Able Red Neck

Bush: Things Will Get Better

2008-03-15T09:01:00.002-05:00

President George Bush told us yesterday the economy will get better and all patriotic Americans believe him.

"It was strong action by the Fed, and they did so because some financial institutions that borrowed money to buy securities in the housing industry must now repair their balance sheets before they can make further loans," the president said.

He also had kind words for his economic team. "Today's events are fast moving, but the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the secretary of the Treasury are on top of them and will take the appropriate steps to promote stability in our markets," Bush assured his audience.

More than $150 billion of tax rebate checks are scheduled to reach 130 million U.S. households in May, Bush said, adding that his economic advisors believed the money would boost consumer spending somewhat in the second quarter and would have "a greater effect in the third quarter."

In the meantime, he said, "The challenge is not to do anything foolish."

Worth Every Penny

2008-03-10T06:55:00.001-05:00

Got rid of the bad guy so Operation Iraqi Freedom is worth it.

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

No Surrender in Iraq

2008-03-09T09:10:00.002-05:00

Even the Chinese know pulling out of Iraq is bad.

The costs of leaving Iraq unstable would be high. Jihadists everywhere would be emboldened. I have met many Gulf leaders and know that their deep fear is that a precipitate U.S. withdrawal would gravely jeopardize their security.

A hurried withdrawal from Iraq would cause the leaders of many countries to conclude that the American people cannot tolerate the nearly 4,000 casualties they have suffered in Iraq and that in a protracted asymmetrical war the U.S. government will not have its people's support to bear the pain that is necessary to prevail. And this even after the surge of 30,000 additional troops under Gen. David Petraeus has resulted in an improved security situation.

Whatever candidates might say in the course of this presidential campaign, I cannot believe that any American president could afford to walk away from Iraq so lightly, damage American prestige and influence, and so undermine the credibility of American security guarantees.

Top Scores From USA Today Sports

2008-01-22T09:25:00.000-06:00

Here are the top scores from USA Today Sports for the latest National Basketball League:

108-95

98-88

112-109 (OT).

Check back tomorrow for NHL scores.

Pat Robertson on Giuliani Team

2007-11-08T11:58:00.000-06:00

With Pat Robertson on board with Rudy Giuliani the rest of the Republican field just now go home. It's over.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — They could compete for strangest bedfellows of 2008.

Rudolph W. Giuliani is a supporter of gay and abortion rights who is building his Republican primary campaign around his response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Pat Robertson, the Christian conservative broadcaster, once said permissiveness toward homosexuality and abortion led to God’s “lifting his protection” to allow those attacks.

But there they were Wednesday morning, Mr. Robertson endorsing Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, as “an acceptable” Republican “who can win the general election.”

It was the latest manifestation of the deep divide in the Christian conservative movement over how to balance politics and principle in the coming era after President Bush, who once so deftly brought it all together.

Many former Christian conservative allies dismissed the endorsement as an inexplicable stunt. They noted that Mr. Robertson, 77, had lost much of his influence since the heady days of his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses 20 years ago when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

Deer Kills Georgia Man

2007-10-08T16:32:00.000-05:00

A Georgia man was attacked and killed by a deer. Is Nature seeking revenge?

A 66-year-old Ball Ground man was attacked and killed by a deer Sunday night, authorities said.

The deer — most likely a red deer, and not the more commonly found white-tailed deer — was one of several that John Henry Frix kept on his vast property on Trail of Tears Trail off Yellow Creek Road.

His relatives told sheriff's deputies that the deer had been very aggressive lately, chalking its behavior to rut — the period when deer mate.

Frix had gone out to tend to the deer about 7 p.m., county sheriff's Sgt. Jay Baker said. When he didn't return, his relatives called authorities.

Deputies found him about an hour and a half later lying inside one of the pens, 100 yards from the home. He had been gored several times in the upper body by the antlers of the deer, Baker said.

Congress should listen to Petraeus

2007-09-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

General Petraeus will tell Congress the truth and they should listen to him. He know Iraq. He knows the troops.

General Petraeus, whose long-awaited testimony before Congress will begin Monday, has informed President Bush that troop cuts may begin in mid-December, with the withdrawal of one of the 20 American combat brigades in Iraq, about 4,000 troops. By August, the American force in Iraq would be down to 15 combat brigades, the force level before Mr. Bush’s troop reinforcement plan.

