I will now break down how Florida voted on this bill. Complete with links, so you can tell those who voted yes where to go.

The list will be broken into who voted yes or no.

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Michael Steel from Leader Boehner’s office shared some great info with us on the current draft of the economic rescue legislation being talked about right now in congress:

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I believe in Godwin’s law, so I won’t use the terms Nazi or Fascist here, but Obama’s camp supports pissing on the first amendment as he does the second amendment. This is a typical page from the Chicago/Axelrod/Mayor Daley school of Machine Politics. Obama doesn’t like the NRA ads, so he pushes to censor them. Look out NRA, you may wake up next to a stallion head next to you tomorrow morning…..

This is the NRA ad that Obama’s goons wants to censor.

Politico has the source. Most of this was a letter from the NRA in response

The Obama campaign has written radio stations in Pennsylvania and Ohio, pressing them to refuse to air an ad from the National Rifle Association.

“This advertisement knowingly misleads your viewing audience about Senator Obama’s position on the Second Amendment,” says the letter from Obama general counsel Bob Bauer. “For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should refuse to continue to air this advertisement.”

I know the bill in contention very well, as well as the context behind it, so the NRA not only is accurate, but in this case, the context of the ad is more inflammatory than the bill itselt. Most who know me know that I refer to one of the ammo bans as the “30-30 ban.” That’s the bill. I’ll get to that later. Back to the letter:

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2008 finds most Americans spending their time trying to maintain some semblance of order in their family household due to the stress of high fuel prices, a weak economy and the meddlers, peddlers and gov.

Meddlers meaning the special interest groups, lobbyists and the corporate clan. Peddlers refer to our news media that choose to blindside us and give us trickle down information in order to extract a specific response. The Gov, oh well do I need to say anymore on that one?

Few of us have time to really sift thru the political muck to find out the real truth, but before the Presidential Election we need to get involved as individuals, once again become the “Voice of America.”

Take a look at a Joe Bidens’s track record – you can do this with ease by going to projects.washingtonpost.com and stay in touch with NewsMax. If you don’t have time, than take a glance at some of his voting record in the next few paragraphs.

Remember, his campaign speeches are stuffed full of rock throwing and off the wall gibberish, because what he is saying certainly doesn’t match up to his voting record in the Senate. Who is this man and does he really place his country first in the scheme of things of is he on a personal mission?

Mr. Biden didn’t think the college students and lower middle class needed any assistance so he voted a big no as you can see below.

Vote 25: On the Motion: Motion to Waive Re: DeMint Amdt. No. 158; To increase the Federal minimum wage by an amount that is based on applicable State minimum wages.

Senator Biden wants no part of monitoring wasteful spending nor does he want his friends who lobby for him or his son to have to worry about compliance. Neither, he or his Democratic friends want to address the earmark problem – check closely and you’ll see he just passed on voting and let the Democrats take care of the bill, which they did!

Check out:

Vote 9: S 1: Vitter Amdt. No. 10; To increase the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements.

Vote 142: S 761: DeMint Amdt. No. 930; To prohibit congressional earmarks of funds appropriated pursuant to No authorizations in the bill Not VOTING No – by the Democrats

Vote 9: S 1: Vitter Amdt. No. 10; To increase the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements.

Vote 142: S 761: DeMint Amdt. No. 930; To prohibit congressional earmarks of funds appropriated pursuant to Noauthorizations in the bill Not VOTING No Democrats

Check this bill out, Vote 121: H R 1591: Coburn Amdt. No. 648; To remove $100 million in funding for the Republican and Democrat party conventions in 2008.

This bill was initiated to help those of us whose tax money is being recklessly tossed around at the Republic and Democratic Conventions. So far, Senator Biden appears to be scoring – 7 or 8 – he just doesn’t get it, or does he?

Is Senator Biden really placing country first, don’t think so – he voted “ no “for an extension of the income tax rate structure that protects nearly 28,000,000 families and individuals, including small business owners – and what is he actually saying in his campaign speeches?

