What would work?

This:

There is at least 1 trillion dollars held by US corporations overseas… profit from their overseas (non-US) operations. Having paid foreign taxes they don’t want to lose another 35% of it by bringing it here.

I propose that they be allowed to bring it in to the US as part of a one-time deal:

Any profit from foreign operations brought into the US from Oct 1^st to Dec 31^st 2011 will be taxed at a onetime tax rate of 10% Provided that:

All funds brought in are used to:

Hire people in the US over and above the reported employment levels on their Dec 31^st 2010 tax forms.

Or…

Investments in plant and equipment placed into service in the US on or before Dec 31^st 2012  over and above the reported capital investment levels on their Dec 31^st 2010 tax forms.

AND…

if of that plant and equipment placed into service in the US, if it was manufactured in the US the deprecation schedule for that plant and equipment shall be cut in half (50%)

AND…

Any business based in the US with reported 2010 income under 100 million investing in plant and equipment placed into service in the US on or before Dec 31^st 2012  over and above the reported capital investment levels on their Dec 31^st 2010 tax forms, if it was manufactured in the US the deprecation schedule for that plant and equipment shall be cut in half (50%)

AND…

With the funds generated by the onetime 10% tax, provide grants up of up to 10,000 to each person unemployed longer than 52 weeks good only at DOEd approved technical, trade, schools or junior colleges provided that the program or certificate trains the person for one of the top 50 jobs as listed by the BLS

http://www.usajobs.gov/mostpopularjobs/index.asp

All this would result in:

100 billion of new tax revenue

Explosive growth

Increased employment

Re-training long term unemployed

And most likely Obama’s re-election (okay… so it’s not like he’s actually going to do this)

And would not cost a dime…

Before I begin I wish to be clear: I am not predicting Obama’s defeat here. Obama, should he and his team address these issues in a workman like way, he could be re-elected.

I have grouped these stumbling blocks as follows:

Structural – The structural changes to the election that makes 2012 different than 2008

Issues – The issues that will likely determine the course of the election

Political – The politics that will effect and shape the 2012 election.

Structural

With the 2010 Census resulted in major movement in both Congressional seats and Electoral College votes. If all voting and states won in 2008 stayed the same, in 2012, Obama would win… but with 6 less Electoral Votes (EV)… that is a net 6 EV moved from states that Obama won to those that he lost.

So keeping those states as a starting point Obama ‘starts’ with 359 EV to a GOP 179 EV or a difference of 180, or with the GOP needing to flip 91 EV to win.

If we then look at the states that Obama won by the smallest margins we find:

(EV)          Obama     McCain    Difference

• 11 Indiana 1,367,000 1,341,000 26,000
• 15 North Carolina 2,123,000 2,109,000 114,000
• 29 Florida 4,144,000 3,939,000 205,000
• 18 Ohio 2,708,000 2,501,000 207,000
• 13 Virginia 1,958,000 1,726,000 232,000

86 EV 784,000 vote difference

Which leaves New Mexico and Nevada…

5 New Mexico 464,000 344,000 120,000

6 Nevada 532,000 412,000 120,000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008

Flipping either of these to the GOP, and Obama loses. Adding just one to the list above and it means that about 950,000 votes in 6 states move to the GOP and Obama has lost. For those of you that remember, these are new numbers, reflecting now the change in the Electoral College Votes for 2012, Obama ‘loses’ one state as a buffer from defeat (in 2008 the GOP would need to take both, in 2012 they need only one. This is what makes this a structural change).

Indiana (43.9% Obama approval), Florida (45.8%), Ohio (47.4%), have been traditionally safe GOP states, and trended back to the GOP in 2006 in a big way. North Carolina (46.9%), and Virginia (46.6%) while less sure than the others, are both within easy range of the GOP.

Which leaves New Mexico (48.6%) and Nevada (47.0%)… and no room for error anywhere else. And there are all states that in polling don’t nearly like him as much now as they did then. Gallup reports that Obama’s approval rates in these states are below his national average and below his 2008 vote totals. Also in that poll we see that there are now even more states for Obama to be concerned about:

New Hampshire 41.3% approval (4 EV)

Colorado 45.2% (9EV)

Pennsylvania 46.3% (20EV)

Maine 46.4% (4EV)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146294/Hawaii-Approving-Obama-States-Decline.aspx

The most Republican of those states, New Hampshire, with 4 EV were it to flip could make the difference… or we might be tied. (A tie would go into the House, the current sitting House, not the one elected in 2012, and the GOP would win)

So structurally the battle moves into smaller states, many in the far west, many not the traditional home of Democratic strength, (no large cities with entrenched Democratic political machines, no large union populations) and with smaller populations… all playing to the fact that it will be much harder to GOTV there… there is only so much of it there. Nevada’s SOS is a Democrat. New Mexico’s is a Republican. Add to that, Obama’s need to hang on to those additional states, NH, CO, PA, and ME that while not close in 2008, now would seem to not be too Obama friendly.

Structurally, 2012 is not at all friendly to Obama.

Issues –

James Carville comes to haunt us once again: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Carville’s words are more powerful still, as it seems that the economy in 2012 will be much the same in style as it was in 1992: better statistically than it is in mood. This will only get worse as inflation picks up. And while some will argue the point that inflation is (somehow) ‘good’ the average voter seeing their food costs and gasoline costs go up and up while their income, should they have one, stays flat.

Gallup reports that:

Thirty-two percent of Americans said the economy is "getting better" during the week ending March 20, a slight decline from the 34% of the prior two weeks. Fewer Americans currently feel the economy is improving than held that expectation a year ago, when 35% said things were getting better. Americans were more optimistic about the economic outlook in the earlier part of 2011 than they are now.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146735/Americans-Economic-Confidence-Hits-Weekly-Low-2011.aspx

I use this only to illustrate the point that right now, as the economy is posting some improving numbers; the mood of voters has not kept up. This is very much like 1992, and makes it very dangerous for Obama to make much of an improving economy.

It won’t help Obama that by October 2012 unemployment will have likely run out for most everyone (anyone unemployed before November 2010). Further unemployment has hit union industrial workers, minorities and recent college graduates the hardest… all important Obama / Democratic constituencies. (It should be stated: no union work = no union dues = no or less union campaign funds.)

The economy is going to have to improve significantly… and feel that way to many more people before it will be a positive for Obama. Gallup also reports that 3 of 4 people know someone that is unemployed. That is a huge penetration, and if it’s close to that in Oct 2012, Obama will have difficulties.

Healthcare – the best that the new healthcare law does in polling is 46% – 44% it’s a good thing and that’s in Gallup. Some polling has it 40 – 60 bad. Worse still for Obama, independents are 37 – 51 against it.

