SLC goes Green for 2010

Out of pure boredom, I've decided to monkey with the blog's colors.  And in an effort to throw the environmentalists off balance, I've decided to go green.  

Happy New Year one and all!

Any chance that the Obama administration will support the Iranian opposition movement this time?

I doubt it.  (Link to story here.)

What happens to U.S. Senators who sell their souls?

Ask Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) who gave Harry Reid and Barack Obama the 60th vote they needed to pass Obamacare through the Senate on Christmas Eve in exchange for his thirty pieces of silver.  

Nelson, who was elected in 2006 with a 64% majority.  Since his vote on healthcare "reform,"  Nelson garners only 30% support in the latest Rasmussen Poll - 31 points behind his likely GOP rival, governor Dave Heineman.  (Link here.)  

As Rasmussen puts it . . . "the good news . . . is that he doesn't have to face Nebraska voters until 2012.  That's bad news for the rest of us, though.

Did anyone think that the war on terror was over? Part III

Today, a suicide bomber hit a U.S. military base in Afghanistan detonating a vest filled with explosives and killing 8 Americans.  (Link to story here.)

Is it just me or are things heating up?  Wasn't the charm of Barack Obama supposed to make our enemies love us?

Missouri Representative quits A.M.A. over Obamacare

Nathan Phillips at Missouri Today News reports that Dr. Rob Schaff, a Republican State Representative from St. Joseph has quit the American Medical Association because it has "ignored the best interests of patients, opting to protect the special interests" by endorsing Harry Reid's version of Obamacare.  (Direct link to story here.)  Rep. Schaff is urging his colleagues to quit too.  Here's hoping they listen.

An interesting line in a Post puff piece on Claire McCaskill

Bill Lambrecht wrote a fluff story about Senator Claire McCaskill in today's Post-Dispatch.  (Link here.)  It isn't much of a read - mostly talking about how she's taking on waste and standing up to her own party and being a conservative (ha!) Democrat in Washington - but buried within the piece is this quotation from McCaskill:

"It's OK if I don't get re-elected.  I've just kind of decided that, hey, I'm just going to do this, and Missouri's hard, so there's a chance, you know that I won't get re-elected.  And if I don't, that's OK.  It's not the end of the world."

That's interesting Senator.  Allow me to translate for your constituents - what that means is . . . "though you elected me in a representative capacity, I don't really give a flying you-know-what about your opinion.  I'm going to do whatever I want even if Missourians disagree with me by the boatload."

Here's one thing that Claire McCaskill and I agree on.  It certainly is OK if she doesn't get reelected.

Why is Barack Obama doing such a bad job as president?

He's tired.  At least that's what he's whining about now.  (Link here.)

A new threat to America's food supply . . . cap-and-trade

The U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzed the cap-and-trade emissions bill pushed by President Obama and his liberal, environmentalist friends in Congress and found that farmers would make more money by planting trees and converting their fields into forests than by growing food for us (and the world) to eat.  All in the name of stopping "excessive" carbon emissions.  

Since this analysis shows how breathtakingly idiotic cap-and-trade is, the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has simply ordered his staff to revise their analysis.  We wouldn't want folks to think that this is a bad idea, after all, even though it really, really is.

(Link to story here.)

Did anyone think that the war on terror was over? Part II

Yemen's Foreign Minister reported that "of course" there are 200-300 al-Qaeda terrorists training and plotting attacks on America in his country right now.  And his government is powerless to stop them.  (Link to story here.)

How will Barack Obama respond?  Will he respond?  The world awaits.

Harry Reid's "Healthcare" Bill and the Missouri Senate Race

Robin Carnahan, the presumptive nominee of Missouri's Democrats for the U.S. Senate in 2010, finally spoke up about something. And, guess what, she's an Obama, Reid, Pelosi, McCaskill-liberal Democrat. On Christmas Eve, shortly after the Senate vote on Harry Reid's version of Obamacare, Carnahan issued a statement praising the bill and blasting Roy Blunt, her GOP rival. Blunt, instead, blasted the bill. (Link to Jo Mannies' story from the St. Louis Beacon here.)

In short, Carnahan would have voted "Yes" and Blunt would have voted "No."

Missourians will have a clear choice for Senate in 2010. Robin Carnahan supports socialized medicine and taxpayer subsidized abortion, not to mention the devastation of the American economy and bursting budget deficit. Roy Blunt doesn't.

Thanks Robin, for showing some of your true colors . . . finally.

