Politics and bed sheets

Couple of interesting stories, all revolving around Senator Robert Brown, (D - Macon), Senate Minority Leader. First there were the inflammatory remarks he made about state Rep. Allen Peake, (R - Macon).

Brown, during the taping of an interview with Peake, said that a legislator who recently switched to the Republican Party might need to keep his white sheets "for the midnight meeting." Peake recently made the switch from Democrat to Republican. Brown has since said he was not referring to the KKK, but to sex.

On the 31st while leaving a press conference one of Brown's associates attacked a photographer. Rather than try to recap stories when I wasn't present, I'll link to two that do a good job of outlining the whole fiasco. The photographer has filed charges.

Here's a video of the attack. It kind of hangs at the beginning so hang in there when it goes blank. Here's a link if the video doesn't play for you: http://videos.macon.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=46449141&item_index=1&all=1&sort=NULL



Peake Offended by Brown's 'White Sheet' Comment
State Rep. Allen Peake says he's offended by Sen. Robert Brown's comments that seemed to compare Georgia Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan.
It happened Tuesday morning as the pair went toe-to-toe on several issues during a taping of 13WMAZ's Close-Up program.
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=106782&catid=7

Telegraph photographer attacked after news conference
By JIM GAINES and SHELBY SPIRES - Telegraph writers
A man apparently accompanying state Sen. Robert Brown to a hurriedly called Thursday news conference attacked and injured Telegraph photographer Woody Marshall at Macon City Hall, prompting conflicting stories from those involved.Read more: http://www.macon.com/2010/12/31/1393922/telegraph-photographer-attacked.html#ixzz19yWSsQkt

Dirty (Illegal?) Dealings in Ohio Governor's Race

Have you been watching the race for Governor in Ohio? John Kasich (R) is up at least ten points over Ted Strickland (D).

Large Democratic leaning counties have mailed ballots to all eligible voters and they're paying for return postage. Many counties aren't sending them out and / or aren't paying return postage.

Lawsuits are in motion.

It could be a tough case if counties in Ohio usually do their own thing when it comes to elections. Some counties won't be able to afford to pick up the tab for two-way mailing.

Four people have filed suit saying its unfair, pretty much "why should I have to pay or request a ballot when my neighbor across the street doesn't because he's in another county". I think one of the people filing is disabled and unable to get out to vote.

I'm just skimming articles, sharing the gist of what I'm reading urge you to do some more reading to get the details.

It seems sneaky, underhanded and to my way of thinking it should be illegal. No problems with disabled or those who are going out of town or whatever, getting an absentee ballot. However, I think if someone doesn't care enough to get an absentee ballot, they shouldn't vote, have that right handed to them on a silver platter.

Here are a few article links if you'd like to get more details and follow the issue:

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/05/copy/gop-resurgent.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/ohio-news/lawsuit-challenges-ohio-absentee-ballot-methods-896406.html?cxtype=rss_ohio-news

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100904/NEWS01/9040310/1002/Lawsuit-decries-Ohio-absentee-ballot-process

Looks like all the rest of the stories I'm finding are (AP) repeats...

Like the idea of government run health care? Go pick up your mail.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped by our local Post Office to check our company mail box. One of the items we received was a letter from someone in Florida addressed to the Social Security Administration.

Given that the P.O. Box on the address was the same as ours, at first I didn't think much about it. But, being the curious person I am, I really took a good look at the address as I walked to the miss-boxed mail slot nicely provided by the post office for errors such as this.

The letter was supposed to have gone to Wilkes Barre... Pennsylvania. I'm in Georgia. I decided this was probably a pretty important, possibly deadline oriented piece of mail so I stood in line to personally hand it to someone at the counter rather than stick it in the bin for incorrectly boxed mail.

I looked it over closely while I waited. Based on the handwriting I "assumed" it was written by an older woman. I figured she probably wrote the wrong zip code... but nope, it was correct (18702... ours here starts with a 302...). The postal worker and I both looked closely and everything was correct, except the encoding at the bottom. Some worker along the line encoded the zip incorrectly, or maybe a machine read it incorrectly. No one had looked at anything other than the P.O. Box number when it ended up at my post office.

The postal worker I was talking with crossed through the incorrect encoding and said she'd send it on correctly.

While standing in line I wrote down all the ladies info from the letter, thinking I'd drop her a note to let her know it was miss-boxed, miss-directed, miss-labeled and delayed. Then, of course, completely forgot about it by the time I got home. Until yesterday when I stopped by to check my post office box again, only to find the same letter once again waiting for me.

Yup, your government workers at work. Can you imagine what government run health care is going to look like?

I remember working at the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) in Atlanta as supervisor over an area that received quite a bit of mail. Banks would send us all their bank information for processing, including their customer's checks and bank statements for matching.

One November a whole batch of bank statements from an Alabama institution went missing. We ended up recreating everything and moving on. We were used to having the post office delay or lose mail.

