OBAMA, THE ECONOMY, OIL, NOVEMBER IS COMING ( THANK GOD ) AND SO MUCH MORE…

WELL, AFTER RUNNING AROUND THE COUNTRY FOR TWO WEEKS FOR AFP AND YAF, I am now home for a while and so much has happened.

THE ONE JUST KEEPS DIGGING DEEPER AND DEEPER HOLES FOR HIM AND THE COUNTRY. The economy is not recovering ( new home sales are the lowest in 40 years ), Europe and Japan are cutting government spending and corporate taxes, oil continues to pour from the BP well, and he spends $500,000 to give a 10 minute speech in Ohio. Democratic Congressional leadership is talking about raising taxes on the middle class ( told you so ), the One appoints a nominee to the Supreme Court who has never been a judge and has never argued a case in court until last year when she argued that government has the power to control speech, movies and books, Joe BiteMe tells a crowd at a fundraiser that ” there’s no possibility to restore eight million jobs lost in the Great Recession”,  and then he tells a small businessman not to be a smartass when he asks for lower taxes. I feel like I am living in a fantasy world, maybe Oz.  His budget director announces he is leaving, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel is rumored to be leaving and then he tells the G20 that a worldwide recovery will require that no country have an ‘undue advantage’.  How can anyone still support this guy?? This is leadership, telling us that life will never be the same, that we have to accept less, that we have to double the national debt to recover economically?  THIS IS LEADERSHIP??  This is Carterism.  November can’t get here soon enough.

BUT, OH, I FORGOT, IT’S ALL BUSH’S FAULT.

ABOUT THAT OIL SPILL, it’s now day 68, and hundreds of thousands of jobs are being threatened, and the oil continues to flow into the Gulf while the One golfs. There is a ship anchored in Norfolk, the A Whale, an old tankewr refitted by its’ owners to skim oil from waters impacted by a spill.  The authorities say they have skimmed 600,000 barrels of oil from the Gulf so far, in the last two months. The A Whale is designed to skim 500,000 barrels A DAY. Seems the Coast Guard is trying to determine whather the ship meets government requirements and regulations before it goes to the Gulf.  Oh, and according to the AP, 168 million barrels have escaped into the Gulf, which is what we consume as a country in four hours. And, I would like to remind everyone that had this catastrophe occurred in ANWAR, the well could have been sealed in four days, with relatively minimal economic and environmental damage.

Finally a couple of more notes. Be sure and read the Seattle Times piece on the scam going on in our state retirement system, where employees are allowed to retire to get their pension, then they are hired back after several months, for their previous position for the same salary. I will be on David Boze’s show, 770 KTTH, 3-6 PM, on Monday, July 5th.  And, you may be asking, how bad will November be for teh Democrats? Well, here’s a clue – Rory Reid, son of Harry, is running for Governor of Nevada. In his ads last week, his last name is never mentioned – he is just plain ol’ Rory.

November is coming. It can’t get here too soon.

www.americansforprosperity.org

YES, I AM ALIVE AND SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STATE GOP CONVENTION

I APOLOGIZE FOR MY ABSENCE FROM these pages these last few weeks. A lot of AFP work and preparing for the state GOP convention this past weekend in Vancouver has kept me busy. So much has happened, but I am flying out in seven hours, so I wanted to post a quick thought or two about Vancouver.

THE CONVENTION WAS an incredible experience in many ways. Michelle Malkin, a good friend of ours, gave the keynote Friday night at a dinner attended by hundreds of folks. She showed just how incredible she is, and I had the honor ( thank you Luke Esser ) of introducing her. Michelle means a lot to me, and my introduction almost brought both of us to tears. Mitt Romney gave a great speech on Saturday and the three Senate candidates did as well. Dino is gaining the passion he needs in his delivery, Paul Akers was very good and Clint Didier was, well, he was Clint, a guy I have come to love and adore. All three are great guys and each brings something different to the campaign. We are blessed as a party to have all three.

