Aaron Gardner Diary:
"Though modern physicists are yet to figure out a way for one person to be in two places at the same time, the top spokesman for Colorado Democrats has figured out a way to vote in two places at once. Matt Inzeo, the communications director for the Colorado Democratic Party, holds active voter registrations in both Colorado and Washington, D.C., according to a voter fraud investigation by Media Trackers Colorado......" (Read more? Click title)
Showing posts with label Red State diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red State diary. Show all posts
June 9, 2012
May 29, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Failed Earmark Culture Should Not Return "
'repsandyadams' Diary:
"The 2010 election spurred hundreds of Americans to call for a change in the direction our nation was taking. They were sick of the reckless spending of the Democrat-controlled Congress and they wanted their representative to be above the culture of corruption in Washington, D.C. As a result, November saw 87 new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives with a mandate to enact changes to the way Washington, D.C. works.
I was proud to be one of those historic freshmen. Over the past year and a half, I have spent my time in Congress trying my best to serve my constituents and uphold the conservative principles on which I ran.
One of those changes our freshmen class was able to achieve was to end the practice of earmarking, where legislators target federal dollars to special interest projects. Today it is against the rules of the House of Representatives to earmark, and that is a policy my constituents and I continue to support.
Unfortunately, some in Congress, including several in my own party, have decided that taking two years off is enough time to “fix” what was wrong with earmarks. They are encouraging the Speaker and others to bring back earmarks and use them to “grease the skids” and “help get things done.”
Some have argued that the total amount of earmarks is negligible when looking at the overall budget. However, the real danger from special interest favors is that they can be used to influence the votes of Members so they will vote for bloated policies our nation cannot afford.
Whether it is a transportation bill that spends more of your tax dollars than is taken in by federal gas and excise taxes or annual spending bills that have grown exponentially over time, earmarks can help push bad policy over the finish line and signed into law.
By getting rid of earmarks, Members are forced to evaluate each bill on its merits. It encourages
Members to read the actual text of the legislation, determine the positives and negatives of the bill, and then make a decision based on whether the bill is in the best interests of their constituents and the country. When earmarks are allowed, instead of reviewing the merits of a bill, Members put too much emphasis on whether a specific earmark getting passed is more important than the underlying bill. That makes for bad public policy and expands our nation’s debt and deficits.
Many of my freshmen colleagues and I have made it clear to the Republican House leadership that a return to the failed policies of the past isn’t acceptable to us or our constituents. We were sent to Washington to fix Congress and end earmarking, not to endorse the big spending culture of the past. I will stand up to any effort to bring back earmarks, and I encourage Red State readers to contact their representative and ask them to do the same.
Congresswoman Sandy Adams represents Florida’s 24th district"
(Read original article? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"The 2010 election spurred hundreds of Americans to call for a change in the direction our nation was taking. They were sick of the reckless spending of the Democrat-controlled Congress and they wanted their representative to be above the culture of corruption in Washington, D.C. As a result, November saw 87 new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives with a mandate to enact changes to the way Washington, D.C. works.
I was proud to be one of those historic freshmen. Over the past year and a half, I have spent my time in Congress trying my best to serve my constituents and uphold the conservative principles on which I ran.
One of those changes our freshmen class was able to achieve was to end the practice of earmarking, where legislators target federal dollars to special interest projects. Today it is against the rules of the House of Representatives to earmark, and that is a policy my constituents and I continue to support.
Unfortunately, some in Congress, including several in my own party, have decided that taking two years off is enough time to “fix” what was wrong with earmarks. They are encouraging the Speaker and others to bring back earmarks and use them to “grease the skids” and “help get things done.”
Some have argued that the total amount of earmarks is negligible when looking at the overall budget. However, the real danger from special interest favors is that they can be used to influence the votes of Members so they will vote for bloated policies our nation cannot afford.
Whether it is a transportation bill that spends more of your tax dollars than is taken in by federal gas and excise taxes or annual spending bills that have grown exponentially over time, earmarks can help push bad policy over the finish line and signed into law.
