Obama’s Storm Troopers

September 30, 2008 by 1 Comment

There has been some startling developments in the race for the White House in the State of Missouri in the last few days. Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has announced that it is launching what it is called a “truth squad” to counter what it perceives as lies and misleading ads from Republican nominee John McCain. Now normally I would not have a problem with citizens taking up the cause for their choice for president. What so disturbs me about this development is that he is enlisting public officials for this venture. This includes lawmakers, prosecutors, and even law enforcement. This strikes me as very unethical as it can be construed as the government itself endorsing one candidate over another.

In my opinion this is just another attempt at silencing legitimate criticisms and questions targeted at the Democratic nominee. This isn’t a bipartisan effort to ensure that neither side engages in questionable tactics. In a press release from Obama’s campaign provided to the News-Leader (a Springfield, Missouri newspaper) Senator Claire McCaskill will chair the group “who will be proactive in letting voters in the Show-Me State know the truth in the face of the distortions by the McCain campaign.” This begs the question, will they turn a blind eye to any and all distortions brought forth by the Obama campaign. It would appear to me that this so-called truth squad is nothing more than Obama’s shock troops whose sole intent is to intimidate his critics into silence.

Already the Obama campaign has attempted to silence critics in his hometown of Chicago where WGN radio has aired shows that had as a guest an extremely outspoken critic of Senator Obama. The campaign has attempted to use strong arm tactics such as lawsuits to prevent the shows from airing. Failing in that respect, the campaign then urged Obama’s blind supporters to call the network to voice the campaigns displeasure at being questioned and criticized.

Then in Pennsylvania, the state that he claimed was clinging to God and guns because they were bitter, Obama has launched an assault on the National Rifle Association. The campaign is targeting this group over an ad the NRA had made outlining Obama’s voting record on gun rights. This wasn’t something pulled out of thin air folks. The NRA did some in depth research on Obama’s voting record in regards to gun rights. And yet when that voting record is made public, the campaign cries foul. They claim that the ads distort Obama’s record. To this I ask a simple question. How can they distort Senator Obama’s record when the it is all a matter of public record? Any Joe Schmoe can research it on their own. If I had to hazard a guess it is simply that Senator Obama did not want that record widely known. I believe that he wanted to keep the people of Pennsylvania in the dark about his past votes and his opposition to the 2nd amendment.

It is events such as these that should raise the warning flag of any red blooded American. Why is it that Senator Obama and his campaign want to silence legitimate criticism and questioning? It seems to me that Senator Obama wants keep the voters ignorant of his past. And what I find even more disturbing is that many Americans are willing to play the sheeple by giving him a pass on his efforts to censor and silence his opposition. These events leave me to ponder the question, what would a Barack Obama administration look like? Perhaps it would be one nation under Obama, with liberty and justice for none.

Update: The gang over at In Flyover Country has a video that could have been taken from WWII Germany. Could this be the Obama youth.

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Steve King, thanks for your NO vote!

September 30, 2008 by 2 Comments

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I have a newfound appreciation for Iowa’s Republican Steve King! He took a stand on the bailout/rescue bill and voted NO!

In searching for information on why the bill was defeated I found this list of “reasons”:

“Among the reasons given for sending the package’s creators back to the drawing board were:

  • A lurking mistrust among members about the secretive way in which the bill had been cobbled together
  • A reluctance to come to the aid of wealthy bankers
  • Ideological objections to government intervention
  • The speed with which the house was expected to give the bill its backing

But the pivotal reason given by most of those who turned down the bill seems straightforward: they feared for their jobs.”

They ‘feared for their jobs’.

I disagree. Not all NO votes were out of fear. Some votes were out of principle and reflected the wishes of the voters. One of those NO votes came from Iowa’s Steve King. Here is King’s statement about the Bailout:

“Washington, D.C.-U.S. Congressman Steve King voted “no” on the Paulson bailout, H.R. 3997, and released the following statement:

The Paulson bailout has failed. We have an opportunity to do the right thing for our taxpayers and the economy.

We face a serious financial crisis. We must act to bring long-term stability to the financial markets. Doing “something” is not enough; we must do the right thing. And, we must do it in the right way so that Wall Street won’t count on a bailout every time that they skate too close to the edge.

The good news is that we have several options that don’t rely on taxpayers to bailout Wall Street. The FDIC can work with banks to ease capital requirements to help them weather the storm. The SEC can modify fair value accounting so that assets aren’t worthless during times like these, but can be valued on the basis of their true economic value. There is also a proposal to let private investors fund the bailout through Guaranteed Recovery Bonds, or to set up insurance programs to ensure Wall Street bankrolls its own recovery.

