'Bureaucratic Nightmare'

By a narrow margin of 219-212 the House of Representives passes a 1,200 page behemoth cap and tax climate change bill. Eight Republican turn-coats (including Washington's own Dave Reichert, 8th CD) helped the Democrats pass this massive national energy tax and 44 Democrats bucked the junk-science based bill with a NO vote.

The final version of the bill grew to be a 1,200 page boondoggle including a 300 page amendment was added in the early morning hours. By the way, Rep. Rick Larsen's (2nd CD) office insisted he read and studied the bill but that would have been humanly impossible and he should be ashamed for making his staff make such a preposterous claim.

For sound research on the economic impact of the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill read the Congressional testimony of Ben Liberman from the Heritage Foundation. Another BTW: the two states which stand to benefit the most from the cap and tax bill are California and Massachusetts, which incidentally are the two states represented by Waxman and Markey. The rest of us get soaked!

Read also: House GOP Leadership Warns Climate Change Bill Will Hurt Economy.

The bill now goes on to the Senate where it must die! Murray and Cantwell have drunk the koolaide but we must still melt their phone lines.

Sen. Murray: (202) 224-2621
Sen. Cantwell: (202) 224-3441

NEW RNC TV AD "Bipartisan"

Today a national TV network turns its airwaves over to President Obamas pitch for government-run health care. Shouldn't this be a bipartisan discussion?

How do we wake up Congressional GOP Leadership?

Bob's Corner:

I have been speaking a great deal around the state of Washington and the voters are energized. They are extremely angry at both political parties.

They fear for the future of their country and the free enterprise system. They expected it from President Obama, but they have been gravely disappointed in the lack of leadership and backbone on the part of Republican members of Congress. I have never heard such anger by conservatives and long-time major GOP donors toward the elected Republican members of Congress as I am hearing now.

They wonder why Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly are speaking out more against the Obama agenda than the congressional Republican leadership.

Meanwhile the waste of billions of dollars of taxpayer money continues. Has anyone in the GOP leadership criticized Microsoft for receiving federal stimulus funds for a bridge linking their campuses or for the millions of dollars wasted on “shovel ready” road projects in which blacktop is being laid down quickly (whether it is needed or not) in order for local governments to receive federal funds?

The $300 billion stimulus bill from July 2008 was a failure, and so was the $700 billion TARP in October 2008. Where are the cries by the GOP leadership for oversight hearings or GAO reports? The purposes of HR 1424 (TARP) were to:

• “Protect home values, college funds, retirement accounts, and life savings.” Tell that to many senior citizens who have lost 40 percent of the value of their retirement accounts in the past 16 months or to seniors who have lost a considerable value in their homes.
  
• “Preserve home ownership and promotes jobs and economic growth.” Look at the homes in foreclosure and unemployment numbers. Only 49% of Americans say home is now worth more than mortgage (Rasmussen Reports May 12)
  
• “Maximize overall returns to the taxpayers.” The government is doing a great job maximizing a negative return.
  
• “Provide public accountability for the exercise of such authority.” We have seen that this is a joke. The Federal Reserve apparently cannot account for $9 trillion in off-balance sheet transactions and they seem to have no idea on what the losses are on its $2 trillion portfolio. And their Inspector General appears clueless. Where are the Congressional oversight hearings? How has the $700 billion been spent?

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the $787 billion stimulus bill that he said would create or save 3.5 million jobs. Since then we have lost 16,000 jobs per day! (Source: House Republican Conference).

Where is the outcry from the elected Republican leadership? Even Republicans who supported some or all of these stimulus measures should be willing to call for proper oversight and accountability procedures.

The people I speak to are tired of the increasing amount of government intrusion into their businesses and lives. 80% of Americans want Government to sell their stake in GM, Chrysler right now (Rasmussen Reports. June 16)

The Republican Congressional Leadership squandered its image by overspending and promoting government bailouts of failed companies. The only way to regain trust — not only in the Republican Party but in our governmental institutions — is for conservative elected officials to act like statesmen. Earn respect by demanding accountability and reform. They need to act now before it’s too late.

Bob Williams, Founder & Senior Fellow Evergreen Freedom Foundation
www.effwa.org

Your tax $ at work (but not for you) ...

Congressman McDermott backs $250,000 federal earmark for Seattle's elite Rainier Club.

Obama's approval turns negative

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 33% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-four percent (34%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -1. Today is the second straight day the President’s rating has been below zero (see details of poll).

