The End Does Justify the Means to the Democrats

From Investors Business Daily via Lucianne.com

Losing In Fall OK With Democrats If It Means They Win Health Care

by Mark Steyn

So there was President Obama giving his bazillionth speech on health care, droning yet again that "now is the hour when we must seize the moment," the same moment he's been seizing every day of the week for the past year, only this time his genius photo-op guys thought it would look good to have him surrounded by men in white coats.

Why is he doing this? Why let "health" "care" "reform" stagger on like the rotting husk in a low-grade creature feature who refuses to stay dead no matter how many stakes you pound through his chest?

Because it's worth it. Big time. I've been saying in this space for two years that the governmentalization of health care is the fastest way to a permanent left-of-center political culture.

It redefines the relationship between the citizen and the state in fundamental ways that make limited government all but impossible.....

....The Democrats understand that politics is not just about Tuesday evenings every other November, but about everything else, too.

Go read it all Mark Steyn is deperately trying to warn us there is a big cliff ahead and we are going over it.

Democratic Scandals from CBS News

A very good compilation of the scandals.  I guess it just couldn't be ignored any longer. I don't think it will make much difference as The Christian Science Monitor has an article claiming the resignation of Rep. Eric Massa will make it easier to pass the healthcare bill. Their premise is that he voted "no."  I'm not sure I understand their argument on that one.
I'm posting the whole article from CBS.

Democrats Swamped in Ethics Scandals

Resignation of New York Congressman After Harassment Allegations Ends Bad Week for Washington's Majority Party

By Nancy Cordes

Democratic Rep. Eric Massa, from western New York, acknowledged Friday he acted inappropriately with a male staffer and said he's leaving with "a profound sense of failure."

Massa's resignation caps a bad week for Democrats, a week dominated by ethics investigations, reports CBS News Correspondent Nancy Cordes.

In New York, the papers were filled with scandalous stories about not one but three prominent Democrats.

There was the governor, David Paterson, accused of interfering in a domestic violence investigation.

"I am ending my campaign for governor of the state of New York," Paterson said Feb. 26.

There was veteran Rep. Charles Rangel, forced to give up his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship over ethics lapses.

"Now he's trying to blame it on his staff," said one New Yorker. "That's no excuse."

Now there's Massa's resignation amid harassment allegations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who famously promised to drain the ethics swamp in Congress, didn't seem to want to wade into the Massa situation Thursday.

"You know what?" she told reporters. "This is rumor city. Every single day there are rumors. I have a job to do."

Democrats were hoping to make hay of recent Republican lapses come November, but the growing number of Democrats caught up in controversy is muddying that message.

There's John Edwards with his paternity problems, and at least four House Democrats - Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, Alan Mollohan of West Virginia and California's Laura Richardson and Maxine Waters - facing ethics investigations.

"I think when a party comes in saying they are cleaning up corruption and they're going to run the House differently than the last party, I think you really have to have your feet held to the fire," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Democrats won back the House four years ago partly by highlighting GOP scandals. Now they run the risk of having the tables turned on them.

Those are a lot of scandals to sweep under the rug.

This is one of those d'oh things

From the Washington Post

In e-mails, lobbyists perceive ties between campaign cash, earmarks

By Carol D. Leonnig

Lobbyists and corporate officials talked bluntly in e-mail exchanges about connections between making generous campaign donations and securing federal funds through members of an important House Appropriations subcommittee, according to not-yet-public documents reviewed by ethics investigators.

In summer 2007, for example, senior executives at a small McLean defense firm tried to figure out which of them would buy a ticket to a wine-tasting fundraiser for Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on defense. At the time, the company sought help from Moran's office in securing contracts through special earmarks added to the defense bill.

In an e-mail exchange, one senior officer said he didn't understand why he had to attend the fundraiser when he didn't even drink wine.

"You don't have to drink," Innovative Concepts' chief technology officer, Andrew Feldstein, shot back in an e-mail. "You just have to pay."

"LOL," responded the other officer.

The fundraiser was hosted by the PMA Group, a powerful lobbying firm whose unusual success in obtaining "earmarked" contracts from members of the military subcommittee was a key focus of a recent House ethics investigation.

Moran raked in $91,900 in campaign checks to his personal campaign and leadership PAC that day. He secured an $800,000 earmark for Innovative Concepts in the 2008 defense appropriations bill.

