Thank you Mark Levin

I’d like to thank talk show host Mark Levin and the Landmark Legal Foundation, who are working hard to ensure that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama don’t trample over the constitution any more than they already have. If the House uses the “Slaugher Rule” to pass the health care bill this weekend, it will be facing a serious court challenge. To read more about the potential lawsuit, go to Mark Levin’s website.

Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham offer an immigration reform plan that will be a miserable failure

Barack Obama announced his support for a comprehensive immigration reform bill being sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Here are some details of the bill:

* Illegal aliens must admit they broke the law
* Pay a fine and back taxes
* Perform community service
* Pass background checks
* Be proficient in English
* Grant legal status to those who receive a masters degree or doctorate from a U.S. university
* Zero tolerance for illegal aliens who commit crimes
* Flexible system which bring in more immigrants when the economy is strong, and fewer during a recession
* Require all U.S. citizens to get a new Social Security card with built in biometrics » read more

Rush Limbaugh mobilizes the troops

It looks like Rush Limbaugh has mobilized his listeners, and jammed Congressional phone lines and e-mails in the process. For the life of me, I don’t know why Rush Limbaugh doesn’t do this sort of thing more often. With his large, dedicated fan base, his suggestions could make a meaningful difference.

New Gallup poll is bad news for Barack Obama

The latest Gallup Poll shows that more Americans disapprove of Barack Obama’s performance than approve. The poll shows that 47% of Americans disapprove of his performance, while just 46% approve. This is just the latest sign of the slow erosion of the President’s support.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Barack Obama’s approval rating drop into the high 30% range. If the health care bill passes, especially without being voted on by the House, his approval rating will take a massive hit. This will only be compounded once debates start on immigration reform. » read more

Charging for content will be a huge failure for the media

More and more news sites are thinking about charging for content. The newspaper industry is looking at dwindling circulation and assuming that their growing online readership will provide the path to profitability. They might be right, but they are heading in the wrong direction.

Online news sites benefit from type-in traffic and links from sites like Yahoo, Google, and the Drudge Report. Once sites require subscriptions, those links will disappear, along with the resulting traffic. What they’ll be left with is a small group of loyal readers willing to pay a reasonable fee for news that they could readily read at one of several free web sites. Let’s also remember that those links provided by news aggregators brought in visitors who clicked ads. When the traffic goes down, the ad revenue will probably follow. After all, do you want to advertise on a site that isn’t viewed much in comparison to its peers? » read more

David Axelrod seems fine with illegal aliens receiving health care

In yet another bit of hypocrisy, Barack Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod went on CNN’s “State of the Union” to discuss the health care bill. During his appearance, he criticized addressing illegal immigration and abortion in the health care bill:

“The president’s view is that this is not the vehicle to address immigration issues…this is not the place for this, this is not the place to resolve disputes over abortion,” he said. “I believe that as the week goes on, these issues will clarify themselves…We have to resolve the larger questions, which is the status of undocumented workers…we can’t resolve it within the context of this debate.”

Axelrod’s words might have had some credibility if the health care bill weren’t being used to expand the federal government’s role in higher education. Student loans have nothing to do with health care, yet they are part of the debate. On the other hand, the debates surrounding illegal immigration and abortion concern who is eligible for benefits and what procedures are covered. The last time I checked, those were both central issues that would need to be discussed in any reform plan.

In regards to the undocumented workers illegal aliens David Axelrod referred to, his position is a harbinger of things to come. By ignoring any prohibition on illegal aliens, he’s essentially hoping to extend benefits to the law-breakers. Maybe I’m wrong, but wouldn’t health care costs be reduced if we deported the 12 million or so illegal aliens who burden the United states financially?

Patrick Kennedy critiques the media

Let’s get this straight: Patrick Kennedy thinks the United States should leave Afghanistan and allow it to sink into even greater chaos? Sharp guy.

Child abuse in the Catholic Church…again

Many European Catholics are coming forward with allegations of abuse against priests and other members of the Church. So far, the most allegations have come from Ireland, with a growing number in Germany. Strangely, it seems like some people are surprised by the number of children abused in Europe. I guess they believe these types of things only happened in the United States. The only thing that surprised me is that these allegations weren’t made sooner.

