Amateur Hour

Mark Steyn says this Administration is close to failing if it has not already in this interesting post here.

Calling this "Obamateur Hour", he points out that all of the recent failings, disgraced cabinet picks, inability to take control, etc., etc. are a result of Obama failing to make choices and take responsibility.

I coulda told you he wasn't up to the job back in November.

Final Insult

Read this excellent explanation of the sheer and utter waste that is the so-called stimulus bill and realize how each and every member of Congress has slapped you in the face while robbing you, your children and your grandchildren of their financial future.

Name and Shame

This is lifted from an AP report. I am only listing the evil bastard Senate who voted Yes on the So-Called Stimulus bill.

So if you do not see your senator on the list below, that means he or she did the right thing and voted NO.

Take a look and then contact your Senate here and let them know how disappointed you are that they have betrayed the American Taxpayer by putting their political party over the good of the American people.

Named and Shamed Idiots Who Voted To Bankrupt Us All.

The 60-38 roll call by which the Senate on Friday passed an $787 billion economic recovery plan.

On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote in favor of the bill.

There is one vacancy in the Senate.

Voting "yes" were 55 Democrats, 3 Republicans and 2 independents.

Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 38 Republicans.

Alaska
Begich (D) Yes

Arkansas
Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes.

California
Boxer (D) Yes; Feinstein (D) Yes.

Colorado
Bennet (D) Yes; Udall (D) Yes.

Connecticut
Dodd (D) Yes; Lieberman (I) Yes.

Delaware
Carper (D) Yes; Kaufman (D) Yes.

Florida
Nelson (D) Yes.

Hawaii
Akaka (D) Yes; Inouye (D) Yes.

Illinois
Burris (D) Yes; Durbin (D) Yes.

Indiana
Bayh (D) Yes;

Iowa
Harkin (D) Yes.

Louisiana
Landrieu (D) Yes

Maine
Collins (R) Yes; Snowe (R) Yes.

Maryland
Cardin (D) Yes; Mikulski (D) Yes.

Massachusetts
Kennedy (D) Not Voting; Kerry (D) Yes.

Michigan
Levin (D) Yes; Stabenow (D) Yes.

Minnesota
Klobuchar (D) Yes.

Missouri
McCaskill (D) Yes.

Montana
Baucus (D) Yes; Tester (D) Yes.

Nebraska
Nelson (D) Yes.

Nevada
Reid (D) Yes.

New Hampshire
Shaheen (D) Yes.

New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) Yes; Menendez (D) Yes.

New Mexico
Bingaman (D) Yes; Udall (D) Yes.

New York
Gillibrand (D) Yes; Schumer (D) Yes.

North Dakota
Conrad (D) Yes; Dorgan (D) Yes.

Ohio
Brown (D) Yes

Oregon
Merkley (D) Yes; Wyden (D) Yes.

Pennsylvania
Casey (D) Yes; Specter (R) Yes.

Rhode Island
Reed (D) Yes; Whitehouse (D) Yes.

South Dakota
Johnson (D) Yes

Vermont
Leahy (D) Yes; Sanders (I) Yes.

Virginia
Warner (D) Yes; Webb (D) Yes.

Washington
Cantwell (D) Yes; Murray (D) Yes.

West Virginia
Byrd (D) Yes; Rockefeller (D) Yes.

Wisconsin
Feingold (D) Yes; Kohl (D) Yes.

May all of the above have short political futures.

One Vote Down

They are holding the vote on the so-called stimulus bill open for an unprecedented four hours so a senator returning home from his mother's funeral can vote for the stimulus package.

Desperation? You bet. Without this final vote, the bill will fail.

Since the last Senator is a democrat, the bill will probably pass.

While I am praying the bill goes up in flames, when it does official pass, I will publish the list of idiot senators who chose to bankrupt the American People rather than judiciously create a functioning stimulus package.

Again, may their political futures be short.

