Confessions of a Recovering Talk Show Host: May 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Steve Beren - former antiwar radical, now a patriotic activist

Today, I am a patriot. I love this country, and defend it. But I was not always a patriot. I was once an opponent of the United States, opposed in principle to the very concept of patriotism. I opposed America and supported its enemies.

Today, I am an evangelical Christian. On February 10, 1995, I made a life-changing decision to turn away from my past and to commit my life to Christ. I certainly had a past worth turning away from. But I was not always a Christian. I was once an atheist, opposed in principle to the very concept of Christianity. I mocked God, and ridiculed faith and moral values.

When I hear the words of Amazing Grace - "that saved a wretch like me" - I know those words are meant for me. Some people wrestle with the demons of alcoholism or drug addiction or depression. My demons were different.

I pray that this testimony will lead others to the same choice.

Antynomys: STUPID JEWS: THE AMERICAN ZUNDERKOMMANDOS

B.O. spoke to Hollywood last night in Beverly Hills. All of the stupid Jews were there. Or, all of the Jews who were there are stupid. Katzenberg, Spielberg, other 'bergs and Katz's and the whole Mischbocha of the rich, famous, snotty, stupid Jews in the area. Jews who hobnob with the most racist and divisive president ever to enter the Oval Office.

Whoa, dude! Wait a minute. How can you call your fellow Jews stupid? And the false messiah a divisive racist? Easy. Remember some history and pay attention.

This blog post pretty much sums up my feelings about his President. It is well worth the read.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

A Good Tax Policy Should Help Re-balance the Distribution of Wealth

China's National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice this week, saying a property tax levy is in the pipeline.

An article in the China Youth Daily notes a good tax policy should not only contribute to fiscal revenue, but help re-balance the distribution of wealth between the haves and have-nots.

I guess if this type of taxation is good enough for Communist China, it must be good enough for Obama's USA.

Maddow thinks Obama is worse than Bush on terrorist detention policy

Maddow thinks Obama is worse than Bush on terrorist detention policy

It’s too bad no one watches MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow anymore. She just plain went off on President Barack Obama Thursday night. If it weren’t so painful watching Maddow’s tortured delivery, we would say it was a joy to watch.

Believe it or not, she actually finds President Bush’s terrorist detention policy preferable to President Obama’s. In fact, she’s absolutely appalled by Obama’s plan.

“How can a president speak with the kind of poetry that President Obama does about the rule of law and call for the power to indefinitely preventatively imprison people because they might commit crimes in the future? How can those two things co-exist in the same man? Even in the same speech?

Who knew I would be quoting Rachel Maddow here and on my show? Miracles do happen.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Introducing 'Frank the Firefighter': The Right Way to Take on Sotomayor -- Politics Daily

Introducing 'Frank the Firefighter': The Right Way to Take on Sotomayor -- Politics Daily

It's no big secret what the White House is doing. As Kimberly Strassel writes in today's Wall Street Journal,

Ground Rule No. 1, as decreed by the president, is that this is to be a discussion primarily about Judge Sotomayor's biography, not her qualifications. ... Ground Rule No. 2, which is that Republicans are not allowed to criticize Judge Sotomayor, for the reason that she is the first Hispanic nominee to the High Court.

... And Rich Noyes of the Media Research Center put it well when he said,

"The media elite are helping to build Sotomayor up as a folk hero, whose sympathetic life story is supposed to trump issues of judicial philosophy or her controversial statements about using the courts to reshape the law..."

Clearly, the strategy for confirming Sotomayor is to talk about her compelling biography -- not her rather concerning judicial philosophy. The thing is, though, as long as Democrats are telling an emotional and aspirational story -- and Republicans are (at worst) talking about reverse-racism and (at best) talking about the importance of originalism versus activist judges, we will lose. As the saying goes, "logic leads to conclusions, but emotion leads to action." Appointing judges who interpret the Constitution is a logical argument, but confirming the first Latina is an emotional one.

The way I see it, the only chance conservatives have is to fight fire with fire. This means that if the Democrats want to tell the Sotomayor story, we conservatives must tell an equally emotional story about someone who has been negatively impacted by Judge Sotomayor. ...

Matt Lewis hits the nail on the head with this one.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Pat Roberts to Vote "No" on Sotomayor

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said Thursday he does not plan to vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the first Republican to explicitly state his opposition to President Obama's pick for the high court.

"With all due respect to the nominee and nothing personal, I do not plan to vote for her," Roberts told talk radio host Christ Stigall on Kansas station KCMO.

Way to go, Pat.

Worth Noting :: Karl Rove

The media and Democrats are driving the story line that Republicans will damage themselves with Hispanics if they oppose Ms. Sotomayor. Why was it acceptable, then, for Democrats to attack Miguel Estrada's nomination by President George W. Bush to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001?

Thank you Karl Rove. We need to fight this nomination with everything we have.

Ann Coulter : I Feel Your Pain. Not Theirs. Yours. - Townhall.com

God save us from liberal "empathy." After President Barack Obama announced his empathetic Supreme Court nominee this week, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, we found out that some people are more deserving of empathy than others.

For example, Judge Sotomayor apparently "empathized" more with New Haven, Conn., government officials than with white and Hispanic firefighters who were denied promotions by the city on the basis of their race.

Let's hope she's as empathetic to New Haven residents who die in fires fought by inferior firefighters as a result of her decision.

Always great to get Ann Coulter's take on issues. She is right on the money as usual.

'Empathy' Is Code for Judicial Activism - WSJ.com

Both President Barack Obama and Republicans get something they want from the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.

Mr. Obama said he wanted to replace Justice David Souter with someone who had "empathy" and who'd temper the court's decisions with a concern for the downtrodden, the powerless and the voiceless.

"Empathy" is the latest code word for liberal activism, for treating the Constitution as malleable clay to be kneaded and molded in whatever form justices want. It represents an expansive view of the judiciary in which courts create policy that couldn't pass the legislative branch or, if it did, would generate voter backlash.

Karl Rove hits the nail on the head with this piece.

Heads Up, Tea Party Patriots!

Mired in red tape, the 4th Annual New Hampshire Live Free or Die Rally will be the testing ground on whether July 4th Tea Parties will be squashed throughout the United States of America.

Suppressing dissent followed hard on the heels of state-wide April 15 Tea Parties when Department of Homeland Security head honcho Janet Napolitano fingered returning war veterans as right-wing “extremists”.

Anti-Obama bumper-stickers brought motorists visits from the FBI.

Simple strategy. If you can't win a debate with your critics, silence them. I sure wish freedom of speech meant something in this country.

Furor grows over partisan car dealer closings | Washington Examiner

Furor grows over partisan car dealer closings Washington Examiner

Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.

The basic issue raised here is this: How do we account for the fact millions of dollars were contributed to GOP candidates by Chrysler who are being closed by the government, but only one has been found so far that is being closed that contributed to the Obama campaign in 2008?

If this were a Republican President, the term "Dealergate" would be all over the MSM. But since this is a Democrat, we have to depend on the new media to do the old guard's work for them.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Obama adviser: North Korea not an imminent threat to the US

The strategy on North Korea at the White House continues to shift in an odd direction. First, Barack Obama called North Korea a “regional threat” after its missile launch in April, and this week declared the nation a threat to global peace after its nuclear test. Now Obama’s national security adviser James Jones say’s they’re not an imminent threat at all, despite Kim Jong-Il’s rejection of the 56-year truce — and the 25,000 American soldiers on the other side of the DMZ:

You gotta love our new foreign policy: Bury your head in the sand and pretend that nothing is happening.

World saved from global warming, Aussie company trumpets “Flatulence Offsets”

An Australian company is selling carbon credits to make up for farting pets and people. (We agonized over that sentence, but it is what it is).

