CNN, MSNBC Reject Ads Based Purely On Their Politics

I know many will say that by now this kind of thing should no longer surprise me, but I must admit, this story still caught me off-guard. Two major (well, perhaps “major” is a bit of hyperbole) news organizations refusing to air commercials, and in the process make money – the supposed purpose of their existence, simply because the movie Atlas Shrugged has a “conservative” bent. Actually all it really stands for, is men standing on their own two feet rather than suckling on the government tit, but somehow that’s become extreme conservatism in this day and age of rampant socialism.

Mind you, this movie contains no violence, that would be fine. No nudity, that would be okay too. It’s not a documentary purporting the benevolence and general greatness of Che Guevera or Stalin – they’d air those commercials for free and probably with glee. Nope, this movie contains none of those things a rational person might find inappropriate. So, what makes it so bad that CNN and MSNBC refuse to even air advertisements for it? Well, you tell me, because I literally can not imagine. Here’s how Wikipedia describes this great American novel…

The book explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, Dagny Taggart, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry (including Taggart Transcontinental, the once mighty transcontinental railroad for which she serves as the Vice President of Operations), while society’s most productive citizens, led by the mysterious John Galt, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as “stopping the motor of the world” by withdrawing the “minds” that drive society’s growth and productivity. In their efforts, these people “of the mind” hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where people are slaves to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society.

Ooooh, scary stuff; let’s organize a book burning party quick before anyone else reads this thing! Of course, I kid. This amazing work should be on every reading list in every American Literature class in the country. It’s a compelling novel, and it’s an even more compelling look at the destructive force of government take-over of society and manipulation of free-markets. So, why then have most have never even heard of it, and why are CNN and MSNBC suppressing advertisements for a movie while claiming to present an unbiased look at news? Something seems queer, doesn’t it? Oh well, “Who is John Galt?”

Puerto Rican Statehood, Now Why Would Democrats Do That?

Having passed the wildly unpopular health care bill through all methods of chicanery, the Democratic leadership in Congress now wants to legalize 12-15 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. and force (more on that in a minute) the island of Puerto Rico with its population of 4 million to become the 51st state. This will result in 16-19 million additional uninsured Americans which the rest of us will immediately begin buying health insurance for; along with the full allotment of other welfare benefits, Social Security, Medicare, education, etc., etc., etc. Now why would the Democrats do that?

Well, this doesn’t take a rocket scientist to answer – 19 million mostly poorly educated, low wage earning, not politically savvy new citizens; I wonder which party they would vote for? But, in the case of Puerto Rico it gets even better. As you know, each state gets two Senators and Puerto Rico would immediately elect two more Democrats to that body. In the House of Representatives the seats are capped at 435 and divided among the states based on population. The redistributing would result in Puerto Rico gaining 7 or 8 seats and other states losing that number. Two new Senators and 7 – 8 House seats guaranteed to go to the Democrats; considering that 1 vote in the Senate and 3 in the House were the difference between passage and failure of Health Care reform it becomes immediately apparent the stakes we’re talking here!

But, here’s the best part… Puerto Rico doesn’t even want to be a state. The people of Puerto Rico have overwhelmingly voted against it 3 times, including twice in the 90’s. Perhaps you’re thinking, ‘Well what’s the problem then, they’ll just vote against it again’. If only it were that simple, but as James Simpson explains here, this time the game has been rigged and if HR 2499 passes it will push the citizens of Puerto Rico into a process that will virtually force statehood upon them. Even members of their own party don’t like their tactics on this one. Democrat Congressman Luis Gutierrez shares his opinion of the shenanigans here.

The Democrats can’t pass their agenda (Health Care, Cap ‘n Trade, etc.) without trampling on the Constitution to get around those pesky citizens. Now it looks like they will lose most if not all of their majority in Congress come November. They are running out of time, so they have settled on a new plan. Use the power they have for the next 6 months to manipulate the make-up of the future electorate to ensure their retention of or return to power. Nineteen million welfare addicted new voters should do the trick.

Was the Tin Foil Hat Crowd Right All Along?

As it snows today in Houston Texas (the earliest snow storm in the cities entire recorded weather history) and we go on day 14 of a near total television news blackout of the climate-gate story, I am left to wonder if perhaps the conspiracy theorists were right all along. Is the global warming science a fraud? Are the scientists purporting it, and the politicians enacting policy based on it, and the corporations making money off of it all working together to deceive the world’s population for their own monetary and/or power gains? What seemed insane to suggest three weeks ago now seems entirely possible.

