Rules ? We make ‘em up as we go along

South Florida’s  U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, is taking heat in the conservative blogosphere   for remarks at a Rules Committee hearing in which he defended a  controversial “deem and pass” strategy for approving health care overhaul that Democratic leaders ended up abandoning.

Hastings said:

"When the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make ‘em up as we go along. "
(Click here to see Hastings’ entire statement, which begins at 4:44 on the C-SPAN video.)

Hastings said Republicans often used the same tactic when they were in charge of the House from 1995 to 2007. Hastings said it was time to “stop all of the rhetoric and get to the business of what’s at hand. The fact of the matter is that a lot of our fellow Americans are hurting and they don’t have affordable health care and for the life of me I cannot understand why we all should not be willing to share in order to help the least of them.”

He was indicted for accepting a $150K bribe in 1981 (back when $150K was a lot of money) as a federal judge

He's right about one thing, a lot of Americans are hurting, but not the ones he cares about. I'ts understandable that Hastings would, being the 6th federal judge in history to be removed from the bench by the Senate, have a keen understanding of the flexibility of rules for the purpose of governing. According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, he spent $24,000 in taxpayer funds to lease a luxury Lexus hybrid car for himself. Another interesting little fact about “the honorable” Representative Hastings: one of his staffers is his long-time girlfriend (also a disbarred lawyer), whom he pays a salary of $160K annually — with taxpayer money, of course.

Hastings then added:

“I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison made the remark that I think applies here: ‘There ain’t no rules around here — we’re trying to accomplish something.’ And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make ‘em up as we go along, and I’m here now 18 years, and a significant amount of that time here on this committee under the leadership of the Republicans…” Edison is widely quoted as saying “Hell, there are no rules here—we’re trying to accomplish something.”


He seems so happy now that he is surrounded by Democrats and doesn't have to be bothered with  silly annoyances like rules, or ethics.

Don't forget to vote to restore honor in November, so we don't need to explain to Mr. Hastings the difference between inventing light bulbs, and governing the people of the United States

Today's Links

It is no secret that education in America has lagged, by international standards, for quite a few years. The liberals' answer is always the same: spend more money... Read more

The State Department plans will soon publish an advisory to American travelers to avoid public places anywhere in Europe. Two Osama bin Laden tapes in 24 hours may hold the coded trigger for the attack.... Read more

In New York City, one of the bluest of blue cities, President Obama could not fill a tiny room, even when organizers slashed ticket prices. Just six weeks before one of the most important mid-term elections ...Read more

Here’s something you wouldn’t expect to read in the New York Times: Republicans are better informed about political issues than blacks, hispanics, and young people...Read more

WINSTON CHURCHILL once moaned about the long, dishonourable tradition in politics that sees commerce as a cow to be milked or a dangerous tiger to be shot. Businesses are the generators of the wealth on which incomes, taxation and all else depends...Read more

President Obama's interview in Rolling Stone Magazine sadly confirms what many of us have long known: President Obama's transformation from post-partisan healer to hyper-partisan attack dog is complete. Why has this happened? ...Read more

The Jackass of the Week Award

Goes to the the vermin in Washington who voted to abandon ship. Congressional Democrats headed home hoping to boost their poll numbers and stem the Republican tide, but their odds aren't good. The unfinished business they left won't help, either.The House vote to adjourn was 210-209, a cynically calculated margin that gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi(D-CA) the deciding vote.

Their cowardly retreat, and arrogant attitude toward the public won't help their popularity ratings or garner many votes. Giving one of the most important issues facing this dead economy short shrift just before elections however, tips their hand, they almost assuredly intend to increase taxes if they get re-elected and return to Washington. Just goes to show that you can't shame or embarrass a democrat.

And while congress didn't have time to consider major issues like taxes, they managed to find time for Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," to "testify" last week before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. His so-called testimony was nothing more than a string of boring one-liners that were inappropriate, and made a mockery of the whole issue, considering the venue and the subject.

The Repulicans were not amused, even several Democrats were critical of Colbert's appearance. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, "I think his testimony was not appropriate. However as you might expect Nancy Pelosi was full if gushing praise, "Of course I think it's appropriate," she said. "He's an American, right ? He comes before the committee, has a point of view, he can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. I think it's great." The lousy comedian and his pitiful performance definately fits in with the Democrat caucus.

Wait before you change that vote, The Stimulus was successful !

The lame stream media is doing their part to help save a failed liberal agenda, and running every story they can find that focuses on conservative missteps, problems, or potential scandals, like Meg Whitman's illegal alien housekeeper, and pushing the trade war with China theme that Obama seems willing to play out now, instead of waiting until 2012.

