Health bills fail to block illegals from coverage.  Washington Times.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants could receive health care coverage from their employers under the bills winding their way through Congress, despite President Obama’s explicit pledge that illegal immigrants would not benefit.

The House bill mandates, and the Senate bill strongly encourages, businesses to extend health care coverage to all employees. But the bills do not have exemptions to screen out illegal immigrants, who usually obtain jobs by using false identities and are indistinguishable from legal workers.

Suprised?  From the Democrats and their chief coomunity organizer who pledged vehemently otherwise.

The devil is in the details, i.e., it is not what is written in the bill, it is what is not being explicitly excluded from the bill.  As usual for a smoke and screen, dog and pony show. 

Read more.

See:

• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/30/health-bills-fail-to-block-illegals-from-coverage/?m

Not really too surprising given the overall tone of LGF the last year or so, but in a sense the right wing blogosphere lost something of a rock star with this announcement and ten part list of exactly why Johnson is no longer affiliated with right wing politics.

From the link:

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won’t be going over the cliff with them.

That’s the call from the Congressional Budget Office…..The agency also reports that 600,000 to 1.6 million are working because of the  money spent from the program…While the economy is on the mend…the GOP is still trashing the program…..

All that money hasn’t been spent, and things are slowly getting better…Wow!

I wonder what happens when they get thru half of the money?

I can definitely see Congress trying to pull some of the money back by the summer…Definitely…you wait and see!

And this from the party whose only argument for weeks was the health care bill MUST be ONLINE.

GOP = the flip-flop party.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/30/gop-objects-to-putting-he_n_374281.html

On my last blog I talked about “Diversity and misunderstood political Correctness” (http://wp.me/pF1Ot-1d). Bottom Line of my last blog was the social political aspect and the reference to the Fort Hood shooting and the KSM trials.

Today I want to go a step further and point out the religious aspect of that endangerment – The destruction of Christianity from within, through mainstream Media as well as Liberal propaganda and teachings such as Diversity and the resulting political correctness.

Today every downfall of Christian morality will be explained by the mainstream Media with the fact that we live in the 21^st Century and that modern Times have new changes.

The GOP needed 40 years to finally change their insurance company – the one they had for the last 40 years supported abortion.

Ladies and Gentlemen – it took you long enough to listen to your voters, the conservative Christians.

And you wonder why registered Republicans like me walk off and become independent Christian Conservatives?

In the wake of the Switzerland referendum to prohibit Muslim Minarets, the Muslim world goes ballistic. This is shaking the entire European world.

While ultra conservative right wing parties applaud; Christian conservative parties (the equivalent to the Republicans) practice their political correct statements and betray us with their lip service, and the usual self proclaimed humanitarians and leftwing liberals complain and cry.

Muslims, like any other minority, recognizes very fast that all it takes to force their will on a government is to use the words “Discrimination” and “Racism”. And Politicians give in, even if that means they have to abate the rights and heritage of their own countrymen and voters.

But was the referendum of the Swiss people really prejudice or was it just a message to the politicians? Who, of course, are as deaf as it gets.

The message would be: Enough is enough with Diversity and Political Correctness at the expense of our Religious Christian Heritage.

At the beginning of November the European Court of Human Rights ruled on behalf of an atheist woman. She claimed that “the crucifix is harming her 2 children who have to endure gazing upon religious symbols” ( http://is.gd/57JTl ).

The ruling was that all crucifixes have to be removed from the classrooms in public schools.

Christian Cruzifix

Though this case was in Italy, the home and stronghold of the Catholic Church and Christianity, the entire case has symbolic character of what is going on in the world; And this problem is not only a European problem, but this too is already going on in our own backyard at home in the United States.

Imagine – if that can happen in the motherland of the Catholics – what can they do here in America with Obama as a supporter?

Fact is: 86% of the Americans are Christians. The remaining numbers are other religions, and atheists.

Countries like Turkey, Egypt, and all the other Muslims countries, except Syria, have an ongoing history in Persecution of Christians.

Daily Terror against Christians, Christian churches, Christian facilities, and Christian Missionaries are well accepted. Muslim Countries have no problem publically prohibiting the building of Christian churches. In Egypt Christians have to hide in so called secret Ghettos and live in fear of persecution.

Have you ever tried to look critically at the teachings of Mohammed? Thousands of Muslim will protest on the streets, burn the American Flag, and offer a bounty for your head.

Obama had nothing better to do than travel to those exact countries, apologizing for our Christian existence, bowing his head and declaring that America is no longer a Christian Country, and together with the European liberals practice excessive Diversity to make them feel welcome.

The very same Muslims immigrate to Europe, the USA, and every other western Christian country, not to assimilate but to infiltrate; assisted by left wing liberals and self proclaimed Humanitarians, to make sure the guest country has to adapt to them.

They use the favorableness of the hour to act as misunderstood victims of racism and do what they are supposed to do – bring the teachings of Mohammed in the world and convert as many as possible.

Together with those self-proclaimed humanitarians, atheists and liberals they demand that “Merry Christmas” should be changed to “Happy Holidays”, and they complain about our Easter celebration, while Muslims demand that teachers in Europe wear a head cloth because open hair offends their Muslim believes and so on.

But do they ask if I, as a Christian in a Christian Country feel insulted by holidays such as Hanukkah, EID (Eid ul-Adha Muslim “Festival of Sacrifice”, marking the end of Ramadan) or any other foreign “Religious Holiday forced on me?

Have those individuals ever thought that they are guests in our country? That America is very well built on Christianity and Christian Values?

So you still think the ruling in Switzerland was because Swiss people have turned into racists overnight? I doubt that. I like to think that this was a message, and the message is clear, and we as Christian Americans should also be sending the same message.

