Barney Frank, House Financial Services Chairman, has recently shown his utter lack of concern for the American military person in Iraq. That is the only conclusion you could possibly come to with his announcement that he will defund the Iraq war under a Democratic president.

“I will move to cut funding immediately,” said Frank. “I have already done that. I voted against the war and voted to cut the funding. I would hope a Democratic president would put in place a plan that would begin a total withdrawal.”

Irrespective of the complete geopolitical disaster this would cause in the Middle East in general, and the chaos that would ensue in Iraq with Frank’s “immediate withdrawal”, the impact on the American military would be catastrophic. Any cuts in funding, prior to the intended consequence of forcing the generals to withdraw forces, would impact the ability of our military folks in Iraq to protect themselves as units become forced to do more with less. Money currently used to make life bearable - movies, phone calls, the occasional fast food  run, computer services, etc.  - those things would disappear first. The ability to spread goodwill in the neighborhoods through the use of toys, soccer balls, candy, books, shoes, and other community project items will remove the potential for our soldiers to be anything other than armed occupiers. Today, they can also help build community.

Barney Frank sits in Washington and looks down from Mt Olympus at Iraq and makes decisions without any thought to how those decisions impact anything except his sense of how things should be. This elitist moron needs to find something else to occupy his mind. I suggest he take up crochet and leave the serious business of war and peace to the professionals.

You can’t describe it any other way - pure hypocrisy.

The Leftists have been screaming for “immigration reform” because of the plight of the poor people (who have a 3.8% unemployment rate) of Mexico. They have been extolling the world about how hard it is to get into the US legallyand using this as an excuse against securing the border. We need “guest workers” and “a path to citizenship”, despite the fact that we already have 13 guest worker programs and there is a path to citizenship. But, the battle continues from the Leftists to make it more equitable for people who want to come to the US and do the “jobs no American will do”.

Explain this to me then:

Republicans in congress are trying to double the number of H2B visas  currently available for seasonal industries workers. We are talking about doubling the number of people who can legally enter the US to do some of those jobs “no American will do.” You would think the cogressional Democrats would be all in, right? The Leftists who are so concerned with the plight of these foreign workers are all for this issue right? Doublinbg the capacity of one of our current guest worker programs is a good thing to these Leftists, correct?

No - they are opposing it.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus doesn’t want the H-2B bill to move forward alone because it is pursuing comprehensive immigration reform. Last year, a broad immigration bill died in the Senate during a rancorous debate about enforcement and a path toward residency for illegal workers.

Republicans blame Democratic leadership for holding up the H-2B bill. Boustany needs 218 House members to sign a “discharge petition” that would allow the bill to bypass committee action and go straight to the House floor.

Stupak is one name that won’t be appearing on the document. “My discussions with House leadership continue and I remain hopeful that they will lead to the quick action needed for seasonal businesses in northern Michigan and across the country,” Stupak said in a statement.

Rice, sugar, shellfish producers and construction firms are suffering in Louisiana, according to Boustany.

“They can’t find the workforce,” Boustany said at a Capitol Hill press conference. “They depended on H-2B visas over the years to meet these needs. This is good policy that’s being held hostage by politics.”

You see the hypocrisy? Again, the Leftists are showing their true colors. They are not concerned for the foreign workers. They are concerned that the Republicans will be seen as the benefactor to foreign workers.They are also concerned that they will loose power.

The truth is simple - Leftists understand that their power comes from being seen as a the benefactor to a burgeoning hispanic population. They don’t want workers to come in to the US, work at their jobs, and then go home. The Leftists want more poor people to come to the US and stay - while remaining poor -  so the government can be the benefactor. This is the only way Leftists remain powerful - by keeping people dependent upon them.

This is the benefit of big government. It is the only benefit of big government.

If John McCain gets the party nomination, we are going to have a Democrat in the White House on January 20th, 2009. It’s that simple.

McCain has held conservatives and conservative principles in disdain as his evolution to left-of-center politics reaches its peak. He wants your vote now.

The Republican frontrunner for president, Sen. John McCain, promoted his conservative bona fides on Face The Nation, while also admitting that, should he win the GOP nomination, he would likely not win the general election without the backing of the party’s conservative base.

