......

Please forward this to all your email contacts in Western Massachusetts and let's get a huge crowd to send a message to Boston & Washington on tax day 2009.

More socialism...

When asked if he'd like to replace more CEO's Geithner said of course.

Days after GM's CEO Rick Wagoner was forced out by the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner left open the possibility that such moves could happen again.

In an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Geithner acknowledged the government has had to do "exceptional things" – citing AIG as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"We have changed management aboard," he said. "And where we've done that, we've done it because we thought that was necessary to make sure these institutions emerge stronger in the future."

When asked if he would leave open the option to pressure a bank CEO to resign, Geithner replied: "Of course."

It shouldn't be the governments responsibility to run banks. And definitely not their job to fire CEO's. This is socialism and plain and simple.

This will never pass

But this is exactly what the Republicans in the House should be doing.

Republicans in the House Wednesday pressed a budget plan that would cut taxes and radically overhaul Medicare, offering a stark alternative to blueprints offered by President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies.

The plan, drafted by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, also freezes overall spending on domestic programs passed by Congress each year and repeals most of the spending in Obama's recently passed economic stimulus bill.

Despite spending reductions, the plan projects permanent deficits exceeding $500 billion into the future, fueled largely by big tax cuts.

The GOP plan would offer a dramatically simplified tax code in which couples would have the option of a 10 percent rate on the first $100,000 of income, with a 25 percent rate thereafter, with the first $25,000 of income exempt from taxation. Single could get a $12,500 exemption and a 10 percent rate on income up to $50,000.

Taxpayers could also opt to remain in the current system.

On Medicare, workers under the age of 55 would enroll in private plans and receive premium subsidies equal to the average Medicare benefit when they retire. Benefits would not be changed for people in the program or people 55 or older.

Democrats warned that the GOP plan would force draconian cuts to the program.

The plan has no chance of becoming law, but offers voters a contrast between the rival parties. Republicans have been on the attack, saying Obama's $3.6 trillion budget for next year taxes, borrows and spends way too much. And Republicans have seemed sensitive to criticisms by Obama and Democrats that they are the "party of 'no,' " rushing out a detail-free version of the plan last week.

It is good for the voters to see and hear the difference between the Republican and Democratic plans. There hasn't been much a difference the last few years which is why the Republicans have lost the last few elections. This is why I say Conservatism wins. And this is what the American people need to hear.

Obama breaks another promise

I wouldn't expect anything less from Obama. I'm surprised people actually believed him when he told us he wouldn't raise taxes on anyone earning under $250,000/year. This is exactly what liberals do. They say one thing and govern another way. But you'll never hear this from the main stream media. They are too concerned with protecting their Messiah rather than reporting the news.

One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday.

The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise not to raise taxes of any kind on families earning under $250,000 or individuals under $200,000.

This is one tax that disproportionately affects the poor, who are more likely to smoke than the rich.

To be sure, Obama's tax promises in last year's campaign were most often made in the context of income taxes. Not always.

"I can make a firm pledge," he said in Dover, N.H., on Sept. 12. "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."

He repeatedly vowed "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime."

Now in office, Obama, who stopped smoking but has admitted he slips now and then, signed a law raising the tobacco tax nearly 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, to $1.01. Other tobacco products saw similarly steep increases.

Instead of raising revenue like I'm sure he thinks this will do. This will actually decrease revenue to the government. People will find ways to get around paying the extra taxes by either buying them illegally or just stopping to smoke altogether.

6th Obama nominee with tax problems

Maybe this is why the liberals are always bitching about the rich not paying their fair share because they don't pay their taxes.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who testified before Congress on Tuesday on her nomination for Health secretary, has paid nearly $8,000 in back taxes after discovering "unintentional errors" in her tax returns. Sebelius is the second nominee for the Cabinet post; former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle previously withdrew from consideration due to tax issues.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday that Sebelius had informed him in a letter the same day that "minor, unintentional errors" were discovered by an accountant reviewing her 2005, 2006 and 2007 returns. These errors were "immediately corrected through amended returns."

Baucus, whose committee has jurisdiction over Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and other health entitlement programs, did not reveal details of the letter. According to Bloomberg, the governor paid $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest for errors that included the absence of acknowledgment letters for three of the 49 charitable donations she made.

The letter was sent the same day Sebelius testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in her first confirmation hearing. She testifies in a second hearing on Thursday, before Baucus' panel.

The 60-year-old Sebelius was nominated by President Barack Obama early March, a month after Daschle pulled out for failing to pay $128,000 in taxes.

Like I've said before. Rules don't apply to the elite liberals. They want everyone else to pay a higher share of the taxes but they don't want to pay any themselves.

The people wanted change...this is what they wanted.

The US shouldn't let Iran develope nukes

At least if Obama doesn't do anything Israel will.

The primary imperative for the United States and President Barack Obama is to put an end to Iran's nuclear race, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said before his swearing-in Tuesday, adding that if the US failed to do so Israel might be forced to resort to a military strike on the Islamic Republic's nuclear installations.

"The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told The Atlantic. The Iranian drive for a nuclear weapon was a "hinge of history," he said, emphasizing that all of "Western civilization" was responsible for preventing an Iranian bomb.

"You don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs," Netanyahu said of the Iranian regime. "When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran."