The e-mails were among the documents reviewed by congressional ethics investigators over the past nine months in a wide-ranging earmarks probe. The investigation ended last week when the House ethics committee issued a report exonerating all seven members under scrutiny. The Washington Post gained access to some of those internal records.

Read the rest of the article. Then wonder why everyone was exonerated by the ethics committee. If the lobbyists think they are buying what they need, perhaps it is because they knew the system and that is exactly what they were doing.  It hasn't stopped.

The Time to Act is Now

From The Right Coast blog:
The Time for Public Protests and Tea Parties is Now
Mike Rappaport
It seems like the finale of the health care restructuring debate is now upon us. I do not hold out much hope that any restrictions from the reconciliation process will stop the legislation. No, the main hope is to prevent a majority of House members from supporting the passage of the Senate bill in the House. The problem is that the Speaker has lots of power to twist arms and President Obama has the power to promise goodies to House members who may lose their seats. Obama will only be too happy to emulate consequential President Lyndon Johnson, who twisted arms and offered goodies to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed.

The main hope now is to convince the Democratic House members -- both the ones who perceive themselves at risk and the ones who currently do not -- that there will be severe consequences from voting for this monstrosity.
Read it all.

Lindsey Graham is not on our side

From Gateway Pundit:

Lindsey Graham Meets With Obama White House to Plan Next Amnesty Bill

by Jim Hoft

Back in January Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was pushing cap-and-trade legislation with democrats. Now, the Republican senator is assisting the White House with amnesty for illegal aliens.

In 2007 while speaking to the radical La Raza organization, Graham said he was going to tell the “bigots” who opposed amnesty to “shut up.”

The LA Times reported:

Despite steep odds, the White House has discussed prospects for reviving a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, a commitment that President Obama has postponed once already.

Obama took up the issue privately with his staff Monday in a bid to advance a bill through Congress before lawmakers become too distracted by approaching midterm elections.

In the session, Obama and members of his Domestic Policy Council outlined ways to resuscitate the effort in a White House meeting with two senators — Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina – who have spent months trying to craft a bill.

According to a person familiar with the meeting, the White House may ask Schumer and Graham to at least produce a blueprint that could be turned into legislative language.

Read the rest here. We have been so focused on stopping healthcare some bads bills are slipping beneath the radar.  We need to be aware of what is happening and what is coming in the future.

Must be That Global Warming Thing

From Times Online (UK)

Thousands of passengers marooned in Baltic ice

Ice-breakers are powering their way towards about 50 vessels, including several passenger ferries, stuck solid in the iced-over Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland.Thousands of passengers in the ferries run by Viking Line, Anedin Lines and Tallink have been offered free food and alcohol while awaiting rescue.

“This is the worst ice cover we have seen since 1996,” said Johnny Lindvall, head of the ice-breaking unit at the Swedish Maritime Administration.

Sharp northerly winds have dramatically raised the chill factor in what is already a very cold winter, even by Scandinavian standards.

Read the rest.

Save OUr Navy Seals

From the Washington Times:

EDITORIAL: Save the SEALs

You're for the SEALs, or you're for the terrorists

Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, yesterday renewed a call for charges to be dropped against three Navy SEALs charged with the unspeakable crime of roughing up a terrorist.

If you are not familiar with the entire story, read it here.

Back to Square One for KSM?

From the Washington Post:
Obama advisers set to recommend military tribunals for alleged 9/11 plotters
By Anne E. Kornblut and Peter Finn

President Obama's advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.'s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City. .

 And the point of this is:

Top Obama advisers have been negotiating with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) -- a vocal critic of trying the Sept. 11 suspects in civilian court -- in pursuit of a deal that would secure his help in closing Guantanamo. Graham has sought the creation a legal framework that would spell out how the government would detain and try future captives, but an administration official warned that a "grand bargain" is not likely in the immediate future. The official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the talks with Graham have been mostly about "limited issues" involving the Mohammed trial and the future of Guantanamo.

There is always something behind any move this administration makes.

Another Big Surprise, Not!

Unemployment rate remains at 9.7 percent

Economists had expected the snowstorms to have a bigger impact, but job losses were surprisingly mild in February as employers cut 36,000 jobs.

