Reminder: Special Election In Nevada And New York Tomorrow

This from a couple of days ago about Republican Bob Turner who is running for NY9:

Republican Bob Turner is poised to pull a huge upset in the race to replace Anthony Weiner as the Congressman from New York's 9th Congressional District. He leads Democrat David Weprin 47-41 with Socialist Workers candidate Christopher Hoeppner at 4% and 7% of voters remaining undecided. Turner's winning in a heavily Democratic district for two reasons: a huge lead with independents and a large amount of crossover support. He's ahead by 32 points at 58-26 with voters unaffiliated with either major party. And he's winning 29% of the Democratic vote, holding Weprin under 60% with voters of his own party, while losing just 10% of Republican partisans.

And in Nevada, Republican Mark Amodei is running to represent the people in the NV2. It appears he's ahead in a few polls as well. But in all actuality, their elections depends on one poll, the one that will happen tomorrow so get out and vote.

The Problems That Come With What's Considered "Electability"

Not to rip open old Mike Castle/Christine O'Donnell wounds and rub salt in them. This does not concern them. Well, just a little to help set up some context.

It is more along the lines of declaring a certain candidate unelectable and focusing on the one that is 'electable'. A rift that I think will be forming here in Virginia with the primary between Jamie Ratdke and George Allen.

More often than not, the 'electable' candidate is the one who sells out conservative interests for votes. Mike Castle is the easy pick to demonstrate this example. Many of the issues that matter, he would vote against. Cap and Trade. Abortion. Illegal Immigration (I'm going with my gut on this one because I can't remember for sure but I think it's a safe bet). Is there any indication in this guy's past to show that he would vote the right way when it would come to something like repealing the incandescent light bulb ban? No. But yet I was told to shut up, get in line and be happy that a "Republican" might win.

How is electing a quish of a Republican like Mike Castle going to turn back the wheels of an ever increasing federal state?

The same thing is happening in Virginia. Jamie Ratdke is running for Senate, same with George Allen.

People are saying that Ratdke is unelectable right out. One such person is my friend Beth (not a strawman. Or strawwoman). Ratdke is to the right of Allen but people say she's unlectable.

Let the primary do it's job and see who wins then.

I'm not blind to the fact that we need a lot more Republicans elected to the Senate to undo anything of importance but if more Scott Browns are elected who do vote for crap like the Frank/Dodd Regulatory bill, what's the use? Someone said this in the comments over at Spade's shack (can't remember where) but it went something like: Need enough Republicans to win the House. Need enough Republicans to win the Senate. Need enough Republicans to win a veto proof Congress and to win the Presidency. And to keep that way they can't do anything controversial.

Conventional thinking like that does not repeal light bulb bans.

Short of a Great Communicator emerging, I don't see the answer.

The Rumors Of Rep. Allen West's Apology Are Greatly Exaggerated

A follow up to Allen West's email to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz from yesterday.

West is standing firm.

Rep. Allen West (R) said he had no plans to apologize to fellow Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) for a strongly worded email he sent to the congresswoman.

“That is not happening,” West said Thursday on Fox Business Network. “This is a pattern I referred to in that email that goes back to 2010. Finally I think I have the right to stand up and defend my honor and make sure that this type of activity does cease. I sent her a private email, she decided to make it public by releasing it to the news media.”

I think it was a caller to Rush Limbaugh yesterday who said that it would make a great visual if all the Tea Party Freshmen women in the House make a 'Stand With West' statement or something like that. Rather than have the Republican leadership leave him hanging in the wind.

Previously:

The Character Assassination Of Allen West By The Coward Debbie Wasserman-Schultz

Video: Rand Paul On The Patriot Act

Rhetoric: It's the Democrat's best friend.



The president didn't even sign it into law in person.

President Obama, currently on an overseas trip doing a European pub crawl, is not at the White House to sign the bill, a requirement for the measure to become law.

So the White House will use an autopen –- a machine that replicates Obama’s signature -– to sign the extension, according to White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.

I retreat to my mantra on issues where I'm of two minds. Where the bill has its good uses but yet it can be twisted ever so slightly for bad uses as well. It's time to treat it like potato salad that has been sitting in the hot sun. When in doubt, throw it out.