They're also making some amazing claims. If your a democrat it must have been comforting to know that "leading economists announced that the recession ended in 2009, even though jobs, housing , and the auto industry would not start to recover in until 2012, how convenient. And now the Washington Post's Lori Montgomery is reporting that the Stimulus was not only successful, is a model for future government spending programs, say what ?

The crux of the story seems to be that corruption and misuse of funds has been very low, so therefore the stimulus has been successful. So why not throw away 700 billion dollars every few years. It occurred to me also that the main reason, if it is true that stealing stimulus funds has not occurred on any grand scale, may be because all the money was given to the union thugs and political vermin that would have tried to steal it in the first place, so there was no need.

You can track your local failed stimulus spending projects here to see for yourself the length and depth of the waste.

A party that governs by spinning heart tugging narratives, ignoring reality, and steering clear of inconvenient facts, needs someone to publish their narratives, and the new media does it's job, no questions asked. Gone are the days of the old media, the the cigar chomping reporter, with the crumpled up suit and crooked hat, firing off expletives and digging up the dirt on the ruthless 'upper crust" elite and the hard nosed corrupt politicians.

The new media is led to believe they are part of the ruling class, they're not of course, but they have their degrees from from their elite schools, they are invited to the same cocktail parties, dinners, and fundraisers, their kids go to the same elite private schools, they are made to feel like they are part of the ruling class, they don't represent the people anymore. They are the barking dogs for the super rich, and the political class that are squeezing the life out of the heart of America, The Middle Class.

Today's Links

Tehran this week secretly appealed to a number of computer security experts in West and East Europe with offers of handsome fees for consultations on ways to exorcise the Stuxnet worm spreading havoc through the computer networks and administrative software of its most important industrial complexes and military command centers. debkafile's intelligence and Iranian sources report that local efforts backfired; the malworm became even more aggressive. ...Read More

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman used to have a clean public image. Until she got into politics, that is. The Republican California gubernatorial candidate is being sued by her former housekeeper.

Said housekeeper hired none other than celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, who most recently represented the marketing contractor who got Mark Hurd kicked out of HP. Reuters has more:


This season’s emerging Democratic message to voters seems so crazy that I need to highlight it. In short, Democrats are saying “vote for us, so we can raise your prices.” Of course, they are not using those words, but what they are advocating boils down to exactly the same thing, that coupled with bringing China bashing out of the election cycle war chest seems to be their only strategy...Read more here


On this day in Ancient History - September 29th The Rogue Classicist says this is another possible date for the anniversary of the decapitation of Pompey upon landing in Egypt in 48 B.C. Unfortunately, many ancient dates are questionable. ...

Read Full Post

Democrats, Obama differ over whether to lock in Bush’s tax cuts

Democrats, Obama differ over whether to lock in Bush’s tax cuts
Senate Democrats are peeling away from President Obama over permanent extension of the middle-class tax cuts. Read more…
Read more on The Hill

Who Cares If a Soldier Dies ?

Yesterday more details were released from the excerpts of Bob Woodward's book. It's now obvious that Obama cold-bloodily decided to keep American soldiers in harm's way, dying in combat, while coolly calculating the best political strategy for a retreat, so as not to lose votes for his signature health care bill. My heart goes out to the Americans and their families that have, and will die for this political farce. How they will suffer, and how low we have stooped when we so blatantly allow a president to sacrifice American lives for a such cheap partisan political stunt.

Obama is not the type of person that like to take responsibility, or is willing to suffer the consequences of his actions. He is comfortable letting people suffer and die to advance is own selfish interests, he is all that, so he thinks. Let's not forget that someone has to take responsibility, and far too many Americans are suffering for his incompetence.

I can't think of much else to say about that, or Obama, he pretty much speaks for himself, I think. It it did however remind me of poem I came across not long ago that has stuck in my mind, and speaks to the issue of war and politics from a soldiers perspective, I'll share it with you and add the link to the original post when I find it.

Who cares if a solder dies?

Take a man and put him alone,
Put him twelve thousand miles from home.
Empty his heart of all but blood,
Make him live in sand, in mud.
This is the life I have to live,
This the soul to God I give.
You have your parties and drink your beer,
While young men are dying over here.
Play your poiltics and have your fun,
Then refuse to use a gun.
There's nothing else for you to do,
Then I'm supposed to die for you?
There is one thing that you should know;
And that's where I think you should go!
I'm already here and it's too late.
I've traded all my love for all this hate.
I'll hate you till the day I die.
You made me hear my buddy cry.
I saw his leg and his blood shed,
Then I heard them say, "This one's dead".
It was a large price for him to pay,
To let you live another day.
He had the guts to fight and die,
To keep the freedom you live by.
By his dying, your life he buys,
But who cares if a soldier dies!

