The Foundation

“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves.” –Thomas Jefferson

Government & Politics

What to Watch For Tuesday

As Tuesday’s mid-term elections near, Democrats are facing historic losses in Congress. Granted, this isn’t because voters love the GOP – far from it. It’s because Democrats have done an even more abysmal job of governing than Republicans did. Here are a few races to watch.

Nevada: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trailing in most polls to Sharron Angle, who came out of nowhere to win the GOP primary thanks to backing by the Tea Party. Despite having a massive campaign war chest in a state that Barack Obama won by 12 points just two years ago, Reid could very well join Tom Daschle as Democrat leaders who lost re-election.

Illinois: Obama may be in for particular embarrassment in his home state, as GOP Congressman Mark Kirk leads Democrat Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for Obama’s former Senate seat. Normally, Illinois would be in the “safe” column for Democrats – not this year.

Delaware: Can Christine O'Donnell pull off the upset against Democrat Chris Coons to take Joe Biden’s former Senate seat? It’s not likely, as she trails by double digits in the polls. However, the Leftmedia have taken a particular interest in taking out O'Donnell, which makes us wonder if this race is closer than it seems.

Alaska: Incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has mounted a surprisingly successful write-in campaign after losing the primary to Tea Party-backed attorney and Army vet Joe Miller. If voters can remember how to spell her name, she has a chance to become the first winning write-in candidate since Strom Thurmond (R-SC) in 1954.

Democrat Senate incumbents are likely to lose in Arkansas and Wisconsin, and Democrats are certain to lose seats that retiring senators Evan Bayh and Byron Dorgan are vacating in Indiana and North Dakota, respectively. In Pennsylvania, Democrat Joe Sestak is trailing conservative Republican Pat Toomey, and in West Virginia, popular Democrat Gov. Joe Manchin is neck-and-neck with businessman John Raese in his bid to assume the late Robert Byrd’s seat. Manchin is campaigning hard against Obama, who is deeply unpopular there.

Two late-concluding Senate races that bear watching are in California and Washington. If Republican Carly Fiorina can knock off the loathsome Barbara Boxer in the Golden State, and if Dino Rossi can eke out a win against Patty Murray in Washington, Republicans may well pull off the 10-seat swing they need to take control of the Senate.

In the House, Democrat prospects look even worse. Multiple committee chairmen are sweating it out, including Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, Ike Skelton of Missouri and John Spratt of South Carolina. Even Barney Frank, chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, is in trouble in Massachusetts. Republican Sean Bielat, a Marine and businessman, is charging hard, and Frank is stuck below 50 percent in the polls, which is dangerous territory for a long-time incumbent. Michigan’s 85-year-old John Dingell, who’s been in Congress since 1955 and is the longest-serving member in that body’s history, is also in a tight race against Dr. Rob Steele, a fiscally conservative cardiologist bent on repealing ObamaCare.

Veteran political guru Charlie Cook says of the number of seats Democrats will lose, “To be honest, I think the odds are higher that it’s over 60 than under 40.” Republicans need to take 39 net seats to gain control of the House. Cook declared that he’ll be “sacking groceries” if that doesn’t happen. Across the nation, the electorate is riled up. According to Rasmussen, “65% of Likely U.S. Voters say if they had the option next week, they would vote to get rid of the entire Congress and start all over again.” Sounds good to us.

Perhaps Michelle Obama summed it up best: “This year’s elections are just too important to sit out. There’s so much at stake right now for our future and for our children’s future.”

Fellow Patriots, this is a critical election, the first of many battles in our fight to restore Essential Liberty and the Rule of Law. Be sure to bring a few like-minded friends to the polls with you.

Here are several handy voter guides for your reference.

Quote of the Week

“Far from being a unique historical event, a GOP victory on Tuesday will repeat the pattern we have seen since the 1960s. Four times Democrats have won control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and four times they have attempted to govern from the left. Each time Americans saw that agenda and its results, and they rejected it at an early opportunity. Maybe there’s a lesson here.” –The Wall Street Journal

This Week’s ‘Braying Jackass’ Award

“If you want small government you should support the Democrats because we know how to do it.” –stand-up comedian Bill Clinton

From the Left: Big Special Interest Cash

In the final days of the campaign, Democrats are still complaining that the GOP outspends them in “undisclosed” expenditures by a vast amount: $75 million to $10 million. But, in fact, Republicans are pikers when compared to the Democrats’ own use of “undisclosed” spending. Public sector unions such as AFSCME, SEIU and NEA provide an unending supply of ready attack cash. These unions have soaked their members for more than $171.5 million in forced “donations” in the 2009-2010 election cycle. AFSCME’s $87.5 million alone exceeds the $75 million Republicans have received from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this month’s faux villain of the Left. Rounding out this group is the conservative-leaning American Crossroads, but even with that, the GOP’s infamous “undisclosed” war chest still reaches only $140 million.

