NW Republican

"I know a little something about health care" and this plan stinks

2009-07-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

So says Gov. Jindal.

I know a little something about health care policy, and I can tell you exactly the game that is currently afoot. If the House Democrats’ plan were to become law, the president’s statement that “if you like your health care now, you can keep it” will not be true. This is not an opinion, this is a fact.

Businesses will, in effect, be forced to send employees into the Democrats’ government-run health care. It’s really not something to argue about, it is a fact. A private health insurance system, otherwise known as what we have today, will not be able to compete with a taxpayer-subsidized government plan, and businesses faced with growing health care costs will opt to either lay off more workers or send employees into the government plan. One independent study already suggested that up to 119 million Americans will end up leaving their private plans for the public plan. To think otherwise requires one to suspend disbelief.

The plan the House Democrats are developing is a radical restructuring of health care in America. You may like it, you may not, but it is just that; there is no denying or sugarcoating it.

Obama admin hiding

2009-07-20T07:39:00.001-07:00

As if the health care fiasco is not bad enough for Obama. He is now hiding his budget numbers.

UH OH!

Meanwhile Obama's poll numbers are continuing to drop and a majority of Americans do not approve of Obama on HEALTH CARE!

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Obama is handling Health care? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat?

49 -Total Approve
25- Strongly Approve
24- Somewhat Approve
44- Total Disapprove
11- Somewhat Disapprove
33- Strongly Disapprove

Democrat anti-health care bill...Massive gift to trial lawyers

2009-07-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well lookie lookie, who gets a cookie. Of course you can't have the Democrats creating something as massive as health-care (or stimuli?) without tucking in the goodies for their buddies.

Remember, ultimately Obama and the Democrats do not want "health care." They want "control."

Read here.

For some time now the federal government has been intensifying its pursuit of what are sometimes known as “Medicare liens” against third party defendants (more). In the simplest scenario — not the only scenario, as we will see below — someone is injured in, say, a car accident, and has the resulting medical bills paid by Medicare. They then sue and successfully obtain damages from the other driver. At this point Medicare (i.e. the government) is free to demand that the beneficiary hand over some or all of the settlement to cover the cost of the health care, but under some conditions it is also free to file its own action to recover the medical outlays directly from the negligent driver (who in some circumstances might even wind up paying for the same medical bills twice). It might do this if, for example, it does not expect to get a collectible judgment from the beneficiary.

The newly added language in the Thursday morning version of the health bill (for those following along, it’s Section 1620 on pp. 713-721) would greatly expand the scope of these suits against third parties, while doing something entirely new: allow freelance lawyers to file them on behalf of the government — without asking permission — and collect rich bounties if they manage thereby to extract money from the defendants. Lawyers will recognize this as a qui tam procedure, of the sort that has led to a growing body of litigation filed by freelance bounty-hunters against universities, defense contractors and others alleged to have overcharged the government.

Obama Bends The Curve

2009-07-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Obama anti-investment, no-jobs agenda advances ...

HT: Washington Examiner

40 years ago today

2009-07-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Mary Jo Kopechne, R.I.P.
(July 26, 1940 – July 18, 1969)

The Lyin' of the Senate

To watch The Boston Globe's Feb. '09 production: 'Chappaquiddick: Unanswered Questions', click on the image below:

Have a great weekend

2009-07-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

Gents Without Cents

HT:

Where's Mitt?

2009-07-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

A month ago Mitt Romney was everywhere debating Obama's policies. Now that European Health Care is the topic of debate I have not heard hide nor hair from him.

Mitt? The phone in your campaign office is ringing. Someone asking about about "Health care for everyone." Or in the case of Massachusetts it is called "Commonwealth Care."

I'm just curious as to what presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has to say on this issue.

Do you support Light Rail on Powell and Barbur Blvds?

2009-07-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Portland Business Journal has a poll and they want to know. Go vote HERE.

Is David Wu a weak target now?

2009-07-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

It was announced last week that Republican Rob Cornilles has decided to challenge David Wu for Congress.

The first congressional district has always been a tempting target for Republicans over the years and yet always seems to fall just out of reach. There might be one thing different playing in this cycle. That is that Obama's policies have been pretty bad for jobs and Oregon, under Democrat control, is doing even worse.