- Rachel

The link to this poem

Today's Links

Power Line - Some commentators are criticizing President Obama's response to a supporter at a campaign event who asked him why he is a Christian:

Israel is winning the 'blame - there has been a subtle shift in the 'direct talks' reports Politico's Ben Smith, but from Israel's perspective that shift could be the most important one of all:

The Marxist Foundations Of Steve Jobs' New Home - Ironic that the billionaire who built one of the technology industry’s most profitable companies would choose to live in a five-bedroom home whose design harkens back to the Marxist-inspired Bauhaus movement of Weimar Germany.

Don’t believe it? Just compare the cafeteria at the Bauhaus school’s Dessau campus (pictured) to the retail stores Apple erected nearly a century later.

MIT thinks it knows where Osama Bin Laden is

An essay in the MIT International Review uses bio-geographic theories and satellite imagery to posit most likely hiding place of Osama bin Laden. And they make a pretty compelling case that he's probably hanging out in one of three places in the Pakistani city of Parrachinar. The methodology is ingenious, and the paper is an easy, short read (and it has satellite photos of the region and buildings in question). Check it out here !

The Problem With Social Conservatives

As the Tea Party gains power and influence, it is causing splits in the Republican Party. I mean let's face it, Republicans have been some of the biggest supporters of big government spending, entitlement programs, as well as proponents of the idea that owning your home is "right" not a privilege. George Bush, amazingly, just before the banking industry crash, wanted to away with down payments altogether , he said they were an impediment to owning a home.. really ? And it was Richard Nixon who said " We are all Keynesians now"

The Republican party will have to change it's thinking in order to coexist with the core values and principles of the Tea Party, and I predict it will not be easy. In fact don't look for any amicable relationships to bud anytime soon. The Tea Party is not looking for a cooperation with the Republican Party, they are looking to do a hostile take over.

Are social conservatives actually just big government socialists? Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano asks the question and provides some insights into the mixed messages of self-described social conservatives.

Peace talks on the edge as construction freeze ends

Peace talks on the edge as construction freeze ends
The Middle East peace talks could be heading for an early collapse, with Israeli and Palestinian leaders unable to reach a compromise on Jewish settlement expansion.
Read more on ABC via Yahoo!7 News

Mideast peace talks at stake as settlement curbs ends
The fate of Middle East peace talks hangs in the balance as Israel gears up to resume West Bank settlement construction with a 10-month partial moratorium on building ending on Sunday night.
Read more on Hindustan Times

Peace talks in jeopardy, Clinton and Abbas meet
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spent nearly a half-hour Friday meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the Obama administration tried to prevent Israeli-Palestinian peace talks from collapsing.
Read more on AP via Yahoo! News

TAXES: No time to increase them

TAXES: No time to increase them
Dont you know, this is the worst time to raise taxes? It is unconscionable and does not help the economy. What about city employees keeping their wages status quo? People out of work, plus families on limited income have suffered as well as seniors who have not had a cost of living raise in two years. City employees should be happy to have a job with benefits.
Read more on Coeur d’Alene Press

Who pays taxes, who doesn’t may shift
Maybe you won’t pay taxes on food at the grocery store. You might pay taxes on utilities instead.
Read more on The Wichita Eagle

Real property taxes to go up some to benefit Murray schools
Taxes on real property in Murray benefitting Murray Independent Schools will increase from 51 cents per 0 of assessed value to 52.6 cents following a public hearing and meeting of the MISD board of education Thursday night.
Read more on Murray Ledger & Times

Tagged as: increase, TAXES, them, time

Obama : " We Can Absorb Another Terrorist Attack"

The most foolish statement of the century : "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger." -- Barack Obama

This has to be the most asinine words ever spoken by a so-called leader of a country. He also says "We'll do everything we can to prevent it." excuse me if I'm skeptical, and watching my back.

Could somebody explain to me how we are stronger ? I am missing something here. We are stuck in economic, mental and psychological a ditch. This attack succeeded far beyond anything they ever dreamed of, and the horror of seeing the sudden,violent,death of of thousands of innocent American civilians doesn't even phase this guy, "hell, we can take another one." Let him take it.

He is totally detached from reality, the only thing he is worried about is losing his the Democratic Congress.The real question is can we absorb two more years of this Pop Culture wannabe playing president.

Please inform al queda we are available for attack. We are America 300 million strong, we can absorb 100,00 WTC attacks, bring it on. If we haven't reached bottom yet, we must be dam close.