The Democrats continue to spout their unproven accusations of bad money tainting Republican coffers, though, because they’re desperate to stave off an electoral disaster at the gubernatorial level. Money can be a decisive factor in close elections, and the Republican Governors Association plans to capitalize on this. The RGA has raised $31 million in the last three months, whereas in prior cycles they didn’t reach that in a year. Democrats, by contrast, are suffering an enthusiasm gap, pulling in just $10 million in the same period. The RGA has made its presence known in the South Carolina race, forcing the Democrats all but to abandon the state. There could be more of those coming.

Voting Machines and IDs

Serious errors with new voting machines are proving problematic in Nevada. Some early voters approached the screen to find Democrat Sen. Harry Reid’s name already checked. Touch-sensitive screens pick up incorrect votes as hands brush across them, and one person reported a display that kept registering his Republican votes as Democrat. Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax won’t confirm voter fraud, but the number of complaints demands a closer look.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Daily Star reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Arizona’s requirement that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote. The split decision by a three-judge panel determined that the requirement to show proof of citizenship – passed by voters in 2004 – is not consistent with the National Voter Registration Act.“ On the other hand, the court did uphold Arizona’s requirement of photo ID at polling places.

From the ‘Non Compos Mentis’ File

Barack Obama is so busy gracing us with his presence on the campaign trail that he has left common courtesy in the dust. A wealthy Rhode Island supporter offered to host a $7,500-a-plate dinner for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with the president in attendance. The whole community put together an impressive meal that featured the best local ingredients. Obama came and spoke for about 20 minutes but then declared he had to leave, saying, "I’ve got to go home to tuck in the girls and walk the dog and scoop the poop.”

Guests, including Rhode Island’s congressional delegation and DCCC Chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), must have been surprised, to say the least. The chefs who concocted the fabulous meal had canceled other engagements to put on the big affair, yet the Scooper-in-Chief brushed aside their considerable efforts to pick up after Bo. Smooth move.

On the Site This Week

After repeatedly quoting the Declaration of Independence without referencing “endowed by their Creator,” Barack Obama finally discovered the Creator this weekend, correctly quoting the Declaration in four different speeches. See it here.

Also, at a recent debate between Joe Walsh, a Republican congressional candidate in IL-8, and his debate Democrat opponent, incumbent Melissa Bean, the left-leaning League of Women Voters tried in vain to keep the audience from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It didn’t go as they planned. See it here.

National Security

Warfront With Jihadistan: More WikiLeaks

Last Friday, the website WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 classified documents about the Iraqi war effort from 2004 through 2009, and the Pentagon said that the site has another 15,000 Afghan war documents that it may release in the near future, adding to the 100,000 Afghan war documents released in July. The Pentagon strongly condemned this new release, with Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell saying, “This security breach could very well get our troops and those they are fighting with killed.” Perhaps still feeling the sting of criticism from its July release, WikiLeaks said this time it “undertook the arduous task of redacting any piece of information contained that might lead to the identification of any innocent Iraqi.”

As with the July leak, there are no major revelations in these new documents. They highlight the weakness of the current Iraqi civilian government and also note instances of Iraqi police brutality and torture. The documents paint a picture of an Iraq still burdened by political incompetence, internal sectarian tension and destabilization efforts by its neighbors, chiefly Iran. They also suggest that Iraq could drift into chaos once U.S. forces leave, lending credence to those who say the U.S. should stay in Iraq until the country is stabilized.

Interestingly, the documents prove that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, though not in large quantities. For example, in 2004, U.S. undercover personnel were able to purchase mustard gas in Iraq, and soon after a chemical lab and a chemical cache were discovered in Fallujah. Two years ago, 10 rounds of chemical artillery were discovered, and in 2006, paralytic chemical weapons were found that almost certainly were of Iranian origin.

