Obama Strikes Back With Negative Ad
New York Times
By Ariel Alexovich As the campaigning for Indiana and North Carolina voters comes to a close, the Democratic presidential candidates are letting loose on one another over the TV airwaves.

'DC Madam' apologized to mom, sister in suicide notes
The Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The woman known as the "DC Madam" apologized to her mother and sister in suicide notes, saying she couldn't bear going to prison and saw killing herself as the only "exit strategy.

Labels: DC Madam, Democratic Primary, politics, suicide

It’s the Politics, Stupid:

Comparing Labor Market Data in 1996 and 2008

Democrats on the Economy in 1996:

“Our economy is the healthiest it has been in three decades.” (President Bill Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 23, 1996)

Democrats on the Economy in 2008:

“The bottom line is that this administration is the owner of the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover." (Senator Charles Schumer, Press Release, March 7, 2008)

Labels: democrats, economy, MSM, politics, republicans

Imagine you're applying for a really important job.

You submit your resume listing your accomplishments and your skillset. This is the document that the employer has to go on when deciding if you get an interview and... ultimately... the job.

What do you think would happen if the employer found out that you lied on your resume?

I know that I would not get an interview, let alone the job.

Which is why I'm curious as to why Hillary Clinton still has a snowball's chance for the democrat nomination given her most recent "whopper" of a lie. I know, a Clinton lying is not really a big shocker. But bear with me and you will be amazed at the way this woman can lie without any discernible physical indication that she is dissembling. Psychiatrists call that a mark of someone who is a Sociopath. I'll let you decide.

Labels: Democratic Primary, politics

Frank Schaeffer's column at the Huffington Post is headlined:

This Good Friday Let Us Not Crucify Barack Obama

Excuse me? Nobody is talking about crucifying anybody. It's just politics, Frank. The three remaining presidential candidates -- Obama, Hillary and McCain -- are all U.S. senators, and should they lose, they'll still be U.S. senators. So to suggest that criticizing them is akin to crucifixion is ... well, maybe it's not blasphemy, but it's pretty ridiculous.

Speaking of ridiculous, here's the first paragraph of Schaeffer's column:

Labels: Democratic Primary, democrats, politics

STATE attorney general, Darrell McGraw has used his office to sue companies. He contracts the work to private lawyers who may pocket a third of any award.

Many of these companies deserve to be sued.

But instead of having the Legislature appropriate the winnings, the attorney general has been doing so.

Labels: name that party, politics

Labels: congress, democrats, politics, taxes

Labels: democrats, Hillary, idiots, Obama, politics, thaiphoon

BROWNSVILLE, Tex. -- State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. pulled into the parking lot at Rudy's "Country Store" and Bar-B-Q one day last week in an old pickup truck worn by 237,000 miles. He winced as he stepped down from the driver's seat, evidence of two heart attacks and a recent hernia surgery.

Doctors had ordered him to stay home, but he refused to watch Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Texas campaign deteriorate from his couch. Lucio, 62, planned to use his influence across the Rio Grande Valley to save her.

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, 29, arrived in a new Saab compact with a Barack Obama bumper sticker on the rear window. A few months ago, when he applied the decal, friends heckled him. His endorsement of Obama alienated some constituents in a Latino district thick with Clinton loyalists. Career suicide, some colleagues called it. Now, Lucio hoped to prove his instincts right.

Labels: Democratic Primary, politics

Good news

Gallup shows Ron Paul tied with Alan Keyes.

Republicans can relax. The latest Gallup Poll shows the viral video candidate Dr. Paul is tied with the goofball Keyes at 3% each. It is Dean ‘04 all over again with another Internet-driven campaign that is going nowhere fast.

Labels: politics, Presidential campaign, Republican primary

Labels: politics, Presidential campaign

Kos: Is Rahm Emanuel A Racist?

Yep! Just one big happy political party destined to run the table over there. With things in Iraq getting better, it's more difficult to bash Bush. Maybe they've resorted to eating their own. As regards the Netroots greater influence, I've yet to see convincing evidence that most of America responds to the type of negative emotions associated with so much of their posturing.[link]

Labels: politics, Racism

Labels: politics

September 3, 2007

And they're off (but the race began long ago)

Indianapolis Star

Dan Balz

6 questions to ponder on traditional campaign starting date

WASHINGTON -- Labor Day is the traditional starting date for presidential campaigns, but Labor Day the year before the election?

That's the reality of the 2008 campaign, a contest that has been barreling ahead since January. What happens from here on will matter far more than what has happened up to now, but the first eight months of 2007 have delivered on predictions that this would be one of the most interesting and consequential campaigns of modern times.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York remains the front-runner, but Barack Obama's prodigious fundraising and passionate crowds continue to make the Illinois senator an intriguing rival. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has staked his hopes on Iowa, and so far Iowans remain open to him. The rest of the Democratic field is starting to make noise, though their odds remain long.

For Republicans, the contest is about to change with this week's entry of former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee. He will join former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and maybe former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a contest still in search of clarity and definition.

To help make sense of what has happened and where things may be heading, think of the next four months -- until January, when actual voters will finally start to make choices that count -- in terms of six questions. For answers to them, we sought out strategists in both parties, based in Washington and around the country, some of whom spoke only if they were not identified.

For them -- and for the campaign itself -- today marks a moment when the pace quickens and the stakes increase. (link)

Labels: politics, Presidential campaign

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Labels: Fred, politics

Valerie Plame's lawsuit dismissed

AP Photo: In this Friday, March 16, 2007, file photo, former CIA analyst Valerie Plame listens...

