Friday, May 27, 2011

Help the Tornado Victims


http://www.redcross-ozarks.org/
15 Photos from the Joplin, Missouri Tragedy: Utter Devastation #joplinrelief #tornado - Doug Ross

If you thought that Jerry Brown was different, think again.



http://www.cagop.org/
http://www.CostOfCAGov.com/

"CALIFORNIA SPEAKS OUT" - REDDING
Date: Thursday, June 30, 2011 - 7:00pm Location: TBA

Tim Pawlenty: @BarackObama sorry to interrupt the European pub crawl, but what was your Medicare plan?

Romney and Pawlenty Channel Palin With Latest Campaign Moves - Riehl World View

AUTHOR, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER CONNERLY TO ADDRESS REPUBLICAN DINNER

Ward Connerly, author and leader of efforts to require equal treatment of all in public education, employment and contracting, will be the keynote speaker at the Humboldt County Republican Party’s Reagan Centennial/Republican-of-the-Year dinner on Thursday, June 23.

As a member of the University of California Board of Regents, Connerly led a majority of the board to vote to end UCs use of race as a means of admissions. He then served as chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative campaign (Prop. 209 in 1996), which passed by 55-to-45 percent. He led efforts to pass similar state initiatives in Michigan, Nebraska and Washington.
He is president of the American Civil Rights Institute, a non-profit organization the objective of which is to “educate the public about the need to move beyond race and, specifically, racial and gender preferences.”

He is the author of “Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences” and a new book, “Lessons From My Uncle James: Beyond Skin Color to the Content of Our Character.”

He describes it as “one part memoir, one part moral guide” that sets forth “a new starting point for the discussion about character that America must have in order to move beyond race for good.”

At the dinner, civic leader Dennis Hunter will be honored as Republican of the Year. He served four terms as an elected board member of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District; served on the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission from 1992-2007 and on several community boards including Easter Seals and the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce.

Honored as Volunteer of the Year will be Karen Brooks, a businesswoman, wife and mother who became active in politics for the first time in 2010 as the party’s nominee for the First Assembly District seat. The program also will include a centennial tribute to the late President Ronald Reagan.

“We are very pleased to honor two fine Humboldt County citizens and to have such a compelling speaker as Ward Connerly,” said Peter Hannaford, chairman. Invited dinner guests will gather at the Ingomar Club for the event.

Hooked Phones and Other Fables

Hooked Phones and Other Fables - Peter Hannaford for The American Spectator 5.23.11

"Our phones have been ringing off the hook," said Rep. Michelle Bachmann about the response to her statement that she was seriously considering a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Her office must have very old telephones for there hasn't been one made with hooks since the 1930s.

My late Aunt Alice had a phone with a hook. It stood in a niche in the hallway wall. It was tall, about ten inches, with the speaker at the top and a hook on the side on which rested the earpiece. One would lift that off the hook and hold it to one's ear. There was no dial. Taking the earpiece off the hook activated the system and an operator would say, "Number, please." The caller would then give her the number and she would connect the call. Aunt Alice might have said, "Piedmont 2277, please," for in the days of hooked phones all numbers had named prefixes, and long before there were area codes.

Tiffany responds to Gingrich stories

Today, Gingrich's people passed along a statement from Tiffany's - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner

Tim Pawlenty says he'd sign Ryan budget

Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said on Thrusday that he would sign Rep. Paul Ryan's budget if his own plan couldn't pass. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

The serious, old-fashioned people are saying that there's a conventional, old-fashioned way to finance a campaign, and if Sarah Palin isn't using it, then she must not be running.


"The bottom line is Sarah Palin is not going to run for president... She's making money, she's moved on..." - Althouse
So says somebody close to Romney, according to Byron York. Somebody close to Pawlenty says something similar: "I don't think she's going to run... She has faded a lot in the last few months.
Palin creates buzz but rivals bet she won't run - Byron York/Washington Examiner
So, Sarah Palin Is Not Running. . . A Traditional Campaign - The Other McCain
The interesting question becomes whether the GOP will, petulantly, scuttle the chances of ejecting BHO rather than fall in behind a potential Palin candidacy. In other words, will the commitment to the traditional, broken, Ruling Class way be stronger in the GOP than the desire to, you know, live up to the party’s ideals?

