"Ahmadinejad has said, Israel must be "wiped off the map," and "...God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism," according to a quote published by Iran's state news outlet."
Remember awhile back when it was discovered that Democratic VA Governor Tim Kaine has surrounded himself with ex-Union officials in his cabinet after taking the most in political contributions from Unions in Virginia history?... http://rightsideva.blogspot.com/2006/10/big-unionsbig-moneymany-votes.html
"Labor Money in Virginia In his 2005 campaign for governor, Tim Kaine received more than $1.4 million from organizedlabor. Including contributions to his inaugural committee, Governor Kaine received more than $1.55 million in union money. This is far and away the largest amount of money ever spent by labor unions in a Virginia statewide election. To put this in perspective, Governor Kaine received more than 10 times the amount of money than the previous governor received."
Seems now the Governors staff has increased a bit since he got into office...
The guys over at the VA-Cost-Cutting blog have reported:
"If you haven't checked out the publication Executive Amendments to the 2006-2008 Biennial Budget, you should. It gives you a chance to start to drill down on some of the departments of your government.
Starting at the top for instance, on page B-33 one finds the Office of the Governor.In FY 2003 there were 29 employees for a total cost of $2,088,562 = $72,000 ppIn FY 2008 there will be 41 employees for a total cost of $4,379,423 = $107,000 pp
From there one can start asking questions on why the staff has increased positions by 41% and why the total cost has increased 110%."
http://vacostcutting.blogspot.com/2006/12/final-teams-are-in-place-on-house-side.html
Keep an eye on that brow...
More information came out this week as to what Clinton National Security Adviser did with some of the 9/11 documents that he stole from the National Archives. Once again it is interesting to see how the MainScream media has presented this story and in fact CBS ignored it altogether. It turns out that the documents that Berger stole were probably about how the Clinton administration was dealing with the terrorist threats before 9/11 and Berger destroyed them to protect what\who???
CNN gave 24 seconds to talk about the story yesterday...
ABC gave 23 seconds...
CBS ignored it altogether... http://newsbusters.org/node/9791
Neal Bortz had some good info on his show and website:
"What we do know is that Berger was to testify to the 9/11 commission on what the Clinton Administration did or did not know about any links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda .. among other things." http://boortz.com/nuze/200612/12212006.html
The Washington Times pointed out why the MainScream media has probably dropped this story and has no reason to feel they have to report anything negative about the Poster-Boy Bill Clinton:
"Democrats will assume control of Congress next month, and the request for an investigation is expected to be shelved."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061221-122447-6098r.htm
Don't bother looking for anything about it in the local Newspaper The Staunton NewsLeader for I looked already and once again I guess the editors determined this was not "Newsworthy" to the local people....
More information about the fraud experienced during the Hurricane Katrina “Clean-up” came out this past week and it is now estimated over $1 Billion has been stolen or misdirected already.
“WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Fraud involving payments supposed to help victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita likely exceeds earlier estimates of $1 billion and only a tiny fraction of the money has been recovered, according to a U.S. government report released on Wednesday.”
Now I don’t believe it is “Official Policy” for the government to endorse any one private relief organization but it is obvious that the Red Cross has the major media machine to get themselves in the “Spotlight” when check writing time comes around…
“of $2.7 billion donated for hurricane relief through November 21, 2005, the Red Cross received $1.52 billion, compared with $270 million for the distant second-place organization, the Salvation Army”.
Just some of the facts reported on Katrina fraud:
“The GAO cited incidents in which FEMA gave $17 million in housing assistance to individuals who had already obtained free housing in the form of trailers or apartments and $20 million that went to people who improperly claimed for help for both storms that ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast area.”
“Katrina alone caused $80 billion in damage, killed 1,500 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. More than $100 billion was set aside by Congress to help the region recover from the 2005 storms.”
“The GAO also said that 42 out of 145 laptops bought to help with FEMA operations during the hurricanes were presumed lost or stolen, and many Global Positioning System tracking devices were also lost or stolen.”
“A hotel owner in Sugar Land, Tex., has been charged with submitting $232,000 in bills for phantom victims. And roughly 1,100 prison inmates across the Gulf Coast apparently collected more than $10 million in rental and disaster-relief assistance.”
