24thState

Cracks In The Dam

Questions to Ask:

What Bank did Obama get his first home loan from.  Nice terms?

Who is Alexi Giannoulias, and why did Obama endorse a 29 year old with no relevant experience for the position of Illinois State Treasurer?

What exactly is the link between Giannoulias, Tony Rezko, and Obama?  Will it come out before, or after November 4th?

Be Careful What You Wish For

I was asked by a Republican voter if the economy might get better if Obama wins, because at least the media would be talking it.  A telling statement, and one that in a nutshell, explains an Obama presidency. The constant media assault on Bush and the Republicans over the last 8 years has finally borne fruit.  The American voter, even if they aren't normally Democratic voters, are eager for the vitriol to stop.  They're hoping that an Obama presidency might actually be a Unity ticket.

They're sadly mistaken.  Obama is a deeply flawed candidate, with questionable associations just now coming to light, including home loans from highly questionable sources in Chicago, a background at Columbia, Harvard, and Chicago that is never mentioned by a compliant press corps, and a thin skin that simply isn't up to the scrutiny of a 24 hour news cycle.

In 1992, the media pushed their candidate Bill Clinton into the White House, and then quickly turned on him when he turned out to be a feckless, immature, and ultimately ineffective President until the OKC bombing and the government shutdown gave him a second wind.

In a time of war, we're about to repeat the mistake, putting in a candidate whose experience is running for office, this time with the help of the vilest personalities in American politics.  Will the American Republic survive?  Of course.

Even with a filibuster proof Senate, Obama won't get what he wants.  He lacks the ability to push through his New Deal legislation, and the country and the media will turn on him as he overreaches with appointments, legislation and general incompetence in his first 90 days.  Expect unfriendly foreign governments to test Obama immediately upon entering office, and expect him to freeze like a deer in headlights.

As the public recognizes what they've done, Obama will seek to regain favor by turning on his Democratic allies in the Congress and Senate, which they'll have none of.  They had that happen in 1993-94, and they're not about to let it happen again.  Expect the passions simmering underneath the Democratic party to explode into intra-party warfare, with Clinton telling the party "I told you so."

Republicans are so disorganized, they probably won't be able to take advantage of the political situation for a long time.  The truth is we need a purging of the outdated leadership in both parties, and that won't happen if the American public can't learn to boot out the worst of our Congressman.

But we'll muddle on.  The economic situation looks dire, and there will be significant pain for all involved, but we're far better prepared than we were in the 30's. Not to mention that we lack a big drought, we're wealthy beyond belief, and we're still an amazing entrepreneurial people.

So take care of yourselves, and remember this.  Government isn't going to solve the problem.  Only you can.  Even in a Depression, should we be unlucky enough to get to it, people make money and grow empires.  Learn to rely on yourself, and build your business. 

Then run for Congress and knock off some of the dead wood. We'll need you by then.

 

Cognitive Dissonance and Obama's Economic Plan

I've always loved it when people talked about cognitive dissonance.  It's almost surely a sign that the person bringing it up took a Brain and Behavior class in college, and this is the one thing they remember.

In scientific terms, Cognitive dissonance is what your brain does when you hold a viewpoint, find evidence to the contrary, and dismiss the evidence to continue holding your viewpoint so your head doesn't explode.  Remember, that's science, not a cartoon analogy.

But this isn't about cognitive dissonance.  It's about lies told as truth.

Here are just a few.

95% of Americans will get a tax cut. Sometimes this is listed as 95% of working Americans, but it refers to a $500 tax "credit" in Obama's economic policy.  Here's the problem.  It's a transfer of wealth from those who pay taxes to those who don't.  In 2006, an estimated 43.4 million individuals payed no federal income tax.  For many of those people, they actually were payed by the Federal government to work, getting what is known as the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The EITC is supposed to be for poor people, to help them with taxes, but it's actually a gift from taxpayers to non-taxpayers.  The way it works is you file for taxes, and if you didn't make enough, you get a "refund" in the form of a check.  Of course, a refund that pays you more than you were taxed isn't a refund at all.  It's income redistribution, hidden in the tax code so the average person doesn't know they're getting screwed.

The Obama 95% tax cut is the same gimmick. It's a giveaway from the government meant to buy a vote, much like those Stimulus Checks that have been sent out twice during the Bush Presidency. 

To call income redistribution a tax cut or refund isn't just a lie, it's undermines the foundation of our democracy, but both parties play the game, which makes it hard to call anyone out.