For those who aren’t aware (I’ve been dismayed to learn that a vast number of otherwise educated acquaintances have heard nothing of this story) the global warming theorists were caught in an extremely compromising position two weeks ago. The University of East Anglia’s (UEA) Climate Research Unit (CRU), the world’s foremost authority on historic temperature data, has admitted throwing away the raw temperature data on which their claims of global warming were based. In addittion, emails between the CRU’s director and other prominent global warming scientists around the world were uncovered and displayed a pattern of cover-up and subterfuge aimed at making their “science” appear genuine while discrediting anyone who dared posit a differing viewpoint.

Wondering why you haven’t heard about this? You’re not alone. Two weeks into this story, reminiscent of the ACORN prostitution story, the network news refuses to cover it, the New York Times lead environmental reporter won’t print the emails because they were “stolen” (can you imagine the Times taking such a moral stand if Dick Cheney’s email was hacked?) and the politicians want to investigate the email “thief” rather than the scientific scandal that may have cost the world’s taxpayers trillions of dollars in non-scientific science and environmental initiatives.

A cursory read of just a few of these emails leads to the immediate conclusion that these individuals are not scientists. In fact, they sound and act more like religious or political zealots than open-minded seekers of irrefutable truth as true scientists are. They believe in their cause and will do anything to move it forward including manipulating data and squashing any opposition. Meanwhile the politicians, namely Al Gore, tell us that the time for debate is past, global warming is a fact and we’re running out of time to fix it. NBC’s entire family of channels broadcasts environmental awareness programming under the heading “green week” on such a regular basis it would be easier to label the off weeks “non-green-week” (interestingly NBC is owned by GE – likely to benefit substantially from tougher environmental standards with its turbine manufacturing operations – is there any chance they have ulterior motives for this programming?).

I don’t think of myself as a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think there are alien spaceships in Area 51. I believe America really did land on the moon in 1969. And, I don’t believe George Bush allowed 9/11 to happen. But after the events of the past two weeks, when it comes to climate change, it looks like I’m going to need to get out my tin foil hat.

Democrats Hijack Process and More on Way to Health “Reform”

Not satisfied with the monstrous majorities they hold in both houses of Congress and the  accompanying power to pass any and all legislation of their choosing, the Democrats in Congress are raping and pillaging their way through this legislative session in a manner that makes the Vikings seem like innocent Catholic schoolgirls. It is hard to decide which is more stunning – their lack of shame or the media’s blatant complicity in their actions.

Throughout Congress’s history the party in power has always had the ability to control the calendar; control the debate to some extent; and with a large enough majority, be assured of their agenda’s ultimate passage. However, never before in this illustrious body’s history have we seen one party abuse their power to this extent – literally shutting the other party out. Today’s announcement of their health care ‘reform’ legislation and the blocking of Republicans, Republican staffers and even the general public from attending; is just the latest in a long line of atrocious power manipulation by this Speaker and her cohorts. Previously, these same corrupt politicians locked Republican committee members out of the room where the health care reform legislation was being written. So much for the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill sitting down together and hammering out tax policy – nope, Democrats today just lock you out of the room and write it without you then accuse conservatives of not being part of the solution.

This country was founded on the principles of representative government. The founders rebelled against a tyrannical power almost exclusively due to their revulsion at the practice of taxation without representation. But, today in America if your representative or senator is a Republican or an independent or even a conservative minded Democrat, you are a victim of taxation without representation. Republicans, Independents and conservative Democrats are being completely shut out from the legislative process. Their amendments are not being allowed to come to the floor for consideration; they are not being allowed the opportunity to voice their opposition to legislation; and now Pelosi has gone so far as to prevent those who don’t agree with her from even attending a public unveiling of the legislation.

Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democrats who conspire with them have hijacked this government. These people took an oath to preserve protect and defend the Constitution, and they have not only failed to uphold that oath, they have blatantly and intentionally violated that oath. Justice would be best served by their immediate incarceration in a federal penitentiary – at a minimum the American people must demand that these treasonous criminals be soundly defeated in next November’s elections.

Justice Dept. Says Democratic Voters Need Help Voting

In a stunning admission of their low opinion of their voting base’s intelligence, the Obama administration and its Justice Department admitted that their constituency is incapable of voting without the assistance of party affiliations on the ballot. With irony laced corruption so blatant it almost defies belief the Justice Department overruled the people of Kinston, North Carolina who voted overwhelmingly to do away with the party affiliation designation on the ballot. In doing so, Obama’s Justice Dept. has admitted that their constituency is too stupid to find and vote for the Democrat on the ballot without a “D” next to his or her name. Perhaps more intriguing is the thought that they appear to be suggesting that this same constituency lacked the intelligence to understand the question when they voted overwhelmingly to do away with the designations.