God Bless America

Welcome to our country, feel free, safe and welcomed. Celebrate your Religion as you see fit. However, we demand you learn our language, respect our laws and way of life, and accept that this is our country and our heritage is Christian. We do not persecute you, mistreat you, or downsize you; we just demand you respect us.

You cannot expect us to make you feel welcome and liked if you and your supporters demand us to give up our Heritage and Religious Beliefs and debate our rights. 

“The price of greatness is responsibility”
~Winston Churchill~

The  full page below ran in today’s Washington Times. This is just another comparision of the first black president to a monkey. This ad was placed by some members of the Birther Movement. Their attacks will continue but when they are printed in respected newspapers they receive more credence. ”This latest national edition of the Washington Times featured this ad that claimed  President Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States. The ad was purchased by the anti-Obama website Protect Our Liberty. org  While the group has placed several birther ads in the Washington Times  in recent months, the version that ran this morning contains far more inflammatory imagery — three monkeys, apparently intended to represent the U.S. Congress, courts, and the media.”

The web’s buzz today has been focused on the improbable run of Mitt Romney for president.  CNN’s David Frum makes the claim that Romney’s faith will not earn him the nomination of the GOP for 2012.  Though Frum’s view is accurate, I feel Romney won’t get the nomination because he is a terrible candidate who couldn’t run Massachusetts. 

Frum goes on to mention that although the church has gained substantial wins within the conservative movement, Proposition 8, they have failed to reconcile doctrinal differences that separate them from the religious powerhouses that run the GOP.  Frum explains,

Through the cultural conflicts of the past decade, Mormons and the Mormon church have played a decisive role. The church itself gave $190,000 to the fight to repeal same-sex marriage in California. Individual church members many millions more. (McClatchy newspapers have quoted estimates as big as $20 million, although that seems improbably high.)

That degree of commitment might seem to entitle you to a seat at the table. But no. The framers of the Manhattan Declaration say they “act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God.” Mormons do not accept the concept of God as three-in-one.

CNN is not the only news organization to make this connection, The Huffington Post was quick to notice that there wasn’t a single mormon endorsement on the Manhattan Declaration.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) has been leading the anti-gay marriage movement in this country for the past 14 years. They have spent tens of millions of dollars in practically every state ($30 million in California alone last year) to fight equality and to pass constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.

So where are the Mormon representatives on this illustrious list? Are they truly backing off their longstanding opposition to gay civil rights?

To their credit, Michael Otterson, a high ranking Mormon Church official recently testified in support of the Salt Lake City ordinance that would no longer allow discrimination in employment and housing against LGBT people in Utah’s largest city. While a small step, it has been broadcast around the world. That’s because the Church, through its Public Affairs Department, got the word out — big time.

Could the LDS church truly be softening its stance on LGBT rights?  In doing so, aren’t they sabotaging, inadvertently, their best chance of getting an active member in the White House.  Which would shatter the glass ceiling for a faith that, short of two hundred years ago, was run out of the country for their controversial beliefs. 

Nonetheless, the LDS church finds itself in a tough spot; overly committed to a losing “moral” fight and whose allies don’t accept as a confident ally.  That being said, I’d love to see a Romney – Palin ticket, ensuring four more years of moderate liberalism!

Donny Deutsch is host of The Entrepreneurs, a primetime special profiling the success stories of America’s entrepreneurs on CNBC. I thought I would introduce him to you because I didn’t know who he was until he appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, and I assume you haven’t heard of him before either.

As said, despite him being an absolute nobody, hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough invited Deutsch to appear on their show nonetheless. ‘Why?’ I wondered, ‘why would they invite somebody no one has ever heard of?’ The answer to my question came after only a few minutes: that’s when Deutsch joined the two hosts in badmouthing the Republican Party.

The GOP lacks leaders, or so they said. It’s a party without a face. There isn’t anyone standing up, the party is like a ship without a rudder. Polls show that even a significant part of Republican voters believe the party is moving in the wrong direction. Etc. yada yada, you know the drill.

Now, I obviously don’t disagree with the notion that the Republican lacks one, real leader. But unlike what Brzezinski, Deutsch and Scarborough would have you believe, there’s nothing strange about that. The GOP is the minority party in both houses of Congress and there’s a Democrat living in the White House. Like any party in this position in history – yes, Democrats included – there isn’t one specific Republican who takes charge of his (or her) party. If there was, there would be no need for primaries for the election for president in 2012. They could just appoint the party’s presidential nominee and get it over with.

Furthermore, although there isn’t a Leader of the Republican Party, there are leaders (multiple). Who? Well, former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin for one. She may not unite the entire base, but that’s quite normal considering the fact that elections for president are still three years off. Another leader of the party is Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty. Then there are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his number two Jon Kyl, and House Minority Leader John Boehner and Whip Eric Cantor. Again, none of these Republicans are The Leader of the party, but they are, without a doubt, its leaders.

I understand the ‘the GOP has no leaders’-narrative is a great way to discredit the party, but it’s really getting old. And considering it’s also untrue, the MSM might consider coming up with a new one that will, at the very least, be different than the one they have been pushing for the last couple of months.

Lee Fang at ThinkProgress:

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) is a vocal opponent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act who not only voted against the stimulus, but goes out of his way to mock it as “going nowhere” and doing “nothing to encourage growth.” Using the “failed” stimulus as his evidence, Shuster has been claiming that the government is incapable of reforming healthcare. But while Shuster tries to gain political points by bashing the stimulus, he has been quietly claiming credit for its benefits in his district, as well as advocating for an expanded role for Recovery Act money in his community:

– Last week, Shuster attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a sewage treatment plant for the Blairsville Municipal Authority. Republican State Senator Don White noted that the project was only possible because of the stimulus, which allowed the state Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to provide a $10.4 million grant and a $3 million low interest loan for construction.