“I am not a career politician,” said Cornilles. “I am a business owner, a family man, a mentor and a volunteer. I have strived in my life to selflessly serve others through my work, my faith and my family. As I look around me now and see what’s happening in our country, I feel a need to put aside my personal interests and serve fellow Oregonians in Congress.”

“Today, Oregon families are struggling with one of the weakest economies and the second highest unemployment rate in the United States. Oregonians desperately need a responsible voice in Washington, DC – someone that was born and raised here, lives and works here and recognizes the opportunities that are possible here when you have a fiscally responsible representative in Congress that truly relates with and fights for Oregon’s middle class families. I look forward to contributing to a much brighter future for Oregonians,” Cornilles added.

The Union News - Week in Review

2009-07-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a selection of recent story excerpts from The Union News. For the full story, click through the link to the source. For all the day's stories, click on the date.

July 16.

Obamanomics repudiated by independent voters ... In our national poll taken last week, 53% said the $787 billion stimulus plan passed in February was "not effective" in "getting the economy going in the right direction." Just 43% said it was. Respondents were even more emphatic — 54% to 39% — in rejecting the second stimulus the White House and congressional Democrats are mulling. Republicans were least impressed by the first stimulus, with fully 81% saying it hasn't worked. Independents turned thumbs down 55% to 43%. Democrats, by 64% to 31%, say the stimulus is working — yet, strangely, think another is needed (60% to 40%). Both sides of this debate can't be right. (ibdeditorials.com)

July 15.

Anti-investment agenda yields predictable results ... President Barack Obama on Tuesday declined to predict how high unemployment will climb but made clear he expects it to keep worsening for a while as hiring lags behind other signs of economic recovery. "How employment numbers are going to respond is not year clear," the president said on a day when he was headed to Michigan, home of a particularly battered economy. "My expectation is that we will probably continue to see unemployment tick up for several months." (washingtontimes.com)

July 14.

Architects of U.S. Job Freeze celebrate at White House ... In a meeting with President Obama today at the White House, top labor leaders pushed for a second stimulus package to create more jobs. “Since the onset of the recession, this country has lost an astounding 6.5 million jobs and $14 trillion in wealth. "We support the President's recovery and reinvestment program, and we believe it should be substantially reinforced with more stimulus, creating millions of good jobs that cannot be outsourced," the National Labor Coordinating Committee (NLCC) said in a statement after the meeting. A labor official said Obama did not commit to any future stimulus package. The president met for approximately an hour this afternoon with more than a dozen labor leaders, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, SEIU President Andy Stern and Change to Win Chair Anna Burger. (blogs.abcnews.com)

July 13.

Narcissism defines our "Quid Pro Quo" President ... Barack Obama is a narcissist, which is never to be confused with a socialist. Obama cares not for the proletariat...his contempt towards average Americans is boundless. Rather, the Obama administration exists to benefit Obama. While the president is closer philosophically to Che Guevara than to Thomas Jefferson, it is not philosophy that dictates his policies. Obama governs using the Chicago model on which he was politically weaned: “You scratch my back, or I break yours.” While most Americans are suffering financially, Obama’s major contributors are enjoying taxpayer-provided prosperity. Some of his accomplices are corporate, while others are anti-corporate. The common denominator is that all have pledged fealty to Dear Leader. The diplomatic term is “reciprocity”, which sounds so much better than “pay for play”. It should come as little surprise that a Chicago machine politician governs like a mafioso. While the lofty rhetoric is that Obama seeks to redistribute wealth from greedy to needy, the putrid reality is that he redistributes wealth from foe to friend. (canadafreepress.com)

July 12.

Why Obama hearts LatAm thugs ... "Will George W. Bush end up being the last true U.S. President?" asked Sher Zieve, writing for the Canadian Free Press on Jan. 14. "As I warned you on multiple times prior to the 2008 General Election, 'Once Obama is elected, we won't be able to get rid of him.'" Tragically, this warning is now being realized. Not only has President Obama established his election-fraud organization ACORN nationwide, his adherents have now begun the process to repeal the U.S. Constitution's 22nd Amendment." Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y. introduced H. J. Res. 5, a bill that would repeal the amendment prohibiting a president from being elected to more than two terms in office, paving the way to make Barack Obama president for life. Not surprisingly, the corporate media currently caught up in Obama-mania has not covered this story. (pressconnects.com)

July 11.

