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    July 4th Tea Party In Washington MO

    I'm here at the Washington, Mo Tea Party, with a great crowd and a beautiful setting. It's still astounding, to think that so many home grown demonstrations have erupted in such a short time.  It's a hopeful feeling, as regular citizens across the country step forward and say that we don't trust an elite political class.

    The media portrays us as extremists angry about paying our fair share, when they're not calling us terrorists.  The media can't be bothered to report on local events unless they're smearing the groups as racists and dangerous militias (and yes, I'm talking about the media whore Charles Jaco).  It doesn't matter.  We are bigger than them.  We are stronger than them.  And this group is going to move to direct action.

    The goal for the party is to energize citizens to hold our elected officials accountable.  This isn't about electing Republicans or Democrats or Independents.  It's about watching all of them, and holding all of them accountable.

    We want them to read the bills.  Follow the Constitution.  Cut spending and reduce federal power.
    We don't want politicians leaving office rich from secret deals and sweet lobbyist jobs.

    If you didn't make it to this event, keep watching our tea party blogs. We have a list of blogs that support the Tea Party movement, and we're committed to bringing you the information you can't get from a biased press.

    Liberals want us to shut up.  They won in November, and think that means we should sit down and shut up.  They seem to lack a basic understanding of democratic principles.  Our voice is never to be silenced.  We work to influence our elected officials no matter what party they belong to.  2010 is coming up fast.  The Democrats are running scared.  They're looking to jam through cap and trade, healthcare, EFCA, FOCA, and others because they know their majorities won't last long.  They refuse to offer honest debate or post the bills because they know if there was real discussion, they couldn't reward their cronies.

    We can no longer be silent.  We can no longer afford to let others step up.  Get connected at StLouisTeaParty.com

    July 04, 2009

    List Of Missouri Tea Party Blogs

    This is a list of Missouri Tea Party blogs - we're happy to add new ones to the list, but these bloggers have all pledged their lives and sacred fortunes, uh, pledged, to write and pass on good local and state news for you. 

    http://24thstate.com
    http://arenaofideas.org
    http://briansimpson.wordpress.com
    http://danaradio.com
    http://gatewaypatriot.com
    http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com
    http://kansasmeadowlark.com
    http://missourirecord.com
    http://mopns.com
    http://rebootcongress.blogspot.com
    http://saintlouisconservative.blogspot.com
    http://sinaquanon.spleenville.com
    http://taxpayerwatchdogmo.blogspot.com
    http://theblacksphere.net

    And of course, http://StLouisTeaParty.com


    July 03, 2009

    DLC Warns About Exploding Federal Deficit

    Going through old FiredUp Missouri blogposts is always painful, but sometimes you come up with some real gems. There was a time when Roy Temple was posting where he complained about the deficit

    From the Democratic Leadership Council to your ears:

    With these vastly more realistic assumptions, Lemieux calculates that the budget deficit will reach a cool half-trillion next year, and will total $6.1 trillion a decade from now, or an alarming five percent of the gross domestic product. The national debt, which we were seriously talking about retiring altogether towards the end of the Clinton administration, would reach $10 trillion a decade hence. At that point, annual debt service alone would be $526 billion, considerably more than today's defense budget. And then, mind you, things would really start to get down and dirty due to the retirement of the baby boom generation, and the massive new Social Security and Medicare costs that phenomenon will entail. Indeed, according to Lemieux, on the Bush administration's present trajectory, deficits will rise from 6 percent of GDP in 2015 to 12 percent by 2025, while the national debt will grow from 60 percent of GDP to 120 percent by 2025.

    It's very important for Democrats and responsible Republicans to start talking about these numbers in a simple and vivid way as part of the evaluation of the Bush administration's stewardship of the national budget and the national economy in 2004. These folks are on a reckless path in which our nation's solvency, the vibrancy of our national economy, the ability of government to provide for the common defense and other common needs, and the opportunities to be enjoyed by future generations, are all being sacrificed to a monomaniacal determination to cut taxes on the wealthy without the courage to cut spending to make ends meet.