As in cases in the United States, priests and other members of the church are being accused of abusing children, while the Catholic Church kept everything quiet, while offending priests were moved to other parishes to harm a new community of children. If that wasn’t bad enough, it appears that Pope Benedict might have also shuffled pedophile priests from one parish to another. » read more

Health care vote coming next week

The health care bill is on pace to have a vote in the House by next week. Until this point, debate has focused on a public option, the Stupak Amendment, and bribes favors given to certain Senators to secure their vote. Now, it looks like the latest disagreement might revolve around student loans. Yes, you read correctly, student loans.

You might be wondering what student loans have to do with the health care bill. If you can’t figure out how they are related, don’t feel bad, they have nothing to do with each other. Democrats are simply trying to tack on changes to the student loan program which would cut out the banks, have the government originate the loans, then use the savings to increase Pell Grants. » read more

Don’t cut taxes, eliminate them

We need to eliminate taxes. At first glance, you might think this is a ridiculous statement. After all, how do you eliminate taxes without compromising necessary government services? Government bureaucracy can be excessive and wasteful, but there are necessary services and functions that would need to be preserved. Therefore, you don’t eliminate all taxes, you eliminate most taxes.

As citizens, one of the big problems we face is excessive taxation. If you think about it, these taxes and fees come from a myriad of places and can be tough to follow. You might have heard local or state politicians brag when they “cut” taxes. What they didn’t tell you is that they reduced one tax, but likely increased a few other taxes and fees. Sure, you won’t be paying as much in one particular tax, but make no mistake, you will pay. » read more

Will Patrick Kennedy Challenge Scott Brown?

It looks like Patrick Kennedy’s decision to leave politics is a sabatical, not a retirement. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Kennedy discussed the possibility of running for a Senate seat and mentioned plans to keep $500,000 in a campaign account. Here are the two big questions: When will he run, and which seat will he pursue?
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Fighting the BCS: Bipartisan stupidity

Anyone with a passing knowledge of college football knows that the BCS is ridiculous. Think about this: Some undefeated teams don’t get a shot at the Championship. It’s a disgrace, and all football fans should voice their displeasure. Unfortunately, some of those fans are elected officials.

Both Barack Obama and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch are football fans upset with the current playoff system. As a result, they’ve used their position to bring about change. Hatch has requested that the Department of Justice perform an antitrust review, and they have agreed. Not surprising, since Barack Obama complained about the playoff structure just after his election. » read more

Over-regulation isn’t necessary

Barack Obama likes to take aim at “fat cat” bankers and Wall Street. Many members of Obama’s proletariat love it and thrive on any attempt to blame corporations for the current economic problems. Yet, there are two things that could have prevented the housing bubble and the current recession.

1. Not everyone should own a home.

Many will find this statement appalling. After all, isn’t home ownership the American Dream? The problem is that the federal government encouraged home ownership and encouraged relaxed lending standards, which allowed unqualified buyers to receive mortgages. Many of these loans had adjustable rates, didn’t require documentation, or required no money down. Is it any wonder that banks were overwhelmed with bad loans? » read more

Here’s a way to cut California’s deficit in half

I came across an article today, and I’m having trouble believing what I read. It discussed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s idea of paying to build prisons in Mexico to house prisoners who are in the U.S. illegally. Schwarzenegger claims that the plan could save the state more than $1 billion, which could be used for higher education.

So, why am I in disbelief? It’s because of some stats provided by the Governator: Out of 170,000 inmates in California’s prison system, more than 20,000 are undocumented workers illegal aliens. Don’t liberals always say that undocumented workers illegal aliens come here to earn an honest living (after trespassing of course), and that they contribute more financially than what they cost? Well, these numbers seem to fly in the face of their reasoning. » read more

Apple introduces the iPad

It’s official: Apple has introduced the iPad. The Apple iPad is a tablet PC with a 10 inch screen, which basically functions like the apple iPod, only bigger. The iPad will have either 16gb, 32gb, or 64gb of storage. Most impressive is the battery life, which is rated at 10 hours, with 30 days of stand-by time.