Netanyahu suggested that Israeli preemptive strikes against perceived threats were the result of the Jewish people learning from a long history of grappling against those who threatened their collective existence. He cited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls to "wipe Israel off the map," as well as a recent remark by the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to the effect that Israel was a "cancerous tumor."

At least Netanyahu gets it. He gets national security and security to the world. He won't let the terrorist nation states that are Hell bent on destroying the democracies of the world get nukes. Obama should get that too. But sadly I think he would rather talk to Iran and make idle threats. While Netanyahu will take action and destroy the nukes like we should be doing.

Close race in New York

After all the votes were counted in the special election last night in New York Democratic candidate Scott Murphy was leading Jim Tedisco by 65 votes.

After a frenzied, bruising special election, a New York congressional race that became linked to President Barack Obama's economic recovery efforts won't be decided for at least two more weeks.

Democrat Scott Murphy led Republican Jim Tedisco by a scant 65 votes out of more than 154,000 cast Tuesday.

After the count of machine votes in 610 voting precincts spread over the mostly rural, 10-county district, the unofficial count was 77,344 for Murphy to 77,279 for Tedisco. That puts the focus on the more than 10,000 absentee ballots mailed to voters who are registered in the district but were unable to vote in person on Tuesday.

It can be a laborious process to count all the paper ballots and those being mailed from overseas aren't due in New York until April 13. A lawsuit filed by state Republicans Tuesday night required all ballots to be impounded to ensure accuracy. It's not an unusual step in close elections.

Of the ballots mailed out, nearly 6,000 were returned by Tuesday but most had not yet been counted.

I would think most absentee ballots would lean conservative. So hopefully Tedisco can pull this one out after all of the absentee ballots are paid. Hopefully this doesn't turn into another Coleman v. Franken race that drags out for months.

If this isn't socialism I don't know what it

Actually this is borderline communism. But would any of us expect anything less from Barny Frank? Not only does he want to set the pay for top executives he wants to set the pay for all employees.

It was nearly two weeks ago that the House of Representatives, acting in a near-frenzy after the disclosure of bonuses paid to executives of AIG, passed a bill that would impose a 90 percent retroactive tax on those bonuses. Despite the overwhelming 328-93 vote, support for the measure began to collapse almost immediately. Within days, the Obama White House backed away from it, as did the Senate Democratic leadership. The bill stalled, and the populist storm that spawned it seemed to pass.

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

It starts here...lets limit the pay of employees from companies that take government money. of course the government shouldn't be bailing out any company in the first place, but that is a whole other argument. But how soon until he wants to set the pay for everyone in the United States? Sounds crazy? Well it is crazy, but would you put it past Barny Frank?

If Obama favors bankruptcy for GM

Why did we bail them out at all? I agree that bankruptcy would have been the best thing for GM but I don't think Obama believes the same. If he did he wouldn't have pushed for a bail out.

The Obama's administration's leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move would in essence split both companies into their "good" and "bad" components. The government would like to see the "good" GM to be a standalone company, according to an administration official. The "good" Chrysler would be sold to Fiat SpA, assuming that deal is completed, this person said.

GM and Chrysler have had bankruptcy attorneys devising plans for such a move in recent months.

President Barack Obama's task force has told both companies that the administration prefers this route as a way to reorganize the two auto makers, rather than the prolonged out-of-court process that has thus far frustrated administration officials.

GM looks increasingly like it will be forced into filing for bankruptcy protection, sometime in mid-to-late May, in a plan where the automaker breaks into two companies, the surviving entity a "new GM" that maintains key brands such as Chevy and Cadillac and some international units, say several people familiar with the situation.

But in reality Obama forces the CEO of GM to resign and appoints his own to run it. Basically having the government take over GM. They are going to force GM to make all the "environmentally friendly" cars that no one wants. Hybrids aren't going to bring GM back from the dead. We want trucks and SUVs. Vehicles we feel safe driving. Especially up here in the North East where we need 4 wheel drive to get around in the winter.

If you happen to be from New York

And the 20th Congressional District...make sure to go out and vote for Jim Tedisco for Congress.

Take the Limbaugh Challenge

Surprisingly this was in the LA Times.

If you are reading this newspaper, the likelihood is that you agree with the Obama administration's recent attacks on conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh. That's the likelihood; here's the certainty: You've never listened to Rush Limbaugh.

Oh no, you haven't. Whenever I interrupt a liberal's anti-Limbaugh rant to point out that the ranter has never actually listened to the man, he always says the same thing: "I've heard him!"

On further questioning, it always turns out that by "heard him," he means he's heard the selected excerpts spoon-fed him by the distortion-mongers of the mainstream media. These excerpts are specifically designed to accomplish one thing: to make sure you never actually listen to Limbaugh's show, never actually give him a fair chance to speak his piece to you directly.

By lifting some typically Rushian piece of outrageous hilarity completely out of context, the distortion gang knows full well it can get you to widen your eyes and open your mouth in the universal sign of Liberal Outrage. Your scrawny chest swelling with a warm sense of completely unearned righteousness, you will turn to your second spouse and say, "I'm not a liberal, I'm a moderate, and I'm tolerant of a wide range of differing views -- but this goes too far!"

There is more untruthfulness in that statement than in a speech by President Obama. Even the commas are self-deceiving. You're not a moderate or you wouldn't be reading this newspaper. You're not tolerant of a wide range of views; you are tolerant of a narrow spectrum of variations on your views. And, whatever you claim, you still haven't listened to Rush Limbaugh.

