Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Disappointing Dems

Well, Dear Gentle Reader(s), the Finance committee has had its say, and it wasn’t pleasant, according to The New York Times.

Five Democratic Party senators, Baucus, Carper, Conrad, Lincoln, Nelson voted against the Rockefeller government sponsored amendment.

One has to wonder how many impoverished constituents of these senators will sleep more comfortably tonight knowing their voices were drowned out by insurance contributions to political coffers.

Next time these constituents vote, one hopes they’ll

Trust, but verify.

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“Protection?” What are they thinking?

Here’s a bit of a mystery, Dear Gentle Reader(s).  The headline in The Desert Sun’s online edition reads:

Group seeks to limit services for children of undocumented

Measure would require ‘foreign' stamp on birth certificates

The “group” is unnamed, but the cause for which they’re collecting signatures is “The California Taxpayer Protection Act 2010.”

Does California need this sort of protection?  How do Californians benefit from under educated children who become ill educated adults?  How do Californians benefit from children with health problems set loose in population centers?

And just how much truth is in their claim that taxpayers are footing the bill for children of illegals to the detriment of other children with “legal” parents?

Here’s an interesting tidbit included in a sidebar next to the main story:

In 2006, a Desert Sun analysis found undocumented immigrants pump nearly $1.5 billion annually into the Riverside County economy while costing residents roughly $220 million for the social services they use.

Taxpayers seem to benefit from “illegals” here in Riverside County.

Group claims to have gathered 100,000 signatures toward a needed 433,971 to make the June ballot of 2010. 

There’s something shameful about this effort.

Group has the right to seek signatures for their petition.

The rest of us,

Trust, but verify.

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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Strange People

Dear Gentle Reader(s), there’s something quite unusual about some of our compatriots.  They have an unusual world view.

On the September 25 edition of the KCRW-FM show, “Left, Right, and Center,” Tony Blankley asserted that global warming is a “hoax.”

The New York Times September 26 edition carries an op-ed entitled, “The Thaw at the Roof of the World.”  It seems there’s a Tibetan glacier which is shrinking—some 830 feet in two decades.  This glacier is part of a larger glacier system which feeds many of the rivers in Asia.  As the glaciers melt, there will be an abundance of water.  After they’ve melted?  Hmmm.

On Tuesday Meg Whitman announced her run for the GOP nomination for governor of California.  The usual mantra follows—lower taxes, smaller government, etc., etc.

On Saturday the Times publishes “Cuts Ravage California Domestic Abuse Program.”  There are fewer and fewer places for battered women and for their children to seek shelter because of California’s budget crisis.

No global warming, no need protection of abused women, no need for protection of children of battered women, no need for health care for poor children, no need, in effect, for responsible taxation. 

No vision.

Strange.

Trust, but verify.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Um…Change?…Don’t forget “Change”

Granted, there must be some continuity in government procedures from administration to administration, but…

The Obama Department of Justice is requesting extension of some of the “Patriot Act” provisions which are about to expire.

The BLT (it’s not a sandwich!) tells us about it in “House Democrats Question Renewal of Patriot Act Provisions.”  One of the provisions deals with extending certain search warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  That Court is a secret Court, don’t forget.  The DOJ has never used this power, but a committee of Congress heard testimony that those warrants “…meet an investigative need.”

Meets a need which has never arisen?

That doesn’t much sound like a change in DOJ policy from the last administration.

Trust, but verify. 

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Afghanistan commitment?

“NATO reaffirms commitment to Afghanistan” proclaims the headline from today’s US CENTCOM newsletter. 

Maybe so, but…

There is increasing debate here in the U.S. as to just what shape that commitment will take.  More and more, Congressional members are calling for more civilian advisors and not more combat troops.

Stay tuned.

Trust, but verify.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Are newts as slippery as Newt?

If so, they’re likely to rule the planet.  (He is very slippery.)

This morning on NPR’s Morning Edition, the interviewer, Renee Montagne, asked former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich if he thought language such as “death panels” was appropriate?

Mr. Gingrich responded:

I think it's fine to say to people, "Be very careful the amount of power you are going to give bureaucrats."

Note, Dear Gentle Reader(s), that Mr. Gingrich did not answer the question.  He did not address the appropriateness of Death Panels.

But he did say something with which anyone should be able to agree:  Be careful of bureaucrats—even disgraced politico-bureaucrats such as Mr. Gingrich, a very fine example of  VanJones Republican.

Trust, but verify.

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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Sin of omission?

Is it deliberately misleading?

Today Laura Ingraham, during a promo for an upcoming segment of her show*, said something to the effect that there would be an analysis of how the Far Left was pressuring President Obama to leave Afghanistan.

This on the day that conservative columnist George Will called for the U.S. to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

White woman speaks with forked tongue.

Trust, but verify.

*No, Dear Gentle Reader(s), it’s perfectly innocent:  I was slumming during an Olberman commercial.

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