“Turning Michigan around, one job at a time”

Based on his voting record, I think voters need to interpret his campaign slogan literally.

Even though it’s proven time and again that large spending bills are job and economy killers, Democrats can count on a “yes” vote from Mark Schauer.

Democrats Jim Blanchard and Mark Schauer

From failed spending bills such as “The Stimulus” to crushing regulations like “Cap and Trade” and the massive (and expensive) new entitlement program “Health Care” Mark Schauer sees each and every bill that come up for a vote as a jobs bill. For example, Schauer voted for Obama’s Stimulus Bill because it would create jobs:

“At a time when our county is facing the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, this bill will create 109,000 much-needed Michigan jobs and at least 7,900 jobs right here in the 7th district,” said Schauer. “While some detractors will find things to criticize about this bill, we can’t afford to miss the forest for the trees. This recovery package is the jumpstart we need to get our economy moving again and put people back to work. Doing nothing is not an option.”

Mark Schauer voted for ObamaCare because it will cut the deficit and…. Create jobs:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The jobs quote is at the 1:29 mark.

Continuing the every bill is a jobs bill idea, Mark Schauer voted for Cap and Trade because it will save the planet and…. Create jobs:

The bill will create a system of clean energy incentives that will spur the development of new sources of energy while confronting the threat of carbon pollution. These incentives will lead to innovations that will, in turn, create millions of good, new jobs and ensure America will continue to lead in the 21st century global economy. And they will allow us to crack down on polluters while reducing deadly emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe.

The deadly emission Mark Schauer is grandstanding about is carbon dioxide, the gas that all living humans exhale.

Speaking of grandstanding, when the most important job of all, Mark Schauers’ Congressional seat, is on the line (due to his sagging poll numbers) Mark is not above a little grandstanding:

Rep. Mark Schauer, a Michigan Democrat, said he was convinced the massive leak began the night of July 25, although the Canadian company insists it didn’t confirm the spill was under way until about 11:30 a.m. the next morning.

Schauer also said Enbridge began laying boom material to contain the oil then but took two more hours to file a report with the National Response Center. Federal rules require pipeline operators to report releases of more than 5 gallons of hazardous liquids “at the earliest practicable moment” following their discovery.

It seems Mark was trying to leverage a disaster to score a few cheap political points.

If you live in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, you can show your appreciation for all the jobs that Mark Schauer has voted to create by voting for Tim Walberg, Republican for Congress.

Vote for Tim Walberg

Click here to view the embedded video.

Polling Pointing to Democrat Debacle in November: Even CNN Showing Doom for Democrats:

The CNN report goes on to minimize the “referendum on Obama” that is clearly part of this coming election. However, after almost two years in office, and much of that with supermajorities in both houses, they passed a Porkulus that accomplished nothing. They took over two car companies, and created banking regulations that increased costs for us. They oversaw the loss of millions of jobs. Did I mention the massive fail that is ObamaCare? If folks aren’t upset about all of that (and more), they are zombies.

Well said (per usual) By Matt @ CH 2.0

WyBlog… Refudiate.

Washington Rebel…. SOROSIS

WCW: Close Them All, I’d Like To Close Them All

Click here to view the embedded video.

Four Years of Katie Couric’s Liberally Biased Anchoring Has Beaten CBS Evening News into the Ground (video)

Gator Podcast: Exposing media bias

Arizona: In the Shadow of King George

Who has been talking about Obama “like a dog”?

The strain of failure is beginning to take its toll on our president.

If you are from Detroit, and a certain age, you will remember The Beat, Doug Podell & The Look:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Robot: Never Gonna Stand For This

Michigan Tea Party: Hillsdale Tea Party Re-Scheduled

From the Classroom to the Oval Office: Educated, Arrogant and Ignorant

Five wind turbines and solar panels are powering the Genoa Township Hall, producing enough energy for 20 percent of the building’s electrical needs.

An online tracking system reported that the hybrid energy system that went into service Aug. 16 had produced 262 kilowatts of power as of Thursday. The wattage is equal to burning 795 light bulbs or powering up 292 computers in one day.