A few days ago while listening to news on the radio we heard how bad the snowstorms were going to impact unemployment. We had the thought that the MSM and Obama administration were try to lessen the impact of bad news.

The snowstorm wouldn't actually have anything to do with unemployment, just with how many days were worked. It might have an impact on how much money would be made by department stores and individual as no one would be shopping anywhere but the grocery stores and individuals would not make as much if they were unpaid days off.

It doesn't have anything to do with unemployment as an immediate effect. It may later, as some smaller stores may have to close because of their financial situation. But with this headline The One is covered. Not his fault.  Move along.

Term Limits for Everyone

Term limits was discussed at our local 912 Texans for Freedom Group.  Our term limit discussion started with the proposed resolutions for the precinct conventions and then state conventions. We mainly discussed term limits for congress, both houses.

We also discussed The Texas State Board of Education and the textbook selections for all state school.  What it didn't occur to us to discuss was term limits for ALL elected officials. What we discussed was that there should be more local control of what is taught and other states should do their own textbook managing.

While reading the Chronicle online I noticed this:

Voters in the Republican primary basically guaranteed a new look for the State Board of Education by removing controversial member Don McLeroy and ending the 26-year board career of Geraldine “Tincy” Miller.

McLeroy's leadership as one of the board's seven social conservatives, and his opposition to the teaching of evolution, made him a strong ally for conservative Christian groups and a lightning rod for educators.

Like McLeroy, Miller was a former chair of the 15-member board. But her moderate-to-conservative approach did not attract organized opposition.

Now, I have not followed closely the comings and going of all the textbook committee, or their positions on any issue. What I am pointing out in this post is TERM LIMITS. Twenty-six years is too long for anyone to be on the state Board of Education, textbook committee or any other elected post .We need term limits for every elected official. 

Vote Buying?

I wrote yesterday about Obama appointing the brother of a House Democrat to a Federal Appeals court, today The Washington Times has this editorial:
Jobs for political dropouts

The Justice Department ought to open an investigation immediately into whether any White House officials broke federal law by offering administration jobs in return for disfavored Democratic candidates to withdraw from two major Senate races. Whether illegal or not, and whether as direct offers or just as broad hints, any job incentives of that sort are sleazy.

The story broke Feb. 18 when Rep. Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania Democrat, told a local cable news show that somebody in the administration offered him a high-ranking job if he would decline to challenge party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter in his state's Democratic primary this year. Speculation has been rife that Mr. Sestak, a retired admiral, might get named as secretary of the Navy, although he would not identify the specific job he was offered. The congressman told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he stuck to his story even after the White House denied it.

This was the second such story in the past half-year. In August, the Denver Post cited "several top Colorado Democrats" who said that Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina "offered specific suggestions" for a administration job if former Colorado state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff would agree not to challenge Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado Democrat, this year. Again, the White House denied the story, but these are Democrats making the allegations, not Republicans attacking a White House of the opposing party. It is thus much harder to write off the claims as mere political hit jobs.

Read it all here.

Lawyers who helped detainees identified

Fox news broke the story:

Exclusive: Unknown DOJ Lawyers Identified

by: Mike Levine

A day after a conservative group released a video condemning the Justice Department for refusing to identify seven lawyers who previously represented or advocated for terror suspects, Fox News has uncovered the identities of the seven lawyers.

The names were confirmed by a Justice Department spokesman, who said "politics has overtaken facts and reality" in a tug-of-war over the lawyers' identities.

"Department of Justice attorneys work around the clock to keep this country safe, and it is offensive that their patriotism is being questioned," said Justice Department Spokesman Matt Miller.

The video by the group Keep America Safe, which dubbed the seven lawyers "The Al Qaeda 7," is the latest salvo in a lengthty political battle.

For several months, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has led an effort to uncover politically-appointed lawyers within the Justice Department who have advocated for Guantanamo Bay detainees or other terror suspects.

"The administration has made many highly questionable decisions when it comes to national security, " Grassley said in a recent statement. "[Americans] have a right to know who advises the Attorney General and the President on these critical matters."

An extensive review of court documents and media reports by Fox News suggests many of the seven lawyers in question played only minor or short-lived roles in advocating for detainees. However, it's unclear what roles, if any, they have played in detainee-related matters since joining the Justice Department.