    A couple of things.  The deficit this year could actually reach $2 trillion dollars. The long term Obama budgets include trillion dollar deficits that are only cut in half with 4-5% growth.  And the promised net spending cut has been replaced by trillion dollar stimulus, cap and trade, and union, and healthcare proposals that are pitched as job creators, even when 2 million jobs have been lost since that stimulus was passed.


    The internet does way back folks. It's time we start digging up what these lying hacks have been pushing.  If there was concern from the Democrats in 2003, why is there no true action now when they hold the House, Senate, and White House? Does it make any sense?  Are they really this stupid, this blind to what is happening?  I'm almost afraid to answer that. 

    July 01, 2009

    Russ And Debra Carnahan Enjoy The Royal Treatment While Voting To Close McArthur Bakery

    I've been slow on the uptake on this great story about McArthur's bakery.  The owner of a small business decided he had had enough, and used the sign outside his store in South County to tell drivers that Russ Carnahan's vote on cap and trade was going to put him out of business.  Dave and Randy McArthur are bakers, and they were also on this morning on 97.1, stating that Carnahan now wants to meet with them to get them to take down the sign.  Typical politician - they don't want to read the bills they vote on, but they don't want any negative publicity.

    What makes this whole thing so disgusting is how Russ Carnahan lives it up on his own.  The Hill reported on a SPLENDIDO trip to Italy taken by the Carnahans in 2007, where Russ and Debra stayed at a five star resort in Portofino at a $2000 a night "playground of the rich."

    "Splendido, the ultimate in five-star luxury resorts. The website refers to the hotel as a “playground of the rich,” where “the views are magnificent, across a landscape dotted with cypresses to the colorful harbor where yachts jostle with fishing boats.”


    What was the purpose of the trip?  Official government business, of course

    The main focus of the discussions was global warming, the Middle East and dealing with Iran.


    You can see how well the meetings went on Iran, but what should really get your goat is his work on global warming.  You're going to pay a massive tax on energy in every sector of the economy, and Russ is going to jet out to Italy to stay at a $2000 a night hotel to karaoke with his wife?

     


    Debra_carnahan Pay close attention to these Congressional representatives.  They love the European way of government because politicians get favored treatment in ways that US politicians only dare to dream.  5 star hotels, cushy pensions and heath care - it may suck to be middle class in Western Europe, but it's good to be the king.

    So when a Congressmen who sees it as beneath him to read the cap and trade bill (he also admits to not reading the stimulus bill) decides to vote away your future, keep in mind he's definitely  voting for his future.

    What I didn't share with you yet was that a tabloid reporter was able to snap a candid photo of Debra Carnahan right before she got on stage to sing, "You're So Vain."

    McArthur's bakery is furious with Carnahan for voting to put them out of business.  At least when the Europeans decide to create a new royal class, they're kind enough to offer us cake.

    June 28, 2009

    Forbes Disproves Green Job Myth

    Sometimes blogging can make you feel like a blind squirrel.  I'm just cruising through my feeds of Missouri political blogs, and  Willy at ShowMeProgess has a bit about Missouri falling behind in the green category, according to a new ranking out by Forbes.

    I went to Forbes, and looked at the results, a state by state ranking of the greenest states based on things like carbon emissions, policies, and toxic waste management.  It's  good list, because it ranks states not based on a truly comprehensive study of the environment and a comparison of populations, climate, and energy production, but instead it ranks states based on a liberal wishlist of how states should act to be green.  The policy category is the dead giveaway.

    So I decided to take those rankings, and match them up against unemployment rates from May 2009.  Surely the greenest of states in the Union, being so very far ahead of the rest of us, should be showing how they've kept unemployment down with new green jobs.  Surely there's been no economic slowdown in green states that makes it worse to work in that state instead of a dirty, naughty state like West Virginia.

    Let's see. 