“Our electrical bills are about $14,000 each month, so we expect to save about $3,000 or $4,000 (per month),” Township Manager Michael Archinal said.

The township is the first in Livingston County and among only a handful of others in southeastern Michigan to build a solar and wind energy system to power its municipal building. (emphasis added)

I think our Genoa Township manager needs to sharpen his calculator, since 20% of $14,000 is $2,800.

How much did the system cost?

Unlike windmill-style designs, the turbines stand 30 feet tall and spin atop a 20-foot-tall pedestal. They can be seen along the south side of I-96, between Brighton’s Exit 145 and Howell’s Exit 141.

The turbines are relatively quiet, making a noise Archinal likens to cicadas rather than the “phumph-phumph” of windmill propellers.

Genoa officials used a $94,919 energy efficiency and conservation grant, part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to pay for the five Windspire turbines, manufactured in Manistee. The township’s share was about $8,800 in personnel and contractual services, Archinal said. (emphasis added)

The story neglected the costs of the solar panels but, using the number provided this is a terrible waste of tax payer money.

If you take the combined costs of the Federal and money from Genoa Township ($103,719) and use the $2800 / mo. savings number it will take 36.68 years to pay off the wind power portion of the system. This is not taking in to account maintenance or opportunity costs. Also, the typical life span of of a wind turbine is less than 25 years. The system will never pay for itself.

The story has this tidbit at the end of the story:

Archinal said he would like to expand the program to the township’s wastewater treatment plant.

Lets hope not.

WASHINGTON — Appealing to a union crowd on Labor Day, President Obama on Monday is calling for a $50 billion investment in long-term infrastructure projects that the administration claims will stimulate the flailing economy, create jobs and refill the exhausted highway trust fund.

Though the infrastructure package is aimed at the next six years, the investment of $50 billion is intended to be a “front-loaded” expansion of the $814 billion stimulus package that emphasized shovel-ready projects.

“The plan builds upon the infrastructure investments the president has already made through the Recovery Act, includes principles the president put forth during the campaign and emphasizes American competitiveness and innovation,” reads a statement from the White House press office.

How, exactly, is taking money from us, sending it to the heavy construction industry, to build a road going to ‘stimulate’ the economy?

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I believe we need comprehensive immigration reform that reflects our nation’s values and restores the rule of law. Instead we have an immigration system that leaves families in limbo, deports people based on frivolous principles, allows for worker abuse and says to immigrants that you truly will never belong. The lack of action from the federal government is irresponsible and continues to negatively impact local communities.”

Rashida Tlaib, 2007 Michigan Political Leaders Fellow

Don’t let the warm smile of Democrat State Rep. Rashida Tlaib fool you, she is a prototypical Progressive Democrat.

Democrat Rashida Tlaib is a one term State Representative from Michigan’s 12 district and is actively involved with the Progressive States Network (PSN), an organization aggressively working to implement Obama style progressive legislation in state capitals across the country. Mrs. Tlaib one other thing in common with Obama, she is also a former community organizer.

One issue that is very important to Rashida Tlaib is the Environmental Justice movement. It gets top billing on her campaign web page:

Rashida has established a strong track record in holding polluting businesses accountable to state, local, and federal law. Environmental justice has been Rashida’s top priority, and she has recently championed a bill that requires school districts to perform an environmental assessment before acquiring land to build or expand a school building to protect the health and well-being of kids, as well as our natural resources.

Environmental Justice is so important to her, she even took time out from her schedule to protest the expansion of Marathon’s Detroit Refinery to process tar sand from Canada:

On July 9, citizen activists rallied outside the Detroit refinery to also call attention to the effects of tar sands development on water and air. “Tar sands are the dirtiest source of fossil fuels,” said Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who attended the protest.