Even a small role is a conflict of interest, plus we wonder why he keeps getting such people in government roles.  Well, no, we don't really wonder, just wish it wasn't so.
Read the whole article.
via Lucianne.com

The Houston Chronicle Doubts the Tea Party Influence

You do have to read the whole thing where they admit it did have some influence.  We are going to have to keep up the pressure to make our wishes known. Here's the story:

Lackluster showing puts damper on Tea Party
Faithful are left to wonder if Perry is worth their vote
By JOE HOLLEY and R.G. RATCLIFFE

Helena Brown of Houston is not pleased.

A lifelong Republican — and a precinct chair at that — she also identifies with the Tea Party movement and was a Debra Medina supporter. Now she and her fellow Tea Party Republicans must decide whether GOP candidate Gov. Rick Perry is worthy of their support or perhaps look for an independent write-in candidate. (Brown says she thinks actor Chuck Norris might be interested.)

Although Medina's 18 percent of the Republican primary vote was much more than most observers expected her to get when the campaign season got under way, the champion of the Tea Party/libertarian insurgents failed to force a runoff. Medina also failed to buoy up other Tea Party candidates across the state.

Anti-establishment voters simply didn't materialize at the polls on Tuesday, and most Republican incumbents cruised to victory over their Tea Party challengers.

They go on to talk about Ron Paul and actually say this

“After all the talk from the 9-12 groups and the Tea Party, it's surprising,” said John Gay, one of three Republicans who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside. “From what I was hearing, there were a lot of people saying they were going to vote for someone besides the incumbent this time.”

They didn't. Paul, considered by some to be the founder of the Tea Party movement, got 80.8 percent of the vote against insurgents on his right flank. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Woodlands, got 79.2 percent of the vote against three Tea Party challengers who had maintained that the incumbent was too liberal.

It really makes me wonder why they think Ron Paul was a founder of the Tea Party's
Maybe they should talk to some others.

After this they go on to say this:

Work to do at grass root
There were some local Tea Party successes.

Read it all, see if it makes sense to you.

He is Giving Chicago Politics a bad name

From the Weekly Standard.com

Obama Now Selling Judgeships for Health Care Votes?

by John McCormack

Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he's obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson's brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Every time we think The Man has reached a new low, he shows us how much lower he can go.  Where will it end? He really does make the rest of the Chicago politicians look good. Unbelievable.

Time for Tea Party to Walk the Talk: Part 3

This is Part III of my essay on why the Tea Party should remain small and localized to maintain its momentum, strength and impact.

Time for the Tea Party to walk the talk -- and limit its national scope and expand to more small towns to maintain effectiveness.

The root of our country’s problem is political apathy. There was decent turnout at the polls that got Obama elected. But it wasn’t huge or record-shattering. 57% of eligible voters turned out. Slightly above average. And most people in this country do not agree with his socialist-Marxist trend for our political system. But he got elected. If 70 or 80% of eligible voters turned out, I doubt there would ever be a Tea Party.

Let's look at the basic tenets that helped rally the Tea Party into existence. Note, all of these are inter-related and tie back to #1.

#1. The Founding Fathers Got It Right

The constitution is being unraveled slowly, thread by thread. The founding fathers knew it was a very big, strong rope, but they also knew if you take it thread by thread, eventually you can destroy it.

Let's stick to the constitution, as written. Plain and simple.

#2. Limited government.

This means reasonable control of law and commerce and people, for the general welfare of people, but being very conservative with it because it gets out of hand so easily. It also means saying "no" to bureaucratic solutions. Example: Are we safer now that we have the Dept. of Homeland Security? No. The FBI, CIA, NSA, TSA and Border Patrol was enough. Then 911 happened. But bureaucrats don't believe in fixing broke things. They believe in building bureaucracies. So their solution was the DHS, which is now another layer of bureaucracy between US citizens and their security.

#3. Personal Freedom and Responsibility is Best
The government is not our mother. For example: You can choose to drive safely or not. If you don't (because of texting, eating or talking) you can be ticketed for reckless driving. And you can die in a crash. Or hurt someone, in which case you should go to jail. We don't need laws that tell us we can't eat, play music, text, talk, think about the opposite sex, or other tasks that will distract us behind the wheel. Those are useless inflations of government power that do nothing except undermine personal freedoms and responsibilities of citizens to do the right thing. It runs both ways. If you screw up, you should pay the price. The solutions are there; they should be embraced and enforced.