If you’re like me, you probably find it extremely unnerving that the federal Justice Department has the time and the inclination to involve itself in town elections law. Even more disturbing is the disgraceful justification they provide for their actions. Citing racial equality the Justice Department said partisan designations were necessary for black voters to elect their “candidates of choice”. In what possible way is it discriminatory against a particular group to remove party affiliations of all parties from the ballot? Notice the Justice Department did not suggest this action was discriminatory against Republicans, Caucasians, or any other group; further illustrating that they seem to believe the Democrats and/or the black voters of Kinston, North Carolina are lagging behind their Republican neighbors in intelligence.

It seems the Obama administration, and Democrats in general, are wise to the fact that they cannot win elections without the un-educated, uncommitted, partisan voter. A voter who will be rendered useless if party affiliations were removed from the ballot. This is disappointing as I have long contended that the ideal way to return America’s elections to genuine contests decided by informed voters would be to remove the party affiliation from all candidates at all levels on every ballot. No more walking into the voting booth and simply checking off all the names  with a “D” next to them or all the names with an “R” next to them. Instead, voters would have to know who they were voting for and presumably, why. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear this Justice Department or this administration is interested in fair elections where they would actually have to earn their votes.

Massachusetts Legislature Out Corrupts Itself!

Just when you thought it was impossible for the Massachusetts legislature, the Boston Globe or Governor Deval Patrick  to be any more corrupt, they descend to new lows. Yesterday the state Senate voted, mostly along party lines, to give Governor Deval Patrick the authority to appoint an interim Senator to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat in Washington until a special election is held in January. The House voted similarly a few days ago.

The corruption lies in the history of this decision. In the fall of 2004, during Senator John Kerry’s failed Presidential bid, with the polls indicating that Kerry might win the Presidency and thus vacate his Senate seat, the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature (mostly the same people still in office today) voted to take appointment power away from then Governor, Republican Mitt Romney. The legislators all got up and spoke of how it was important for the people to have a voice even though anyone being honest with themselves knew full well that if the Governor at the time were a Democrat, their would have been no discussion of such a measure.

Fast forward five years to the passing of Senator Kennedy. Within 48 hours of his death, the talk began that although there would be a special election in just five months, the citizens of Massachusetts simply couldn’t survive without two Senators representing them in the interim. Never mind that during his Presidential run Kerry was almost entirely absent from the Senate for 18 months. Neither does it matter to the pontificators of this drivel that during his illness Kennedy missed more than a year and hundreds of votes. Nope, now that the Commonwealth has a Democrat in the Governor’s mansion, the legislature wants him to have appointment power. Could these pols be any more disingenuous?

In 2004, Senator Kennedy wrote a letter to the legislature stressing that the Democratic process demanded that the people, not the then Republican Governor, be given the power to replace Senator Kerry. Just prior to his death last month, Kennedy wrote another letter completing reversing himself, saying that the now Democratic Governor should be allowed to appoint an interim replacement. He didn’t spell it out, but clearly his fear was that the Democrats in the U.S. Senate might be short the needed votes to ram health care legislation down America’s throat. Not to be outdone, the Boston Globe fails to even point out the hypocrisy, saying nothing of Kennedy’s letter from 2004 or of the legislators who flip-flopped between 2004 and 2009.

Today the story takes an even more stunning ‘only-in-Massachusetts‘ twist. For legislation to take effect immediately, rather than after the normal 90 day review period, there must be an emergency preamble attached and both houses must pass the measure with a two-thirds majority. This bill contained the preamble, but did not pass either house with the required 67%. Now the corrupt Governor and his Democratic cronies in the legislature are ignoring the law and claiming he can simply declare an emergency and appoint someone. Of course, this position will lose in court as it is completely un-Constitutional, but in all likelihood, by then the Governor will have appointed someone and the damage will be done.

Two weeks from now those challenging the Governor’s appointment will look mean-spirited and/or petty to the citizenry, who in all honesty are not paying close enough attention to the corruption on Beacon Hill. Truth be told, the corruption in the Commonwealth is so bad, and has been for so long, that the people have ceased to pay attention entirely. Which, like cockroaches with the kitchen lights turned off, is exactly the environment your Democratic representatives hope for and thrive in.