He voted “no” on the bill to improve the economy efficiency, and effectiveness of Federal programs and reduce the Federal debt by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Along with that he gave the “Nay” on the bill that was meant to establish a reserve fund for protecting coverage choices, additional benefits, and lower cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries.

This is your dad, mom, grandparents and elderly citizens that he’s ignoring and someday you’ll be one of the seniors, so you need to take a long hard look at how the Democratic VP elect is voting.

It’s your right to vote as a citizen of the United States. Along with that “right” comes a responsibility of knowing exactly what kind of man or woman you’re selecting to lead our country. We need leaders – not followers!

A good leader will stand toe to toe with the meddlers, peddlers & gov and with the help of parents, grandparents and concerned citizens restore our Nations weak foundation. It’s time for our voices to be heard – let’s not settle for trickle down propaganda, lies or idle promises!

Don’t settle for chewed up regurgitated news, drag yourselves away from the TV, Newspapers and blackberries and do our homework. Go to projects.washingtonpost.com and get the real scoop – thank goodness the Washington Post offers an easy way to study the bills that have gone thru the Senate, because the government sites are difficult to find out the “real news.” (I wonder why?)

Take a minute to study a few more bills that Senator Biden voted “No” on and decide if this is truly the man for the Vice Presidency. As a mother of 4 and grandmother of 7 – he certainly doesn’t have a track record that protects my country, children and my children’s children.

Vote 102: S CON RES 21: Kyl Amdt. No. 583; To reform the death tax by setting the exemption at $5 million per estate, indexed for inflation, and the top death tax rate at no more than 35% beginning in 2010; to avoid subjecting an estimated 119,200 families, family businesses, and family farms to the death tax each and every year; to promote continued economic growth and job creation; and to make the enhanced teacher deduction permanent. “No”

Vote 82: S CON RES 70: DeMint Amdt. No. 4339; To provide for a deficit-neutral reserve fund for providing an above the line Federal income tax deduction for individuals purchasing health insurance outside the workplace. “No”

Vote 81: S CON RES 70: Allard Amdt. No. 4233; To require that legislation to reauthorize SCHIP include provisions codifying the unborn child regulation.

Vote 77: S CON RES 70: Kyl Amdt. No. 4372; To protect small businesses, family ranches and farms from the Death Tax by providing a $5 million exemption, a low rate for smaller estates and a maximum rate no higher than 35%.

Vote 74: S CON RES 70: Kyl Amdt. No. 4348; To provide certainty to taxpayers by extending expiring tax provisions such as the R&D Tax Credit that helps US companies innovate, combat pay exclusion for our soldiers in the field, the education deduction to make colleges more affordable and the alternative energy incentives to make the environment cleaner through the end of 2009.

Vote 73: On the Motion: Motion to Waive C.B.A. Cornyn Amdt. No. 4313; To protect the family budget from runaway Government spending by increasing the number of Senators necessary to waive the PAYGO Point of Order from 60 to 100.

Vote 67: S CON RES 70: Brownback Amdt. No. 4284; To provide funds for a Commission on Budgetary Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies.

Vote 66: S CON RES 70: Allard Amdt. No. 4232; To pay down the Federal debt and eliminate government waste by reducing spending 5 percent on programs rated (as mandated under the Government Performance and Results Act (Public Law 103-62)) ineffective by the Office of Management and Budget Program Assessment Rating Tool.

Vote 56: S CON RES 70: Alexander Amdt. No. 4207 as Modified; To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to improve energy efficiency and production.

You’ve heard me say, words are cheap and often times nothing but idle rhetoric – so the next time you tune into one of Senator Biden’s political speeches consider reading between the lines, because what he says and what he does are two entirely different formats.

John Mc Cain places country first! He wants to restore our Nation’s once strong foundation and he will stand toe to toe with the meddlers, peddlers and the gov.

Sarah Palin is the lady who cares about our children and their children. She is one of us and understands the struggles and problems that parents, grandparents and concerned citizens are facing.

Don’t just consider the two mavericks, vote for them on November 4th and help them restore our Nation and leave our children a legacy that will make headlines in our History books.