"This started off as a disaster-relief program, but it turned into a cash cow," said Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, a former federal prosecutor and now chairman of a House panel investigating storm waste and fraud.
“The mobile homes, costing $34,500 each, were supposed to provide temporary housing to hurricane victims. But after Louisiana officials balked at installing them inland, FEMA had no use for them. Nearly half, or about 10,000, of the $860 million worth of units now sit at an airfield in Arkansas, where FEMA is paying $250,000 a month to store them.”
"There are tools that are available to get money quickly to individuals and to get disaster relief programs running quickly without seeing so much fraud and waste," said Gregory D. Kutz, managing director of the forensic audits unit at the G.A.O. "But it wasn't really something that FEMA put a high priority on. So it was easy to commit fraud without being detected."
“One Louisiana Department of Labor clerk, Wayne P. Lawless, has been charged with issuing about 80 fraudulent disaster unemployment benefit cards in exchange for bribes of up to $300 per application. Mr. Lawless, a state contract worker, announced to one man he helped apply for hurricane benefits that he wanted to "get something out of it," the affidavit said. His lawyer did not respond to several messages left at his office and home for comment.”
“First, because the Red Cross did not keep track of the hundreds of thousands of recipients they were only required to provide a ZIP code from the hurricane zone to check in FEMA frequently sent rental assistance checks to people getting free hotel rooms, the G.A.O. found.”
“In turn, some hotel managers or owners, like Daniel Yeh, of Sugar Land, exploited the lack of oversight, investigators have charged, and submitted bills for empty rooms or those occupied by paying guests or employees. Mr. Yeh submitted $232,000 in false claims, his arrest affidavit said. His lawyer, Robert Bennett, said that Mr. Yeh was mentally incompetent and that the charges should be dismissed.”
“And Tina M. Winston of Belleville, Ill., was charged this month with claiming that her two daughters had died in the flooding in New Orleans. But prosecutors said that the children never existed and that Ms. Winston was living in Illinois at the time of the storm. The public defender representing Ms. Winston did not respond to a request for comment.”
“Charities also were vulnerable to profiteers. In Burbank, Calif., a couple has been charged with collecting donations outside a store by posing as Red Cross workers. In Bakersfield, Calif., 75 workers at a Red Cross call center, their friends and relatives have been charged in a scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief.”
“Congressional investigators, meanwhile, have referred another 7,000 cases of possible fraud to prosecutors, including more than 1,000 prison inmates who collected more than $12 million in federal aid, much of it in the form of rental assistance.”
“There are bigger cases of government waste or fraud in United States history. The Treasury Department, for example, estimated in 2005 that Americans in a single year had improperly been granted perhaps $9 billion in unjustified claims under the Earned-Income Tax Credit. The Department of Health and Human Services in 2001 estimated that nearly $12 billion in Medicare benefit payments in the previous year had been based on improper or fraudulent complaints.”
Seems that Nancy Pelosi and her "Democratic clean-up" team is at it again in her attempts to clean up Washington as she promised before the elections. The problem is what will this mean for National or "Homeland" security once she gets her choices in there to head the committees. A good Republican friend from up near Stafford VA. sent this down to me and it's shows what we are in for once they the Democrats take control...
The Washington Times reports that the potential chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson has warned Cintas Corp that they will be in trouble if they fire any of their 32,000 employees because they gave wrong Social Security numbers to be hired...(?)
"A Mississippi Democrat in line to become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has warned the nation's largest uniform supplier it faces criminal charges if it follows a White House proposal to recheck workers with mismatched Social Security numbers and fire those who cannot resolve the discrepancy in 60 days"
What happens when the Democratic Party goes to fix the Social Security problem and finds all of these people with "bogus" Social Security numbers???
"Rep. Bennie Thompson said in a letter to Cintas Corp. it could be charged with "illegal activities in violation of state and federal law" if any of its 32,000 employees are terminated because they gave incorrect Social Security numbers to be hired."
