Coincidentally, 303 city employees who were cut from other departments have been transferred  to the Water Department at a cost of $19.3 million.   I received an e-mail a couple of days ago from ”cleansafewaterphoenix.com”.    The Phoenix Fire Fighters (public sector union) want me to join them in supporting responsible public policy.  If the rate increase is not passed, the city bond rating could be at stake if it fails to pay its bills.  if Phoenix fails to pay one bill, it affects our credit in other areas. I need to sign the petition for the “small water fee increase” to protect the city’s credit rating.  Not to mention the email comes from “cleansafewater.com”.  I guess we’ll be drinking sludge if the rate increase doesn’t go through.

Phoenix declared a “fiscal emergency” on Feb 2, 2010, passing a $50 million food tax with barely 24 hours notice, or else police and fire would be cut.  On June 23, the city granted $29.6 million for city staff in pay raises and bonuses.   Also in June, Phoenix declared another fiscal emergency saying that the secondary debt fund (used to pay off citizen debt) was in dire shape if the Council did not approve a huge property tax hike.  In July, the city shifted $18.9 million from the fund to pay employee and operational expenses.  They in effect created their own crisis.  What do you think the odds are that property taxes won’t be increased?

Phoenix Democrat Mayor Phil Gordon has been trained well by the Alinskyites.

Before we get into it, though, it’s important to note here the broiling GOP problem in Delaware: the conservative tea party gaggle hates Mike Castle because he’s a moderate Republican. In fact, according to Will Bunch, it was a Mike Castle town hall meeting where we saw the first screeching, conspiratorial town hall rant by an angry tea party hoople. Also, professional troll and CNN analyst Erick Erickson once tweeted, “Sorry folks, but if we need Mike Castle for a Senate majority, we do not need a Senate majority.” Fine for Erickson to toss out seats willy-nilly like that, but Sarah Palin should probably be held to a higher standard than an overindulged bomb-hurling blogger who once threatened to pull a “shotgun” on any Census workers who showed up at this front door. Palin is uniquely positioned to be able to win or lose a seat (or many seats) for the Republicans, so she probably should have thought twice before pandering to the far-right fantasy of ending Mike Castle’s congressional career. She played grabass with the Erickson wing of the party instead of considering the real political consequences of her endorsement….

Nevertheless, thank you, Sarah Palin. Thank you for an autumn of entertainment as Christine O’Donnell implodes on the national stage. And especially thank you for the freebee Senate seat. We didn’t think we’d lock that one down, but now it’s definitely smooth sailing. Cheers also.

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/thanks-sarah-palin-for-th_b_718392.html

We ARE making a difference.  Don’t let up.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A small group of conservative Christians tore some pages from a Koran in a protest outside the White House Saturday to denounce what they called the “charade of Islam” on the anniversary of 9/11.

“Part of why we’re doing that, please hear me: the charade that Islam is a peaceful religion must end,” said Randall Terry, a leading anti-abortion campaigner, and one of six people who took part in the protest.

Another activist, Andrew Beacham, read out a few Koran passages calling for hatred towards Christians and Jews, and then ripped those pages from an English paperback edition of the Islamic holy book.

He carefully put the torn pieces into a plastic bag, in order not to litter, and said: “The only reason I will not burn it at the White House is because to burn anything on the Capitol grounds is a felony.”

Beacham, who describes himself as a leader of the rightwing conservative Tea Party from Indiana, added: “The Twin Towers were taken down because of the Koran and other religious teachings.”

A few curious tourists stopped to watch the huddle outside the White House, while police took down the names of the participants but did not intervene.

The tiny protest came as the United States marked the somber ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks amid heightened tensions following a radical Florida pastor’s threat to burn the Koran.

After days of global outrage and protests, pastor Terry Jones, from Gainesville, said Saturday: “We will definitely not burn the Koran, no.”

“Not today, not ever,” he told NBC television when pressed for his plans.

President Barack Obama told a deeply polarized America on Saturday that Islam was not the enemy as the 9/11 ceremonies took place.

“As Americans we will not and never will be at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was Al-Qaeda, (a) sorry band of men, which perverts religion,” Obama said.

Two choices:  1) Here comes the media spin that tea partiers are loony, fringe right wing bigots, 2) is it possible that the guy was a plant?  At any rate, Obama’s ground zero mosque remarks opened the floodgates that have diverted attention away from the economy before November.  The big question is will Americans fall for it?

On a conference call today with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and other congressional leaders, President Obama’s Council on Environmental Quality announced the selection of John Goss to lead the near $80 million, multi-pronged federal attack against Asian carp.

The challenge for Goss, who was director of the Indiana DNR under two governors and served for four years as the executive director of the Indiana National Wildlife Federation, will be to make sure millions in federal money is spent efficiently, to oversee several on-going studies — including one looking into the possibility of permanently shutting down the Chicago waterway system linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River–and to bring together Great Lakes states currently locked in a courtroom battle over the response to the Asian carp threat.
-per Chicago Breaking News Center

Maybe the $80 million will find its way into Rahm’s Chicago mayoral campaign fund. Any comments about “shutting down the Chicago waterway system linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River“?

Will you join me in committing to vote in the 2010 elections? Stand for Children believes strongly that every child deserves access to a quality public education regardless of zip code or economic status. We believe we have an opportunity right now to improve public schools for this generation and generations to come Our work is shaped by our organizational values: results for all children, bold independence, empowering, entrepreneurial leadership, being the change we seek, and direct and respectful communication. Stand for Children wants you to become an active Education Voter.  The choices Arizona voters make in the 2010 elections will have a significant impact on deciding the future of education for our children.  We believe an Education Voter is not defined by their party affiliation, but by a commitment to making sure that education is a high priority for our elected policymakers. The upcoming 2010 elections will decide who the policymakers will be as we continue to move forward with meaningful reform of our school financing and education systems. Click below to join us today!

The NEA and progressives’ tentacles run deep.  I have no idea how these people got my e-mail address.  Every time I see something for the “children”, my BS meter goes off.  So I did a little research. “I Stand for Children” is a sub-organization of the Children’s Defense League which was founded by Marian Wright Edelman.  She is a buddy of Arne Duncan.  Her son took Arne’s old job at the Chicago Public Schools, and has recently been fired for doing nothing but close down schools.  Of course, “I Stand for Children” is not affiliated with any political party (HAHA), and is dedicated to our public schools, social justice and economic security.  They currently have affiliates in AZ, CO, MA, OR, TN, and WA.  It must be a newer organization just in time for November. How many people get these innocuous e-mails, express an interest, and then become a part of the Propaganda Machine?  How do you fight the sheer numbers of them????

From HotAir:

Speaking about the Uganda bombings, the president said, “What you’ve seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains.”…

Explaining the president’s comment, an administration official said Mr. Obama “references the fact that both U.S. intelligence and past al Qaeda actions make clear that al Qaeda — and the groups like al Shabaab that they inspire — do not value African life. The actions of al Qaeda and the groups that it has inspired show a willingness to sacrifice innocent African life to reach their targets.”…

“Additionally, U.S. intelligence has indicated that al Qaeda leadership specifically targets and recruits black Africans to become suicide bombers because they believe that poor economic and social conditions make them more susceptible to recruitment than Arabs,” the official said. “Al Qaeda recruits have said that al Qaeda is racist against black members from West Africa because they are only used in lower level operations.”

“In short,” the official said, “al Qaeda is a racist organization that treats black Africans like cannon fodder and does not value human life.”

I think Obama has just played the race card one time too many.  The whole world will be laughing in disbelief.