As Always, Annie

50 Days Until Election Day

September 16, 2008

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“I say there are simple answers to many of our problems–simple but hard.”
- Ronald Reagan

“It’s the complicated answer that’s easy, because it avoids facing the hard moral issues.”
- Winston Churchill

MORNING UPDATE:

REFORM TEAM COMES TO MICHIGAN…GRAND RAPIDS…McCAIN & PALIN… Wednesday, September 17 at Grand Rapids Community College at 4:30 for a “Straight Talk Town Hall Meeting”. 

SORRY…but the tickets were scooped up within hours…when we turned off the reservation website, we had well over 3,000 more reservations that couldn’t be filled.  Again, we apologize for the inconvenience…and disappointment.

CLIFF TAYLOR…Chief Justice Cliff Taylor continues to campaign across the state to retain his seat on the Supreme Court.  Our conservative majority is critical to continue holding off the trial lawyers and activist Democrats who would love to legislate from the bench.  Remind your local activists, Taylor for Supreme Court!

SCHAUER vs WALBERG…Mark Schauer is not only the deciding vote for the largest tax increase in Michigan’s history, but one of the Democrat leaders who pushed through this crazy tax…and now he’s trying to claim he “helped” Michigan businesses.  Michigan is the ONLY state in the country to lose jobs 6 years in a row…we cannot TAX ourselves out of a recession.  Schauer is part of the problem!

PETERS vs KNOLLENBERG…Gary Peters has been “teaching” at Central Michigan University while running for office.  As Lottery Commissioner, he worked to expand gaming in Michigan. Joe Knollenberg has been delivering results for Oakland County and Michigan.  Oakland County shouldn’t gamble on Gary Peters to get results.

FORBES PROPOSES BREAK UP OF FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC…in what is the boldest, yet the most common sense approach to the government bailout of the mortgage market, Steve Forbes proposes that these “two corrupt, mismanaged monsters” be broken up into 12 new companies…to help avoid backing the U.S. government into another bailout.

OBAMA & McCAIN ICE FISHING…so why does experience count?  Check it out.

POVERTY…DEMOCRATS…so what is the correlation if any?  Glenn Beck wrote an interesting article that lays out some of the problems and challenges.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED…we are opening up new Victory Centers daily and need more and more volunteers to make phone calls, knock on doors and put up lawn signs.  The response has been overwhelming, but Michigan will be the key battleground state and we need EVERY person willing to help in anyway they can.  Thanks again for all you do!  For more info click here:

JACK HOOGENDYK FOR U.S. SENATE …to follow the latest on Jack’s campaign to defeat Carl Levin go to: http://www.jackformichigan.org/news/

THE BIG SHOW…every Tuesday morning, Democrat State Chair Mark Brewer and I go head to head on WJIM with Michael Patrick Shiels.  We discuss the issues of the day the The Big Show is heard statewide on many local stations.  You can hear it online at http://www.wjimam.com/article.asp?id=505870

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No further commentary today.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

Bad voter applications found
Clerks see fraudulent, duplicate forms from group

BY L.L. BRASIER
September 14, 2008

Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group working to help low- and moderate-income families.

The majority of the problem applications are coming from the group ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has a large voter registration program among its many social service programs. ACORN’s Michigan branch, based in Detroit, has enrolled 200,000 voters statewide in recent months, mostly with the use of paid, part-time employees.

 
Race, economy lead Mich. voters to waver on Obama

By Kathy Barks Hoffman
Associated Press Writer / September 15, 2008

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich.-Michigan’s history of racial tensions is tugging against its Democratic tendencies, giving Barack Obama fits in a state where almost everything else — a soaring unemployment rate, a shrinking auto industry and a depressed housing market — potentially benefits Democrats.

The first minority candidate with a serious shot at the presidency is not running as well as his Democratic predecessors among working-class whites in this pivotal Midwestern swing state, partly because of the color of his skin.

“I’ve got a lot of friends … (who) are like, ‘Oh, no’” when it comes to voting for a black presidential candidate, said John Martin, a 42-year-old Democrat from Macomb County’s Harrison Township who backs Obama. “They’re all working people, all in unions, plumbers and stuff like that. … A few of them have said they’re not even going to vote.”