Which leads to a question: Why not? I mean, come on, the guy's one of the figures of the age. Aren't you even curious? I listen to all your guys: NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, The Times, the New York Times, the New Yorker -- I check out the whole left-wing hallelujah chorus. Why are you afraid to spend a couple of hours listening to Limbaugh's show and seriously considering if and why you disagree with him?

Let me guess at your answer. You don't need to listen to him. You've heard enough to know he's a) racist, b) hateful, c) stupid, d) merely an outrageous entertainer not to be taken seriously or e) all of the above.

Now let me tell you the real answer: You're a lowdown, yellow-bellied, lily-livered intellectual coward. You're terrified of finding out he makes more sense than you do.

I listen to Limbaugh every chance I get, and I have never heard the man utter a single racist, hateful or stupid word. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. I'm a conservative; I think for myself. But Limbaugh, by turns insightful, satiric, raucously funny and wise, is one of the best voices talking about first principles and policy in the country today.

Therefore, I am throwing down my gauntlet at your quivering liberal feet. I hereby issue my challenge -- the Limbaugh Challenge: Listen to the show. Not for five minutes but for several hours: an hour a day for several days. Consider what he has to say -- the real policy material under the jokes and teasing bluster. Do what your intellectual keepers do not want you to do and keep an open mind. Ask yourself: What's he getting at? Why does he say the things he says? Why do so many people of goodwill -- like that nice Mr. Klavan -- agree with him?

Why hasn't this been all over the media?

I know when ever Jenna Bush did anything wrong the media bashed the heck out of her. I personally don't care if Joe Biden's daughter does coke or not like a supposed video suggests but if this was one of the Bush's daughter you know it would have been all over the media all weekend.

A "friend" of Vice President Joseph Biden's daughter, Ashley, is attempting to hawk a videotape that he claims shows her snorting cocaine at a house party this month in Delaware.

The anonymous male acquaintance of Ashley took the video, said Thomas Dunlap, a lawyer representing the seller.

Dunlap and a man claiming to be a lawyer showed The Post about 90 seconds of 43-minute tape, saying it was legally obtained and that Ashley was aware she was being filmed. The Post refused to pay for the video.

The video, which the shooter initially hoped to sell for $2 million before scaling back his price to $400,000, shows a 20-something woman with light skin and long brown hair taking a red straw from her mouth, bending over a desk, inserting the straw into her nostril and snorting lines of white powder.

She then stands up and begins talking with other people in the room. A young man looks on from behind her, facing the camera. The lawyers said he was Ashley's boyfriend of a few years.

I'm more posting this to show the double standard of the media. Because I don't think politicians kids should be involved in the media like that have been with Bush or Sarah Palin.

How can we not be prepared for this?

Shouldn't the United States Armed Forces be prepared for just about anything that happens in the world? And if we aren't, should our Secretary of Defense be saying we aren't prepared? Especially something as being able to stop North Korea from a missle launch. But of course this probably comes down from Obama. Much like Clinton, I'm sure Obama doesn't want to piss anyone off in the world for his own legacy. He probably thinks if he does nothing they won't hate us as much which is the furthest thing from the truth.

The United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from breaking international law in the next 10 days by firing a missile that is unlikely to be shot down by the U.S. or its allies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

Appearing on "FOX News Sunday," Gates said North Korea "probably will" fire the missile, prompting host Chris Wallace to ask: "And there's nothing we can do about it?"

"No," Gates answered, adding, "I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it."

Last week, Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the U.S. is "fully prepared" to shoot down the missile. But Gates said such a response is unlikely.

"I think if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii, that looked like it was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it," Gates said. "But I don't think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point."

North Korea has moved a missile onto a launch pad and says it will be fired by April 8. Pyonyang insists the missile is designed for carrying a communications satellite, not a nuclear warhead that the secretive nation appears bent on developing.

Or we could be like Israel and just bomb the missle pad. I know that's what they would do if Iran or another one of the countries that are hell bent on destroying them.

Israel attacks Iranian convoy

Some how I doubt Obama would have done the same. At least Israel can do what's needed when it's needed.

Israel used unmanned drones to attack clandestine Iranian convoys in Sudan that were attempting to smuggle rockets into Gaza, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.

The paper said that western diplomats confirmed that Israel attacked the Iranian truck convoys in late January and the first week of February in the remote Sudan desert, just outside the Red Sea town of Port Sudan.

The convoys had been tracked by agents from Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence agency, the report added.

I think it is a must that we support and aid Irsael as much as we can. They are the only Democracy over there and our 1st defense if another World War ever breaks out in that area. It pains me when I see a lot on the left blaming Israel for the problems over in that area. They aren't the ones stuck in the stone age stoning gays and woman just for being such.

Government run health care...

Please save us now. Nancy Pelosi is proposing Health Care legislation in the House that would have a government run option.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House this year will consider health-care legislation including an option for a government-run program that would compete with insurers.

“This is a big agenda, and I believe it should have a public option in it for it to be really substantial,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference in the U.S. Capitol.

President Barack Obama has said he wants Congress to produce legislation that would expand health-care coverage for the country’s 46 million uninsured and reduce medical costs. Republicans and some insurers have opposed the creation of a new program modeled on Medicare as part of the effort. The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, last week called the idea a “deal-breaker.”

