Emetic of the day: Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign clinging to his seat, begging donors to fatten up his anemic legal defense fund, and blaming liberals for all his self-inflicted problems.
Sen. John Ensign is asking supporters for donations to pay lawyers defending him in ongoing ethics investigations, insisting he is “absolutely” innocent of allegations stemming from an extramarital affair and efforts to help the woman’s husband find new work.
“As difficult as it is for me to ask you, I need your help to refute these charges and wage a successful legal defense,” the Nevada Republican wrote in a fundraising letter his office said was sent out late last week.
In seeking contributions of up to $10,000 to a defense fund, Ensign blamed a “liberal organization” for his legal woes after it filed an ethics complaint against him. The executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington disputed the description, saying the group was an equal opportunity watchdog.
“Liberals” aren’t to blame for Ensign cheating on his wife with a campaign staffer and allegedly trying to pay off the staffer and her husband with hush money funneled through his parents.
Ensign is like one of the cartoon kids from “Family Circus,” pointing to the NOT ME gremlin for his actions instead of looking in the mirror and practicing the personal responsibility Republicans so often publicly preach.
Environmental justice demands that the United States address global warming, the gravest threat facing minority Americans, insist the EPA, Congressional Black Caucus and White House. Are they serious?
The alleged threat pales next to unwed teen motherhood, school dropouts, murder and other crime. But even assuming human carbon dioxide emissions will cause average global temperatures to rise a few degrees more than they have already since the Little Ice Age ended, it is absurd to suggest that any such warming would harm minorities more than policies imposed in the name of preventing climate change.
Human activities have not replaced the complex natural forces that drove climate change throughout Earth’s history. But even if manmade greenhouse gases do contribute to planetary warming, slashing US emissions to zero would bring no benefit, because steadily rising emissions from China, India, Brazil and other rapidly growing economies would almost instantly replace whatever gases we cease emitting.
Most important, fossil fuels power the economic engine that ensures justice and opportunity in America today. Policies that make energy less reliable and affordable reduce business revenues and profits, shrink investment and innovation, imperil economic recovery, and hobble job creation, civil rights, and the pursuit of happiness and the American dream.
Whether they take the form of cap-and-trade, carbon taxes, restrictions on drilling and coal mining, or EPA rules under its claim that carbon dioxide “endangers” human health and welfare, anti-energy policies frustrate the natural desire of poor and minority Americans to improve their lives.
As to coping with higher temperatures, restrictive energy policies send electricity prices skyrocketing, making it harder for low-income households to afford air conditioning, and putting lives at risk. They send poor families back to pre-AC misery of bygone eras, like the 1896 heat wave that killed 1,300 people in New York City’s sweltering tenements. In wintertime, they make heating less affordable, again putting lives at risk.
I recently documented the connection between energy policies and civil rights. My “Justice through Affordable Energy for Wisconsin” report focuses on the Dairy State, where I grew up. However, its lessons apply to every state, especially the 26 that get 48-98% of their electricity from coal or have a strong manufacturing base. (The full report can be found at www.CFACT.org)
Is Bob “The Silencer” Bauer hard at work fixing the Sestak scandal for Boss Obama?
Perhaps.
Roll Call reports that somebody at the White House dialed up Joe Sestak’s brother and campaign manager, Richard, yesterday in preparation for the “official statement” that the president promised would be released soon:
Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic nominee in the Pennsylvania Senate race, disclosed Thursday that White House officials contacted his brother in preparation for a response to allegations that Sestak was offered a job in the Obama administration as an enticement not to challenge incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter.
Faced with mounting scrutiny from Capitol Hill and accusations that such an offer might violate the law, President Barack Obama promised Thursday to have “an official response shortly on the Sestak issue.”
…Sestak said his brother and an unnamed White House official or officials spoke about “what was going to occur.” Sestak declined to identify who made the call for the administration, adding that he has had no direct contact with the White House.
Sestak called Obama a “pretty legitimate person.” He added, “But we’ll find out shortly what they have to say.”
Sestak was tight-lipped about the situation, declining to comment on whether he would agree with the White House’s take on the situation. He pledged to say more — and even to return to Washington for a Capitol Hill news conference over the weekend or early next week — once the White House had made its announcement.
By now it should be no surprise that many of those driving the Tea Party movement are conservatives who’ve fled the Republican party in response to the party’s abandonment of conservative values and principles.