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20061128-122911-2961r.htm
You know, Friday has always been "Trash Day" around the house and need to make a run to the dump before work today. Might as well make Friday the "Trash Day" for Rightside and throw some more trash out here also...
Seems like the girls over at "The View" are at it again and as reported by NewsBusters http://newsbusters.org/node/9659 and it looks like Joy Behar has already discovered the plot by the "Vast Right-wing Conspiracy" of 2006...
"Well, it certainly didn’t take long for a member of the media to suggest that there’s some kind of conspiracy involved with Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) medical condition. On Thursday’s “The View,” co-host Joy Behar questioned, “Is there such a thing as a man made stroke? In other words, did someone do this to him?”
"Sadly, this wasn't the only disgrace, for when conservative co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck asked why liberals are always seeing a conspiracy in everything, Behar unashamedly responded: “I know what this, that Party is capable of.”
Yup.
Truck is full... Gotta make that run to the dump now...
United Conservatives blog has a story over there already showing how our Senator-elect is already too busy for the people that he will now represent and in this case it turns out to be the military Veterens...
"It seems Jim Webb (X) dissed the Vets in Hampton Roads before his famous tantrum in D.C. Also please note that this Veterans event was held on the Saturday after the election."
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2006/12/webb-x-to-vets-no-plane-no-show-no-no.html
Once again the Staunton NewsLeader Editorial has started to jump on the “Republican-dominated House of Delegates” before they even get to the next General assembly session so not to miss the holiday rush…
In this weeks NewsLeader editorial:
“Astute followers of current affairs will recall that this is the same elected body that failed to address the state's transportation needs during the regular sessions of 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and required a special session this fall, ostensibly to address the problems they failed to find solutions for during the previous several years.”
Also seems that the NewsLeader loves to go after those that they feel are not doing the job they were elected to do. “Del. William Howell, R-Stafford, the leader of the obstructionist, Republican-dominated House of Delegates (the root cause of Virginia's recurring nightmare, despite the existence of a sensible, responsible, equally Republican-dominated Senate) announced that he and his gang will insist on spending at least half of the state's surplus revenues on transportation. No budging. No compromising. Nothing less than that or no deal.”
Looks like the NewsLeader loves the Senate for they are willing to once again raise the tax rates on the Virginia workers even when the state has a surplus from the last Democratic Governor Mark Warner tax increase. The reason the Delegates would not go along with the new Democratic Governor Tim Kaine during the last session is that Kaine wanted to raise our taxes again to pay for the transportation crisis without using the surplus we now have. The Delegates stood up to the Democratic Governor who wanted to raise taxes again and would not approve another tax on the Virginia citizens without a plan to use the surplus. The Delegates should be commended for standing up to the Governor and “His” Senate…
Fact is we do have a transportation problem in Virginia and one that needs to be addressed. But it must be done in a way that uses the surplus we now have in a wise manner and include other revenue producing tools to pay for the needed work. Republican Delegate Chris Saxman has already been talking about this problem for some time. Democratic Governor Kaine wanted to save this surplus in a “Rainy-Day” fund that sounded nothing but a way to use this money on other “Pet” projects that he would not describe.
A few weeks back Delegate Saxman spoke in front of the local Chamber 0f Commerce about pending changes and closings of VDOT facilities to improve efficiency and save taxpayer money. The Staunton NewsLeader staff determined this story was not worthy of coverage and passed on covering the meeting. Another local Newspaper covered it and did a good job at reporting the discussion on this now important crisis.
This past week Republican Delegate Chris Saxman met with the Harrisonburg Rotary Club and spoke to the group of 125 for some time. It was covered by the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record newspaper (Tue. 12 Dec 06, page D1 by Dan Wright) but once again the Staunton NewsLeader must have decided that it was not “Newsworthy” once again…
If possible get a copy and read Wright's coverage on this meeting. Here are some of Delegate Saxman’s statements:
“ There’s no silver bullet for transportation. We have to reform a lot of what were doing if we’re going to solve problems long term”.