Two part exit question: Is the autopen even Constitutional? And what's to stop us from voting in Zombie Reagan and using the autopen then?

Video: Steven Crowder On Net Neutrality

Via Hot Air which has more background on Crowder's visit.



Sort of related in a very technospeak sort of way: Congress seeking to regulate the Ham radio band of the spectrum. If in doubt, vote it out (which is to say, I have no idea what is in this bill and too tired to study it in depth but I'm playing it safe). I've forgotten much about Ham radio other than you still need to get a permit to operate one and the signals can go a very long way.

And a two meter antenna beats out the rubber ducky antenna any day of the week.

Video: Obama Official Declares Transparancy Then Stonewalls

Transparency, the new opaque.

Sen. Rand Paul On The Budget

Slicing like a flat razor in an old fashioned barber shop.



He cuts through one of my biggest pet peeves when politicians and pundits deal with budgetary items. That a "cut' really isn't a cut at all but a slight promise not to spend 'as much as planned'.

Added: More red meat goodness. Rand Paul to Obama energy official: Why are you pro-choice on abortion but not on toilets and lightbulbs?

"Raymond Noodles"?

Ramen, raymond. Tomato, too-mah-toe.

I just want to tell you what it’s like not to have Planned Parenthood. You have to give your kids ramen noodles at the end of the month to fill up their little bellies so they won’t cry. You have to give them mayonnaise sandwiches. They get very few fresh fruits and vegetables because they’re expensive. It subjects children to low educational attainment because of the ravages of poverty.

Robert Stacy breaks down Rep. Gwen Moore's (D-Wisc.) non-sequitur of a speech that she gave on the House floor.

The full video of Moore's comments can be found here.

The real irony of it all is that Moore is defending the organization that Margaret Sanger started in order to target minorities like Moore with sterilization in the first place.

Read The Bill!

Some encouraging signs from the new Republican Congress.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, blasted his fellow party for how they brought up the bill. “Little debate, no committee hearings held, no amendments allowed, and no examination of whether our government had lived up to its responsibility to protect the liberty of the people,” is how he put it in a press release.

Please read the whole thing.

A Short Message To The Republicans In The House Of Representatives

It took the Republicans acting like Democrats twelve years to lose control of the House of Representatives, starting in 1994. And it can be argued that Republicans only started acting like Democrats in 2000.

It took Democrats acting like themselves to lose control of the House in four years. Ponder on that.

Europe To Nationalize Private Pensions

Via Instapundit.

Like the Blogfather said above, "Lampposts".

People’s retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don’t want to reduce spending or make privatizations.
[. . .]
The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.

The Bulgarian government has come up with a similar idea. $300m of private early retirement savings was supposed to be transferred to the state pension scheme. The government gave way after trade unions protested and finally only about 20% of the original plans were implemented.

A slightly less drastic situation is developing in Poland. The government wants to transfer of 1/3 of future contributions from individual retirement accounts to the state-run social security system. Since this system does not back its liabilities with stocks or even bonds, the money taken away from the savers will go directly to the state treasury and savers will lose about $2.3bn a year. The Polish government is more generous than the Hungarian one, but only because it wants to seize just 1/3 of the future savings and also allows the citizens to keep the money accumulated so far.

Be sure to read the whole thing.

You can bet many a member of Congress are licking their chops, wondering how they can do this here.

Do The Barney Shuffle

Via Ace and Robert Stacy.

Remember. Sean Bielat for Congress.

Video: Ladd Ehlinger Strikes Again

I'm going to owe Robert Stacy a pack of smokes for lifting one more video from him but this was worth it.



You can follow John Dennis on Twitter, Facebook and on his own website as he campaigns against the Crown Jewel of all liberals in Congress right now, Nancy Pelosi.

Cross posted at The Daley Gator.

Are The Republicans Getting A Clue?

The Magic 8 Ball says "All Signs Point Yes".

Not sure if the Tea Party's message about fiscal responsibility* is getting through but I think the RNC is learning how to use the New Media.

The first ad plays to the base more than anything.


That was a piece of white bread as an appetizer. The red meat of the entrée is here. This is a good great example of messaging.



Who knew at the .47 second mark, Barack Obama was such a Larry the Cable Guy fan?

It's effective because it uses what the progressive members of the US Government say as a juxtaposition with things Ronald Reagan said. I only wish they more clearly identified the members of Congress in the video.