Levin, Granholm urge passage of stimulus plan

9/15/2008, 12:29 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press   

WASHINGTON (AP) – Michigan Democrats Carl Levin and Jennifer Granholm want Congress to approve a plan to stimulate the economy before the fall elections.

Senator Levin and Governor Granholm said on a teleconference with reporters Monday the plan should help states such as Michigan recover from the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs and help rebuild roads and bridges.

Democrats want the plan to extend unemployment benefits, help states meet the demands for Medicaid and promote the research and development of alternative energy sources.

Cindy McCain says her husband would bring jobs to Michigan

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News

PONTIAC — Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, said her husband would be the right man for the White House and the right person to help Michigan’s troubled economy. “He is not a man for all times but a man for these times,” said McCain Saturday evening during a 15-minute speech at the 119th Annual Lincoln Day Dinner. “He is someone we need right now.”

McCain spoke during the dinner, which was held at the Centerpoint Marriott. She said she was especially proud of her husband and his choice for a vice-president candidate.

“Sarah Palin has added such a spark for this race,” McCain said. “She is a tough reformer. She is someone who would not back down. My husband and Governor Palin would have the opportunity to rebuild and bring jobs to Michigan. The strength of the two will be remarkable.”

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS’ IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

Amir Taheri

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence. According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

“He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington,” Zebari said in an interview. Obama insisted that Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops – and that it was in the interests of both sides not to have an agreement negotiated by the Bush administration in its “state of weakness and political confusion.”

Give ‘em Hell, Sarah
Like Truman, a natural-born executive.

by Steven F. Hayward
09/22/2008, Volume 014, Issue 02

Lurking just below the surface of the second-guessing about Sarah Palin’s fitness to be president is the serious question of whether we still believe in the American people’s capacity for self-government, what we mean when we affirm that all American citizens are equal, and whether we tacitly believe there are distinct classes of citizens and that American government at the highest levels is an elite occupation.

It is incomplete to view the controversy over Palin’s suitability for high office just in ideological or cultural terms, as most of the commentary has done. Doubts about Palin have come not just from the left but from across the political spectrum, some of them from conservatives like David Frum, Charles Krauthammer, and George Will. Nor is this a new question. To the contrary, Palin’s ascent revives issues and arguments about self-government that raged at the time of the American founding and before. Indeed, the basic problems of the few and the many, and the sources of wisdom and virtue in politics, stretch back to antiquity.

It’s Not Just Palin — Its the Message

By Joe Trippi

There is no question that John McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has changed the dynamic of the 2008 Presidential campaign, moved the current wave of polling to the GOP’s favor, and altered the terrain the rest of the election will likely be fought on. The Obama campaign’s ability to recognize the shifting ground, understand that it is real, and adjust accordingly will determine the outcome. And the outcome, for the first time, is in doubt.

The Obama campaign went into the Democratic National Convention believing that the race would be fought out on Washington experience and “more of the same” vs change. This was essentially the same frame of the race the Obama camp had sustained for the first 16 months or so of the nominating fight with New York Senator Hillary Clinton. It worked in the primaries until the Clinton campaign shifted from “35 years of experience” to a much more “woman for change” oriented message in the later stages of the fight and nearly came back to win the nomination.

Palin spells out her role in McCain administration

9/15/2008, 7:42 p.m. EDT
By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press   

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) – Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Monday she would concentrate on energy, government reform and helping families with special needs children if Republicans win the White House this fall, and drew cheers when she said, “too often government is the problem” rather than the solution.

Campaigning on her own, the Alaska governor also said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama “wants to raise income taxes and raise payroll taxes and raise investment income taxes and raise business taxes and raise the death tax.

Rangel Pledges Cleanup of Records
New Discrepancies Emerge on Privately Sponsored Trips and the Sale of Florida Condo

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 16, 2008; Page A10

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) says he will hire a forensic accountant to untangle his confusing and error-prone financial records and eventually will make public his tax returns and the accountant’s report.

The announcement yesterday came as Rangel faced new questions about his annual financial disclosure filings, prompting a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to discuss his ethics troubles. Enveloped by three separate ethics inquiries, Rangel is under increasing pressure to step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee until the investigation is complete.

