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A guest submission from Steve Feinstein

The Global Warming debate rages on, hotter than ever. (Sorry.) Each side is deeply entrenched in its respective position, unyielding, more convinced than ever of the correctness of their argument.

Nonetheless, there remains enough real, substantial doubt about so-called “Global Warming” that no thinking, analytical individual should just automatically, unquestioningly accept it as ‘true.’

From the UK’s Express:

A high-level inquiry into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found there was “little evidence” for its claims about Global Warming.

It also said the panel had emphasised the negative impacts of climate change and made “substantive findings” based on little proof.

The review by the InterAcademy Council (IAC) was launched after the IPCC’s hugely embarrassing 2007 benchmark climate change report, which contained exaggerated and false claims that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.

Read more

In the current political climate, for me, the new Health Care law is a defining issue in this and the next election cycle. I recently spoke with a doctor who is in a highly specialized field of medicine, about the current health care law. One thing came out of the conversation that really surprised me. She said that she only paid off her medical school loans last year. This surprised me, because she has been in practice for no less than 18 years (the time that I have known her). Now, I do not wish to submit that she has lived in abject poverty during that time, but the length of time to pay the loans back was longer than one would expect. I wonder how much time it takes litigators, like John Edwards to pay back their student loans. Especially since they make so much of their money at the expense of doctors.

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Welcome to our latest contributor, Anthony W. Hager!

When it comes to pontificating on the contemporary political scene Chris Varano might make a pretty fair sports broadcaster. Sports broadcasting is, after all, the Dallas native and Texas Christian University sophomore’s major. As such, his next editorial for TCU’s online newspaper should touch on Brett Favre’s myriad retirements, leaving politics alone, lest he become another (God forbid) Keith Olbermann.

Varano believes opposition to the “ground zero mosque” is Islamophobia in the first-degree. And he quotes Al Franken–Minnesota’s dubiously elected, self-proclaimed expert on everything–to validate his claim. That Mr. Varano, is strike one. Citing Sen. Franken on serious matters is akin to heeding Terrell Owens’ advice on improving team chemistry.
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Given where we stood two years ago, this is nothing short of stunning.

Brian Haner wrote this to express his opinion on the Arizona anti-illegal immigration bill.

If you didn’t know, yesterday (Tuesday, August 3) there was an election in Missouri. Prop C was one of the major ballot issues and would opt people out of Obamacare. It passed overwhelmingly — by a 3 to 1 margin.

So, is this a sign of things to come? (States saying no thanks — see also Virginia’s law suit). Or more proof that people didn’t want Obamacare to begin with or something else? We also must ask if Atty Gen Eric Holder and his Department of Justice will sue Missiouri?

Let the crazy times roll…

A guest submission from the effervescent Whodat

Perhaps one of the reasons I love golf so much is because, through Boy Scouting, I became comfortable being alone out in the woods. I also learned some other things that apply to golf and, more importantly, life. Please review the Boy Scout Oath and the Law:

Scout Oath (or Promise)
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

Read more

The Political climate in America has reached a frenzied pace equal to that of a hurricane hitting the Gulf oil spill. The major players run in different directions trying “fixes” for the problem without stopping to think first. They gleefully vilify the opposing side, gaining as much public support for their own solutions/agendas as possible, without any real affect on the issue at hand. And while political oil taints the public ocean, the public is frozen; feeling the immobilizing affects of each new accusation, and never knowing to whom to throw their support.

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Sounds like the work of a dictator to me…

American citizens are targeted for killings far away from any battlefield, based exclusively on unchecked accusations by the Executive Branch that they’re involved in Terrorism.

..Obama had continued Bush’s policy (which Bush never actually implemented) of having the Joint Chiefs of Staff compile “hit lists” of Americans..

Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, acknowledged in Congressional testimony that the administration reserves the “right” to carry out such assassinations.

Read the entire article from, of all places, Salon.com

Based on America’s economy today versus where it was eighteen months ago, before Obama “brought it back from the brink” – I prefer the “brink”

Now that we can actually measure the results of Obama’s economic policies, it seems perfectly clear that America has been on the wrong track and is far worse off today.

And while Obama makes the rounds on his “Summer of recovery” tour reminding America over and over ad nauseam that he “brought us back from the brink of an economic crisis,” he is also unwittingly reminding America just exactly what that “brink” looked like before he brought us back from it.

Since the brink, Obama’s economic policies have accumulated almost $3 trillion in debt, increased unemployment by almost 5%, “lost or destroyed” over three million jobs, and forced millions of people to give up looking for work all together.

