Here's a "deal" for ya!

According to PolitickerNJ.com, State Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R) has not dismissed out of hand the possibility of making a deal with weakened State Senate President Dick Codey (D) to ensure Codey's re-election to the senate presidency. Senator Stephen Sweeney, a south Jersey Democrat is challenging Codey and it looks like his challenge will be successful.

Codey may be looking to Kean to bring in some Republican votes with promises of chairmanships and other goodies. There's nothing new about deal-making in New Jersey politics, but I for one would like to see the Republican Party take a different tact for once. But first, here's the background by the numbers:

There are 23 Democrats and 17 Republicans in the State Senate. Nine Democrats are supporting Codey and 14 have come out publicly to support Sweeney. Do you see where I'm going with this?

What would motivate Republican voters more than a good ol' fashioned fight that would give them an opportunity to see their leaders show some gumption? Senator Kean needs to throw his hat in the ring for the Senate presidency and force the Democrats to make a choice. Obviously the Democrats wouldn't countenance a Republican senate president so they would have to make deals of their own (and that's what they're best at) to secure the presidency for Sweeney or Codey.

Why not throw a monkey wrench into the Democrat caucus for once? Why not show some fire and leadership and prove to the average Republican voter that there's someone in Trenton willing to go all in?

If the Republicans are concerned about angering the Democrats, who cares? What are they getting now? The Republicans are in the minority and don't look like they'll be out of it any time soon, so why not use this opportunity to show their differences?

And when I mean "all in", I really mean "ALL IN". This effort needs to be a full-fledged campaign. Chairman Jay Webber and the whole party establishment can use this opportunity to connect with solid and wayward Republican voters alike. Phone calls, mail pieces, etc should be sent out to demonstrate a new level of aggressiveness from the New Republican Party. This can be a catalyst for true change in how Republicans are viewed.

What's the downside? No chairmanships. So what, do you think Bill Baroni was going to get Judiciary? Or Tony Bucco was going to get the Budget Committee?

The collegial working relationship that is supposed to be the order of the day in the Senate won't be irrevocably damaged by Kean and the Republican caucus fighting for their beliefs and their voters. They actually may gain a new level of respect.

Give it a shot Mr. Minority Leader, you never know.

What will they say now?

We all remember the outrage from liberals around the world and here in America when the Abu Graib prison "abuse" stories hit the front pages. From Ted Kennedy to Nancy Pelosi to Barney Frank to Barack Obama, leftist politicians shouted from the rooftops about the so-called "abuses" perpetrated by members of our armed forces.

If they want to know about abuse, they need to read this article from the Times of London. It outlines what some have said about the treatment of Iranian protesters in Iranian prisons. Here's a short list of some of the alleged abuses:

• Fingernails pulled out
• Forced to lick dirty toilet seats
• Hair pulled out
• Beatings
• Death

Now, how does this stack up with putting a pair of panties on a prisoner's head or making them stand on a box with their hands outstretched? It doesn't. If liberals want to look for cruelty and find an offense around every corner, they don't need to look at our military, at George W. Bush or any other demon they love to hate. There is a stark example of evil in the Middle East.

We all need to wake up and see the threat that is coming over the horizon. The Iranian leadership are dasdardly little men who thrive on power and will not think twice about killing one of their own innocent citizens on the street to make a point. What do you think they will do with a nuclear weapon?

Ok liberals, here's your chance. Will you speak out against REAL abuse as harshly as you did about prisoners being embarrassed?

It's Official...

Well, I guess I have no choice. I'm going to have to rename this blog, the "Joe Biden Gaffe Hour". I tried to hold off, thinking that our Vice President wouldn't say something stupid on an almost daily, if not hourly basis, but, alas, he's beaten me down.

At an AARP rally full of bussed-in senior citizens, good ol' Joe said, remarkably, that:

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

Check out the full link to the article to see the whole context of his speech, but basically our fiscal policy consists of: "spend more to save money". If I'd only figured this out earlier I could have become Treasury Secretary (oh wait, I've always paid my taxes, so that's out).

Joe is like that kid who never got picked for a kickball team, but when finally chosen, he gets so excited he jumps up and down, doesn't pay attention and repeatedly kicks the ball foul. His teammates want to beat the snot out of him, but he looks so excited and is so enthusiastic that they don't have the heart to do it.