During the announcement, Steve Jobs spoke about how the iPad fills a void between the iPod/iPhone, and a typical notebook computer. He also criticized netbooks as cheap laptops. There’s no doubt the iPad will be a huge success, especially for people who want it for media or entertainment purposes. The larger screen is superior to netbooks for movies, viewing pictures, and games. Of course, there are always going to be people who want to push actual buttons especially when typing a paper or writing an e-mail. » read more

Barack Obama’s approval rating drops and he’s taking fellow Democrats with him

How low will Barack Obama go? If you check out the latest poll by Rasmussen and follow the trends, it looks like the President’s downward spiral is continuing to pick up steam. The latest Presidential tracking poll shows that 25% of Americans strongly approve of the President’s performance, while 43% strongly disapprove. Overall, just 45% approve of the job Barack Obama is doing, while 54% disapprove.

The same poll found that nearly half of Americans believe GM will need another bailout, 61% believe Congress should drop healthcare reform, and 66% believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. It doesn’t look like American’s are fond of the Obama agenda. » read more

Scott Brown for President? Not yet

I was glad to see Scott Brown defeat Martha Coakley in a recent election for “Teddy Kennedy’s seat.” His win in such an overwhelmingly number of Democrats state shows how fed up many Americans are with Barack Obama and Congress. As the 41st Republican vote, Brown’s presence will force Democrats to actually make a real attempt at bipartisanship. What a novel concept!

There’s no doubt that Scott Brown’s win was impressive, and his presence has drastically altered the political landscape in Washington. If you’re a conservative, it was certainly an exciting win, but it seems like some of us are getting carried away by questioning whether Brown might run for President.

By the time the 2012 elections roll around, Brown will have had less than 3 years in office as a Senator. I’d prefer to see a deeper resume for a Presidential candidate. You might argue that Barack Obama had a similar resume when he ran in 2008. You would be correct, but let’s not forget one point: He’s a lousy President.

Good riddance to Air America

Air America, we hardly knew ya! After less than 6 years, the liberal radio network was forced to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you didn’t listen to Air America, don’t feel bad, not many people did.

When I heard the news, I couldn’t help but laugh. Liberals like Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse like to refer to conservatives as the “lunatic fringe,” but isn’t Air America’s bankruptcy evidence that the exact opposite is true? » read more

Scott Brown defeats Martha Coakley and the Democrats

The unthinkable has happened. Just two weeks ago, Massachusetts State senator Scott Brown trailed Martha Coakley by nearly 30 points in the polls. He was gradually able to narrow that margin, and now he is the newest member of the United States Senate. This is a groundbreaking moment for Massachusetts and the nation.

From the beginning, Scott Brown said he would vote against Obamacare, and would be the 61st Senator needed to stop the Democrats. The fact that this message resonated with one of the bluest states in the country illustrates the level of discontent with Congress and Barack Obama. This is just the latest loss for the Democrats. You might recall the huge losses for the Democrats in the November 2009 elections when both Virgina and New Jersey elected Republican governors. Some felt that those elections weren’t really much of a barometer for national sentiment. However, Scott Brown’s win leaves no doubt that the Republican party has the momentum. » read more

Patrick Kennedy thinks ‘Marcia’ Coakley is great

I was born and raised in Rhode Island, and I couldn’t picture living anywhere else. Unfortunately, I’m mystified by some of the decisions made by my fellow voters. One of those, is the decision to keep sending Patrick Kennedy back to Congress every two years. Kennedy is no stranger to embarrassing incidents, and he experienced another one yesterday while attending a rally for Martha Coakley, who is running for the senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy.

“If you think there’s magic out there and things can be turned around overnight, then you would vote for someone who could promise you that, like Scott Brown,” Kennedy said. “If you don’t, if you know that it takes eight years for George Bush and his cronies to put our country into this hole … then you know we have a lot of digging to do, but some work needs to be done and this president’s in the process of doing it and we need to get Marcia Coakley to help him to do that.”

(Curiously, Kennedy mentioned Coakley repeatedly during his remarks to reporters, each time referring to her as “Marcia,” not “Martha.”)

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