– On November 4, Shuster asked Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) to use some of the state’s stimulus money to reopen the Scotland School for Veterans’ Children. Shuster noted that using the Recovery Act money for the school would save 134 full-time jobs.

– In July, Shuster joined 14 Pennsylvania lawmakers — including fellow stimulus-opponents Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), and Todd Platts (R-PA) — in writing a letter asking that stimulus money be used towards public universities.

– In June, Shuster hailed the stimulus-funded initiative to build a high-speed rail line between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The Post-Gazette quoted Shuster praising the project: “I believe we are about to experience a new era in passenger rail in this country. I want Western Pennsylvania to participate in this new era and to enjoy the benefits of increased and expanded passenger rail service.”

Today, Roll Call reports that Republican lawmakers are planning this week to announce the GOP’s new “December Attack Plan,” which will focus on denigrating President Obama’s stimulus. Presumably, rank-in-file members like Shuster will participate in the attack, even though they have taken credit for the stimulus’ success. And to add to the irony, the attack is being led by Republican Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who has now hosted multiple job fairs in his district filled with employers hiring directly because of the stimulus.

… especially those swarthy “Ahab The A–Rab” types.

But don’t worry because if elected Governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster (R) will save you!

Check out the latest version of “The-terrorists-are-going-to-get-you” campaign strateeegery, courtesy of my local paper Charleston’s Post and Courier

McMaster worries areas near brig could be targeted

Associated Press

Originally published 01:17 p.m., November 30, 2009
Updated 01:17 p.m., November 30, 2009

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster says there’s no doubt a naval brig near Charleston could securely house detainees arrested in the war on terror.

The state’s top prosecutor visited the brig in Hanahan for 2 1/2 hours Monday. McMaster opposes bringing in detainees from Guantanamo, Cuba, because residential and businesses around the brig could be soft targets for terrorists.

McMaster visited the brig to discuss security and says the brig staff and facility are top notch.

He says any attempt to break out a detainee would likely fail. But McMaster says he’s not as worried about a breakout as terrorists trying to make a statement by targeting civilians who live and work near the brig.

Riiiiiiight… sure they will, Henry.

All things being equal, McMaster might want to run use of this tactic by First District Congressman Henry Brown (R-SC) and “The Haircut” has owned it since September 11, 2001 and everybody in The Lowcountry knows Brown doesn’t share well with others.

Poll: Palin best reflects GOP core values.

Washington (CNN) — Republican voters are split on whether their party’s leadership is taking the GOP in the right direction, according to a new national poll. The Washington Post survey released Monday also indicates that Republicans say that Sarah Palin, more than any other leader, best reflects the core values of the party.

According to the poll, 18 percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say the former Alaska governor best reflects core GOP values. In second place, 5 points back, is Sen. John McCain of Arizona, last year’s Republican presidential nominee, followed by former Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at 7 percent, former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney at 6 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 4 percent and conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh at 2 percent. Other current Republican leaders were picked by 1 percent or less of those questioned in the poll.

Palin also tops the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls. According to the poll, 17 percent of Republican voters say they’d back last year’s GOP vice presidential nominee if their state’s caucus or primary were being held today, with Huckabee at 10 percent, Romney at 9 percent and McCain with 2 percent support. Huckabee, Palin and Romney have topped most national surveys of the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

The survey indicates that nearly half the Republicans questioned think Palin’s had a good effect on the party, with 1 in 5 saying she’s had a bad effect and just over 3 in 10 saying she hasn’t made a difference either way. One view those questioned overwhelmingly shared was their opinion of the news media’s treatment of Palin: Nearly 9 in 10 respondents said reporter have treated her unfairly.

According to the poll, 49 percent of Republican voters think their party’s leadership is taking the GOP in the right direction. That’s down from 76 percent in 2005, early in President George W. Bush’s second term. The survey indicates that 56 percent of Republicans think it’s a good idea for their party to try and work with the Democrats who control Congress and the White House to try and get some GOP ideas into legislation. But far fewer want to see cooperation on health care reform: Just 23 percent say it’s a good idea to work with President Barack Obama and the Democrats. More than three out of four say it’s best to try and short-circuit Democratic plans entirely.

The survey also indicates that nearly 3 out of 4 Republicans think Obama does not stand for traditional American values.

According to the poll, 27 percent of respondents say Republican candidates for public office should take only conservative positions on issues — but nearly 7 in 10 feel it’s ok for GOP candidates to take a moderate position on some issues. The poll’s release comes as the Republican National Committee considers a draft resolution sponsored by Indiana RNC member Jim Bopp Jr. that proposes a ten-point ideological platform, and would require GOP candidates to adhere to at least seven of those points in order to qualify for financial assistance from the RNC.

The Washington Post telephone poll of 804 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents was conducted November 19-23. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Next on the agenda: do something about jobs But what?

The Twelve Lies Of Sarah Palin One for each day of Christmas?

These are not hyperbolic claims or rhetorical excess. They are assertions of fact that are demonstrably untrue and remain uncorrected. Every single one of the lies I documented holds up after several news cycles have had a chance to vet them even further….

So for the record, let it be known that the candidate for vice-president for the GOP is a compulsive, repetitive, demonstrable liar. If you follow the links, here is the proof. I repeat: proof…

Taking measure of Obama’s first 10 months

Gosh, who could guess Goldman would be deceptive instead, pretending to be charitable when they actually weren’t.

Biden Goes On Attack As Senate Begins Health Care Debate

This pretty well sums up the heart of a conservative Lugar: Delay Health Care Until Next Year, Focus On War.  Sure, put off what make people die later to focus on what makes people die sooner.  The “pro-choice” party chooses death over life.