Well, a few more foul balls and Joe will be sitting on the sidelines watching, wondering "what if?".

Set up for a fall?

This is interesting...

President Obama has just given Vice President Gaffe a major part of his foreign policy portfolio. It was announced today that Joe "I wouldn't take a subway with this flu thing going on" Biden will be leading the effort to bring Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds together in Iraq as our armed forces leave the country.

Hmmm.

One of the biggest complaints from the left about former President Bush was that he gave former Vice President Cheney too much power and too big of a role in the administration. Now Obama is giving one of the biggest pieces of policy (foreign or domestic) to the man who can't keep his foot out of his mouth.

Hmmm.

As our men and women in uniform leave Iraq, some violence has begun (4 troops were killed as the cities were handed over to the Iraqi security forces) and we can all be sure that Al-Qaeda is waiting for the last of our forces to leave to try and destabilize the country. If that happens who will be to blame?

Hmmm.

Watch your back Joe; you know that in Washington, when the music stops you better have a chair to sit in or...

Hmmm.

It's here!

Can we all just agree that socialism is here?

Biden the Liability?

President Obama may be popular and look invincible right now, but he's got to be thinking things aren't totally rosy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As he tries to "remake" America into his own liberal (socialistic) image, he repeatedly has to watch what his partner-in-crime, Vice President Joe Biden is saying and doing.

The list of Biden Blunders is too long to even get into, but the latest one has got to have Obama cringing. Biden, speaking to a group of law enforcement officers, said that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will "have their back" when she reaches the highest court. Oops.

Everyone with just a grade school level of knowledge of the courts has to know that judges/justices must be impartial and make their decisions based on the merits and facts of the case before them. For all of the criminal defense attorneys and plaintiff lawyers who represent police brutality victims, these words must have come as quite a shock.

To the rest of us who were paying attention during the campaign, this is just another gaffe in a long line of them; not just from Biden, but from this unprepared, inexperienced and naive group that currently runs our country's executive branch.

I've written about Nancy Pelosi in previous posts and it made me think that we must have the most dimwitted, faux-intelligent leaders now than in any other point in our nation's history. People have told me that Obama is extremely smart and the other Democrats in charge are highly capable. To be honest, I haven't seen any of that yet.

From Obama's "I've visited 57 states so far" to Pelosi's "I didn't think the CIA was serious about waterboarding", none of us should be surprised that the country is heading down a dangerous path.

Considering all of Biden's gaffes in the short 6 months he's been in office, would anyone be surprised if he wasn't dumped from the ticket in 2012? He's got three and half more years to stick his foot in his mouth and the Democrats are all about winning. If Biden becomes too much of a liability, he'll suddenly come down with some illness or family situation that will preclude him from running.

The Status Quo Fights Back

We've all seen the pictures of starving African children left to the mercy of corrupt African dictators. We know the billions (if not trillions) of dollars in aid that the West has sent to Africa has, on the whole, shown a disturbing lack of results and real change for the vast majority of that continent's residents. A Zambian economist, Dambisa Moyo, has been speaking out on the inefficiencies of aid to Africa and is pushing for a change in mindset and operation of these programs. She's been successful in gaining attention to this matter but, unfortunately, this is what happens when the status quo is challenged:


Anti-aid campaigner under fire despite striking chord in Africa
By William Wallis, Financial Times
Published: May 23 2009 03:00 Last updated: May 23 2009 03:00

A swell of opposition is building in the aid world to a new protagonist who has thrown down a strident challenge to the rock stars and liberal economists who have long dominated debate over foreign assistance to developing countries.
Galled by the ease with which Dambisa Moyo, the Zambian economist and former investment banker, has suddenly risen to prominence this year, activists are circulating detailed critiques of her ideas and mass mailing African non-government organisations to mobilise support against her.
Yet it is proving hard to suppress the hyperactive graduate of Oxford and Harvard, who pops up weekly in a new capital to promote her book Dead Aid - the title itself an affront to rock star Bob Geldof's Live Aid campaigns.
The former Goldman Sachs strategist has become something of a phenomenon. In April, she hit the New York Times bestseller list; this month she was named on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people, and has been appointed to the board of brewer SAB Miller.
Within days of reading about her, Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president, flew Ms Moyo out to address his government. This month, Col Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, invited her to Tripoli.
Broadly, Ms Moyo argues that official development assistance has fostered dependency and perpetuated poor governance. She proposes a blend of commercial debt, microfinance, fairer trade and investment in its place.
Her ideas are not especially new. But the publicity she has attracted poses challenges to an industry accustomed to having the most vocal campaigners on its side. Activists fear that in Ms Moyo, developed countries seeking an excuse to slash aid budgets, have found one at a time that Africa is especially in need. They dismiss her book as simplistic - even dangerous. Some critics claim her ideas are gaining prominence because of the novelty of a passionate, young African woman taking on the aid establishment. Mr Geldof's aid advocacy organisation, One, has been mobilising opposition to her messages. Academic Jeffrey Sachs is among those who have denounced her ideas.
"It is ludicrous because we have leaders like President Kagame supporting the anti-aid campaign . . . despite clear successes of aid in promoting Rwanda's growth," he told the Financial Times. Even so, Ms Moyo has struck a chord in Africa.