I've asked this question to every person who thinks we should have a government run health care system. Name me one government run program that is run efficiently and properly? I can't think of one, can you? So why the Hell would we want the government running anything else.

I'm sure Geithner knows

The trick is getting the American people to know Geithner plan is radical. I think more and more people are starting to realize how radical the whole Obama administration is.

In testimony before the House Financial Services committee that just adjourned, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner just had to defend his institutional takeover plan against charges of radicalism.

"Do you realize how radical your proposal is?" Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) asked.

"It's not radical. . ." Geither began, before Manzullo interrupted him.

"You're talking about seizing private businesses and you don't consider that radical?" Manzullo replied, his voice rising.

I guess it isn't radical if you want to live in a socialist/communist country. But most Americans don't want that. They were just tricked into thinking Obama was here for the working people. They can keep proposing idealistic proposals that don't and have never worked through out history. All this is going to do is making Obama a 1 term President.

Grading Deval Patrick

I think the Phoenix is being a little too generous.

If the Phoenix were grading the recent performance of Governor Deval Patrick, we'd give him somewhere between a B and a B- for pure policy, but between a C- and D+ for political skill.

This discrepancy seems to stem from Patrick's personality as much as anything. He masters those political skills he cares about: insurgent party organizing, for example, or propelling major policy initiatives onto the public agenda. But he remains an amateur at other aspects of the political game — the ones he finds dull or unnecessary.

Is there a grade below an F?

Blame America First

It's not Mexico's fault or the drug lord's fault. Nope, it is America's fault for all the violence on the Mexico/US border. The violence isn't America's fault. The only fault we have to blame is not stepping up security at the border, building a fence and putting the national guard/army down there to wipe out the uprising. Instead people like Hillary Clinton want to punish border patrol agents who kill drug dealers shooting at them.

An "insatiable" appetite in the United States for illegal drugs is to blame for much of the violence ripping through Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

Clinton acknowledged the U.S. role in Mexico's vicious drug war as she arrived in Mexico for a two-day visit where she discussed U.S. plans to ramp up security on the border with President Felipe Calderon.

A surge in drug gang killings to 6,300 last year and fears the violence could seep over the border has put Mexico's drug war high on President Barack Obama's agenda, after years of Mexico feeling that Washington was neglecting a joint problem.

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the death of police officers, soldiers and civilians," Clinton told reporters during her flight to Mexico City.

"I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."

Murder people were killed on the border last year than have been killed in Iraq. And yet Iraq is a failure according to these liberals.

I think it is time for Obama to step up and send troops down to the border. Allowing another country to come in and murder our citizens should not be tolerated. As far as I'm concerned if Mexico can't handle their problem which has become ours we will.

China wants a world currency

Much like they have with the euro. And as bad of an idea as it was in Europe it will be even worse if there is only one currency through out the world. But of course the Worlds Smartest Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, is open to this ridiculous idea.

Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is "open" to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China's central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar, but which Geithner described as more modest and "evolutionary."

"I haven’t read the governor’s proposal. He’s a very thoughtful, very careful distinguished central banker. I generally find him sensible on every issue," Geithner said, saying that however his interpretation of the proposal was to increase the use of International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights -- shares in the body held by its members -- not creating a new currency in the literal sense.

"We’re actually quite open to that suggestion – you should see it as rather evolutionary rather building on the current architecture rather than moving us to global monetary union," he said.

"The only thing concrete I saw was expanding the use of the [special drawing rights]," Geithner said. "Anything he’s thinking about deserves some consideration."

The continued use of the dollar as a reserve currency, he added, "depends..on how effective we are in the United States...at getting our fiscal system back to the point where people judge it as sustainable over time."

And they say the Neo Cons were the ones who wanted the New World Order? Either that or it is Obama's plan to bankrupt the country and start fresh with a world government.

And of course everytime Geithner opens his mouth the dollar drops.

He said increased use of SDRs should be thought of as an “evolutionary” step rather than a step towards “global monetary union”.

The dollar fell 1.3 per cent against the euro as headlines saying “Geithner open to SDR currency” flashed across traders’ screens. With the currency falling, Mr Geithner’s interviewer – Roger Altman, a deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration – gave Mr Geithner the chance to clarify.

Hopefully we can survive these next 4 years until we can vote in a Conservative to fix the messes these big government liberals have created.

Chris Dodd really needs to get elected out of office

Now we know why he supported AIG so much...

No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company's favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.

From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG. IPC, which provides property casualty catastrophe insurance coverage, was formed in 1993 and currently has a market cap of $1.4 billion and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IPCR. In 2001, in addition to a public offering of 15 million shares of stock that raised $380 million, IPC raised more than $109 million through a simultaneous private placement sale of 5.6 million shares of stock to AIG - giving AIG a 20% stake in IPC. (AIG sold its 13.397 million shares in IPC in August, 2006.)

I think she should be forced to give all her money back she got from AIG just like the 20 executives who were basically forced by death threats to give back their bonuses.

Our budget decidit will be worse than Cuba's

That just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy insider...

President Barack Obama's 3.55-trillion-dollar budget plan will leave the United States with a worse budget deficit than Cuba, a leading Republican critic warned Tuesday.

"This creates for us a higher deficit than Cuba's. This is not the kind of position we want to put the United States in," Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.