*Most of the Republicans were following the lead of George W. Bush with the government spending. Not a defense for them but more of an indictment of not having a spine to stand up to the defacto leader of the party. W's was not a conservative. At some point, the social liberalism aspects of Compassionate Conservatism will outweigh the fiscal conservatism aspects.

**Wow, reviewing this and I noticed quite a few tangents. Where's my Ritalin?

Ann Coulter To The GOP

There are some notable exceptions but too many Republicans are sitting back on cruise control for this election cycle. Assuming that 50 plus seats in the House of Representatives are theirs for the taking.

Is it that irrational for me to think that if the Republicans gain control of Congress that they might revert back to their old habits when George W. Bush was pushing the agenda?

To put it briefly: Earn it!

Note to Republicans: Whenever possible, victory parties should be held after the election, not before it.
[. . .]
Why were Republicans predicting victory in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1? Given a choice between two candidates who both hate ObamaCare, why would lifelong Democrats not vote for the Democrat?

Republicans are playing the same raised-expectations game with the November elections. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner is ludicrously predicting Republicans will pick up 100 seats in the House in November. Newt Gingrich puts the figure at an equally insane (and weirdly precise) 78. He also predicts the Cubs will win 132 games this season and six games will be rained out.

Keep it up, Republicans, and I'm going to keep naming names. I have Nexis.

For more than half a century, the average midterm pickup for the party out of power has been 24 seats.

Your job, Republicans, is not to go on Fox News and whisper sweet nothings in conservatives' ears. Your job is to repeal the Obama agenda. Raising expectations so high that a 30-seat Republican pickup will seem like a loss is not helping.

Be sure to read the rest.

Dude, Congress May Lose Their Health Coverage?

File under "We need to pass ObamaCare to know what's in ObamaCare."*

It is often said that the new health care law will affect almost every American in some way. And, perhaps fittingly if unintentionally, no one may be more affected than members of Congress themselves.
[. . .]
For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.

The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?

Not to worry, Congress will pass a new law fixing this hole soon.

You and I, however, will be stuck with the rest of the crappy bill that they threw together.

Thanks to Jill.

*Not an exact quote but close enough to convey the point. I really didn't want to spend my morning making sure I had San Fran Nan's words exactly right.

This Does Not Bode Confidence

This is part of the reason why people shouldn't just vote for "The Other Person" in an election. With the crap sandwich that is the Democrat Congress as bread and ObamaCare as the filling, way too many Republicans think they can coast into a Congressional victory this November.

Hold your Congressman's feet to the fire to make sure he should know the basic tenets of his job. Cripes, the Constitution is something every high school civics student should know by semester's end. Is it really too much to require an actual factual Congressman know it as well?



Via Hot Air.

For When The Narrative Trumps All

A couple of events happened this past week helps demonstrate how the Democrats in Congress react with life.

During the Code Red last week, a handful of members from the Congressional Black Caucus accused the protesters of calling them 'n#ggers'.

Picture of lying douche-bag thanks to Gateway Pundit.

It's highly doubtful that it happened seeing how Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. videotaped the entire ordeal. If the word was actually said, it would have been the lead story on every MSNBC and CNN news show for a week solid. So despite a plethora of video tape available to the contrary, the CBC threw the lie out there knowing the liberal press would lap it up. Nary a word has been said about the so called 'incident' since.

Even Andrew Breitbart put money on the fact that the word wasn't said. $100 large to be donated to United Negro Fund if someone could find proof. A very safe bet for Breitbart.

Cut to Friday. Several large companies announce that ObamaCare cost them in the long run. Caterpillar, Verizon and AT&T were among the few.

How do the Democrats in Congress respond? By sending threatening letters to the CEO's of said companies for not going along with the CBO's make believe numbers. Henry Waxman is opening up Congressional Hearings on the matter.

Power Line has a copy of one of the letters.

All for their ideology and to protect the narrative. One case they ignored the mountain of evidence against what they say happened and the other they will the force of Congress to beat down dissenting voices. But yet, I'm considered an extremist if I called their behavior fascist.

One Fine Afternoon In The White House

LINKED:  From over at American Power.  

White House Intercom: Bart Stupek to see you sir. Again.

