I DIDN’T KNOW MSNBC WAS BROADCASTING THE SUPER BOWL….

IT’S SUPER BOWL SUNDAY, a day many Americans gather with friends and family, put their problems on the back burner and enjoy the two best pro football teams clash for the title of #1. So who in the hell thought it was a brilliant idea to give the President a 20 minute commercial for him and his policies as part of the pre-game show?? Can’t we please have a day off, away from him??  He is everywhere, omnipresent, unavoidable, overexposed. Please God, please, grant us a day off.

THE ECONOMY, UNEXPECTEDLY, IS NOT IMPROVING and more…

THE HEADLINE FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES website this AM: ” Stocks slide on unexpected rise in jobless claims”. There’s that word again. And, a report yesterday indicated that final adjusted figures for jobs lost last year will show 800,000 more than expected. Oh, and planned layoff announcements at major corporations increased 60% from December to January.  FHA announced earlier this week that the default rates on their mortgages are going up. And, oh, one more thing: President Obama said in New Hampshire Tuesday, and I quote “Now, if you hear some of the critics, they’ll say, well, the Recovery Act, I don’t know if that’s really worked because we still have high unemployment. But what they fail to understand is that EVERY ECONOMIST, FROM THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT ( emphasis mine ), has said because of the Recovery Act, what we’ve started to see is at least a couple of million jobs that have either been created or would have been lost.” The question really is, is he stupid or a liar? I know some Obamamaniacs read this blog ( Steven?), would they care to defend the President’s statement about EVERY economist?

DID YOU SEE THE STORY about the prime minister of Newfoundland coming to the States for his needed heart surgery? Couldn’t get it in Canada, apparently. And, he needed to come down quick before Obamacare passed and destroyed  our system. When will they learn?

BIG STORY IN THE Washington Post and the New York Times about a team of doctors who have found traces of brain activity in 54 patients living in states of unconsciousness, including 23 in vegatative states. They were placed inside advanced brain scanners and given careful instructions, things like imagine yourself playing sports or walking around your home.For some, the scans showed the same brain activity that would be found in a healthy person’s brain. These patients had active minds, living their lives silently there.

AND, SOME NEWS ON THE environmental front. A study released in California for some utility companies indicate that individual quick charging stations, for electric cars, to be installed in your home, so you can charge your car, could cost $30,000. That’s right, $30,000 to make it feasible to recharge your $30,000+ electric car. Insanity. And, Minnesota recently found that wind turbines that they had installed at the cost of millions don’t work in cold weather. Well, you may freeze in the winter because they produce no heat, but bundle up and hope they work in the warm summers so you can get your AC powered. Insanity.

Don’t forget, precinct caucuses on February 13, and a big PUSH Back No Tax Rally on the state capitol steps, 10 AM February 15. Be there.

HOW GOOD IS IT OUT THERE FOR REPUBLICANS?

ANOTHER SIGN OF THE POLITICAL unrest which could doom a lot of Democrats in November will be the Illinois primary on Tuesday. Watch for GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski, a small businessman, never before involved in politics. Somehow, he got Lech Walesa to travel to Chicago from Poland to endorse him last week. Chicago has a large Polish community, and, if you look at Adam’s last name, he obviously isn’t Irish. Then today, Rush endorsed him. His main opponent is a former GOP state chairman, and, Adam has made his first time involvement an issue in the campaign. Also look for turnout, a key indicator of momentum and enthusiasm.

OLYMPIA UPDATE

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT TODAY; let’s start with happenings in Olympia. The state is engaging in what I would call micro-taxation. Instead of facing up to the difficult task of exercising  fiscal restraint, the Democrats leading the legislature are apparently planning on lots of small taxes on many things, hoping to raise lots of revenue. For instance, did you know that there is a bill, HB 3120, which will tax bottled water? That’s right, a bottled water tax, specifically and exclusively to be applied to your Evian, or whatever you drink. It’s projected to raise $68 million annually. Then, there is HB 2749, which will grant local governments the authority to levy higher taxes on your utilities: gas, electricity, even your cell phone. That will cost you nearly  $500 million over the next 6 years. Washington cell phone users, 81% of you, already pay the second-highest cell phone tax in the country. This bill would make us #1! Another milestone for our state; another millstone around the necks of our citizens. Call 1-800-562-6000, contact your legislators, and oppose both bills.

THE GOVERNOR IS SAYING she expects $435 million from the President’s budget to come our way. Doesn’t she realize that the Feds can’t give us any money unless they A.) take it from us in the first place, or B.) they borrow or print it? Why should we send the money to DC first, where they take their share off the top, then turn around and give the remainder back? And we are supposed to be grateful? Like the slave, thanking his master for the breadcrumbs from the master’s table, after the master has eaten the meal the slave prepared?

THEN, THERE IS THE NEW PROPOSAL for the 520 bridge, made by environmentalist and Montlake neighborhood groups: six lanes, but two reserved for transit only.  Six legislators announced their support for the plan. Will this bridge ever get built? Will these people ever learn that transit is not the answer? I thought  that we had to build the new bridge now, before it was destroyed in a wind storm or by an earthquake? That’s what they told in 2005, during the 912 campaign. Were they lying to us?

ROANOKE CONFERENCE GREAT SUCCESS

I SPENT MY WEEKEND in Ocean Shores at the first Roanoke Conference, a gathering of Republicans from around the state. Founded by Steve Buri , Newcastle city councilmember, who works at the Discovery Institute, it was a weekend of panels, seminars, speeches, political theater and seeing old friends. Steve was kind enough to ask me to MC  for which I thank him. I was very impressed with the quality of the event and the number of people who showed up, some 240. We spent a gray January weekend discussing bright Republican hopes for later this year. Dino Rossi, Rob McKenna, the Senate candidates, legislative leaders and staff, grass roots folks from around the state were all there  and a very well-done presentation of political theater Saturday night after the dinner that was hilarious and featured…..well, I promised, we all did, that what happened in Ocean Shores stays in Ocean Shores. Again, Steve, congratulations on a job well done; if you weren’t there, you should have been and you should plan on it for next year.