Lech Walesa, Poland's Solidarity-era legend, ex-president and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner said Friday he would not accept an invitation to meet with fellow Nobel winner US President Barack Obama.

"It's difficult to tell journalists what you'd like to say to the president of a superpower. This time I won't tell him, I won't meet him, it doesn't suit me," Walesa told Poland's public broadcaster TVP. - Breitbart

Unanimous rejection - Obama's budget didn’t win a single vote in the Senate

the final tally was 0-97
“The vote on the president’s plan turned into a rout, with neither Republicans nor Democrats voting in favor of taking it up. At one level, the 97-0 vote showed how out-of-date the February requests can seem after so much has changed in the spending debate already this year. But for Democrats, it also proved a convenient way to mask their substantial internal differences over how to proceed” on addressing the government’s fiscal problems.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

GAME ON: PALIN HITS THE TRAIL


Drudge reports - Sarah Palin will hit the road this Memorial Day weekend on a tour of the Northeast -- with a stop in New Hampshire -- aboard a red, white and blue bus emblazoned with the words: "One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty & Justice For All."

Gallup Poll: Palin near top of re-shaped GOP field

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has moved up in the latest Gallup poll of the Republican presidential race. A new survey, completed after decisions by Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, and Donald Trump not to run for president, shows Palin in second place, close behind leader Mitt Romney. - Byron York/Washington Examiner
The poll, which was limited to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, has Romney in first place with 17 percent. Palin is next, with 15 percent. After that is Ron Paul, with 10 percent, Newt Gingrich with nine percent, Herman Cain with eight percent, Tim Pawlenty with six percent, Michele Bachmann with five percent, and Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, and Gary Johnson with two percent. Twenty-two percent say they have no opinion.

Although Romney and Palin are in the lead, the poll represents a significant boost for Herman Cain...

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

MSNBC suspends Schultz for calling Laura Ingraham a 'slut'... Schultz apologizes



MSNBC suspends Schultz for calling Ingraham a 'slut' - Politico
Flashback:
MSNBC Screamer Ed Schultz Decries Fox News as Inflammatory - mrc
Jan. 2011: MRC's recent Special Report, The Real Radio Hatemongers, detailed outrageous statements from Schultz and other left-wing radio stars. Among the supposedly "passionate but not violent" rants from Schultz in the past couple of years: wishing Dick Cheney would die; saying of Cheney's heart, "we ought to rip it out and kick it around and stuff it back in him;" and his advice to the Democratic Senate leadership: "Shove the Republicans into the ditch! Shove those bastards right into the dirthole! This is about power! It’s about winning!”...

with the liberal media elite trying to make conservative talk radio and the Tea Party a co-conspirator in Saturday's attempted assassination of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, NewsBusters' Mark Finkelstein caught Schultz shamelessly trying to walk away from his record of wild rhetoric (video here):

ED SCHULTZ: But in the wake of all of this, what are we teaching the next generation?
Apparently, now we know.

And so it begins: one of DNC's largest contributors, billionaire Haim Saban, breaks with Obama over his antipathy towards Israel

Billionaire financier Haim Saban told CNBC last night that Obama hasn’t done enough to show support for Israel. He also said that he has no plans to contribute to the president’s campaign. - Doug Ross
Key Jewish Donor Breaks With Obama - commentarymagazine
Steve Rosen, director of the Washington office of the Middle East Forum, and a former AIPAC official, said that this is part of a trend of Democrats rejecting Obama’s policy toward Israel.

“It’s not happening in isolation. It’s happening in a context in which Harry Reid broke with the president in the last two days,” Rosen told me. “I think that Saban is another step in that direction.”

