Prayers for Phyllis Schlafly

By Michelle Malkin

If Phyllis Schlafly were a liberal, she’d already have buildings and holidays named after her, MacArthur genius grants, countless women’s magazine covers, and the unending admiration of the media elite.

At 85, this mother, grandmother, and political icon remains a tireless activist, prolific author, and frequent lecturer. But because she is an unapologetic and outspoken conservative, she is demonized instead of lionized.

Mrs. Schlafly is a dynamo who has carried the grass-roots conservative torch for decades while leading the Eagle Forum and publishing her popular “Phyllis Schlafly Report.” She carried her message to the University of California at Berkeley on Tuesday, where she gave a talk on “Feminism vs. Conservatism.” The California Eagle Forums’ Orlean Koehle reports that while coming off the podium after giving her speech, she missed a step and fell and broke her hip.

Orlean says that she was amazingly brave: The ambulance men lifted her up and onto their gurney. As she was wheeled away, she waved goodbye to them with her beautiful smile. She was charming to the end, even with a broken hip. What a great example she was of a gracious, refined, brave lady, even in great pain, to all of the young college Republicans and to the feminists who still were mingling around.

Phyllis was operated on Wednesday afternoon and was in the recovery room for several hours. She had to have part of the hip bone - the ball that fits into the socket replaced because it had been crushed.The doctor said the operation was successful. They just need to keep on eye on her now for a few days and make sure all else goes well. There is always fear of a blood clot or something else after such an operation.

Please keep Mrs. Schlafly and her family in your prayers. She was scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute at CPAC on Saturday. She is, in so many ways, the heart and soul of the grass-roots gathering. She will be sorely missed.

Send well wishes to eagle@eagleforum.org.

Moronic stimulus stunt of the day

By Michelle Malkin

Oh. For. Crying. Out. Loud. From Washington state, here’s your moronic stimulus stunt of the day:

OLYMPIA, Wash. —
The state of Washington sent out $1 checks to the 250,000 food stamp recipients in the state.

The director of the Community Services Division for the Department of Social and Health Services, Leo Ribas, says the checks mailed Feb. 17 trigger an additional $43 million in federal food benefits. They also connect recipients to an energy assistance program.

Ribas says the $1 check is a one-time move to leverage the federal money. He says next year the state will be able to trigger the federal assistance through a routine deposit in food stamp accounts.

A commenter notes: “Well bulk rate is about 26 cents. Envelop another 5-10 cents. Plus printing at 5-10 cents a copy. Plus handling. I’m sure [the cost to send the checks] was as much if not more then the food stamps.”

Amber Gunn of EFF/Washington adds: “To top it off, a lot of recipients of these checks do not have bank accounts so the fee to cash the check is greater than the check itself (usually $2 to $5). Genius.”

D.C. and the Constitution

Will Democrats let the law get in the way of an extra House seat? Wall Street Journal

The House of Representatives seems set to grow by two Members, to 437, after next year's election. Yesterday the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act passed a key procedural vote in the Senate, making passage of the legislation, which President Obama supports, all but certain. The only thing standing in the way may be the Constitution.

The District of Columbia is reliably and overwhelmingly Democratic, and most of the bill's sponsors are Democrats. But one Republican is conspicuous among its sponsors: Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. That is because the legislation also creates a new House seat for Mr. Hatch's state, which in 2000 lost out to North Carolina for the 435th seat because the Census Bureau declined to count Mormon missionaries temporarily overseas as Utah residents.

Utah is one of the most Republican states in the country, but this is still a bad trade for the GOP. Whereas the new District of Columbia seat is permanent, and Democratic dominance in D.C. is as permanent as such things can be, the other new seat will be Utah's for only two years. Thereafter, like all other Congressional seats, it will be reassigned every 10 years as part of reapportionment. It could just as easily go to a Democratic state as to a Republican one.

More important, the legislation runs afoul of the plain language of the Constitution, which provides that House members shall be chosen "by the People of the several States" and stipulates that the District of Columbia is not a state.

In 1960, Congress proposed a Constitutional amendment giving residents of the capital the right to vote for President. The 23rd Amendment was ratified the following year. The District already sends a nonvoting delegate to the House, but if Congress wishes to grant it full representation, it should do so by amending, not ignoring, the Constitution.

The Chinagate/Buddhist temple cash skeletons in Gary Locke’s closet

By Michelle Malkin

Is it possible for Barack Obama to pick a Commerce Secretary nominee who’ll actually make it past first base? Bill Richardson withdrew in the midst of a pay-for-play scandal. Judd Gregg withdrew in the midst of a humiliating power play over the Census and porkulus bill.

Now, former Democrat Gov. Gary Locke — a lawyer for international firm Davis, Wright, and Tremaine who specializes in China — is rumored to be the next nominee for the post. The MSM is pulling for him. WaPo writes: “Locke is regarded as a safe choice by senior officials in the Obama administration given his long history in public life, his strait-laced reputation and his bipartisan governing credentials.” Wishful thinking? Willful cluelessness? Probably a bit of both. Click here for rest of article

Burris may lose Senate seat in wake of Blago admission

Roland Burris could find himself forced from the Senate after admitting that he tried to raise money for ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking the disgraced governor’s appointment to the seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Click here for rest of article

Friday the 13th Horror!