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago WASHINGTON - A federal judge dismissed former CIA operative Valerie Plame's lawsuit against members of the Bush administration Thursday, eliminating one of the last courtroom remnants of the leak scandal. Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had accused Vice President Dick Cheney and others of conspiring to leak her identity in 2003. Plame said that violated her privacy rights and was illegal retribution for her husband's criticism of the administration.

U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the constitutional arguments. Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. (link)

Labels: CIA, leak, politics

The plan, which was still being finalized, allows the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States to come forward and receive probationary status

President Reagan set out to correct the loss of control at our borders. Border security and enforcement of immigration laws would be greatly strengthened—in particular, through sanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants. If jobs were the attraction for illegal immigrants, then cutting off that option was crucial.

He also agreed with the legislation in adjusting the status of immigrants—even if they had entered illegally—who were law-abiding long-term residents, many of whom had children in the United States. Illegal immigrants who could establish that they had resided in America continuously for five years would be granted temporary resident status, which could be upgraded to permanent residency after 18 months and, after another five years, to citizenship. It wasn’t automatic. They had to pay application fees, learn to speak English, understand American civics, pass a medical exam and register for military selective service. Those with convictions for a felony or three misdemeanors were ineligible.

The National Academy of Sciences in a very comprehensive study of the fiscal impact of immigration said that each high school dropout immigrant coming into the United States costs the taxpayers of the United States about $100,000 over the course of his lifetime. That would mean if you took that figure, and that's net of the taxes that he puts in, if you took that figure and applies it to the current illegal population it would indeed result in something like a net cost of a half a trillion dollars over the course of lifetime.

Now, with respect to the costs of the Senate bill, the Senate bill one of its key features is to give amnesty to around 10 million current illegal immigrants. That means that they will probably pay more in taxes, but it also means that they're eligible for a much wider variety of welfare programs. And as a result of that increased welfare eligibility, I calculate that the amnesty alone would have a direct cost of around $16 billion a year.

We have a very expensive, very large welfare system in the United States. We simply cannot make it unconditionally available to huge numbers of people from less developed nations

Labels: amnesty, democrats, illegal immigration, politics, republicans, thaiphoon

Labels: Authority, politics, thaiphoon

Labels: France, politics

Newspaper Asks Public to Identify Local Blogger

A Florida newspaper appears to have hit an all-time low in the relationship between bloggers and the media. The St. Augustine Record is asking the public to help expose the identity of a local blogger who recently started a site critical of county politicians. This evening, the paper's home page has a grainy surveillance photo of a man accompanied by this text:

Who is this man?

Believed to be connected to a politically charged but anonymously-run Web site targeting the character of members of the St. Johns County Commission. Help us determine his identity. Start by watching these four movies featuring footage from surveillance cameras.

The Record published video taken inside and outside its offices March 1 that show a man dropping something off at the front desk. There's no explanation of what he's doing, making it look like some kind of threat was delivered, but I found the details on the paper's message board. He was at the newspaper buying an ad. (link)

Labels: News, politics

Mar. 4, 2007 13:20 | Updated Mar. 4, 2007 14:41
Marciano: Punish me if you see fit
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Talkbacks for this article: 2

MK Yoram Marciano (Labor) submitted a complaint to the Knesset Ethics Committee on Sunday - against himself.

Following his involvement in a bar brawl in Herzliya on Wednesday night, in which he allegedly attacked security guards and received several blows in return, Marciano expressed regret for his actions and apologized before the Knesset for damaging the honor of the institution.

'Witnesses contradict Marciano'

He also called on the Knesset to take disciplinary action against him, if they found it fitting.

He emphasized, however, that he had acted innocently and that most of the media reports on his behavior were false.

On Wednesday, Marciano attended a party at the Rio nightclub in Herzliya celebrating the birthday of a Knesset official. There were varying reports of what actually happened during the confrontation between Marciano and the security guards at the club.

According to a police complaint filed by Marciano, the incident occurred when he was trying to leave the club through a back door, which was no longer used as an exit, and was apprehended by security guards. According to a conflicting report filed by one of the security guards, Marciano himself struck out at the guards and shouted at them that they were mistreating a public official. (link)

Labels: outrage, politics

House Schedules Vote on Iraq Resolution Feb 06 3:12 PM US/Eastern
By DAVID ESPO AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled House will vote next week on a nonbinding measure opposing President Bush's decision to dispatch additional troops to Iraq, officials said Tuesday, hastening a postelection clash between Congress and commander in chief.

The precise nature of the measure remains to be determined, the officials said, although Brendan Daly, a spokeswoman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said, it will be "our opposition to the surge" in troops.

The Pentagon is in the midst of implementing Bush's order to raise troop levels by 21,500, part of a plan to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad.

Bush's revised strategy has sparked strong opposition among Democrats, and officials said that Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., had both pledged to their rank-and-file that next week's vote would merely be the first attempt to pressure the president to shift course in the war. Other legislation will be binding, they said.

Under House rules, Democratic leaders have the authority to advance a measure to the floor for three days of debate and a vote.

That stands in contrast to the Senate, where Republicans have so far blocked an attempt by Democrats to hold a full-fledged debate on a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 U.S. troops.

House Democratic leaders charted their course as Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate committee that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year _ if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met. (link)

Labels: congress, MSM, politics

6684 people have signed The Pledge thus far. Will you?

If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy, I will not contribute to any Republican senator who voted for the resolution. Further, if any Republican senator who votes for such a resolution is a candidate for re-election in 2008, I will not contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee unless the Chairman of that Committee, Senator Ensign, commits in writing that none of the funds of the NRSC will go to support the re-election of any senator supporting the non-binding resolution. (link)

Labels: politics, TWoT