It was also discussed that the Rail solutions out there would really only be beneficial if the goods are hauled 500 miles or more… Saxman also stated that a tax increase won’t work because there’s no guaranteeing where the money will go. “We had funding last year and the Senate wouldn’t even agree to spend that”…
We need to support the Delegates as they call for sensible solutions to the transportation problem… We also need to question those who only support Tax increases when we already have a surplus being held in a “Rainy-Day” fund…
Putting Tax-cuts in terms everyone can understand…
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing like they do now with the present income tax structure.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59 of the bill.
So that is what the ten men decide to do.
The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you all are such good customers I am going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20”. Dinner for the 10 men now costs just $80...
The group still wanted to pay the bill the same way that they paid their taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six men -- the Paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everybody would get his “Fair Share”?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal…
So, the restaurant owner suggested it would be fair to reduce each mans bill roughly the same amount; and proceeded to work out the amounts each man would pay.
The fifth, like the first four now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth man now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings)
The seventh man now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings)
The eight man now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings)
The ninth man now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings)
The tenth man now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings)
Each of the six was better off then before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings…
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man “but he got $10”…
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. Its unfair that he got ten times more than me!?”
“That’s true”, shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploit’s the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth man and beat him up…
The next night the Tenth man did not show up for dinner, so the Nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half the bill!
And that Boys & Girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier…
David R. Kamerschen, PH.D
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
Checked into this and found one article that claims Kamerschen did not author this but none of the articles disputed the theory or numbers used for this example…
Seems that the DEMOCRATIC leadership also knew of Representative Foley’s e-mails to the Pages at the same time the GOP leadership was advised but held this information until the “Timing was Right” for use…
ABC News reports: “The House Ethics Committee Report includes new information that top Democrats were also aware in 2005 of Mark Foley's inappropriate e-mails to congressional pages at about the same time as outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert's office was informed.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/abc_exclusive_n.html
Now “Speaker to be” Nancy Pelosi was quick to condemn Dennis Hastert for not addressing the Foley e-mails but is it not interesting that the Democratic leadership had the same info but chose to sit on it until the most “beneficial” time for it’s release? And the MainScream media was more then happy to promote her outrage but yet ignored the history of Democratic Party member Gerry Studd’s who did much worse damage to Pages in the past… I still wonder if my local newspaper the Staunton NewsLeader will even mention the above info released by ABC News?
At least somebody in the House Democratic Caucus thought this information was important enough to release, it’s just the “Timing” of its release that is in question…
“But while the report is highly critical of the shortcomings of Hastert and the Republican leadership, there is no follow-up to the brief one sentence mention on page 76 that powerful Democratic committees also knew about the e-mails except to note that Matt Miller, the House Democratic Caucus staff member, sent the e-mails at some point to various news organizations.”
Remember the post awhile back about how Democratic Virginia Governor Tim Kaine took the most campaign contributions from Big Labor Unions ever in the history of Virginia elections?
Well the guys over at "Capitol Corner" have come back with the follow-up story on how it is time for Big Labor to get their "Dues" from those that they helped get into office and control of Congress. http://capitalcorner.blogspot.com/2006/12/payback-this-time-its-for-real_05.html
Labor bosses are emboldened by last month's midterm elections and are looking for a return on their heavy investment in congressional and state races. "The AFL-CIO claims it spent $44 million in the 2006 election. The Service Employees International Union spent $65 million. And this money, which comes primarily from dues, is on top of what's raised by union political action committees, which totaled nearly $200 million for the 2006 elections."
So now that the Democratic Party has control of Congress what does that mean for all of us?
Labor wants Congress to pass additional employee benefit mandates, what some may consider a free lunch. A Washington Post columnist recently examined General Motor's costly benefits programs and opined, "A free lunch can be the most expensive meal in the world. For living proof, look at General Motors. A big reason that GM has gotten into such trouble is that the pension and health care commitments it made to employees decades ago seemed to be a free lunch."
While seeking support for his majority leader race against Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in the week after the election, Murtha failed to vote on pending business on the floor. Hoyer has not missed a vote since the elections. Murtha’s office did not comment for this article.
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/120706/haynes.html
David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, expressed dismay at lawmakers who have not cast a floor vote in the lame-duck session.
“They’re being paid until the end of their term and they should be working for that money,” he said. “It’s absolutely pathetic. This is their job: to cast votes.”