The energy and enthusiasm was incredible  and as well  a lot of new people attended, a good sign for the Party, it’s future and November. I hope the bickering and occasional confusion doesn’t drive them away.

I was honored by the body to be selected permanent chairman of the convention on Saturday and presided over the platform and resolutions debate. It was heated at times, I made my fair share of mistakes, but I had a great Parliamentarian who kept me straight and we adjourned on time. Ther continues to be a feeling that not emough time is allowed for debate on the issues and I agree. Some of it is due to senseless fights on rules and credentials that eats up valuable time and some of it is the way we do things. I have some thoughts on this, and I will be sending Chairman Esser and the powers-that-be a memo recommending some changes in the 2012 Convention process. Based on attending every state convention since the mid-1970’s, and chairing four of them, here are some of my ideas:

1.) The platform should be made available the night before for the delegates.  I understand the time crunch, I have chaired a platform committee before too. The resolutions would not have to be included, they could come out Saturday morning, but the platform should be ready Friday late afternoon.

2.)The amendment process for the platform has to be changed. Right now, the first several people who get up to the microphones get their amendments to be moved and debated first. With a limited time for consideration, 20 minutes per plank/section this year, that doesn’t leave time for much debate. Often, the first folks at the mike have amendments that reflect personal issues or concerns that do not have much support beyond the maker, and time is taken from consideration of amendments that might reflect a more general sense of the need for change. Perhaps a requirement that all amendments be submitted by a certain time Saturday morning, signed by, say, 15 delegates from 3 counties? Somehow, assure that amendments reflect concerns beyond just one person get heard and debated.

3.)Limit candidate speeches. In non-Presidential years, I see no need for Congressional candidates to address the whole convention. In fact, they should be home campaigning. In Presdiential years, the body breaks down into Congressional District caucuses for purposes of selecting national convention delegates and speeches by the Congressional candidates seems proper here while votes are being counted, etc. Speeches by statewide candidates are appropriate at every convention, but omitting Congressional candidates this year would have saved us at least one hour.

4.)A Permanent set of convention rules, only changing if the convention so decides. If the rules were permanent from year-to-year, then at least some folks would have a sense of what has happened in the past and, if we had another convention 101 class ( which I think we should ), then we at least could explain to the newbies what the rules are unless changed by the body.

5.)There should be a Convention101 class at every convention. I think it helped for the new folks.

6.) Lastly, we need more communication between various factions and groups within the party. It might surprise some people how much in common we have and stop some of the senseless fights over the minor things that takes away time from platform debate. One of the nicest things that happened to me on Saturday was when a delegate, that I earlier had a fierce exchange with over his comment the ‘WE” were going to take over the party, that devolved into a shouting match over 9/11, the Kennedy assasination, the Iraq war and Pearl Harbor, this delegate brought a glass of water up to the podium for me, on his own, as he could tell that I could use one. A simple gesture, but a meaningful one, and one that was greatly appreciated.

There are some of my thoughts. Your comments, ideas and suggestions are welcome.

MEANWHILE, THE ECONOMY CONTINUES sliding down, Obama wants $50 billion more to save jobs, the BP blow out continues after nearly eight weeks ( if this was in ANWAR, it would have been capped within a week and there would not be hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake), Obama continues to pursue his anti-Israel foreign policy, and November can’t get here soon enough. But we will NOT win in November unless all of us devote our time, energy, effort and money to electing the right candidiates. Let’s do it to assure the American Dream for our kids and grandkids, lets do it so we can wake up on November 3rd and say ‘We Did It!’, let’s do it because it’s the right thing to do.

UNTIL NEXT TIME……

UNEXPECTEDLY, A NEW POST – the Economy, Taxes, Health Care and more…

TO QUOTE THE AP TODAY: THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week by the largest amount in three months. The big surge was a setback to hopes that layoffs were declining.

There’s that word again. It is the most commonly-used word in the Obama era by the economically ignorant. Taxes, spending, debt, all these government policies have always and will always lead to economic stagnation. Government cannot spend, borrow or tax it’s way to prosperity. Wish folks would learn that.