#4. Free Markets Work
Again, within reason. Antitrust laws are necessary. Many laws are necessary to reign in unfettered greed which we've seen run amuck throughout history. But that doesn't mean you shut down -- or take over -- the system of commerce, enterprise and entrepreneurialism that made this country great. And will keep it strong, rich and powerful. By the way, being strong, rich and powerful are good things.

And that’s it. I was hoping to keep it to three, because #4 is a function of numbers 1, 2 and 3. But in the current climate, it seems like it should be mentioned on its own.

Sarah Palin Does the Tonight Show

I didn't watch it. But if you want to see some of the video, you can watch this. It's from Politico.


As to what she had to say, here is some of it:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday night promised to keep writing notes on her palms “just to get the left all wee-wee'd up.”

Palin, appearing on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” walked on stage to meet host Jay Leno with the note on her hand that read “Good evening and welcome to ‘The Tonight Show.’”

“Yeah, the poor boy's version of the TelePrompter,” she said of the notes she scribbled on her palm before speaking to the tea party convention last month.

“I wrote three things that represent a solution to challenges in America. I wrote ‘energy,’ energy independence. You know, there's an inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and security. I wrote ‘tax cuts.’ That's the only way we're going to be able to create jobs is by allowing our employers to keep more of what they earn,” she said. “And then I wrote ‘look to the American spirit.’ And those are three things that I think our country needs today to get us back on the right track.”

Read more:

Van Jones has not gone away

From Investors Business Daily: (this is for those of you who have never listened to Glenn Beck, nor watched his TV show)
Van Jones Goes Back To School

Academia: The former green jobs czar in the Obama administration and self-avowed communist has landed a job at an Ivy League school, where he'll be teaching your children why America is racist, capitalism is bad, and redistribution of wealth is good.
We have often commented on how academia leans far to the left and how nutty professors like the infamous Ward Churchill can find acceptance for their wacky philosophies. So it was not a total surprise last week when Princeton University announced that Van Jones will be teaching environmental policy at the prestigious school.
Jones has been appointed a visiting fellow in the Center for African American Studies and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the university's Wilson School.

One Way to Save Money on Health Care

From the Houston Chronicle:
Three plead guilty in Houston Medicare fraud case
by Mike Glenn

The owner and two employees of a Houston medical supply company pleaded guilty in federal court today for bilking the government out of almost $1 million in fraudulent claims.

Bassey Monday Idiong, 30, Linda Eteimo Ere Kendabie, 27, and Modupe Babanumi, 42, face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, authorities said.

Idiong was the owner of B.I. Medical Supply while Kendabie was an administrative assistant and Babanumi recruited patients for the company, said officials with the U.S. Justice Department.

According to federal authorities, the defendants billed Medicare $4,000 each for a collection of braces and other devices they referred to as “arthritis kits.” However, their patients received less-expensive products that were not medically necessary. In one case, a patient with only one leg received a kit that had two knee braces, authorities said.

The company submitted about $846,000 in fraudulent claims to Medicare, officials said.

I can't say much more about this, except to multiply this in your mind, by say ten, and you are still probably way under the total amount of fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.  What do you think will happen with total healthcare?
 Read more here.

Why I will be Happy When this Primary Election is Over

Apparently there is NO one person running for anything who is not a "conservative." If there are as many conservatives in our region as those who are using the word in their advertising we would be in great shape.  We would just pick which of the "true conservatives" we liked on a personal level. 

I, for one, am so tired of hearing the word bandied around. It is lessening the impact of who we really are. It seems as if they have all read Frank Luntz's book "Words that work: it's not what you say, it's what people hear,"  on what words to use.  Please, please stop using OUR word. We know who the truly conservative are.

I got caught by a Trojan horse trap from Face Book

By clicking a link from a trusted user (I thought) but it turns out it was the trojan virus she had clicked on that sent the email under her name. UH OH!
Even though my virus program has trapped it time and again it is still popping up an Internet Explorer page, trapped by AVG each time and a porn video site that I in NO WAY want to chat with.  AARRGH! 
BE CAREFUL!