    The top greenest states and their unemployment ranking (1 being the best in both categories).

    1. Vermont  -     17th in unemployment
    2. Oregon - 50th unemployment
    3. Washington  - 34th in unemployment
    4. Hawaii - 18th in unemployment
    5. Maryland - 16th in unemployment
    6 Connecticut - 21st in unemployment 
    7. New Jersey - 31st in unemployment
    8. Rhode Island - 48th in unemployment
    9. New York - 23rd in unemployment
    10. Arizona - 23rd in unemployment
    11. Massachusetts - 23rd in unemployment
    12.  Idaho - 20th in unemployment
    13. Colorado - 19th unemployment
    14. California - 47th in unemployment
    15. Minnesota - 23rd in unemployment
    16.  Wisconsin  - 32nd in unemployment
    17. Nevada - 46th in unemployment
    18. New Mexico - 9th in unemployment
    19. New Hampshire - 9th in unemployment
    20. Florida - 39th in unemployment.

    Those are some interesting numbers.  Of the top 20 greenest states, only two crack the top 10 in employment rates, tying for number 9. It's not completely clear, but it sure does seem that having a high green ranking isn't particularly helpful for your state economy.

    Here are some other fun figures.  2 of the top 20 greenest states are in the top 10 for employment.   5 of the bottom greenest states are in the top 10 for employment, including the two number one states.  Michigan is the worst state for unemployment, and yet it's ranked number 24 on the green scale.  California is ranked 14, and yet is 47th for worst employment.

    Of course, we're told that green jobs are coming, but no one really knows when that is going to happen.  Green jobs replace "dirty" jobs, so the question is at what rate, and will we face higher unemployment while we wait for clean energy?  And is there any state that actually has a substantial number of "green" jobs, or is that kind of just made up to make us feel like we're doing something good?  

    June 27, 2009

    Suppressed EPA Report On Global Warming Now In Public

    The Competitive Enterprise Institute has the draft report submitted by the NCEE - the National Center for Environmental Economics, which was squashed by an EPA adminstrator prior to the cap-and-trade bill vote.  The draft report is located here at the CEI site (pdf download).

    It begins:

    "We have become increasingly concerned that EPA and many other agencies and countries have paid too little attention to the science of global warming. EPA and others have tended to accept the findings reached by outside groups, particularly the IPCC and CCSP, as being correct without a careful and critical examination of their conclusions and documentation."
     


    The report is even handed, drawing attention to new studies and erroneous conclusions from the IPCC AR4 report, but does not claim to refute global warming.  It simply says new evidence suggest we have made some major mistakes, and should understand those mistakes before agreeing with the premise that catastrophic climate change caused by humans is a fact.

     Emails from Al McGartland, Office Director of the EPA's NCEE, instruct the author of the study not to talk to anyone outside of the EPA, tell him not to spend anymore time on climate change, and tell him the report will not be forwarded.  The internal emails are located here with the memos from the CEI lawyer

    Why is this important?  Because the conclusions of the study are that the EPA needs to look back over the science of climate change because the IPCC's conclusion is out of date.

    • The global temperate has dropped for 11 years, even though CO2 concentration has increased, instead of rising, making a mockery of the IPCC graphs.
    • New studies suggest water vapor and solar activity have significant impact (with solar being up to 68% of warming). 
    • New studies suggest GHG (greenhouse gases) are not a significant factor in warming that occurred earlier.
    • Differences in satellite and surface temperature reading seem likely to be the result of urbanization. 
    • The study suggests the EPA should do their own science, rather than rely on an outdated, third party source, so that the EPA doesn't catch flak if this whole thing turns out to be a hoax.


    Those are pretty major charges in the accepted consensus, and much of the work has come in the last three years, which means that the IPCC data is out of date (something supported by the lack of rising temperatures predicted by the IPCC).  You should read the report yourself, and draw your own conclusions as to what is says and what it means that the EPA Office Director doesn't want this evidence examined.  The Democrats are always screaming about anti-science Republicans, but use your head and draw your own conclusions.