The precise timing of such reductions, which would leave about 130,000 troops in Iraq, could vary, depending on conditions in the country. But the general has also said that it is too soon to present recommendations on reducing American forces below that level because the situation in Iraq is in flux. He has suggested that he wait until March to outline proposals on that question.

Biden Attacks Bush

2007-08-28T18:19:00.000-05:00

Sen. Joe Biden, the longest shot of Democratic candidates for president, has attacked this country's fearless leader once again. Nothing but shameless political grandstanding.

We'd follow George W. Bush to Hell if he asked. Biden, we wouldn't give a glass of ice water in the same place.

Gonzales to stay. Thank God.

2007-07-29T08:57:00.000-05:00

Alberto Gonzales is staying at the Justice Department in spite of the unwarranted attacks upon him by the democrat party. He's the best attorney general this country has ever had.

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says he's staying at the Justice Department to try to repair its broken image, telling Congress in a statement released Monday he's troubled that politics may have played a part in hiring career federal prosecutors.

Senators already skeptical of Gonzales' ability to lead the department were preparing to hammer him about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and conflicts between his earlier statements and the testimony of a former aide.

The attorney general's comments were included in 26 pages of prepared testimony released on the eve of his scheduled appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearing comes during an escalating executive-privilege standoff with the White House over the firings.

Across the Capitol, the House Judiciary Committee was readying votes on contempt citations for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers for disregarding subpoenas to testify and provide documents on the firings. The White House has said that any such materials are covered by executive privilege and that the president's current and former immediate advisers are immune from congressional subpoenas.

Judge Throws Out Plame Lawsuit

2007-07-20T14:16:00.000-05:00

Finally justice for the Bush Administration when the judge throws out the lawsuit brought by Valerie Plame, wife of the traitor Joe Wilson.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday dismissed former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against members of the Bush administration in the CIA 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.

Plame’s attorneys had said the lawsuit would be an uphill battle. Public officials are normally immune from such lawsuits filed in connection with their jobs.

Heathens In the Senate

2007-07-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

I'll let the story speak for itself.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Three people were arrested Thursday after staging a noisy protest as a Hindu chaplain read the opening prayer at the US Senate, branding his appearance an "abomination."

US Capitol Police said the protestors, apparently Christian religious activists, were ejected from the chamber and charged with an unlawful disruption of Congress.

As Hindu chaplain Rajan Zed started to recite his prayer, one protestor was heard chanting "Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer which is an abomination in your sight.

"You are the one, true living God."

Faith leaders from various creeds are sometimes invited to give the Senate's daily opening prayer, though it is normally offered by the chamber's Christian chaplain.

The pressure group Americans United for Separation of Church and State condemned the protest.

"This shows the intolerance of many Religious Right activists," said the group's executive director, Reverend Barry Lynn.

"They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion."

The conservative American Family Association had been campaigning against the use of a Hindu prayer in the chamber, asking members to send emails and letters to Senators in protest.

Dems Lead Charge For Pay Raises in the House

2007-06-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

The Democrats in the House led the charge to raise their salaries despite a record of failure. The Associated Press reports:

The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years.

The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more pay until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every lawmaker about $3,100 this year.

On a 244-181 vote Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans alike killed a bid by Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Lee Terry, R-Neb., to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it. The Senate has not indicated when it will deal with a similar measure.

It's still amnesty

2007-06-19T11:26:00.000-05:00

Regardless of what they call it, allowing illegal immigrants to stay in this country is amnesty. It's wrong.

From the Los Angeles Times:

The proposal announced Monday will incorporate the substance of about two dozen amendments adopted when the Senate debated the bill for two weeks this year. The core of the legislation has become known as the "grand bargain." Under the plan, opponents agreed to provide many illegal immigrants now in the United States a path to citizenship in return for a restructuring of the immigration system to give greater weight to education and job skills, rather than family ties.

Reid pulled the legislation from the floor June 7 in a dispute with Republicans over how many amendments could be debated. He announced last week that he and GOP leaders had reached an agreement permitting each party to introduce about a dozen more amendments.