Pawlenty calls for balanced budget amendment

Minnesota Governor Tom Pawlenty, a Republican presidential contender for 2012, is calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring Congress to pass and the president to sign a balanced budget.  (Link to Wall Street Journal article here.)  As quoted by the Journal, Pawlenty said - correctly - that "government spending in the country and in many states is progressing at an unsustainable, irresponsible and reckless pace . . . the bathtub is overflowing onto the floor and the first thing we need to do is shut off the faucet."

How true.  A balanced budget amendment should be something the GOP rallies behind in 2010 and 2012, no matter who becomes the party's standard-bearer.

Did anyone think that the war on terror was over?

Think again.

Even a Moderate can be right once in a while

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) talked about the deals cut by Harry Reid to secure the sixty votes he needed to break the GOP filibuster on Obamacare - including the payoff to Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) exempting his state from having to pay for expanded Medicaid - the rest of us will pay for Nebraskans instead.

"That's not change you can believe in," Graham said, "That's sleazy."  (Link to AP story here.)

Lately Senator, that's just another word for Democrat.

Even a Lib can be right once in a while

According to this post at The Hill, the aptly-named Louise Slaughter, a Democrat congresswoman from New York, the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee and co-chairwoman of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, is suggesting that the Senate's version of Obamacare is such a mess that it is unworthy of a vote in the House.  She's suggesting that House and Senate versions of healthcare "reform" cannot be reconciled and that Congress should scrap them both and start over or, as she said, "go back to the drawing board."

Next on the Global Warming Nuts' hit list . . .

Fido.

Pets are now being blamed for carbon emissions and global warming.  I'm not kidding.  Link to story here.

Welcome to the Party

Former Democrat, Congressman Parker Griffith of Georgia, has joined the Republican Party.  (Link here.)

Why?  

Obamacare.  It's as simple as that.

According to Griffith (in the story linked above) . . .

"I believe our nation is at a crossroads and I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt."

. . .

"I want to make it perfectly clear that this bill [Obamacare] is bad for our doctors.  [He might know what he's talking about here - he is a doctor.]  It's bad for our patients.  It's bad for the young men and women who are considering going into the health care field."

Who's next?  Bart Stupak?

Come on in conservative/Reagan Democrats.  The water's fine.

A "fix" for global warming

An American entrepreneur, Nathan Myhrvold, has a plan to cool the planet and "solve" the "problem" of global warming.  According to this story, Myhrvold proposes "running a hose up to the stratosphere with balloons and using that hose to pump out enough sulfur particles to dim the sun's heat just enough to counteract the effects of global warming.  The estimated cost would be around two hundred and fifty million dollars."

So many thoughts and so little time . . . 

First, since the planet has actually been cooling off over the past several years, it might make sense to wait until we actually experience "global warming" again before attempting any artificial cooling.

Second, it would pay to remember the law of unintended consequences before attempting any artificial cooling of the planet.  We've got a pretty complex ecosystem here on Earth - intentionally dickering with it might actually get us in more trouble than we have right now.

And third, if (and it is a massive IF) global warming was actually a threat to the planet, Myhrvold's "fix" or something like it would make a heck of a lot more sense and have a heck of a lot more of an effect than reducing CO2 emissions.

Sarah Palin on Copenhagen . . . via Twitter

Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature

Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng

Well said Sarah . . . well said.

#60

Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) has sold out.  He caved and announced today that he will vote with his party to break a GOP filibuster on Harry Reid's latest version of Obamacare.  (Link to story here.)

What's next?  Well, that's up to Nancy Pelosi.  If she's ready to accept Reid's bill, we're hosed.  But, if not, efforts to reconcile the House bill and Senate bill could give us some hope.  That compromise could, potentially, lose a Democrat Senator and keep this monstrosity from becoming law.  Likewise, delay is good.  The longer the bill waits for final passage, the greater the chance that a few of the Democrats might actually listen to their constituents and stop this thing.

There's not much hope.  But Christmas is the season of hope.

Judge Dierker won his red light camera case . . . that's too bad.

Congratulations to St. Louis City Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker, Jr., who was found not guilty yesterday of running a red light.  He - or at least his car - had been caught by one of the nearly ubiquitous intersection cameras in December of last year.  (Link to story here.)

Dierker decided to fight the ticket.  First he challenged the constitutionality - and lost at the trial court level.  I had hoped that the judge would move on and be found guilty so that he could appeal the constitutionality of red light cameras - and, hopefully, begin the end of the Camera Age.  (Here's a link to my prior blog of encouragement.)

But, alas, it was not to be.  Dierker won.  The court documents were sealed.  And there won't be any appeal.  The system is again unchallenged.  