In other news, the Post Dispatch endorses Obama tomorrow.  Here is their best paragraph:

Very early on, Mr. Obama reached out to his impressive corps of economic advisers and developed a comprehensive set of recommendations for addressing the problems. He set them forth calmly and explained them carefully.

I'm not sure exactly what they are referring to, other than Obama's consistent position that his views, if he has a second chance to explain them, were always correct, as "he repeatedly has said."  Obama hasn't shown any leadership in this economic situation, other than to blame Bush policies, and call for "common-sense regulation," a political weasel-word that means nothing and everything.  Congress passed their bailout. It's done nothing, and Obama, a Senator and the Democratic Presidential nominee, has no answers.  If he did, he'd have worked to pass laws that had some effect.  What exactly is the PD editorial board referencing?  Any ideas?  (incidentally, this is why blogs are a superior source for news to newspapers.  We provide links to our assertions).   

10 Steps To Creating Vote Fraud In Missouri

So here's a lesson on how to create conditions ripe for vote fraud, while saying that you're actually creating free and fair elections:

Step 1:
Have far left Progressive organizations like ACORN, Missouri-ProVote, and others file tens of thousands of registrations across the state.  Use low-paid workers who have every incentive to file fraudulent names, and when caught, claim it's the fault of the workers.

Step 2:  When Republicans seek to clean the rolls of the fraudulent registrations, scream they are racist, and trying to prevent the poor/minority/elderly from voting.

Step 3:  Spend a couple decades warning government lawyers that filing voter fraud lawsuits is "unhealthy" for their careers.

Step 4:  Elect a Democratic Secretary of State who claims it's not her responsibility to clean up voter rolls, as it's the county election boards who have the responsibility to clean up those rolls, even if they have no budget or personnel to do so.

Step 5:  Find a judge who agrees with you, who bases her decision on no convictions of voter impersonation (as government lawyers won't touch the cases based on difficulty and, uh, "the unhealthiness").

Step 6:  Fight Photo ID, claiming it's too hard to get one.  Create new "coalitions" staffed by the far left Progressive organizations and Union organizations like SEIU And ACORN (the Julie Terbrock/Laura Egerdal connection).   

Step 7:  Staff your Secretary of State office with representatives from ACORN, Missouri ProVote, and SEIU.  Hope no one sees the connections between people named Grant Williams, John Hickey, and wonders how their employees end up working for Robin Carnahan.   

Step 8: Have a statewide media uninterested in asking questions about why Far Left voting registration groups (some with a history of fraud) are the best source for employment in the Secretary of State's office.

Step 9: Having accomplished your mission, feel free to talk about fair elections, knowing that you've created a structure that makes it almost impossible to catch, prosecute, and convict anyone of vote fraud.

Step 10: Start making your plans to run for higher office.   

Anything I missed?

I'm Unduly Burdened In Paying My Taxes

One of the laughable examples of how Robin Carnahan's office has worked against preventing voter fraud is her lawsuit against the Voter ID act. Here for your amusement is some of the reasoning why having a Photo ID requirement  is unconsitutional .

"These thousands of Missourians will be unduly burdened by having to jump through the myriad of governmental bureaucracies and pay the costs to obtain the necessary Photo ID...

This has a direct impact and demonstrates a further undue burden on women who change their name due to marriage.  The expense, time and effort required to obtain the underlying documents to satisfy these three requirements will place a substantial and undue burden on the fundamental right to vote of the properly registered Missouri voters who do not currently possess a valid Photo ID, including the individual respondents in this case." 

Now, each year when I do my taxes, it costs my thousands of dollars and dozens of hours to complete the forms, gather the correct forms, and go over them with my accountant.  Every two years, I have to get new plates for my car, and the burdens and cost of doing so are at least as difficult as getting to vote.  So in that respect, I guess you could say that I'm "unduly burdened" by having to jump through the "myriad of governmental bureaucracies"in my efforts to register my car, pay my property taxes, and accurately account for my income.

I don't see myself filing any court cases complaining about it.  Guess that makes me a sucker for actually playing by the rules.

The Need For A Strong Conservative Voice

I hope that I'm wrong about Barack Obama.  I hope that his career is the product of being a typical politician, an empty suit that uses the people around him to promote himself.  His actions certainly suggest it, as he is always willing to throw his friends under the bus when they are no longer useful, or an impediment to his next office.