Guess what? I am not supporting, nor voting for the Mav. I would rather spend my energy working to get the right people into Congress. that’s where the battles are going to be fought. This Pyhrric victory syndrome we Republicans are engaged in is ridiculous.

There is a lot of weak tea rhetoric going out right now:

• Our duty as Republicans - we owe it to our party to vote for McCain no matter what
• McCain is better than the other two
• We can vote for McCain without violating our principles
• Four years of a Democrat in the White House will ruin the nation
• We should separate ourselves from the issues and just vote along party lines

Let me tell you - that’s crap. It is outright hackery.

• You want to know what we owe our party? The strength of our Republican principles.
• McCain is not better than the other two - he is unpredictable, which makes him much more dangerous. That is why they call him the Maverick, right? Politically, that’s what they are referring to.
• You cannot vote for someone who denounces your principles, and calls you foolish for having them, without having abandoned them. It is delusional to think that your vote does not directly correspond to your beliefs. That is a play right out of the John Kerry play book.
• Four years of a Democrat in the White House can be harmful to our ideas of government - if we abdicate the congress to the left as well. Work hard to support solid Republicans with solid voting records to the front line positions in the Senate and House. That is where the judicial nominations battles will be fought. That is where the health care battles will be fought.
• The party lines have been blurred beyond recognition by the likes of John McCain. With it, many of our pundits are dithering and quibbling about how “we gotta win”. There is no win in the White House this fall - triage this race and you will see what the choices are.

I am voting for Romney in the primary elections because I believe he is more open to input from constituents. I am not thrilled to do so, but I am beyond looking for political purity here. However, let me offer a prediction:

John McCain will get the Republican Nomination - and he will then choose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. This solidifies several things for him:

• “Proves” he can work across party lines
• Garners a lot of Democrat votes in key states
• Levels the polls playing field and throws the current statistical models out the window.
• Removes his need for conservatives in order to win in November.
• Creates the one scenario that neither Hillary, nor Obama can defeat with the relative ease the pundits think this race is going to exude

RNC, you are on notice. Strap a two-by-four to your back while you un-screw the motivations of Republican policy and recover your spine. We’re done with the status quo and not giving a dime until you get back on target of smaller government, individual freedom, less spending, and the sanctity of life. Call us together, when you are ready to talk.

I told you, there will be a Democrat in the White House in November. The question is whether or not that person is registered as a Democrat.

Blue Team - Bi-Racial and Bi-Sexual? AND Already with the recounts!

As we learned last week, Hillary Clinton won big in New Hampshire, flummoxing the polls and pollsters. Most of them have had excuses of one flavor or another, but the bottom lines seems to have been, we are not good at Bi-racial polling, nor bi-sexual polling. In the mean time, Hillary has made several statements along racial lines that have not sat well with black voters. The word on the street is there is a lot more faith in Bill on race than there is in Hillary.

After shaking up her staff and bringing in the old-school race baiters, you can bet this campaign is going to get messy fast. The question is will Hillary ruin their chances of a win in November just to get the party’s nomination?Barak Obama has a message for skeptical blacks in South Carolina - “Whites are ready for a black president”.  This is something we pointed out here last month. The big question is can Barak fend off the big hit campaign due to be launched against him by a large pro-Hillary group? South Carolina might be more contentious than anticipated. With several activists bringing out the race card, as well as trying to catch Barak riding dirty on his college drug use, he has to come out strong on the issues to get past what we think is simply a very nasty speed bump.  Kerry endorsed Obama though - did it help?

John Edwards could be facing Barak alone, unless Hillary can bring out another win. This would certainly change the dynamic of the race. We think there would be a lot less talk of race from the MSM, if there was also not a sex issue as well.

Dishonorable mention goes to Dennis Kucinich, who first demanded a recount in New Hampshire and then sued to be included in the debates in Nevada. He doesn’t seem to understand he has already been voted off the island of Wannabedaprezi!

Red Team - No Clear Front Runner!

Rudy Giuliani wants your prayers and he really needs them right now. South Carolina is not going to be friendly to him and Michigan is not going to be nice either. With cash problems and staffers going without pay, his campaign doesn’t have much steam left.