The GOP Can Stop ObamaCare

The public is in no mood for drastic changes in current coverage.
By KARL ROVE

It's extremely unlikely that Republicans will be able to pass their own health-care plan in this Congress. But in politics you can't beat something with nothing, so it is critical that the GOP offers an alternative to President Barack Obama's government-run monstrosity.

Americans will listen more closely to Republicans if they make empirical and specific arguments against Mr. Obama's attempted government takeover of the nation's health system. But they must also offer proposals that families, small-businesspeople and health-care providers will applaud.

President Barack Obama before delivering remarks on health care reform at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association on Monday in Chicago.
Fortunately, Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Devin Nunes of California have devised a plan that will likely appeal to anyone interested in making health insurance more affordable and portable.

Their proposal -- called the Patients' Choice Act -- is to leave in place the tax deduction companies receive for providing employees with health insurance and to create a "Medi-Choice" tax rebate that will give individuals $2,200 and families $5,700 to spend on health insurance. Read more...

The National Debate about Late-Term Abortions

By Janice Shaw Crouse

Bill O'Reilly only thought he opened up a hornet's nest when he coined the term "death mill" for late-term abortion clinics. But now public figures are blaming Mr. O'Reilly and pro-life advocates for the death of Dr. George Tiller, the famous abortion doctor who performed abortions up to the time of a baby's birth.

There has been almost universal condemnation of the killing of Dr. Tiller; the vast majority of pro-life people -- those who defend life and respect life from conception to natural death -- find it abhorrent that anyone would kill another person, including those who perform abortions. Yet, those looking for someone to blame for Dr. Tiller's death have turned their attention to the Fox News celebrity, claiming that his outspoken opinions have created a climate where such crimes are commonplace. Those same critics also blame pro-lifers for creating a "negative" climate because they speak boldly and passionately about the issue. Those critics are especially condemning of pro-lifers who participate in silent prayer vigils near the clinics or have legal demonstrations on the sidewalks leading to the clinics.

Read rest of article here

49 Million to Five

Hard hitting article by Ann Coulter but every word is true.

In the wake of the shooting of late-term abortionist George Tiller, President Barack Obama sent out a welcome message that this nation would not tolerate attacks on pro-lifers or any other Americans because of their religion or beliefs.

Ha ha! Just kidding. That was the lead sentence -- with minor edits -- of a New York Times editorial warning about theoretical hate crimes against Muslims published eight months after 9/11. Can pro-lifers get a hate crimes bill passed and oceans of ink devoted to assuring Americans that "most pro-lifers are peaceful"? Read more.

Liberal Fascism on display!

The following story is a chilling act of aggressive intimidation by gay marriage advocates. What a stunning disregard for the right of personal opinion.

"A group opposing Referendum 71 says it will publicize the names of everyone who signs petitions to put Referendum 71 on the fall ballot.

The group, which has named the site whosigned.org, says that the referendum process “must meet a high standard of transparency to ensure a fair and open discussion in the public forum.”
The referendum asks voters to veto Senate Bill 5688, a new law granting domestic partners many of the same rights and responsibilities of spouses. From the website:

Once signature petitions for initiatives and referenda are submitted and verified by the Secretary of State they are part of the public record. When signatures for Referendum 71 have been verified WhoSigned.Org will:

-Work to make this public record signature information accessible and searchable on the internet.
-Flag the 3% signature sample that is certified by the Elections Division of the Secretary of State.
-Provide Washington State Voters with a way to check that the public record of their advocacy is correct.
-Provide Washington State Voters with a way of reporting when their signature has been recorded either fraudulently or in error."

article posted by Richard Roesler of Spokesman-Review

Two Soldiers Shot by Peace Activist

posted by Erick Erickson over at RedState.com:

It is apparently inconvenient for the media and left to talk about this.

A Muslim convert “with political and religious motives” shot two uniformed soldiers outside an Arkansas military recruiting center Monday, killing one and wounding the other, authorities said.

Police arrested Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, on a nearby interstate shortly after the bloodshed at the Army-Navy Career Center in a shopping center in west Little Rock. Three guns were found in his SUV, they said.

They would rather focus on the nut who killed George Tiller than the nut who killed two soldiers. Look at the front page of Google News as of this writing and there are multiple stories on the former and none on the latter.

Why?

Well, one was allegedly a pro-life militant and the other was a peace activist. Which one do you think fits the media narrative better?

Also — President Obama rushed out pretty forthrightly after the death of Dr. Tiller to tell the pro-life community that violence is not the answer. Will he do the same to the peace movement?