AND, BY THE WAY, there is more negative economic news this week. The DJIA dropped 400 points today, reflecting concern about Greece and Europe. Do you want to see the American future under Obama’s policies? Look at Greece today. We are maybe 5-10 years behind. Another AP story from yesterday: ” The number of homeowners who missed at least one payment on their mortgage surged to a record in the first quarter of the year, a sign that the foreclosure crisis is far from over.” …Economic woes, such as unemployment or reduced income, are the main catalysts for foreclosures this year. Initially, lax lending standards were the culprit. But homeowners with good credit who took out conventional, fixed-rate mortgages are now the fastest growing groups of foreclosures.”

OH, AND MORE…THE MORTGAGE TAX CREDIT expired April 30, and mortgage applications dropped 9.5 % the first week, even as rates dropped as well. The CNBC report also said that as of May 1st, ten percent of all the properties on the market have had at least one price cut since they went on the market.

THERE’S MORE…THE FINANCIAL TIMES REPORTED today on the state of state pensions and retirement plans, such as Illinois, which has a mere $78 billion unfunded liability. By 2030, 31 states may not have the money to meet their pension obligations, requiring a Federal bailout of over $1 trillion.

I LOOKED FOR SOME GOOD NEWS ON THE NATIONAL front, and all I could find is that Congress is holding hearings on the “Potty Parity” Act, addressing the imbalance between men’s and women’s bathrooms in public facilities. Good news ladies, relief may be on the way as this relatively vital issue is addressed. Not to make light of it, but read the entries above this one, look at our economy, then reread this entry. Priorities, Congress, priorities. But then, I guess, when you lose your house, you may need access to bathrooms in Federal buildings, and at least there will be parity.

NEWS ON THE HEALTH CARE BILL, as  many of us could say ‘ we told you so’, but we aren’t that kind of people. A study by WSU reported that a third of Seattle-area executives said the fines imposed on businesses not providing health care coverage to their employees might be cheaper than the coverage, a third said they didn’t know ( they’ll find out…) and about 15% said they didn’t provide coverage to begin with.  The CBO added $115 billion to the cost estimates of Obamacare ( it’s now over a $trillion – told you so ), and White Castle, the hamburger chain, became the latest of many businesses to issue a warning about the costs of coverage versus the costs of the fines.

LOCALLY, GOVERNMENT INSANITY CONTINUES…there are 100 solar panels, at $4500 a piece, being installed on the roof of the Snohomish County Administration building in Everett. This $450,000 project, funded by Federal stimulus money, will power electric charging stations for the County’s might fleet of electric vehicles – BOTH OF THEM! Oh, yeah, they said they plan to buy a dozen more. Do the math. $30,000 per car ( after they buy the dozen ) just for the charging stations, plus the cost of electricity and maintenance. To save how much??

AND, |HOW CAN I FORGET THE 84 PAGE GUIDE issued by the State Department of Revenue to decide which candy bars are taxable and which aren’t under the new candy tax passed by the Legislature recently. That’s right, an 84 page guide. Twizzlers, Kit Kats and Three Musketeers are NOT taxable, but Hershey’s bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter cups are. The Payday bar is, but the $100 Grand bar is not.  Eighty four pages. Incredible. And they want to be re-elected.

ONE PRESIDENT FROM OUR PAST  faced a serious recession and was presented with all sorts of grand schemes to deal with the crisis. He said: ” There is no instant step from disorder to order. We must face a condition of grim reality, charge off our losses and start afresh. It is the oldest lessson of any civilization…No altered system will work a miracle. Any wild experiment will only add to the confusion. Our best assurance lies in efficient administartion of our proven system.” That was Warren Harding, faced with a serious recession right after WWI, 1920-21, who resisted the siren call to ‘do something’, let it work out and then had nearly a decade of economic growth. We should learn that no number of annoited or wise or arrogant men can successively substitute their judgment for the collective wisdom of buyers, sellers producers, consumers and investors working within the framework of a free market. Never has worked, never will.