As Sully puts it:

… [U]nlike the Iraq war, health insurance reform was a signature issue in the previous campaign debates – both primary and general – and a clear Obama campaign pledge from the get-go. Unlike the Iraq war, the proposal’s long term costs have been inspected closely by the CBO. I know no one who believes that the total final costs over ten years could go from $50 billion to, by some estimates, between $2 trillion and $3 trillion and counting. And I know of no one who thinks the end result will wreck America’s international standing.

But yes, more debate and scrutiny. If you really think three decades of failures, a year of campaign debate and a year of legislative wrangling really hasn’t aired the issues sufficiently.

Neocon media at play Drudge, Washington Times Falsely Claim Allegedly Hacked Emails Show Global Warming Is Not Real. This piece, of course, we could see coming.  Watch Krugman take Will apart.

Regarding those party crashers

Remember when the Bush administration allowed a male prostitute from a fake newspaper into the White House press room in order to ask the president softball questions? Or when a guy managed to hurl not one, but two shoes at President Bush’s melon during a so-called “secured” event, and the Secret Service did nothing to protect the president when the shoes began to fly?

Just thought I’d mention.

Were defense contractors buying budget votes with dummy donations?

Dem Rep Obey: Afghan Troop Surge Is ‘A Fool’s Errand’

How do you define “has been”?

Just 1 percent pick George W. Bush as the best reflection of the party’s principles, and only a single person in the poll cites former vice president Richard B. Cheney. About seven in 10 say Bush bears at least “some” of the blame for the party’s problems.

Maybe now the neocon media can stop force-feeding us his daughter?

Another major victory in the war on lobbyists Elections matter.

Fox News thinks President Obama traveled back in time using his Muslim-Hitler-Commie Flux Capacitor and somehow passed the FY09 budget before he was actually elected president.

Currently, liberals especially are siding with and defending Obama while populist rage at the banksters grows.

This is shortsighted and delusional. If we on the left want to win, we need to harness that growing anger and make it ours. And to find common ground with those on the right who we agree with on specific issues.

Reckon Palin will whine about sexism directed at her from the Right? Nah, me neither.

Christians should be lauded for rejecting modern-day religion.

See a pattern here? Palin quits the 5K Turkey Trot race early and doesn’t make Thanksgiving dinner because it’s too much work.  Why are Republican leaders so lazy?

Why does the Republican senator hate America’s military leaders? Heh, indeedy.

Time to boycott the fondue cheese and cuckoo clocks

Huckabee may not have a choice anymore. He says he’s not sure about whether he’ll run for preznit in ‘12, but it seems he may have pardoned the guy who killed four Seattle policemen (and who think’s he’s the messiah and, therefore, allowed to rape children).  Voters tend to frown on that sort of thing. Update: He may already be dead.

More fallout from Bush’s Folly Senate Report: Bin Laden Was ‘Within Our Grasp’

New Details About Destroyed Torture Tapes

Stupid Dem Alert! Poll: 40% of Dems ‘Not Likely’ Or ‘Will Not Vote’ Next Year

I get the feeling WND doesn’t like gay people Not to mention they’re making these kids target for Palin-Beck wingnut violence.

Christmas comes early! Monsanto is going to be investigated by the Justice Department for anti-trust violations.

If you’ve seen The Corporation or Food, Inc., you’ll know what Monsanto is up to. Roughly 90 percent of the soy bean supply, for example, comes from engineered Monsanto seeds. And they’ve patented the seeds, so any seed that accidentally drops into a non-Monsanto field is a lawsuit worthy trespass against the unknowing farmer. As corporations go, Monsanto is easily the worst of the worst.

Greed knows neither limits nor shame

It’s not enough that they have brought the US and Europe to their financial knees. Now banks, under the guise of the WTO’s free trade treaty, want to expand the casino to the new big emerging powers with their trillion-greenback reserves. A derivatives crash in those markets could easily trigger a financial China Syndrome—a second meltdown from New York to Beijing to Brasília.

Neocon media at play The Strange & Silly Media Rewrite Of The Fort Hood Shooting Spree

Don’t be a jerk — it’s Christmas (great new tune for carolers!  hehehehe)

Neocon media at play Why does The Wall Street Journal put a fourth-day news story about a golfer’s minor car accident on page-two today?

Ho hum. Just another would-be domestic terrorist found with a bomb-making lab. Nothing to see here, just move along

Of course, if this had been a Muslim extremist caught with such an arsenal, we’d be getting talk-show panels on Hannity featuring Michelle Malkin ranting at length about the threat of Islamic jihad, blah blah blah. Not to mention chatty discussion on Fox and Friends and Morning Joe.

But instead, because he’s just a white anti-government extremist, hey, let’s just give it a big shrug.

Tweety is an idiot Why is TV so full of painfully uninformed, unintelligent people?  More Tweety and TV stupidity here. TV cartoon mocks Tweety’s ego.

Sanders: I Won’t Vote To Confirm Bernanke As Fed Chair He’s none too thrilled with the Afghan “surge” either.

Send this story to your crazy uncle who keeps saying the ACLU is the enemy of Christianity and America You can also point out that the ACLU has a rich history of defending religious freedom.

Quote of the Day

When the sad and destructive history of the U.S. over the last decade is written, the coddled, nepotistic, self-serving face of Evan Bayh should be prominently included. It embodies virtually every cause.

Normally to posit a giant conspiracy you need some plausible account of the motives.

Nothing to see here.  Move along, The Supreme Court has thrown out an appeals court ruling that ordered the disclosure of photographs of detainees being abused by their U.S. captors.