As Gallup said:

These reactions reflect a lot of politics and perhaps less reality, given that a full assessment of the real-world effects of the law is not possible at this time, because many of its provisions have not yet taken effect. Still, in politics, perception often becomes reality. And in that regard, President Obama and Democratic leaders who supported the bill currently face a public that is less than overwhelmingly positive about the bill and its promised ability to fix healthcare problems in the U.S.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146729/One-Year-Later-Americans-Split-Healthcare-Law.aspx

Healthcare, the signature ‘accomplishment’ of Obama’s first term remains unpopular.

The National Debt – this will either be one of the major signature issues in 2012, or perhaps it will have been ‘settled’ by that point later this year in some grand bargain with the Tea Party / GOP in Congress. Gallup reported in January that “focus on the federal deficit has been edging up… numerically the highest Gallup has recorded in at least a decade.”

The debt has exploded under Obama. By Oct 2012 Obama will have produced three years of budgets… each with more than a trillion dollar deficit. You might want to explain them away, yet those are the facts and they are beyond reasonable dispute. The absolute best way to combat this is to make a deal with the Tea Party / GOP in Congress, thus taking this issue off the table. To do so would mean that one of the largest GOP talking points would be gone, Obama would once again be seen as the great post-partisan uniter, etc, etc. To do so would come at some cost: to take massive political capital, actively work to form and shape the debate, and in the end sell out the leftwing of his party, particularly those in Congress… the very leadership that gave him Healthcare reform. This could be done… not the least with the cover that Obama’s own Deficit Commission has provided.

In the end I doubt it will happen. Obama has shown little interest in being that engaged, less still in much compromise and lesser still in reducing the deficit.

Gay marriage, DADT, abortion, crime, the other components of domestic policies don’t look to figure much into the 2012 election… at least not at this point in the process.

Foreign Policy –

Will the world be a better place in October of 2012? Or will half of it be in political upheaval and the other half lay in smoking ruin?

Right now, while nothing is certain, I would think the latter to be the better bet than the former.

This is one area of policy where a president can be seen as doing nothing, and get blamed for it. The world is vastly more unstable then it was just 2 years ago and how things ‘turn out’ by October of 2012 will have some effect on the election. We could have a Middle East laying in radioactive ruin (an exchange between Iran and Israel) or just your old run-of-the-mill smoking ruin… or democracy might be breaking out all over.

Will we be out of Iraq by then? (likely) Afghanistan (likely not) Libya (maybe… who even knows what it is we are doing, or going to do there?) And what of Syria? Pakistan? Or Iran? “Reaching out” to Iran has gotten Obama nothing more than bloody fingers for his effort. North Korea? Africa, Europe, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela…

Whole lot of instability around the world right now. Increasingly it looks as though the US and by direct extension Obama, doesn’t have a handle on things. This perception more than anything else might hurt Obama in this area more than anything else short of a direct attack on the US. This appearance of weakness, of policy drift, can grow on itself especially if those that mean ill see 2012 as maybe their last chance to act. North Korea into the South, Venezuela into Columbia, Iran attacking Israel.

I don’t see much opportunity for foreign policy to help Obama over the next 18 months… and a whole lot of opportunity for foreign policy to bite him. Worse still for him, it is mostly out of his control, and in the hands of people that not only don’t care about him, but are a bit unstable themselves.

Politics –

This I expect will be the most controversial section. And in that, let us get the most controversial issue out of the way: Lighting will not strike twice.

It won’t. It can’t. Not going to happen.

Obama rode the tide of a very ambiguous slogan “Yes We Can!” into office in 2008. Backed by the freshness of youth, almost no public record to speak of, a willing and captivated press, being the first Black to capture a major party nomination, Obama rode into the White House on nothing much more than “Hope”

The promise of a fresh start in 2008 will be replaced by his record of the last 4 years in 2012.

Democrats – The first problem Obama will face in this is by then, the 4^th year, the thrill is gone. Like romance, the heat and passion of those first crazy months have been replaced by the reality of actually living together, getting things done in life and figuring out how to love each other while not killing the other person. (Please note: my personal experience with those last two sentences makes me an expert… perfect record… failed every time.) Add to that: Can Obama get anymore voters to the polls in 2012 that he didn’t get there in 2008, what with all the excitement there was in 2008?

By way of example… Gary Indiana. Gary is widely regarded as being the place and the voters that put Obama over the top in Indiana in 2008. Gary got $266 million in stimulus money and has, according to the federal "recipient reported data" created a grand total of 327 jobs. That’s $800,000 per job. Gary has lost 20% of its population in the last ten years. Most people that voted for Obama saw nothing of that money… their world is pretty much the same as it was before. You can repeat this story again and again across the country… though most of the time it will have happened in cities that are located in deep blue states, so they don’t matter much to me in the here and now. The point remains that by 2012 not much has happened to help Obama’s core voting blocks, so expecting them to turnout with the same vigor, excitement and ‘hope’ as in 2008 is foolish at best.

There is also the issue of Obama’s war fighting and foreign policy with his own party. Again the question is: just how will the giving, the work, and the turnout on the left be for a president that many are decrying as being ‘just like George Bush?’ In not closing GITMO, in expanding the war in Afghanistan to Pakistan, and least we forget Libya, Obama is clearly throwing over his own base. “Presidential” you say? Well maybe… but just how happy will those on the far left be with him? How hard will they work? How much money will they give? More? Or less? Remember the angry right that stayed home in 2006 over the immigration bill? Or in 2008 over TARP and the other bailouts?

I think that it is only fair to say that real policy decisions… as opposed to the hoped for policies in 2008, will result in less than the level of enthusiasm the left had in 2008. To be clear: even if this takes place, and even if it’s twice the level I think it might be… in most places, most states, you won’t be able to see it much. In 2008 in California Obama got 8,274,473 votes, McCain got 5,011,781, and Nader 108,381. So… even if 4 times the people vote for Nader (or just stay home) in 2012 than did in 2008 and Obama loses those 400,000 votes. Likely this would not make a difference in Obama carrying the state. Many states like: New York, Massachusetts, Maryland could do the same without affecting the overall outcome of the race in that state. But in those close states, any falling off of enthusiasm could have a profound effect.

The GOP – The GOP has going into 2012 the momentum to be sure. And they are likely to keep it and build on it. As I noted above, unless Obama sells his own people out, and makes a deficit cutting deal with the Tea Party wing of the GOP, the same issues that rocketed the GOP into control of the House, and put the GOP in control of the largest number of state legislative seats since 1928 will still be in play.