Team Obama refuses to admit mistakes ... Despite persistently high unemployment, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan is on the "expected path." "I was just wondering, where do you think your plan went wrong?" asked Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla. About 2 million jobs have been lost since Congress passed Obama's stimulus package in February. Unemployment now stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in 26 years. Some Obama allies have been calling for Congress to pass a second stimulus package. Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Ala., challenged Geithner's assertion that business and consumer confidence was improving. "People are scared to death," he said. Geithner countered that the recession was a long time in the making and that recovery will take time as well. "We do not yet have an economy that's growing again," he said, "and I think it is likely it will take a while to grow out of." (cnsnews.com)

July 10.

Obama hoisted by his own petard ... The Republican National Committee is using President Obama's own words against him — showing the new president in a tough new ad with his feet up on his desk and defending his economic stimulus plan while the ad points out the nation's rising unemployment rate. As Mr. Obama's poll numbers are dropping in key states over fiscal worries, the new RNC Web ad offers a preview of the anti-White House talking points the nation is likely to keep hearing as Congress considers whether the ailing economy needs a second stimulus program. The slick, campaign-style ad uses five times a clip of Mr. Obama telling ABC News this week from Moscow, "There's nothing that we would have done differently." (washingtontimes.com)

Related video: Nothing

July 9.

ACORN Ugly: Union-backed, tax-funded fraud group turns against the poor ... The relentlessly sanctimonious Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now may not deserve its carefully cultivated image as a defender of the poor. That's because the group has become the leading cheerleader for a controversial real estate development that is slated to use eminent domain to remove the poor people it claims to represent. ACORN, which has long prided itself on fighting the so-called gentrification of neighborhoods as rising property values force the poor to move, has also taken money from the project's developer and signed a binding agreement forcing it to stand behind the project no matter what. In the world of corporate shakedowns it is commonplace for liberal activist groups to use the money they extract from a supposed "donor" to fund operations, but it is very unusual for a group to take money in exchange for betraying those it is supposed to represent. But the far-left activist group ACORN, which claims to defend the poor from what ACORN ally Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) last year called America's "capitalist predators," is doing precisely that. (spectator.org)

HT:

Will Congress continue to EXEMPT themselves from this GREAT health care package?

2009-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Bill Wilson from Americans for Limited Government is asking members of Congress to drop their "exemption" from their version of the National Health plan.

After all, if it is so good for the American people why would the Democrats in Congress not want to be on the plan themselves? I mean that would be very "democratic" of the Democratics wouldn't it?

ALG Calls Upon House to Adopt Fleming Resolution
Calling for End to Congressional Exemption from Obama Health Care

July 16th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government president, Bill Wilson, today called upon members of the House of Representatives to adopt a resolution (H. Res. 615) stating that "Members who vote in favor of the establishment of a public, Federal Government run health insurance option are urged to forgo their right to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and agree to enroll under that public option."

The measure is sponsored by Congressman John Fleming and currently has 42 cosponsors. On his website, Fleming writes, "Under the current draft of the Democrat healthcare legislation, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. If Members of Congress believe so strongly that government-run health care is the best solution for hard working American families, I think it only fitting that Americans see them lead the way."

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander," said ALG's Wilson. "If members of the House are expecting everyone to be a part of this government-run system, then they should be taken off the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan and put on to this so-called public 'option' since they like it so much."

Currently, members of the House and Senate are covered by a health care plan offering a wide variety of options, including private coverage, according to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan website, "Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country."

As participants, members of Congress can choose from "Consumer-Driven and High Deductible plans that offer catastrophic risk protection with higher deductibles, health savings/reimbursable accounts and lower premiums, or Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, and their Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), or Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) if you live (or sometimes if you work) within the area serviced by the plan."

"It's time for Washington to stop acting like an aristocracy, where Congress treats itself to luxuries and forces everybody else into convoluted, inefficient, and low-quality so-called 'options,'" said Wilson.

