Fido found those numbers...

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Looks like Fido was able to dig deep enough to find Congress approval rating at 29% and down from 37% when the "Democrats" took control of Congress... And now the Leaders of the Democratic Party have come out and said that they will send the needed military spending bill to the President without the withdrawl\surrender deadline that they favor...

It appears that 29% approval rating has them worried about their future "Job Status" with the people who they claim support the "New Congress"...

Wait until they get their job approval rating after this Memorial Day weekend with the average gasoline price over $3.20 a gallon...

The N.Y. Times Reports:

May 22, 2007
Democrats Drop Troop Pullout Dates From Iraq Bill
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, May 22 — Congressional Democrats relented today on their insistence that a war spending measure sought by President Bush also set a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The decision to back down, described by senior lawmakers and aides, was a wrenching reversal for some Democrats, who saw their election triumph as a call to force an end to the war. A Democratic effort to include timelines prompted Mr. Bush’s veto of the original bill last month, producing a political impasse.

Investor Business Daily Reports:

"As Congressional Quarterly noted this week, since taking over Congress this year, the Democrats have only passed 26 laws, 12 of which "changed the name of a federal building, post office or national recreation area."

"This Congress largely has refused to find common ground with the president on anything. No wonder Gallup reports this week that Congress' approval rating, which has dropped steadily from 37% when Democrats took over, is now at 29% — well below the 33%-and-holding for President Bush that the media routinely describes as "rock-bottom."

Defending the American Dream-Virginia Conference

. You are cordially invited….
To Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s
Defending the American Dream-Virginia Conference
Saturday, June 2nd * 11:30am until 3:00pmThe Richmond Marriott500 East Broad Street * Richmond, VA 23219

Featuring Guest Speakers:Michael Steele, Former Lt. Governor of Maryland & GOPAC Chairman Lt. Governor Bill Bolling AFP-Virginia Chairman Paul Harris Other Virginia State Legislators

¶¶¶¶¶
Please join us for a free lunch and hear from our featured speakers to learn more about what we can do to promote our shared values of limited government, free markets and fiscal restraint.

President Reagan said the American Dream is “the heart and soul of America; it’s the promise that keeps our nation forever good and generous, a model and hope to the world.”

That is just as true today as it was when President Reagan spoke those words more than two decades ago, but sadly, the American Dream is still under attack. Now is the time to join your fellow taxpayers to ensure that lawmakers hear our free-market message of limited government and lower taxation.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, May 30th at infova@afphq.org or (804) 622.2578. You may also register online at: www.AFPVA.org.

Americans for Prosperity Foundation is the nation's premier grassroots organization fighting for free-market policies that promote free enterprise and, in a very real way, the pursuit of the American Dream.

Just don't drop one of those things....

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I have several of these funny looking energy saving light bulbs in my house and I thought I was doing something good by using them but it seems there is a “Darkside” to these light bulbs…
The Washington Times has an interesting report on what happens if you break one of these things in your house.

“How much money does it take to screw in a compact fluorescent lightbulb? About $4.28 for the bulb and labor -- unless you break the bulb. Then you -- like Brandy Bridges of Ellsworth, Maine -- could be looking at a cost of about $2,004.28, which doesn't include the costs of frayed nerves and risks to health.”

This lady broke a CFL bulb in her children’s room and knew that these bulbs contain Mercury so she called the Poison Control hotline for advice…

“The DEP sent a specialist to Mrs. Bridges' house to test for mercury contamination. The specialist found mercury levels in the bedroom in excess of 6 times the state's "safe" level for mercury contamination of 300 billionths of a gram per cubic meter.”

Some things that those environmental groups forgot to tell you …



“It's quite odd that environmentalists have embraced the CFL, which cannot now, and will not in the foreseeable future be made without mercury. Given that there are about 4 billion lightbulb sockets in American households, we're looking at the possibility of creating billions of hazardous wastes sites like the Bridges' bedroom. Usually, environmentalists want hazardous materials out of, not in, our homes.”




“Greenpeace also recommends CFLs, while simultaneously bemoaning contamination caused by a mercury thermometer factory in India. But where are mercury-containing CFLs made? Not in the U.S., under strict environmental regulation but in India and China, where environmental standards are virtually nonexistent.”

Keep digging for Congress...

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Things have definitely changed in Congress since the Democratic Party with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi “Took Charge”… IBD (Investors Business Daily) has some interesting facts on what has been done since the “Democrats” took charge and where their approval rating is now… See Fido for help finding their approval rating…

"As Congressional Quarterly noted this week, since taking over Congress this year, the Democrats have only passed 26 laws, 12 of which "changed the name of a federal building, post office or national recreation area."

"This Congress largely has refused to find common ground with the president on anything. No wonder Gallup reports this week that Congress' approval rating, which has dropped steadily from 37% when Democrats took over, is now at 29% — well below the 33%-and-holding for President Bush that the media routinely describes as "rock-bottom."

The "Wake-Up Call" Speech...