HONOR FLIGHT FUNDRAISER Thursday May 26


Benefit honors veterans; Honor Flight looks to raise funds to take last group East - Times-Standard
What: A gala fundraiser, featuring dinner and auction, for North Coast Honor Flight
When: 6 p.m. May 26
Where: Blue Lake Casino's Sapphire Palace, 777 Casino Way
Cost: Tickets are $50 apiece, and come with $20 in free slot play at the casino. Tickets are available at the casino's players club or at The Works in Eureka.
For more information, call 443-1234 or 677-0490.
Or visit www.northcoasthonorflight.com
Donations can be made by sending checks made payable to North Coast Honor Flight to North Coast Honor Flight at 2383 Myrtle Ave., Eureka, Calif. 95501.
Humboldt County group rushes to honor area's World War II veterans while they are still here

Many Lessons for Republicans in NY-26

The Lessons of NY-26 - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
...The Tea Party brand is powerful. A phony like Davis, who petitioned his way onto the ballot and then chose to call his ballot line the "Tea Party" line still managed to draw a significant vote.

...National Republicans need to get their act together....

...The ability of Democrats to scare grandma should not be underestimated. Republicans need to be very proactive and very hard hitting is getting ahead of Democrats and explaining not only that no one currently receiving Medicare will be affected, but that the current system will result in severe rationing if changes are not made.

...We need candidates who are fighters and are seen as fighters....

...Motivation matters. There was a poor turnout by Republicans, who didn't care much.

...Republicans should stop ignoring conservative bloggers. Many conservative bloggers, including (legal insurrection and) Sam Foster of Lonely Conservative and Jazz Shaw who blogs at the HotAir Green Room, were all over this race long before anyone else. MORE at the link
Mediscare and the NY-26 loss; Plus: Ryan the Brave, Reid the Hack - Michelle Malkin
Tea Party activists need to stand by Ryan and buck him up when the GOP establishment cuts and runs. Fiscal conservatism must not be beholden to electoral cycles. This is what real leadership looks like.

U.S. Transportation Secretary rolls up in big SUV to unveil new fuel economy stickers


"we're not just sitting around waiting for high gasoline prices to come down."
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's ride of choice to the unveiling: This 12-mpg Chevy Suburban SUV.

Video of Obama 'Beast' Cadillac limo stuck on ramp in Ireland - YouTube

Revised state budget allocates $3 billion more to schools

Revised state budget allocates $3 billion more to schools; local education officials say this is funding that was deferred last year - Times-Standard

Supervisors appoint David Edmonds to county planning commission

Supervisors appoint David Edmonds to county planning commission; former Eureka Planning Commissioner chosen out of seven final candidates - Times-Standard
After weeks of discussion and protocol... The board voted unanimously to appoint Edmonds, an engineer and a former Eureka planning commissioner, after discussing several candidates.

The board's short list consisted of former Eureka Planning Commissioner Greg Conners, retired Humboldt No. 1 Fire Protection District Chief Glenn Ziemer, Redwood Times reporter Virginia Graziani, former county Planning Commissioner Richard Hansis, former Arcata Planning Commissioner Ann King Smith and planning consultant Sungnome Madrone.

punishing enemies and rewarding friends -- politics Chicago style

Obama skirts rule of law to reward pals, punish foes - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner
Spotted at Obama's fundraisers: 'Fat Cats from Wall Street' - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner

IBOPE Zogby Poll: Cain Takes Lead Over Romney, Newt Crashes to Near Zero

IBOPE Zogby Poll: Cain Takes Lead Over Romney - Newsmax
Herman Cain leads presumed frontrunner Mitt Romney as the top choice of Republican primary voters in the race for the 2012 Presidential nomination. Among all voters, no one in a list of 13 possible GOP candidates leads President Barack Obama.

More critically for Obama, however, is the fact that less than half of voters (42 percent) say Obama deserves re-election.