That's actually a good thing, in comparison to what he could be - a committed leftist intent on ushering in a new era of progressive legislation.  Bill Clinton was that way.  His desire to be liked, and re-elected, was more powerful than his commitment to liberal causes, and the result was a Republican Congress running things and Clinton taking credit.

I hope Obama's that same selfish type, because it looks very much like he's going to be the next President, regardless of what October surprises remain in store.  (By the way, October surprises are stories buried by the media to launch a few days before the election.  I don't see the media releasing anything until Novembe 5th this year).

McCain is a decent, honorable man who has served his country well and has the right instincts on cutting government spending, but his essential weaknesses on the economy and his inability to engage in a meaningful manner have allowed an untested, unvetted, pro-government liberal into the White House.

I couldn't even finish the debate.  McCain missed so many opportunities to hack away at Obama's thin facade, but he lacks either the intelligence, the debate prep, or the desire to make a difference.

McCain is a Senator - has been one for a long time, and he's not willing to point out that Democrats in Congress always want to spend more.  He can't call them out, because he's been one of them, and he's looking ahead to work with them.  Obama doesn't have those problems, because he doesn't have a record as a senator, and he's counting on having a majority when he's elected, so he can say whatever he wants.

A tax cut for 95%?  It's impossible when 50% of the country already pays 98% of the income taxes.  If McCain had a stronger voice, he could explain this in terms that the American people understand.  He could point out that it's not healthy for a nation to rely so heavily on the wealthy - that the rich work hard for their money, and the goal is to give everyone that opportunity, not punish those willing to take the risk.

Obama made his case tonight.  His prescription for what ails us is to increase the size and scope of government.  He wants to use government to solve problems.  That's a great pitch, but it will never happen.  Government simply isn't as efficient as the private sector.  It's not as smart.  And it's a lot harder to get rid of once you let them in the door. 

A strong, conservative voice could make that case.  They could stand up and say that yes, the economy is bad, and some people got away with it.  But the answer isn't adding regulation dreamed up by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. The answer is taking our lumps, and remembering there is no free lunch.  Work hard, save, prepare for upturns and downturns, and accept responsibility for what happens to you and you family.

A strong conservative voice could point out that the states and cities that are having problems are those that spent too much in the boom times, and counted on the ultra rich to bail them out.  California is such a place.  California's government is funded on the backs of the wealthiest.  When the wealthy make a lot of money, Californian government gets a lot of cash. When the economy crashes, California goes into massive debt.  And then they need a bailout.

George W. Bush was not a strong voice, and neither is John McCain.  Both are decent men, but if we want to prevent the disaster of Obama's New Deal, we'll need more than decent men.

Better hope that the Senate Republicans hold onto 41 seats.

Dear Missouri Political Bloggers

I'm in the process of redoing my blogroll.  I'll be booting off FiredUp, the Source, and the Pulse, and adding more citizen bloggers, so if you have sent me a note or want to be added, please send it again.

A second note to those of you new to the space or not expert in the ways of SEO.  You need to do two things.  1) Link to your fellow bloggers, and 2) add yourself to technorati.com.  That goes for you two, Post-Dispatch and Prime Buzz.  Adding your blog to Technorati will help you in your standings, and make it easier to track incoming links.  Go do it now.

As for links - if your goal is to increase your influence, the way to do it is to join with a number of other people with similar interest (to write about politics from a Missouri viewpoint), and link each other continually.  This doesn't mean linking to people you hate, but if you reach across to intelligent and thoughtful people you agree and disagree with, your voice gains more influence.

I'm cutting those three blogs mentioned off from links because they're all run by partisan political consultants, which means they aren't much good for legitimate discussion.  My goal is and always has been to give the unvoiced a voice.

So think about it - send me an e-mail if you want to be linked, and think about linking the individual blogposts of your fellow Missourians. 

**and if I get enough interest, I'll start a Missouri blog carnival similar to what Prime Buzz does where each week, one blog posts a list of links submitted by other bloggers.   

Vice Presidential Debate Thoughts

1) We didn't get the knockdown drag-out fight conservatives wanted.  McCain first, and now Palin, just don't seem to be up to calling out Obama and Biden when they make outrageous statements.

Palin could have struck out at Biden on 26 years of anti-energy independence votes, his support of the UN, or his constant decision to empower the government at the expense of the middle class he fetishes.  Palin is terrible when she tries to parrot McCain, because McCain isn't very good making a case for himself.  I was disappointed with Palin's performance, but my wife liked a lot of what she said.  It will be interesting to see what people say tomorrow.