For just $27, Easy Being Green will sell you enough carbon credits to offset your dog’s annual anal methane production. Making your cat carbon neutral is a bargain at just $6.

And if you’re looking for a special anniversary or birthday gift, imagine how happy your loved one will be knowing that you spent US$16 to offset two years worth of their personal trouser trumpet production.

AlGore must be proud...or jealous that he didn't think of this first.

Does Obama have a car dealer enemies list? - Josh_Painter’s blog - RedState

Is the Obama administration punishing Chrysler dealers for their politics? A preliminary analysis by Doug Ross suggests that could be the case.

There were too many things about the selection of dealerships to be closed that just didn’t add up. Some of the dealers chosen to be terminated were among the more successful outlets in the Chrysler dealership network, and many of them had been loyal Chrysler and Dodge agents who had maintained an excellent working relationship with the Detroit automaker for decades.

Some dealers who got a thumbs down from Obama’s automotive panel told compelling stories about their situations that raised doubts about the process of selecting them for closing. One example, a dealership in Alvin, Texas, had increased its new car sales by 50% in the first four months of 2009, while other MOPAR dealers’ sales were in the tank. Another in Melbourne, Florida, had, at Chrysler’s insistence, totally renovated its facility financed by incurring millions of dollars of debt in the form of a bank mortgage. The are just two of many stories which highlight the incongruities to be found on the list of dealerships not deemed worthy to remain in operation.

This sort of stuff is bound to happen when the government takes over.

Couple: County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego

SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold bible studies in their home, 10News reported.

Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.

Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"

Looks like freedom of religion is the next right in this country about to go away. Our weekly home Bible studies are now threatened.

NRCC targets Democrats using Speaker Pelosi. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState

The NRCC will be launching a barrage of television, radio, phone, and physical advertisements today at specific Democratic-controlled House Districts. The theme of the message: Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s attacks on the CIA, the implications of those attacks, and the curious disinterest in selected House Democrats in facing up to those implications. The television ad for MD-01’s Frank Kratovil sums it up:

This is a great ad. Every Republican House candidate should run against Nancy.

Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'

As President Obama's Supreme Court nominee comes under heavy fire for allegedly being a "racist," Judge Sonia Sotomayor is listed as a member of the National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police.

According the American Bar Association, Sotomayor is a member of the NCLR, which bills itself as the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.

Meaning "the Race," La Raza also has connections to groups that advocate the separation of several southwestern states from the rest of America.

Is this the bullet which will keep this racist woman off the Supreme Courts? One can only hope.

Green homeowner hit with noise abatement order because 40ft wind turbine is driving his neighbours mad | Mail Online

Green homeowner hit with noise abatement order because 40ft wind turbine is driving his neighbours mad Mail Online

When Stephen Munday spent £20,000 on a wind turbine to generate electricity for his home, he was proud to be doing his bit for the environment.

He got planning permission and put up the 40ft device two years ago, making sure he stuck to strict noise level limits.

But neighbours still complained that the sound was annoying - and now the local council has ordered him to switch it off.

Looks like we can take wind off the list of alternative energy options. Everybody seems to want it, but nobody wants it near them.

Voting Drops 83 Percent In All-Digital Election - Politics News Story - KITV Honolulu

HONOLULU -- Officials saw an 83 percent drop in the number of voters participating in the Honolulu Neighborhood Board's recent election that is the nation's first all-digital election, where people could vote over the Internet or by phone.

For the first time, Oahu voters had to use computers or the telephone to vote for their neighborhood board candidates and many people did not bother.

About 7,300 people voted this year, compared to 44,000 people who voted in the last neighborhood board race in 2007.

Let me ask you a silly question. What is wrong with the tradition of having people go to polling places on a special day to cast their votes? What am I missing?

Palin Campaign Clothes Complaint dismissed: Little Coverage in Old Media - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

Remember how everyone in the Old Media delighted in lambasting Governor Sarah Palin when the GOP bought all those clothes for her use during the McCain campaign? Remember how it was reported as nearly a foregone conclusion that these purchases must have somehow been illegal? It was even bigger news when the left-wing group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the GOP. The whole thing was the talk of the Old Media, as you may recall.

Well, as of May 15, the FEC ruled that there was no ethics violation and the clothing spending was deemed legal. One would think that this news concluding the story would make as big of a splash with the Old Media as the beginning of the tale did. Naturally, crickets have been heard throughout the media establishment as little notice has been paid to this story.

But of course, there is no bias in the mainstream media, is there???

Is Obama Stiffing British Allies Again? - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

So, let’s see. There was that whole World War Two thingie. There was Germany, Japan and Italy on one side. So, who was on the other? I think it was The United States, Russia, and some other unimportant countries… right? One might be excused to assume this is the thought process of the Obama administration as it planned the upcoming D-Day events for the president’s European tour that is in the offing because as currently announced, Team Obama left the Queen out of its D-Day memorial plans. And boy is the she torked, not that anyone can blame her.

This is the Fourth slight made against England by the Obama administration and it is beginning to look less and less like an accident and more like a purposeful policy of snubbing the Brits. I mean, imagine. Planning a D-Day commemoration that excludes the Queen! And she is the only world leader that actually served during the war, on top of it.

Can this administration even tell the difference between who our friends are and who our enemies are? I am beginning to wonder.

US firm plans move to Dublin as Obama curbs tax havens - The Irish Times - Thu, May 28, 2009

IRELAND IS emerging as a beneficiary of the clampdown on tax havens by the Obama administration with the decision of New York-listed consulting firm Accenture to move its corporate headquarters to Dublin from Bermuda.

The move by Accenture, which already employs about 1,400 staff here, comes in spite of the fact that the White House listed Ireland as one of three jurisdictions accounting for a major portion of foreign profits made by American corporations, when President Barack Obama moved to reform US tax rules earlier this month.

It is so nice to know that some country's economy will be better off under President Obama's economic policies. Just wish it were our's.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look

With budget deficits soaring and President Obama pushing a trillion-dollar-plus expansion of health coverage, some Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax.

Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax -- called a value-added tax, or VAT -- has not been seriously considered in the United States. But advocates say few other options can generate the kind of money the nation will need to avert fiscal calamity.

At a White House conference earlier this year on the government's budget problems, a roomful of tax experts pleaded with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to consider a VAT. A recent flurry of books and papers on the subject is attracting genuine, if furtive, interest in Congress. And last month, after wrestling with the White House over the massive deficits projected under Obama's policies, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee declared that a VAT should be part of the debate.

I could live with a national sales tax if you get rid of the income tax completely. Somehow, I don't think that is what the Democrats have in mind.

Woman Upset After American Flag Taken Down At Work - cbs11tv.com

Is it okay to show your patriotism at the office?

For one Arlington woman, the answer was "no" after she hung an American flag in her office just before the Memorial Day weekend.

Debbie McLucas is one of four hospital supervisors at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield. Last week, she hung a three-by-five foot American flag in the office she shares with the other supervisors.

When McLucas came to work Friday, her boss told her another supervisor had found her flag offensive. "I was just totally speechless. I was like, 'You're kidding me,'" McLucas said.

We have to tolerate all sorts of "free expression" by people who hate our country. But we can't allow an American flag to be displayed in an office by the wife and mother of military men at Memorial Day? What is this country coming to?

US wants to paint the world white to save energy (AFP) | Yahoo! Green

US wants to paint the world white to save energy (AFP) Yahoo! Green

LONDON(AFP) (AFP) - US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday the Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white, as he took part in a climate change symposium in London.

The Nobel laureate in physics called for a "new revolution" in energy generation to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

But he warned there was no silver bullet for tackling climate change, and said a range of measures should be introduced, including painting flat roofs white.

Making roads and roofs a paler colour could have the equivalent effect of taking every car in the world off the road for 11 years, Chu said.