What makes this one interesting is that one year later, in November, the statements arrived from the post office. They had the original date stamp from the bank mailing machine of the first year, plus the post office date stamp from the first year when mailed. A full year later, on the day it would have, should have, arrived a year earlier, it appeared at the FHLB!

That may have been one of the strangest I remember, but as said, it was fairly commonplace given the volume of mail we dealt with to have delays and problems.

When they cram this health care bill down our throats and it goes into effect in a few years, we better hope that we stay in good health.

Note: I'm working on two more blogs referencing "government run" incompetence, one to do with government run flood insurance (that'll curl your toes) and the other with what happens when you're mandated to move from private insurance to Medicare. No, I'm not there yet, but I sure know some people who've gone through it over the past few years... after hearing what they've gone through, I do not look forward to the day when I go through that nightmare transition.

Byron York - When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings

Unlike the Obama speech, in 1991 most of the controversy came after, not before, the president's school appearance. The day after Bush spoke, the Washington Post published a front-page story suggesting the speech was carefully staged for the president's political benefit. "The White House turned a Northwest Washington junior high classroom into a television studio and its students into props," the Post reported.

With the Post article in hand, Democrats pounced. "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. "And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'"

Continue reading: Byron York - When Bush spoke to students, Democrats investigated, held hearings

Me: Just thought it was interesting reading...

Mayo Clinic calls House plan bad medicine

Obama loses support on reform

A world-renowned clinic that President Obama held up as an example of good medicine said Monday that the American people would be "losers" under the House's health care proposal, joining the growing chorus of critics the Obama administration is trying to fend off as the debate intensifies from Capitol Hill to Main Street.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/21/mayo-clinic-calls-house-plan-bad-medicine/?feat=home_cube_position1

They're coming to get me, hee hee, ha ha...

No, really, they are.

I'm serious.

You think I'm joking?

Not.

You have to read this one to believe it...

Democrat Proposes Jail Time for 'Hostile' Bloggers
We know that the government is becoming more and more audacious in its attempts to control our lives and regulate our speech and whatever it thinks we're thinking (see the newest iteration of the federal Hate Crimes law), so a new story from Wired should come as no surprise. Looks like Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez, Calif., is ready to throw mean-old bloggers in the hoosegow.
http://townhall.com/blog/g/b719c095-9ae8-4eb4-a9f7-9e3911a527db

Prison Awaiting Hostile Bloggers
Proposed congressional legislation would demand up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to “coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/prison-awaiting-hostile-bloggers/

As a friend of mine commented, who defines hostile?

One person's hostile is another person's humor is another person's stupid.

Are the Democrats going to define hostile? lawyers? politicians? ministers? atheists? environmentalists? the military? gun owners? your mother?

Lest you think that this doesn't pertain to you, think again. The bill (HR 1966) doesn't just pick on bloggers. Oh no, it's fair in its unfairness. It includes email, telephones, instant messaging, text messages and website. Yep, if you are hostile (however someone might define it) via any device using electronic means, you could be jailed for up to two, count 'em, two years.

Can you imagine going to jail for two years and not having access to your cell phone, computer or telephone? Talk about hostile.

If you "coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person”, per the bill, off you go to the pokey.

What is it with Democrats and free speech? What happened to all the peace, love and freedom loving types from the 60s and 70s? Did they take sour pills? Free speech has come to mean speech that I like and can agree with wholeheartedly. I can yell, but you can't. I can tear you down but you can't reciprocate.

Remember "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me"? Seems that we've become so sensitive and wimpy that words are worse than sticks or stones.

What's next? Thought crimes? Oh, wait, we may already be there. I haven't gotten into the issue much, but there are some who wonder why beating up a person of another race or sexual preference is worse than beating up someone who's of the same race or sexual persuasion.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and friends want to shut down talk radio because they don't like what's being said. Now a fellow Democrat wants to go after bloggers. Just how long do you think it'll be before we're living in some Orwellian nightmare world once we start down the road Sanchez and her ilk are trying to shove us?

I don't like hate-speech, harassment, nastiness any more than the next person. However, I defy anyone to find a definition that the majority of us can agree upon. I also think we're getting really, really stupid with this stuff.

Oh man, I think that comment might have been somewhat hostile. Cuff me, I'm a cyberbully.

Here's part of the bill:

SEC. 3. CYBERBULLYING.
(a) In General- Chapter 41 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:`Sec. 881. Cyberbullying
`(a) Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.`(b) As used in this section--
`(1) the term `communication' means the electronic transmission, between or among points specified by the user, of information of the user's choosing, without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received; and`
(2) the term `electronic means' means any equipment dependent on electrical power to access an information service, including email, instant messaging, blogs, websites, telephones, and text messages.'

Specter, the Poster Child for Term Limits

Yesterday I wrote a quick bit about Arlen Specter's defection after hearing a short bit on the radio stating he'd switched. I hadn't heard his words regarding the move when I wrote it.