Mitt Romney needs a Michigan win to remain viable and he’ll probably get it, although the McCain surge could bump him into a second place finish. We’ll know soon enough! I don’t expect him to drop out before Super Tuesday, as he has enough money to stay in as long as he wants. Romney is also getting a lot of support from Leftists, according to Daily Kos - the idea being that Romney loses against Hillary and Obama in all polls thus far.

John McCain is still surging and it is paying off. As he gains popularity, he also becomes a magnet for abuse from the GOP base. take into account also that GOP leaders are not supporting him. Romney has garnered a lot more support from party leaders and congressional leaders, while McCain is gaining on popularity chatter. I still don’t believe McCain is going to get the nomination.

Mike Huckabee is losing fast. His campaign is in disarray and his true colors are starting to show. As others attack his policy - which is natural when you become the front runner - he began making his attacks more personal. As he slides in all the national polls, we are hearing a lot less news about him. I think he is close to being done.

Fred Thompson is still rising and expected to finish strong in South Carolina. In our minds, he does not need a win in any of the early primaries. As long as he can keep his campaign afloat money-wise, he can stick through to super-Tuesday and find out what America really thinks. There is a big difference between the primaries elections and the feeling the waters early primaries. His message is resonating well, as his campaign gets better at communicating. There is a rumor that a presidential ticket is shaping up with Fred. How does “Thompson - Watts ‘08″ sound?

Ron Paul is still in the race and we predict this will continue as long as the money holds out, despite poor results and not so subtle hints from the field that his policy ideas are crazy. We predict he will struggle to remain viable until just shy of Giga Tuesday and then swing his support to no one.

——————–

Today the Democrats debate in Nevada and the Michigan primaries are today!

January 19th - Nevada caucuses!

Stay Tuned and watch the drama unfold! Who is next to leave the island of Wannapedaprezi? Find out what happens the next time - “The tribe has spoken”!

Blue Team - Joe Who?

Hillary Clinton has lost a lot of favor among Democrats, losing to Obama in Iowa and probably losing to Obama and Edwards today in New Hampshire. She will win Michigan, as the other candidates asked to be removed from the ballot when Michigan changed the date of their primaries to earlier in the season.

Yesterday, Hillary had a human moment as she teared up talking about the grueling campaign schedule and her passion to create change in America. Some think this was calculated to show her humanity. Others think it was calculated to allow her an excuse to back out later. We think it was simply Hillary bending to too much pressure and that this is her “Dean Scream”.

We will find out son enough!

Barak Obama has got everything going his way right now. By our analysis, he will sweep most of the early primaries and will probably get the Democratic nomination. The problem so far is, Barak Obama has not come out with anything definitive - this is starting to look like 2004 all over again. What exactly is he going to change - that he is able to change?

John Edwards seems to have gotten a springboard from Clinton not doing so well. he is still in the race, but his days are numbered by our estimates. We predict Edwards will put his considerable base behind Obama sometime shortly after Michigan.

Red Team - Who is the real conservative?

Rudy Giuliani has shot his wad. No, he doesn’t have a new mistress - that we know of - but he is not generating the excitement he once was. We liken him to one of those tourist luaus. It’s very beautiful in pictures and exciting when you get there - but the drinks are watery, the food is dry and bland, oh and you have to go get it yourself.

Mitt Romney is still polling well and performing well on stage. However, the veneer is rubbing off, and we are starting to see the blue under the new coat or red paint. Romney recently mentioned how he is a big proponent of mandates on health insurance. Yet, studies of his health plan in Massachusetts show they are becoming a fiduciary nightmare. We predict Americans will wake up and prompt a Romney break up.  Romney did take Wyoming though.

John McCain is the man of the hour, but no one knows it just yet. It looks like he is set to win New Hampshire and he might do well in South Carolina. There are a lot of people in the Republican party pushing John McCain’s name more forcefully now. We’ll have to see if the mustang overtakes some of the thoroughbreds - they are known for their endurance. If McCain is anything, he’s enduring.