At the start of Election Day 2010, Democrats controlled both chambers in 27 states, to the GOP’s 14; eight were divided (Nebraska is nonpartisan). By the next morning, Republicans had taken control of 19 chambers, giving them the majority in 26 state legislatures. And the number of new seats for Republicans—some 675—was truly historic. In 2010 Republicans put up 822 candidates more for state legislatures than they did in 2008, while Democrats had 50 fewer candidates than in 2008.

While true, this means the GOP has more seats to defend. This also gives them a much larger party base, far more ‘boots on the ground’ than ever before. Add in the US Senate races 23 Democratic seats against 10 for the GOP… as many as 7 Democratic seats are in play in 2012. Of course, the GOP need only pick up 4 of those to win control of the Senate.

The GOP has a lot going for it in 2012, and much to fight for. And new resources with which to work.

Independents – It is almost a cliché that Independents were ‘suckered’ into the Hope and Change’ of the 2008 Obama campaign and will not be again. There is some evidence to back this up. Obama’s relationship with the American voter right now is at best tenuous… less than 50% approve of his job, 51% say he does not deserve to be re-elected. (Only 46% say that he does). His loss has been most telling among independents… polling finds that only 37 percent of independents approve of the work Obama has been doing in office.

Independents are likely to be where the general election is won or lost. Right now 18 months or so out, Obama is losing them. (Some are saying that the Libya speech and the American Exceptionalism contained in it, was nothing more than a bid to reclaim these independents. I don’t think so.) This is the single best reason for him to make a deal with the Tea Party in the House. Will he? Will he tack to the center? Will it work? Only time will tell… but I don’t think he’ll even try.

Tactics – In 2012 Obama can and will be attacked on his record, these issues, something that McCain was not good at… hell… Hilary couldn’t find a way to attack him. That just won’t be the case in 2012. The attacks will (had better) come hot and heavy. Different in 2012 will be Obama’s use of the power of the incumbency. The circus like coverage that follows the president… any president when he is traveling, or speaking. The White House, Air Force One, even the Seal on the podium all powerful tools in any re-election campaign. (If Donald Trump did nothing else he proved that if you hit Obama he bleeds. Every GOP candidate needs to take note and HIT HIM!)

Also different this time around: Obama won’t be running against George W Bush. I say that even though he as of this week (May 25^th ) was in fact doing just that. But I really think that after 4 years the people just won’t be buying the ‘it was messed up when I got here line. Their response is ‘yeah, okay sure… now what have you done in the last 4 years?’

The Media – The Mainstream media will, once again, be in the tank for Obama. That is the fact, and to most any thinking person it should be beyond dispute. (one need only look at how they deal with Libya, look at the coverage of the Libyan speech from March 28^th ). The question is: just how will this affect the election in 2012? I don’t think that it will directly affect the election. By now, everyone knows that they are in the tank, so their coverage will be, and I think it will be discounted by the general public.

Along those lines, more and more people are getting their news / information from sources outside the MSM. As such, the GOP candidate will have in 2012 a much better chance to be heard… and heard in a positive light.

Given the total weight of those things I’ve listed, Obama’s re-election is far from a sure thing, and it fact is problematic at best. I don’t say it can’t happen, only that it is, at this point in history, difficult.

It looks like it’s game on for the Nuclear Option or reconciliation process to pass Obamacare. Obama is going to lay down his smack,

Bring it on, I say.

Should we decry this action… this breach of both etiquette and of the rules of the Senate? Of course…

Should we fear this… this vile act or the repugnant law it would foster on the American people?

I say no… and I say it loudly… we should dare them to use reconciliation. We should taunt them, mock them if they don’t.

Bring your vile words and your shoddy tricks let them fester as to blot out the sun!

Then we will fight you in the shade.

The American people do not want this bill.

What the American people do want is their health insurance bills to be lower, to get the same or better care, and for everyone to have access to coverage.

This bill provides for none of that. And it has been clear enough about not doing any of those things, that most everyone knows it.

The best thing for everyone concerned is for this bill(s) to die right where it is.

Then the Democrats can go out and make claim to having voted for (or against) it and try and blame the GOP for blocking it… in spite of the fact that the GOP did no such thing. Then they can hope that the Danny’s of the world with forgive them and that enough of the un-aligned will believe them.

If on the other hand they do choose to pass this bill using arcane rules and legislative sleight of hand, it will amount to a political suicide pact.

The nation will sheathe with anger… the GOP will (had better) play it for all it’s worth, maybe even walking out in protest (?) at the vote. Claims will be made of a coup having taken place, that the government is no longer of the people.

It will be a long very hot summer for the Democrats. This summer will make the last one look short and pleasingly cool. This summer will not be over quickly. And they will not enjoy it.

This will all lead to cataclysmic losses for the Democrats in the House… they could lose up to 100 seats, as even moderate Democrats are thrown out in the general hatred of this bill and the actions to get it passed.

Losses in the Senate could be huge as well, with it being the ‘scene of the crime.’

Members currently seen as being safe will be in danger… Schumer comes to mind almost at once. Murkowski is another. Net losses in the Senate could reach to 20… giving the GOP the filibuster proof majority.

Not only you and I can do this figuring rest assured that every Democratic member of Congress has faced this as well. They know better than we what they risk. Their leadership has looked into the abyss as well… for them almost as bad as passing this would be trying it and not passing it.

They also know that the boy-king Obama cannot, will not, ‘save’ them. The Golden Boy with the silver tongue (if such a person ever existed in the first place) is gone.

His coattails are somewhere up around his neck. Obama is 0-3 in helping others get elected… and his approval in now below 50%. If he signs this POS, it will go lower… he will begin to enter George Bush territory.

Tonight we say to Obama, and Reid, and Pelosi… bring it!

You want it, come steal it like honest thieves for once in your miserable political lives. You want this bill bad enough to lie, to cheat, to steal it through, and then do it!

Do it and let the people see you do it! Be proud of it, don’t snivel… stand up for once.

A roll call vote should be taken… each member stand up and declare in a loud and clear voice where they stand. Vote yes to confirm your soul has been bought and paid for by the radical left and it’s boy-king.

Stand up and vote yes! Vote for the tyranny this bill brings. Vote with your Lord and Master!

Vote against the people of this Great Nation, the American voter.

We are ready!

To my Brothers and Sisters on the right… be calm and of good cheer. This howling we hear is just the wind of political cowardice and malevolence. Fear it not. We shall battle it, overcome it, and banish it for many long years.

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. -Abraham Lincoln

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/us/politics/04scotus.html?hp

In expansive remarks at a law school in Florida, Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday vigorously defended the Supreme Court ’s recent campaign finance decision.

Now that would seem to be at odds with the President…

Both these men are noted as Constitutional Scholars…

Then it hit me… "Two Men Enter… One Man Leaves!"