Name and Shame - Final House Vote on So-Called Stimulus

This is lifted from an AP report. I am only listing the evil bastard Congressional Representatives who voted Yes on the So-Called Stimulus bill.

So if you do not see your representative on the list below, that means he or she did the right thing and voted NO.

Take a look and then contact your Representative here and let them know how disappointed you are that they have betrayed the American Taxpayer by putting their political party over the good of the American people.

Named and Shamed Idiots Who Voted To Bankrupt Us All.

House Roll Call: House passes economic stimulus
By The Associated Press – 1 hour ago

The 246-183 roll call Friday by which the House passed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill.

A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the measure.

Voting yes were 246 Democrats and no Republicans.

Voting no were seven Democrats and 176 Republicans.

X denotes those not voting.

Present denotes those who voted they were "present" at the time of the vote but did not vote yes or no on the issue.

There are two vacancies in the 435-member House.

ALABAMA
Democrats — Davis, Y

ARIZONA
Democrats — Giffords, Y; Grijalva, Y; Kirkpatrick, Y; Mitchell, Y; Pastor, Y.

ARKANSAS
Democrats — Berry, Y; Ross, Y; Snyder, Y.

CALIFORNIA
Democrats — Baca, Y; Becerra, Y; Berman, Y; Capps, Y; Cardoza, Y; Costa, Y; Davis, Y; Eshoo, Y; Farr, Y; Filner, Y; Harman, Y; Honda, Y; Lee, Y; Lofgren, Zoe, Y; Matsui, Y; McNerney, Y; Miller, George, Y; Napolitano, Y; Pelosi, Y; Richardson, Y; Roybal-Allard, Y; Sanchez, Linda T., Y; Sanchez, Loretta, Y; Schiff, Y; Sherman, Y; Solis, Y; Speier, Y; Stark, Y; Tauscher, Y; Thompson, Y; Waters, Y; Watson, Y; Waxman, Y; Woolsey, Y.

COLORADO
Democrats — DeGette, Y; Markey, Y; Perlmutter, Y; Polis, Y; Salazar, Y.

CONNECTICUT
Democrats — Courtney, Y; DeLauro, Y; Himes, Y; Larson, Y; Murphy, Y.

FLORIDA
Democrats — Boyd, Y; Brown, Corrine, Y; Castor, Y; Grayson, Y; Hastings, Y; Klein, Y; Kosmas, Y; Meek, Y; Wasserman Schultz, Y; Wexler, Y.

GEORGIA
Democrats — Barrow, Y; Bishop, Y; Johnson, Y; Lewis, Y; Marshall, Y; Scott, Y.

HAWAII
Democrats — Abercrombie, Y; Hirono, Y.

ILLINOIS
Democrats — Bean, Y; Costello, Y; Davis, Y; Foster, Y; Gutierrez, Y; Halvorson, Y; Hare, Y; Jackson, Y; Lipinski, Present; Rush, Y; Schakowsky, Y.

INDIANA
Democrats — Carson, Y; Donnelly, Y; Ellsworth, Y; Hill, Y; Visclosky, Y.

IOWA
Democrats — Boswell, Y; Braley, Y; Loebsack, Y.

KANSAS
Democrats — Moore, Y.

KENTUCKY
Democrats — Chandler, Y; Yarmuth, Y.

LOUISIANA
Democrats — Melancon, Y.

MAINE
Democrats — Michaud, Y; Pingree, Y.

MARYLAND
Democrats — Cummings, Y; Edwards, Y; Hoyer, Y; Kratovil, Y; Ruppersberger, Y; Sarbanes, Y; Van Hollen, Y.

MASSACHUSETTS
Democrats — Capuano, Y; Delahunt, Y; Frank, Y; Lynch, Y; Markey, Y; McGovern, Y; Neal, Y; Olver, Y; Tierney, Y; Tsongas, Y.

MICHIGAN
Democrats — Conyers, Y; Dingell, Y; Kildee, Y; Kilpatrick, Y; Levin, Y; Peters, Y; Schauer, Y; Stupak, Y.