Other Republican critics of Obama's spending policies, including his nearly 800-billion-dollar economic stimulus package, have variously warned that he risks turning the country into Argentina, France, Germany, or Zimbabwe.

Asked for the figures underpinning the charge, a McConnell aide pointed to a report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that warned the US budget deficit for fiscal year 2009, ending September 30, would swell to 13.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

Weren't the liberals bashing Bush over deficit spending over the last 8 years? Thought so.

Even the bank of England gets it

They are imploring England to stop spending as they can't afford it anymore.

The Governor of the Bank of England stunned Downing Street yesterday by warning against a giveaway Budget next month.

Mervyn King said public finance deficits were too high for big tax cuts or bumper spending increases on April 22.

The extraordinary warning to Gordon Brown not to blow billions on a second 'fiscal stimulus' came perilously close to breaching the convention that the head of the Bank does not question Government policy.

Tories said it blew a hole in Mr Brown's plans for next week's G20 summit in London.

At least someone gets it in England too. Hopefully more people here and around the world start to get it to. The more we spend and print money the more our currencies are going to be devalued and that will just lead to more inflation. I know this has been a common theme here lately, but I just can't help it. We need to start up to these tax and spend politicians and tell them to stop devaluing our money.

I knew this was only a matter of time

Since we are handing out everything why not bail out newspapers too while we are at it? There is a reason no one reads the newspapers anymore and it isn't all just the internet. It is the same reason CNN, MSNBC, and the other news outlets are losing viewers too. They have a liberal agenda. They won't admit it, but it is very true. And the Obama election was just the icing on the cake proving the fact.

With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Here is a bright idea how about they change from being spokesman for the Obama administration to being actual news reporters. There is a reason Fox News is so popular. It is pretty much the only news outlet that is actually fair and balanced. And if the newspapers want to rise back to glory they will have to do the same.

Hello Socialism here we come.

Now Obama wants the right take control of any financial firm. This is the problem with our economy now. The government shouldn't be bailing out any company that is failing and they definitely shouldn't be taking control and running any such firm. That is called socialism when the government runs business.

The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.

The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.

Giving the Treasury secretary authority over a broader range of companies would mark a significant shift from the existing model of financial regulation, which relies on independent agencies that are shielded from the political process. The Treasury secretary, a member of the president's Cabinet, would exercise the new powers in consultation with the White House, the Federal Reserve and other regulators, according to the document.

The administration plans to send legislation to Capitol Hill this week. Sources cautioned that the details, including the Treasury's role, are still in flux.

And the government just can't keep printing money to take over companies. Enough is enough. Our dollar is going to be so under valued soon and we are going to get hyper inflation.

Deval Patrick is making everyone angry now

Hopefully the Republicans can capitalize on Deval's stupidity over the past few years since he was elected. Now parents are mad at him for proposing cuts to school districts. But yet he has the money to hire hacks to $175,000/year jobs.

“Patrick to Boston: Drop dead!”

That’s the message that will appear on a banner to be hoisted in the State House Thursday as hundreds of furious Boston parents rally to protest Gov. Deval Patrick’s move to cut the Hub out of $168 million in state stabilization funds to school districts.

“People are so angry. The Patrick administration, by these decisions, is crippling the Boston public schools system,” said Karina Meiri, a Tufts cell biology professor who is one of the founding organizers of BPS Parents, a volunteer advocacy group that is taking on the governor.

I'm sure if we actually went through the budget there would be plenty to cut. In reality Deval is just proposing cuts to the schools as a scare tactic. In his mind he thinks if he scares enough people we won't be mad at him for raising the gas tax, the tolls, and raising other ridiculous taxes that will only continue to stiffle our economy.

Rep Frank at it again

Open mouth and insert foot. Seems to be the only thing Barny Frank is good at. Now he is calling Antonin Scalia, who is one of the smartest and best Supreme Court Justices, a homophobe.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a "homophobe" in a recent interview with the gay news Web site 365gay.com.

The Democratic lawmaker, who is gay, was discussing gay marriage and his expectation that the high court would some day be called upon to decide whether the Constitution allows the federal government to deny recognition to same-sex marriages.

"I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court," said Frank. The video of the interview is available online.

Frank's office did not respond to a request Monday to expand on his remark. Scalia also had no comment.

Scalia dissented from the court's ruling in 2003 that struck down state laws banning consensual sodomy. He has complained about judges, rather than elected officials, deciding questions of morality about which the Constitution is silent.

Controversial topics like gay rights and abortion should not be in the hands of judges, he has said, calling on people to persuade their legislatures or amend the Constitution.

Scalia is 100% right. People like Barny Frank want to push there extreme homosexual agenda down our throats. But they know they can't keep on getting re-elected, well he probably could, but the majority of elected officials couldn't if they supported his ideas. So the only way to get his agenda through is with the court system. But judges shouldn't have political agendas.

More judges should idiolize Scalia. He doesn't have an agenda, he bases his decisions on the Constitution. And last time I checked that is how Judges are supposed to rule.

Judges shouldn't have lifetime appointments

And if this bill passes they will only be appointed for 6 year terms and would have to be elected by the people to continue serving.

Judges statewide would be appointed to a six-year term and then have to be reappointed by residents on an election ballot if a bill filed Monday with the state Senate becomes law.

"The only people who are not accountable to we the people of Massachusetts are the judges," Holyoke Police Chief Anthony R. Scott said Monday.