Guess he answered all my questions: it's nothing but political survival.

After a lifetime as claiming to be a Republican he's willing to say to heck with principles, I want to stay in power so I'm turning my back on whatever I told you I believed in? He says flat out that he's switching parties simply because he couldn't win as a Republican.

He is the poster child for term limits. The egos get so darned big, they get so entrenched in power and games, that they forget why they're there. They forget about principles.

Someone pointed out to me yesterday that Lieberman switched when the going got tough. Yep, he did. But he moved to a tougher position as an Independent. Being an Independent gives you the flexibility of voting left or right. He made the switch for the same reasons basically that Specter did, but he didn't trash his party, he continued to claim it. He just picked a neutral ticket and openly said he was still a Democrat.

Specter left for the left. He made a deal with his political devil, sold his soul, just to stay in office. Why? Because he thinks he is that important?

Years back when I first went into management, one of my bosses told me something that has stuck with me through the years. He said that at the point someone thought they were indispensable, they WERE indispensable.

Specter made a choice that shows he thinks he's indispensable.

He's not and I hope he learns that lesson the hard way, by losing.

Finally Specter Gets Honest... Maybe.

Arlen Specter is finally on the side of the aisle many of us figured he really should have been on all along. Unfortunately, taking on the technical title of Democrat isn't going to help the Republican cause any as now we won't be able to count on him to even try to act like a conservative.

My biggest concern at the moment is card-check. He was for it, then said he'd vote against it... but now that he's a certified (certifiable?) Democrat will he switch again and give them the vote that puts another nail in the coffin Barack Obama and friends are building for America?

Lots of questions.

You have to wonder what's going on in Specter's mind. He's had all the health problems which could result in someone either getting real honest with themselves or have them wigging out completely. I've had friends go both ways under similar circumstances.

Is Specter just getting back at all the Republicans who've been trashing him since he gave Obama the ability to mire our kids and future grandkids in debt they'll never rise above? Is he just being pragmatic, realizing he has zero chance of winning as a Republican so he's making himself the darling of the Democrats so he can hang in there another election cycle?

Lots of questions.

Only Specter knows the answer.

No matter what the reason, he's now hurting Republicans even worse than he was when he was a liberal Republican.
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Great Thoughts on Tea Parties

I hope just about everyone receiving this has gone or will go to a Tea Party this week. (Some tea parties were held on Saturday, including very successful ones in Studio City, CA and Pittsburgh, PA)

The big issue, of course, is this: Will the Tea Parties be just a "one-and-done" event, or will they become the beginning of a mass movement that eventually will sweep people like Obama and Reid out of office? On TeamSarah.org, which I hope you'll join if you haven't already, Puma4Palin wrote an excellent blog piece on what the Tea Parties can mean. We need to use them as opportunities to meet like-minded people and to organize for future victories. Let's make sure the Tea Parties are a beginning -- and not an end.

http://www.teamsarah.org/profiles/blogs/tea-parties-a-fad-thats-a?xgs=1

Over at Fox News they’re running a blog by a guy named John Tantillo who says he is a marketing expert and the founder and president of Marketing Department of America. Hey, the guy is very good at marketing his business because he got my attention with his disparaging article about the upcoming tea parties.

According to Tantillo, the April 15 Tea Parties are nothing more than a fad and, not just any kind of fad, but a fad that flops. Actually, the more I think about it, how can a fad flop? Fads come and go, but if something gets enough attention to be called a fad, then normally that’s called a success. Right?

He offers several criticisms of the parties, but what is striking to me is that he is labeling it “Republican” and “Conservative.” Personally, I think this is a tactic that the left is using to attempt to belittle the tea parties as “just a bunch of Republican losers” and to portray the Republicans as angry outsiders. The truth of the matter is that I know many people supporting the tea parties who are Democrats and Independents and who consider themselves moderates.

Further, if it’s just a bunch of Republicans why is the Huffington Post asking for citizen reporters to go to the tea parties and, well, do what? Write a slanted article? Disrupt? Bring a pro-Obama sign? I mean, why would the left care if it was just a “fad” and a Republican one at that? (Although anything that is not pro-Obama appears to be a threat to the insecure obats).

Actually, the other point Tantillo makes that has me laughing is that his take on the reports that tea party merchandise is flying off the shelves is bad news and a sure sign that this is all fad.

For example, he takes this quote from Jason King, VP of marketing for Zazzle, an online retailer selling tea party items: “This is probably one of the bigger things –- not counting the election– that we’ve seen since the Client 9 sex scandal broke in 2008.” And interprets it thus: “Hey, if a marketer’s comparing your “serious” political movement with “Client 9 sex scandal” sales you know you’re in trouble…”

Well, excuse me, but if the election was a big merchandising success, doesn’t that make it a fad, too? And didn’t the Client 9 sex scandal end a governor’s career? Pretty powerful fad!