"Members of Congress know that the system they are proposing will be much, much worse than the health options they currently have," Wilson added. "What they need to acknowledge is that it will also be much, much worse than the options the American people currently have.

Wilson also called upon the House Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce to adopt a binding measure that would require all members of Congress to enroll in the government-run health insurance option if lawmakers adopt one.

A similar provision, proposed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), has already been adopted in the Senate version of the bill. In order for it to be included in the House version, the "three-in-one" committee currently considering the legislation needs to add it in.

The Coburn amendment passed by a vote of 12-11 in committee with Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass) voting with Senators John McCain (R-Ariz), Orrin G Hatch (R-Utah), Richard Burr (R-NC), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn), Tom Coburn (R-Okla), Pat Roberts (R-Kan), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga), and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo) in favor.

In committee, Senator Coburn said, "Let's demonstrate leadership—and confidence in the system—by requiring that every member of Congress go into it." 11 Democratic members voted no, including Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), who said, "I don't know why we should require ourselves to participate in a plan that no one else needs to participate in."

"Senator Bingaman is still sticking to the big lie that the public 'option' will at all be optional," said Wilson.

"The unfortunate impact of this government-run health care proposal will be to crowd out private options, leaving Americans in the end with no other option but to use the Orwellian, abominable, government-run plan that will burden taxpayers with an insurmountable level of debt. This will be the largest government entitlement in human history, and it will break the public treasury," Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

Because I can and because you KNOW you like it

2009-07-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

And because with the weather getting as hot as it is, this just seemed fitting.

Democrat's plan to unemploy America (but at least you will get your shots)

2009-07-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

From the NY Times article regarding the recent Democrat "Unemploy America act" or known to them as the "health plan."

Employers who do not provide health insurance to workers would generally have to pay a fee or penalty to the government. The fee would be equal to 8 percent of wages for an employer with an annual payroll of more than $400,000.

I own one business and sit on a decision making board for another. And I will tell you that from my direct experience and discussions with other business people I can see where this will lead. It will mean that you must keep your payroll under $400k and instead of hiring someone extra you will probably see businesses laying people off to avoid running afoul of having to pay some surcharge or penalty.

I know one business that I work with pays their employees higher amount as a percentage of what might be the going rate for that job description. It is about 13% above what the salary would be. That way the employee can find their own health insurance.

They are looking into other policies now and having discussions with their employees about whether or not they want to change.

Force this company to pay into some national plan at a rate of 8% per employee? Then the company either cuts back on what they have been compensating the employee and forces them to choose the national plan. And/or they hold off before hiring anyone else to avoid hitting that surcharge ceiling.

For a party that is supposed to believe in "choice" it makes you go "huh?"

They that know no joy but the destruction of good people

2009-07-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

HotAir.com’s “Allahpundit” notes that Palin’s resignation moved one Erik Nelson to write a Puffington Host post titled “Palin Will Run in ‘12 on More Retardation Platform.”

HT Red State:

The salmon are biting, the sun is shining, the kids are playing, and the road is rising before her, and she’s going where she’s needed. If that’s the epitaph for good, decent mothers in politics, well, we’re a smaller, meaner nation for it.

It is exhaustive and almost perfect in tone and tenor. It captures what I have been referring to as "liberal hate" for a number of years now (in fact created our own 'label' in the side-bar).

If you don't read the entire piece then don't even comment.

And this is why I am opposed to the death penalty

2009-07-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

It may come as a surprise to some of our conservative readers. But I am opposed to the death penalty.

Not because I don't believe in a form of "an eye for an eye." But because I do not always trust our legal system and do not trust all prosecutors and all individuals in law enforcement.

Most of them do a great job and a hard job at that. But THIS is over the top and there have been more than one case such as this. Where a zealous prosecutor and a police detective out to make a name for herself will push and prod a witness and take advantage of the weak.

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The two adult children of former Vancouver police Officer Clyde Ray Spencer, who spent nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of molesting them, testified in court Friday that the abuse never happened.

A 33-year-old son recalled how, at age 9, he was repeatedly questioned, alone, by now-retired Detective Sharon Krause, of the Clark County Sheriff's Office. He said that after months of questioning, he said he had been abused just to get Krause to leave him alone.