Ex-top aide to Detroit mayor rejects plea deal

9/15/2008, 6:08 p.m. EDT
By ED WHITE
The Associated Press   

DETROIT (AP) – The former top aide to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick chose trial over jail Monday, refusing to plead guilty in a City Hall sex scandal and make a deal like one that is forcing her ex-boss from office.

“Everything was overly harsh. You know that because there was no acceptance,” Christine Beatty’s attorney, Mayer Morganroth, said outside court. Kilpatrick, a Democrat, leaves office Thursday after recently pleading guilty to two felonies and agreeing to a four-month jail sentence.

From the Capital Hill newspaper

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cautioned Republicans Monday against forcing a government shutdown over expanded oil drilling while noting increased support for bipartisan energy legislation… Republicans are mulling whether to press the offshore oil drilling fight by blocking the funding resolution, which contains the congressional moratorium on such drilling. Reid reminded the GOP that its government shutdown led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) during the Clinton administration was met with widespread public disapproval.”

and

“We are not interested in any games being played. We simply want to make sure the government is allowed to function. There have been Republicans saying what they want to do is close down the government. I would hope that some of those people have read very recent history where Gingrich tried to do that and it didn’t work out well for the Republicans and certainly didn’t work out well for this country.”

This government funding legislation also has the moratorium on drilling in it.
What that has to do with funding the government is rather vague…well non-existent really. It’s a move by Reid to reinstate the moratorium by threatening bad press for the GOP if they block the funding bill.

We HAVE to make noise and call and fax and email EVERYONE and let them no we don’t care, we want the moratorium ended and we want to drill NOW. If we aren’t on top of this we are gonna get duped again by the Democrats. If there is a government shutdown we have to make sure the people know why… we have to scream it from coast to coast as loud as we can! BLOCK THE LEGISLATION!

52 Days Until Election Day

September 14, 2008

MORNING UPDATE:

GRAND RAPIDS…McCAIN & PALIN…join us Wednesday, September 17 at Grand Rapids Community College at 4:30 for a “Straight Talk Town Hall Meeting”.  For more information and to reserve tickets click here:

PALIN CONTINUES TO IMPRESS…her next interviews were great.  She answered them directly, you can tell she became more comfortable and confident interview after interview…. not only is she ready for prime time…look out Washington!

MICHIGAN’S ECONOMY…. If you like what Jennifer Granholm has done for Michigan, you’re going to love what Barack Obama is going to do to America…so who’s picking up on the message…see the Wall Street Journal for just that point!

TALK SHOW UPDATE BELOW…. Sunday’s schedule of the various show below.

MICHIGAN MATTERS…taped “Michigan Matters” with Carol Cain, which will air this weekend. “Michigan Matters” airs Saturday on CBS Detroit at 11 a.m. and is repeated on Sunday on CW 50 at 11:00 a.m.  Dem Chair Mark Brewer and I will be regular guests over the next few weeks. This week’s guest also include Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Macomb County Chair Bill Crouchman will tee it up and join Cain as they weigh in on the impact of outgoing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and incoming Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. on the region.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED…we are opening up new Victory Centers daily and need more and more volunteers to make phone calls, knock on doors and put up lawn signs.  The response has been overwhelming, but Michigan will be the key battleground state and we need EVERY person willing to help in anyway they can.  Thanks again for all you do!  For more info go to:

LEVIN REFUSES TO DEBATE HOOGENDYK…the Levin campaign has promised nothing more than to “negotiate” a schedule and terms of a debate.  What is he afraid of…Jack?  It’s a shame and a disgrace that Carl Levin is not willing to face an opponent and debate the issues…it appears both Obama and Levin fear or are embarrassed by their positions and don’t want to fact Michigan’s voters???? 

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SUNDAY’S TALK SHOW LINEUP:

ABC’s ‘This Week’ – Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain; former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ – Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.; former acting Gov. Jane Swift, R-Mass.

NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ – Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y.; Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Bob Woodward, associate editor for The Washington Post and author of a new book on the Bush administration.