MINNESOTA
Democrats — Ellison, Y; McCollum, Y; Oberstar, Y; Peterson, N; Walz, Y.

MISSISSIPPI
Democrats — Childers, Y; Taylor, N; Thompson, Y.

MISSOURI
Democrats — Carnahan, Y; Clay, Y; Cleaver, Y; Skelton, Y.

NEVADA
Democrats — Berkley, Y; Titus, Y.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Democrats — Hodes, Y; Shea-Porter, Y.

NEW JERSEY
Democrats — Adler, Y; Andrews, Y; Holt, Y; Pallone, Y; Pascrell, Y; Payne, Y; Rothman, Y; Sires, Y.

NEW MEXICO
Democrats — Heinrich, Y; Lujan, Y; Teague, Y.

NEW YORK
Democrats — Ackerman, Y; Arcuri, Y; Bishop, Y; Clarke, Y; Crowley, Y; Engel, Y; Hall, Y; Higgins, Y; Hinchey, Y; Israel, Y; Lowey, Y; Maffei, Y; Maloney, Y; Massa, Y; McCarthy, Y; McMahon, Y; Meeks, Y; Nadler, Y; Rangel, Y; Serrano, Y; Slaughter, Y; Tonko, Y; Towns, Y; Velazquez, Y; Weiner, Y.

NORTH CAROLINA
Democrats — Butterfield, Y; Etheridge, Y; Kissell, Y; McIntyre, Y; Miller, Y; Price, Y; Watt, Y.

NORTH DAKOTA
Democrats — Pomeroy, Y.

OHIO
Democrats — Boccieri, Y; Driehaus, Y; Fudge, Y; Kaptur, Y; Kilroy, Y; Kucinich, Y; Ryan, Y; Space, Y; Sutton, Y; Wilson, Y.

OKLAHOMA
Democrats — Boren, Y.

OREGON
Democrats — Blumenauer, Y; Schrader, Y; Wu, Y.

PENNSYLVANIA
Democrats — Altmire, Y; Brady, Y; Carney, Y; Dahlkemper, Y; Doyle, Y; Fattah, Y; Holden, Y; Kanjorski, Y; Murphy, Patrick, Y; Murtha, Y; Schwartz, Y; Sestak, Y.

RHODE ISLAND
Democrats — Kennedy, Y; Langevin, Y.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Democrats — Spratt, Y.

SOUTH DAKOTA
Democrats — Herseth Sandlin, Y.

TENNESSEE
Democrats — Cohen, Y; Cooper, Y; Davis, Y; Gordon, Y; Tanner, Y.

TEXAS
Democrats — Cuellar, Y; Doggett, Y; Edwards, Y; Gonzalez, Y; Green, Al, Y; Green, Gene, Y; Hinojosa, Y; Jackson-Lee, Y; Johnson, E. B., Y; Ortiz, Y; Reyes, Y; Rodriguez, Y.

UTAH
Democrats — Matheson, Y.

VERMONT
Democrats — Welch, Y.

VIRGINIA
Democrats — Boucher, Y; Connolly, Y; Moran, Y; Nye, Y; Perriello, Y; Scott, Y.

WASHINGTON
Democrats — Baird, Y; Dicks, Y; Inslee, Y; Larsen, Y; McDermott, Y; Smith, Y.

WEST VIRGINIA
Democrats — Mollohan, Y; Rahall, Y.

WISCONSIN
Democrats — Baldwin, Y; Kagen, Y; Kind, Y; Moore, Y; Obey, Y.

May all of the above have short political futures.

The Pork Stimulus I Want

Since the so-called Stimulus is packed with pork, I thought I'd show you the only sort of pork I'm willing to tolerate right now.

Basically, Bacon. MMmmm, bacon. This in the form of a BLT as big as your head. Thank you Tony's I75 for showing us the only good "pork" there is (besides ham, bacon, and pork chops).