I’m not sure about you, but the “brink” is starting to look pretty darn good right now.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

We often reread the final version of the Declaration of Independence on Independence Day, as we should. However, I think it is worthwhile to also read Thomas Jefferson’s original draft. Here is a very significant section that was removed by Congress:

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If I hadn’t seen and heard it myself I would have never believed it.

Nancy Pelosi – telling America that unemployment benefits are “One of the biggest stimulus’s to our economy.”

Wait – it gets better.

Speaker Pelosi went on to say that unemployment benefits are actually “Job creating” and that unemployment benefits “Create jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.”

Let’s get this straight. When you lose your job and start collecting unemployment benefits, it stimulates the economy AND creates jobs?

So the logical conclusion is: the more people lose their jobs – the more jobs will be created – and the economy gets a big boost?

OK – I’m totally confident in Democrat leadership now.

Peggy West, a Milwaukee County Supervisor, was under the impression that Arizona was not a border state — like you know, um, Texas. See the video here, (but it might disappear again).

Arizona Senator John Kyl set her straight with this letter.

Life is so good in these 57 states today! Have a good weekend all!

A few weeks ago, Alaina commented on the “YouCut” program here.

To recap: the GOP introduces one of five spending cuts each week. The American people vote on which of the five options should be introduced.

Like a good little citizen I have dutifully placed my vote each week. Since votes are placed by email, I get a neat little form letter from Eric Cantor’s office regarding the vote. The past few weeks I have been disgusted as proposal after proposal has been defeated along party lines. This week, however, I have hope! No, the proposed spending cut to sell excess Federal lands did not pass. However, a smaller proposal was introduced by the President.

According to House Whip Eric Cantor “after this week’s YouCut proposal was unveiled to save $15 billion by selling excess federal property, President Obama announced his own version that would save $3 billion. The Majority recently called all of their committee chairmen together and told them they had to start finding ways to save money. A Capitol Hill newspaper cited YouCut as prompting the request!”

With enough pressure will members of Congress start listening to their constituency? Hope springs eternal!

Read Eric Cantor’s full letter.

Nobel Prize winning Barack Obama and BP CEO Tony “It wasn’t our accident” Hayward, met Wednesday and decided to pass the buck of responsibility and ultimately hold each other harmless in the distribution of the $20 Billion escrow account established for damages to Gulf oil leak victims.

In more of an, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine agreement, both Nobel Prize winning Barack Obama and Tony Hayward mutually agreed that having an “independent” third party dole out the $20 Billion escrow funds would serve both of their political interests best.

So when Nobel Prize winning Barack Obama said today, “What this is about is accountability, at the end of the day that is what every American wants and expects,” what Nobel Prize winning Barack Obama actually meant was, at the end of the day, don’t even think about ever holding me responsible if, for some unforeseen bureaucratic reason, some oil spill victims don’t get fully compensated.

Now that’s the kind of take-charge leadership America has been waiting for – or should I say, expected.

In July of 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave what was arguably the most important speech of his presidency, one in which he expressed the notion that the United States was facing a crisis in confidence and, though he never used the word itself, it became widely know as the “malaise” speech.

At first, the speech was hailed, and Carter received a bump in his approval ratings. However, the lack of effort in fixing what ailed the nation, perceived or real, saw public opinion sour further on the Carter administration. A little more than a year later, he was soundly beaten by Ronald Reagan.

The malaise speech hung around Carter’s neck like an anchor, and here’s where comparisons to Obama’s speech last night come to light.

Read more

I posted this on PD back on May 5.

It may be worth another look.

After tonight – you decide.
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The Treasury Department reported to Congress Friday that “the ratio of debt to the gross domestic product would rise to 102 percent by 2015 from 93 percent this year”. In hard number terms, this is an increase of $6 trillion to an estimated $19.6 trillion! Furthermore, when has the government debt forecast ever come in low?

What else can we expect when government is crowding out private investment, leading to reduced tax revenue? Remember, of the 441,000 jobs “created” in May, only 55,000 were in the private sector. Additionally, a large portion of the “created” public sector jobs were temporary census jobs, which have been shown to be wrought with waste and fraud.

Waste and fraud, this is the story of our government, a driving contributor to a debt that will by 2015 (or likely sooner) exceed the value of all goods and serviced produced in the US in 12 months!

It’s good thing for all of us that mop has been so well used on Pennsylvania Avenue over the past two years.

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