CNN’s ‘Late Edition’ – R. David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Govs. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., and Bill Richardson, D-N.M.; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Linda Douglass, adviser to Barack Obama; Nancy Pfotenhauer, adviser to McCain. ?’Fox News Sunday’ – Former Gov. Tony Knowles, D-Alaska; Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, R-Alaska; Jim Laychak, president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.

If You Like Michigan’s Economy, You’ll Love Obama’s

By PHIL GRAMM and MIKE SOLON
September 13, 2008; Page A13

Despite the federal government’s growing economic dominance, individual states still exercise substantial freedom in pursuing their own economic fortune — or misfortune. As a result, the states provide a laboratory for testing various policies.

In this election year, the experience of the states gives us some ability to look at the economic policies of the two presidential candidates in action. If a program is not playing in Peoria, it probably won’t work elsewhere. Americans have voted with their feet by moving to states with greater opportunities, but federal adoption of failed state programs would take away our ability to walk away from bad government.

GOP ticket to campaign in Grand Rapids this week

9/13/2008, 3:51 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press   

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – The Republican presidential ticket is returning to Michigan for the second time this month.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear Wednesday at a “Straight Talk Town Hall Meeting” at Grand Rapids Community College.

The campaign has told supporters in an e-mail that the doors at the Gerald R. Ford Fieldhouse will open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets will be required.

Cindy McCain says her husband would bring jobs to Michigan

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News

PONTIAC — Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, said her husband would be the right man for the White House and the right person to help Michigan’s troubled economy.

“He is not a man for all times but a man for these times,” said McCain Saturday evening during a 15-minute speech at the 119th Annual Lincoln Day Dinner. “He is someone we need right now.”

McCain spoke during the dinner, which was held at the Centerpoint Marriott.

5 reasons why McCain has pulled ahead

By DAVID PAUL KUHN | 9/14/08 7:24 AM EST 

John McCain’s surge in the polls comes even as Barack Obama has inherited the most favorable Democratic environment since the Watergate era-an unpopular Republican president, an unpopular war and a flagging economy.

Suddenly, though, Democrats have found themselves in a world turned upside down, where Republicans have the momentum from running on change-and the latest wunderkind of presidential politics.

Below are five trends showing up in polling that help explain the change.

Obama and McCain v. Ivy League

September 13, 2008; Page A12

On their 9/11 day of campaign truce, Barack Obama and John McCain went to Columbia University and talked earnestly about public service. The Presidential candidates managed to perform a service as well, by calling out their host to welcome the Reserve Office Training Corps back on the Morningside Heights campus.

The suggestion was met with boos from the audience when offered by the Republican hopeful and retired Naval officer, and silence when crowd favorite Mr. Obama (Columbia ’83) called the ban “a mistake.” The contempt for military service, alas, runs deep at our so-called elite academic institutions.

Sen. says Palin sank ‘Bridge to Nowhere’

Stephen Dinan
Saturday, September 13, 2008

Sen. Tom Coburn, the chief foe of the “Bridge to Nowhere,” said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin deserves credit for killing the project, which became the symbol of Washington pork-barrel spending.

“The bridge didn’t get built because Sarah Palin had the guts to say it wasn’t going to get built,” said Mr. Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, who was the fiercest critic of the bridge and tried but failed to have Congress strike it. He said he sees an ally in Mrs. Palin.

Charlie Gibson’s Gaffe

By Charles Krauthammer
Saturday, September 13, 2008; A17

The New York Times got it wrong. And Charlie Gibson got it wrong. There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration — and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different.

He asked Palin, “Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?” She responded, quite sensibly to a question that is ambiguous, “In what respect, Charlie?” Sensing his “gotcha” moment, Gibson refused to tell her. After making her fish for the answer, Gibson grudgingly explained to the moose-hunting rube that the Bush doctrine “is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense.”

Wrong.

I know something about the subject because, as the Wikipedia entry on the Bush doctrine notes, I was the first to use the term. In the cover essay of the June 4, 2001, issue of the Weekly Standard entitled, “The Bush Doctrine: ABM, Kyoto, and the New American Unilateralism,” I suggested that the Bush administration policies of unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM treaty and rejecting the Kyoto protocol, together with others, amounted to a radical change in foreign policy that should be called the Bush doctrine.