Chef Keller in the Kitchen

Watch Adam Sandler learn how to make "World's Greatest Sandwich" in Chef Keller's home kitchen. Whether you like the sandwich or not, watching Chef Keller's astonishing attention to detail is inspiring!

Pray Your Members of Congress Took Speed Reading Lessons (UPDATED: It’s Worse)

Because everything is better when you do it BLIND!

Pray Your Members of Congress Took Speed Reading Lessons (UPDATED: It’s Worse)

Posted using ShareThis

Melt The Phones

There is no reason why we can't have a stimulus bill.

It's just that this so-called stimulus bill is a monstrocity of special interests, secret arrangements, and crushing taxpayer debt burdens. It must be stopped.

So melt the phones, people.

Here is the directory of Senators and Representatives. Look yours up, call them and tell them to stop, breath, and think before they foist this on millions of registered voters.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

New Amendment

From my husband and originally posted at The Corner - NRO

Constitutional Amendment Idea

Just a thought off the top of my head; how about an amendment to Article I, Section 7 that reads:

Before voting on any Bill, a Senator or Representative shall certify to the President of the Senate or Speaker of the House respectively that they have read the Bill in full.

Or something like that?

This is inspired by Tom Coburn pointing out that to read the porkulus bill in its entirety out aloud would take the Senate Clerk 31.5 hours. Yet this monstrosity is going to be foisted on the American public today. The contempt for the legislative process is shocking.

The People's Stimulus

Imagine, instead of the so-called stimulus bill, Congress passes one simple small act and suspends FICA payroll taxes for say a year. It would cost as much as the so-called stimulus bill but would actually and immediately work, unlike the so-called stimulus bill.

Here's the idea....

Sneaky Bastards

Democratic Leadership in Congress are trying to sneak all sorts of nasty bits into the so-called stimulus bill. This is disgusting.

Read Mark Hemingway's take here.

If you don't vomit a little in your mouth when you read this and then go out and bury your wallet under a rock, then you are so far left as to be an idiot or a communist.

Little Reminder to Congress

Dear Members of Congress,

A little reminder, you do NOT serve your party.

You serve The People.

As in, "We, the People,".

Sure it is tempting to go for the naked power grab, but you've over-reached and are teetering on the brink. Keep reaching for the goody bad and you will fall come next election. Lean back and regain your balance/perspective and you will see there are many other more "electorially profitable" ways to help the economy without hurting the taxpayer.

We are watching you. Be warned.

Love,
Kris

Fight The Power

Columbia University - that nest of vipers - is abusing eminent domain. Nick Sprayregen is fighting back and needs support.

Read about his fight and support his efforts to stop the despicable actions of Columbia University.

I wrote about Nick previously and in this post below and here is the link to his website. Support Sprayregen because if Columbia can get away with this then the disastrous Kelo Supreme Court ruling will be reinforced and next time it might be you.

Eminent Domain Abuse

That nest of radical vipers, Columbia University, is abusing eminent domain for its own gain.

Reason has published Damon Root's account of the tribulations a Mr. Nick Sprayregen has suffered thanks to Columbia's despicable tactics.

I quote at length because it really is unbelievable hypocritical (and yet unsurprising) that an American university would sink to this scummy level.

Each of Sprayregen's buildings is kept in pristine condition. But Columbia wants his land. So the university has been working with the state of New York to have the neighborhood declared "blighted." If that designation is made, the government will be able to take Sprayregen's well-kept property and hand it over to the university, which owns the run-down buildings. And only then, when they have their neighbor's land, does Columbia promise to clean up its act and make Manhattanville nice again.

Back in September, Sprayregen wrote a very good op-ed for The Wall Street Journal describing some of the university's more despicable tactics:
Under New York state law, in order to condemn property the state first has to undertake a "neighborhood conditions study" and declare the area in question "blighted." Earlier this summer the state released its study, which concluded that Manhattanville is indeed "blighted." This gives the state the legal green light to condemn my four buildings and hand them over to the university.