I do think there are legitimate concerns about what next? Just getting together in a local park with a permit is not really going to accomplish anything. Most media will not cover it. And the location of the tea party in my town is low visibility; there is no drive-by traffic so no one will even notice it is happening unless they make a point to stop by.

Frankly, I think the tea party organizers should take some tips from Moveon.org. When they held their anti-war rallies here they lined a very busy street in front of our Congressman’s local office with not just signs, but drums, and they did it during rush hour. They also took a petition into the Congressman’s office where it was officially received.

It remains to be seen if the tea parties bring about change, but in the meantime it is encouraging to see average Americans getting heated up enough about something to make a sign and stand on a street corner. Maybe this is just practice but I don’t think I would classify it as a fad. In fact, I think that’s a challenge and I’m always up for one of those.

Steve Maloney
Ambridge, PA
DraftPalin2012
SteveMaloneyGOP

Note: Steve Maloney has become a good friend of mine through the Read My Lipstick Network, Team Sarah, and other conservative cross-over efforts. He is a great guy and a dynamic thinker and doer. I hope you'll read his blogs and maybe if you're lucky you'll get to know him as a friend. - Janet

A $50 lesson

Rec'd via email:

I recently asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?' She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'

Her parents beamed and were so proud.

'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.'

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'

I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

(Thought you might enjoy a bit of levity encased truth this Monday morning... yowzer, watching the stocks tumbling again!)

Looking for a great place to vacation? How 'bout Mexico?

Mexico is a great place to vacation according to Democrat Xavier Becerra (CA).

Sure, if you like the idea of traveling with armed guards at all times.

Every day now we're being treated to tales of violence on our border with Mexico. Kidnappings, killings and mayhem. It does seem to be mostly on the border, but to me it kind of makes sense for them to move onto some "rich" kids enjoying spring break in Cancun. Maybe not. Maybe I'm just hyper about safety. Have to say that I wouldn't be letting my teeny-boppers bop down to Mexico, any part of Mexico.

I know it's a big country and I know there are good people mixed in with the drug cartel types. However, Mexico doesn't seem to have a very good handle on security and I don't think it's worth the risk, no matter how slight. There are plenty of places to vacation where the beaches are safer.

Democratic Leader Says Mexico Still a Good Vacation Destination, Despite Rising Death Toll
(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said that despite the drug cartel-provoked violence that has resulted in the death of at least 7,000 people since January 2008, Mexico is still a good place to visit. “If you think about it, Mexico still has an infrastructure and a society that allows for day-to-day life,” Becerra told CNSNews.com when asked if the U.S. State Department should warn Americans against traveling there because of the violence. “There is heightened security, but many people have family there, as I do, and places they love to visit.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44587

Tourists weigh Mexico drug violence
Mexico's rampant drug violence has put the issue of safety front and center for would-be vacationers, and put the country's publicity-sensitive tourism promoters on the defensive... The University of Arizona has warned students to take extra care if traveling to Mexico during spring break because of "a marked increase in violence recently."...

Violence in Mexico prompts travel alert
Escalating violence in Mexico led the university [Texas Christian University] to issue a travel alert advising spring breakers of the potential dangers in traveling to the country, a university official said....
Mexican President Says He Won't Rest Until Mexico is Free of Violence
Mexico President Vows to Crush Drug Violence by 2012
Border businesspeople armoring selves against Mexico violence

RedState: Democrats to Railroad Through Another Super Secret Massive Spending Bill

They put it off to get the stimulus through. Now the Democrats want to rush this through without actually releasing the text of the legislation for public inspection.

As President Obama hosts a summit Monday on "fiscal responsibility," Democratic leaders in Congress this week are preparing to ram through the House a massive spending bill that includes thousands of unscrutinized pork-barrel earmarks and the largest increase in discretionary spending since Jimmy Carter - a bill written in secret, which to date, no one in America other than the Democratic congressional leadership has read.
Connie Hair notes:

"The omnibus spending bill was originally placed on the legislative calendar over two weeks ago, yet that proved inconvenient to ramming through the obscene "stimulus" bill. Shaky Blue Dog Democrats - in what passes for their idea of fiscal responsibility this Congressional session - were not comfortable with trying to pass the bloated trillion dollar "stimulus" spending bill while porking up another half-trillion in omnibus spending."

http://www.redstate.com/

Who's up for election, Senate, 2010

Shawn McElhinney provided this list today on Facebook (thanks):

Maine senators are not among the Republican senators up for re-election but Snarlin Arlen is. In fact, here are the senators from both parties whose terms expire on 1/3/11 meaning they are up for re-election in 2010:

Democrats

Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Burris, Roland (D-IL)
Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
Dorgan, Byron L. (D-ND)
Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI)
Inouye, Daniel K. (D-HI)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Lincoln, Blanche L. (D-AR)
Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD)
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
Salazar, Ken (D-CO)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