Remember back just before the election when the “Left” discovered the scandal of Representative Mark Foley and his e-mails to Pages? How terrible this was and just another example of the Republican “Culture of Corruption” but yet the Democrats have a long history much worse then Foley’s but that does not matter. Remember how the media was quick to condemn Foley and went after Speaker Dennis Hastert who had to be removed for he “Obviously” knew everything and failed to do anything. All the time almost entirely ignoring the much worse actions by Democrat Gerry Studds in the past…
The report came out on Thursday.
“The House ethics committee concluded Thursday that no House lawmakers or employees violated ethics rules in their handling of information related to the House page sex scandal that led to the resignation of former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) shortly before the election.”
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/120706/foley2.html
The election is over and this scandal served it’s purpose…
It is interesting to see how fast this is no longer an issue and I doubt little coverage by the MainScream media to follow.
I expect “NO” coverage at all from my local newspaper…
“Yawn”
Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell posted some great comments on his website to Democratic Representative Charlie Rangel regarding his statements about the Troops we have serving... http://www.bobmcdonnell.com/news/contentview.asp?c=37466
Charlie, following the lead of his buddy John Kerry, made some poor remarks about the caliper of the people serving in our military and has been called on those remarks.
The Attorney General described some of the people who serve in the military that he knows and in fact he has served 21 years in the military himself.
"Jeanine and Rusty are not alone in their service. From former NFL-star Pat Tillman, to Senator-elect Jim Webb's Marine son, our troops choose military service for the right reasons. This has been true from the fields of Yorktown to the streets of Baghdad."
You may have seen this in the news this week about a new X-ray screening machine that will do a total full body x-ray that will show non-metallic devices as well as weapons. Of course the ACLU is going to come out running on this for that is what they are known best for... Fine. Let those who are worried about being "exposed" by the x-ray machine fly with the airline carriers who are worried about the ACLU. I will be glad to subject myself to this screening in a heartbeat and will even pay higher airline fares to know that I am on a plane where everybody was exposed to this screening process...
"A new full-body x-ray machine to be tested this month at a US airport has raised concerns about privacy issues with some rights advocates saying the technology amounts to a virtual strip search.The "Backscatter" machine to be used at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona will enable screeners to detect non-metallic devices and objects as well as weapons on a person's body, authorities say."
"But critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, say the machine can display graphic images of nude bodies and its use will pave the way to widespread abuse of the images taken, with some possibly being posted or traded on the Internet."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/04/061204210338.yi5mw8je.html
Looks like they are at it again. Once again a group of student demonstrators have interrupted another Republican guest speaker to a college campus and this time took it to a criminal level. This is not the first time that “Students of Higher Learning” have interrupted or attack Conservative\Republican speakers who have been asked to talk at their college. At Columbia University Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, who had been invited to speak on campus by the College Republicans, was interrupted by protestors keeping him from making the presentation requested. Ann Coulter and other Conservative speakers have been subject to rude and abusive actions while attempting to deliver speeches…
This past week Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo had a similar occurance when he was disrupted by some more of our “Liberal Learners” at Michigan State University.
“A speech by Rep. Tom Tancredo at Michigan State University turned ugly Thursday night as protesters pulled fire alarms, spat at the audience and fought with the event's student organizers”
After the building was reopened again after the fire alarm it continued. The fire alarms were pulled again.
"He tried to continue, but it got so loud that people couldn't hear him," said Mr. Whitney. "People were shouting, making rude remarks. It got really frustrating." Mr. Tancredo, who agreed to speak free of charge, was forced to cut his speech short and had to forgo answering questions from the audience.
And this treatment was not only directed at the Republican Congressman.
“Outside, protesters punched and spat on Kyle Bristow, chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, which sponsored the event along with the College Republicans. Another student, Mike Wolin, said his camera was destroyed by a demonstrator, who threw it against a wall.”
So once this was all over at the University it appears the Protestors were not done expressing their views:
“Afterward, student organizers met at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. When they finished, they discovered that someone had slashed the tires on two of their cars.”