The study's conclusion was unsurprising. Since the commencement of acquisitions in Manhattanville by Columbia, the school has made a solid effort to create the appearance of "blight." Once active buildings became vacant as Columbia either refused to renew leases, pressured small businesses to vacate, or made unreasonable demands that resulted in the businesses moving elsewhere. Columbia also let their holdings decay and left code violations unaddressed.
Feel free to contact Columbia University and let them know that such abuse of Eminent Domain should not go unpunished.

Lee Bollinger
Office of the President
202 Low Library
535 West 116th Street, Mail Code 4309
New York, NY 10027

General Inquiries or To Contact the President
Phone: (212) 854-9970
Fax: (212) 854-9973
Email: officeofthepresident@columbia.edu

Speaking Requests (must be submitted in writing)
Susan Glancy, Chief of Staff
Email: skg56@columbia.edu

Media Inquiries
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Phone: (212) 854-5573

Transparent

This is a very good website post outlining why and how to make government more transparent to taxpayers/voters.

A solid good, read.

And speaking of transparency, fraudster Rangel is being given political cover again by the democrats.

Environmental Disasters Caused By Liberals

Environmental Policies Kill—Again!
by Iain Murray

Survivors of the fires in Australia have blamed local environmental policies for the deaths of family members. This should sound horribly familiar, as I explain here.

The above post is by my husband Iain Murray and taken from NRO's The Corner. He wrote the book, The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophe's Liberals Don't Want You To Know About Because They Helped Cause Them.

Food Glorious Food

This Is Why Your Fat is a celebration of all things that are bad for you but taste so darn good.

Another Arrogant SOB

I can't believe these A-habs are saying this in public. We can't "invest" our own money? We can't be trusted with our money? We have to give it to government and trust these jokers with it?

What arrogance and hubris? I "hope" this "change" only lasts until 2010 because we will be paupers if it goes on for longer.

Arrogant SOB

I care. I care enough to hope your political future is nasty, brutish and short for saying such nasty, brutish and elitist nonsense! Ahab!

More Details on Socialized Healthcare Hell

From NRO - The Corner, copied in full....

The Wrong Stimulus for Health Care
by William Winkenwerder, Jr. and Grace-Marie Turner

As part of the stimulus bill, the House wants to pump least $160 billion into our already-bloated health sector, and members say they intend to fight for every penny when the bill goes to conference with the Senate.

The health-related provisions take a sharp turn toward greater government control over our health sector, without any hearings or serious debate in Congress and without telling the American people what the changes would mean for their personal health care. This is the biggest land grab in the health sector ever attempted by the federal government, and it would be a major step toward thrusting full responsibility for health-care financing onto the American taxpayer—today and for decades to come.

For starters, the bill would create a 15-member federal health board, composed entirely of federal employees appointed by the president, charged with running “comparative effectiveness” research to assess which drugs and other medical treatments are most effective. The board’s decisions would determine what medical treatments the federal government would or would not pay for. The treatments some patients desperately need might not be on the list. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D., Wis.) explained that drugs and treatments “that are found to be less effective and in some cases, more expensive, will no longer be prescribed.”

The bill would also establish a $400 million slush fund, which the secretary of health and human services would use to give government, not doctors and patients, more control over health-care decisions.

There will be a substantial burden on employers: The bill would impose a back-door mandate for them to continue providing health insurance to workers long after those workers have left. PricewaterhouseCoopers says the ten-year cost of this provision would be up to $65 billion just for those workers currently eligible for COBRA (the current program through which people can participate in ex-employers’ health plans). The estimated costs would be even higher if many more workers retire early, as they likely will if they know they can continue their employment-based coverage indefinitely.

Further, under the bill, the federal government would reimburse workers for part of their COBRA bills—at least 65 percent under the House bill and 50 percent under the Senate version—creating a major new health spending program without the slightest debate over the economic distortions this would cause.