ACORN, Who’s ACORN Say the Dems and the Media

By now, unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve heard about the outrageous scandal involving the liberal and federally funded organization ACORN. So far FIVE different offices around the country have been caught red-handed providing advice on operating a sex ring staffed by 13 and 14 year old girls (illegal immigrants to boot) and how to stiff the IRS on the income generated. If you did somehow manage to miss it, you simply must see some of these videos:

Surreal isn’t it? And yet, a government funded organization and former employer of our current President advising citizens on the management of underage hookers, tax evasion and illegal border crossings may not even be the most unbelievable aspect of the story. No, the real stunner is the ludicrous reactions of the media and Democrats in Washington to this monumental and horribly disturbing story.

First, EVERY SINGLE major media outlet except Fox News made a herculean effort to ignore the story for as long as possible. Each day new videos came out, each one showing another office behaving just as disgracefully or perhaps more so than the last. Apparently this isn’t news. Apparently these organizations aren’t in the news business. Very confusing! When it was finally avoidable no longer they did it as they do best, they spun it as only the Left Wing Media (formerly known as the Main Stream Media) can. Only CNN would report this story with the headline ACORN workers caught on tape allegedly advising on prostitution. Hello! It is on video. What could possibly be alleged about that?

A couple days later, the anchor of ABC News, Charlie Gibson, while being interviewed on radio says he “Doesn’t even know about it” a week after the story breaks!?! Is he kidding? Are we truly supposed to believe that he missed this story for almost a week?

Meanwhile the U.S. Senate votes to ban federal funding of ACORN in light of the scandal. But, seven Senators vote to keep funding this criminal organization. They are:

Burris (D) from Illinois; Casey (D) from Pennsylvania; Durbin (D) from Illinois; Gillibrand (D) from New York; Leahy (D) from Vermont; Sanders (I) from Vermont; and Whitehouse (D) from Rhode Island.

48 hours later, Nancy Pelosi tells reporters, “I don’t even know what they passed. What did they do? They defunded it?”  Really Nancy? You are the Speaker of the House of Representatives and as such are responsible for scheduling votes and coordinating with your counterparts in the Senate on pending legislation, and you expect the American people to believe that you were “Unaware” of this legislation? Are you joking or are you a JOKE?

Just one day later (even though the Speaker knew nothing about it the day before) the House of Representatives votes to eliminate all federal funding to ACORN. Seventy-five Democrats voted against the measure! While the whole list of these convicts might be too lengthy, readers will not be surprised to learn that the tax cheat Charles Rangel (D – NY), the loon, Henry Waxman, author of the climate bill and the entire Congressional Black Caucus voted against the measure. In addition, it will surprise no one to learn that Barney Frank, lead author of the housing crisis was absent for the vote even though he had been on the House floor a mere 30 minutes earlier. Typical cowardly behavior.

This morning President Obama weighs in saying, “Frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely. I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.” This is  simply laughable. The President of the United States doesn’t know that ACORN gets federal money. He’s the President of the United States. The Senate and the House voted on it this week. This organization played a huge role in his election campaign. He’s a former employee of ACORN. Who exactly are the Americans dumb enough to be falling for this kind of disingenuous issue avoidance?

I can’t decide which story is more outrageous; the under-cover videos exposing ACORN for what it is, or the despicable and dishonest behavior of the media and Democrats in Washington in reaction?

Future D.C. Democrats in Training

Have you ever wondered where the Democrats manage to find these cartoon character-like people to run for office? This week the answer to that question has been revealed in two separate incidents in New England. It turns out the Democratic party has hundreds of future civil servants in training all over the country in our state legislatures, and from all indications simply picks the most crooked of these to send to Washington.

First, over the weekend a State Representative from Massachusetts went liquor shopping in New Hampshire. “What’s wrong with this” you might ask. Well, Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport) just voted to raise the state sales tax 25% AND voted to make the liquor tax taxable (yes, the joke has become reality, we are now paying tax on taxes!). Mr. Rodrigues’ automobile was plated with his government plates and according to the Boston Herald, when questioned by a constituent, told them, “Mind your own business”. One of the main arguments against these tax increases, put forth by conservatives and other intelligent people, was that they would hurt local business since the neighboring state of New Hampshire has no sales or liquor taxes. Mr. Rodrigues didn’t care about the damage to an already ailing economy, he knew he wouldn’t be paying the taxes he was imposing on his constituents.

Just 48 hours later, down the road in Connecticut, two Democratic State Representatives were caught playing solitaire on the floor of the House while the state’s budget was being debated.

Not surprisingly, the Democrats with their huge majority in Conn. passed their budget – a two year plan that raises taxes and does not reduce spending (sound familiar?), a sure recipe for success in these tough economic times. Maybe if these legislators were a little more dedicated to their work and the service of their constituents, they could have found some spending cuts to help out the beleaguered taxpayers of the state.