Republicans

Bennett, Robert F. (R-UT)
Bond, Christopher S. (R-MO)
Brownback, Sam (R-KS)
Bunning, Jim (R-KY)
Burr, Richard (R-NC)
Coburn, Tom (R-OK)
Crapo, Mike (R-ID)
DeMint, Jim (R-SC)
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA)
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA)
Martinez, Mel (R-FL)
McCain, John (R-AZ)
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
Newman, Bonnie (R-NH) (replaced Gregg, will not run for re-election)
Shelby, Richard C. (R-AL)
Specter, Arlen (R-PA)
Thune, John (R-SD)
Vitter, David (R-LA)
Voinovich, George V. (R-OH)

A few Sunday morning "stimulus" headlines

The Stimulus Tragedy
Obama bets that we can spend our way to prosperity.

Peggy Noonan: Bracing Ourselves
America prepares for the worst, and Republicans suddenly seem serious.

WSJ: Obama, GOP Trade Jabs on Stimulus

AP: Senators debate stimulus in rare Saturday session

Politico: Senate GOP says they were left out

The Hill: Senators exert leverage over Pelosi on stimulus

Senators Hash Out Stimulus Details With Another Nudge From Obama
ABC News - USAThough a few moderate Republicans likely will vote for the stimulus plan -- which President Barack Obama today said is necessary to avoid a "national ...

AP: Competing stimulus bills divide Congress

Roll Call: Drafters Meet Stimulus Amendment Deadline

WaPo: Economists Agree Time Is of the Essence for Stimulus

Battle over stimulus plan tests Obama's mettle
San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USABarack Obama will have to grind it out." "The moral of the story is that it's a lot more fun to campaign than it is to govern," says Jack Citrin, ...

Latest Porkulus List in S.1 from Heritage (via #TCOT)

* $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Dept. of Energy defunded last year because the project was inefficient

* $650 million for the digital television (DTV) converter box coupon program

* $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship)

* $448 million for constructing the Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters

* $248 million for furniture at the new Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters

* $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees

* $400 million for the CDC to screen and prevent STD's

* $1.4 billion for a rural waste disposal programs

* $125 million for the Washington, D.C. sewer system

* $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities

* $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion

* $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges

* $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI

* $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction

* $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River

* $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas

* $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings

* $500 million for state and local fire stations

* $650 million for wildland fire management on Forest Service lands

* $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities

* $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs

* $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service

* $412 million for CDC buildings and property

* $500 million for building and repairing NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD

* $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service

* $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the VA "National Cemetery Administration"

* $60 million for Arlington National Cemetery

* $850 million for Amtrak

* $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint

* $75M to construct a new "security training" facility for State

Dept Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.

* $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems

* $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

* $275 million for "watershed and flood prevention operations"

* Unspecified assistance for "nonambulatory cattle"

#TCOT to Republican Senators: NO to Porkulus, NO to Compromise, No to Turncoats

Michael Patrick Leahy, co-founder of Top Conservatives on Twitter, the conservative grassroots organization that dominates the conversation on Twitter, today announced that the organization is focusing it's OPERATION MOVE OVER MoveON.org on all Republicans in the Senate.

"Led by #TCOT Project Servant-Leader Wendy Hermann, a work-at-home mom from Corpus Christi, Texas, #TCOT's MOVE OVER MoveOn.org project is focused on defeating the "Porkulus" Bill in the Senate (S.1), in any form." Leahy said today.

"We intend to communicate that message to all 41 Republican Senators in the most direct way today and through the rest of the week. We know that Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid is trying to ram this bad bill through the Senate without a sufficient discussion of all the truly wasteful mini bail-outs to the Democrat Party's political allies it contains."

"Our message to every Republican Senator is clear and simple: Stand firm, and don't fall for false promises of 'bi-partisanship' that are being used to merely provide political cover to the Democrats. This is a clear example of the Democrats' wasteful economic policies, and we need to let the Democrats own their foolhardiness."

"The history of compromise in the US Congress is easy to understand. When Democrats coerce Republicans to abandon their principles, they call it 'bi-partisan' compromise. We conservatives call that fundamentally wrong."

"Anyone who wants to help us in this higher calling in the defense of American free markets can take an advantage of an innovative interactive tool that allows the average person to view the most recent spending elements of the "Porkulus" Bill, and register your approval or disapproval of each item. We will be periodically be sending out press releases highlighting your opinion of the most wasteful and extravagant elements of the bill."

"This great tool has been developed by Aaron Day, of Daylight Networks. To use the tool right now, simply go to: www.daylightnetwork.com/senate-stimulus.

"Once there, you can register and vote on whether or not a specific line item included in the bill will help improve the economy or will hurt it.”

MoveOn.org, the liberal activist group funded by George Soros, is focusing an ad campaign to turn around 5 Republican Senators. They are using radio and television ads to encourage people to contact these Senators and tell them to vote for S.1. The targeted Senators are:

(1) Collins - Maine
(2) Snow - Maine
(3) Newmann (yesterday appointed to replace Judd Gregg) - NH *
(4) Murkowski - ALASKA
(5) Grassley - Iowa

Leahy continued by adding that now all Republican Senators will be contacted.