Speaking of Iran, the documents prove that Iran was behind the so-called “insurgency” that then required the U.S. troop surge in 2007. Although the Leftmedia portrayed the insurgency as a popular uprising, it was Iran that instigated and fed it. Iran had Hezbollah train Iraqi Shiite insurgents in kidnappings and suicide bombings, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shipped missiles and explosives to insurgents battling U.S. troops in Fallujah and other cities. Combined with documents showing that Iran bought off Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, who has admitted to receiving “bags of cash” from Iranian agents, it would appear that Iran has been at open war with U.S. forces for a number of years. All this points to the dire need to keep the Mad Mullahs of Iran from going nuclear.

Pressuring Pakistan

Elsewhere in the Long War, the rugged, mountainous terrain of North Waziristan, an Afghan territory on the border with Pakistan, has become the most recent epicenter of jihadi training activities. Over 10,000 foreign militants, many with European or U.S. passports, call the territory home, where they are planning attacks against the West. A German arrested earlier this year in Afghanistan revealed a plot developed in North Waziristan to carry out attacks in Europe, and our own Times Square Bomber, Faisal Shahzad, had traveled to North Waziristan to receive training in the fine arts of small arms and bomb making.

The United States is pressuring Pakistan to mount an offensive in the region this year, but Pakistan is resisting. With the Pakistani army still trying to stabilize South Waziristan, where they fought Taliban fighters last year, and with many North Waziristan residents suspicious of the Islamabad government and sympathetic with the Taliban, any Pakistani offensive would be risky. The U.S. has increased its drone attacks in the territory, where reportedly there are two cemeteries containing the graves of more than 300 foreign fighters, most killed by U.S. drone strikes. If Pakistan won’t act, at least the U.S. can continue filling up those cemeteries.

UN Marks 65 Years

Oct. 24 marked the 65th anniversary of the gravely mistaken founding of the United Nations. The UN, a term coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was created in 1945 in an ostensible effort to prevent future wars by encouraging diplomacy among the community of nations. The UN spends about $20 billion each year on various missions, with the United States contributing the largest amount. So how well has this grand design and lavish spending worked?

Since 1945, there have been nearly 150 wars, which have caused more than 100 million casualties. That includes 13 wars in Eastern Europe, 23 in the Middle East, 25 in Latin and South America, 36 in Asia, and a staggering 50 wars in Africa. There was the UN Sex Scandal and the UN Oil for Food scandal that resulted in its first audit in 2005. The Human Rights Council seats such paragons of humane governance as China, Russia and Cuba. The list of absurdities goes on. We doubt this is what Roosevelt and his European cohorts intended, but the result, it seems, was inevitable. And to think, this laughable – but dangerous – organization is headquartered in New York City.

Business & Economy

Income Redistribution: Of Deficits & Deck Chairs

The axiom, “Never ask the question if you don’t want to know the answer,” is alive and well in Washington. To wit, the question, “How on Earth are we to reduce the deficit?” is the last question John Q. Public should actually want to ask the current administration or Congress, because both of the latter have clearly shown that they neither know nor care about the answer.

Doubling down on Congress’ fine track record in this regard, the Orwellian National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a.k.a. the “Deficit Commission,” is set to issue its recommendations to balance the budget by 2015. Topping the list: eliminating certain tax cuts. Of course, how innovative. These “cost the government” $1 trillion a year, according to the administration. That’s right: “cost the government.” Isn’t this the same money that Mr. Public would otherwise call his money when it’s not being confiscated and spent by the drunken sailors on Capitol Hill?

That’s just the start, though. Say good-bye to mortgage-interest deductions, among many other tax write-offs that have been taken for granted for the last half-century. They will say, “Oh no, we’re not raising your taxes – we’re just getting rid of all those write-offs.” Also say good-bye to national security – likely topping the commission’s list will be a host of major cuts to defense spending. After all, it’s not like America’s at war or anything.

The good news is that the not-so-blue-ribbon panel will steer well clear of trivial issues (i.e., those actually affecting the debt and deficit) such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Byzantine tax code written for and by tax attorneys. After all, let’s not go crazy on this “deficit-reduction” thing.

The panel is casting itself as a “tax reform” panel, when in reality “reform” has nothing to do with its real mission. Finding more money to pay for the $14 trillion tab Congress and Team Yes-We-Can have run up is the commission’s only goal. From a practical standpoint, balancing the budget by 2015 means unearthing roughly $240 billion per year in either budget cuts or “new” money. Guess which one the panel is focusing on.