The results of a new IBOPE Zogby Interactive poll, conducted May 20-23, show Cain, a businessman and radio talk show host who drew attention at the first party presidential debate early this month, as the choice of 19 percent of GOP primary voters.
IBOPE Zogby: Newt Crashes to Near Zero - Newsmax

Democrat disses Obamacare's IPAB and undermines Democratic Medicare claims

Fourth Circuit may rule Obamacare mandate is a tax - David Freddoso/Washington Examiner
...the Fourth Circuit panel considering the Commonwealth of Virginia's challenge to Obamacare has asked for supplemental briefs from all parties related to the arguments about the federal government's constitutional powers of taxation. This may mean that the court is setting itself up to rule that the penalty for not purchasing insurance under Obamacare is, in fact, a tax and not a penalty at all, and that therefore the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.
Democrats' Medicare plan bankrupts 25% of all hospitals by 2030 - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner
“We have a plan. It’s called Medicare,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told The Washington Post last week....
Democrat disses Obamacare's IPAB and undermines Democratic Medicare claims - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner
As has been widely reported, Republicans are at risk of losing the special election in the 26th congressional district of New York at least in part because Democrats are attacking Ryan’s Medicare plan as “ending Medicare.” Allyson Schwartz’s call for repeal of IPAB the Democrats’ implied policy—just keep Medicare as it is—isn’t going to happen. IPAB is going to change it radically, radically enough that a Democrat high on the Budget Committee with a pretty safe Democratic district is all but calling it a death panel and is calling for its abolition. This is political dynamite, and Republicans should use it to let voters know what the real alternatives for Medicare in the future.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “There’s no need to have a Democratic budget, in my opinion”

“It was a fundamental statement that they’re playing politics,” Sessions said. “They don’t think it’s politically smart to produce a budget. They’d rather produce nothing and attack Paul Ryan and the Republicans and think they’re going to gain politically by avoiding their fundamental statutory responsibility. It’s pretty breathtaking to me.” - HotAir
So, as our “Senate Democratic Leaders” choose to “defer” or find “no need” in producing a serious budget for most likely the third year in a row, this nation continues to head down the path of fiscal insolvency, and exploding deficit spending, with no end in sight. Reid and Conrad have officially kicked the can down the road, abdicating their responsibilities in the name of political expediency, (apparently with the President’s blessing since he’s taken little or no part in the budget process). I would submit that these folks are the “radicals” and “extremist” in our government, not Paul Ryan or House Republicans who were sent to Washington to rein in the Democrat’s spending, (and taxing), programs this country can not afford. Democrat demagoguery is not going to cut it.
The Dems' 'breathtaking' refusal to pass a budget - Byron York/Washington Examiner
Passing a yearly budget for the federal government is a fundamental responsibility of Congress. Lawmakers do not have to spend their time naming post offices or passing health care reform. But they do have to pass a budget. In 2010, neither the (Democrat controlled) House nor the Senate did so. It’s not that members just didn’t get around to it, which would have been scandalous enough. No, Reid and then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi feared that passing a budget would hurt their chances in the November midterm elections. So they did nothing and took a beating at the polls anyway....

The most amazing thing about all this, to Republicans, is that Reid’s abdication of responsibility has attracted so little attention. In a country drowning in debt, where’s the outrage?
Parties still miles apart as budget talks resume - Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner

29 standing ovations - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech in its entirety


(links below open in a separate window)
Benjamin Netanyahu wows Congress - Politico
Listening to Netanyahu was like listening to our collective conscience trying to remind us of who we really are. Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
Israeli Prime Minister Gets 29 Standing Ovations in Congress, Sends Message to White House* - ABC
Powerful Netanyahu Speech Rebukes Obama in Front of Congress - Townhall

Netanyahu AIPAC 2010 Full Speech

View it online at humboldtgop.org

King: Rudy Giuliani 'very close' to joining GOP presidential race

New York Republican Rep. Peter King, who has known Giuliani for more than 40 years, says the former mayor "is very close to saying he's going to run." - Byron York/Washington Examiner
More on that Republican field vs. Obama - neoneocon

Protocol, apparently, requires the toastmaster to wait until after “God Save the Queen” plays and then begin the toast.