By getting rid of earmarks, Members are forced to evaluate each bill on its merits. It encourages
Members to read the actual text of the legislation, determine the positives and negatives of the bill, and then make a decision based on whether the bill is in the best interests of their constituents and the country. When earmarks are allowed, instead of reviewing the merits of a bill, Members put too much emphasis on whether a specific earmark getting passed is more important than the underlying bill. That makes for bad public policy and expands our nation’s debt and deficits.
Many of my freshmen colleagues and I have made it clear to the Republican House leadership that a return to the failed policies of the past isn’t acceptable to us or our constituents. We were sent to Washington to fix Congress and end earmarking, not to endorse the big spending culture of the past. I will stand up to any effort to bring back earmarks, and I encourage Red State readers to contact their representative and ask them to do the same.
Congresswoman Sandy Adams represents Florida’s 24th district"
(Read original article? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 26, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Electoral implications of the Obama Administration’s War on Coal "
Moe Lane Diary:
"…which shows the top sixteen coal-producing states in the USA. There’s a total of 182 Electoral Votes at stake, there – and in 2008 there were 180. Obama actually won coal-producing states in 2008, 100 to 80; and if no states flip in November, he’ll win them, 96 to 86. Except that… states are going to flip.
Indiana’s already gone; and of the remaining six Obama states only New Mexico and Illinois are not considered toss-ups. The administration’s relentless hostility towards coal production and use may have already contributed to Democratic electoral disaster: since Obama took office the state governments and legislatures of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have all been taken over by Republicans; in Colorado we flipped the House of Representatives; and in New Mexico we captured the governorship. Heck, we even gained seats in the Illinois legislature, and came very close to winning the governorship.
The question is, is it fair to wonder whether coal will make things worse for the Democrats? I think so....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"…which shows the top sixteen coal-producing states in the USA. There’s a total of 182 Electoral Votes at stake, there – and in 2008 there were 180. Obama actually won coal-producing states in 2008, 100 to 80; and if no states flip in November, he’ll win them, 96 to 86. Except that… states are going to flip.
Indiana’s already gone; and of the remaining six Obama states only New Mexico and Illinois are not considered toss-ups. The administration’s relentless hostility towards coal production and use may have already contributed to Democratic electoral disaster: since Obama took office the state governments and legislatures of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia have all been taken over by Republicans; in Colorado we flipped the House of Representatives; and in New Mexico we captured the governorship. Heck, we even gained seats in the Illinois legislature, and came very close to winning the governorship.
The question is, is it fair to wonder whether coal will make things worse for the Democrats? I think so....."
(Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 14, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "What the Mainstream Media Isn’t Reporting About Solyndra "
'repmorgangriffith' diary:"After just a short time in Congress, I find myself more keenly aware of the research and reporting failures of the modern mainstream media. If a story gets more depth and attention than the typical 10 second sound bite, I admit, I’m surprised. Solyndra is no different.
There are a number of facts surrounding the Solyndra story that don’t seem to be getting any attention. A significant part of the public outrage regarding the bankrupt company isn’t centered on their failed business model or external factors; it’s the millions of taxpayer dollars that the Obama Administration lost on Solyndra after the business was doomed.
After Solyndra defaulted and they knew Solyndra was in real financial trouble, Secretary Steven Chu’s Department of Energy (DOE) staff made a decision by December 10, 2010, to subordinate $75 million of taxpayer money so more private capital could be injected into Solyndra. Subordination means that outside private investors are given superiority over taxpayers in the event of bankruptcy. At that point, $440 million of the $535 million loan guarantee already had been pumped into the company.
By law Secretary Chu wasn’t allowed to subordinate the taxpayers’ money. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 specifically states that the loan guarantee “shall be subject to the condition that the obligation is not subordinate to other financing.” It was the clear intention of Congress that taxpayers should be reimbursed first.
For a company that had already been declared in default and had a collapsed business model because the Chinese were selling their solar panels for less, one might question the sanity of private investors who gambled on Solyndra in December of 2010. Were they after Solyndra’s intellectual property (IP) rights?
As a private investor and the dominant financier, could Argonaut’s support of President Obama have helped them secure Solyndra’s IP assets?...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
There are a number of facts surrounding the Solyndra story that don’t seem to be getting any attention. A significant part of the public outrage regarding the bankrupt company isn’t centered on their failed business model or external factors; it’s the millions of taxpayer dollars that the Obama Administration lost on Solyndra after the business was doomed.