You are kidding here, right? No? Do I hear Thomas Dolby music playing on the show today???

Sotomayor reversed 60% by high court - Washington Times

With Judge Sonia Sotomayor already facing questions over her 60 percent reversal rate, the Supreme Court could dump another problem into her lap next month if, as many legal analysts predict, the court overturns one of her rulings upholding a race-based employment decision.

Three of the five majority opinions written by Judge Sotomayor for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed, providing a potent line of attack raised by opponents Tuesday after President Obama announced he will nominate the 54-year-old Hispanic woman to the high court.

"Her high reversal rate alone should be enough for us to pause and take a good look at her record. Frankly, it is the Senates duty to do so," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.

She walks like an activist judge. She talks like an activist judge. Could she be an activist judge???

North Korea Threatens Armed Strike, End to Armistice (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.” South Korea’s military said it will “deal sternly with any provocation” from the North.

Yup, Obama's change is working real well right now. World war could start any minute now.

Conservatives: Oppose Sotomayor at Your Own Risk? - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

A few of our newly minted spokesmen for all those seemingly ubiquitous new Republican moderates out there are starting to say that if we oppose Sotomayor, we do so at our own risk. By this they mean that if we are seen to oppose a strong Hispanic woman we will be hurting our chances further with Hispanic voters. To this one can only say poppycock. Sotomayor should be opposed and vigorously but not because of anything other than her rather un-judicial judicial philosophy.

No one, not one conservative commentator or politician, cares a whit that Sotomayor is Hispanic. There simply is no expectation of opposing her because she is of Latino heritage. And so, because of this, there should be no reason whatever to shy from criticizing her qualifications and philosophy. Further, to allow moderates on our side or anyone on the left to equate our opposition to a racial objection is illegitimate and should be vociferously denied.

The question isn't whether or not we should contest Sotomayor's nomination. The question is, do the Republicans in the Senate have the guts to do it?

Could big money haul hurt Harry Reid? - Carol E. Lee - POLITICO.com

LAS VEGAS – Sen. Harry Reid has made no secret of his plans to shore up a massive war chest to scare off challengers and aid his re-election bid.

But could Reid’s boasting that he will raise $25 million to keep his seat actually hurt him?

Washington Republicans have criticized the majority leader for his glitzy Las Vegas fund-raiser Tuesday night, where donors could pay $29,600 to have their picture taken with President Obama, but Nevada Republicans could go after Reid’s push to kick off the most expensive race in the state’s history during a recession.

“It will hurt him if he keeps talking about raising that kind of money when we have record unemployment and a record budget deficit,” said Sue Lowden, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party. “The thought of someone saying they have to raise $25 million to win is astonishing.”

Do you want to know why Republicans don't win more elections? Do you really believe you can run against the big money by complaining about the money? This is at best a false hope. If the GOP can't come up with a better campaign strategy, they might as well not bother putting up a candidate against Reid.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22994.html#ixzz0Gha9ybS8&B

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Don Surber » Blog Archive » In medicine, 1 in 7 is malpractice

The Pentagon said 1 in 7 detainees — unlawful combatants — freed from Gitmo return as terrorists against our soldiers and our allies.

In medicine, it is called malpractice.

Why not in politics?

Good point. Who wants to start the lawsuit???

Could a Dick Cheney- Rush Limbaugh ticket keep us safe? - Roger Simon - POLITICO.com#ixzz0GeqfT7IK#ixzz0GeqfT7IK

North Korea’s recent decision to detonate an underground nuclear bomb and also test a short-range missile leaves Washington with only one question: WWDCD?

That’s right: What would Dick Cheney do?

In recent weeks, Cheney has emerged as the face of the new Republican Party. He has gone on TV not only to denounce the Obama administration for making America less safe but also to mock moderate Republicans like Colin Powell.

“If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh,” Cheney said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

This led to immediate speculation that Cheney and Limbaugh intend to run as a ticket in the 2012 election. A full-blown international crisis like the one President Barack Obama is now facing with North Korea gives that possible ticket its first real test.

Is a ticket like this possible? I doubt it, but I am enjoying imagining it.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22956.html#ixzz0GerPE5dk&B

Oppo: Sonia Sotomayor blinded by ideology - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com

Conservatives plan to cast Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a left-wing activist judge who is occasionally blinded by her own feelings and personal politics.

That's the portrait that emerges from the opposition research that began circulating in the moments after news broke Tuesday morning that President Barack Obama intended to nominate her for the seat made vacant by the retirement of Justice David Souter.

One memo, circulated by the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative group that aired ads attacking Obama during his presidential campaign, cites a 2002 California speech in which Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge, asserted that it is appropriate for judges to consider their "experiences as women and people of color" — factors that "should affect our decisions," she said.

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," she said in the same speech.

Will these arguments make a difference? I doubt it. But it can give Conservative Senate candidates an issue to run on in 2010.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22969.html#ixzz0Geq6RGV6&B

How Much Will Universal Coverage Cost? | Cato @ Liberty

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/05/26/how-much-will-universal-coverage-cost/

President Barack Obama has declared that his goal in health care reform is “expanding coverage to all Americans.” So what’s the price tag on universal coverage?

Some reformers are throwing around numbers like $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion. But according to the Urban Institute, the cost would be closer to $2 trillion.

Jack Hadley and his colleagues estimate, “If all uninsured people were fully covered [in 2008], their medical spending would increase by $122.6 billion.” If we assume that the cost of covering the uninsured will grow at the same rate the federal government assumes for all health spending growth (6.2 percent), then from 2010 through 2019, the cost of covering the uninsured would be $1.8 trillion.

Can we really afford this? I would say no.

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - US burns Bibles in Afghanistan row

The US army in Afghanistan has burned Bibles printed in local languages, a US colonel in Afghanistan has said, amid concerns they could have been used to try to convert Afghans.

"My understanding is that the [military] leadership confiscated these Bibles so that they could not be distributed around Afghanistan," Colonel Greg Julian told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.

"It was their best judgement at the time, that the best way to deal with it, was to destroy them and I understand that they were burnt."

Al Jazeera broadcast footage earlier this month showing troops apparently discussing how best to convert Afghans to their faith.

What has this country come to when the military makes it a priority to burn Bibles? It may very well be a sign that under this Commander in Chief, we are no longer a Christian nation.

Thomas Sowell : Random Thoughts - Townhall.com

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

They say that people mellow with age. However, the older I get, the less patience I have with cleverness.

If increased government spending with borrowed or newly created money is a "stimulus," then the Weimar Republic should have been stimulated to unprecedented prosperity, instead of runaway inflation and widespread economic desperation that ultimately brought Adolf Hitler to power.

Just days after Colin Powell informed us that the American people were willing to pay higher taxes in order to get government services-- and that Republicans therefore needed to stop their opposition to taxes-- California voters resoundingly defeated a bill to raise taxes in order to pay for the many government services in that liberal state.

Lots of great thoughts in the column. A great read.

Sotomayor’s View of Judging Is on the Record - NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — In 2001, Sonia Sotomayor, an appeals court judge, gave a speech declaring that the ethnicity and sex of a judge “may and will make a difference in our judging.”

In her speech, Judge Sotomayor questioned the famous notion — often invoked by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her retired Supreme Court colleague, Sandra Day O’Connor — that a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion when deciding cases.

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

More bad news about Obama's pick. This is one which must be fought.

State sends three to NCAA baseball | CJOnline.com

State sends three to NCAA baseball CJOnline.com

If it wasn’t official before, it is now. College baseball is a hit in Kansas.

For the first time ever, all three of the Sunflower State’s major colleges will send teams to the NCAA baseball tournament.