Prior to this “great awakening,” conservatives assumed that the Grand Old Party (GOP) was championing the tenants of smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal freedom. In truth, the GOP was more concerned about winning elections than holding strong to its founding principles–so much so that they often elected candidates whose beliefs were more in line with the Democratic party than their own.
It’s been well over a year since the first Tea Party signs started popping up all across the country; and of course, the GOP now says they too are in favor of smaller government, lower taxes, and greater personal freedom. But are they really?
In California, our first opportunity to answer this question will be during the Republican primary election for US Senate as it is the only high profile race that offers a real choice between a constitutional conservative, Chuck DeVore, and two so-called moderates, Tom Campbell and Carly Fiorina.
If the GOP plans to continue mimicking the Democratic party in hopes of drawing in more liberal voters, they will be well served by electing either Campbell or Fiorina. Both candidates have expressed their approval of the Wall Street Bailout, Cap-n-Trade, and the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor. Campbell is for gay marriage, abortion rights, and stricter gun control laws. Fiorina is for the stimulus package, taxation of the Internet, and limiting free speech. In many cases, Campbell and Fiorina’s views are so in line with the incumbent Democratic candidate Barbara Boxer that at times it is difficult to tell the three of them apart.
If, on the other hand, the GOP has learned from its past mistakes in electing Republicans in name only (a.k.a. RINOs), they will be much better served nominating Chuck DeVore as their candidate for US Senate. DeVore’s political views are in stark contrast to not only his opponents in the primary on the aforementioned issues but to Boxer as well. DeVore is the perfect candidate for those voters who know that the Republican primary election isn’t about unseating Boxer or even the Democratic party so much as it’s about unseating the political ideology that is drowning our country in massive debt, entitlements, and regulations.
Come Thursday, June 8th, we will know exactly where the priorities lie for Republican voters in California. So, don’t forget to vote.
OK. As a party of one individual American citizen, I give up! You can have California. I am sure there are MILLIONS more citizens who will agree with me.
But we reserve the right to erect a tall fence complete with triple rolls of barbed razor wire and post armed security forces at our border lines to prevent admittance of any illegal aliens into the United States.
Consider this as a warning; we will take all measures necessary to keep our country free of any intruders. You might reconsider any attempts as we are planning to copy the Mexican laws that deal with illegal aliens who try to cross into YOUR country and we WILL use them against you.
To my fellow countrymen: This could be a wonderful opportunity to really do something wonderful for our country. Imagine the benefits! Sure we might lose a bit of income taxes, but think of the HUGE amounts of tax dollar outlays we will save by not having to pay for all of these non-income producing, parasites that want EVERYTHING handed to them for FREE. We will end up saving literally billions of dollars.
Another HUGE benefit that will accrue to the newer, more streamlined, California-less United States, and that is the fungus or plague called Hollywood, with its anti-American and blaspheming morally corrupt, erroneously called “stars” that bleat and condemn and incorrectly apologize for our country for transgressions that are mostly of their own making.
What a burden that will be to get that piece of trash jettisoned from our borders without having to fire a shot. Goodbye and God Bless, Arnold, and be sure to keep another of the Kennedys with you. And won’t it feel good not to have to listen to the deranged mouths of Maxine Waters, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Henry Waxman, Jerry Brown; oh, I could go on and on? In fact, the more I think of this idea, the better it gets.
Reconquista revolution without borders! (Photo credit: El Marco, Denver)
Right on cue, with the State Department “human rights” zealots cheering on the sidelines, no doubt:
Mexican President Felipe Calderon seized the opportunity to blast Arizona’s controversial immigration law on Wednesday after President Obama welcomed him to the White House.
Arizona’s law, which takes effect in July, will call for state and local police to determine if people are in the country illegally.
At the start of Wednesday’s state visit to Washington, Calderon said the law discriminated against Mexicans and called for the two countries to work together to develop an immigration policy that did not force people to live in the shadows “with such laws as the Arizona law, which is forcing our people to face discrimination.”
If I were ever given an opportunity to ask Mr. Obama a direct question it would take a while to formulate one that I could get the most expectation of getting an appropriate response instead of one of his “wise-guy” answers.
The question that follows here is probably very low in probability of getting a proper answer but high in the likelihood of getting a question for an answer, such as “Are you out of your freaking mind?”