After Solyndra defaulted and they knew Solyndra was in real financial trouble, Secretary Steven Chu’s Department of Energy (DOE) staff made a decision by December 10, 2010, to subordinate $75 million of taxpayer money so more private capital could be injected into Solyndra. Subordination means that outside private investors are given superiority over taxpayers in the event of bankruptcy. At that point, $440 million of the $535 million loan guarantee already had been pumped into the company.
By law Secretary Chu wasn’t allowed to subordinate the taxpayers’ money. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 specifically states that the loan guarantee “shall be subject to the condition that the obligation is not subordinate to other financing.” It was the clear intention of Congress that taxpayers should be reimbursed first.
For a company that had already been declared in default and had a collapsed business model because the Chinese were selling their solar panels for less, one might question the sanity of private investors who gambled on Solyndra in December of 2010. Were they after Solyndra’s intellectual property (IP) rights?
As a private investor and the dominant financier, could Argonaut’s support of President Obama have helped them secure Solyndra’s IP assets?...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Florida investigation reveals 180,000 non-citizens may be registered to vote "
Dan Spencer:
"Florida officials have discovered that 180,000 registered voters may be non-citizens.
A CBS4/Miami Herald analysis of information supplied by Miami-Dade shows a large number of the potential non-citizens voters cast ballots in the past — including the 2000 election, when the presidency was decided by just over 500 votes.
According to Deputy Supervisor of Elections Christina White, there are a “lot of non-citizens on our registration rolls.”
Florida’s Division of Elections is checking the citizenship of voters by comparing drivers license records, which show whether a licensed driver is also a U.S. citizen.
Non-citizens are able to become registered voters in Florida because if a non-citizen checks the box on the voter registration form that says they are a citizen they are registered to vote, because the form is signed under oath.
Those registered who are identified as possible non-citizens are reported to the State Attorney’s office The States Attorney may charge anyone who unlawfully registered to vote with a felony.
According to the Heritage Foundation’s Hans Von Spakovsky, Florida’s investigation is only looking at legal immigrants, not illegal aliens, who may have registered to vote even though they are not citizens. Von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Elections Commission, says that Florida is doing the right thing with this investigation, but is only scratching the surface. Florida can’t check for illegal aliens who registered to vote because the Federal government is not giving Florida access to Immigration and Naturalization Service records which would help identify illegals who have registered to vote.
You can watch Bill Hemmer and Hans Von Spakovsky discuss Florida’s investigation of non-citizens illegally voting in the accompanying video here......" (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Florida officials have discovered that 180,000 registered voters may be non-citizens.
A CBS4/Miami Herald analysis of information supplied by Miami-Dade shows a large number of the potential non-citizens voters cast ballots in the past — including the 2000 election, when the presidency was decided by just over 500 votes.
According to Deputy Supervisor of Elections Christina White, there are a “lot of non-citizens on our registration rolls.”
Florida’s Division of Elections is checking the citizenship of voters by comparing drivers license records, which show whether a licensed driver is also a U.S. citizen.
Non-citizens are able to become registered voters in Florida because if a non-citizen checks the box on the voter registration form that says they are a citizen they are registered to vote, because the form is signed under oath.
Those registered who are identified as possible non-citizens are reported to the State Attorney’s office The States Attorney may charge anyone who unlawfully registered to vote with a felony.
According to the Heritage Foundation’s Hans Von Spakovsky, Florida’s investigation is only looking at legal immigrants, not illegal aliens, who may have registered to vote even though they are not citizens. Von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Elections Commission, says that Florida is doing the right thing with this investigation, but is only scratching the surface. Florida can’t check for illegal aliens who registered to vote because the Federal government is not giving Florida access to Immigration and Naturalization Service records which would help identify illegals who have registered to vote.
You can watch Bill Hemmer and Hans Von Spakovsky discuss Florida’s investigation of non-citizens illegally voting in the accompanying video here......" (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 4, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Jill Biden: Government Oversight for Thee, Free Markets for Me "
Ben Howe Diary:
"Barack Obama didn’t believe in government healthcare mandates…until he did. He didn’t think we should spike the football on Bin Laden…until it was time for reelection. Joe Biden thought Obama was ill-equipped for the job of President…until he took the job as his right hand man.