The NCAA selection committee Monday rewarded Kansas State (41-16-1) for its best season by making the Wildcats the No. 2 seed at the Houston Regional. The committee also tabbed Kansas (37-22) the No. 3 seed at the Chapel Hill, N.C., site, and made Wichita State (30-25) the fourth seed at Norman, Okla.

This is really cool. Baseball is big in Kansas right now.

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Judge Sonia Sotomayor gets the nod

AP source: President Obama picked the caught-on-video activist judge for the Supreme Court.

As she told law students: The “Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know, and I know, that this is on tape, and I should never say that. Because we don’t ‘make law,’ I know. [audience laughter] Okay, I know. I know. I’m not promoting it, and I’m not advocating it. I’m, you know. [audience laughter]”

Why legislate when you can adjudicate? No muss. No fuss. And a Supreme Court decision is final. The only way to trump on is to pass a constitutional amendment.

At first glance, this pick doesn't look good. I hope Republicans in the Senate are up for a fight.

Millionaires Go Missing - WSJ.com

Here's a two-minute drill in soak-the-rich economics:

Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."

One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.

And the lesson the government refuses to learn is, higher taxes don't work.

Raising Eden: Back to Basics

Sometimes for sanity's sake, you just need to return to basics. Our world is a confusing place, contradictions abound.

Yesterday we honored the sacrifice of those who served in our military. Despite recent reports from the Dept. of Homeland Security, identifying our Veterans as extremists, the entire nation paused, bowed their heads and remembered. Their sacrifice deserves this national honor. What's confusing is why each and every vote of our so honored citizens are not counted.

Strange that you are seen as a moral champion if you fight for the life of a serial killer, while killing the unborn is simply a matter of choice.

Odd that when someone despises America, we need to ask, "What have we done to make us so hated?" Yet when someone despises liberal policies they're bigoted, ignorant, or evil.

George Bush's economic deficit was terrible, yet when President Obama triples it - not a problem.

How can you champion free speech, yet want to silence talk radio?

All I can say is, this woman is good. Read the full column.

PA Muslims Desecrate Christian Gravestones - Inside Israel - Israel News - Israel National News

Palestinian Authority Muslims went on a rampage Sunday and desecrated 70 Christian graves two weeks after the pope praised efforts for a new PA state and tried to appease Muslim anger over previous disputes between the two religions.

The vandals smashed gravestones and knocked metal and stone crosses off graves in the village of Jiffna, near Ramallah, home to approximately 900 Christians and 700 Muslims. Greek Orthodox Church official George Abdo told Reuters the head and hand of a statue of Madonna also was severed.

So, these are the people Israel is supposed to make peace with? I wonder how our country's president is going to respond to this. Oh yeah, he will ignore it, or make excuses for the "religion of peace."

Makes me sick.

Monday, May 25, 2009

China Confidential: Obama Will be a One-Term President

Four months into the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, this reporter has seen enough to predict that BHO will not be sitting in the Oval Office in four years. Like the catastrophic Carter, the Mysterious Obama will be a one-termer.

Just as Jimmy Carter paved the way for President Reagan, Obama will open the door for a Republican comeback and the election in 2012 of Newt Gingrich or another center-right GOP candidate to lead the nation to recovery and wealth creation.

Not only will Obama fail to win reelection; he will probably not even run for a second term and either drop out or lose out to Hillary Clinton. Already marginalized, the Secretary of State will resign within 12 to 18 months to protest Obama's appeasement of Islamist Iran and Islamism in general--policies that will give Tehran's turbaned tyrants time to develop nuclear weapons and make war in the Middle East and terrorist attacks at home inevitable.

I hope this guy is right about Obama. But I do pray he is wrong about some of the consequences of Obama's policies.

Gore calls on world business leaders to push for climate deal -

NEW YORK -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore on Sunday urged a gathering of more than 500 business leaders to push for a global agreement on curbing global warming pollution, saying "Mother Nature does not do bailouts."

"The market signals on energy are badly misleading and wrong. We do not take into account the cost of pollution," Gore told the meeting of chief executives from global industry giants, including PepsiCo Inc.

"If there is no cost to be paid for the indiscriminate dumping of pollution into the earth's atmosphere, then it should be a surprise to no one that today we will dump another 70 million tons of global warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet," Gore said.

Yes, we better make drastic changes. After all, AlGore's retirement depends on it.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Water-board Nancy

The latest action figure. Comes complete with its own water-board. Yours for only $49.95.

Another free ad for Herobuilders.com.

The company’s political action figures may look nothing like the politicians they depict.

Now you know what you can buy me for my birthday.

Tax break district proposal denied | CJOnline.com

Tax break district proposal denied CJOnline.com

Shawnee County commissioners killed a proposal Thursday to create a tax-increment financing district to encourage development in south Topeka after being told a mistake by the city was forcing the process to start over.

Commissioners Vic Miller, Shelly Buhler and Ted Ensley voted 3-0 to prevent establishment of the district, which could have taken effect at the end of a 30-day period on May 28 if not rejected by the county commission or any of the three school districts involved.

Miller said the proposed TIF district would have been legally invalid because it included property in two school districts the city failed to notify.

Leave it to the city to botch this thing up. Seems like all to common an occurrence, doesn't it?

Bush: It's 'Liberating' to Be Out of Office - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com

Bush: It's 'Liberating' to Be Out of Office - Presidential Politics Political News - FOXNews.com

ARTESIA, N.M. -- It was a humbling moment for the former commander in chief: President George W. Bush was walking former first dog Barney in his new Dallas neighborhood when it stopped in a neighbor's yard for relief.

"And there I was, former president of the United States of America, with a plastic bag on my hand," he told a group of graduating high school students in New Mexico on Thursday. "Life is returning back to normal."

Bush, in one of his few public appearances since leaving office in January, told the students that leaving office lifted a heavy burden.

"I no longer feel that great sense of responsibility that I had when I was in the Oval Office. And frankly, it's a liberating feeling," he told seniors from Artesia High School.

It is clear George W. Bush understood the weight of the office he served in. Does the current President get it???

Barbour to Hawkeye State - Jrichardson’s blog - RedState

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour will headline a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser in late June, fueling speculation the wildly-popular two-term governor may indeed have ambitions for higher officer.

Barbour, 61, will be ineligible to seek another term as governor in 2012, but refuses to speak to his political future, saying only that “You can look for me not to run for re-election.”

He will undoubtedly dismiss the candidate-type activity as inconsequential, as spreading the Republican Gospel, but no politician finds themselves in Iowa — the launch pad of every dark horse candidacy — by pure coincidence.

Considered a highly effective organizer and strategist, Barbour was a key architect of the 1994 Republican revolution as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Barbour would make an interesting candidate for President. What do you think?

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Democrats Lead, 12 to 4 . . . in Members of Congress Under Investigation - Jim Geraghty - The Campaign Spot on National Review Online

If you have been thinking to yourself, "I wonder how many members of Congress are under investigation," the good folks at CREW decided to compile a list.

Democratic members of Congress: Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Jesse Jackson of Illinois, Allan Mollohan of West Virginia, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Charlie Rangel of New York, Linda Sanchez of California, Loretta Sanchez of California, Pete Visclosky of Indiana.

Democratic Senators: Roland Burris of Illinois, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Bob Menendez of New Jersey.

Republican members of Congress: Jerry Lewis of California, Garry Miller of California, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Don Young of Alaska.

Republican Senators: None.

I post this just in case you were keeping score.

American Daily Review - articles blog - What States Need to Know About Wealth and Poverty

Some states are on the rise and others are in rapid decline. This article will focus on twenty of them. In the last decade ten became richer and ten became poorer. The question that matters for policy experts should be “why?” Ten states enjoyed an upward economic and population trend between 1997 and 2007, ten others saw serious decline in the same time period. The American Legislative Exchange Council recently published a study (Rich States, Poor States) written by economists Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal and Arthur Laffer, most famous for being behind the development of Ronald Reagan’s economic agenda. These two economists have gone “under the hood” to determine why some states are prospering, while others suffer.