America is going through a tough time right now and it will get harder before it gets better. But, we know that the strength of America’s economy is in our free market system. If taxpayers are stuck with Wall Street losses, government will start demanding to socialize the profits of our free enterprise economy. This will lead to socialization of our economy and the end of our freedom. We can act to address this crisis in a way that does not sacrifice our freedom as Americans. We can weather this storm if we stay true to our principles and refuse to write a blank, taxpayer-signed check to Wall Street.”

I say make King the new minority leader! Why do I say this? Read on.

In checking for information on John Boehner, the current House Minority Leader, I found these are words written about him in his bio: “Boehner is a key leader in the fight for a more limited and accountable federal government.”

Now how is pushing for and voting for the Bail out/Rescue bill being for a limited and accountable federal government? Boehner’s words do not match his actions.

Thank you, Steve King, for sticking to your beliefs, for standing up to your party, for the risks you took, and the stress you must be enduring because of your NO vote!

Many Iowans will be paying attention to your efforts in the days and weeks to come. Keep your articulate voice for those of us who do not support the Bail-out at the expense of tax payers.

Keep doing the right thing for the taxpayers and the economy.

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You could have had a… Mike Huckabee!!!!

September 30, 2008 by 10 Comments

I just heard a sound bite of McCain and the thought occurred to me once again- you and I could have had a Mike Huckabee. No, not as VP but as a Presidential candidate!!! As every hour ticks by the disappointment that I do not have the choice I want to have when I vote for President on Nov. 4 gets more intense.

Sure, the media would have gone nuts, the very liberals of the country would still be angry and mean, and the Romney supporters would have been furious.

But look what we have now- the media is tripping over themselves for a negative soundbite, the liberals are drooling over McCain/Palin, and the Romney people are working to do in Sarah Palin. What else is new?

We can’t go back and change the events that led to Mike Huckabee dropping from the race. Yet, sometimes we get what we deserve because we were too thick-headed, hard hearted, and just not seeing the big picture. This is the case with Huckabee. We could have had a much better choice for President- a clear choice instead of two candidates that, well, worry me a great deal with their views on important issues.

As the days and months go by, many of us will continue to believe that Huckabee was the very best choice. Now we are left with less than perfect options during a very challenging time to be an American. Sometimes I think that I will just have to hang on for 2012. I can and I will. Now if the country can just hang on that long.

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Ron Paul’s wisdom before the bail out vote

September 30, 2008 by 3 Comments

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During the voting on the Bail Out Bill yesterday there was some guy giving a play-by play account on MSNBC. He was on with Andrea Mitchell. I have no idea who he was- probably someone very important. But, he sounded like he was on the verge of a panic attack. There was out-right disbelief in his voice with how the voting was going. I got the impression he was hoping that arms would be twisted and votes would change to pass the legislation.

Really, most of the media and experts on cable news are gloom and doom and sound as if they are ready to throw a temper tantrum. It is a sight to behold.

To those who got to vote and voted NO, I say thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! You held your ground, you did not buckle, and may the voters reward you for your reasoned thinking and voting.

Many Americans may have heard (some of us over and over) Nancy Pelosi’s speech. But how many of you know what Ron Paul had to say? Here is a portion of what he wrote to share. You can decide for yourself if Paul had something of value to say.

“There are three good reasons why Congress should reject this legislation:

a. It is immoral-Dumping bad debt on the innocent taxpayers is an act of theft and is wrong.

b. It is unconstitutional-There is no constitutional authority to use government power to serve special interests.

c. It is bad economic policy-By refusing to address the monetary system while continuing to place the burdens of the bailout on the dollar, we can be certain that in time, we will be faced with another, more severe crisis when the market figures out that there is no magic government bailout or regulation that can make a fraudulent monetary system work.

Monetary reform will eventually come, but, unfortunately, Congress’ actions this week make it more likely the reform will come under dire circumstances, such as the midst of a worldwide collapse of the dollar. The question then will be how much of our liberties will be sacrificed in the process. Just remember what we lost in the aftermath of 9-11.

The best result we can hope for is that the economic necessity of getting our fiscal house in order will, at last, force us to give up our world empire. Without the empire we can then concentrate on rebuilding the Republic.”

It is obvious that the battle over this Bail Out Bill is far from over. We need voices like Ron Paul to be heard. Paul is a man of ethics and character. While voters may or may not agree with all of Paul’s positions on issues, it seems evident to me that he is someone we need in order to keep up the fight against those who would force through legislation that many, many Americans are strongly opposed to and will not support.

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Nancy Pelosi, let us help you!

September 30, 2008 by 6 Comments

To pass some time as the fallout from the vote on the bailout/rescue bill continues, I decided that we could help Nancy Pelosi brainstorm on the title of her next book. There surely will be one. With all that is going on, maybe Nancy needs some creative thinking and would accept some of our ideas for that title.