The question I would ask would be: “Given that you would have to admit that the United States taxpaying citizens are the ones that pay the salary for you and your total staff, as well as perks and benefits; why is it that you refuse to obey our demands and do as you please?”
And for a follow-up question I would ask: “How would you respond if a majority of the taxpaying citizens insisted that the pay and allowances for you and your staff be held in abeyance until you conform to their demands?”
And why shouldn’t we expect a fair and deliberate answer to a fair and deliberate question? In any other occupation the person who pays an employee for working services rendered, i.e., “the boss” has a right to demand that the server, i.e., “the grunt or vassal” perform his duties in a manner satisfactory to the one who is paying for them.
I just find it inconceivable that this Administration, and really the legislative and judicial areas included, are not doing what they are actually getting paid to do; and that is what their employer (the taxpaying citizens) has told them to do.
We the taxpaying citizens, voicing in a majority status, instructed Mr. Obama to not continue pressing for the healthcare legislation that an equally guilty of non-compliance Congress structured and illicitly moved through a partisan and complicit group of lackeys under duress, and threat of disfavor in fear of retribution. That alone provided enough rebellion against authority to cause a pay stoppage for the perpetrators.
I was forwarded this video on the Arizona law and wanted to share it with those who might not have seen it. The Tucson City Council held a special meeting to discuss the law and during that meeting people were allowed to speak. Gabriella, a Latino woman who is a legal immigrant and now citizen, spoke at this meeting. She did an exceptional job of expressing how important the laws are. What is impressive and makes the point to anyone that cares to listen to the difference in legal immigration and illegal immigration, is that the effort she put in to coming into the United States legally and then the additional effort in becoming a citizen gave her a bond to this country and a respect of the values that make it the great country it is. Citizenship is not something that should be taken lightly by anyone. Those who have gone through the process know just how important it is. Many of those born in this country take it for granted and don’t really appreciate what we have and what we may lose if we don’t stand up for the constitution and the values of our founding fathers.
My niece’s boyfriend is a legal immigrant to the United States. His parents felt so strongly about coming to America that they started teaching him English as a young child. It took hard work and a lot of dedication to obtain legal visas, and at one point they almost gave up. But they felt so strongly about it so they kept on, and after about 6 years they were granted their visas and entered the country legally. The choices and commitment his parents made allowed this young man to easily assimilate into the American society.
What we have in this country is too valuable to lose. Every day we see our government taking more and more away from us under their commitment to “social justice.” But in this country justice is supposed to be blind and Martin Luther King worked hard to attain that blindness. Equal opportunity for all. It is that opportunity that makes us so different from other countries. But the opportunity is left up to the individual, it should not be dictated by the government. We need a blind legal system that treats everyone equally under the law without regard to race or ethnic background, and we need social responsibility so we don’t forget about those that may be in need, who may be out of a job, struggling to feed and clothe their family, or just facing a current hardship. We are not a country of heartless people, we will reach out to help those who need it. We are socially responsible, but we cannot be the welfare system of the world. If you want to come to this country we will welcome you, but you must do so legally. How can we trust you to respect the laws and responsibilities of a free country when in the act of entering the country you broke the law?
The beginning of the video is a lawyer speaking to the city council. Just listen for a short time and Gabriella speaks next. Thank you Gabriella, hopefully others will get your message.
Jan Brewer signed into law SB1070, the law making it illegal to be illegal in Arizona. We commend her for standing up for what is right for Arizona. What the bill actually does is expand upon immigration laws already on the books in Arizona in cooperation with federal laws and gives law enforcement the ability to ask for immigration status if they suspect someone is illegal when they encounter them in the course of doing their job. It also puts harsher penalties and restrictions on employers who hire illegal immigrants and those who transport illegals. It grants more security and opens up opportunity for citizens and legal immigrants and penalizes those who have chosen to break the law. So what’s all the fuss?
Some contend that the bill is racist and will result in racial profiling. It doesn’t matter what your background, if you come in to Arizona illegally then you will be subject to the consequences of the law. Why, since Obama became president, has every issue become a racial attack? It isn’t! It is about upholding the laws and the constitution of this country. It’s about protecting the citizens. It shows the frustration and anger the citizens have with the Federal government in not upholding their responsibility to the citizens of the United States.