Sarah Palin is especially popular among Republicans who listen to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. Overall, 17% of Republicans said they would vote for Palin for the 2012 nomination for president — with a higher number of 45% among Limbaugh listeners, and a third of Beck listeners.  You’re shocked, I know.  (Like I said last week, she is the queen of stupid people.

Howard Dean Calls David Broder Inside the Beltway Gossip Columnist, Villager Head Explodes

The Military Budget Is Bleeding Us Dry. It’s Time We Addressed That.

Top 5 Republican lies

The GOP reaches even further into the past Trying, in vain, to find a way to connect with voters they revive the ol’ reefer madness

-The GOP is busy trying to convince America that Obama has no fiscal responsibility. Politico has a breakdown of seven other narratives that could unravel the current administration.

-United against Obama, divide against who should lead the charge. The Washington Post examines deep riffs in the Republican Party.

-LA Times reports this morning that President Obama may be over confident that courts will win a death sentence for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

-According to Bloomberg, US business activity has increased for the second straight month, signaling an economic recovery may continue into 2010. -CPP

Yesterday four policemen were killed in a Seattle suburb. The alleged killer seemingly was targeting police because no one else in the restaurant was hurt. The person of interest is Maurice Clemmons. “In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in Little Rock for aggravated robbery. He was paroled in 2000 after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted Clemmons’ 95-year prison sentence. Huckabee, who was criticized during his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 for the number of clemencies and commutations he granted, cited Clemmons’ age at the time of the crime was committed.”* Huckabee has released the following statement in reference to Clemmons “Should [Clemmons] be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him… Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers.”* First let me say the actions of the alleged gunman are his fault and his fault alone, but it will be interesting to see how this handled. This is reminiscent of the Willie Horton incident that the Republican Party used to smear the reputation of the 1988 presidential candidate Mike Dukakis. Horton was serving a life sentence and was granted a weekend furlough. While on the furlough Horton committed armed robbery and rape. This incident was used to establish the premise that Dukakis was soft on crime. The ads developed were ominous and racist and sadly successful. So as a Republican how will Huckabee handle this potential hot potato? It’s not his fault, but the truth never stands in the way of an effective political strategy.  *Huffington Post

Here at SCFOM, we’ve spent countless hours and countless (because I’m lazy) posts on Sarah Palin, her fans and why they’re all retarded.

Today in three short paragraphs, the Washington Post tells us all we’ll ever need to know about the Alaskan ice princess/prolific quitter and why she should never under any circumstances be president.

Check it out:

Sarah Palin may or may not run for president in 2012, but she is already the overwhelming favorite in the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck primaries.

In a new Washington Post poll, Palin beats other GOP leaders on two questions: who best represents the party’s core values, and who Republicans would vote for if the presidential nomination battle were held today. But she has particular appeal to the loyal followers of Limbaugh and Beck, two of the most popular conservative talk show hosts in the country.

Overall, 18 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents cited her as the person most representative of the party’s core values, the highest percentage among prominent Republican figures. Among those who regularly listen to Limbaugh, however, Palin was cited by 48 percent, and among Beck’s viewers, it was 35 percent, far surpassing others.

A Year of Magical Thinking.  The Weekly Standard. 

The health care reform the Democrats are intent upon passing before the year’s end because of some sort of emergency is really based upon their need to pass something to enable them to proclaim a bill passage to their supporters.  A manufactured crisis with a manufactured deadline.  Never mind the staggering cost expected to rise with time. 

 All on America’s tax paying wallets.  WS.

The idea that expanding coverage will save the country money has always been a fantasy. True, the Congressional Budget Office found that, under certain assumptions that the authors of the legislation in effect required the CBO to make, the House and Senate health bills might not blow up the deficit over the next decade. But that won’t happen in the real world. For one thing, doctors’ reimbursements just aren’t going to be cut 20 percent.

The situation with respect to the long-term deficit is even worse. The Lewin Group, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and the government’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have all said that Obamacare won’t control costs in the long term. When the experts at Peterson and Lewin looked at the template for legislation now under debate in the Senate, they found that it “does not bend the total health care cost curve downward as a percentage of the economy.”

Consider what’s happened in Massachusetts since its 2006 health care reform went into effect. More people in the Bay State have health insurance–and costs keep on rising. RAND recently found that health care spending is growing 8 percent faster in Massachusetts than the state’s GDP. To deal with this situation, the state government has had to trim coverage and raise taxes. Even the New York Times editorial board has admitted that Massachusetts hasn’t figured out “how to slow the relentless rise in medical costs and private insurance premiums.”

ObamaCare’s Cost Could Top $6 Trillion.  The Cato Institute.

When we correct for both gimmicks, counting both on- and off-budget costs over the first 10 years of implementation, the total cost of ObamaCare reaches — I’m so sorry about this — $6.25 trillion.  That’s not a precise estimate.  It’s just far closer to the truth than President Obama and congressional Democrats want the debate to be.

Beutler and other supporters of ObamaCare can react to this news in two ways.  They can continue to deny the enormous cost of the legislation they support.  Or they can question how President Obama’s health plan came to be so blessedly expensive, and how (and by whom) they were duped into thinking it wasn’t.

Common sense in Washington, D.C. seems to be glaringly absent.  If others seem to easily distill the flaws inherent in the health care bills as noted now, why do politicians insist upon ignoring the evidence, and instead misleadingly portray themselves as knowing otherwise?

“Trust me.”
Image courtesy of Johnx1 of the Independents for News in Pictures November 16 – 22 http://www.freakingnews.com/News-in-Pictures-November-16-22-Pictures–2677.asp.