Now other than George Bush, and maybe Erick, is there anyone the left hates more than Justice Clarence Thomas?

And few people are ‘disliked’ on the right than Barack Obama.

"Two Men Enter… One Man Leaves!"

Why ever would either man want to do this?

Well…

It is Black History Month… two of the ‘highest ranking’ Black men in the nation? How cool would that be for little Black Children to see?

Education? Teachable moment? More than a sound bite… no screaming and all that…

To further the debate… something that Obama claims to want.

Then it hit me…again… Haiti.

"Two Men Enter… One Man Leaves!"

So here’s the deal…

We get someone on our side to pledge 1 million for the American Red Cross for Haiti relief payable at the debate. (I’m looking at YOU, Rush!)

Ask C-Span if they would produce the TV of the one hour debate… and provide a live feed to any and all networks or local stations that want to care it. (using current Oxford debate rules… no BS)

Call the other side out… Soros? Hollywood leftists? Warren?

Then, once it is set… get the Red Cross to set up text ‘numbers’ where people can ‘vote’ at ten dollars a pop for their man. All money going to Haiti of course.

"Two Men Enter… One Man Leaves!"

Crazy isn’t it?

BTW: if by some miracle this actually happens… I got Thomas and I’ll give points. And I’ll go double or nothing that the right raises more money on the txt-in

President Obama will be heading to Massachusetts to campaign for Martha Coakley this Sunday, according to two senior sources informed of the president’s decision, a last-minute effort to give the Democrat a needed boost in the Senate race.

It’s a sign that Democrats are deeply worried about Coakley’s prospects and the party’s 60-seat majority, and believe the president can help turn out the Democratic vote in a state where he’s viewed favorably.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0110/Obama_heading_to_Massachusetts_for_Coakley.html

Well it’s all in for Camp Obama… let’s see if he can pull it out.

This could be a HUGE loss for the Dems… made more so that Obama will go and campaign for Coakley.

http://www.kitv.com/politics/22094469/detail.html

HONOLULU — Conservative radio talk host Rush Limbaugh was rushed to a Honolulu hospital on Wednesday afternoon with chest pains, sources told KITV.

 

Paramedics responded to the call at 2:41 p.m. at the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

 

Limbaugh suffered from chest pains, sources said. Paramedics treated him and took him to Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition.

 

He was seen golfing at Waialae Country Club earlier this week. The country club is next to the Kahala Hotel and Resort.

The latest calculation of the National Debt as posted by the Treasury Department has – at least numerically – exceeded the statutory Debt Limit approved by Congress last February as part of the Recovery Act stimulus bill.

The ceiling was set at $12.104 trillion dollars. The latest posting by Treasury shows the National Debt at nearly $12.135 trillion.

From here: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5987341.shtml

The Democrats REALLY don’t know what they are doing, do they?

Now I’ll agree… this is likely no ‘big’ deal… and something that likely could be fixed with a minimum of muss and fuss… but still… why is this an issue in the first place? Why are we reading about it?

Amateur hour continues… God help us… God help us all…

]]> Breaking news:

The latest calculation of the National Debt as posted by the Treasury Department has – at least numerically – exceeded the statutory Debt Limit approved by Congress last February as part of the Recovery Act stimulus bill.

The ceiling was set at $12.104 trillion dollars. The latest posting by Treasury shows the National Debt at nearly $12.135 trillion.

From here: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5987341.shtml

The Democrats REALLY don’t know what they are doing, do they?

Now I’ll agree… this is likely no ‘big’ deal… and something that likely could be fixed with a minimum of muss and fuss… but still… why is this an issue in the first place? Why are we reading about it?

Amateur hour continues… God help us… God help us all…

]]> http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/12/16/meanwhile-no-one-cares-about-the-debt/feed/ 1 http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/10/14/tonight%e2%80%a6-we-are-all-rush-limbaugh/ http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/10/14/tonight%e2%80%a6-we-are-all-rush-limbaugh/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:50:45 +0000 tsquare (Diary) http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/?p=64

Earlier this evening, as most of you now know, one of our own, Rush Hudson Limbaugh, while taking withering fire, crashed and burned.

Tonight, Rush is no longer ‘just’ a radio personality.

Tonight, Rush is no longer ‘just’ a NFL owner denied

Tonight, Rush is us. And we are him.

Tonight Rush became the metaphor for all of us… every man woman and child in this great nation of ours.

The enemy of this great nation, the enemy of you and me, Rush’s enemy… those on the left, inside and outside of this nation abhor success… and when faced with it will destroy it… by any and all means possible.

We all have our dreams in life… such as they might be. Rush dreamed of being an owner in the NFL.

Tonight the left proved that they will stop at nothing to end our dreams. Our dreams of success and happiness devastate their need to dominate and control you and me… and well everything and everyone.

Chrysler bondholders

GM dealers

Bankers and stockbrokers

Small business owners

Medical Doctors

Oppressed people wanting freedom around the world

The left can not and will not allow anyone to realize their dreams

Tonight a light went out… a dream died… it died from political correctness

Tonight we are under withering fire, we on the right those in the middle,

Tonight our values are under withering fire, those thoughts ideas and dreams that made this great nation are under withering fire

Will your light of your dreams be next?

Will my dreams be next?

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Tonight… We Are All Rush Limbaugh

]]>

Earlier this evening, as most of you now know, one of our own, Rush Hudson Limbaugh, while taking withering fire, crashed and burned.

Tonight, Rush is no longer ‘just’ a radio personality.

Tonight, Rush is no longer ‘just’ a NFL owner denied

Tonight, Rush is us. And we are him.

Tonight Rush became the metaphor for all of us… every man woman and child in this great nation of ours.

The enemy of this great nation, the enemy of you and me, Rush’s enemy… those on the left, inside and outside of this nation abhor success… and when faced with it will destroy it… by any and all means possible.

We all have our dreams in life… such as they might be. Rush dreamed of being an owner in the NFL.

Tonight the left proved that they will stop at nothing to end our dreams. Our dreams of success and happiness devastate their need to dominate and control you and me… and well everything and everyone.

Chrysler bondholders

GM dealers

Bankers and stockbrokers

Small business owners

Medical Doctors

Oppressed people wanting freedom around the world

The left can not and will not allow anyone to realize their dreams

Tonight a light went out… a dream died… it died from political correctness

Tonight we are under withering fire, we on the right those in the middle,

Tonight our values are under withering fire, those thoughts ideas and dreams that made this great nation are under withering fire

Will your light of your dreams be next?

Will my dreams be next?