Here are some of mine but do leave your ideas in the comment section.

How about…

My Time as Partisan Pelosi

It’s Your Republican Party (And I’ll Blame if I Want To)

Hatred Got Me Where I AM Today

My Speech was Worth -777.

As you can see, I am not playing nice with Ms. Pelosi today. How can I feel nice about a woman in such a position of power and influence who would stand up in front of the world and give her best partisan speech? Where was her leadership skills when the country needed them? How many times can Pelosi and Company step in front of the cameras and blame everyone but themselves for the ‘crisis’ that is happening in America and the world?

And why is it that Pelosi would tell so many of her fellow democrats that it was “ok” that they vote against the bail out bill? Why would Pelosi slam, blame and call out the Republicans who voted NO when so many of her own party voted NO, as well.

My suggestion to Pelosi- get going on the next book deal and leave the leadership in D.C. to someone else.

And, I will be more than happy to continue to assist you with coming up with the title of your next book. If some of the rest of us help, maybe the next book will actually see some good sales.

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The American People Have Spoken

September 30, 2008 by 8 Comments

Once again the American people have been heard. Remember last year when Congress tried to pass an immigration reform bill that the citizens of this great country opposed. At the end of the day the collective voices of millions of Americans resulted in a resounding defeat of a bad bill. That feat has been repeated once again. Today the $700 billion dollar bailout failed 228 to 205.

In the aftermath the partisan bickering picked up once again as Democrats blamed Republicans for the defeat and Republicans blamed Democrats for the defeat. In all actuality, neither was at fault for the defeat. Sure Nancy Pelosi showed why she was a Donkey, I mean Democrat. Sure Republicans were offended by her. In the end there is one reason and one reason alone that this monstrosity went down in defeat. The American people. The American people voiced their displeasure of the bill and their representatives listened to them.

Nancy Pelosi did what she does best, blame the Republicans. Sorry Nancy, 93 of your Democrats voted with the 133 Republicans in voting against this despicable bill. And 64 Republicans voted with 140 Democrats in voting for it. That is not partisan politics. If the vote had been split down party lines I could buy your partisanship excuse. This vote was very bipartisan in both the for and against column. I guess it has never occurred to her that some congressmen actually listen to their constituents. That just goes to show you that she doesn’t listen to her own people. Maybe it is time for the people of California to replace the wicked witch of the west with someone more responsive to their needs.

Now we wonder how we can deal with the congressmen that voted for the bail out. The best way to deal with them is to vote against them in the general election in November. Remember the members of the Iowa delegation that voted for the bill. Leonard Boswell and Dave Loebsack. Remind them that the American people have spoken.

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Words about character by Mike Huckabee

September 29, 2008 by 2 Comments

More words of wisdom by Mike Huckabee in From Hope to Higher Ground on the topic of character.

“A congressional candidate was meeting with his political consultant and was asked, “Do you lie, steal, or cheat?” The aspiring congressman said, “No, but I am willing to learn!” The ultimate reason people are in prison is their lack of personal character, as evidenced by their self-centered will to break the law and violate the moral code of society.”

“To those who would argue that addressing the issue of character is not a function of government, I would respond that the lack of character has become a very expensive part of our government! That expense is evidenced by the budget of our court systems, the department of corrections, and the law enforcement agencies as well as the cost of stolen property and the increased insurance premiums to pay for replacing it.”

I find Huckabee’s words to be very timely as hour by hour Americans wait to see how the bailout mess will be fixed by the votes in Washington, D.C.

Lack of good character has gotten us in the financial “crisis” that is causing the world so much stress and anxiety. As the blame game continues, with fingers pointed at someone else, anyone else, I believe it is time for personal responsibility. Having as Huckabee says a ‘moral code’ that helps people reject the use of greed, power, and negative influence is what is needed.

It is past time to have leaders that lead and do so with character. Otherwise, America will never have enough prisons to lock up those who did not develop and keep their moral code.

Yet another reason to really know who we are electing to a city, county, state or national office. Yes, character matters. The lack of character has become detrimental to the very foundation of America.

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Voters have an important choice: Reed vs. Harkin

September 29, 2008 by 2 Comments

‘Fair’ is a report that was submitted in December 2007 by the Federation for American Immigration Reform. In fourteen pages it spells out the costs of Illegal Immigrants to Iowans.

http://www.fairus.org/site/DocServer/IA_Cost_Study.pdf?docID=1841

While information is also shared about medical care, incarceration & criminal justice, with this post I will focus in on the monetary cost of educating children of illegal immigrants.

  • “In Public K-12 schooling Iowans are spending about 175.3 million annually on education for the children of illegal immigrants.”
  • “An additional estimated $13 million is spent annually on programs for limited English students who are likely children of illegal aliens.”