Great Memorial Day Event!

On the day before Memorial Day, we should all take the opportunity to think about the fallen veterans who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great country. As a veteran myself, I feel honored to have served my country in time of war.

I wish, however, that some of our nation's leaders would take more time to honor our veterans or at least pretend to care about their sacrifices.

As third in line to Presidency, one would think that Speaker Pelosi would be in her district marching in a parade or honoring veterans in some way. Sorry to disappoint those veterans in San Francisco, but Pelosi is spending her Memorial Day in, wait for it...China.

That's right. Communist China gets the benefit of Pelosi's presence this Memorial Day weekend. She's not alone though: Massachusetts Senator John "Reporting for duty" Kerry is there as well. What are they doing in China you might ask? They're there to discuss clean energy. Wow.

China is one of the most densely populated and over-polluted countries in the world, their human rights record is dismal and THAT'S where two of our most powerful elected officials spend their Memorial Day weekend?

Then again, if those two are out of the country, they can't do much harm to us...or can they?

Climate Change v. Re-election

Real quick:

With all of the doom and gloom we've been hearing about global warming, climate change or whatever it's called, you'd think that Democrats in Congress would be ready, willing and able to pass legislation to solve the problem as they see it.

Considering they have a majority in the House, a soon-to-be veto-proof majority in the Senate and the presidency, Democrats should be able to do whatever they want with respect to the environment.

But wait! There are "moderate" Democrats from coal-producing states that are worried about...Re-election! So their desire to limit "greenhouse gases" to save the environment will just have to take a backseat to politics.

Finally, we can all realize that human-caused "climate change" is a hoax. If it were real and all of our lives were in danger, don't you think they would do something about it without worrying about politics?

Better Luck Next Year...

Well, I guess it was too good to be true. During and after his first legislative test, President Obama declared that we would know exactly how and where every dollar, actually, every DIME, would be spent. He made a big deal about Recovery.org, a website that would list, down to the contractor level, how and where the "stimulus" money would be spent.

I took a gander at Recovery.org to see how things are going and to my surprise, after looking for stimulus spending sent to NJ, all I could find was a general overview (NJ gets about $2 billion). There's nothing specific about who is getting it and how EXACTLY it's going to be spent. So much for transparency. But to top things off, the actual information that Obama bragged about providing won't be available sooner than October and possibly as late as next Spring!

The man who is leading the government's effort to get Recovery.org up and running, Earl Devaney, said that it would be a "challenge to have the site ready to present data in five months" and, after the hearing before the House Subcommittee on Science and Technology, that "the board [Recovery Transparency and Accountability Board] doesn't have enough storage capacity".

Ok. I'm not a huge techie who spends hours figuring out how to program this or that, but I do realize that computers have a limited capacity to store and process information. If there is a lot of information that needs to be used on a computer, you have to ensure the computer is capable of handling it right? If the government is planning on sharing $800 billion worth of spending information, don't you think you should have a friggin' Cray computer set up to handle the data? Asleep at the switch doesn't even begin to describe this.

I know, politicians make promises all the time, but this is supposed to be the era of enlightenment and super technology with one of the most "plugged-in" presidents in our nation's history! What happened?

Anyway, just to make us feel confident in the Board's ability to take charge of its mandate and get the job done, Devaney said that after they wait six to nine months for the White House Office of Management and Budget to come up with rules on how the stimulus spending information should be released, he would, "...push them for as much data as possible".

Man, I feel so much better.