Also, having already repositioned SCHIP as a program for middle-income children, Congress wants to do the same with Medicaid. The House bill would have the federal government pay 100 percent of the costs for states to extend Medicaid coverage to unemployed workers and their families, no matter what the families’ income or assets. Under this definition, President Bush and members of his cabinet would be eligible for Medicaid.

Finally, the bill would allocate more than $20 billion to health information technologies, despite the fact that no one has been able to come up with a workable plan to spend even a fraction of that amount wisely. Speaking from experience in managing these types of initiatives, one of us (Winkenwerder) can say it is simply impossible to spend sums that huge wisely—not to mention quickly enough to stimulate the economy.

The U.S. already spends $2.2 trillion a year on health care, and it is widely acknowledged that we are not getting anything close to our money’s worth. Can we invest an additional $160 billion wisely? Highly unlikely. The health-related provisions of this bill are too consequential to be rushed through in this gigantic spending bill.

—William Winkenwerder, Jr., M.D., MBA, is Chairman of The Winkenwerder Company and served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense from September 2001 until April 2007. Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute, a think tank specializing in health reform, and previously served as a member of the federal Medicaid Commission.

Gateway to Socialist Healthcare Hell

This so-called stimulus package has so many hidden traps of ugliness that it should be taken out, shot, and buried under a rock on a moonless night.

The latest evil to raise its head is the sneaking in of healthcare provisions that essentially create a government-controlled healthcare system complete with healthcare rationing and oversight.

According to an opinion piece at Bloomberg.com by Betsy McCaughey, the so-called stimulus package is basically the begining of socializing the US healthcare system.

If you want your doctors to treat you like you're at the DMV, then government meddling with healthcare is for you.

It's not for me. Tell your Senators and Representatives to kill this bill NOW.

Fact Checks and Failure

Wow. When the AP fact checks Obama's press conference statement and finds something wrong with every single statement they've checked, then, for Obama, that ain't good.

I wonder if AP will apologize - along with the rest of the press corps - for not fact checking OR vetting Obama during the campaign period?

Failing Fact Checking

Travesty of Justice

That this case is even going to court is a travesty.

The man has every right to defend his ranch against trespassers, especially illegal immigrants coming in to the US from Mexico over his land.

Name And SHAME - Sen. Who Voted YES

Below is the roll call of Senators and how they voted on that monstrocity of a so-called stimulus bill.

Contact your Senator here and tell him or her how you feel about their spending nearly a trillion dollars of your money.

FOR SHAME Senators. I can not vote for a person who votes to foist this abomination of a fiscal policy on my tax-paying shoulders. May your political futures be nasty, brutal, and short. Go back to lobbying you damn frauds.

(Can you tell I'm furious?)

THE LIST (from AP News via MyWayNews.com)

The 61-36 roll call by which the Senate on Monday voted to advance an $838 billion economic stimulus bill.

On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote in favor of the bill and a "no" vote was a vote to stop its progress. Supporters of the bill needed 60 votes to advance the measure.

There is one vacancy in the Senate.

Voting "yes" were 56 Democrats and 3 Republicans and 2 independents.

Voting "no" were 0 Democrats and 36 Republicans.

Alabama
Sessions (R) No; Shelby (R) No.

Alaska
Begich (D) Yes; Murkowski (R) No.

Arizona
Kyl (R) No; McCain (R) No.

Arkansas
Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes.

California
Boxer (D) Yes; Feinstein (D) Yes.

Colorado
Bennet (D) Yes; Udall (D) Yes.

Connecticut
Dodd (D) Yes; Lieberman (I) Yes.

Delaware
Carper (D) Yes; Kaufman (D) Yes.

Florida
Martinez (R) No; Nelson (D) Yes.

Georgia
Chambliss (R) No; Isakson (R) No.

Hawaii
Akaka (D) Yes; Inouye (D) Yes.