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Tonight… We Are All Rush Limbaugh

]]> http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/10/14/tonight%e2%80%a6-we-are-all-rush-limbaugh/feed/ 110 http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/07/10/a-simple-question/ http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/07/10/a-simple-question/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:58:27 +0000 tsquare (Diary) http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/?p=61 I make no claim to be one of those ‘best and brightest’ in the GOP. so someone will need to explain this to me… use small words as you know I’m a conservative from fly over country. Under the (RCP) headline of:

“GOP, Country Better Off Without Stupid Sarah”

Our friend Peggy Noonan does what I think is a hit piece on Sarah Palin

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124716984620819351.html

I won’t bore you with the pile in deatil… leaving only my question:

Explain to me why WE (conservatives) should always avoid ‘hacking off’ moderates when the moderates of our own party (nominally in) aren’t burdened by the same ‘rules’

Remember… use small words

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/28/congress_should_aid_good_death_like_my_mothers_96704.html

As he presents her, a remarkable person, great mother, and someone that most anyone would like to know.

I didn’t really take notice until near the end:

The hospice movement has grown dramatically since its importation from Britain in the 1970s, especially after Medicare decided to pay for hospice care in 1983.

Forty percent of terminal cancer patients now use hospice care, but the percentage is much lower for other chronic diseases.

Congress and the Obama administration should find ways to spread the custom so that eventually practically everyone, like my mother, chooses to close out a good life with a good death.

I have no issue with hospice care… my father was in hospice before he died.

I have no issue with Medicare funding hospice

I have no issue with Kondracke wanting to see expanded the use of hospice care.

I take issue with only this:

“Congress and the Obama administration should find ways to spread the custom”

That I take issue with… the suggestion that when we have an idea, or when we see something, anything, that is worth doing… we should then turn toward the government.

This is what is wrong today… in Canada, doublely in Europe, but now swiftly creeping into the fabric of life in the USA.

It must be stopped. Our freedom demands it.

]]>
Last week Mort Kondracke, someone that I find otherwise reasonable, wrote this column about his mother

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/28/congress_should_aid_good_death_like_my_mothers_96704.html

As he presents her, a remarkable person, great mother, and someone that most anyone would like to know.

I didn’t really take notice until near the end:

The hospice movement has grown dramatically since its importation from Britain in the 1970s, especially after Medicare decided to pay for hospice care in 1983.

Forty percent of terminal cancer patients now use hospice care, but the percentage is much lower for other chronic diseases.

Congress and the Obama administration should find ways to spread the custom so that eventually practically everyone, like my mother, chooses to close out a good life with a good death.

I have no issue with hospice care… my father was in hospice before he died.

I have no issue with Medicare funding hospice

I have no issue with Kondracke wanting to see expanded the use of hospice care.

I take issue with only this:

“Congress and the Obama administration should find ways to spread the custom”

That I take issue with… the suggestion that when we have an idea, or when we see something, anything, that is worth doing… we should then turn toward the government.

This is what is wrong today… in Canada, doublely in Europe, but now swiftly creeping into the fabric of life in the USA.

It must be stopped. Our freedom demands it.

]]> http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/06/06/the-real-issue-at-hand/feed/ 1 http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/05/31/peggy-noonan-is-wrong-again/ http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/05/31/peggy-noonan-is-wrong-again/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 17:04:00 +0000 tsquare (Diary) http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/?p=52 Yesterday we who follow such things were presented with an almost perfect example of how the moderate wing of the GOP is wrong.

It starts… well I start it with Byron York’s piece:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/When-Democrats-derailed-a-GOP-Latino-nominee-46407227.html

Wherein he reminds us of another Latino court appointment… and how that ended:

Estrada’s nomination for a federal judgeship set off alarm bells among Democrats.  There is a group of left-leaning organizations — People for the American Way, NARAL, the Alliance for Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the NAACP, and others — that work closely with Senate Democrats to promote Democratic judicial nominations and kill Republican ones.  They were particularly concerned about Estrada.

In November, 2001, representatives of those groups met with Democratic Senate staff.  One of those staffers then wrote a memo to Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin, informing Durbin that the groups wanted to stall Bush nominees, particularly three they had identified as good targets.  “They also identified Miguel Estrada as especially dangerous,” the staffer added, “because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment.  They want to hold Estrada off as long as possible.”

It was precisely the fact that Estrada was Hispanic that made Democrats and their activist allies want to kill his nomination.  They were determined to deny a Republican White House credit, political and otherwise, for putting a first-rate Hispanic nominee on the bench.

We all know how that ended… Estrada… still with nothing to hide, having done nothing wrong… having nothing in his history… or speaking to call into question… grew tired of the Democratic filibuster and withdrew.

Byron York reminds us: “that was how Democrats treated the last high-level Hispanic court nominee.  Think about that when you watch their lovefest with Sonia Sotomayor.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124354585930464037.html

Peggy Noonan advises us… the GOP to ‘Grow Up”

Some, and they are idiots, look at Judge Sotomayor and say: attack, attack, kill. A conservative activist told the New York Times, “We need to brand her.” Another told me a fight is needed to excite the base.

She advises us that while true, the Democrats pound our nominees into the ground… they feel bad about it later:

A few—very few—agitate to go at Judge Sotomayor as the Democrats went after Robert Bork in 1987. The abuse suffered by that good man is a still suppurating wound within the GOP, but it is also a wound for the Democrats, the worst kind, a self-inflicted one. They damaged our national political culture and lowered their own standing with their assault, and their victory left them looking not strong and uncompromising but mean and ferocious. And on some level they know it. Ask Ted Kennedy, if he had it to do over again, if he would repeat all his intemperate and unjust words about “Bob Bork’s America” and “back-alley abortions” and blacks turned away from lunch counters. He’d be a fool if he said yes. He damaged himself in that battle.

Ms Noonan would have us feel sorry for Teddy… when Bob Bork is the one that took it in his political rear end.

This is of course… 1000% total BS… this is slave talk… this is defeatist… and much more to the point:

This is the very same attitude and advice that kept the Republicans in the minority for 40 years.

I say no… I say never… I say attack, attack, attack!

If Sotomayor isn’t made to answer to charges of racism…

If Sotomayor isn’t made to answer why she is overturned more than upheld…

If Sotomayor isn’t made to explain every square inch of her personal life…

If little bitsy Sonia isn’t made to cry at least once… then the GOP deserves to lose and continue to lose until we get some people elected that have the balls to play the game of Washington politics the way our opponents play it.

Ms Noonan: you and your intellectual brothers kept us, the Republican Party in the minority for 40 years.

NEVER AGAIN!

I’m going to pick on Erick here.

No, I like him fine… I like what he is trying to do.