Once again it seems this is not just the local students getting together to protest something on their level and was organized by outside influence:
“The protesters came from groups including Students for Economic Justice, By Any Means Necessary, La Raza and MEXA, also called MEChA.”
It will be interesting to see if there is a reaction from the University:
“Young Americans for Freedom plans to ask Michigan State University, in East Lansing, to condemn the protesters.”
See full story:
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20061201-113458-6733r.htm
I find it interesting that you usually find these demonstrations\Protestors at Conservative or Republican events. It seems to be consistently a Liberal\Democrat tactic to protest or demonstrate in a manner that detracts from their credibility as evident in the incident above or in the photos below…
I’m sorry.
I do remember a time when Republican protestors chanted and pounded on lock doors. Remember back during the 2000 Presidential election re-count when the Democratic Party election officials took the “Chad Laced” ballots into a locked room away from the Republican recount observers? The “Khaki pants, Blue button down Oxford shirt” wearing Republican recount observers started to chant “Let Us In, Let Us In” forcing the election officials to return…
Tough crowd…
Republican Delegate Chris Saxman announced the beginning of his re-election campaign for 2007 today at the Holiday Inn of Staunton in front of a large gathering of area supporters. Also in attendance and guest speaker was Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell with his wife and he spoke to those in attendance as well.
Saxman spoke of his tenure in the Virginia assembly as a Delegate and the many positive things done by the Republicans in the last sessions. He also spoke of the challenges ahead for Virginia and the nation when $74 trillion comes due in the next decade for the spending on entitlement programs and programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Saxman also talked about the final consolidation of the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind which took 30 years for the schools to be combined as they should. Nothing should take this long but nothing in Government that makes sense is done quickly…
Saxman also spoke of when he was in High School he looked at joining both the Young Republicans group and the Young Democrats group. He asked what the Republicans what they stand for and was told Strong defense, lower taxes, less government. He then asked the Democrats group and was told that all they know is they hate the Republicans. This reminds me of a statement I believe by Peggy Noonan that said: “We are Democrats and we are not sure what we stand for but we do know that we can’t stand Republicans“…
Attorney General Bob McDonnell spoke about the work being done in Richmond by the Republican Delegates and by using “Commonsense Conservatism” as a rule. Virginia unemployment rate is at an incredible low of 2.7%, crime rates are down, and dependency on Welfare is also down. He also spoke of two projects he is working on and getting strong support from Virginia citizens and Delegates…
McDonnell’s first project is Youth Internet Safety and the efforts being made to protect our children from sexual predators on the internet. Working to eliminate Spam and identity theft as well as improving the internet service provided to Virginians.
McDonnell’s next project is to work at reviewing the 24,000 pages of regulations in Virginia to make them more efficient and to cut programs\laws not needed anymore.
Staunton Republican Chair Anne Taetzsch attended the Saxman announcement with her Father Jim Taetzsch...
To follow up on my prior post "Charlie Rangel's Vision" here are some numbers...
Investor Business Daily had a great follow-up about Democratic Representative Charles Rangel comments about the un-educated being the ones going to Iraq to fight in the war.
"The mean reading level of 2004 recruits is a full grade level higher than that of the general youth population."
"Less than 2% of military recruits have less than a high school degree vs. 20% of the general population."
"In 2004, 92.1% of those who became active-duty officers held a baccalaureate degree or higher. Census Bureau data show that only 25.2% of civilians ages 18 and up hold such degrees."
"In the Air Force, almost 50% have advanced or professional degrees."
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=249524207811885
"At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.
Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.
Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon."
http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/112906.html
In the post prior to this one I asked what would happen if Webb ran into Charle Rangel in the halls of Congress...
"I wonder if Representative Rangel will ask Senator-elect Jim Webb about the options his son had before going to Iraq where he is presently serving?"
Ironically later on this same day at work I noticed a Army Sergeant who I have worked with on projects with the “From Our Hearts” program. This program has sent numerous shipments of packages to the troops serving in Iraq\Afghanistan. http://fromrhearts.blogspot.com
I told him about Rangels comments and he told me that he does not see a large percentage of recruits signing up “just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits” as Rangel has claimed. The Sergeant said the biggest problem they see is that some of the recruits wishing to serve their country are in poor physical condition and must be placed in special PT classes to get them in proper condition.