Idaho
Crapo (R) No; Risch (R) No.

Illinois
Burris (D) Yes; Durbin (D) Yes.

Indiana
Bayh (D) Yes; Lugar (R) No.

Iowa
Grassley (R) No; Harkin (D) Yes.

Kansas
Brownback (R) No; Roberts (R) No.

Kentucky
Bunning (R) No; McConnell (R) No.

Louisiana
Landrieu (D) Yes; Vitter (R) No.

Maine
Collins (R) Yes; Snowe (R) Yes.

Maryland
Cardin (D) Yes; Mikulski (D) Yes.

Massachusetts
Kennedy (D) Yes; Kerry (D) Yes.

Michigan
Levin (D) Yes; Stabenow (D) Yes.

Minnesota
Klobuchar (D) Yes.

Mississippi
Cochran (R) No; Wicker (R) No.

Missouri
Bond (R) No; McCaskill (D) Yes.

Montana
Baucus (D) Yes; Tester (D) Yes.

Nebraska
Johanns (R) No; Nelson (D) Yes.

Nevada
Ensign (R) No; Reid (D) Yes.

New Hampshire
Gregg (R) Not Voting; Shaheen (D) Yes.

New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) Yes; Menendez (D) Yes.

New Mexico
Bingaman (D) Yes; Udall (D) Yes.

New York
Gillibrand (D) Yes; Schumer (D) Yes.

North Carolina
Burr (R) No; Hagan (D) Yes.

North Dakota
Conrad (D) Yes; Dorgan (D) Yes.

Ohio
Brown (D) Yes; Voinovich (R) No.

Oklahoma
Coburn (R) No; Inhofe (R) No.

Oregon
Merkley (D) Yes; Wyden (D) Yes.

Pennsylvania
Casey (D) Yes; Specter (R) Yes.

Rhode Island
Reed (D) Yes; Whitehouse (D) Yes.

South Carolina
DeMint (R) No; Graham (R) No.

South Dakota
Johnson (D) Yes; Thune (R) No.

Tennessee
Alexander (R) No; Corker (R) No.

Texas
Cornyn (R) Not Voting; Hutchison (R) No.

Utah
Bennett (R) No; Hatch (R) No.

Vermont
Leahy (D) Yes; Sanders (I) Yes.

Virginia
Warner (D) Yes; Webb (D) Yes.

Washington
Cantwell (D) Yes; Murray (D) Yes.

West Virginia
Byrd (D) Yes; Rockefeller (D) Yes.

Wisconsin
Feingold (D) Yes; Kohl (D) Yes.

Wyoming
Barrasso (R) No; Enzi (R) No.

Love and Fidelity

My children are quite young but I'm linking to this excellent Public Discourse article by Ryan T. Anderson because I want my children to grow up to be responsible adults.

And having a strong moral compass is part of that. My own moral compass lost its bearings when I was in college - not by much but some remembrances of my behavior are not unalloyed pleasures.

The idea that, perhaps, when my children go to college that these Elizabeth Anscombe Societies will be prevalent is one that gives me comfort. The intellectual arguments for traditions should always be maintained and supported, especially on college campuses where even the best moral compasses can be spun off course.

Talking Points

As one Obama supporter said, according to The Weekly Standard blog, "I feel dumber after reading that."

Below is the "talking points" the above quote refers to. Apparently Obama and the DNC asked liberals to hold "economic stimulus house party" where liberals could come together and perform "grassroots activism" in support of the so-called stimulus bill.

The DNC even supplied a a 13-minute online video of DNC Chair Tim Kaine answering viewer-submitted questions. There were 3,000 parties nation-wide and each party organizer was supposed to fill out a questionnaire for a report on what the base is thinking.

Basically "the base" is thinking "shoulda asked sooner" and "this is not particularly informative".

When you look at the pathetic "talking points" memo sent out with the apparently uninformative DVD, you'll see just how badly the Mainstream Media misled the American people when they unashamedly supported Obama over anyone with any competence/experience.