If you are in the United States legally, then you have nothing to worry about. Just be polite and cooperate with law enforcement if you have been stopped, show them proper documentation and be on your way with whatever warning, ticket or fine you were stopped for. If you start with the name-calling, claim they are racist and refuse to cooperate expect to be further detained. Your behavior will greatly influence the outcome.
Some have commented that I wouldn’t know because they assume I am white and wouldn’t be put into this situation. Well I beg to differ. I have been asked if I am Canadian, Hispanic and Native American. So just based on my own appearance I could face the same racial profiling those against the bill are claiming. Am I concerned – absolutely not.
What those opposing the bill don’t seem to understand is this is about entering the country illegally. While they are using the stories of the poor families coming to the U.S., they fail to recognize the lack of border security and enforcement of immigration laws also allows criminals, drug dealers and terrorists the same privilege. Why would the federal government also have laws on the books making it illegal to enter the country illegally? It is to ensure the safety to the citizens and prevent the government from being attacked from invasion.
There are a number of government representatives, including Obama, who have expressed opposition to this new Arizona law. So I pose to you the following questions.
Why was it okay to create new legislation making it mandatory for citizens to purchase health care insurance and allow the government to gain access to personal financial information as well as provide proof of insurance or face a penalty, yet you now claim it is unconstitutional for law enforcement to ask potentially illegal immigrants for verification of immigration status enforcing a law already on the books?
You have taken an oath to defend and protect the constitution and the United States of America and have been put into office to represent the people who elected you – the legal citizens of the United States. Your opposition to this bill could lead one to the conclusion that you are more concerned about the illegal population, whom you have not taken an oath to protect, and are disregarding the country and people you have an obligation to protect. At what point have you crossed the line and are working against the United States instead of for it?
Before you have spoken out against the Arizona law, have you even read it? Oops, I forgot, you don’t actually read the bills you pass, so why would you have read the one in Arizona.
For all those in the other 49 states protesting against the bill I ask you this – which of your states is willing to take in 460,000 illegal immigrants today? Are you willing and able to give them immediate employment, free health care, education – including special classes in the public school system for teaching English and having bilingual teachers, and the financial ability to put them on your welfare systems, all on your taxpayer dollars? If so, speak up now. They will be on the way shortly.
Corruption in government – it starts with the election process. Special interest groups, labor unions, big pharma, all making campaign contributions supporting the candidate that is going to give them the back room deals they are after. Why do you think this country is in this much trouble! They have all basically bought and paid for the candidate of choice, the one who is looking out for their special interests instead of the interests of the American people. The corruption needs to stop now, and reform needs to start with the funding of political campaigns.
The democrats seem to want to make everything equal – take from the rich and give to the poor. So let’s start with campaign funding. Let’s implement this equal for all system for the politicians, right from the start of the campaign process. It’s time for a radical campaign funding change.
Instead of companies and individuals supporting one candidate over another, campaign contributions would be made to a government fund for each elected position. There would be one fund for the president, one for each state senator race, one for each representative of the house race. All campaign monies would go into this fund and NO OTHER funding for campaigns would be permitted. The money from these funds would then be divided equally to all candidates running for that position, whether it be two or more. Everyone would have an equal opportunity in campaigning for the desired position.
How the campaign spends this money would be up to them, but they would have to limit spending to only the money received from the fund. It would be restricted, of course, to legal activities only. At the end of the campaign a full disclosure of the money would be required within a specific timeframe and an audit would be completed on the final campaign funds. Any money remaining from the election would be returned to the fund for the next elections. There could be no “outstanding balance due” at the end of the campaign.
A radical move, but the problems we see in the government today are because every special interest group and every company has their own agenda and they have all made deals with the politicians to get what they want. They donate and expect to receive benefits in return – and they don’t just mean a thank you letter. The government is no longer run by the people, for the people. It is being run by special interests and big business. This has got to stop! Start the reform where the corruption begins – the campaign funding. Equal opportunity for everyone.
Emetic of the day: Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign clinging to his seat, begging donors to fatten up his anemic legal defense fund, and blaming liberals for all his self-inflicted problems.
Environmental justice demands that the United States address global warming, the gravest threat facing minority Americans, insist the EPA, Congressional Black Caucus and White House. Are they serious?
Is Bob “The Silencer” Bauer hard at work fixing the Sestak scandal for Boss Obama?