“Iowa has a fast growing illegal alien population of 55,000 persons and the fiscal burden on Iowans resulting from services provided to that population are similarly growing rapidly, as in an increase of 130% over the past 7 years.”

“A poll taken among Republicans and Democrats attending the Iowa state caucuses in Nov. 2007 found that a majority of representatives of both parties said that the immigration situation is a serious problem (86% Republicans, 59% Democrats).”

“With information on the burden that Illegal Immigration is placing on the State Taxpayers, the public becomes more empowered to register its concerns to their elected representatives.”

Taxpayers we can ‘register our concerns’ by voting!

  • It is obvious that Iowa voters have a huge concern about illegal immigration.
  • The 175.3 Million could be used in many other ways to enhance our public school system.
  • Tom Harkin is not listening to what Iowans are saying about this very important issue.

Iowans have the opportunity to elect Christopher Reed who will listen to voters and act upon our concerns. If you care about solving the illegal immigration problem in Iowa, put your vote where your beliefs are.

You have a choice. Chris Reed, the do-something candidate or Tom Harkin, the do-what-he-wants candidate.

Christopher has my vote because he WILL do something about this financial burden on Iowans.

We absolutely can not afford 6 more years of Tom Harkin!

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“Helicopter Parents” and now a “Helicopter Government”

September 29, 2008 by 3 Comments

I heard something on cable TV today about the huge problem with “helicopter parents”. When I did some checking about this type of parent I found with a Google search 83,400 possible sites about this topic. And, I found this definition about helicopter parents: “parents who rush in to prevent any harm or failure from befalling their children or let them learn from their mistakes. Parents who swoop in…  “

Helicopter parents- and now a helicopter government. I thought I was on to something but alas, there are already 766 sites on Google about this twist in helicopter terms!

As the breaking news keeps flashing up on the screen, as we wait while the cable channels focus on huge closed doors, just waiting for the next group of politicians to file out to appear before a bunch of cameras, we are reminded that we are in a crisis. We sure are!

We have our helicopter government to the rescue. Swooping down to make everything right again. I can almost hear the rotating blades over head.

It’s called an election year folks! There are voters to impress and those hordes of media waiting to be the first to get the scoop. There are polls to be taken. There is gloom and doom to use to scare even the likes of Bill Kristol. There is Warren Buffet to remind us that “God help us” if something isn’t done.

Americans are reminded several times a day that the average person just does not understand such a complex issue as this bail out. The world waits for us to do something!!!

While my concept of a helicopter government has already been thought up by other creative minds it still is quite on target.

Big government, getting bigger every day – and those helicopter noises drowning out the voices of Americans who called, e-mailed, begged and pleaded with their congress members to not support the bail out. Guess that is why the bail out term has been changed to something new. Before an important religious holiday something must be done.

Elected officials rushing into prevent any harm…or so they say.

I may be just one uninformed voter but I say the tax payers of America will be the ones learning from the mistakes. Mistakes made by those who have let politics and greed get us in this mess in the first place.

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A choice for District 45 State Representative

September 28, 2008 by 5 Comments

Information about Beth Wessel-Kroeschell was placed in my door and a paragraph on the flier managed to catch my attention.

“I led the effort to strengthen Iowa’s civil rights laws to protect all Iowans from discrimination in housing, education and employment.”

Hmmm- civil rights laws.

My searching found that civil rights really means what Wessel-Kroeschell did to help pass Iowa State File 427. Among the articles I found on-line was one from the Globe Gazette, April 25, 2007.

“Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, who guided the bill through debate, said it was about human dignity.

She said as policy makers, legislators have a duty to protect people who are discriminated against simply because of whom they love.

“This is not about special protections or rights; it is about ending discrimination,” Wessel-Kroeschell said.

She called civil rights for gays an economic growth issue, citing an exodus from the state of bright young people. She argued that places that are tolerant and open to new ideas are places that grow.”

Many Ames voters may agree with their current District 45 State Representative.

Other people have a different spin on the issue of gay rights- as in the more gay rights are promoted, tolerated, and encouraged, the more we go down the path to recognizing gay marriage.

As Election Day approaches we need to pay close attention to information shared by candidates.

Perhaps many voters, especially in liberal Ames, Iowa, will not find fault in Wessel-Kroeschell’s strong support of her version of civil rights. Fine- that is their choice.

But for those who have a different perspective on gay (civil) rights there is another choice to vote for this in this election. Ryan Rhodes offers an alternative to the liberal views of Wessel-Kroeschell. Ryan is a voice for conservative, family values.

If you are looking for “a change”, please do check out Ryan Rhodes, Republican, and give him your consideration.

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