Its not like Detroit and Michigan could use the jobs, or the increase in economic activity, the expansion of the refinery would bring. Another Environmental Justice initiative Mrs. Tlaib is involved with is “We Have the Right to Breathe” campaign. Form Rashida Tlaib’s Michigan Democrat web page:

I hope you will join the “We Have the Right to Breathe” campaign – a grassroots, environmental justice movement to improve Detroit’s air quality, hold businesses accountable and help slam the brakes on the thousands of trucks that rumble through our neighborhoods. This is a chance for you to speak up against these companies, tell them that they are destroying our quality of life and ensure they are held accountable for the damage they cause.

Together with the Delray Community Benefits Coalition, Bridgewatch Detroit and community advocates, we can educate our community and increase awareness about air quality issues in our neighborhoods.

Rashida Tlaib is also advocating progressive style immigration reform advocated by the Progressive States Network. She has signed on to the PSN version of Immigration Reform. A few of their ideas are:

• For America to be a land of opportunity for all, our policies must recognize our common human rights and shared responsibilities. Our focus should be on raising wage standards for all workers and ending illegal economic exploitation across the economy, not punishing a small subset of immigrant workers.
• Immigrant entrepreneurs and workers pay taxes and create jobs, businesses, and new technologies that propel American innovation. Since those taxes are paid disproportionately to the federal government, the federal government should return those revenues to state and local governments to provide necessary social and technical services including health care, education, and integration.
• We reject the politics of anger and division and are working together across the states to promote policies that live up to America’s core ideals and community values. Intrusive and unnecessary identification laws designed to divide communities actually hurt American citizens and prevent them from accessing necessary social services and fully participating in our democracy.

Maybe I’m wrong, shouldn’t a State Representative be more concerned with their district and not worrying about national immigration policy?

It appears Democrat Democrat Rashida Tlaib is more interested in implementing a progressive national agenda working through our State Legislature rather than addressing the concerns (i.e. jobs) of her district.

However, there is an opportunity stop the advance of progressivism in our state. If you live in Michigan’s 12th district, vote for Darrin Daigle, Republican.

*h/t John Carey @ The Current for the info about the PSN

Via Rasmussen:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 24% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-seven percent (47%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -23 (see trends).

That’s the highest level of Strong Disapproval and the lowest Approval Index daily rating yet recorded for this president.

In honor of Obama reaching another new low in his Rasmussen approval index… Going Down as performed by Keith Richards:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Second, the intermittency of wind forces coal and gas-fired plants to operate inefficiently and actually increase emissions. Coal plants run most efficiently when continuously running, so the ramping up and down of conventional coal plants to make up for intermittent wind pumps out more carbon dioxide. Bryce likens it to the efficiency of an automobile: “An automobile that operates at a constant speed—say, 55 miles per hour—will have better fuel efficiency, and emit less pollution per mile traveled, than one that is stuck in stop-and-go traffic.”

This has proven to be the case in Colorado and Texas, two states that have adopted a renewable portfolio standard, which mandates that wind be included in the state’s electricity supply. A recent study commissioned by the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States looks at the power plant records from these two states and finds:

Coal-fired power plants are designed to run most efficiently at stable rates and are not well-suited to accommodate the load variability imposed by the integration with wind generation. Cycling causes coal-fired power plants to operate less efficiently, and reduces the effectiveness of their environmental control equipment, which together drive up emissions. Paradoxically, using wind energy in such a way that it forces utilities to cycle their coal generation often results in greater SO2, NOX and CO2 emissions than would have occurred if less wind energy were generated and coal generation was not cycled.

Remind me again why we are subsidizing wind power?

I am a photographer from the Netherlands, specializing in high speed photography. I use a normal flash to achieve very short illuminations. The most critical parameter in this kind of photography is timing, which is achieved by computer control of shutter, flash, valve, gun or whatever other device is used.

These kind of images require a lot of experimentation, dedication, patience and willingness to endlessly clean spill of liquids and debris from objects shot to pieces. Several hundreds of trial shots may be needed to get timing correct. After that, the process is pretty well controlled, and often half of the shots will be usable, with 1 out of 10 really interesting.

These pictures remind me of a video of bullet contrails:

Click here to view the embedded video.