"We've seen reports that various Republican Senators are offering a few ideas to make the bill seem more palatable. This simply won't work. Adding a few elements to placate moderate Republicans while keeping 90% of the $825 billion of pork included in the House version of the bill does nothing to help the economy. If Republican legislators want a historical model to guide them, they need look back only a few months to the disastrous vote in the fall in which many of them supported the ill advised and ineffective $700 billion Wall Street Bailout."

Top Conservatives on Twitter was started on November 29, 2008. It consists of a list of over 2,400 conservatives who use Twitter. The list can be found at http://www.topconservativesontwitter.org. The list serves as a rallying point for conservatives on the Internet, and has led to the formation of many action projects, of which Operation MOVE OVER MoveOn.org is one.

The organization is referred to as #TCOT because those five characters are used so that anyone on Twitter can follow the “tweet stream” of conversation on Twitter that is aimed at the #TCOT community. To follow this “tweet stream”, go to http://search.twitter.com and enter #TCOT.

In January, www.hashtags.org data showed that #TCOT dominated the Twitter conversation. #TCOT was the number one most used hashtag, with over 18,000 tweets. The second most used hashtag had less than 6,000 tweets.

#TCOT dominated the conversation on Twitter so dramatically that it had more than three times the conversation tweets as the number two hashtag.

#TCOT has released the following details of their plan of attack:

1. Phones. As we did in Operation Melt the Phones in DC, we are going to keep up a steady stream of phone calls to these Senators offices and report back on the TCOT Action Project site what the senators are saying. This time, however, we want to also call their local state offices. Each Senator has several in their state and they should be pressured as well. The numbers are listed by state at the bottom of the page as well as a sample script. We recommend calling each of the Senators offices every day. We will be issuing daily talking points for you to question the senate aid about. Be polite, but assertive.

2. Faxes. This time we will add faxes to our blitz. Many out of state people wishing to send a letter to a senator were stymied by the Senate e-mail system not allowing them. We have posted fax numbers next to phone numbers for those wishing to use that method. A sample text is listed at the bottom of the page for use in drafting e-mails and faxes. Again, we would like each person to fax each office daily emphasizing that days talking points.

3. E-mail. If you live in the senators state, we encourage you to send daily e-mails to the senators giving them reasons to vote against this piece of legislation. Links to each Senator’s webpage are on the Phone/Fax list at the bottom of the page. Use the Fax/E-mail text suggestions to know what to say.

4. Blogging and local media. We do not have George Soros’ money. We will have to be more grassroots than that. We are wanting all conservative bloggers to post this Action Project on your blog and give your opinion or perspective on the talking point of the day.

5. We are also asking "TCOT members to call their local talk radio programs, send letters to the editor and notify local media of what you are doing. Our hope is that some will be picked up as human interest stories and we can rebroadcast them over the Internet. We have made an outline/talking points list available to you for your reference. Please use that list as a starting point. We are working to build this media list, so please report back whomever you talk to and how they reacted.

6. We are looking for people with video experience that will write and produce short videos that can be posted on youtube that counter the ads being run by MoveON.org. Please contact us if you are interested in this project.

7. We are looking to target moderate or blue dog Democrats in the Senate that could be swayed to our side. Please let us know if you find any Democrats on the fence about S. 1.

Above all else, be polite. Passion is encouraged, foul language is not. Be aggressive, but not abusive.

Resources:
Senate Phone/Fax numbers (with links to e-mail) can be found at: http://moveovermoveon.posterous.com
To volunteer directly, and receive more detailed instructions, go to http://tcotprojects.ning.com

House Schedule for Tuesday

Now that I'm getting daily updates on the House schedule, I can't help but wonder what happens after they enact some of this stuff. I can't imagine that once some of these bills are passed and become law that many, if any, who voted on them ever know what happens afterward.

The volume of stuff going through is amazing. Can you imagine what would happen if all of a sudden everyone from the top down started doing half the things that are enacted way up on the lofty D.C. grounds? We hear it all the time in regards to things like illegal immigrants --- if we followed the letter of the law we wouldn't need new laws or bills or acts. It seems to me that a lot of the bills aren't worth the paper they're printed on (assuming anything is printed these days ;-).

There are a couple on this list I'm going to look up - Reducing Over-Classification Act? Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act? Not sure what the National Bombing Prevention Act is either...

