Narcissistic views on News/Politics

Video - Fedor knockout of Brett Rogers was vicious.

2009-11-09T00:10:00.003-05:00

*Last time a Russian hit a brother that hard, Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed.

*fav observation from Sherdog forums.

China pledges 10 Billion to Africa

2009-11-08T23:19:00.002-05:00

Since China is trading and giving money without the conditions from aid money, you are not going to see a change in better governance in most of Africa anytime soon. China is the ultimate c-block for improvement.

China offered African governments a multibillion-dollar package of financial and technical assistance on Sunday, stepping up a courtship that already has gained Beijing wide access to oil and minerals across perhaps the most resource-rich continent in the world.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao pledged to grant African countries $10 billion in low-interest development loans over the next three years, to establish a $1 billion loan program for small and medium-size businesses, and to forgive the remaining debt on certain interest-free loans that China previously granted less-developed African nations.

.....The gestures are likely to further cement China’s good relations with many African nations, and may help address rising concern in some quarters that China is merely replacing Europe as a colonial power.

China’s focus on extracting oil and minerals from Africa has drawn some criticism from African scholars, and labor and safety conditions at some Chinese-run mines and smelters have set off outcries by African workers. Some critics say that the flood of low-cost Chinese goods into African cities has displaced products once made by local workers.

China has long offered low-interest loans to African nations, usually on the condition that governments spend the money on Chinese-made goods or on projects built by Chinese companies. African governments have eagerly accepted the loans, in part because they are free of conditions that international and Western lenders often attach to loans, like improvements in governance.

Bailout make bank bonuses bigger than before.

2009-11-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

What happense when you have lawmakers thinking they could outwit Wall Streeters.

Banks cut bonuses last year and shifted more pay into stock and options from cash, a tactic that lawmakers supported for its emphasis on long-term performance. Within months, the financial system began to mend — partly with the help of billions of dollars in government aid — and that stock began surging in value. Some of it can be cashed in starting in just a few months.

And so the bonuses Wall Street received last year, billed as paltry at the time, are turning out to be among the most lucrative payouts ever.

Goldman Sachs, for instance, sharply cut nearly all bonuses it paid last year but gave some executives more options than usual.

The company gave its general counsel, for example, 104,868 stock options and 14,117 shares in December, when the bank’s stock was around $78.

Now the bank’s shares have more than doubled in value, making that stock and option award worth nearly $12 million, according to Equilar, an executive compensation research firm in Redwood Shores, Calif.

“People have to look at the sizable gains that have been made since stock and options were granted last year, and the fact is this was, in many ways, a windfall,” said Jesse M. Brill, the chairman of CompensationStandards.com, a trade publication. “This had nothing to do with people’s performance. These were granted at market lows.”

Defect in economic data overstating America's growth?

2009-11-08T22:53:00.001-05:00

Now they tell us about it.

A widening gap between data and reality is distorting the government’s picture of the country’s economic health, overstating growth and productivity in ways that could affect the political debate on issues like trade, wages and job creation.

The shortcomings of the data-gathering system came through loud and clear here Friday and Saturday at a first-of-its-kind gathering of economists from academia and government determined to come up with a more accurate statistical picture.

The fundamental shortcoming is in the way imports are accounted for. A carburetor bought for $50 in China as a component of an American-made car, for example, more often than not shows up in the statistics as if it were the American-made version valued at, say, $100. The failure to distinguish adequately between what is made in America and what is made abroad falsely inflates the gross domestic product, which sums up all value added within the country.

(WSJ) Small Business Crunches Numbers...not happy.

2009-11-08T22:41:00.002-05:00

Remember the entire point of Obamacare is a move to the government running health care, that means putting a squeez on the engine that runs the economy and most workers, small business.

The House bill mandates that employers with payrolls above $500,000 must contribute -- for each full-time employee -- 72.5% of the premium cost for single coverage and 65% of the premium cost for family coverage. The penalty for failing to do so is a 2%-to-6% tax on employers with payrolls between $500,000 and $750,000 and an 8% tax for employers with payrolls above $750,000.

....Outside Washington, meanwhile, small-business owners are weighing their options and responses.

Sharon Evans, chief executive of CFJ Manufacturing Inc., a promotional-products company in Fort Worth, Texas, said she pays 65% of health-insurance premiums for her 100 employees. If she were mandated to pick up more of the cost, as the House bill requires, she said she would consider dropping insurance and paying a penalty. And various tax rebates, as envisioned by prominent other versions, don't necessarily pass muster with her.

A narrow win in the House of Representatives moves the fight to the Senate. Video courtesy of Reuters.
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"If you're going to make me pay $100,000 to get everybody insured and you give me an $8,000 tax rebate, well, the answer to that is, pardon my French, 'Hell, no,' " she said. "That's not going to help me out."

Carolyn Morse, president of Powerlung Inc., a Houston medical-device manufacturer, said she hopes a tax credit would help alleviate the cost of paying 100% of health-care expenses for her six employees.

"I would be in a better position to maintain a status quo, rather than go to my employees and say, 'Guys, you're going to have to pay,' " Ms. Morse said.