I don’t like how he is trying to do it… and that said… I’m not sure I know what he thinks he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to do it. If I understand this what Eric is saying is:

We need to run conservatives for the senate in conservative states… like Florida. We can get by with less than conservatives in other places (Mark Kirk in Illinois and Mike Castle in Delaware).

And Erick is mad at John Cornyn for not doing just that and endorsing Charlie Crist in Florida.

If I got all that correct… then the question becomes:

‘is the course that Erick now takes… using the bully pulpit that is RedState to demean John Cornyn and this selection the right thing to do?’

I say no… while it might be the only course of action left, it is not the correct course of action. We missed that weeks or months ago. Why?

“I am not asking for a seat at the table”

Why the hell not? If not you, then who? If not someone then how do you think the process gets changed? You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

Today, right now… which one of those is RedState? Which one is Erick Erickson?

You want to lead a conservative revolution? Then lead it.

(I fully and completely admit that I have no idea what has gone on before, and behind the scenes… in some way I HOPE that one or more of the replies I get to this is: ‘we’ve tried all this before.’)

Erick: have you sat with and spoken to John Cornyn? With anyone at the NRSC? Has someone spoken to him/them post Nov 2008 on behalf of RedState? Who in/on the NRSC is conservative? Why was this meeting, this speaking, this conversation not happening in Dec 2008 or Jan 2009?

Why is there not a coordinated strategy between RedState and… well everybody else in the party?

Somebody needs a seat at the table… somebody conservative. If we do have a conservative at/on the NRSC, how then did this happen? If we don’t…

Enough of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Now what?

Get RedState a seat at the table.

Is there a conservative challenger in Florida? If not move on… more on that in a moment.

If there is… get with him/her and run that SOB…

Raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

Win or lose the message you HAVE TO get to the NRSC is: ‘wouldn’t this all be better if we worked together?’

If our guy wins so much the better… if not the fact remains… tens of thousands of dollars and a ton and a half of exposure went the way YOU WANTED IT TO.

You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

If there isn’t a conservative horse in the Florida race… find another one. (Chuck DeVore? Just a thought)

Again… raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

(BTW: who’s in charge of getting C-Span to Atlanta?)

Erick, if you and RedState don’t come out of this fight stronger… then it was a fight not worth having. Stronger is more powerful, and that means ‘a seat at the table.’

Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made;

before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made;

many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?

By means of these, I can observe them, beholding victory or defeat!

-SUN-TZU

]]> I am not asking for a seat at the table. I’m not even asking that they feel me or anyone else out about picks like this. What I am saying, however, is that the NRSC clearly has some screws loose and lacks good judgment. – Erick Erickson

I’m going to pick on Erick here.

No, I like him fine… I like what he is trying to do.

I don’t like how he is trying to do it… and that said… I’m not sure I know what he thinks he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to do it. If I understand this what Eric is saying is:

We need to run conservatives for the senate in conservative states… like Florida. We can get by with less than conservatives in other places (Mark Kirk in Illinois and Mike Castle in Delaware).

And Erick is mad at John Cornyn for not doing just that and endorsing Charlie Crist in Florida.

If I got all that correct… then the question becomes:

‘is the course that Erick now takes… using the bully pulpit that is RedState to demean John Cornyn and this selection the right thing to do?’

I say no… while it might be the only course of action left, it is not the correct course of action. We missed that weeks or months ago. Why?

“I am not asking for a seat at the table”

Why the hell not? If not you, then who? If not someone then how do you think the process gets changed? You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

Today, right now… which one of those is RedState? Which one is Erick Erickson?

You want to lead a conservative revolution? Then lead it.

(I fully and completely admit that I have no idea what has gone on before, and behind the scenes… in some way I HOPE that one or more of the replies I get to this is: ‘we’ve tried all this before.’)

Erick: have you sat with and spoken to John Cornyn? With anyone at the NRSC? Has someone spoken to him/them post Nov 2008 on behalf of RedState? Who in/on the NRSC is conservative? Why was this meeting, this speaking, this conversation not happening in Dec 2008 or Jan 2009?

Why is there not a coordinated strategy between RedState and… well everybody else in the party?

Somebody needs a seat at the table… somebody conservative. If we do have a conservative at/on the NRSC, how then did this happen? If we don’t…

Enough of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Now what?

Get RedState a seat at the table.

Is there a conservative challenger in Florida? If not move on… more on that in a moment.

If there is… get with him/her and run that SOB…

Raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

Win or lose the message you HAVE TO get to the NRSC is: ‘wouldn’t this all be better if we worked together?’

If our guy wins so much the better… if not the fact remains… tens of thousands of dollars and a ton and a half of exposure went the way YOU WANTED IT TO.

You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

If there isn’t a conservative horse in the Florida race… find another one. (Chuck DeVore? Just a thought)

Again… raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

(BTW: who’s in charge of getting C-Span to Atlanta?)

Erick, if you and RedState don’t come out of this fight stronger… then it was a fight not worth having. Stronger is more powerful, and that means ‘a seat at the table.’

Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made;

before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made;

many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?

By means of these, I can observe them, beholding victory or defeat!

-SUN-TZU

]]> http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/05/20/i-am-not-asking-for-a-seat-at-the-table-but-you-should-be/feed/ 0 http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/04/21/100-days-100-mistakes/ http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/2009/04/21/100-days-100-mistakes/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:06:30 +0000 tsquare (Diary) http://www.redstate.com/tsquare/?p=46 (All due apologies to the AFI)

Please join with me now in “celebration” of Barrack Obama’s 100 days in office.

Take a moment from your busy day, paying for other peoples mortgages or health care and list below (in the comments) one of your favorite Obama mistakes.

Let’s see if we can’t list (one per comment please) at least 100… one per day. I’m sure that there are more than enough to go around.

And to help lead off on this all star list of mistakes I’ll list what is now my current favorite…

Rush raises the stakes on Obama_

I have a serious proposal to make: the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan 2009.  There is a serious debate in this country as to how best to end the recession.  Recessions will end on their own if they’re left alone.  The average recession will last five months to 11 months.  The average recovery from each recession will last six years.  What can make the recession worse is the wrong kind of government intervention.  The wrong kind of government intervention is precisely what President Obama has proposed.  I don’t believe that his stimulus plan is a stimulus plan at all.  I don’t think it’s designed to stimulate anything but the Democrat Party.  It’s designed to repair the power losses from the nineties forward of the Democrat Party and to entrench this party for, quote, unquote, eternal power like Franklin Delano Roosevelt did with his New Deal.