This piece should be mandatory reading for Gov. Parkinson and all the members of the Legislature. Please???

Time's Joe Klein Says People in Wheelchairs Can't 'See' the World? | NewsBusters.org

Time's Joe Klein Says People in Wheelchairs Can't 'See' the World? NewsBusters.org

On May 20, Politico had an interesting little treatment of columnist Charles Krauthammer crowning him as the most important conservative columnist of the day. A brief overview of his life and his emergence as the most reliable voice against Obamaism served as the main subject for the piece, but a few quotes on Mr. Krauthammer made by other columnists added a sense of how respected Krauthammer is to scribe Ben Smith's piece. All the quotes were complimentary but shockingly, in one of those quotes, lefty Time columnist Joe Klein seemed to hint that a person in a wheelchair was incapable of really understanding enough of the world to make for a worthy columnist.

Leave it to a liberal to say something like that. And I thought they were the ones who owned the concept of compassion. NOT!!!

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - CNN Poll: Favorable opinion of Dick Cheney on the rise « - Blogs from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) — As Dick Cheney prepares to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism, a new national poll suggests that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise.

But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Wednesday morning, indicates that a majority of Americans still have an unfavorable opinion of Cheney.

Fifty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say they have an unfavorable opinion of the former vice president. Thirty-seven percent say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, up eight points from January when he left office.

I am not saying that the Bush/Cheney administration was the best in history, but is better than what we are stuck with now. And little by little, the American people are seeing the light, and coming around to the truth.

Alan Grayson to introduce Paid Vacation Act - Erika Lovley - POLITICO.com

Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.

So on Thursday, the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law.

The bill would require companies with more than 100 employees to offer a week of paid vacation for both full-time and part-time employees after they’ve put in a year on the job. Three years after the effective date of the law, those same companies would be required to provide two weeks of paid vacation, and companies with 50 or more employees would have to provide one week.

You are kidding me, right? Here we are in an economy where employees are being forced to take unpaid leave, and this guy wants to shove another unfunded mandate on employers? What is he smoking???

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22794.html#ixzz0G940AyO7&B

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Jailhouse jihadists

The FBI said it busted a homegrown terror cell that was going to blow up two synagogues in the Bronx — and then take down U.S. jets with a Stinger missile.

Fortunately, police had infiltrated the cell and sold them duds. Given that London’s 7/7 attack was homegrown, this easily foiled plot is nonetheless alarming.

The New York Daily News reported: “The suspects - three U.S.-born citizens and one Haitian immigrant — at least three of whom were said to be jailhouse converts to Islam, were angry about the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan, sources told The News.”

After reading that, do you still want terrorists in American prisons???

Obama 'Distracted' by Biden's 'Indiscipline,' Book Asserts - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com

Obama 'Distracted' by Biden's 'Indiscipline,' Book Asserts - Presidential Politics Political News - FOXNews.com

President Obama is so "distracted by his vice president's indiscipline" that he has been forced to rebuke privately Vice President Joe Biden, according to a new book by Newsweek journalist Richard Wolffe, who interviewed Obama a dozen times.

"He can't keep his mouth shut," Wolffe quotes a "senior Obama aide" as saying of the gaffe-prone Biden in "Renegade: The Making of a President," set for release June 2.

So, how long will it be before Obama throws Biden under the same bus he about to throw Pelosi under?

International Busy Body Laws Waning? - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

Are we beginning to see the first cracks in the idea of “universal jurisdiction,” the international busy body “law” that said that any nation can arrest the leaders of any other nation and try them for “war crimes”? Let us hope we are, at least.

This is an interesting read. I'd love to get your takes on it.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Moneynews - Major CEOs Turn On Obama Spending Plans

Jack Welch, the revered former chief executive of General Electric, says that while he admires President Obama, White House budgets are profligate and extremely dangerous.

He joins other chief executive luminaries, including retiring Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, in warning that the government’s growing role in the economy, and the trillion-plus deficits that will bring, is a serious risk to the economy.

“The guy is such a magnificent communicator,” Welch tells Bloomberg TV. “His personal magnetism makes him a heck of a leader in terms of being able to communicate, put a vision together and deliver.”

But that doesn’t mean Welch approves of the president’s budget.

Perhaps the "messiah" is starting to get wet as he walks on water?

Newsmax.com - Schumer: Time to Change Immigration Laws

Contending that U.S. borders are more secure than ever, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer said Wednesday it's time for the White House and Congress to overhaul immigration laws to stem the number of people coming into and living illegally in the U.S.

"We can pass strong, fair, practical and effective immigration reform this year," said Schumer, D-N.Y.

There is nothing wrong with the immigration laws we have. We just have to enforce them better.

K-State files suit asking court to declare secret agreement invalid - KTKA.com

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University and its athletic corporation is filing suit today, asking a court to declare invalid a secret agreement signed by Bob Krause, its former athletic director, and by former head football coach Ron Prince for a company called In Pursuit of Perfection, LLC. The secret agreement was signed without the knowledge of anyone else at K-State, according to K-State President Jon Wefald.

If determined to be valid, K-State's athletic corporation would have to make $3.2 million in deferred compensation payments to In Pursuit of Perfection between 2015 and 2020.

In addition to other legal claims, K-State argues that Ron Prince's attorney, Ohio sports agent Neil Cornrich, impermissibly negotiated this secret agreement without involving attorneys for the university. K-State contends that, under attorney ethical rules, Cornrich was required to obtain permission from K-State lawyers before negotiating directly with Krause.

This is a sad day for Kansas State University. Let's hope they clean up this mess quickly.

Senate votes to block funds for Guantanamo closure

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has voted to keep detainees held in the Guantanamo prison from being transferred to the United States, a major setback for President Barack Obama who wants to close the facility by January.

The 90-6 vote came a day before Obama is set to lay out his plan for closing the Guantanamo facility in a speech.

Obama put his Democratic allies in a difficult spot by requesting $80 million to facilitate closure of Guantanamo before developing a plan for what to do with its detainees. The Senate vote matched a move by the House last week to deny the money.

This is good news, a rare win these days for the good guys.

Israeli official blasts focus on 2-state idea

JERUSALEM (AP) - Media focus on the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, favored by President Barack Obama, is "childish and stupid," said an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday.

The aide's statement reflected efforts by Netanyahu to deflect attention away from the issue during his just-completed trip to Washington.

Ron Dermer spoke to The Associated Press after Netanyahu and his entourage arrived home from Washington. He denied that he meant that the two-state concept itself childish and stupid, as he was quoted earlier as saying in an anonymous briefing to journalists on the plane carrying Netanyahu home.

Thank God that the Netanyahu government isn't drinking the Obama kool-aid. Israel's survival may depend on that continuing.

State lawmakers want a penny for your soda: new riff on 'fat tax' will charge penny per drink

ALBANY - State lawmakers are trying to give the fat tax new life.

Senate Democrats want to impose a penny excise tax on non-diet sodas to help fund a plan to provide property tax relief to homeowners.

"It's a small amount of money, as far as increasing the price of soda, and it would allow the governor and the state to have a new slogan for soda: 'Have a coke, a rebate check and a smile,'" said state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) who unveiled the plan yesterday.

Klein said the soda tax would generate $100 million annually, with 80% of the money dedicated toward reviving the state's $1.5 billion STAR Property Tax Rebate program.

So, if they are planning to give most of the money back, what is the point of taxing in the first place???

Another roundabout planned | CJOnline.com

Another roundabout planned CJOnline.com

Add S.W. 17th and MacVicar to the list of Topeka intersections likely to get a roundabout to replace traffic signals.