Panel member Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) put it bluntly: “[The commission] is the last best hope right now for getting some substantive movement on the issue of the deficit, the debt, and the financial disaster we’re facing.” Let’s just hope the good senator is wrong – otherwise, the commission is simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Around the Nation: The Real Unemployment Rate

If you think unemployment is hovering at 9.5 percent, think again. According to a CBS “60 Minutes” report, factoring in underemployed workers – those working but at less than their full capacity – causes the actual rate to jump to 17 percent nationwide. It’s 22 percent in California, the nation’s largest state. CBS reporter Scott Pelley interviewed one fiber-optics engineering manager who searched for work for over a year before finally finding a job – working part-time at Target. This situation is not uncommon. Pelley notes that fully 20 percent of the unemployed hold college degrees, and many hold advanced degrees. Additionally, one-third of those unemployed have been without work for more than a year – the greatest percentage since the Great Depression.

Many of these professional unemployed and underemployed never imagined they would one day need to rely on the kindness of friends – and even strangers – for food and shelter. But not to worry. As Joe “Recovery Summer” Biden says, “No doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

Regulatory Commissars: EPA Help Wanted

Meanwhile, perhaps attempting to do its part to ease unemployment, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has posted a job opening for an Environmental Protection Specialist. No degree required. No kidding. The position will contribute to the EPA’s crusade to achieve “environmental justice,” which the agency defines as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” Apparently, even pollution can be racist.

The ideal candidate for the role must have “[k]nowledge of the theories and principles of environmental protection, especially as they relate to issues of environmental justice and the impacts of environmental laws, policies, legislation and regulation on minority and/or low-income groups and communities.” He or she will receive a taxpayer-funded salary of $53,500 to $84,146 to do things such things as “conduct studies and surveys to identify problems and recommend modifications to operations,” “[c]oordinate the preparation of environmental justice assessments for regional projects located within and/or impacting minority and/or low-income populations,” and “develop an appreciation of agency pollution prevention, clean up and regulatory activities and … foster an increased sensitivity within these programs to environmental justice activities.” So let’s see, conduct surveys, coordinate assessments and foster sensitivity. Why, it sounds just like a community organizer.

Motor Volter Fraud

President Ronald Reagan once quipped, “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Nothing could more aptly describe the Obama administration’s push behind Government Motors’ new Chevrolet Volt.

Hailed by the administration as the electric savior of the planet and the automotive industry, further review of the Volt has revealed that the vehicle is little more than an expensive government solution in search of a marketing problem. Why? Turns out the Volt is an overpriced and cramped $41,000 hybrid-like vehicle with a lousy 38 mpg (a far cry from the much-ballyhooed 230 mpg it was supposed to get), and it requires a $7,500 taxpayer subsidy to get potential shoppers to even think about moving Volts out of the showroom. Buyers must spend another $2,500 to install a home charging station just to drive the Volt on electric power for a few dozen miles before its lithium battery system is drained.

Barack Obama once said that he wants to make government cool again. What he should have considered is how cool buyers will be to the Volt when a basic Toyota Prius can already achieve considerably better mpg for approximately half the price.

On Cross-Examination

“Those who bought Ford stock in February 2009 are happy they did. The stock closed that day at $1.58, and as of this writing it’s at $14.41. General Motors stock went down 74 percent between February and the end of May 2009, when trading was suspended and GM declared the biggest industrial insolvency in U.S. history. GM stock reemerged under the humiliating name ‘Motors Liquidation Co.’ and peaked at 93 cents in August 2009. It now trades for 27 cents.” –The Washington Times

Culture & Policy

Cities Consider Allowing Non-Citizens to Vote

Several cities around the country will decide whether to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections such as school boards and city councils. Those in favor of these propositions argue that legal immigrants pay taxes and have the right to determine how their money is used and how their children are educated. However, underneath this pseudo-altruism often lies a political motive. Indeed, it’s not a coalition of immigrant groups fighting for the vote in Portland, Maine, but The Maine League of Young Votes that pushed to get the measure on the ballot.

They give examples of nice, hardworking folks who have been here for years and are invested in what happens in the city in which they live. But what about the country? Forty-year-old Abdirizak Daud arrived on American shores from his native Somalia nearly two decades ago and has raised his nine children here. Yet he hasn’t gotten around to learning enough English or American history – not to mention taking that pesky Oath of Allegiance – required for U.S. citizenship. He did, however, learn a few words. When interviewed about the non-citizen voting proposition, he replied, “I like the Democrats. I want to vote for Democrats, but I don’t have citizenship.” Daud may be a man of few [English] words, but he sure said a mouthful.