I suspect that municipalities and camera contractors everywhere are taking a short break from counting their money to do a little status quo victory dance.

MO Senate Race in Virtual Tie . . . but numbers seem to support Blunt

As reported in today's Political Fix, Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan are running neck-and-neck in their 2010 race for the U.S. Senate.  But same poll showed that 53% of Missourians disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing in office and 57% oppose Obamacare (47% strongly).  81% believe that the Democrats' healthcare "reform" would result in a middle class tax increase and 61% believe that it would increase the deficit.

I get the sense that the national tide is turning Republican, and Missouri might be a little bit ahead of the curve.

U.K. Newspaper Lists 100 Reasons Climate Change is Natural - NOT CAUSED BY HUMAN BEINGS

For the Daily Express's full list of 1oo (some better than others) reasons . . . link here.

These are a few of my favorites:

#2 Man-made carbon dioxide emissions throughout human history constitute less than 0.ooo22 percent of the total naturally emitted from the mantle of the earth during geological history.

#3 Warmer periods of the Earth's history came around 800 years before rises in CO2 levels.

#11 Politicians and activists claim rising sea levels are a direct cause [sic result?] of global warming but sea levels rates have been increasing steadily since the last ice age 10,000 years ago.

#18 Despite activist concerns over CO2 levels, CO2 is a minor greenhouse gas, unlike water vapour which is tied to climate concerns, and which we can't even pretend to control.

#33 Today's CO2 concentration of around 385 ppm is very low compared to most of the earth's history - we actually live in a carbon-deficient atmosphere.

#67 Global temperatures have not risen in any statistically-significant sense for 15 years and have actually been falling for nine years.

#78 A proper analysis of ice core records from the past 650,000 years demonstrates that temperature increases have come before, and not resulted from, increases in CO2 by hundreds of years.

#83 The "Climate-gate" scandal revealed that a scientific team had tampered with their own data so as to conceal inconsistencies and errors.

Note that I haven't "fact-checked" all 100.  And, some of the 100 aren't even reasons.  And some of them have a few typos.  But, what the heck, it goes to show you - again - that there is no consensus on global warming.  Except, maybe, that it isn't warming right now.

Liberals' last chance?

According to Politico, Barack Obama will tell senate Democrats that now is the "last chance" to pass healthcare "reform."  Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer says that if Obamacare fails he can't imagine another president trying again in the future.  "For those whose life's work is reforming health care," he said, "this may be the last train leaving the station."  V.P. Joe Biden chimes in saying that "if health care does not pass in this Congress . . . it's going to be kicked back for a generation."

The question that immediately jumps to my mind is . . . why?

If this "reform" is so necessary, so popular, and so right for the nation, why would failing to pass it before Christmas mean that the idea would be dead forever - or for a generation?

Well, the answer seems obvious.  Obamacare is not that necessary.  It certainly isn't popular.  And it is wrong for America.

If this fiasco was what the people wanted, the Washington leadership would want members to go home over the holiday recess to hear from constituents and solidify their resolve for the bill.  Who knows, even some Republicans might listen to the overwhelming masses of people who what this bill and come on board.  But they don't.  And that ought to tell you something.  If Democratic Senators spend some time back home this month, they might realize that their electoral fates hang in the balance and jump ship.  Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi don't want that - not a REPRESENTATIVE republic - no way - the masses don't know what's good for them.

Biden might be right.  He seems to realize that the next Congress, which will be sworn in after the 2010 elections, is not likely to be as Democrat blue.  Republicans are expected to gain seats in the House and Senate.

Keep the pressure on!  And let's actually kick socialized medicine back for a generation!

Tuesday at the White House . . . carrots and sticks

Obamacare seems stalled in the U.S. Senate.  So far, Harry Reid, has failed to secure the 60 votes needed to force his healthcare "reform" bill to a vote.  So now, it seems, the big gun has beckoned all 60 members of the Senate's Democratic caucus to a meeting at the White House.  (Link here.)

Why?  To pull out all the stops, of course.  To do everything possible to gain a "victory" on this issue.  In true Chicagoland style, Barack Obama, most assuredly, stands ready to threaten dire political consequences to any Democrat who dares oppose him when the final vote is held.  But, much more important that the threatened "sticks" will be the billions of dollars in "carrots" - the unspent "stimulus" money that Obama to particular states in exchange for Senators' votes.

Keep a watchful eye on the Democrats this week.  Listen to what they say but be sure to keep tabs on their bank accounts.

Obamaville, Colorado

According to Wikipedia, "a Hooverville was the popular name for shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression.  They were named after the President at the time, Herbert Hoover, because he allegedly let the nation slide into depression.  The term was coined by Charles Michelson, publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee."