City spokesman David Bevens said a budget is expected to be placed on the Topeka City Council agenda sometime soon to get the project moving. He said city and state officials are concerned about the number of accidents at S.W. 17th and MacVicar, at the northwest corner of the Washburn University campus.

Bevens said the plan had been discussed with Washburn officials, including president Jerry Farley, and with a neighborhood association in the area. They seemed to be receptive to the idea, he said, when it was explained that the roundabout is expected to be safer than the current intersection.

I support roundabouts, and think this is a good location for one. But I believe the city needs to do a better job of working with area residents to make these projects as pain free as possible.

Vick released from Leavenworth | CJOnline.com

Vick released from Leavenworth CJOnline.com

RICHMOND, Va. — Suspended NFL star Michael Vick left a Kansas prison before dawn Wednesday to begin home confinement in Virginia, one of his attorneys said, the latest step on a journey that Vick hopes will lead to his reinstatement.

Vick, who turns 29 in June, slipped past waiting cameras and reporters to leave a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth after serving 19 months for financing a dogfighting ring. He was headed to Virginia by car to begin two months of home confinement at his five-bedroom house in Hampton before a scheduled released from federal custody on July 20.

The bigger question is, did the Chiefs talk to him on his way out of town?

American Thinker: Napolitano's Politically Correct Border Security

Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano is determined to beef up security along the rough and tumble Canadian border. That's right, Canada.

In a dramatic break with the Bush administration, Napolitano is offering a novel rationale for stepped up vigilance on the Canadian border. A rationale that her boss, the President, must beamingly approve of as "real change."

The former Arizona governor, in a spasm of liberal-ese, said:

"One of the things that I think we need to be sensitive to is the very real feeling among southern border states and in Mexico that if things are being done on the Mexican border, they should also be done on the Canadian border."

Remember friends, many of you put these people into office.

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Texas is the new California

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: People are moving to Texas for jobs, which are on the rise. The reason for the jobs — lower taxes — isn’t mentioned until the 58th paragraph.

And then, all it said was, “Texas’ business climate of low taxes and a low regulatory burden draws companies and workers, Saving said.” He is Jason Saving, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Texas just happens to be 50th in taxes per capita. That’s right, it has the lowest state tax burden in the nation.

Lowest tax burden in the nation equals highest growth rate. Is there a lesson there, gang?

AFP: US Senators press Obama on 'risk' for Israel

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A vast majority of US senators on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to mind the "risks" to Israel in any Middle East peace accord as he presses for a two-state solution to the six-decade conflict.

"As we work closely with our democratic ally, Israel, we must take into account the risks it will face in any peace agreement," 76 of the 100 senators wrote Obama in a letter released to reporters.

"Without a doubt, our two governments will agree on some issues and disagree on others, but the United States friendship with Israel requires that we work closely together as we recommit ourselves to our historic role of a trusted friend and active mediator," they wrote.

Democratic Senators Christopher Dodd and Arlen Specter as well as Republican Senators Johnny Isakson and John Thune were the lead authors of the letter, which came one day after Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While I am pleased that these Senators expressed support for Israel, not even they seem to understand that a two state solution will not work in the Middle East. When will politicians in this country get a clue???

Google falling behind Twitter, admits chief | Business | guardian.co.uk

Google falling behind Twitter, admits chief Business guardian.co.uk

Google's co-founder, Larry Page, admitted today that the company has been losing out to Twitter in the race to meet web user's demand for real-time information.

Instead, the search engine's chairman and chief executive, Eric Schmidt, hinted that it could become a partner of the micro-blogging site. Twitter has come from nowhere to become the third most visited social networking site in the US in just three years by allowing its users to broadcast their thoughts, actions and news instantly.

Google's search engine, in contrast, can take hours or even days to update. While this is usually not a problem as accuracy of results is more important than speed of updating, as the internet community comes to demand ever faster information Twitter has left Google in its wake.

More and more, I am finding myself getting my news and information via Twitter. I have my TweetDeck running during the radio show, and pass along instant news and views as we go. You can follow me at @SteveInKansas.

Parkinson Expected to Make First Abortion Related Decision

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Gov. Mark Parkinson is expected to make his
first decision about an abortion measure this week, when he takes
up the Legislature's budget-balancing bill.

At issue is a provision that would abolish state funding for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

Parkinson could veto that measure while maintaining the rest of the bill.

Let's pray that Mark allows this to become law. We should not be funding a group that sanctions murder.

Green Follies: Gov’t Built Solar House Falls Apart - Warner_Todd_Huston’s blog - RedState

Hailed as a completely self-sustaining building, the solar house at the Troy Community Center in Troy, Michigan was set to open for tours and community use this Summer. Unfortunately, the systems failed to work over the winter, pipes froze, and water burst through the uninhabited structure causing the floors to collapse. As a result, the building sits unused after the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on it by government.

This is government waste and folly at it worst, but it is typical of the best government can do. Oh, it’s not the best because anything worked, it’s the best because failure is all one can expect from government when undertaking projects of this nature.

In the immortal words of Kermit The Frog, "It's not easy being green."

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Israeli warplanes bomb Hamas target, Gaza tunnels

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas security outpost and tunnels by the Gaza border with Egypt on Tuesday, after a rocket fired from the coastal territory struck an Israeli town, Israeli and Hamas sources said.

Palestinian medics said a woman in Gaza suffered moderate wounds from one of several air strikes against tunnels Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into the coastal territory.

Another raid targeted a Hamas outpost near a border fence with Israel, a Hamas source said. It was the first time Israel has attacked the Islamic militant group since a January 18 ceasefire went into effect after an Israeli offensive.

I do believe Israel wasn't just sending a message to Hamas. They were making themselves clear to President Obama.

It’s not your father’s Obamobile - Josh_Painter’s blog - RedState

The Obamobile is coming to a dealer showroom near you. Well, it may not actually be that near to you, now that GM (Government Motors) and CFUG (Chrysler-FIAT-UAW-Government) are throwing so many of their dealers under the bus. Say, this is a hybrid bus, isn’t it, citizen? But I digress. It’s only those in rural areas clinging to their guns and bibles who will have to drive to another town to find a dealer. But that’s their problem, citizen. The former Big Three Detroit automakers are now right where they deserve to be - under the thumb of The One who says, “I won!”

I guess I might have to keep driving the '85 Celebrity for as long as I can.

Senate Won’t Stop Banks From Giving Terrorists Credit | Judicial Watch

Senate Won’t Stop Banks From Giving Terrorists Credit Judicial Watch

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have eliminated the loophole that allowed the September 11 hijackers to obtain credit cards from U.S. banks to finance their terrorist activities.

Introduced by a Louisiana senator as an amendment to a credit card bill, the provision would have forced banks to verify the identification of any non U.S. citizen before permitting them to open a credit card account. Financial institutions would simply conduct the checks by requiring a Social Security card, valid U.S. driver’s license or state-issued identification card or an unexpired passport issued by the U.S. or a foreign government.

I can't believe the Senate voted this down. It seemed like a no brainer for me.

American Daily Review - articles blog - “Less Liberal” is Simply Not Enough

After their designated election cycles members of the US House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the President of the United States, swear to defend the US Constitution. In the vast majority of cases, it appears they are lying.

Unfortunately, most Americans haven’t read the half a dozen pages that make up that lean, but important, document. They haven’t noticed Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution that limits Congress to around 20 powers. Real exciting things like post offices, standard weights and measures, and post roads.

Very well said.

Mouth Of The Potomac - NY Daily News

Republican Party boss Michael Steele is vowing to end the nice-guy treatment of President Obama.

“We are going to take the President head-on. The honeymoon is over,” Steele said at today’s RNC conference.