Going After Charlie Rangel
Trying times for the chairman of Ways and Means

Sunday, September 14, 2008; Page B06

THESE HAVE not been pleasant times for Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.). For the third time in as many months on Wednesday, the dean of the New York congressional delegation had to face the media to answer questions about questionable practices.

In July the New York Times revealed that a New York City developer let Mr. Rangel lease four apartments in a Harlem building at below-market rents. One of the apartments was used as a campaign office. That’s a no-no under New York State law, which requires rent-stabilized apartments to be used for primary residences only. Mr. Rangel dumped the campaign office. Then came the revelation in The Post that Mr. Rangel was using his congressional stationery to request meetings with deep-pocketed New York powerbrokers to discuss a school of public service named after him in his district. House rules prohibit using stationery for solicitations. No, he didn’t make outright requests for cash in those letters. But when a note arrives from the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, it’s bound to get extra attention.

Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line

By Donald Luskin
Sunday, September 14, 2008; Page B01

“It was the worst of times, and it was the worst of times.”

I imagine that’s what Charles Dickens would conclude about the current condition of the U.S. economy, based on the relentless drumbeat of pessimism in the media and on the campaign trail. In the past two months, this newspaper alone has written no fewer than nine times, in news stories, columns and op-eds, that key elements of the economy are the worst they’ve been “since the Great Depression.” That diagnosis has been applied twice to the housing “slump” and once to the housing “crisis,” to the “severe” decline in home prices, to the “spike” in mortgage foreclosures, to the “change” in the mortgage market and the “turmoil” in debt markets, and to the “crisis” or “meltdown” in financial markets.

The leftist assaults on Sarah Palin have been unrelenting. After less than a week in the public spotlight, the media were demanding that she give interviews, said that she was ducking them etc.

Palin is a really bright and articulate person and since she doesn’t tow the media line, and since she is about to obliterate the media template of ‘the powerful woman’, the attacks have been merciless. When she finally sat down with “Charlie” Gibson of ABC News, the picture was clarified.

Palin obviously had to be uncomfortable because she knew that they would be gunning for her in the person of Gibson who has been called the least biased of the major network anchors. But this interview proved that Gibson is just “one of them”. Look a the interview picture on the ABC News website. Gibson is practically pushed up against Palin. Did he invade her space?

The body language was telling. Gibson sat unsmiling and positively sneering over his half-glasses, the kind of treatment that Obama never gets. When Obama gaffes and says “my Muslim faith”, Stephanopoulos gently corrected him and the Ancient Media have barely mentioned the comment. If Palin had made any such statement, it would be all over.

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Republicans gathered on Capitol Hill today to cap their 25-day protest on the House floor over the high cost of energy and the refusal of Democrats to do anything about it.

The press conference, held on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, was met with loud chants from a crowd of about 50 protesters. A few brave liberals sweltered in the 90 degree weather with costumes of a polar bear and what appeared to be a white pelican.

The scene was reminiscent of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ill-fated press conference in Denver during the Democrat convention, when conservatives repeatedly interrupted her by chanting, “Drill here, drill now.” Pelosi responded, “Can we drill your brains?”

Unlike Pelosi, however, Republicans didn’t lose their cool. Led by Minority Leader John Boehner, more than 40 GOP congressman showed up to officially welcome Democrats back to Washington. As the crowd chanted in opposition to oil drilling and in favor of renewable energy, Republicans said they want it all.

Rep. Mike Pence, who was instrumental in getting the protest started Aug. 1, said that’s the goal of the GOP’s all-of-the-above energy plan:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, you can turn off the lights on the House floor and shut off the mics, but you cannot silence the voice of millions of Americans who say with increasing clarity, ‘Give us all of the above: conservation, alternative energy, fuel efficiency, and drill more, drill here, drill now!’

Clinically speaking: a moron is a person who is mentally retarded with capabilities of the ages between 8 and 12 years, and is “capable of doing routine work under supervision”, or the more applicable meaning; a clinically stupid adult.

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