This also made me think of a member of the Augusta County Republican Committee who is presently serving his 12 month tour in downtown Baghdad with the National Guard Reserve. His wife told me of how he called her at the first word of the first plane striking the World Trade Center tower and that it was no accident. “A big plane like that does not hit a big building like that by accident”. She then told me of how he called again after the second plane hit and told her that “We are at war”…
SSgt. Herb Harman was forty years old at the time and immediately started to condition himself by running in the Virginia mountains to get ready for his tour to fight terrorism. Ssgt. Harman volunteered and requested to serve in Iraq and has been downtown Baghdad for over ten months now. Ssgt. Harman had a good job, nice house, incredible family, and a very nice life happening here in Shenandoah Valley. He did not have to volunteer to go active duty and he did not have to request downtown Baghdad but he did. This is something I do not believe Democratic Representative Charles Rangel and many members of his party understands.
And what about the troops who are re-enlisting for another tour while still in the theater of service? Many of these heroes have served multiple tours in combat and have volunteered to serve their country and fellow citizens when they had a clear choice. Have you heard of the many injured service members who have requested to be returned to front line duty upon their healing and\or fitting of artificial limbs to replace those lost in combat so to be with their fellow service members? Just something I do not believe Rangel understands.
I wonder if Representative Rangel will ask Senator-elect Jim Webb about the options his son had before going to Iraq where he is presently serving?
An unborn elephant, tiny but perfect in every way. A dolphin swimming in the womb, just as it will have to swim in the ocean the moment it is born. An unborn dog panting.
Each one amazing and now, thanks to these remarkable pictures, they can be seen for the first time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/galleries/index.html?in_gallery_id=9136&in_image_id=302430&in_page_id=1055
These photos of animals in the womb bring up an interesting question for those who believe that abortion does NOT kill a living being...
Mike also took the time to meet with TV-3 who stopped by to cover the packing of boxes to be sent out this week. During this time Mike spoke about how the members of his unit have shared the contents of their packages with as many people as possible. He spoke of how the guys treasure each item and are sure to pass some of the "essentials" on to servicemembers who may not get packages from home. He also spoke of driving their fire apparatus along the fenceline so to be able to throw candy and toys to the children that gather to see them. In fact Mike made a request from his teammembers that any items sent to them during the holidays should be toys or items for children for they wish to have something to pass onto the children in the area. Flook also said how much it is appreciated to get packages from 9,000 miles away and from home and people who took the effort to send them something.
"This was a wonderful evening of community and a great example of neighbors coming together to help neighbors, especially when those neighbors are a world away defending our nation. The little touches and heartfelt appreciation that were put into every item prepared and packed was impressive. It was a real honor for me to be there and contribute in some small way." Arin Sime www.arinsime.com
"Education -- if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
"The New culture of corruption"
It appears the new Speaker may have hit the first “Speed-bump” of her new coveted position and it came from her own party. The Democratic majority has picked Hoyer over Pelosi’s choice of Murtha by a landslide vote of 149 to 86...
Gonna be a bumpy ride Nancy?
During the run up to the 2006 election Nancy and her crew pushed the “Culture of Corruption” theme whenever possible to smear the Republican Party for their gain. The MainScream media was more then happy to focus on wrongdoings of elected Republicans but yet failed to note and report the same\or worse coming out of the Democratic Party.
While working the polls during this past election we had a significant increase in volunteers to help out at the polls and people were asking on election day if they could help out even before and after they voted themselves. I met a local in my district who volunteered at the polls and has become interested in joining the “GOP Valley” blogs. He has since started documenting the recent\past incidents and statements by those of the Pelosi team. Most of these are not anything new and have been out there for sometime but just seem to be ignored by the “Big” media if these incidents do not fit in their “Game Plan”. Mike also spoke of his disappointment with our local newspaper and we had a long discussion just on that for I have noted the “bias” and selective reporting in the past many times here.
I have added his new blog, “Hard to the Right” to my list and it will be interesting to see how busy Nancy and her crew of “The New Culture of Corruption” keeps him busy in the future…
http://hard2right.blogspot.com/
Journalist?