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I heard this the other night on the Mark Levin show and found the text on his website...

(5/11/07) A listener sent this speech to Mark - A speech the listener wishes the President would give.
http://www.marklevinshow.com/letters.php

Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans." Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that youíre really not fellow Americans any longer.I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit.

Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: there's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people.
I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you do not understand that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy people are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this "blood for oil" thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to h---. And don't give me this "Bush Lied People Died" ****** either. If I was the liar you take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be "discovered." Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named "Clinton" established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And they are all over the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of "Survivor".

Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too.

That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there're just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that's it. God bless whatís left of America. Some of you know what I mean.

Anybody see this last night?

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Got home late last night after work and caught this "News Report" in the background while checking e-mail...

"Federal authorities have arrested six men identified as "radical Islamists" and accused them of plotting to "kill as many American soldiers as possible" in an attack on the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey."

"Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid both called for the immediate withdrawl of all Troops from Fort Dix"...

Not that far of a stretch after all is it?...

Senator Webb will get us Drugs!!!...

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“From on High” has a good post reporting on how Senator Webb vows to provide more affordable prescription drugs to the American people
http://blogfromonhigh.blogspot.com/2007/05/senator-webb-and-his-windmills.html

As with many claims coming out of Washington and our political leaders there are the usual facts left out and questions unanswered.

“All Americans deserve access to quality, affordable health care and medications —period. This is a question of basic fairness. With 47 million uninsured Americans, it is high time that healthcare legislation focuses on consumers and not corporate profits.”

No argument here. But lets look at some of the facts and lets ask a few questions of the Senator.

It has been shown by media and also posted here on “Rightside” that the “47 million uninsured Americans” claim, which Webb and his buddies love to harp about, is not completely accurate. Included in this 47 million are people between jobs and covered on their spouses insurance plan and millions of younger Americans who consider themselves ‘invincible” and spend their money on cars, vacations, cd’s, and the likes instead of medical insurance.

Senator Webb intends to pass legislation that will allow the import of “cheaper” drugs from Canada and other countries.

“Americans currently pay, on average, twice as much as most other countries in the world -- at a time when the U.S. pharmaceutical companies are turning profits in the tens of billions. The United States can and must do better. I will continue the fight in Congress for more affordable prescription drugs for the hard-working people of this country.”

Question for Senator Webb:

Where did the drugs that these other countries now sell come from?

Where were they developed and tested to ensure that they are safe for all people to use?

Which country or corporation paid for the R&D to create these drugs and risk millions of dollars to get these drugs approved by the FDA?

If we apply the Democratic Party’s plan of wealth re-distribution and limit the profits of the evil drug corporations, who will develop the new drugs when it is no longer possible for corporations to invest millions on the chance of a new drug being approved?

As I look at the names of the drug companies I find the vast majority are American base and operated here. I do not find any that come out of Canada or these countries where Webb wants to get Cheaper drugs for his Americans.

How many of these countries have developed the life saving drugs that they now have and how did they get them?

Do they produce these same drugs or are they getting them from the American corporations at wholesale\reduced prices from our governments assistance or the assistance programs from the drug corporations?

If this is the case does Senator Webb advocate raising the wholesale prices to these countries and spread the cost of the drugs R&D to all countries that benefit from these drugs so as to lower the drug cost to the Senators American people?

It’s not always easy to back up those great claims and programs that the Senator makes to get the votes and favors from his American people…

Sailfish, Sportsmen, Politicians, and their "ethics"...

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Had the opportunity to meet with Scott today for a short time and we spoke about my recent trip to Key West to work the World Sailfish tournament and the level of Sportsmanship that now exists in many tournaments. Scott is an avid Turkey hunter as well as Whitetail Deer sportsman and the level of ethical management within these sports are very impressive. Scott informed me of the progress made by organizations such as the Wild Turkey Federation and efforts to manage Whitetail deer populations for the benefit of the animals and their habitats.

I was surprised when Scott told me that both the wild Turkey as well as the Whitetail deer populations had in the past become dangerously threatened as the result of poor management and abuse. Sportsman became involved in the sense that they learned and understood that the species could\would not survive if they were not managed properly. Scott also told me of his efforts with other local sportsmen to manage and improve the habitats in the valley to allow these species to grow in numbers but yet not overpopulate to a point where the animals suffer from lack of food, range, and disease.

We spoke of the “ethics” involved in managing an organized hunt to protect both the animals and the sportsmen involved in the harvest. The ethics of taking only that which is needed as compared to a purely “trophy” or “numbers” hunt which does not respect the animal or the sport itself…

In speaking with Scott I told him of an incident which happened in the Sailfish tournament that I just returned from. Unlike in the past where Sailfish tournaments were judged by the number of dead Sailfish that each team could bring back to the dock, the World Sailfish tournament is a “Catch & Release” tournament. All Sailfish must be released alive and in good condition and no injuries to the fish are allowed. Circle hooks are now required for they are very less harmful to the fish and each boat is required to submit digital video of each fish caught to prove how many fish caught as well as to prove the fish was released in good condition. These improved “Sportsman Ethics” involve much more effort, care, and increased procedures to win a tournament but this format has been overwhelmingly accepted by the Sportfishing community and has improved\protected the Sailfish population.