See:

• http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/267aexag.asp
• http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/11/27/obamacares-cost-could-top-6-trillion/

Mike Huckabee’s hands just got bloodier. Raising a sociopath who kills dogs wasn’t enough, yet another of his gubernatorial pardons have led to murder:

…[T]he man suspected of shooting four police officers in Washington State was granted clemency in Arkansas nine years ago by then-Governor Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee had reportedly pardoned the suspected shooter, Maurice Clemmons, because he was just 17 when his original crimes were committed. (Clemmons was still on parole, and should apparently have been sent back to jail in Arkansas more recently…)

And the story also recalls another act of clemency gone awry: Huckabee advocated for parole for a convicted rapist who — his allies said — had been railroaded by Huckabee predecessor Bill Clinton. The rapist, Wayne DuMond, was released; he raped and murdered another woman.

or: Brown smartly appeals to younger voters, GOP entrenches for further in-fighting

The gloves have come off for the holidays; the season of pomp and cheer being replaced with an air of accusation and jeering. It seems that the three major candidates are already dealing with crises, the GOP candidates especially seem to still be trying to separate themselves from one another and, by smearing the next guy, trying to make it a vote that consists of just ‘not voting’ for the greater of the evils. Brown has had few PR issues and is now making some smart moves appearing at a fundraiser recently to get out and damage control the ‘recording scandal’ while Whitman and Poizner and both dealing with yet another round of unflattering facts coming out under scrutiny of the platforms and merit badges they point at to show their qualifications. So early in the campaign these candidates are already doing more repairs than improvements to their campaigns as this shapes up to be less of a ‘race to the Governor’s office’ and more of a pushing and shoving match to grab the last slice of pizza at a frat party.

Steve Poizner, third place GOP candidate with essentially no chance of winning even a ‘participant’ trophy at this point, has been cut down in some of his claims that, under his leadership as Insurance Commissioner, the state has seen a reduction to insurance costs to the tune of nearly $2 billion. Analysts at Consumer Watchdog seem to conclude that this figure really is inflated by $800 million since these cuts were set forth by Garamendi, Poizner’s predecessor. The Mercury News goes further to explain that Poizner, in fact, made some changes in May of 2008 to actually make it easier for insurance companies to hike up rates in certain sectors totaling $282 million in price increases. Poizner’s people, of course, defend his actions by saying that necessary changes were made and cite that the decreases of overall cost are factual, and no matter who initiated the changes, Poizner approved them and set them in motion.

Here is where you need to question the facts. There are facts that contradict one another under Poizner’s actual effect in his position. You could argue that he has simply been a custodian of the Garamendi legacy as insurance commissioner while doing little of his own work. It seems that Poizner’s people, as with all other candidates, cite facts, and they are facts, that paint him in a good light. They aren’t all out lies, what is more closely related to the reality of the situation is that the facts have been shaped and are stated as vague enough that you can’t call him a liar or a lame fish because he gets to tote the accomplishments of the office he hold and does not have to state what he has actually done. This creative manipulation of stats and facts shows up again when he beats the drum of cutting department cost by 15% overall and cutting staff by some 200 or so. Those numbers are a bit inflated and it seems that he should not be claiming this as his accomplishment being that the mandate for those cuts came down from legislature and the Governor due to the state deficit. So Poizner really should be claiming that he was able to operate within the constraints of a failing economy in California; he’s a good ‘Yes Man’.

Jerry Brown has faced a similar issue in the ‘recording scandal’ that was never really a scandal per say. Like Poizner’s claims being ambiguously inaccurate but not entirely a lie Brown has faced the same scrutiny in his poorly handled internal investigation of the incident that saw one of his senior aides resign. But Brown has chosen a very clever strategy of finally taking the offensive in fundraising and doing something that is entirely necessary in his campaign, he is reaching out to those that don’t remember ‘Brown’s California’…the young people. In a stroke of genius, in my opinion, the 71 year old Brown spoke at a club on the Sunset Strip to a group of 20, 30, and 40-somethings, called the Generation for Change. This is who he needed to reach out to, those that either were not alive or have no real recollection of what he did as Governor so long ago. This is a group of progressive professionals that may only be able to recall Brown in his ’92 bid for President, which failed, so it is vital that he reach out to this voting base and either change the impression they have of him, or give them an impression at all.

Brown, in ’92, ran on a campaign finance reform idea that he would accept a maximum of only $100 dollars from individuals and organizations; smartly he has abandoned this platform commenting that it is impossible to do this today in a state race and that if Whitman was willing to return the contributions to her campaign and take back the nearly $20 million of her own dollars she has spent then he would agree to a $100 maximum contribution rule for this election…unlikely though. Brown was able to get the group to laugh, he very creatively explained away claims that he changes all the time, “Well, if you are alive and if you are listening and you are growing, you will change, because the world is changing, and if you still were where you were before, you are dead.” He was able to outline the problems we face in California with a deficit, but he spoke to the fact we all seem to forget, that California has a state wealth of $1.6 trillion…it’s not all bad since our deficit is only about 1% of our overall wealth, this can be fixed.

I have to say here that I have a growing respect for the ‘campaigning Brown’. He is making a lot of good decisions thus far in so many different areas. The fact that he let Newsom burn himself out was a savvy decision on his part, to say the least. Brown has also now started to reach out to the younger voters with an air of charisma and has handled the recording scandal very well hushing it down to mere whispers. He is positioning himself with his record as a man of age, a career politician, that has changed with the times and is human in his maturing and changing over the years. It has to be said that he has also done a great job in highlighting issues of the election in a light of optimism and speaking in more constructive and positive terms, also avoiding name calling and negative ads, which can’t be said for his opponents. Brown is on a roll with great poll numbers and alliances with powerful players to get through the primaries unopposed and unscathed. When the debates start is when he may be tested, but by then there will be so much negative press for his opponents that it seems he will have no problem cutting them down as inexperienced opportunists with very negative, short histories in his beloved state.