Fred Thompson is reportedly on a rise in the field. We don’t predict a strong finish in New Hampshire and neither does Fred. Fred has made very clear statements regarding his policy and has not been required to clarify his statements, unlike every other Republican candidate. While most of the other candidates have been reported by Fact Check on numerous occasions as having distorted or outright lied about their positions, Fred has simply pointed to his legislative record.

Fred’s campaign is the most dynamic in this race from the standpoint of the possibilities his campaign represent versus the actual poll results.

Mike Huckabee saw a big surge leading up to Iowa and it carried him through that early primary in good position. Yet, recent questions have emerged about his policy stances as Governor of Arkansas. The cost of popularity in this race will always bring with it a greater degree of scrutiny - watch for Huckabee to place second in New Hampshire or a very close third. Has anyone had a Huckaburger yet?

Ron Paul is still in the race and we predict this will continue as long as the money holds out, despite poor results and not so subtle hints from the field that his policy ideas are crazy. We predict he will struggle to remain viable until just shy of Giga Tuesday and then swing his support to no one.

——————–

Tthe New Hampshire Primary Elections are today!

Michigan primaries on January 15th!

Stay Tuned and watch the drama unfold! Who is next to leave the island of Wannapedaprezi? Find out what happens the next time - “The tribe has spoken”!

Remember all the brouhaha about Jack Abramoff? All the allegations of criminality of Republicans in general - remember? Democrats never do these things! They are HOLY! It only happens in the party of SmirkyChimpHilterBush!

DailKos: There are ZERO Democrats who took Abramoff Money!

Yeah - you remember.

One of the front runners in the race for President of the United States has received illegal campaign contributions directly from Norman Hsu, which is why she didn’t need to take any from Jack Abramoff. She has also been reluctant (dare I say even lying about it?) to give money back.

Source: San Mateo County Sheriff’s

Department via Bloomberg News

Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, charged in September with cheating investors in a $60 million “Ponzi” scheme, was formally indicted by a federal grand jury on similar allegations, U.S. prosecutors said.

The 15-count indictment unsealed today in New York charges Hsu with wire fraud, mail fraud and violating election laws, alleging he recruited investors by promising high returns on short-term investments. He used money from new victims to pay older ones and pressured investors to contribute to political candidates he favored, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.

Hsu is only one of Hillary Clinton’s 322 “bundlers” - so let us not pretend Hillary is not bowing to special interest groups and just making dang sure her bread gets buttered.

Lobbyists among Clinton’s 322 bundlers include Steve Ricchetti and Matthew Bernstein. Ricchetti Inc.’s clients include Detroit-based General Motors Corp. Bernstein’s law firm, DLA Piper US LLP, represents Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp., among others.

“The game in Washington is how you get your issues up on the radar screen of a policy maker,” McGehee says. “Being a bundler is probably one of the best ways to do that.”

Yeah, Democrats didn’t need to take money from Jack Abramoff - they all had criminals of their own.

Perhaps what we need in the United States is a new “Watergate”. I don’t mean a recorded Presidential scandal resulting in impeachment proceedings, although I understand there are a few supporters of something like that. I am talking about an investigation into the whole waterboarding blame game. The reason I propose this is based upon the intense focus this topic seems to elicit and the passion with which waterboarding gets discussed in congress, the news, at home, and across the internet.

What exactly is waterboarding?

Well, if you can lay down in the shower, put a towel over your face and allow the shower to cascade water onto your face through the towel, that is a very simple example of the method. The difference being that an actual prisoner would be tied to a board and the board would be tilted head down. A claustrophobic response, mixed with the helplessness of being restrained, combined with inhaling small amounts of water creates a feeling of drowning. It is reported as have no lasting physical effects, however the psychological effects are impossible to measure consistently. The purpose of this practice is to create a great deal of stress in order to elicit someone, as an example, to tell us where bad guys are or what they are planning.

Continue reading A New ‘Water’gate?…

Are you seeing the trend here? The election cycle fashions are in and the word on the street is, “Yes we should do something about illegal immigration.” Breck Girl says it should be up to the states to decide what to do about issuing driver licenses to illegal immigrants.  Oh - but just until the fairy tale McCain-Edwards bill is passed. Then we give everyone a license when they are “on the path to citizenship”. So, basically - status quo. Do nothing now and since the immigration reform is not going to happen in this decade, do nothing later either. A non-answer. This is so very different from the 2004 model Breck Girl, who was all for giving illegals anything they thought they should have.