The Brushfires of Freedom

Tea Party flexes muscles in Marin County today
Hundreds of Tea Party supporters will gather in Marin County today, where they will listen to speeches from affirmative action opponent Ward Connerly and John Yoo, the UC Berkeley law professor and an architect of the…
Read more on San Francisco Chronicle

Tea Party Pure, With Idiosyncrasies
Joe Walsh took his Republican and Tea Party campaign for Congress to the Waukegan Yacht Club.
Read more on New York Times

Tea party activists upbeat about winning state races, influencing candidates
NASHVILLE – While Tennessee tea parties have blossomed as part of a national phenomenon, the state was already a fertile field for staunchly conservative politics and residents willing to be vocally confrontational in presenting their views.
Read more on Knoxville News Sentinel

Inside the conservative civil war: Social vs. fiscal conservatism
Conservative advocates debated the social versus fiscal divide in Tea Party and GOP circles at a Family Research Council symposium Friday, headlined by The New York Times’ conservative columnist Ross Douthat.
Read more on Daily Caller via Yahoo! News

Tagged as: County, flexes, Marin, muscles, Party, today

Small Business Owner's Confidence Plunges

While we are being told that the recession has officially ended. Confidence was at a record low among small business owners who sell directly to consumers. 62 percent of small business owners rate the current state of the U.S. economy as poor, up from 58 percent, in July; while 28 percent it fair; 6 percent rate it good; and 3 percent rate it excellent.

A majority of small business owners think the economy is getting worse, not better. And if small businesses are not confident, then they are not hiring.


Economic Confidence Plunges; Low Expectations for the Holidays.

How Out of Touch Can they Get ?

Just some thoughts on the current media hype about Christine O’Donnel, and Obama’s smear campaign against John Boehner. First, I don’t know O’Donnell, and I am not familiar with Delaware, other than driving it through it many times on my way to fish on the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

As I read through the media’s negative reporting about how “wacky” she is, I was struck by what seemed to be a very normal, average person, in fact; much more so than the majority of professional politicians that are wrecking the country. I mean the most frightening complaints the left can come up with are, that she left college to work, and returned to finish her degree later, which strikes me as a quite admirable accomplishment, also, she was $10,000 dollars in debt. How many Americans can relate to that ?

Obama recently has ecome obsessed with John Boehner, possibly even seeing him in his sleep “That’s the cracka I be seein in my sleep”, Democrats have started a BeatBoehner.com website that claims he spent $1 million on “luxury hotels, exclusive golf resorts and gourmet dining for himself and his fat-cat contributors”and maybe here is why.

Boehner’s classic pull yourself up by the bootstraps, American dream story stands in stark, horrifying contrast to the out of touch, privileged backgrounds of Obama and the Democrats.

Mr Boehner, 61, is the second of 12 who grew up in a German-Irish family in Reading, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati. All but two of them still live within a few miles of each other.

Two are unemployed and most of the others have blue-collar jobs. The future Congressman started work as a janitor and took seven years to get his degree
the first in the family to do so – because he had several jobs to pay his way. He joined a plastics and packaging company, rising to president before entering local politics by being elected to the town board.

It is a nice portrait of a man whose upbringing and youth were nowhere near as privileged and insulated as Barack Obama’s, Mr Boehner has actually held a job.

Poverty And The Democrats

The Associated Press reports that Census Bureau data due next week will show a record increase in the poverty rate. There is much that could be said about this--"poverty" isn't what it used to be--but what is interesting to me is how the AP ties the news to the Obama administration and the Democrats:

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty. ...

It's unfortunate that the hope and change president is just the same old rehashed, failed liberal policies of old. According to the CATO Intsitute The federal government currently operates 122 different anti-poverty programs, ranging from Medicaid to the tiny Even Start Program for Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations. All together, the federal government spent more than $591 billion in 2009 on means-tested or anti-poverty programs, and will undoubtedly spend even more this year. That amounts to $14,849 for every poor man, woman and child in America. Given that the poverty line is just $10,830, we could have mailed every poor person in America a check big enough to lift them out of poverty — and still saved money.

The Democrats, of course, are like the arsonist who works for the fire department. They will argue that soaring poverty demands more government spending. But if even the AP is onto them, they will have trouble selling that line.

The Census Bureau Poverty Statistics

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Poverty And The Democrats

The Associated Press reports that Census Bureau data due next week will show a record increase in the poverty rate. There is much that could be said about this--"poverty" isn't what it used to be--but what is interesting to me is how the AP ties the news to the Obama administration and the Democrats:

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty. ...

It's unfortunate that the hope and change president is just the same old rehashed, failed liberal policies of old. According to the CATO Intsitute The federal government currently operates 122 different anti-poverty programs, ranging from Medicaid to the tiny Even Start Program for Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations. All together, the federal government spent more than $591 billion in 2009 on means-tested or anti-poverty programs, and will undoubtedly spend even more this year. That amounts to $14,849 for every poor man, woman and child in America. Given that the poverty line is just $10,830, we could have mailed every poor person in America a check big enough to lift them out of poverty — and still saved money.

The Democrats, of course, are like the arsonist who works for the fire department. They will argue that soaring poverty demands more government spending. But if even the AP is onto them, they will have trouble selling that line.

The Census Bureau Poverty Statistics

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