Barack Obama: [mumbles under breath] Ah, crap. [Out loud] Sure, send him in.

Bart Stupek: Mr. President, sir. I don't mean to bother you again but it's about that Executive Order you promised me.  A week ago.

Barack Obama:  Hmmmm.

Bart Stupek: [awkward pause]  Aaaand I couldn't help but notice that there's some paper on your desk with the official letterhead on it.  I could use the political cover in my district.

Barack Obama:  Uh huh.

Bart Stupek:  I have an election coming up and I can really use that Order to show my constituents that I am serious about being a Pro-Life Democrat. 

Barack Obama:  I see.

Bart Stupek:  So, if you don't mind that is, can you go ahead and sign that?  I couldn't help but notice there is some official letterhead in the printer.  Is there any way you can print that out and sign it for me? 

Barack Obama: Yes, it is. But you see, Bart. I am fresh out of pens. It's not a real Executive Order without my signature on it. I used up my supply of them last Tuesday at the signing ceremony.

Bart Stupek: But I brought a pen with me. Right here in my pock--

Barack Obama: But it's not a official Presidential pen, is it? It's a respect for the integrity of the office sort of thing.

Bart Stupek: Respect?  But you're sitting in the Oval Office in a Bob Marley tee-shirt, cut-offs and a month's worth of fingernail clippings piled on the Resolute Desk.

Barack Obama:  Respect is what I say it is.

Bart Stupek:  Of course it is, Mr. President.  But about that Executive Or--

Barack Obama: Let me be perfectly clear. I will sign that Order as soon as we get those pens delivered.

Bart Stupek:  Those pens will be here soon?

Barack Obama: It's the Oval Office. We have to have pens here to operate.  Anyway, we did hit a slight snag with the Presidential pens.  They've been back ordered. 

Bart Stupek:  Back ordered?  But you're the only person in the world who uses that kind of pen.

Barack Obama:  Well, not necessarily back ordered.  We've hit our credit limit with the Chinese and they're not accepting our checks either.

Bart Stupek:  So what are you going to do?

Barack Obama:  I'm having pay up front for them.  I've wired the money yesterday.  We'll be getting our shipment in about 2 to 4 weeks.

Bart Stupek: [Sounding dejected] Okay. Will you let me know whey then get in?

Barack Obama: Why don't I do this? I'll send Rahm by your office the moment they arrive.

Bart Stupek: Uhh, on second thought. I'll wait. You still remember your pinky promise to me about it, right?

Barack Obama: Absolutely. You don't trifle with something like that.

Sure The Government Takeover Of Health Care Was A Kick To The Teeth

But enough sunlight was shone on the process the Democrats used that it exposed Chicago style politics at it's dirtiest. If this was a sausage factory, the sausage that was being made contained dryer lint, rat droppings and parts of Rahm Emmanuel's own mother.

• Democrat Congressman Bart Stupak and the Executive Order promise about federal funding of abortions. Even though Stupak claimed earlier that he was going to vote for it regardless, Obama promised to sign the Order. Any day now. Oh, and Bart's district received a grant for some airports.
• Democratic Congressmen Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa from California were bribed with water rights. Apparently the protected Delta Smelt fish is less important than the Government Takeover of Health Care.
• Democrat Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas in Florida represents the Kennedy Space Center. Guess what she asked for in exchange for her votes (buried toward the bottom of the article)?
• Democrat Congressmen Bart Gordon and John Tanner, both of Tennessee have had the carrot of NASA administrator and Ambassador to NATO dangled in front of them, respectively. Both are retiring from Congress this year.
• And Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Coast to Coast). He had his moment in the spotlight and milked the attention for all it's worth. Also his wife, Elizabeth (Pictured below. Unbelievable, I know, that a tall, good looking red head can hook up with someone who looks like a garden gnome without the beard) will team up with Michelle Obama in telling people what and how to eat. Because they know better than you.

That's just the deals we know about. As the other details pan out, it's up to us to keep the pressure on Senators like Tom Coburn to keep his promise about holding up federal jobs that have been promised to Democrat Congresscritters.

With any luck, the bastards that sold their votes will have a big hole in their parachute when they are out of a job next year.

Thanks to Ace for most of the links.

Cross posted at The Richmond Liberty Alliance.