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009:
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:30 p.m. for Morning Hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Unlimited One Minutes per side. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Suspensions (7 Bills)
1) H.R. 748 - Campus Safety Act of 2009 (Rep. Scott (VA) – Judiciary)
2) H.R. 738 - Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2009 (Rep. Scott (VA) – Judiciary)
3) H.Res. 82 - Raising Awareness and Encouraging Prevention of Stalking by Establishing January 2009 as National Stalking Awareness Month (Rep. Poe – Judiciary)
4) H.Res. __ - Supporting the goals and ideals of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week’ (Rep. Lewis (GA) – Judiciary)
5) H.R. 553 - Reducing Over-Classification Act (Rep. Harman – Homeland Security)
6) H.R. 559 - Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act (Rep. Clarke – Homeland Security)
7) H.R. 549 - National Bombing Prevention Act (Rep. King (NY) – Homeland Security)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4; THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5; FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009:
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business.
On Thursday, no votes are expected in the House.
On Friday, no votes are expected in the House.

S. 352 – The DTV Delay Act (Sen. Rockefeller – Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule)

Senate Amendment to H.R. 2 – The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (Rep. Pallone – Energy and Commerce) (Subject to a Rule)

* Conference Reports may be brought up at any time.
* Motions to go to Conference should they become available.
* Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees.

Kudlow on the stimulus

This video lays out the problem with the "stimulus" succinctly. I encourage you to listen and then go to www.nostimulus.com and sign the petition. Then pop over to www.topconservativesontwitter.com and look at their action list. Look for Move Over MoveOn --- get involved. Don't just call your senator, call, email or fax those in every state, Democrat, Independent and Republican. Another group that is fighting the stimulus is www.wam08.org. I could list more, but those should keep you busy!

Congress doesn't need to enact this entire package all at once. Tell them to cut all the handouts, the wish lists and the things that have nothing to do with creating jobs or stopping the drain.

They are rushing this through hoping you won't catch on until it's too late.

Like to see where they're going to spend your future dollars? Visit www.readthestimulus.org.

"Stimulus" Stats...

Contact every Senator, the Governor (stories are out saying Republican Governors are pressuring Congress to vote yes so they'll get their share of the money). If you think the so-called "stimulus package" is good for America, read the following excerpts from an article in the Canadian Free Press (http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/8006):

Alan Reynolds at the Wall Street Journal also tells us the stimulus package doesn’t even target the groups hardest hit by unemployment.

The December unemployment rate was only 2.3% for government workers and 3.8% in education and health. Unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction, by contrast, were 8.3% and 15.2% respectively. Yet 39% of the $550 billion in the bill would go to state and local governments. Another 17.3% would go to health and education—sectors where relatively secure government jobs are also prevalent. If the intent of the plan is to alleviate unemployment, why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest?

Here's a list of some of the things included in the "stimulus" package:

Global Warming

$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects Link
$400 million for global-warming research Link

Government Upgrades

$2.5 billion for the National Science Foundation Link
$2.0 billion for the National Park Service Link
$800 million for AMTRAK Link
$650 million for the U.S. Forest Service Link
$600 million for NASA Link
$276 million to the State Department to upgrade and modernize its information technology Link
$150 million for maintenance work at the Smithsonian Institution Link
$209 million for maintenance work for the Federal Agricultural Research Service Link
$44 million for repairs and improvements at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Department of Agriculture Link
$245 million to upgrade the information technology of the Farm Service Agency Link
The Coast Guard wants more than $572 million for “Acquisition, Construction, & Improvements” They claim these funds will create 1,235 new jobs. Crunch the numbers and this brings the cost of “creating” each job to a staggering $460,000+ Link
$200 million for Dep. of Defense to acquire alternative energy vehicles. Link
$600 million for new cars for the federal government Link
$200 million to re-sod the National Mall Link
$400 million for a new Social Security Administration computer system Link
$1.9 billion for the Energy Department for “basic research into the physical sciences Link

Schools

$66B on education, but they specifically exclude private K-12 schools from getting one dime of it. Link
$17 billion for Pell Grants Link
$13 billion in IDEA, Part B State grants to help pay for “the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. Link
$13 billion in Title I grants “to provide extra academic support to help raise the achievement of students at risk of educational failure or to help all students in high-poverty schools meet challenging State academic standards Link
$6 billion goes to college and universities Link
$3.5 billion for higher education facilities. Link
$2.1 billion is for Head Start Link
$1 billion for Technology Education Link
$250-million for an after-school snack program. Link

Social Programs

$87 billion is to be spent on Medicaid, a welfare program already costing roughly $400 billion per year Link
$83 billion for the earned income credit for people who don’t pay income tax Link
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits Link
$20 billion for increased food stamps, including lifting restrictions on how long welfare dependents can receive food stamp benefits. Link
$6 billion program to “weatherize modest-income homes Link
$5 billion is devoted to public housing Link
$3 billion for health care prevention and wellness programs, such as childhood immunizations and other state and local public health programs Link
$2 billion is to be spent on Child Care Development Block Grants, which provide day care. Link
$1.7 billion is to be spent to help the homeless Link
$1.1 billion for so-called federal comparative effectiveness research in regard to health-care services Link
$1 billion goes for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, to help low income families pay their heating bills Link
$500 million to speed the processing of applications for Social Security disability claims. Link
$200 million goes for senior nutrition programs, such as Meals on Wheels Link
$200 million for AmeriCorps, to help satisfy “increased demand for services for vulnerable populations to meet critical needs in communities across the U.S. Link
$120 million to finance part-time work for seniors in community service agencies. Link
$100 million to reduce lead-based paint hazards for children in low income housing Link