2) In that vein, Biden is a very good liar, or to be kinder, he's very good at repeating talking points that stretch the truth.  Reference his comments about sending an ambassador to speak with Iran (that's a dishonest mischaracterization that Biden, the foreign policy guru, should know better).

We never hear Biden talk about governing. He's incapable of pointing to Democratic accomplishments because there have been none.  Again, Palin misses the chance to show that Biden is part of the problem.

3) Biden's comment about this being the most important election since 1932 is instructive.  What happened in 1932?  Roosevelt was elected, and he set about using his governing majorities to put in place an astronomical growth in government.

Biden is making it clear that he wants to sell America a New Deal.  Massive government intervention is the plan of the progressive left, and while Obama/Biden talk about the middle class, their goal, is to make the country more dependent on government.

And this is what the election ultimately comes down to.  Do you want the government to take more control of your life?  Not just now.  Not just if you're hurting now.  Do you want the government to take care of everyone?  Do you want universal health care?  Expanded social safety nets?  More money to "progressive" organizations like ACORN and Gamaliel and ProVote who survive like parasites on the bloated belly of government?  Are you a self-sufficient, independent stand-on-your-own-two-feet kind of citizen, or are you too stupid, too weak, and too worthless to make it on your own.

This election will decide what direction we take.  Are we a strong nation?  Or is it time we gave up the idea of economic and personal liberty, and look to our betters in the Democratic party to tell us how to live.

Animal Farm wasn't written about modern day politics, but it's an important book to have read.  Democrats are the pigs, offering themselves as servants to the rest of us, but selling us out as soon as they can get their hands on the fruits of the public.

Greed on Wall Street is bad.  But Greed in Washington is worse.  Wall Street doesn't have guns.

Choose wisely, and don't buy the spin.

Questions For Kevin Craig, 7th MO Congressional District, US House

In 2006, All 9 of our US House seats were won by over 60%.  This section is intended for challengers to air their views.

Questions:

1. Why are you running? What experience do you bring to  the table that would help improve Washington?

I'm running for office because over the years I have seldom had an opportunity to vote for a candidate who can be trusted to actually keep his oath of office. In most elections I don't vote.  I want to give those who support the original vision of America a chance to vote for a candidate who will uphold that vision.

I have no experience to bring to the table. What I have is a strong moral commitment to the/>"experiment in liberty" that America's Founding Fathers gave us. I am the only candidate in the race who can be relied upon to bind Washington down by the chains of the constitution, to use Jefferson's words. The signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution would vote for Kevin Craig.

The moral vision to which I'm committed can be summed up as "Liberty Under God"

http://KevinCraig.us/liberty.htm

I also sum it up with reference to the Founders' affection for the Biblical ideal of every man dwelling safely under his own vine & fig tree:

http://KevinCraig.us/VFT.htm

2. Name two current politicians you admire, one for their effectiveness, and one for their character.

Character: Ron Paul Effectiveness: Ron Paul; effective ideologically, not necessarily electorally. The only politician I admire is one who supports "Liberty Under God." Bill Clinton was "effective" in many ways, very skilled, but he is not a politician I admire. I admire very few "current" politicians. Politics is the art of corruption, fraud, theft, and violence; seldom of leadership.

3. Is Washington broken?  What can you do specifically to fix it?

If the men who signed the Declaration of Independence could visit our day, they would say Washington is more than "broken." It is a tyranny that must be abolished.

http://KevinCraig.us/tyranny.htm
http://KevinCraig.us/overthrow.htm

Politics is a tug-of-war.

http://KevinCraig.US/tug.htm

If you want the rope pulled in the direction of "Liberty Under God," Kevin Craig is the strongest candidate. If, after 10 years of pulling, you think he's pulling Congress too far, vote for a weaker, less determined candidate.

Will The Democrats Steal Ohio?

I think we've reached a point where we can say that the default position of Democratic Secretaries of State is to create an environment where vote fraud is easy to accomplish. 

And that's just Ohio.

Rejecting Absentee ballots?  Only from the McCain website.  Same day voting and registration?  Check.  Election monitors?  Not allowed, because they're only casting ballots, not voting.

Note that the Obama campaign is picking up homeless people off the street and taking them to the polls, where they give temporary addresses as proof of registration.

How can these political hacks defend that kind of behavior?  They can't.  They don't have to.