Don’t be encouraged by all of this posturing on the immigration issue. The exercise everyone is engaged in for the next several months is say the exact opposite of Shrillary.

Now, while Edwards is on his “states rights” kick, what other things might it be useful to ensure are a state decision?

Patrick Leahy is stating he will not support President Bush’s nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, because “No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is torture.” Even though Mukasey has already stated he found waterboarding personally repugnant.

The issue is that Mukasey would not categorize waterboarding as torture. But let me break this down for you just a little bit and you will understand that Leahy’s position on this is hypocritical.

Let’s pretend for an instant that Michael Mukasey is the Attorney General. Now compare Mukasey and Leahy - side by side.

Defining torture - would that be a role for the person who enforces laws of the United States or the person who makes the laws of the United States?

Patrick Leahy is trying to foist his and his party’s inability to drive the definition for exactly what torture is onto Michael Mukasey. Additionally, this is exactly the same tactic Senator Leahy took with Attorney General John Ashcroft, while he was going through the confirmation grilling.

I think Senator Jeff Sessions’ statement in 2004 is as relevant today as it was during the Ashcroft confirmation process:

“…That is fact, and we know it. The rules of law and of war are a joke to the terrorists that we have captured and others still bent on attacking Americans. They care nothing about it. They make television movies of beheading people. That is what they think of the rules of law. So what we need to do is decide what is appropriate and what laws we are bound by, and we ought to set a good policy there. I would say this: The Senator from New York is a good lawyer. He has said in his own view that torture sometimes may be necessary. That is what Senator Schumer said. I think any Attorney General should properly advise any President of the United States in time of war on absolutely what the limits of his powers are. Those are things that maybe ought not be bandied around the world. It is hypothetical. You don’t know what the precise circumstances are. But the question that started all of this is abuses in prison in Iraq. The memos at the center of this debate have absolutely no connection–there is no connection–between what went on in Iraq and these memos, because our soldiers were operating under established policies of the military and internal discussions between the President and various lawyers, or memoranda they may have received from various lawyers. I want to say this about Attorney General Ashcroft. I was at the Judiciary Committee hearing when he testified. I saw him subjected to unfair abuse by former colleagues on that committee which was embarrassing to the committee. I don’t think I have ever seen in my experience in this Congress the kind of disingenuous and unfair treatment of a former Member of this body. It was not right. The ranking member was using the whole time to make a litany of distortions and charges against the Attorney General where he had no opportunity to answer them. He knew there was no way he could. It was not right. It was wrong. I said that then, and I say it now. He had no opportunity to respond to the ranking Member. Senator Leahy knew it, and said these things one right after another: You did this, you did that. They continued in that vein. The question here was, Oh, he wouldn’t define torture, yet he had a memorandum defining torture. That is not what Attorney General Ashcroft said. Go back and read the transcript. I saw what he said. Attorney General Ashcroft is a smart man, an honest man, and he answered the question directly. He said, Senator, the Congress defined torture. It is not for me to define torture. You define torture. The Attorney General doesn’t define torture. I am not defining torture. The Congress has already defined it. There is a statute. I have a copy of it here in which we defined it under certain circumstances. We set out an anti-torture statute….”

Even the Liberal Darling Blog, Daily Kos, gets this:

Dammit U.S. Senate, It’s Simple: Just Ban Torture

So why can’t Senator Leahy understand this - especially after having gone through exactly the same issue for confirmation of the same post only 3 years ago?

Well, that’s easy. Senator Leahy would not support the President’s choice for dog catcher because the President is a Republican and Senator Leahy is incapable if accepting responsibility for the inaction of himself and his party. In simplistic terms, the way lawmaking works is you gather the support necessary to pass your agenda item into law. The democrats have a majority, yet they are unable or unwilling to actually address torture except as a means to obstruct the work of the President. Senate Democrats like Leahy would rather spend time taking a stance on whether Turkey committed atrocities during the Ottoman period or not than to actually get down to the nitty gritty of their own rhetoric.

UPDATE: Betsy’s Page has a nice article on this topic as well.