Yes, the ability for this administration to say one thing and do another is nothing short of astounding. Apparently this sphere protecting the executive branch from any lasting accusation of hypocrisy also extends to the executive spouses.
Take for example President Obama’s recent targeting of colleges that prey on veterans.
To be clear, I know nothing about these institutions. They could be great, they could be awful. But I do know why Obama doesn’t like them and that is quite simply because they are “for profit” which really gets in the way when you are trying to nationalize student loans and higher education.
Luckily for Jill Biden, the rules governing the awfulness of these institutions are kept out of the administration’s hypocrisy protection sphere.
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Barack Obama didn’t believe in government healthcare mandates…until he did. He didn’t think we should spike the football on Bin Laden…until it was time for reelection. Joe Biden thought Obama was ill-equipped for the job of President…until he took the job as his right hand man.
Yes, the ability for this administration to say one thing and do another is nothing short of astounding. Apparently this sphere protecting the executive branch from any lasting accusation of hypocrisy also extends to the executive spouses.
Take for example President Obama’s recent targeting of colleges that prey on veterans.
They survived insurgents, terrorists and roadside bombs. But President Obama is worried that many military veterans who made it home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now being targeted by unscrupulous for-profit career colleges. Mr. Obama plans to fly to Fort Stewart in Georgia on Friday to sign an executive order intended to help protect active-duty troops and veterans from deceptive and misleading practices..(emphasis mine)
To be clear, I know nothing about these institutions. They could be great, they could be awful. But I do know why Obama doesn’t like them and that is quite simply because they are “for profit” which really gets in the way when you are trying to nationalize student loans and higher education.
Luckily for Jill Biden, the rules governing the awfulness of these institutions are kept out of the administration’s hypocrisy protection sphere.
Northern Virginia Community College is the latest two-year institution to announce a partnership with the University of Phoenix, with the announcement yesterday of a transfer agreement. Students from the community college will get a tuition discount when they transfer to Phoenix, according to a news release. They will also be able to tap the for-profit provider’s prior learning assessment offerings, which can grant college credit for prior training and work experience. President Obama, who has often been critical of for-profits, has visited Northern Virginia five times for photo ops and to give speeches. Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife, is a professor at the college.(emphasis mine)...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 2, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Barack Obama: A Legend In His Own Mind "
'strieff' Diary:
"In terms of iconography this photo is destined to rival that taken of FDR on D-Day.*
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"In terms of iconography this photo is destined to rival that taken of FDR on D-Day.*
With some trying to turn bin Laden’s death into a campaign talking point for Obama’s reelection, it is useful to remember that the trail to bin Laden started in a CIA black site — all of which Obama ordered closed, forever, on the second full day of his administration — and stemmed from information obtained from hardened terrorists who agreed to tell us some (but not all) of what they knew after undergoing harsh but legal interrogation methods. Obama banned those methods on Jan. 22, 2009.(Read more? Click title)
–Jose A. Rodriguez
The Washington Post, The path to bin Laden’s death didn’t start with Obama"
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
May 1, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Norman Ornstein to the Press Corps: Stop Covering the GOP Fairly to Stop Their Success "
Erick Erickson:
"It is a soft form of the liberal fascism about which I’ve been warning. The GOP must be painted as extremist by the press, their point of view must be painted as fringe, and they must be shut up because they are too damn successful.” (Norman Ornstein)
"Norman Ornstein is the in house pet liberal at the American Enterprise Institute who they let out of his cage once in a while to lament the free market, conservatives, and the like. I’m not sure why groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute ever allow their supposed scholars to team up with the Brookings Institute, but whenever they do it results in intellectual underwear stains for both organizations.
In today’s quasi-bipartisan inane ramblings, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute want the Washington Press Corps to know the GOP is extremist, destroying the country, and they should all stop paying attention to the GOP or treating them with balance.