Me? No. Nope. Nada. Never claimed to be one. Don’t want to be one. Don’t think I will ever be one.
Recently I summarized comments made to the post about the “Democrat Victory Party Agenda” and did not use actual quotes in doing so. I was called on this and I corrected my statement but still feel the same way about my summary. Not something a “Journalist” would do, but like I said I am not one, but this opens the debate on the growth of “Bloggers” in the internet world and the Pros\Cons of this…
Attended the VCAP “Virginia-Conservative-Action-PAC” convention this past weekend in Richmond and sat in on a conference of several well known political bloggers. When not patting each other on the backs or attacking each other it was informative and they discussed the influence of bloggers on the last election and how “news” has come to be reported. It is not always now the local or national “Mainstream” media outlets deciding what is and is not news anymore.
Blogger’s in the past have filled the “Voids” that were left when the Mainstream decided what was not interesting or “Newsworthy” for us to see. They have also provided “news” and reports when the local media was not there or looking the other way. Remember back last year when we had the election recount for the Attorney General seat that was won by Republican Bob McDonnell? Here in Staunton the media did stop by and observed for a bit but there was no real news that night, and little coverage the next day once it was determined that McDonnell actually won. The night of the recount there were many reports on the blog’s of Virginia with people reporting what they saw at the actual recounts with gains and loses… The bloggers reported the changes and final result long before the “Traditional” media did…
This “media coverage” continues…
Here in Staunton a week before the 2006 election Senator Allen stopped by a local restaurant for breakfast and to meet with 160+ supporters and patrons at the restaurant. The Senator stayed for about 45 minutes, met with the local press, and made an informative speech outlining the issues important to the citizens of Virginia. Our local newspaper had a reporter there the whole time but failed to mention it at all in its news copy the next day. Not even a tagline in a sentence to even note the U.S. Senator had been in town. In contrast the Democratic candidate had visited Staunton weeks before and stayed “15 minutes” and received half of the front page with large photo the next day in the same newspaper. The lack of the U.S. Senators visit in coverage was noted by many and several stated that they turned to the blogs as to what happened and what was not reported. Just this week Delegate Chris Saxman met with the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce and spoke about the proposal consolidating VDOT to save money and improve roadwork. This proposal will reduce the number of VDOT maintenance facilities from 335 to 244 across Virginia and make them more efficient. One local newspaper covered this meeting and proposal on their front page with direct quotes and information. The newspaper that failed to mention the above visit by Senator Allen did not report anything, not even a mention, of this meeting and the proposal… Another Void?
Every week or so I take a look over at the “Air America” station to see what they are up to and ironically this week they were talking about the influence of blogs also. I found it interesting to see that they claim they are needed to keep the “Mainstream” media from being the lapdogs of the Presidents administration! Lap Dogs???!!! This is the media that has attacked him whenever possible and even made up a memo or two that got Dan Rather and CBS in some hot water…
The popularity of blogs has happened because of technology and the free market we have. It is now possible for people to get their message, observations, ideas, thoughts, and opinions out there in a format where others can read and reply themselves. Recently one of the local newspapers website introduced their blogs per department of the newspaper. The Editor has a blog. Sports Department has a blog. Opinions editor has a blog. Two reporters had a blog. (What happened with that?.) Each department could post items regarding topics to their department\position for the community to see and respond to. In fact a reader posted the other day “I know from others in the Gannett organization that they encourage their editorial writers to be as controversial as possible”. I do not know the person making that statement on the NewsLeaders blog or what source he has but it does tie into what is happening on some blogs. The NewsLeader blog posted this question the other day about Virginia Senator George Allen after he gave his concession speech.
“but did anyone else get the feeling the outgoing junior senator from Virginia had had a liquid lunch?”. “Was Allen blitzed?”
This is why blogs have become popular and are growing as a source of news, news not reported by the mainScream, opinions, questions, trivia, and observations that just don’t always get reported.
Like I said. Not a Journalist. Never was. Never wanted to be. Probably never will be one. But like the ability to get the questions\statements out there to be discussed… Just filling the “Void”…