But the president of the Massachusetts Judges Conference denounced the proposed legislation, saying it would politicize the judicial process.

"The inevitable outcome is going to be a popularity contest," Conference president and Superior Court Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. said Monday.

State Sen. Michael R. Knapik, R-Westfield, filed the legislation Monday on behalf of Scott. The proposed bill calls for the governor to appoint judges to a six-year term. After the six-year term expires, the judge's name would be placed on an election ballot for residents to reappoint to another six-year term.

Currently, judges are appointed to lifetime terms by the sitting governor after being recommended by a nominating committee and then recommended by the Governor's Council. Once they take the bench, judges are allowed to serve until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

The problem with judges now a days is they don't follow the law they follow their own political ideology. Judges shouldn't take their own believes and force it down peoples throats. They should take the rule of law and base their decisions on that. And when they don't do that they should be thrown out of office, whether is local judges or federal ones.

Deval Patrick turning into Dukakis II

According to the great Howie Carr.

Deval Patrick has become Michael Dukakis - shrimp wrapped in baloney.

That’s how we used to describe the Duke - and the description surely fits Deval. The only difference is, at least Pee Wee (another of our fond monikers) had that one first term where he was somewhat honorable, if clueless.

Deval has gone directly to Dukakis II - when he was lying down with dogs like Billy Bulger and getting up with more fleas than I have space to mention.

Deval has been drifting south in the polls for months, but he really jumped the shark when he appointed Sen. Marian Walsh to that $175,000 hack sinecure. Marian Walsh! He doesn’t even know how to reward the right hacks - ones who’ll back you up in an alley fight, or at least hold a sign for you. If they ever name a street after Marian, it’ll have to be a one-way.

Read the rest of the post at the link too.

Mass GOP launches road trip to rebuild

Here is hoping this works and we can rebuild the party from the ground up.

The beleaguered Massachusetts Republican Party is heading out on the road as it tries to rebuild itself from the bottom up.

The party is launching a series of six "MassGOP Grassroots Forums," which it hopes will draw people from different regions of the state with ideas on ways to elect more Republicans and to organize the party at the local level.

The party has been battered for more than a decade, dwindling to just 16 members in the Massachusetts House and five in the Senate.

The first forum is scheduled for Wednesday in West Springfield at the Municipal Office Building.

Other forums are planned for Plymouth, Fall River, Dedham, Andover and Worcester.

Everyone reading this should attend.

Obama will bankrupt our country

That according to Senator Gregg will happen if Obama gets his budget passed.

But Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire also says President Barack Obama's massive budget proposal will bankrupt the country.

Gregg says he has no regrets in withdrawing his nomination to become commerce secretary. He pulled out after deciding he could not fully back the administration's economic policies.

The senator said Obama's spending plan in the midst of a prolonged recession would leave the next generation with a country too expensive to live in.

While this might be a little over exaggerated I don't think he is far off. If Obama keeps on spending like Ted Kennedy after a drunken all night and continues to print money like it is Monopoly we will face an even worse financial mess. What he is doing now will lead to double digit inflation and unemployment. I'm not sure if Obama just doesn't understand economics but at some point the market will have to correct itself and when it does we will be in a world of hurt.

Romney keeping himself in the spot light

I'm sure Romney will be one of many vying for the Republican Presidential nomination for 2012.

Mitt Romney’s political action committee has raised $571,000 this year, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission.

The stated mission of the committee, Free and Strong America PAC, is to support “officeholders and candidates who are dedicated to promoting public policies that will strengthen America.”

But the group also helps keep Romney – a former Massachusetts governor believed to be positioning himself for a run at the 2012 Republican presidential nomination – in the spotlight, paying for his travel and to maintain a political staff.

I wasn't the biggest of Romney fans but he was the best out of the crop last year. Especially compared to McCain and Huckabee. But in 2012 I think the Republicans will have a far better crop to chose from starting with Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford.

A little dissapointing

With Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and Mark Sanford both rejecting all of the federal stimulus money I was expecting Sarah Palin to do the same. But she has decided to only reject 30% of the money allotted for Alaska.

It's up to the Alaska Legislature to request hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds from the federal government.

Gov. Sarah Palin said Thursday that she would accept only 69 percent of the estimated $930 million dollars that could flow to the state, including $514 million for capital projects and $128 million for a hike in Medicaid reimbursement.

Palin said she would accept money that is "timely, targeted and temporary" and does not create strings that will bind the state in the future.

"I can't attest to every fund that's being offered the state in the stimulus package will be used to create jobs and stimulate the economy, so I'm requesting only those things that I know will," Palin said at a news conference at the Capitol. "Public discussion will have to ensue on all those other dollars that some will say 'you left on the table.'"

There shouldn't be any Republican Governor in this country that accepts these funds. Sarah Palin, as one of the leading conservatives, should set an example as the 3 other Republican Governors have and rejected all the funds.

Obama on Leno

Someone must be lying. Obama said last night that he didn't know anything about the AIG bonuses but yet Chris Dodd is saying the the administration was the one who told him to put the amendment in the bill so they can keep the bonuses. Of course I don't trust either of them so I'm just going to assume they are both lying.

President Barack Obama has told Jay Leno he was stunned when he learned of the bonuses that bailed-out insurance giant AIG was paying its employees.

Obama told "The Tonight Show" host the payments raise moral end ethical problems — and the administration's going to do everything it can to get them back.