…

Mine is a genuine compromise.  So let’s look at how the vote came out, shall we?  Fifty-three percent of voters in this country — we’ll say, for the sake of this proposal, 53% of Americans — voted for Obama.  Forty-six percent voted for Senator McCain, and 1% voted for wackos.  Let’s give the remaining 1% to President Obama, so let’s say that 54% voted for President Obama and 46% voted for Senator McCain.  As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009, $540 billion of the one trillion will be spent on infrastructure as defined by President Obama and the Democrats.  The remaining $460 billion, or 46% that voted for Senator McCain, will be directed towards tax cuts, as determined by me.

These tax cuts will consist primarily of capital gains tax cuts and corporate tax rate cuts.  So Obama gets $540 billion to spend his way.  The other people of this country who did not vote for his way get $460 billion spent the way they would like it spent.  This is bipartisanship! This is how bipartisanship really works.  Okay, Obama wins by a 54-46 majority, so he gets 54% of the trillion bucks.  Spend it his way.  We get 46% of the trillion bucks to spend our way, and then we compare. Then we see which stimulus actually works and works the fastest, and I will guarantee you that if this plan is adopted, just the announcement that $460 billion will go toward paying for tax cuts, capital gains, and corporate tax rates — we could throw in some personal income tax rate reduction in order to make sure that the voters don’t think it’s all about helping the big guys.  But we need jobs, do we not?

Now does Obama respond to Limbaugh? Laugh at him?

Can he afford to ignore him?

What if other ‘serious’ people pick this up? What if it comes to the floor of Congress?

What if this thing gets ‘traction’ with some people?

Your bet Obama… call, raise, or fold?

This is a continuation from my earlier entry of The Strategic Brillance of Barack Obama

“Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.” -Sun Tzu, the Art of War

This is where we conservatives always fall flat on our Pelosi… <grin>

We don’t have any kind of counterattack. Well we also lack much of an attack as well… but we’ll get to that another time.

The thing that troubles me the most in all of this is that we, seemingly have absolutely no idea what we are doing.

Now Bill Kristol writes that we should “Let 1,000 Republican Flowers Bloom “

This is the time for a thousand Republicans to bloom. Congressmen used to looking to the White House for guidance or approval–or fearing disapprobation–should show some healthy ambition and unleash their inner policy entrepreneur. Backbenchers need to come forward with heterodox ideas. There should be vigorous debate. Disharmonious disarray is in the short term much less of a danger than a false and stultifying unity.

Not for the first time do I wonder just who’s side Bill Kristol is on.

For as I explained before, it is this. “disharmonious disarray” that Obama seeks, a free hand to do as he wishes. But not just that… Obama wishes to ‘purchase’ his victories cheaply.

Mr Kristol points out, and likely is correct that; “There are severe limits to what the GOP can do over the next couple of months.” The wheels come off though when he urges us to; “In fact, Republicans might be better off doing nothing at all.”

Now is the time to get our collective heads together, make sure we are in fact ‘all together’ and:

• Make sure our minorities in Congress hold together. A strong leader would do this. We don’t have one… not that I know of.
• Start getting our message both together and though. This is a HUGE thing as we are terrible at it right now. The Democrats can through there elected leaders, and the media and with groups like MoveOn, and on-line get their talking points out and into the news cycle on any given day. Right now we on the right can not do this. We need this to hold our minorities together.
• Look for the fight, but before that look for the first fight. We need to find some Under-Secretary of BS that has a wacko-left history and burn them… bad. Pick a fight and make sure it’s one that we can win. Feed this to Rush and to Fox and all the rest… get the whole of the right moving against this smuck… and get him either voted down (best) or blocked. If one is a student of history let this be our Trenton, or Coral Sea. A victory un-looked for.
• After that feed back into the loop and see what worked… and what did not. Build on the success and fix the failures.
• Keep picking the small winnable battles… while staying together and not letting the Democrats pick off members with promises of pork. People will stay together if they think that there is hope… we must be able to convey that to our Congressional minorities. As this all unfolds make sure that the more successful of those “1,000 Republican Flowers” get exposure… here on Red State, on Townhall, on Rush and Sean and the rest. Give them reasons to hang tough, they are going to need it.
• While doing this keep the pressure up and be looking for: the first policy set back that we can hand Obama. It should come in the fall… maybe right after the August recess… you’ll know it when you see it. A bill Obama is pushing will be in doubt, his own party being wishy-washy on it. He’ll need GOP help to get it passed.

This is where all the rest will pay off… we must not only hold our members, we must have a reason for them not to cross over and we must be ready with all the support… principled, policy reasons, and be hitting it all over the media. All singing the same tune… just like the Democrats did for the last 8 years.

And we have about 7 months to do all of it.

1,000 GOP conservative flowers? Fine… but do we have any gardeners?

There is an old adage in US politics: ‘don’t get into an argument with a guy that buys ink by the barrel.’

Yet that is exactly what Obama did. Why?

Just what did Obama do here? He did several things:

He put the Republicans there… and indeed everywhere, on notice that Limbaugh won’t be able to help them.

He told then that he was in charge… and that any and all ‘blessings’ will come to him through him… and only him.

And he brought into the ‘fight’ Limbaugh… the guy on the right that buys ink by the barrel… at least metaphorically.

Of the first two, he did that with this statement and with his “I won.” comment. They could be viewed correctly as that ‘first rock over the wall’ or ‘first shot across the bow’ Also by the timing of this ‘attack’ as well as it’s ‘severity’ it would also seem that Obama is using his own brand of ‘shock and awe’ on the Congressional Republicans.

All of that, no matter how we might feel about it, is sound strategy… hit first, hit hard and establish dominance.

But Limbaugh and all that ink?

The positives for Obama, he took aim for and hit the conservative 800# Gorilla, right from the start. This shows that he lacks fear of Limbaugh, and that he is ready to ‘take him on.’ Strength on strength.  It also served to pacify those in his party that have been calling for ‘blood’ and thinking that Obama might not be ‘pure’ in his ideology with some of the Clinton era appointments. ‘Red Meat’ for his not so happy far left.

And the negatives?

Not a one.

But… but… but… it’s Rush, Barrels of ink, 800# Gorilla!

Yeah… so?

What? Is Rush somehow now going to hate Obama anymore than he did the day before? Is Rush going to talk more about Obama now… more than he has been? Is this ‘attack’ on Rush gong to somehow keep Limbaugh from making ‘peace’ with and going easy on Obama?

Hardly.

Obama, or someone near to him knows all this. The shock and awe, the establishing dominance, strength on strength, all that stuff. And that attacking Limbaugh carried no downside whatsoever.

So here my friends is the brilliance part: Team Obama knows this…

BUT THE GUYS IN THE GOP IN SPITE Of MY PREACHING IT ENDLESSLY, DO NOT KNOW ANY OF THIS STUFF!