    Who says we should look at the evidence?
    Who tells you the matter is settled, and those who disagree are akin to Holocaust deniers?
    Who stands to profit if huge taxes and government control are instituted out of fear of global warming?
    Who just rushed a bill through Congress that will have no effect on global temperature (by their own admission), but simply represents a symbolic act to let the rest of the world know we're serious?
    Which group funds government scientists who support global warming, but attacks viciously anyone who dares to even ask if this is really happening?

    Either science is based on science, or it's based on politics and thus has no credence.  The EPA suppressing a report that could have made the difference in four votes in the Waxman Markey bill is proof that climate change politics is more important than actually understanding climate change.

    I warned last year that the perversion of scientific studies was going to create a backlash against information we need to progress as a society.  How much money has been wasted on bad global warming studies instead of figuring out ways to improve energy research, clean air and water, and responsibly cut back on fossil fuels without crippling our economy?

    As always, as the voice of reason, I simply ask you my readers to look at the evidence.  I don't cite 10 newspapers stating the same byline from the AP and claim it settled. I don't copy and paste talking points from other blogs who write better than I do.  I simply put the evidence in front of you, and ask you to look yourself.

    You are being lied to and manipulated by anti-science zealots who will manipulate data, suppress research, and attack opponents until they get what they want.  You've been told that Republicans hate science, but the evidence in front of you tells you that the Democratic Party is the one who twists logic and reason to give them more excuses to pick your wallets and make you beggars.

    Look for yourself, and act accordingly.  Remember who voted to enact a massive tax on you during a recession, without bothering to read what they voted on, or the science suggesting the whole effort is a fraud.  And remember this.  The NYTimes, the Washington Post, the Kansas City Star, the Post-Dispatch and ABC, CBS, NBC never thought this was important.  They aren't reporting on this, though the information has been live for a week.  It's almost as if they don't care about the truth, but only reporting what advances Democratic causes.  Could the PD look into this?  Yes.  Will they? We'll see. 



    June 26, 2009

    Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver, Skelton Vote To Raise Electricity Prices On Poorest Missourians

    The Democratic representatives for Missouri have once again show their blind loyalty to party and their complete disregard for common sense.  The four Democrats, Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Ike Skelton provided the margin of victory for the Potemkin climate change bill just passed by the US House. The bill passed 219-212.  Those four Missouri votes were the difference.

    The sadly named American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) cap and trade bill, which even its proponents admit will have a negligible affect on global temperature (nine hundredths of one degree by 2050), is designed to send a strong signal to the rest of the world that the US Congress is willing to engage in sophistry of the highest order to pretend they are saving the planet, even though everyone involved knows this is yet another giant grab of money and power from taxpayers to the politically connected.

    Listen carefully to any defense these Congressman put out in the next few days.  Every word out of their mouth about the benefits of the bill is a total and abject lie.  Do you know how we know?  None of them read it, again. The bill was finished this morning at 3 a.m., and during the incredibly short debate period (3 hours), the only copy of the bill was located at the Speaker's desk.  This included a 300 page amendment to the bill, which only the writers saw, and was included at the last moment with no open hearings and no public response.

    This is exactly what happened in the stimulus bill.  The Democrats finished writing the thing at 11:00 p.m at night, and they voted on it the next day with no one taking the time to read it.

    This is what your congressional representatives think of you. You voters are not worth the time it takes to actually read a bill and discuss its merits in a democratic fashion.  Your elected leaders don't think it's worth their time to actually read things they vote on.  For goodness sake, they have one job.  Vote on bills.  How can they vote on bills neither they, nor any of their staff read?  Most voters assume incorrectly that Congress has people who are paid to read the bills for them. This isn't true.  That staff doesn't read bills.  They voted themselves another $100,000 in expenses in this year, but still can't be bothered to find a reader.  The Democrats are so contemptuous of you, they've hired a speed reader whose job it is to read the bill in the House Chamber, to fulfill the letter of the law, but clearly not to actually have anyone understand it.  Welcome to Democracy, Nancy Pelosi style. 