A 30-year-old daughter said she doesn't remember what she told Krause at age 5, but recalled Krause bought her ice cream.

The brother and sister, who live in Sacramento, Calif., said that while growing up in California they were told by their mother, who divorced Spencer before he was charged, that they were blocking out the memory of the abuse.

Want me to agree to institute the death penalty? Well let's tie some charges to the abuse of the criminal system by those in power to say that if they falsely prosecute someone like this then they will receive the same sentence that they were advocating against the unjustly accused.

Undecided independent voters switching to the Republican

2009-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

And this is in New Jersey of all places.

Uh oh... ACORN uncovered in South Carolina

2009-07-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

In any case, with the shady or nearly non-existent business history, the many unannounced connections to ACORN, to Obama and various other community organizer groups, and the lack of a manufacturing plant, it is more likely that this company is just another shell corporation for ACORN or ACORN-like activities to hide behind.

Let's never forget that ACORN is the troubled organization who has had several invididuals indicted in some pretty massive fraud cases. Some of which has taken place right here in Washington State.

Now they are getting scads of money from the Federal Gov't a'la the Obama administration to further politicize public policy.

Probably because Obama's numbers are in the tank and "the one" is running out of political steam to force national health care down American's throats.

Democrats projecteth much

2009-07-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... From NRO:

Senators Akaka, Inouye, Harkin, Mikulski, Kennedy, Kerry and Reid, the "Hyper-Partisan 7" I call them, voted nay on the 3 justices nominated by a Republican President (Thomas, Roberts and Alito). Only 3 of them (Inouye, Harkin and Reid) voted yea on Souter! If you throw out Souter’s vote, you will note that including the Thomas vote, justices nominated by Democratic Presidents receive an average of 6 nays while justices nominated by Republican Presidents garner an average of 37 nays, at least when it comes to long-serving members of 'the world’s greatest deliberative body.'

During today's opening statements, Sen. Orrin Hatch — who did not vote against any Supreme Court nominee — pointed out that Democrats are touting Sotomayor's compelling life story, but they filibustered Miguel Estrada when he was nominated for the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. No less a figure than Barack Obama voted against Estrada, as well as against Justices Alito and Roberts.

Does anyone doubt for a minute that while braying for "bi-partisanship" that it has been the Democrats who have been the most partisan over the past two decades?

Once again proving that the Democrat party is the party of "projection."

Yip Yip

Democrats' War on the CIA; Another Obama "Ooops"

2009-07-13T10:25:00.001-07:00

This just shows what happens when, as in the case of the Democrats, you start politicizing the safety and protection of American Citizens. Just last week the Democrats and their lemmings in the bloggosphere were doing tap dances over what we now know is faux political outrage by Leon Pannetta.

Read this (excerpt follows):

The Democrats’ War on the CIA Continues [Marc Thiessen]
Democrats on Capitol Hill have been indignant over the fact that the details of a top-secret CIA program apparently was not fully briefed to Congress. Within weeks of that program being brought to Congress’s attention, key details have now leaked to the news media — thus validating the original decision not to share the details with Congress in the first place.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the program which Democrats were so angry about turns out to be an effort “to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives.” Excuse me, but this is the Democrats’ idea of a scandal? Most Americans would not only expect, but demand, that the CIA do everything in its power to kill al-Qaeda operatives before they strike our country. Indeed, the Obama administration itself has reportedly escalated targeted killings of al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan using Predator and Reaper drones. These targeted killings are not assassinations — they are legitimate strikes against an enemy that has declared war on us and attacked us where we live.

That Congressional Democrats are outraged by this program speaks volumes about the state of their party on national security. The fact that the CIA was trying to kill al-Qaeda operatives should not be a point of outrage — it should be a point of pride.

With this latest leak, Congress has shown once again that it cannot be trusted with highly classified information,

Now with egg on their face will the progressive/liberal bloggers back up and re-think the jig they were dancing last week?

Yip Yip

Have a great weekend

2009-07-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

I still hate you Sarah Palin

2009-07-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

One of the best reads in a long time. This piece was picked up at TUN, and LLC, and Orb, but makes it's permanent home at National Review Online here.

The Republicans bring a knife to a gunfight, and lose again.