“The Honeymoon is over. The honey money is over,” Steele repeated, but insisted that unlike liberals’ assaults on President Bush, his Republican attacks will be respectful and policy-based. “We are going to challenge those policies that we believe are wrong, and we are going to do so without apology and without a second thought.”

We can’t really remember much of a honeymoon, nevertheless, Steele went on to prove that it is indeed over.

Really? Why am I not quite buying it?

Not One Red Cent: Making it really simple for the NRSC

Since the National Republican Senatorial Committee seems to have trouble making a distinction between bed-wetting socialists, RINOs and conservatives, I thought I'd make it a bit easier for them. I've taken the latest ratings I could find from several conservative organizations and averaged them out so even the nitwits over at the NRSC can figure it out.

Averaged are the NTU's ratings for the 110th Congress, the ACU's 2008 Senate vote ratings, the Club for Growth's 2008 congressional scorecard, and the CAGW's 2008 Pig Book data. I had to make two minor adjustments. The first was for John McCain, who wasn't rated by the NTU for his failure to actually show up and vote. In order to give him the benefit of the doubt, I substituted McCain's '92 to '07 averaged NTU ratings. As CAGW wasn't able to score Senate votes for Roger Wicker, I used his most impressive House votes for the same year.

Our senators score well in this rating. It is a shame we are about to lose one reliable vote in Sam Brownback.

AP Source: Democrats won't fund Guantanamo closing

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's allies in the Senate will not provide funds to close the Guantanamo Bay prison next January, a top Democratic official said Tuesday.

With debate looming on Obama's spending request to cover military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the official says Democrats will deny the Pentagon and Justice Department $80 million to relocate Guantanamo's 241 detainees.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposed changes to the bill were to be unveiled later.

The administration has yet to develop a plan for what to do with the detainees, and Obama's promise to close the facility is facing strong GOP opposition.

So, maybe Kansas won't be getting new residents after all? This sure is a policy switch, isn't it?

Newsmax.com – Obama Ignores Credit Card Donation Fraud

What do Bart Simpson, Family Guy, Daffy Duck, King Kong, O.J. Simpson, and Raela Odinga have in common?

All are celebrities; and with the exception of Odinga and O.J. Simpson, they also are fictional characters. And yet, all of them gave money earlier this month to the campaign of Barack Obama, without any apparent effort by the campaign to screen them out as suspect donors.

More proof of mainstream media bias. If this were a Republican, it would be all over the major networks and papers. But the "messiah" will get away with this. And most Americans will never know about it.

Boehner: CBO Confirms Obama Budget Will Cost Taxpayers $2.3 Trillion More Than White House Claimed | Republican Leader John Boehner

Boehner: CBO Confirms Obama Budget Will Cost Taxpayers $2.3 Trillion More Than White House Claimed Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Mar 20 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement on a new estimate released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) showing the President’s budget will cost taxpayers $2.3 trillion more than initially admitted by the White House:

“This report should serve as the wake-up call this Administration needs. We simply cannot continue to mortgage our children and grandchildren’s future to pay for bigger and more costly government. Families and small businesses across America are making difficult budget decisions each and every day during this recession, and it’s time for Washington to do the same. Unfortunately, the President’s budget doesn’t do that. Instead it will hurt the economy and destroy jobs by spending too much, taxing too much, and borrowing too much, and today’s report confirms it. The President ought to be straight with the American people: will he have to raise taxes even higher than initially proposed to pay for this increasingly costly budget?

Wonderful news, isn't it? We simply can't afford Obamanomics.

Don Surber » Blog Archive » The Middle East trap

President Obama — like his predecessors — fails to grasp the basic problem: Palestinians do not want peace.

And until a president realizes that basic fact of life, he is doomed to waste a lot of time, prestige and money chasing that unicorn.

President Obama put on his unicorn hunting gear early — usually Peace in the Middle East is a third-year sport, but the frosh president is believing his PR.

This is not a put-down. Every president at some point thinks he’s omnipotent and he will magically cut this Gordian Knot.

His demand that Israel adopt a two-state policy was met with polite diplomacy from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who lives in Israel and realizes that the Palestinians want a one-state solution — and that state is not Israel.

You cannot cut a deal with someone who wants you and your people eliminated from the gene pool.

I started to be nervous about this meeting. But then I remembered who the Prime Minister of Israel is. I am confident Netanyahu won't sell out his country for a fake peace.

Community Blogs - Blogs - Living Lake Country

Does anyone really believe that Queen Nancy is telling the truth? Even many Democrats are distancing themselves from her. Pelosi should have taken a few lessons from Bill Clinton on the art of lying. She isn't doing too well on her own.

Imagine, this woman is third in line to become President of the United States. Scary thought. (Although Joe Biden, as second-in-command is even more frightening.)

If Nancy Pelosi were a Republican, she would have been forced to step down as Speaker of the House by now. As we all know, Republicans are held to a much higher standard of behavior and conduct than Democrats. The media tends to ignore many reprehensible acts by liberal politicians, but delights in reporting (over and over) on any improprieties by Republicans. In addition, we currently have a President who doesn't have enough guts to confront Pelosi and demand she resign. After all, who would Obama turn to for guidance? Harry Reid, George Soros, and moveon.org may suffice for awhile, but Nancy Pelosi is the one Obama really takes orders from. He'd be lost without her. The Democrats in Congress and the Senate control everything and will do all they can to protect her - right or wrong, simply because she is a Democrat.

This commentary is right on. But I say, keep Pelosi in office. It will be easier to make her an issue if she is still speaker.

To Merge or Not To Merge: City and County Parks & Rec

A work session was held Monday night at the Law Enforcement Center to brief City Council Members of a proposal to merge the City's Parks and Recreation Department with that of Shawnee County.

Council members Karen Hiller, Sylvia Ortiz, John Alcala, Jack Woelfel, and Mayor Bill Bunten were present along with Shawnee County Commissioners Vic Miller and Ted Ensley.

If the council votes for the merger than the Parks and Recreation Department would become the responsibility of the county. Commissioner Miller said that would save taxpayer dollars but some city council members are not so sure.

"I've read the plan and at this point I don't favor the merger. I haven't seen the benefits and I haven't seen the cost savings..." said Councilwoman Deborah Swank

"There is no way merging the two departments is going to cost more. It can only cost less and they only question being asked is how much less," said Commissioner Vic Miller.

I have to agree with Vic Miller. One department has to be cheaper than two. Hey, maybe they can take the savings from merging Parks and Rec, and pass it on to Topeka Transit and avoid a tax increase.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Evening, Sunday Topeka Transit Service Gets Reprieve - Again

The deadline to end evening and Sunday bus service in Topeka is once again extended.

The Topeka Transit Authority board voted Monday night to continue the service until July 5th. It originally was slated to end April 1, then was extended to Memorial Day.

Funding is the issue. The Topeka City Council voted last week to raise Transit's mil levy cap from three mils to five, but only for a year. Even with that vote, the Transit board says, until the budget is approved in August, even that money isn't guaranteed.

Just a reminder that is isn't too late to stop this tax increase. There will soon be a petition to reverse the council decision. And you can continue to pressure your council member to not approve the actual increase.

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Upper class

The average state government worker makes $50,350. The average private sector worker makes $43,889. That is a 14% difference.

And don’t get me started on fringe benefits.

I know that Topeka is a city full of state employees. But if we keep taxing at the rate we are going, before long, government workers will be the only ones who can afford to live here.

Kansas Defends Sign Law on Adult Stores

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ The Kansas attorney general's office says state law restricting billboard signs by sexually oriented businesses is not unconstitutional.

Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six defended the law Monday in a federal court documents responding to a lawsuit filed by the Lions Den Adult Superstore over its Abilene store. The suit argued the state violates the First Amendment.