But Obama added the bigger problem is the culture that allowed traders to claim them. He says that's got to change if the economy is to recover.

My big question is, will Obama give back his $100,000 he got from AIG? Some how I doubt it.

Also on Leno, Obama took a swipe at the Special Olympics. I know if Bush made fun of the Special Olympics they would be calling for impeachment.

owards the end of his approximately 40-minute appearance, the president talked about how he's gotten better at bowling and has been practicing in the White House bowling alley.

He bowled a 129, the president said.

"That's very good, Mr. President," Leno said sarcastically.

It's "like the Special Olympics or something," the president said.

Joke of the day

John Kerry is now a Saint....CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS ?
On a Saturday afternoon, in Washington, D. C., Senator John Kerry's
campaign manager visited the Cardinal of the Catholic cathedral.

He told the Cardinal that John Kerry would be attending the next day's
sermon, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Kerry to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling Kerry a saint.

The Cardinal replied, "No. I don't really like the man, and there are
issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over certain of Kerry's
views." Kerry's manager then said, "Look. I'll write a check here and
now for a donation of $100,000 to your church if you'll just tell the
congregation you see Kerry as a saint."


The Cardinal thought about it and said, "Well, the church can use the
money, so I'll work your request into tomorrow's sermon." As Kerry's
campaign manager promised, Senator Kerry appeared for the Sunday sermon and seated himself prominently at the edge of the main isle.

And, during the sermon, as promised, the Cardinal pointed out that
Senator Kerry was present.

Then the Cardinal went on to explain to the congregation -- "While
Senator Kerry's presence is probably an honor to some, he is not my
favorite person. Some of his views are contrary to those of the church,
and he tends to flip-flop on many other views. John Kerry is a petty,
self-absorbed hypocrite, a thumb sucker, and a nit-wit. John Kerry is
also a serial liar, a cheat, and a thief.

John Kerry is the worst example of a Catholic I have ever personally
witnessed. He turned on his buddies in Vietnam . He wrote a book and
portrayed himself in the best light when he was a traitor to his fellow
servicemen. He has lied about his military record and had the gall to
put himself in for a medal (including one that does not even exist).

He married for money and is using it to lie to the American people. He
also has a reputation for shirking his senatorial obligations both here,
in Washington , and in Massachusetts . He simply is not to be trusted."

The Cardinal completed his view of Kerry with,

"But, when compared to Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Kerry is a saint."

I'd like to know more about these 3 lawyers

Deval Patrick has nominated 3 lawyers judgeship's to superior courts. I'm sure these nominees are fine strict Constitutionalists that will hold up the Constitution. Now that we all had a good laugh about that...we should find out just how liberal these nominees are.

Gov. Deval Patrick has nominated three Massachusetts lawyers to superior court judgeships.

Patrick announced Tuesday he nominated Mitchell Kaplan, Janet Kenton-Walker and Thomas McGuire to fill posts left by retiring judges.

Kaplan has directed his firm’s pro bono program for 15 years and serves as a director of Greater Boston Legal Services.

Kenton-Walker is an attorney with the Boston Law Collaborative and was a secretary and vice president of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

McGuire is a 25-year veteran Bristol County lawyer who helped establish Hope House, a facility for AIDS patients, and has created charitable trusts in memory of police officers killed in the line of duty.

Well at least he didn't nominate Tom Finnerman.

Patrick ripped over hiring

But Deval has to raise our taxes to make up for our budget deficit. Maybe he should be a little more fiscally responsible and not give out $175,000/year jobs that aren't needed. At least someone is standing up to him and bashing him when he is wrong.

A member of the board that hired a state senator to fill a long-empty executive job ripped Gov. Deval Patrick and his colleagues for the appointment and said the state should not be spending $175,000 per year on a glorified lobbyist.

Marvin Gordon told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he was on vacation in the Caribbean last week and had no notice that the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority was going to vote on hiring Sen. Marian Walsh, D-Boston.

The vote was not itemized on the board’s public agenda and came up at the end of the meeting, during a section described generically as the "Chairman’s Report." The hiring was approved unanimously.

Patrick has appointed or reappointed the majority of the seven-member board and has been roundly criticized for Walsh’s hiring — and $100,000 raise — while the state is facing a $1 billion budget deficit. In addition, Walsh was an early political supporter, and both the governor and Legislature have faced a public outcry over recent patronage appointments within state government.

Government Health Care at its finest

I guess this is what we can expect if Obama pushes through a National Health Care.

The British government apologised Wednesday after a damning official report into a hospital likened by one patient's relative to "a Third World" health centre.

Stafford Hospital in central England was found to have appalling standards of care, putting patients at risk and leading to some dying, according to a report on Tuesday.

Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period at the National Health Service (NHS) hospital, according to an investigation by the Healthcare Commission watchdog.

"We do apologise to all those people who have suffered from the mistakes that have been made in the Stafford Hospital," said Prime Minister Gordon Brown, questioned on the matter at his weekly grilling in the House of Commons.

Receptionists with no medical training were left to to assess patients arriving at the hospital's accident and emergency department, the report found.

Julie Bailey, whose 86-year-old mother Bella died in the hospital in November 2007, said she and other family members slept in a chair at her bedside for eight weeks because they were so concerned about poor care.

"What we saw in those eight weeks will haunt us for the rest of our lives," said the 47-year-old. "We saw patients drinking out of flower vases they were so thirsty.