All of this serves to reinforce the contention that it would be significantly cheaper and less frustrating for the taxpayers of this country to simply pay our state legislators to stay home and do nothing. But, then where would the Democrats get their next batch of concerned civil servants to serve in Washington?

Oops, He Did It Again!

Perhaps this entry should more accurately be entitled, “Oops, They Did It Again!” since by a rough count this makes the 9th significant figure within the Democratic party to be caught cheating on their financial reports and/or taxes in the past 6 months, including SIX nominees of the Obama administration. But for today let’s focus on Representative Charlie Rangel (D – NY) who according to the New York Post has now admitted to failing to report to Congress $1.3 million in income and $3 million more in business transactions during the years 2002-2006.

The gut-wrenchingly hilarious irony is that Representative Rangel is the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and is therefore… wait for it… in charge of writing U.S. tax law. The man is cheating at the very rules he is responsible for writing and then claiming ignorance as a defense. One question that comes immediately to mind is if Chairman Rangel can’t seem to figure out the complicated tax code, how in the world is one of his poor constituents supposed to understand it and comply?

Of course, if the average citizen does fail to understand it and comply, he or she will pay huge penalties and interest at a minimum and risks jail time if the IRS decides the mistake was intentional, but good ol’ Charlie isn’t going to jail. Nope, instead, he gets to keep his Chairmanship writing tax law and his job for which the American taxpayers pay him $158,000 per year plus expenses.

Remember the Real Estate Melt Down? Barney Frank Doesn’t

In a move that defies all rational thought, Representative Barney Frank, D – MA, has written a letter to the heads of the recently bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac asking them to (get this) lower lending standards. I’m sure you are asking as I am, “Isn’t this how we got into this mess in the first place? Aren’t we still in the process of bailing out Fannie and Freddie?” A bailout, by the way, that is slated to cost the American taxpayer as much as $400 billion! Here is a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed regarding Mr. Frank’s latest act of brilliance relative to mortgage lending.

I thought since Mr. Frank clearly can’t remember the details that have led us to the precipice of financial ruin it might be worthwhile to do a quick recap and refresh his memory. Let’s go all the way back to 2003, when George Bush’s White House was sounding the alarm that there were huge potential problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What did Mr. Frank have to say? You won’t believe it!

“Not in a crisis” – Really Barney? “Even if something did go wrong the Federal Government wouldn’t bail them out” – Really Barney? Ladies and Gentlemen, I present your Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Did you notice the matter-of-factness with which he said a bailout would never happen; as if the witness who suggested it might was crazy? Not so crazy now, huh, Barney?

Fastforwarding to 2005, Barney Frank tells us that there is no housing bubble, nothing to worry about and Fannie and Freddie should just keep making loans to people who can’t afford them (is there any chance this is because those people vote almost exclusively Democratic?).

In 2004, the Republilcans in Congress had had enough. They wanted to shut down the runaway lending at these two government subsidized companies. Watch as the Democrats rail against the Republican plan. Remember, this is 2004, people! What would have happened if Democrats hadn’t stopped the efforts to get a handle on the runaway mortgage environment? Would we be in this finanical mess today? Doubtful. Keep in mind, what brought down the banks, was their real estate investments, not their banking business.

My favorite is the bufoon Maxine Waters saying, “We were trying to fix something that wasn’t broke”. Maxine, the word you’re looking for is broken. Learn English if you are going to be a U.S. Congresswoman. She goes on to say, “Under the outstanding leadershipof Mr. Raines”. Oh, I wish she was kidding, but no, she’s actually serious. Then we have the classy Mr. Meeks saying he’s “pissed off”. He’s “pissed off”? That’s the language he feels is appropriate during a televised committee hearing in the United States Congress? Then Mr. Frank pipes in to say he “doesn’t see anything in the report that raises safety and soundness problems”. Good call Barney!

But, why would Democrats turn a blind eye to the risks? And why would Barney be willing to go right back down that road again? Money. Are you surprised? A little bit of money bought Barrack Obama, Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank and many many others. Frankly these politicians were cheap dates. A couple hundred thousand dollars and they turned a blind eye while their Democratic friends like Frank Raines made millions running Fannie and Freddie into the ground. A couple hundred grand and these politicians were willing to watch millions of Americans lose their homes and the rest lose significant equity. For that little bit of money these political whores were willing to put America’s sovereignty and her security at risk. Now Mr. Frank wants to go back to relaxed lending standards. I wonder who paid him off this time? I wonder what it will cost the American taxpayer this time?