Now we come to Meg Whitman…wow, this woman is running an insane campaign right now that seems to keep springing leaks that money can’t plug. Most recently she has had to contend with tax returns that only further highlight her inabilities as a recent conservative convert and business woman. Recent tax returns show that a foundation she is a director of contributed $200,000 dollars to the Environmental Defense Agency in the struggling delta of California. This is the same group that, since running for Governor, she has criticized and come out against as an opponent of development and farming jobs. She gave the group she is campaigning against money to support them, odd to say the least. Being that she only recently started voting, and the fact the only more recently she registered republican, in addition to he funding of projects she now opposes shows she is trying to pander to the conservative right to get in to office without regard for what she really believes.

If this weren’t enough two other facts have come out to destroy her claim of being a savvy business woman. I have written before of her poor record of running Ebay in the last few years at the company, nearly ruining Skype, and now there is more facts to support this claim. As with many different foundations in 2008 it took a bit of a hit with the failing markets, but her foundation took it particularly hard, at the rate of nearly 50% loss of equity. This might have something to do, though, with the fact that about 79% of the company’s value was represented in Ebay stock at the start of 2008, by the end the number was closer to 15%. This coincides oddly with her sitting on the board of directors at Ebay until late 2008. at the start of the year stock value was at about $33 a share, when she left they sat at under $15, since she left Ebay entirely they have seen an increase of stock value to nearly $24 a share under the direction of new acting CEO Donahue. A weird coincidence to say the least; though some losses were inevitable in 2008, under her direction in the last few years, during a national crisis, she has not performed well to stop financial blood letting in ventures she participates in. Anyone can succeed in a good times, but we need someone who can succeed during crisis, her record speaks for itself on this front.

Where we find ourselves is at a point when the three big names in the campaign are at very different points of decision. I feel that Meg’s projected $150-million dollar campaign will get her to the general election, but that is simply because her GOP rivals just cannot compete with her name recognition and propaganda team. Brown will skate to the general election with ease and he has yet to officially be in the race. Poizner has some serious soul searching to do as he is not closing the lead Whitman has and has no chance against Brown if he made it to the general election. Poizner should try to save face, dropping out soon, and reload for a position in the state people give a crap about before he jumps in to the Governor’s race. The primaries will embarrass Poizner as Campbell and Whitman enjoy very large leads over him now, and Campbell has done less than anyone!

I think that the opportunistic, flawed politics of the GOP candidates is going to fail, it is not genuine and they will not be able to contend with Brown’s views and record as things like immigration, reform, and a history of service in California come in to play. Poizner and Whitman will lose some of the conservative base with their history and their position on abortion that pandering and flip flopping on other views won’t make up for. The hubris of the rich elitists will not sway the people of California when matched against the life of service Brown has tucked up his sleeve; this is the Achilles Heel that will become apparent as middle american California hits the voting booths.

Has anyone noticed that Rick Perry has suddenly become the darling of conservatives?

Let me back up. Has anyone noticed how utterly screwed up the Republican Party is in this primary process? Has anyone noticed how so many “conservatives” have gotten behind Rick Perry? Has anyone noticed how people have conveniently forgotten his record of betraying conservatives? Has everyone really just forgotten, just like that?

I want to emphasize, off the bat, that I do not support Kay Bailey Hutchison. She is undoubtedly a horrible candidate to be governor of Texas, and I can see no reason to support a pro-abortion woman who voted for the first bailout, or to paraphrase George Bush, “destroy capitalism to save it.” Laugh Out Loud. I haven’t seen any real conservatives supporting her candidacy, but if they do they’re just selling themselves out.

Where I’m going is that Rick Perry is not much better than Kay, and regardless, certainly isn’t the sort of guy that Texas Republicans, if they really have woken up to the folly of overarching government, should support. Yet, somehow, much of the “conservative” wing of the Texas GOP (which is the majority) has thrown its support behind Rick Perry without much qualification. This is an error which, if not pointed out, threatens the very basis of our integrity as a party.

Where to begin? If re-elected, Governor Perry will have served for 14 years as governor. Remember back in, oh I don’t know, 1994… when Republicans were running for Congress with three-term limitations? When we believed in term limits and tried to get that passed through the federal legislature? When Republicans said that politicians need to stay in office for only so long, because the longer they stay in office the more corrupt they become? When we believed in the grassroots guy getting elected to office on the basis of his or her beliefs?

But let’s not forget a few policy matters, in addition to the problem of longevity in office.

Remember the Gross Margins Tax of 2006?

If you don’t own a business as I do, you might not. In fact, I had a guy in my shop the other day telling me to my face that Rick Perry didn’t raise taxes as governor. This is something that the Perry campaign, and many within the Republican Party, either don’t know the facts on or are intentionally deceiving us about. The fact is, in 2006 Rick Perry pushed through the house the Gross Margins Tax, a new tax on business that was intended to replace the corporate franchise tax and lower property taxes by funding schools differently.

You might hear from conservatives that this was just a case of switching some taxes to another kind of taxes, or something like that. Pure gobblety-gook. The fact is that the Gross Margins Tax replaced a tax, the corporate franchise tax, which many small businesses did not have to pay. The increase in taxes is only confirmed by the fact that after the Gross Margins Tax was enacted, the state collected almost 50% more in business tax revenues. The increased tax was supposed to be offset by decreases in property taxes for school districts, and they declined slightly, but the overall property tax burden actually increased.

Therefore, a NEW BUSINESS TAX in addition to HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES have resulted in a significant increase in state revenue, and the taxation burden on small businesses in Texas has increased under Governor Perry.