Attack Iran Before It's Too Late

2007-06-12T14:22:00.000-05:00

The Iranian government is sending weapons to the Taliban to help kill Americans. We must strike them now.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, speaking to reporters in Paris, said Iran was funding insurrections across the Middle East — and "Iran is now even transferring arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan."

"It's a country that's trying to flex its muscles, but in a way that's injurious to the interests of just about everybody else in the world," he said. "I think it's a major miscalculation."

Candidates should leave Bush alone

2007-06-06T14:47:00.000-05:00

The Republican candidates for president are bashing President Bush.

They need to stop that crap.

What do they know?

2007-05-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

So-called experts say torture doesn't work.

We'll see if they change their tune with a 12-volt battery hooked up to their genitals.

Congratulations Mary Cheney

2007-05-24T10:41:00.000-05:00

Mary Cheney has given birth to a son, the sixth grandchild of her father, the great Vice President Dick Cheney.

Makes me wish I was a lesbian, too.

Cheney's trip a success

2007-05-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

Vice President Dick Cheney is pleased with his recent trip to Iraq. That ought to make Congress really mad.

Too bad.

SHANNON, Ireland - Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he generally got good responses from Arab allies in his appeal for more help in stabilizing Iraq. He also said he recognizes that advancing the Israel-Palestinian peace process is a related issue that also must be addressed.

"You don't get to pick and choose," the vice president told reporters aboard his plane as he returned from a weeklong tour of the Middle East, including an unannounced two-day visit to Iraq and stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.

Of his meetings with rank-and-file U.S. troops in Iraq, Cheney said, "I thought they were amazingly positive. They believed in what they were doing."

FBI Foils Death Plot

2007-05-08T12:02:00.000-05:00

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

FORT DIX, N.J. — Six Islamic militants from Yugoslavia and the Middle East were arrested on charges of plotting to attack the Fort Dix Army post and "kill as many soldiers as possible," authorities said Tuesday.

In conversations secretly recorded by an FBI informant over the past year, the men talked about killing in the name of Allah and attacking U.S. warships that might dock in Philadelphia, according an FBI criminal complaint.

Tony's Back

2007-05-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

Tony Snow has returned as White House spokesman.

White House press secretary Tony Snow was back on the job Monday, five weeks after doctors discovered a recurrence of his cancer. He said he would soon undergo chemotherapy "just to make sure we've got the thing knocked out."

Snow, 51, has been on medical leave since undergoing exploratory surgery last month, when doctors discovered that a growth in his abdominal area was cancerous and had metastasized, or spread, to the liver.

Read complete article

This man does not deserve to be President

2007-04-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

Barak Obama continue to criticize President Bush in a time of war. He is a traitor and doesn't deserve to be president.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that President Bush has fallen short in his role as leader of the free world, and the 2008 election is a chance to change that.

"This president may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. And it is time to fill that role once more," Obama said in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Great Affilitate Program

2007-04-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

Team Link Network has a great affiliate program that every web site owner, including bloggers, should take advantage of.

Just put a simple piece of html code on your page and you could be making money.

The best part is they pay 25% commissions and they pay weekly. I couldn't believe it, but it's true.

Give TLN a try. You'll be glad you did.

Rudy for what?

2007-04-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

So Rudy wants to be president? What does he have to offer? Not much.

None of the top candidates are true conservatives. Why should we have to vote for the lesser of evils like the Dems always do?

Ronnie, we miss you.

Republican traitors

2007-03-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

There are traitors within the Republican Party that refuse to stand by the president and his attorney general:

Three key Republican senators sharply questioned his truthfulness over the firings last fall of eight federal prosecutors. Two more Democrats on Sunday joined the list of lawmakers calling for Gonzales' ouster.

Several Republicans also urged President Bush to allow sworn testimony from his top aides about their role in dismissing the U.S. attorneys — a standoff threatening to result in Capitol Hill subpoenas of White House officials.

Gonzales faces the toughest test of his two-year tenure at the Justice Department with the release of documents suggesting he was more involved with the firings than he indicated earlier.

Tony Snow Had Cancer

2007-03-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

Burried at the bottom of another story was this:

"As somebody who has been through this, Elizabeth Edwards is setting a powerful example for a lot of people — and good and positive one," said Snow, who had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

I had no idea.