"There were patients wandering around the hospital and patients fighting. It was continuous through the night. Patients were screaming out in pain because you just could not get pain relief.

"It was like a Third World country hospital. It was an absolute disgrace.

Inflation here we come

If the Government keeps on printing money and putting it into the economy that is the only thing that can happen. The more Obama prints the more inflation we will have to suffer. So when the Feds decide to put in $1 trillion into the economy by buying Treasury bonds where do you think that money comes from?

The Federal Reserve sharply stepped up its efforts to bolster the economy on Wednesday, announcing that it would pump an extra $1 trillion into the financial system by purchasing Treasury bonds and mortgage securities.

Having already reduced the key interest rate it controls nearly to zero, the central bank has increasingly turned to alternatives like buying securities as a way of getting more dollars into the economy, a tactic that amounts to creating vast new sums of money out of thin air. But the moves on Wednesday were its biggest yet, almost doubling all of the Fed's measures in the last year.

The action makes the Fed a buyer of long-term government bonds rather than the short-term debt that it typically buys and sells to help control the money supply.

The idea was to encourage more economic activity by lowering interest rates, including those on home loans, and to help the financial system as it struggles under the crushing weight of bad loans and poor investments.

This will have an initial positive reaction in the economy but will only lead to inflation in the end when the market starts correcting itself. We are already starting to see some of the negative effects of this too.

Oil rose to $50 a barrel for the first time since January on Thursday after a move by the Federal Reserve to buy government bonds hit the dollar and revived hopes the U.S. economy could soon begin its recovery.

The Fed announced on Wednesday it would pump another $1 trillion into the U.S. economy by buying long-term government debt for the first time since the 1960s and by expanding purchases of mortgage bonds.

"It's a combination of a drop in the U.S. dollar and the Fed's move that has pushed up oil prices," said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Add this with Obama raising taxes and we are really screwed this summer.

Us Mass residents have it even worse. Gas is going to start going up and Deval is still going to try and raise our gas tax. Although I haven't heard much news about it lately.

Dodd finally admits responsibility for the AIG bonus loophole

He had been denying if for the last few days even though he was the one who put the amendment in the bail out bill. Hopefully the media will actually report this and bash him like they would if a Republican had done this. But I know that is wishful thinking.

Senate Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told CNN’s Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer Wednesday that he was responsible for adding the bonus loophole into the stimulus package that permitted AIG and other companies that received bailout funds to pay bonuses.

Hopefully Rob Simmons can use this against Dodd when he runs against him.

Obama has a change of heart on the troops

Probably from all out cry of the American Legion leaders and the criticism on the right Obama has decided to shelve his idea to not take care of the troops.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Wednesday afternoon that President Barack Obama is shelving a controversial proposal that would have forced the private health insurance of veterans to pay for their war- and service-related injuries.

“President Obama listened to the genuine concerns expressed by the veteran service organizations regarding the option of billing service-connected injuries to veterans’ insurance companies,” said Pelosi. “Based on the respect President Obama has for veterans and the principle concerns of our veteran leaders, the president made the decision that combat wounds should not be billed through their insurance policies.”

Pelosi made her comments at a meeting with veterans’ service organizations at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. After her announcement, the group gave her a standing ovation.

The proposal, which was discussed in recent hearings of the Veterans Affairs committees in the House and Senate and in the House Budget Committee, would have shifted more of the cost for service-related injuries from the government--through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)--to the private, third-party insurance plans held by many veterans

It isn't that he changed his mind. He would still go through with this if he could get away with it. He is just afraid of losing any more political capital that he has already lost. He has already took a huge hit from the AIG mess. And he would have taken an even bigger hit from this.

Trickle-down economics rebuttal

Stolen from Right Wing News.

Well, below I have outlined a guaranteed way to destroy any Democrat in a debate on this issue.

Step #1) When your Democratic friend tells you that "Trickle-Down" economics failed, ask your friend to quote one Republican politician in history who ran on "Trickle-Down" economics, or argued for an economic policy where wealth "Trickled-Down" from the rich to the poor;

Step #2) When your friend responds with "Ronald Reagan," ask again for a quote where Reagan ran on "Trickle-Down" economics. When your friend concedes that Reagan supported supply-side tax cuts and no Republican ever advocated "Trickle-Down" economics, proceed to Step #3;

Step #3) Your friend will now claim that supply-side tax cuts are the equivalent to "Trickle-Down" economics. Proceed by asking him to cite one business in the history of Capitalism where the owner takes his or her profits before the employee. Explain to your friend that all employees are a business expense, and therefore get paid before the owner makes a single penny. Moreover, this does not even guarantee that the owner makes a profit at all;

Step #4) Explain to your friend that all profits trickle up from the employees to the owner, and therefore large profits are simply evidence that all workers have received their agreed upon paycheck. The absence of, or decrease in, profits means that some workers are likely to get laid off;

Step #5) Then explain to your friend that since the bottom 40% of Americans pay zero income taxes because they get all their deductions back, it is impossible to give anyone other than "the rich" an income tax cut;

Step #6) Your friend at this point will argue that the bottom 40% pay payroll taxes, to which you respond that the Republican Party advocated a payroll tax holiday to get out of this economic crisis and the Democrats rejected that idea;

Step #7) After declaring victory, ask your friend why he supports the Party that is against profits and cutting payroll taxes?