Particularly the ‘no downside’ ‘could they ever hate up more than they do already’ part.

Which they can’t.

There is not now nor will there ever be a downside to a conservative attacking… anyone on the left… be they politician, media, moonbat, anyone. They hate us when we are nice, when we ‘work with them’ when we are bipartisan. They already hate us, just how much more could they possibly hate us if we were actually… well… conservative.

Obama knows on day 3 that Bush and most of the GOP failed to learn in 8 years.

Brilliant

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17862.html

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning – but he also left no doubt about who’s in charge of these negotiations. “I won,” Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.

The exchange arose as top House and Senate Republicans expressed concern to the president about the amount of spending in the package. They also raised red flags about a refundable tax credit that returns money to those who don’t pay income taxes, the sources said.

George Bush: work with Democrats on No Child Left Behind. Work with Democrats on Medicare Part D.

Barack Obama: “I won.”

Someday elected Republicans will learn that Democrats do not like them, will not work with them, and that they play be their own rules… which often are ‘screw you’

Maybe today they did…

President Obama:

Just typing those words… they don’t send a tingle up my leg but a shiver down my spine.

You sir are the embodiment of two great American adages. The first being that anyone can grow up in America and become President.

You are now the personification of that phrase. Not through hard work, nor long service, nor personal or professional accomplishment you have now risen to the highest office in the land. Perversely, you have done so by not doing any of those things. When I was young people said; ‘work hard, make something of yourself, and some day you could be President.’ After today they will say; ‘and don’t ever leave a paper trail.’

You are truly a man of your times, a man that is famous for… well… for being famous. Your only claim to fame is… fame. In nearly all the endeavors that you have been a part of… Law School, The State Senate of Illinois, the US Senate… in each of these you have been always the lesser man, the one least qualified. By this path you came upon the national stage a clean sheet, a blank slate, someone that can be all things to all people precisely because you have never been anything to anyone.

If there is one thing that you might be able to lay claim to it is the seeming ability to swim through that political cease pool that is Illinois without taint or tarnish. Cold reality would tell us that in fact you have not actually done so… only managed to keep hidden from view the facts. The machine either put you there, or thinks that it did. This is a fine dance that you have not yet paid for, and it should make for interesting watching.

The other great American adage comes to us from Abraham Lincoln “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

In this you truly are a success. The media in the country will be seen as those that you have ‘fooled all of the time’ The voters, some 66 odd million of them will be, hopefully, those fooled only some of the time. They will be fickle, the public, for they have been sold on your ‘brand’ of hope and change, after having been told for 8 long years just how horrible things were, they are likely not to be in the mood to wait… or compromise. You have sold them… or perhaps better said you have been sold to them… not unlike New Coke… Indeed that is the thing I think of most closely resembles you and your election. All marketing and no taste. None. Nothing behind the hype. No there, there.

You have been of late, marketing yourself as Lincoln reborn… yet most clearly you are another Franklin Pierce… president almost by accident, ill-equipped for the job at hand, and destined for the same fate… the worse in the nations history. In this you will, by the end of your time in office made it near impossible for any other Black person to challenge for the office.

Yet here you stand. A charlatan, an empty suit. Totally inept, completely unprepared, and the barer of half the countries political hopes and dreams. Most anyone else writing something to you would say at this point: ‘well good luck with all that!’

Not me…

Sir I wish you no luck at all… save to live a long life in bitter reflection at just how miserable you were as President.

You fooled the American people who, so ill-advised, put their faith and trust in you. As they will and must taste the bitter fruit of your failure so I wish for that bitter taste to stay with you for many long years to come. Bitterness and ashes is what I wish for you. Failure at every turn. You stole this election on false pretences and you should be made to pay for this… not with coin and not with your life but with your failure.

We too must now pay for the folly that is and will be your time in office. We will do so with time, treasure and regrettably with our lives. For your policies will hold nothing but pain and suffering for our people, and for the world at large. These next few years will be dark ones as the villains; the truly evil people abroad in the world, prove to you that your policies do not work, and that you are truly not ready for the office you hold.

We who apposed you then must now appose you more then ever. We must be there for those hurt and disillusioned by you, to rally with them, to give them hope and comfort and to unite and build an opposition to you and your party… to drive you all from office as quickly as our laws allow. Our task will be long, like you we are just now starting on it. This job will be difficult, fraught with unpopularity at first. But it is something that we must do, a burden placed upon us and one that we must see through to success… nothing less than the fate of our nation, and the fate of all free people in this world depends on us, we that now stand apposed to you.

You now must go about your tasks as we will go about ours. You must find such comfort as you might… in your own way. For me, in times such as these I take comfort in the words of my God spoken through blessed men many years before. They to labored though difficulty and yet with their faith persevered to victory. I take comfort in Psalm 13:

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

4 my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

Most Sincerely,

Tsquare

From here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17532.html

We get the news that The One is coming ‘courting’

It’s no secret Barack Obama is trying to seduce Republicans these days. But his conservative courting runs much deeper and wider than is publicly known.

Obama has had meetings with his former opponent John McCain, GOP congressional leaders and some of the country’s leading conservative commentators. He’s also honoring McCain and Colin Powell in high-profile pre-inaugural dinners, where Obama is expected to toast the Republicans.

Behind the scenes, Obama and his team are working just as hard, courting prominent Republicans and conservatives through frequent phone calls, e-mails and private sit-downs.

I sit with you now and tell you… all of you… as I tell my Daughters:

“You lay down with dogs… you get up with fleas”

In the end all you ever have is family and if you shame them ‘enough’ they stop caring. You go off running around with some young good looking smooth talking little POS like Him, we may not be here when you get back… all used, abused and cast aside. Because you know that all he’s ever going to do is blow sweet smoke up your… ear, then ‘take’ you in the rear and once he no longer needs you kick you to the curb.

Got it?

Make sure you do… or next time you want something (money… votes) I won’t be there.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch annonced yet another round of layoffs… this one including that very far left fellow traveler Eric Mink

That’s right… tsquare won’t have Mink to kick around anymore.

Now… normally I don’t like to take pleasure in the misfortune of others… and when I do… I do so quietly and in private.

In Mink’s case I’m making an exception. The man is completely without talent, holds little virtue, and seemingly would socialize the whole of the economy. I hope that he has already heard from both the ex-wife and her attorney demanding that the alimony keep flowing

I am personally most pleased that this happened before President Bush left office as now Mink can not get that poison column into print.

So goodbye Eric… do be a stranger now that you are gone. Don’t write… anything. Maybe Hugo needs a new PR flack… you might try there… God knows you’d like the politics… though I suspect Hugo is a little to the right for your tastes.

Begone Mink!… and trouble us no more!