    The boy-child at FiredUp is all over a CBO report that claims the bill only costs $175 per family.  How does he know?  One, the CBO numbers are transactional costs - not economic costs.  They state clearly in the report that the effect of the bill is not taken into account.  That's like me saying it only costs $1 to write a check out of my business account, while ignoring the cost of the check itself.  At the same time, with 300 pages added to the bill that no one has read, the bill could have anything it, and the CBO wouldn't know.

    What we do know is this.

    The Carnahan family stands to benefit financially from any cap and trade bill passed.
    Emmanuel Cleaver probably finaly got some of his 2.7 billion dollars  in requested earmarks funded.
    Lacy Clay, who was making noises against the bill when the National Black Chamber of Commerce came out in opposition to the bill, got something to change his mind (maybe ACORN mortgage help for Mayor Slay?).
    Ike Skelton, who might have voted against the bill because he represents a conservative section of Missouri, figures he is safe for re-election, seeing as the bill also has heavy farm subsidies.

    There you go folks.  Your Congressman have decided they could be bought.  If your electricity and gas and heat bills go up this winter, or if your food costs rise, or if you lose your job as more companies move their business offshore, you know to blame - your four Missouri Congressman who coudn't be bothered to even read the bill.  

    The Four ACES and their abominable Act.  On to the Senate, where Claire McCaskill will vote no, unless she has the chance to be the 60th vote. 

    June 25, 2009

    Video Of Two Very Different Protests

    San Francisco protestors pretending to be dead to protest American interference with Iran.



    M

    Iran Protestor killed by axe-wielding thugs of the Iranian government.


    I have deleted an earlier post with an alleged picture of an axe wound. It is unlikely that picture was actually a bullet removal.

    June 24, 2009

    FiredUp Refuted By Obama, Hansen, And Common Sense

    .Sean, a D.C. Transplant incapable of writing an original thought or even bothering to read what he copy and pastes, is desperately trying to win points with the Carnahan family with daily smear jobs against Missouri Republicans.  You can waste time trying to talk sense into the boy, but he's made it clear his job is propaganda, not thinking.

    The Waxman Markey cap and trade bill coming up is Exhibit A.  Cap and trade by definition is intended to raise energy prices so consumers use less energy.  It's the whole purpose of the system.  The government imposes fees for the emission of GHG's, which companies then pass on to the consumer either through higher energy prices, or through the retrofitting of plants with new technologies.  The pain of paying higher energy then convinces people to use less, leading to less greenhouse gas emissions.  Dont believe me?  Ask Barack Obama what his cap and trade is supposed to do.

    The point of cap and trade is to raise gas, coal, and natural gas energy prices high enough to make you stop using them. 

    .Sean may or may not know this - he keeps pretending that cap and trade costs only what the CBO memo says.  He ignores the fact that if Waxman-Markey only costs $175/year per family, then it's failed and is simply a $600 billion tax that enriches folks like Al Gore (he has a bumper sticker that says Global Warming Profit(sic)).  If Waxman-Markey doesn't reduce emissions, it's a scam.  If it doesn't hurt consumers, it's useless. That's what Obama said in the video.  But wait there's more.  Left-wing NASA "scientist" James Hansen, last seen being arrested in West Virginia protesting a coal company (why does the government still pay him?), attacks Waxman-Markey as worse than doing nothing.  Hansen says its a money making scheme designed to make Wall Street rich without actually solving the problem.

    So let's recap.  Democrats are once again pushing a bill with huge changes to our national economy through the Congress with little debate, no time to read it, over the objections of Republicans, and all for our own good.  They claim it's an important tool to fight global warming, but it won't cost much.  The truth is it will cost a lot, and does nothing to address global warming.  When looked at closely, it's yet another political payoff to rich Democrats, taking money from citizens and using it to feed every larger federal bureaucracies.  They even brag it's a net revenue producer for the government.  Who is that revenue produced from?  Us.  So Washington takes money from us and because they run it through Enron clones, they can call it permit auctions rather than direct taxes.