Nothing says marginal extremism like holding the US House, most statehouses, most governorships, and a plurality of national party ID....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"It is a soft form of the liberal fascism about which I’ve been warning. The GOP must be painted as extremist by the press, their point of view must be painted as fringe, and they must be shut up because they are too damn successful.” (Norman Ornstein)
"Norman Ornstein is the in house pet liberal at the American Enterprise Institute who they let out of his cage once in a while to lament the free market, conservatives, and the like. I’m not sure why groups like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute ever allow their supposed scholars to team up with the Brookings Institute, but whenever they do it results in intellectual underwear stains for both organizations.
In today’s quasi-bipartisan inane ramblings, Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institute want the Washington Press Corps to know the GOP is extremist, destroying the country, and they should all stop paying attention to the GOP or treating them with balance.
Nothing says marginal extremism like holding the US House, most statehouses, most governorships, and a plurality of national party ID....." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 29, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "Liberals, conservatives, values and how we perceive each other "
Bill S. Diary:
"Another day, another book I need to buy and hopefully read some day. In the March 21st NYT, Nicholas Kristof reviews a new book: ”The Righteous Mind”. In it, author Jonathan Haidt discusses some original research that investigates some key values held by conservatives and liberals – and how these two groups perceive each other on these values. I have long been interested in why Republicans and Democrats believe as they do, and this type of research on values zeroes in on this question.
A couple of key observations emerge. First, the author points out how both conservatives and liberals adhere to values that are formed around a moral code, but conservatives follow some additional core values that liberals do not...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
"Another day, another book I need to buy and hopefully read some day. In the March 21st NYT, Nicholas Kristof reviews a new book: ”The Righteous Mind”. In it, author Jonathan Haidt discusses some original research that investigates some key values held by conservatives and liberals – and how these two groups perceive each other on these values. I have long been interested in why Republicans and Democrats believe as they do, and this type of research on values zeroes in on this question.
A couple of key observations emerge. First, the author points out how both conservatives and liberals adhere to values that are formed around a moral code, but conservatives follow some additional core values that liberals do not...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
March 13, 2012
SandBoxBlogs: Red State "New Record Monthly Deficit 37 Months into Obama’s Presidency "
Daniel Horowitz Diary:
"Here’s a headline you won’t see in the media this week: we incurred the largest monthly deficit on record in February.
Seven months into a government “reined in” by the Budget Control Act, we are supposed to be reaping the benefits of budget reduction. Yet, according to CBO, we incurred a gargantuan
Think for a moment about what it means to spend $335 billion in 29 days. It comes out to $11.5 billion per day; $480 million per hour. So the next time Congress deliberates over a few billion in spending cuts over the course of a month, remember that we will add several hundred billion more in debt during the course of the debate.
What is so astounding about the record monthly deficit is that it comes amidst a recovery in the job market and an overall increase in revenues. Due to quirks in the scheduling of government payments, February is always a bad month; nevertheless, even during the worst months of the recession, we never suffered such a large budget deficit. In February 2009, the monthly deficit checked in at $193.8 trillion. At a time when tax receipts are increasing again (corporate tax receipts are up 56%), we should not be racking up such high deficits. Hence, it is incontrovertibly clear that we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem, most prominently, an entitlement and welfare problem...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
$229 billion
"Here’s a headline you won’t see in the media this week: we incurred the largest monthly deficit on record in February.
Seven months into a government “reined in” by the Budget Control Act, we are supposed to be reaping the benefits of budget reduction. Yet, according to CBO, we incurred a gargantuan
Think for a moment about what it means to spend $335 billion in 29 days. It comes out to $11.5 billion per day; $480 million per hour. So the next time Congress deliberates over a few billion in spending cuts over the course of a month, remember that we will add several hundred billion more in debt during the course of the debate.
What is so astounding about the record monthly deficit is that it comes amidst a recovery in the job market and an overall increase in revenues. Due to quirks in the scheduling of government payments, February is always a bad month; nevertheless, even during the worst months of the recession, we never suffered such a large budget deficit. In February 2009, the monthly deficit checked in at $193.8 trillion. At a time when tax receipts are increasing again (corporate tax receipts are up 56%), we should not be racking up such high deficits. Hence, it is incontrovertibly clear that we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem, most prominently, an entitlement and welfare problem...." (Read more? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
$229 billion
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