Another gaffe at HotAir

Some observations as Daniels bows out

Some observations as Daniels bows out - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner
Daniels fallout: How will Mitch decision affect GOP race? - Byron York/Washington Examiner
The Republican field: is it a bed of weeds? - neoneocon

Obama's Trusted Adviser, Samantha Power, May Cause Betrayal of Israel




Obama digging up dirt on potential opponent Chris Christie NYPost
President Obama's re-election campaign is trying to dig up dirt in the Garden State.

Despite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's repeated pronouncements that he will not seek the GOP presidential nomination, Obama operatives are compiling a dossier of what they call "opposition research" -- material that could be used to damage Christie if he changes his mind, The Post has learned.

The Obama campaign is trying to keep its efforts from public view, concerned they would only elevate Christie's already impressive standing within the Republican Party, sources said.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Those who regard government "entitlement" programs as sacrosanct, and regard those who want to cut them back as calloused or cruel, picture a world very different from the world of reality.

Dependency and Votes - Thomas Sowell at Town Hall via Lucianne
The desperately poor elderly conjured up in political and media rhetoric are-- in the world of reality-- the wealthiest segment of the American population. The average wealth of older households is nearly three times the wealth of households headed by people in the 35 to 44-year-old bracket, and more than 15 times the wealth of households headed by someone under 35 years of age.

If the wealthiest segment of the population cannot pay their own medical bills, who can? The country as a whole is not any richer because the government pays our medical bills-- with money that it takes from us.

Tim Pawlenty - A Time for Truth (Preview of Today's Announcement)



timpawlenty.comDonateNews

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Pakistani officials who have been debriefing the women portray life in the compound as an Islamic version of Desperate Housewives.

Older bin Laden widows think younger wife tipped off US - theaustralian.com

Palin's Rumored New Home in Arizona Revives 2012 Speculation

According to the Republic, Palin has been rumored to be considering headquartering her 2012 White House campaign in Scottsdale, if there is a campaign. A anonymous source from her camp also told Ben Smith at Politico that she would base a potential presidential campaign in Scottsdale, near where Bristol Palin recently bought a house in Maricopa. - National Journal
Sarah Palin Moves into Statistical Tie for Lead in Wide-Open GOP 2012 Field - yahoo via bayoubuzz.com
Odd as it might seem, given that her favorability ratings are not that high, the former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, is now within the margin of error of the lead in many polls, indicating she very well could be the preferred 2012 presidential candidate of the Republican Party. How did that happen? How did the polarizing conservative firebrand move from a steady fourth or fifth position (depending on which polls were accessed) into second place in a recent Gallup Poll?

5 Reasons Herman Cain Could Be a Factor


What he lacks in name identification, Herman Cain makes up in charisma and authenticity. - National Journal (Steve Pope/Getty Images)
hermancain.comDonateNewsroom

Authorities detained a Saudi woman on Saturday after she launched a campaign against the driving ban for women in the ultraconservative kingdom

Saudi woman detained for defying driving ban
Manal al-Sherif and a group of other women started a Facebook page called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself," which urges authorities to lift the driving ban. She went on a test drive in the eastern city of Khobar and later posted a video of the experience.

"This is a volunteer campaign to help the girls of this country" learn to drive, al-Sherif says in the video. "At least for times of emergency, God forbid. What if whoever is driving them gets a heart attack?"

Human rights activist Walid Abou el-Kheir said al-Sherif was detained by the country's religious police, who are charged with ensuring the kingdom's rigid interpretation of Islamic teachings are observed.

Mitch Daniels is out

Daniels Decides Against Presidential Run - Wall St. Journal via Drudge
The decision is sure to disappoint the governor's many supporters, among them several prominent Republican governors who thought Mr. Daniels's deep résumé and record as cost-cutter in Indiana would add ballast to the 2012 GOP field.

In the end, he said, the decision came down to family. "I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all," he said in an e-mail sent after midnight.
Campaign ’12 Weekend Roundup: Mitch Daniels Will Not Run, Cain In, Pawlenty Probably Running - Michelle Malkin