MISC

New Programs $136 billion of the bill is for unproven ideas—to start 32 new federal programs. Link
$79 billion is to go the states to maintain their runaway government spending, particularly for such spendthrift jurisdictions as California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts Link
$5.2 billion for ACORN, the left-leaning nonprofit group under federal investigation for massive voter fraud. Link “Community organizers,” such as the left-wing lobbying group ACORN, would get their own new slush fund of up to $750-million. Link
$4.2 billion provided to the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which provides the funds to local governments to purchase and rehab vacant housing due to foreclosure Link
$2 billion for Superfund cleanup Link
$1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth Link
$650 million for digital TV coupons to help Americans upgrade to digital cable television Link
$335 million for sexually transmitted disease education and prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Link
$50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts to help “the arts community throughout the United States.
$400 million for “habitat restoration projects” of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Link
$75 million for smoking cessation Link

A glimmer of hope on the "stimulus" horizon?

Democrat Paul Kanjorski is saying that Congress needs to slow down on the so-called stimulus bill. In fact, he struck out hard against it. I hope he's just one of many Democrats having second thoughts after reading all that is included in the bill.

I had set today aside to catch up on the Fayette Front Page. Trying to do whatever I can to stop the stimulus has taken up the majority of my day thus far. I feel so strongly that this is the absolute worst thing that could happen to our country that I can't help but try to stop it. Even if that means sitting up half the night to update the Fayette Front Page and the Georgia Front Page.

If we can't stop the stupid thing, at least let us slow down the process long enough to understand the ramifications off our actions. Have you seen what's included? Go to www.readthestimulus.org or check out the links at the end of this blog.

The initial bailout was acted upon in panic mode and look where that got us! The current bill is every liberal dream wrapped in money that doesn't exist until we take it out of our wallets or it's printed. They want to rush it through before we can see what's being voted on and become alarmed.

Already our actions are having some effect. Minimal, but we're getting there.

Contraceptive funding thrown under Obama’s bus
By Michelle Malkin • January 26, 2009 11:27 PMGoody. Panicky President Obama wants the Dems to eliminate Pelosi’s pet contraceptive funding from the Generational Theft Act of 2009. Only $800 billion more in needless, unstimulating stimulus spending to kill.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/01/26/contraceptive-funding-thrown-under-obamas-bus/

I just received a House floor update that said they'll be debating the bill sometime around 3:30 this afternoon. I'm hoping Cspan picks it up so we can watch.

Here are a few of the comments Kanjorski made regarding the bill:

"I think we've lost our way in a way ... We shouldn't be pressed by these silly deadlines like, you know, what makes [the] Presidents Day holiday so important for us to get out of town?"

"In order to get it right, we have to spend time and analyze how much is going to hit the street as fast as it can hit the street and I don't think we've done that. I think, to a large extent, many of the parts of the stimulus are programs that are going to take years and years and years to accomplish ..."

"Quite frankly, we're doing this in small stages and small bites. We need to take our time. I guarantee we're going to come back and we are going to have another stimulus, we're going to have another bailout for Wall Street because we are not doing these things properly."

Key Democrat rips stimulus, predicts more bailouts
By Bob Cusack
Posted: 01/27/09 01:22 PM [ET]
A key Democrat on Tuesday lambasted the economic stimulus bill that is headed to the House floor, claiming it was put together too quickly and won’t help the economy in the short term. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who chairs the Financial Services subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, said on C-SPAN that Democrats have "lost our way" and "shouldn't be pressed by silly deadlines" of getting the bill into law by the Presidents Day recess...
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/key-democrat-rips-stimulus-predicts-more-bailouts-2009-01-27.html

Uncovered: Democrats Seek to Use Stimulus to Kick Start Government-Run Health Care
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement regarding the inclusion of $1.1 billion for Comparative Effectiveness Research in the Democrats’ misnamed “stimulus” package. The provision provides the cornerstone for a national government-run health care system.
http://tom.house.gov/html/release.cfm?id=446

Top 20 Fast Facts About the House Democrats' Trillion Dollar Spending Plan
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=109402
Washington, Jan 26 - Earlier this month, when then-President-elect Obama met with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, he laid out a vision of crafting a bipartisan economic recovery package focused on creating jobs and fast-acting tax relief. However, in the weeks since that meeting, Democratic leaders in Congress have taken that vision and turned it upside down, crafting a plan loaded with hundreds of billions in spending on programs and projects – most of which will not impact our ailing economy for many years, if ever, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.