Remember the Trans-Texas Corridor?

If you are an average Texan, you most certainly do. But if you have bought into the Perry delusion, you are likely trying your best to forget it if you haven’t already. Well, allow me to remind you.

Throughout the earliest part Rick Perry’s tenure as governor, his transportation department worked hard on figuring out how to make transportation in Texas more efficient, cost-efficient, and advanced.

Somehow, they arrived at the conclusion to build a web of enormous quarter-mile-wide toll roads throughout the state of Texas. Not only would these toll roads be enormous (and a destroyer of hundreds of square miles of farmland), under the original plan there weren’t even exit ramps. The TTC would be built over all existed roads and highways and you could travel from Houston to San Antonio without ever getting off of the toll road. If you think I’m kidding, look at the original plan, or rent a documentary called “Truth Be Tolled.”

I believe in free trade. But come on, you have to keep in mind when doing a project like this that you will be hurting ordinary Texans. Therefore it would perhaps make sense to offer some of the jobs involved in creating these damn roads to Texans. But not so. Partnership Cintra-Zachry, a partnership between Spanish toll-road developer (and operator, which means an outflow in revenues) Cintra and Texas’ Zachry Construction, was to create the entire thing. MOST of the money is going to Cintra, who will operate the roads.

Need an example of that? Look at State Highway 130, a toll road component of TTC that is already being built. This road between Seguin and Taylor, TX would cost $1.3 billion to build under a 2006 agreement with TxDOT. TxDOT will only be receiving between about 5 and 50% of the toll revenues depending on the success of the venture, and Cintra-Zachry’s own plan shows the expected revenue at close to $15 billion over 50 years.

What does this all mean? Governor Perry supported an international toll-road developer cleaning up by building toll roads in our state, toll roads which TxDOT would only see a fraction of the revenue of, and which in the process would use eminent domain to sweep up family farms.

There’s a reason, after all, that the vast majority of Texans consistently opposed the plan.

Remember Perry’s Mandatory HPV Vaccination of 2007?

In 2007 Governor Perry wanted to make Texas the first state to mandate the vaccine Gardasil for sixth-grade girls to prevent the sexually transmitted HPV virus which leads to cervical cancer.

This was one of the many “huh?” moments of the Perry administration, where he thought it would just be a great idea to go right over the heads of parents and force kids to be vaccinated by the government. Besides the obvious state intrusion, there also is the issue of the State of Texas essentially trying to protect kids from sexually transmitted diseases, something that goes against the entire regime of sexual health in Texas schools.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with the idea of the state doing that, it is an unprecedented and bizarre way to shift sexual education. “Hey there little girl, here’s a vaccine!”

The vaccine, furthermore, comes from Merck, the pharmaceutical giant. Merck had a track record, around the time this plan was announced, of sending high-priced lobbyists into the State Capitol building.

Although parents can always choose to immunize their kids, that’s their choice, not the government’s, to make. Rick Perry clearly doesn’t follow that logic.

All in all, I’m truly shocked to see so many Republican “conservatives” flocking to Rick Perry as if he is the reborn Texas Ronald Reagan. Give me a break, here is a guy for whom many conservatives have had an enormous amount of criticism over the past ten years. And yet we are somehow supposed to just get in line behind the guy who “isn’t Kay Bailey Hutchison.” Why? Because he’s handsome? Because he has a fine head of hair? Because he has been lucky in having a phenomenal Texas Legislature to deliver him an austere budget to sign each and every session? Because he’s an Aggie? C’mon.

When are we going to stop settling for mediocre Republicans? When are we going to demand Republican leaders who understand that the government is tyrannical and inherently corrupt, that taxes must be as low as possible, that we cannot bail out companies, that we can’t take people’s property, that we can’t force people to accept federal or state health mandates? In other words, when are we going to demand that Republican elected officials follow the damn platform? That’s my question.

I understand why many Perry supporters say that Kay Bailey is worse. She is. But compare Rick Perry to the Republican Platform, hell, compare him even to the (currently) minor candidate Debra Medina. Is he a conservative Republican to be proud of, to vote for, to support for 14 years in the governor’s mansion?

The answer seems to be an unequivocal “no.”

Reuters reporting at FT.com:

The US military could have captured or killed Osama bin Laden in 2001 if it had launched a concerted attack on his hideout in Afghanistan, according to a report prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The report, written by staff working for the Democratic majority on the committee, said the al Qaeda leader’s escape was a lost opportunity that altered the course of the war and paved the way for insurgencies in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.

”Removing the al Qaeda leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat,” the report said.

”But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed Mr bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide.”

US soldiers and Afghan militia forces launched a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 in pursuit of Mr bin Laden, believed to be hiding in the region with supporters after the Taliban government was removed from power.

US military leaders allowed Afghan militiamen to spearhead the assault and Mr bin Laden managed to escape.

The report said US commanders rejected requests for more troops to launch a rapid assault in the area, relying instead on air strikes and the Afghan militias to lead the attack and Pakistan’s Frontier Corps to seal off escape routes.

”The vast array of American military power, from sniper teams to the most mobile divisions of the Marine Corps and the Army, was kept on the sidelines,” it said.

The report was especially critical of military leaders under former President George W. Bush, including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his top military commander, retired General Tommy Franks.

Democratic Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the committee, has argued that the Bush administration missed a chance to get Mr bin Laden and his top lieutenants in Tora Bora just months after the September 11 attacks on the US.

Mr Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election to Mr Bush.

The report was issued just days before President Barack Obama was expected to announce the US would send about 30,000 more troops to secure population centers and train Afghan security forces.

There are about 68,000 US troops and 42,000 allied soldiers in Afghanistan.