    And FiredUp, well-known in Missouri as the online megaphone of the Carnahan family, attacks Missouri politicians for daring to stand up to a bill that enriches those who have a vested interest in wind farms.

    "Even if wind is slightly higher in 2008 than its competitors, you look at the price over time. It's a flat price over 20 years, compared to a combined-cycle or a coal unit that's going to have increased costs. Even if you sprinkle in a carbon tax or cap-and-trade, it all of a sudden looks very, very good"

    Can you guess who gave us that quote?  Hint:  It was a Carnahan.



    June 22, 2009

    Missouri Weather Stations And Global Warming

    The models for global warming predict warming trend lines that grow increasingly until we all burn like Father's Day pop-tarts made by your three year old.

    That's been a problem lately, as the temperature in 1998, which wasn't even as warm as that in the 1930's heat wave, was the highest on record in the last several decades, but was a high point that has not been matched in the next 11 years.  In fact, we have seen no global US warming in the lat 11 years.  None. 

    And the warming that has occurred since the 70's is suspect.  One - the 70's was cold.  There was some warming bound to happen.  Two, the way in which we measure temperature has changed. One of those ways is measuring surface temperatures through weather stations.  These simple stations have thermostats and a pole sticking up from the ground. We use the stations to determine trend lines over time, and they are the most reliable readings in the world.  All that means is US weather stations have more reliable data than their counterparts in other parts of the blog because we had the infrastructure and manpower to set them up and monitor them.

    That data is important to the Global warming movement.  Climate is very complex.  There are several layers of atmosphere that show different temperature readings, and so data is aggregated worldwide on the assumption that it is accurate.

    Here, take a look.

    Marysville_issues1 

    Do you see anything that might alter temperatures?  That sensor is going to be several degrees hotter than it would be if it were on a plain somewhere.  That kind of data is corrupting.  Think about St Charles or O'Fallon.  2,000 people in 1990, 120,000 people in 2004.  More houses, more urban heat islands, and higher temperatures at the sensor level, but not because of global warming. 

    Can you be part of the solution?  Join the Surface Station project, which chronicles the placement of weather sensors in the US so we can get an accurate reading of temperature.  If the globe is warming, we need to know it. It's not helpful when bad data gives us false positives. 

     

    These are weather stations in Missouri that still need checking.

    If you live in or near these sites, could you pop by and take a picture sometime this summer?  Regardless of your position, you should want accurate data.  Help the surface station project gather real data and make accurate reports.  Plenty of information is there on how to help out. 


    June 20, 2009

    Victory Or Death For Iranian Protestors

    By all means, let's just let the Iranians finish their vigorous debate. Some people just don't get it. These young protestors have made a life-threatening choice. Once they start down this path, they are either victorious, or the walking dead. If they back down, the Iranian regime will send their thugs into their homes in the black of night to kill them and their families. Death or Victory. That is all that is left for them. I wish we had a government in place that understood that. Some people, or perhaps as Obama likes to read, "THERE ARE THOSE" who say that Mousavi is no different than Ahmadinejad, but to the young and women in the street over there, there is enough of a difference to die for. UPDATE: The President has finally made a strong statement on the killing of Iranian citizens, but just can't get past inserting himself into the equation.
    As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.
    A simple statement of support days ago would have been the right thing. Pretending you've been right all along makes the issue out to be about you, not them. We deserve better from the leader of the free world.

    About 24th State

    • About 24th State
      24th State is named for Missouri, the nation's political bellwether which has the honor of being the 24th state admitted to the union.

      From Springfield to Kirksville, from Kansas City to St Louis, we cover the state's news, views, politics, rumors, and elections.

      The site is a group blog, run by average citizens from across Missouri with a desire to get involved in the political process.

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