THE ECONOMIC POLICIES WE NEED right now are those that promote growth and jobs – period. This talk of permanent unemployment rates of 9-10%, stagnant growth, reducing our future expectations, it’s all hogwash, but it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy if we don’t change our economic course.

A PERSONAL NOTE – a good friend of mine, a longtime friend, Greg Pang, recently suffered a stroke. Apparently, fortunately, no serious permanent damage was done, but rehab is slow. If you practice or believe in prayer, please include him in yours. Thanks.

BTW, join Americans for Prosperity. Go to www.americansforprosperity.org, click on “Join” at the top of the page. Costs you nothing, but you will be taking a step in fighting back and saving our country.

IMPORTANT! TAX ALERT!

King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, my council representative, someone I like a lot, is considering voting to place a sales tax increase on the ballot. It needs six votes to pass, the five Ds are voting yes, the 3 R’s besides Kathy are voting no. SHE IS THE DECIDING VOTE. Her NO vote kills the proposal now. Call, fax, email her and tell her to vote NO. 206-296-1003; fax, 206-296-1098, email kathy.lambert@kingcounty.gov. Tell her this is the most important vote she has taken as a councilmember and that you will remember in November how she voted, this November and the November that she is up for reelection. She knows better than to vote for this. She needs to hear from you NOW.

OBAMACARE, TERRORISTS AND MORE…….

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT, so little time…

MORE REVELATIONS ABOUT THE HIDDEN costs of Obamacare. The CBO today reported that the ‘Doc fix’ for Medicare will cost not the $207 bllion estimated at the time of the bill’s passage, but $276 billion, a 33% increase. Another number going up is the number of Americans who tell pollsters they support repeal of Obamacare, now running as high as 70% in some polls.

A BIG SURPRISE HERE; FREDDIE MAC announced today that they need another $10.6 bllion bailout from the Feds. This is in addition to the $50.7 billion already received, and Fannie Mae’s $76.2 billion. And earlier this week, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, charged with saving the pension systems of failing companies, had mislead Congress about it’s own situation and failed an audit.

A RESEARCH REPORT ISSUED by the U S Publlic Interest Group ( a leftie, Naderite group ) last week said the roads in Washington State are ‘ unacceptable’.  Our Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond responded that ” funds are tight” and ” the money collected for the gas tax doesn’t go as far as it used to. ” Didn’t they just raise our gas tax 9.5 cents a gallon a few years ago and promise a new bridge, a new viaduct and all sorts of improvements with that increase? Just asking…

SUPER PC SILLINESS….a county supervisor in Santa Clara County has proposed banning happy meal toys in order to make unhealthy fast food less appealing to children.  Where in the he## do they think they get such power? Time to take to the streets. They will get that happy meal toy when they peel my cold dead fingers from around it…

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE, the new governor of New Jersey, is not just shaking up the state capitol over taxes and spending. He became on Monday, the first New Jersey governor to refuse to reappoint a State Supreme Court justice, appointing a more conservative replacement. Christie has been exhibiting more than his fair share of courage and vision since being elected and I hope (no, actually I pray ) that other Republicans are taking notes.

FINALLY, THE CASE OF FAISAL SHAHZAD, the would-be Islamic radical terrorist bomber, who apparently didn’t do his homework well enough while studying abroad – thankfully. I cannot believe the gibberish coming from the mouths of supposedly intelligent people about his motives. Mayor Bloomberg: the bomb might have been placed by ” somebody..who doesn’t like the health care bill or something. ” CNN: “…his house has been foreclosed…one would have to imagine that brought a lot of pressure and a lot of heartache on that family.” ( Kirby question – how many homes have been foreclosed on in the past three years and how many of those owners have gone out and tried to bomb a busy public place because of it ? ). CBS News: It isn’t clear what the motive could be.” AP: ” NY car bomb suspect cooperates, but motive unclear.”. USA Today: ” Motive of NYC car bomb suspect remains a mystery.”. To quote a line from one of my favorite movies of all time, Tombstone, ” I don’t have the words.”. Or, none are so blind as those who will not see.