One of the most terrifying moments of my political life came last summer at the Republican convention in St. Paul. No, I don’t mean seeing John McCain careering around the Xcel Energy Center like Eyegore in Young Frankenstein, his face frozen in a Lon Chaney Sr. rictus grin as he reached across the aisle to his erstwhile friends in the media and got his hand bitten off. Rather, I’m referring to the aftermath of Sarah Palin’s outrageous acceptance speech, which whipped up the Rotary Club delegates into a frenzy of white-boy fury that not even heckling by a brave Code Pink embed could deter. Truly a fascist classic and one that sent shivers down our collectivist spines...

Not only were we offended at the sheer effrontery of McCain’s pick: How dare the Republicans proffer this déclassée piece of Wasilla trailer trash whose only claim to fame was that she didn’t exercise her right to choose? Where were her degrees from Smith or Barnard, her internships at PETA, the Brookings Institution, or the Young Pioneers? We were also outraged that the Stupid Party had just nominated a completely unqualified candidate nobody had ever heard of, a first-term governor of Alaska whose previous experience consisted of a small-town mayoralty. As opposed to our guy, Barry Soetoro of Mombasa, Djakarta, and Honolulu, a first-term senator nobody had ever heard of, whose previous experience had been as a state senator (D., Daley Machine) in Illinois. After eight long, illegitimate, lawless years of &*^%BUSH$#@! tyranny, how dare you contest this election?...

This country stinks and we won’t be happy until we’ve forced you to admit it.

In other words, stop thinking of the Democratic Party as merely a political party, because it’s much more than that. We’re not just the party of slavery, segregation, secularism, and sedition. Not just the party of Aaron Burr, Boss Tweed, Richard J. Croker, Bull Connor, Chris Dodd, Richard Daley, Bill Ayers, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and Emperor Barack Hussein Obama II. Not just the party of Kendall “Agent 202” Myers, the State Department official recruited as a Cuban spy along with his wife during the Carter administration. Rather, think of the Democratic Party as what it really is: a criminal organization masquerading as a political party.

If you had any sense, you would start using our tactics against us...

Those are only parts of the piece. Very well done and very instructional for Republicans.

Michelle Obama and her $1,000 hand bag

2009-07-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

First the manufacturer said it was their $6,000 model. Then the White House came out and said "no no no... it is not the $6k model! it is the much less expensive $875 dollar 'clutch'."

And this from the administration that can't get it's story right on the economy nor on foreign affairs/Iran?

Nonetheless how many of you can afford to buy your wife an $875 dollar "clutch?" Is it time for the media to do an in depth search into how much Michelle Obama's wardrobe costs?

While that is going on I guess the American people can eat some cake?

yip yip

Vickie Walker is resigning

2009-07-09T12:02:00.001-07:00

According to a press release from the Governor's office Sen. Vickie Walker will be resigning her seat to accept a position on the Oregon Parole Board.

Her legislative career started when she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998 and then to the Senate in 2002, where she served on the Joint Ways & Means Committee and its Public Safety Subcommittee and as the legislative member of the Governor’s Re-Entry Council, which is charged with improving the transition of offenders from incarceration back to the community. Senator Walker will resign her senate seat on July 12 to accept the Governor’s appointment.

Obama's great numbers

2009-07-09T10:01:00.001-07:00

More good news for "the one."

UPDATE: Speaking of poll numbers Rasmussen is showing a massive drop in support for Obama's SCOTUS pick Sotomayor. It may be one of the most radical turn-arounds we have ever seen in such a short period of time. An interesting parsing of her poll numbers can be found here.

Exit question: What happens if Sotomayor becomes Obama's Harriet Miers?

UPDATE UPDATE: It has become the latest rage for the liberals these days to constantly refer to the Rasmussen polls as "leaning right" or some other dismissive term (even though he has been as correct as any other pollster out there. perhaps it is just the liberals' way of acting out in a manner they always accused conservatives of? projecting no?).

Yet it seems that Scott Rasmussen just happens to always be ahead of the curve with his polling. As this story in Politico seems to point out. More and more pollsters are seeing what Rasmussen saw a few days ago. That is that Obama is sinking.

“This is a huge sea change that is playing itself out in American politics,” said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. “Independents who had become effectively operational Democrats in 2006 and 2008 are now up for grabs and are trending Republican...