In 2009, what should homeless people call their tent cities?

Link to story here.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

In the late 1980's, I spent some time in Jefferson City.  Elbert Walton, Jr. was serving in the Missouri House of Representatives at the time.  During a debate over legislative pay raises, Walton took the floor to explain why he would vote to raise his own pay.  He said that he would rather his constituents think that he was greedy than think he was stupid.

Walton's daughter, Rochelle Walton Gray (D-Black Jack), now serves in the Missouri House.  According to this story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ms. Gray is "pushing two bills" in the General Assembly that would directly benefit her father.

Maybe she would rather her constituents think that she is corrupt than think she is stupid.

The War on Children

The inconvenient truth behind the environmentalist movement is the belief that human beings are parasites destroying the planet.  And now, they're out to eradicate babies.  Don't believe me - check out these two links . . . Chinese delegate to Copenhagen Conference calls for population control to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and a Canadian newspaper calls for "a planetary law" limiting women to birthing only one child to prevent overpopulation.

Human beings were created by God in His own image.  And God gave humanity dominion over the earth.  The environment is here for us - not the other way around.  Flora and fauna are natural resources to be used and conserved - not conserved for their own sake but for future generations of human beings to use.

Imagine a world without brothers, sisters, aunts or uncles.  What a horrible world this would be without family relationships.

By the way, if you think about it, unless you're a first-born, these folks think you should cease to exist.  You are killing the planet.  And none of you should ever have been born.

What, me worry?

Is Barack Obama so convinced that he is the most special, most gifted, most wonderful, most loved human being who has ever walked the earth that he can snub anyone and everyone, do whatever he pleases and continue to bask in the media glow?  Does he think he's all that?  The end-all and be-all?

Just wondering after reading about his latest shenanigans in Norway.  (Link here.)  If he does this to folks who thought him worthy of a Nobel Prize, what must he think of the rest of us?

The two faces of Claire McCaskill

In August, in Missouri, Senator Claire McCaskill promised that she would vote against any healthcare bill that included federal funding for abortion.  (Link here.)

Today, in Washington, Senator Claire McCaskill voted with her pro-abortion party leadership to table her fellow Democrat, Ben Nelson's amendment that would have prohibited the use of federal funds for abortion.  (Link here.)

From this point forward (if it wasn't obvious already) your state's junior senator is a party hack.  And if you're foolish enough to believe a word she says, well, you're a fool.

Is the bloom coming off Obama's rose?

Maybe so . . . his "job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term."  (Emphasis added - link to story here.)

Now that Obama is having to govern, he's falling short.  And, having to make decisions and define positions, he can no longer hide behind the platitudes of "hope" and "change."  Reality bites.  And it is biting Obama.

Americans - at least a majority of us - aren't socialists.  And most of us believe in our country.  Obama and his team is out of touch.  But they've seized power and seem willing to do whatever it takes to impose their collective will (double entandre intended) on our country.

Be resolute.  Stand firm.  Keep the pressure on.

Hugo Chavez's new toys . . .

No need to be alarmed, though.  Democrats are in charge of America's foreign policy and everyone loves us now.  Right?

(Link to story here.)

Another busy week . . .

will blog when time permits.

Schwarzenegger challenges Gore

Al Gore has been the Chief Nut of the Global Warming Club since An Inconvenient Truth.  But there is a challenger on the horizon, straight from Austria, via Cal-ee-for-nia . . . here comes the governator!

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a map today showing chunks of San Francisco underwater within a century.  (Link to                                                                 story here.)

Sorry Arnold, I don't buy it.  This is an unfounded prediction, a scare tactic that is dutifully reported in the press as truth.

Facts don't seem to matter to these folks.  In the midst of Climategate, forward they press.  According to Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the e-mails revealed in the Climategate scandal, "do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus."  But there is no scientific consensus.  The truth is that Climategate has done "nothing to underline the political conspiracy"  that is "global warming."

These folks just won't quit.  They're going to push and push and push until they get what they want.  The only question is who will be leading the parade . . . Arnold or Al.

Trust . . . but verify

From the Washington Times:  "The United States is about to lose a key arms-control tool from the closing days of the Cold War -- the right to station American observers in Russia to count the long-range missiles leaving its assembly line."  (Link here.)

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) expires on Saturday and the Obama administration has chosen not to (or been unable to) extend the monitoring agreement, though they blame George W. Bush.  

Whoever is to blame, this is a bad idea.  Ronald Reagan was right.  "Trust but verify."