To reduce deficit spending and our enormous debt, you reign in spending. You cut the budget. You don’t take more from the private sector and grow government with it. And that’s exactly what Obama has in mind with this expiration of Bush tax cuts proposal of his.

Sarah Palin

I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it’s possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending.

Milton Friedman

Conservative need to stay focused on what is important and not get tripped up in the lefts’ trap of personality politics. Lately, it seems the left is making inroads within some conservative circles using this tactic. Solid conservatives are starting to form their opinions around rumor, gossip and innuendo. “A former disgruntled aide said this…A Vanity Fair reporter said that.”

Some conservatives are saying “I read this candidate is a control freak.” As if this is unusual for a politician.

We are not trying to vote ourselves a new friend. We are voting for a representative that will implement our conservative agenda. If the candidate has a nice public persona, that’s a bonus. It shouldn’t, however, be the overriding factor in the decision making process.

Also, keep in mind the left wing media are pro’s at the Personality Politics game and have been at it for a very long time. Remember how merciless they were with Ronald Reagan.

click for a larger version of poster

The left did everything they could to smear Ronald Reagan taking shots at him from all sides.

It seemed every facet of left wing pop culture lined up to take a shot at him. The left created sensational TV movies like ‘The Day After‘ depicting life after nuclear Armageddon (brought on by President Reagan’s tough stance against the Soviets). There were cheesy music videos, Hollywood took cheap shots at him in movies- remember Back to the Future?

In the end, nothing stuck and liberals were reduced to mocking him on SNL as a bumbling old fool / evil genius:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Reagan was reelected in a landslide and was so popular at the end of his second term, George H.W. Bush received Reagan’s ‘third term.’

Conservatism works. We know this. Our job as conservative voters is to find the most conservative candidates and get them elected to office. We need to ask two fundamental questions “does the candidate have your requisite conservative core principles?” and then ”will he or she implement them once in office?”

Everything else is smoke and mirrors.

Conservatives must evaluate current and future candidates primarily on their core principles and not get caught up in the trap of Personality Politics, glossy Vanity Fair articles, gossip and hype.

Controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Under Investigation for Allegedly Violating Civil Rights- Justice Department Alleges That Arpaio is Stonewalling the Investigation

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona has gained national attention for his relentless pursuit of illegal immigrants, but now the hard-line lawman finds himself in the sights of the U.S. Justice Department.

The self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in the country is under investigation for possibly breaking civil rights laws.

Among the federal allegations against Arpaio: “unlawful searches and seizures, discriminatory police conduct, and a failure to provide basic services to individuals with limited English.”

In short, the Justice Department charges that the sheriff unfairly targets Latinos.

Arpaio has reacted with outright defiance.

“This is the people of Arizona they are going against, using me as a puppet,” Arpaio said at a press conference on Thursday. “They’re not going to put handcuffs on this sheriff. I’m not going to surrender!”

EPA requires stronger air quality plan for Phoenix / EPA proposes to disapprove inadequate plan

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to disapprove Maricopa County’s air quality plan because it does not adequately control emissions of coarse particulate matter.

“Phoenix has an air quality problem that EPA is committed to solving. Too many residents in our nation’s 5th largest city suffer from asthma, chronic lung disease and other breathing disorders resulting from particulate air pollution,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The State’s plan does not achieve the emission reductions needed for Maricopa County. While it does take some steps to control pollution, more aggressive measures are needed to achieve air quality standards.”

The Maricopa area is considered in “nonattainment” for coarse particulate matter (PM-10) — meaning the air quality fails to meet national standards for this pollutant. The State of Arizona submitted a plan in 2007 intended to ensure that coarse particulate matter was reduced by five percent each year until the standard was attained. The State did not correctly inventory the sources of PM-10, resulting in a plan that does not satisfy the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act. Additionally, the State contends that many of the days with poor air quality, when particulates exceed the standards, are due to “exceptional events” such as dust storms. But EPA has determined that a legally significant number of these exceedances were not caused by “exceptional events.”