by Sher Zieve
On Monday, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters that he and other Democrats were not willing to wait for evaluated reports on the troop surge in Iraq. Reid advised that he and his colleagues are moving at virtual breakneck speed to formulate and pass an anti-war bill. While al-Qaeda continues to practice all manner of depravities and perversions—the latest reported corruption being the terrorist organization’s penchant for the profane via literally (not figuratively) baking the children of those it wishes to intimidate and then "serving" said cooked progeny to their parents—most of their debaucheries still go unreported by the terrorist-enabling leftist worldwide press. Most certainly Harry Reid and other Democrat and RINO leaders committed to surrender won’t mention the actual performance and true scope of the Islamists’ goals. Instead, Reid and other appeasers are unwilling to wait for any and all reports from those actually functioning in the Iraq battle theatre. As reports from the front suggest the surge (AKA Operation Arrowhead Ripper) actually is working, the leftist and overwhelmingly Democrat US mainstream media continues their attempts to bury the story.
Note: This same battle surge, being waged by our extraordinary and inordinately courageous US soldiers, must be spun and manipulated by the mainstream media and their Democrat leaders in order for them to achieve their objective of reseizing and then retaining (forever we assume) power. The illusion of power has long been their god.
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Posted by Walt as Middle East Conflicts, U.S Foreign Policy, U.S. Political Issues, US Military at 9:52 PM EDT
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by Christopher G. Adamo
So far, the political landscape preceding the 2008 Presidential Election has defied every attempt by the "old media" to characterize and thus determine its outcome. Were the original media prognostications correct, at least two thirds of the American public would already be lining up at the ballot box, eagerly awaiting the starting bells in order to joyously cast votes for Hillary.
The reality for the former First Lady is not nearly so rosy. A recent Mason-Dixon poll showed that more than half of Americans say they will not vote for her "under any circumstances." As a result, her anticipated cake walk of the Democrat primary season has devolved into a very rocky road, with Freshman Senator Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) nipping at her heals in every major survey.
Worse yet, former Vice-President Al Gore continues to enjoy a groundswell of enthusiastic support from the Democrat base, even though he has yet to officially declare his candidacy. It is certain that, behind closed doors, Democrat strategists are being strained to their limits by the maddening uncertainty of the present situation.
Despite Democrat gloating over last November’s elections, the current situation is absolutely grim in the Congress, where the approval rating for that body, at a pitiful fourteen percent, is lower than it has ever been. Congressional numbers have not approached such lows since the early 1990’s which, not coincidentally, was the last time the Democrats held a majority.
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Posted by Walt as Presidential Race at 9:49 PM EDT
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(Alexandria, VA) — The persistence of red ink in the federal budget didn't deter most House Members from spending more on red-ink pens, travel, computers, and other items to run their own Capitol Hill and district offices, according to a long-awaited study from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). A comprehensive analysis by NTU, the only one of its kind, provides detailed comparative figures on individual lawmakers and reveals that overall House office expenses exceeded $525 million in 2005 — representing a 20 percent rise from the year 2001.
"Anyone who wonders why Congress can't seem to get a grip on wasteful spending in the federal budget should examine House Members' careless handling of their own office budgets," said NTU Senior Counselor and project manager David Keating. "Not only have House offices largely failed to do any belt-tightening during a time of deficits, their reporting methods are fraught with errors and 'adjustments' made as much as two years after the fact."
It is for the latter reason that NTU's confidence in the reliability of House data could only be extended to calendar years 2005 and prior. In the first half of 2006 alone, every lawmaker reported at least one adjustment to their 2005 office expense data, adding up to $27.4 million for the whole House.
Perhaps more egregious, 36 House Members' records for postage contained errors, most of them for reporting more expenditures on postage for mass mailings than for all postage combined. "This is mathematically impossible," Keating noted, "leaving taxpayers to wonder if the inaccurate reports are being filed to avoid disclosure." Study findings include:
- House Members spent $525.01 million on their offices in 2005, a 4.7 percent rise compared to 2004. However, since 2001, the overall total has risen 19.8 percent (from $438.3 million). The average Representative's office outlay was roughly $1.2 million in 2005, although each office is issued a different "Members' Representational Allowance" (MRA) based on factors such as population within the district, prevailing rents, and the district's distance from Washington, DC.
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Posted by Walt as Economics, Government Corruption, Taxes at 10:09 PM EDT
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Shaping young minds…or is it twisting?
by Thomas Lindaman
One of the perks of being a celebrity is being asked to give public speeches, including the occasional commencement address for a high school or institution of higher learning. Of course, I’m not a celebrity, per se, which would explain why I’m still waiting on a high school or institution of higher learning to contact me. But, just in case Pauly Shore or Paris Hilton’s gardener’s first cousin’s manicurist has to cancel, here’s a glimpse at what you’d get if you hired me.
Greetings students, faculty, staff, parents, and significant others. It is a fine day to be speaking to the class of [insert year] of [insert name of school]. It wasn’t so long ago that I wandered through these hallowed halls as a lowly freshman, trying to find [insert name of beloved instructor’s room to take [insert name of class instructor taught]. Boy, wasn’t he/she a tough, but fair teacher?
Okay, I lied. I never went to school here. But this is the first lesson you need to learn before going off into the "real world." People lie. Some right to your face and on a daily basis in the case of politicians, salesmen, and Bill Clinton, but I’m repeating myself with that last one.
I know commencement addresses are all about inspiring you to go out and be the very best you can be, but let’s face facts here. The real world can suck out loud sometimes. There comes a time when the idealism of youth gives way to harsh realities, like realizing that painting your body green and blue for your big Earth Day march/excuse to pick up liberal chicks isn’t going to make things better.
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Posted by Walt as Education at 7:12 PM EDT
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