Obama dropped 6 percentage points last week from the week before in Gallup’s tracking poll, and Quinnipiac University found a 5-percentage-point drop in approval from independents between early June and early July. Recent state polling shows drops over longer periods.

Ok now the spinmeisters can take a rest. Your theory has been put to rest.

yip yip

Gregoire, Democratics and Union Thugs

2009-07-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

In Washington State a big collective "uh oh" has just been heard throughout the political and business circles as Boeing purchased a new plant in South Carolina.

Gov. Gregoire is trying to paint a smiley face on the whole thing, but the potential for Boeing to move out of state is very very real.

Apparently Boeing officials have had some very candid talks with leading Democrats concerning the thuggish tactics of the Machinist Union. The Union Thugs just don't seem to understand that as the company is attempting to navigate contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars they cannot, any longer, keep looking over their shoulders wondering if the employees are going to strike.

Dicks also said that at a March meeting with Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, arranged by Gregoire and held in the Washington, D.C., office of Sen. Patty Murray, “McNerney was very candid.”

“The message was that we need to get a resolution of this (strike) problem. We can’t live with this.”

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, said McNerney made clear that “the relationship with the labor community,” particularly the question of strikes, “was a major component of the decision.”

The International Association of Machinists (IAM) has struck the company four times in seven sets of contract talks over the past 20 years, most recently for two months last fall. Its contract expires in 2012.

However in the Seattle Times' story what is most stunning is the absolute ignorance of the Democrat politicians and the Union Thug representatives as to how business in the real world works. They seem perfectly willing (willful ignorance?) to lead a pack of lemmings off of the cliff and kill them all.

“This is such a huge ask of the Machinists,” Gregoire said. “The idea of labor giving up the right to strike is a huge issue for them. There has to be something on the other side equally compelling. The magnitude of this is really challenging.”

Huh? There "has to be" something on the "other side" (management) that is equally compelling? Really? Well how bout "OK then we will move. Is that compelling enough fer ya?" Or perhaps a better way to put is "pound sand."

Dicks (Democrat Congressman) said any overarching no-strike agreement would have to involve some kind of binding independent arbitration of disputes between management and union.

But IAM district President Tom Wroblewski balked at the idea of setting aside the union’s strike weapon.

“Take away our only power?” Wroblewski asked rhetorically. “I can’t see ever taking our power away.”

Well how bout the company simply shut down your plant and you get to have all the remaining "power" you want? See how that whole General Motors thing is working out for you and your "workers."

“If we were to have these discussions, the company would have to come through with something, … guaranteed employment of some sort,” he said. “The trade-offs would be huge.”

Dicks agreed.

“This is a two-way street,” said Dicks. “I’ve urged the Boeing leadership that there’s got to be give on their side.”

Again more complete ignorance coming from Democrat Congressman Norm Dicks. What dah heck does Boeing "got" to do? Are you going to MAKE them stay in Washington? Are you going to MAKE Boeing employ a certain number of people with mandated pay and benefits? Even if the company looses money? Really Congressman Dicks? Really Union Thugs?

You people, living in your make believe world, may see this as a "two-way" street, but Boeing the company, sees the real world aerospace market and what they must do to compete.

Perhaps Boeing has been watching the idiots at General Motors who caved to the Union Thugs only to see their company dive to bankruptcy and eventually be taken over by the Federal Government.

Perhaps Democrat Norm Dicks would better serve the workers of Washington State, and the entire nation, by asking the Obama administration and Congress to revisit the National Labor Relations Act?

Hmmm... Now there is a novel idea. Instead of threatening to drive Washington companies out of Washington (see Oregon as a prime example) and American companies out of America, why not actually listen to the folks who are running these businesses and employing Americans and find out how to make America/Washington more.... wait for it... wait... COMPETITIVE!

I am not going to hold my breath however. The fact that high ranking Democrat politicians are this woefully ignorant as to how the real world works is instructional as to how completely dysfunctional these people are.

In the meant time the Union Thugs, and their puppets in the Democrat party, can kick and scream and hold their breath until all their jobs are gone. Then they can pat themselves on their collective backs at just how "successful" they were.