I know this might surprise some people, but I believe this law should go down in flames. Remember, anything which limits some free speech can lead to the banning of free speech you agree with. I might not like porn shops, but they are legal. If we limit how they are promoted, next time, they could go after your church's billboards.

Whether you want to admit it or not, you know I am right.

Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid

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Much has been written about the Insight, Honda’s new low-priced hybrid. We’ve been told how much carbon dioxide it produces, how its dashboard encourages frugal driving by glowing green when you’re easy on the throttle and how it is the dawn of all things. The beginning of days.

So far, though, you have not been told what it’s like as a car; as a tool for moving you, your friends and your things from place to place.

So here goes. It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more.

Is this a car only AlGore could love?

Obama's Intellectually Dishonest Abortion Speech -- Politics Daily

Setting aside the question of whether or not President Barack Obama should have been invited to speak at Notre Dame, it is clear his abortion position that pro-Lifers and pro-Choicers should "work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term" -- is disingenuous.

First, it is clear that, despite Obama's moderate-sounding rhetoric, he has aggressively sought to increase -- not decrease -- the number of abortions.

Once again, Matt Lewis hits the nail on the head. Abortion is either murder or it isn't. I come down on the side that says it is murder.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Health care you can’t use

Today’s episode: Karen Nielsen, 66, of Edmonton, has waited 2 years and counting to replace her right hip.

To be fair, Canada’s free health care system did replace her left hip last year, so she is halfway there.

Nielsen told the Edmonton Sun: “I’m in intense pain, I live alone. How can they say this is elective surgery when someone is in pain 24-7 and can’t take care of themselves?”

For those of you who think Canadian style health care is the answer for our country, please read this. This is the wrong direction for America.

Flourishing eagles feast on Maine's rare seabirds

PORTLAND, Maine – Bald eagles, bouncing back after years of decline, are swaggering forth with an appetite for great cormorant chicks that threatens to wipe out that bird population in the United States.

The eagles, perhaps finding less fish to eat, are flying to Maine's remote rocky islands where they've been raiding the only known nesting colonies of great cormorants in the U.S. Snatching waddling chicks from the ground and driving adults from their nests, the eagles are causing the numbers of the glossy black birds to decline from more than 250 pairs to 80 pairs since 1992.

"They're like thugs. They're like gang members. They go to these offshore islands where all these seabirds are and the birds are easy picking," said Brad Allen, a wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. "These young eagles are harassing the bejesus out of all the birds, and the great cormorants have been taking it on the chin."

So, now our national bird is a thug? Maybe Ben Franklin was right, and we should have picked the turkey to be our national bird. After all, that is what we seem to send to Washington over and over again.

What's the point of Vice President Joe Biden? :: Toby Harnden

I only ask because of a couple of Joe Biden items today.

In the first, the LA Times's Top of the Ticket notes that the Vice President has nothing at all on his schedule this weekend.

In the second, Stephen Hayes of the Weely Standard picks up on an anecdote from Eleanor Clift on Newsweek about remarks Biden made at the Gridiron dinner in which he appeared to blow the gaffe on his predecessor Dick Cheney's undisclosed location.

Like I have said, Joe is the main reason I pray daily for the health of Barak Obama. I pray he never becomes president.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Skepticians » Blog Archive » Governor No More

In a brief ceremony at the White House today, President Barack Obama tapped Utah Governor John Huntsman to serve as United States Ambassador to China — his chief envoy to the world’s most populous country.

Reelected in 2008 by a record margin as a moderate Republican in an exceedingly conservative state, party elites and strategists were quick to point to the rising star as a potential challenger to the president. But given today’s interesting political calculus, the prospect of Huntsman now staging a challenge to Obama is exceptionally low.

Having carved out a reputation as a would-be-modernizer and pragmatic conservative on divisive social issues, Huntsman was right to test the waters. It seems he waded a little too deep for Obama’s comfort, however.

You have got to admit this was smart of Obama. If you are afraid you might lose to somebody, make them part of your team.

Don Surber » Blog Archive » Faux outrage

Amnesty International protests the administration, while it sneaks one of its own into the Department of Defense.

Candidate Obama campaigned on a promise to end those nasty military tribunals and give the terrorists (now reclassified as man-made disaster specialists) all the rights and privileges afforded juvenile delinquents.

President Obama jettisoned that silly plan as impracticable and unsafe.

Amnesty International is boo-hooing over this, to keep up appearances:

You weren't expecting this group to have actual convictions that go beyond partisan politics, were you?

Friday, May 15, 2009

CNSNews.com - U.S. Will Pay $2.6 Million to Train Chinese Prostitutes to Drink Responsibly on the Job

(CNSNews.com) -- The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will pay $2.6 million in U.S. tax dollars to train Chinese prostitutes to drink responsibly on the job.

Dr. Xiaoming Li, the researcher conducting the program, is director of the Prevention Research Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.

The grant, made last November, refers to prostitutes as "female sex workers"--or FSW--and their handlers as "gatekeepers."

I have to admit I thought this was a holdover program from the Clinton administration. Of course, they could be teaching them to drink the Obama Kool-Aid.

New York Times explains away Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threat to destroy Israel :: Toby Harnden

There's an unintentionally hilarious piece of editing in a news story headlined "Netanyahu Urges Pope to Speak Out Against Iran" in today's New York Times. I say "editing" because it can only have been done by the hand of an editor - I can't believe any reporter would have written the sentence in bold below.

After a quotation from the Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu asking the Pope "as a moral figure to make his voice heard loudly and continuously against the declarations coming from Iran about their intentions to destroy the state of Israel", this was inserted into the story:

(In the past, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for Israel's destruction, although on at least one occasion last year, he used somewhat less severe language, saying Israel would collapse.)

But of course, the mainstream media isn't biased, is it???

Health Care Leaders Say Obama Overstated Their Promise to Control Costs - NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — Hospitals and insurance companies said Thursday that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise earlier this week to reduce the growth of health spending.

Mr. Obama invited health industry leaders to the White House on Monday to trumpet their cost-control commitments. But three days later, confusion swirled in Washington as the companies’ trade associations raced to tamp down angst among members around the country.

It looks like dishonesty rules the day in the Obama White House. The industry could have worked with the administration on health care reform. Now, these lies will likely make them an enemy.

Raising Eden: Numbered Days

House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has proven herself to be a liar or an incompetent. Perhaps both. She claims the CIA did not inform her about methods used to get information from prisoners, obviously that's false. We've seen the documents, and really why would the CIA inform others, but not her? No one believes her, other than perhaps Mr. Pelosi.

Well, it looks like I am not the only person out there who believes Nancy Pelosi won't be around by the 2010 election. She is about to be thrown under the bus by her friends. Nice friends, right?

Three Cheers for Dick Cheney! -- Politics Daily

If you first came to this country, say, sometime in the last five years, and are interested in politics, you might be a bit overwhelmed at the universal revulsion expressed in the media and among Democrats -- not exactly two warring camps -- directed at the personage of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

My opinion of Mr. Cheney has grown over the past few weeks. As you can see by this column, I am not the only one.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Community fights to keep post office - KTKA.com

"I think that just because a ball is rolling downhill does not mean it can’t be stopped and I intend to stop this," Randolph city council member Donna Baer said.

Baer is a resident of Randolph and wasn’t happy when she received a letter from the United States Postal Service saying they might suspend their services to the town.

The lease for the current building expires July 31. The owner of the building and the postal service can’t agree on a new lease.

"The disturbing thing that we learned was that the postal service had abandoned negotiations for service for this building," she said.

At a town meeting, the postal service told the 60 residents in attendance, who were all in favor of keeping the Randolph Post Office, one option was to move the service to Olsburg.

With service like this, it is no surprise that people are finding alternatives to the US Postal Service. Good luck to you Randolph in your battle.