During this past tournament I worked the “Committee boat” which monitored the radio reports of fish caught and tournament procedures. On the third and final day of fishing we received a call from a boat which was in the running for the $100,000 first prize that had a Sailfish which was “Bill-wrapped” with the leader. The “leader” is the first 12ft piece of fishing line which must be submitted for inspection after each fish is caught. Failing to submit the leader with the paperwork for each fish results in that fish being disqualified. In this incident the leader had become wrapped around the Sailfish bill and could not be removed without breaking it and being disqualified. The Captain called explaining the situation and that there were numerous other Sailfish around the boat that could not be caught and recorded until this fish was released. The fishing mate was ready to go into the water to swim with the 6ft Sailfish and attempt to retrieve the leader without hurting the fish but this is in violation of IGFA tournament rules. The team also did not want to harm the Sailfish in anyway in forcing a release. The Rules committee quickly met and determined that if a clear shot of the leader wrapped around the bill could be recorded with the digital video the leader could then be cut and the fish would be released unharmed and counted as a caught fish.

The example of “Sportsman Ethics” here is that the Captain could have easily killed that fish after taking video of the catch, retrieved the leader intact, and moved on to other Sailfish around the boat increasing the teams catch total. Instead these sportsman chose to protect the Sailfish and the true ethics of the sport and tournament when they were in a tight race for the $100,000 first prize. The team finished in the top three rankings of the tournament as well as being viewed as “Victors” by the other fishing teams…

A few years back during the Democratic Governor Mark Warner’s term in office he, along with then Democratic Lt. Governor Tim Kaine, raided the fund that was made up by licensing fees paid by Virginia Sportsman. I believe millions of dollars were transferred into the general fund by Warner and Kaine when they claimed Virginia was in danger of not maintaining “essential” services. Like the “Scare” tax pushed thru by Warner and Kaine with the help of some State Senators after 9\11, this transfer of Sportsmen fees was proved not needed and we now have a surplus of funds along with these higher tax rates.

I have not heard if the millions removed from the “Sportsmen fee” fund has ever been returned or if that money has disappeared like I fear the surplus will disappear when we are not looking. Just like if the tax rate will ever be lowered since it has been proven that this increased tax load on the Virginia Citizens was not really needed as claimed by Warner, Kaine, and some of our State Senators…

Sportsmen “Ethics” would not allow the abuse of a population by a higher and not warranted demand placed on that species.

Unfortunately Government “Ethics” do not seem to follow the same higher level by reducing the tax rate and allowing the Citizens of Virginia to keep more of what they earn. By allowing the people of Virginia to invest their earned money as they see fit and to their benefit.

I believe we need a State Senator like Scott Sayre who understands both “Sportsmen” and “Government” ethics and applies them to the benefit of the hard working Citizens of Virginia…

Missed it by 9,988...

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OBAMA: "In case you missed it, this week, this week there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died, an entire town destroyed!"

The most interesting thing about Obama saying that 10,000 people died when an entire town was destroyed is that some of the nimrods in the audience are nodding in agreement.

Fort Dix N.J. In our backyard....

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"Federal authorities have arrested six men identified as "radical Islamists" and accused them of plotting to "kill as many American soldiers as possible" in an attack on the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey."

Called a friend who is a Sgt. and is presently serving at Fort Dix to find out what happened and what the story is with this. He advised me that Dix was in a somewhat lockdown but they were ready and already had defensive procedures in effect to counter a attack as described above.

The problem is that the general public has forgotten that there are people like these "Radical Islamist" out there and looking for additional ways to attack us when possible. The fear is that it will take an actual attack like the one planned here to wake the public up again to the threats against us.

The complaint also said that Shain Duka said Tatar wanted to join the U.S. Army "so he could kill U.S. soldiers from the inside" and that when CW-2 asked about Tatar again, Dritan Duka said: "He had only one mind, how to kill American soldiers" and that "rather than waging jihad overseas, they could do so in the United States."

The media coverage is out there if you look in the correct places but have you noticed the lack of coverage in many local formats? Even looking at the lack of coverage in the local blogs is evident. I am sure that it would be focused on more if it was a local military base but the list of potential targets to these terrorist was long and spread out.

Eljvir Duka, according to the complaint, was recorded as saying: "At the end, when it comes to defending your religion, when someone is trying attacks your religion, your way of life, then you go jihad."

This terrorist plot was discovered a year back when the terrorist took a VHS tape of themselves shooting assault weapons in a military fashion to have it copied to DVD format. A person working at the retail location was thinking and contacted the FBI and that is what started the investigation. The question is will the ACLU be out there right away claiming the terrorist rights were violated by the person reporting the VHS tape to the authorities?