TALKING POINTS
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN
KEY POINT: We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action; we must act quickly and responsibly to both strengthen our economy now and invest in long-term growth and prosperity.

The President has and continues to be committed to a bi-partisan process that takes different views and ideas into account to ensure a recovery package that:
• Creates new jobs and saves the ones that are on the line;
• Cuts taxes for the Middle Class;
• Creates investments that ensure our long-term energy independence;
• Reinvigorates our infrastructure while creating jobs and stimulating long term growth;
• Demands transparency and accountability that guarantees taxpayer money is used
properly.

JOB CREATION: President Obama's economic recovery plan (also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan) will put people back to work in the short term by ensuring that the money being invested gets out the door immediately and is directly targeted to job-creation. The plan will generate or save three to four million new jobs. The vast majority of these jobs will be created in the private sector[typo alert - they didn't end this sentence with a period.]

REINVIGORATE INFRASTRUCTURE/STIMULATE LONG-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH: President Obama's economic recovery plan will also make critical investments in alternative energy, safer roads, better health care and our schools. These investments will have a direct impact on communities and both create jobs in the short term, and lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity.

TAX CUTS: 95% of working families will receive a $1,000 tax cut.

ACCOUNTABILITY: The Plan includes unprecedented accountability. All of the information on investments will be posted on www.recovery.gov so people can make sure their money is spent quickly and effectively in real time. An Economic Recovery Accountability & Transparency Board will report directly to Congress on these matters both regularly and with urgent reports for quick developments.

THE BEGINNING NOT THE END: The President also made it clear that his recovery package is just one component of what we need to do to get the economy moving again. The President knows that we also need to make sure we have better financial regulation, and that we act swiftly to get credit flowing again. And of course, we're going to have to engage with our partners around the world.
ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA
PAID FOR BY ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA, A PROJECT OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE — 430 SOUTH CAPITOL ST. SE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 20003. THIS COMMUNICATION IS NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE.

The Fisking possibilities of this memo are endless. I don't think you could select any random ten words in a row and not find an outright lie or, at best, a deliberate obstruction of accuracy. I mean, transparency from this administration after the parade of tax cheats and scoundrels we've seen? Please!

Again, thank you parternaistic and elitist liberal media for foisting this on to us.

The Timeline of The So-Called Stimulus

Watch it grow from reasonable package to gargantuan monstrosity thanks to Mark Hemingway.

E-pa, E-pa

The Simpson Movie has it right (and for that matter, so did Ghostbusters).

The EPA is evil.

As detailed by Henry I. Miller in a substantial post over at NRO.

The EPA’s payola scheme is similar to the agency’s longstanding practice of buying influence by doling out hundreds of millions of dollars each year to non-profit organizations—money that, according to the inspector general and Government Accountability Office, is dispersed with no public notice, competition, or accountability. Specifically, they documented systematic malfeasance by regulators, including: (1) making grants to grantees who were unable to carry out the terms of the grants; (2) favoring an exclusive clique of grantees without opening the grants to competition; (3) funding “environmental” grants for activities that lack any apparent environmental benefit; and (4) failing to ensure that grantees performed the objectives identified in the grants.

O Henry, please do go on.

Voice of Reason

Alan Reynolds over at the real paper-of-record, The New York Post, takes a long calm look at this recession and declares, "It's not a catastrope".

Too bad Obama is hellbent-for-leather into turning this recession into a catastrophe via the so-called stimulus bill in order to seize power for the liberals.

And the Post's article called "Woe is O..."

The Great Milton Friedman

Listen to your Uncle Milton.



Hat Tip to Powerline and Jonah Goldberg

That Sinking Feeling

Mark Steyn - funny as ever - makes an excellent arguement that the first month of this administration has not been as hopey and changey as Obama's supprtors were lead to believe.

Actually the Obama boat appears to be taking on water.

Read and laugh. I did.