How fitting is it that the stimulus bill is coming to a strong-arm vote on Friday the 13th?

This entire process has been a horror story. The exclusion of Republicans. The pork and paybacks for special interests. The secret, closed-door meetings. The mammoth bill text kept hidden until hours before the vote.

But of course the greatest horror is not the process – it is the product. At the end of the day we have an economic stimulus without economic stimulus. A recovery package that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will shrink the GDP. An historic transfer of wealth and power to the federal government – which the government has no plans of returning to the people.

Commonsense Americans have been expressing their concern, frustration and outrage for weeks. But Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid – and yes, President Obama – have not listened.

from Redstate.com

Update: House passes Generational Theft Bill; no Republican support
The Senate approved the package 60 to 38 with the help of three Rino Republicans

Hundreds show up in Olympia to defend marriage!

overflow crowd waiting to attend hearing

Washington Eagle Forum testifying trio

Today was a high water day for defenders of traditional marriage. Hundreds attended a hearing in Olympia to draw a line in the sand against gay marriage.

Early in the 2009 legislative session homosexual activists launched the latest in their march toward gay marriage and unveiled their "Everything but Marriage" campaign. They have been very open about their ultimate goal and that is full and equal marriage status.

Today hearings were held before Democrat controlled committees and they could not have been prepared for the all people who showed up to testify in opposition to gay marriage. Last year only 2 people showed up to testify but this year it was entirely different story. (See pictures)

Thank you to all who made the trip to Olympia... young, old, families, students, professionals... it made a profound impact and sent a strong message to legislators!

Daschle Goes, Geithner Stays?

by the Editors of NRO

For Democrats, the taxman giveth and the taxman taketh away. High-profile tax-scofflaw Tom Daschle has been shamed out of an appointment as secretary of health and human services. And he’s not alone: President Obama will have to hunt down another candidate for the newly created position of “chief performance officer” now that his nominee, Nancy Killefer, has been torpedoed by tax delinquencies of her own. But the most outrageous offender, Timothy Geithner, was confirmed as Treasury secretary, borne aloft on an air of indispensability.

Daschle’s offenses were accepting money and services—including a chauffeur-driven Cadillac—without reporting the income to the IRS. Daschle claimed that this was a series of honest errors, but his story was never credible. Even a million-dollar-a-year guy should notice an extra check for $83,333—a month’s installment on his consulting contract. He knew who owned that Cadillac and who paid its driver. Like Geithner, the former Senate majority leader began making good on his debts when it became clear that Obama’s political rise would present opportunities for his own advancement.

Daschle’s negligence was gross, particularly for a party and an administration that have celebrated prostration before the taxman as a “patriotic duty.” But Daschle’s offenses, galling as they may be, are exceeded by those of Geithner. Indeed, of all the tax transgressions touching Obama’s circle, Geithner’s are the worst.

Not only did Geithner neglect to pay his taxes, he turned a buck by doing so—accepting payments from his employer for the very purpose of offsetting those taxes. When he took the money, he signed a statement promising to pay the taxes and then ignored his obligations—for years. Protected by a statute of limitations, he did not pay his 2001–02 taxes until his nomination made them a public issue.

If Daschle’s tax problems should bar him from managing the federal health-services bureaucracy and Killefer’s preclude her from scrutinizing the budget, how is it that Geithner’s transgressions—the worst of the lot—are insufficient to disqualify him from managing the same Internal Revenue Service whose attentions he evaded?

We must not have a two-tiered tax code. Obama should make a clean sweep of it and dismiss Geithner. He’ll land on his feet, perhaps securing a gig at Tom Daschle’s private-equity fund, where the perks are so enviable. If he does so, we recommend taking a hard look at his 1040 next year.

Life: Imagine the Potential

NBC Sacks Pro-life Superbowl Ad

Why We Must Defend the Electoral College

Eagle Forum trio testifying at Senate hearing

Senator Benton, Republican member of the committee

Testimony against Senate Bill 5599 (Approving an agreement to elect the president by popular vote)

Thank you Madam Chair and Committee members for the opportunity to testify before your committee. We appreciate your courtesy in allowing the three of us speak from the Fourth Corner of the State. [Chair interrupts: “Introduce yourself!”] My name is Luanne Van Werven and I am the Legislative Director for Washington Eagle Forum.

My testimony specifically addresses the concern that electing the president by popular vote will have the affect of nationalizing voter fraud. Voter fraud and election irregularities are serious problems in our country. Under the system of Electoral College, this can be compartmentalized on a state-by-state basis.

In 2000, the challenges were limited to the state of Florida and in 2004, it was contained to the state of Ohio. We believe a national popular vote could lead to lawsuits in multiple states after a presidential election. What happened in Florida could happen all over the country.

Can you imagine in the case of a very close election we had to conduct a recount in all 50 states? Imagine what is happening in Minnesota right now times 50! This would result in a Constitutional crisis.

I also wish to address what I believe to be an end-run around the Constitution. Since when do we change the constitution by compact? The process of amending the Constitution was brilliantly structured by our founding fathers and requires a high standard to prevent tampering with this most valuable document.

The Electoral College has served us well for more than 200 years and there is every reason to believe it can continue to serve us for generations to come.

Thank you.