In related news, we reported last week that military ballots in Illinois were sent out too late to comply with the mailing deadline, possibly disenfranchising those voters. Apparently, this problem isn’t restricted to Illinois. A dozen states have lagged behind deadlines for sending absentee ballots to military personnel overseas, and the Obama Justice Department is doing little or nothing about it. Interesting that this is happening in a year when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is also under assault. Think the administration wants military personnel voting after that?

Climate Change This Week: Hurricane Doldrums

It has now been more than 750 days since a hurricane touched down in the United States. If we reach 1,000 days, it will be the longest period without a hurricane since the War Between the States. Either way, this trend directly contradicts predictions made by climate change “scientists.”

Scientific American published one of these predictions in 2007. The article, entitled “Stronger Link Found Between Hurricanes and Global Warming” outlined the postulations of two scientists, Greg Holland and Peter Webster. There had been a record-breaking number of storms in 2005, and this, they claimed, was only the beginning. Global warming was heating up the Atlantic, and “with increasingly higher sea surface temperatures it is hard to imagine anything lower than 15 storms per year” in the future. The article even went so far as to show a picture of Hurricane Katrina and claim that global warming would create more storms “like it.” The fear-inspiring implications of that statement are hard to miss.

At the time, critics of Holland and Webster’s findings pointed out that the increase in storms could be due not only to normal changes in Atlantic currents, but to our advancing technology. Indeed, meteorologist William Gray of Colorado State University noted that there were more storms in 2005 than in the previous record-breaking year, but in 1933 we didn’t have the satellite or aircraft data to detect them. His observations were, of course, summarily dismissed.

In post-Climategate 2010, the discrepancy between prediction and actuality is not that shocking. But way back in 2007, Barack Obama was just a senator who never voted and Al Gore was being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his profiteering battle against climate change. In 2007, any who challenged him were blacklisted as uninformed, unintelligent and, well, just plain rotten. Of all the changes that have taken place in the past three years, the vindication of scientists such as Gray is one of the most positive.

A Productive Weekend

As a sideshow to the Comedy Central circus descending on Washington, DC this weekend we’ll be treated to what organizers have dubbed the “Government Doesn’t Suck” march. Yes, according to the government employees organizing the rally, government employees are “cool cats” who relax only “after they’ve spent a whole day keeping the country running.”

Ironically, organizer Steve Ressler is a former Florida-based Department of Homeland Security employee who began GovLoop, a government employee social networking site, and later left public service to run it full-time. Obviously, he knows the power of the private sector. Yet Ressler defends his former associates. The idea of the event, he said, was to “put a human face on governmental bureaucracy, to show the country that you’re capable of having a laugh (and) to send a reminder that we’re not red tape, we’re not slack-jawed desk jockeys and we don’t suck.”

Of course, given the mood of the American people toward government, Ressler could have a hard sell. Still, he should be held out as an example of what workers in government can achieve – if the private sector is allowed to flourish. Keep in mind, though, the most important federal government workers most likely won’t be able to make it for the march; they’ll be either on base or at the frontlines.

Second Amendment: Kagan Goes Shooting

Reports surfaced last week that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was seen with a certain lady friend for a visit to the Fairfax Rod and Gun Club, where he is a member. That guest was Elena Kagan, the newest Supreme Court justice and heretofore believed to be hostile to Second Amendment causes. Scalia was teaching Kagan the basics of skeet shooting.

Obviously, working closely with fellows can create lasting friendships, and the Supreme Court is little different from any other workplace (save their ability to strike down decades’ worth of statute in one fell swoop). It’s not uncommon for justices to lay aside their legal interpretations to socialize with others in the opposite camp.

In promoting the understanding of guns as sport, perhaps Scalia can teach Kagan other lessons about the proper role of self-defense in our society. For all we know, Kagan may have never held a weapon, let alone fired one. Even at the age of 50, Kagan isn’t too old for this life lesson, or at least a refresher course. If it ends up making her less hostile to the Second Amendment, it’s a bonus for all of us.

And Last…

That sound you hear is the stampede of Donkey-crats running from Obama and everything they have “accomplished” in the last two years in a desperate attempt to save their seats. Some are running on a promise to “fix” ObamaCare, while others are opposing it outright. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS), an 11-term incumbent in a tight re-election fight, went so far as to admit that he voted for John McCain in 2008. “I did not vote for Obama. I voted for Sen. McCain,” Taylor said. “Better the devil you know.” So now Democrats are calling Obama a “devil”? It might just be snowing where the devil resides. At this rate, by Tuesday, Democrats will be inviting George W. Bush to their campaign rallies.