This isn't about helping small business this is about pushing people to Obamacare and small business owners realize the terms at least in the house bill is ridiculous. Even those open to the idea have problems with it.

The price of health insurance is a big concern for Mike Draper, president of Smash, a print-screening and design firm in Des Moines, Iowa. Unlike some business owners, Mr. Draper, who pays 100% of the premiums for his 15 workers, supports a mandate requiring employers to provide health insurance -- as long as small companies get to offer better insurance plans at a more attractive price.

"If the government offers to pay for 50% of my insurance, I'll say 'sure,' " Mr. Draper said. "But from a macro level, I don't see how that will bring cost down -- that's just selling the same crap but subsidizing it."

Ft Hood mosque member defends shootings and Facebook supporters

2009-11-08T15:51:00.003-05:00

Via the Jawa Report and BiasedBBC. It seems there are some more Islamic extremists around Ft.Hood that need to be watched.

Duane : They were, in the end, they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims. I honestly have no pity for them. It's just like the majority of the people that will hear this, after five or six minutes they'll be shocked, after that they'll forget about them and go on their day.

Over at Biased BBC they wonder whether this is the same Duane Reasoner quoted today by the New York Times:

Duane Reasoner Jr., an 18-year-old substitute teacher whose parents worked at Fort Hood, said Major Hassan was told he would be sent to Afghanistan on Nov. 28, and he did not like it.

“He said he should quit the Army,” Mr. Reasoner said. “In the Koran, you’re not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christian or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.”

Reasoner was also interviewed by Stars & Stripes:

Just last week, Hasan expressed views that Muslims shouldn't serve in the military and fight other Muslims, according to Duane Reasoner Jr., a recent Muslim convert who had been having dinner regularly with Hasan.

Hasan had taken 18-year-old Reasoner under his wing, mentoring him in his new faith. After evening prayers he would often buy a fish dinner for Reasoner and sometimes the iman at the Golden Corral, a chain buffet restaurant.

Besides mentioning that he prayed for a wife, the conversation almost never strayed from religion, Reasoner said, describing Hasan as warm and caring.

Hasan also has Facebook supporters who say pray for him and give donations to various groups like CAIR.

Dems asking Cao about switching parties.

2009-11-08T14:01:00.001-05:00

Surprising? Nah.

BTW: Dems have approach Cao (R-LA) about switching parties, don't know how Cao has responded.

This the high-water mark for ObamaCare?

2009-11-08T09:28:00.002-05:00

Or how Captain Ed drags me back from the cliff.

Democrats have another problem, even in the House. The Senate is not considering the Pelosi plan, but one they wrote themselves. Unless Reid pulls his own bill out of consideration and substitutes Pelosi’s — which is a possibility — that sets up a conference committee and second vote in each chamber, assuming that the Senate passes anything at all.

If that happens, a conference committee will have to meet to produce another bill that would then go for a full floor vote in each chamber. If abortion funding makes its way back into the bill, or if mandates or taxes increase, or if conscience protections get stripped, then all of the hurdles that Pelosi barely cleared the first time return, and without the ability to amend the bill (conference reports get straight up-or-down votes without amendments in order to have both chambers pass identical legislation for the President to sign.)

That means another shot at a filibuster and a lengthy bill reading in the Senate, and at least a chance to hold Bart Stupak’s pro-life coalition in the House under the spotlight to find out whether they will vote their conscience or bow to Pelosi.
We always thought the fight was in the Senate, so the only real surprise yesterday was how weak Pelosi actually was on ObamaCare.

Our focus now has to shift to those red-state Senators who will have to explain to voters their potential support of a bill that imposes unconstitutional mandates and trillions of dollars in new costs on a government that can’t pay its bills now. And in this case, we’ll only need two of them to stop the runaway tyranny of the Democratic agenda.

As a commentator points out a view by Mark Steyn and all you have to do is read the post below about welfare Britain. The point is not to let this thing come to life because you can never get rid of it. There is a sizable amount of welfare parasites who see this as free care coming from black jesus. In the end this is all about the Dems trying grow their dependent base.

How Labour depends on the votes of Welfare Britain

2009-11-08T09:21:00.003-05:00

This is just putting to print what is already known by the public. This holds true for all leftist parties that the welfare segment of the population depends on them to keep the welfare checks coming forever. This would be the bloodsucking social parasites of the society.

Labour has been accused of relying on the 'welfare vote' after the Conservatives published a provocative league table ranking Commons seats according to the number of benefit claimants.

A total of 189 constituencies in the first 200 are represented by Labour MPs, which the Tories claim explains why Ministers are failing to tackle the spiralling welfare bill.

Gordon Brown and 12 Cabinet colleagues represent seats in the top 200, while just four have a Tory MP.

But Labour fought back, saying the research highlighted a widening gulf between the Conservative Party and the most disadvantaged sections of society.

The row is the first salvo in what is set to be a bitter Election battle over benefits. David Cameron has set up a top-level policy group, headed by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, to look at ways of cutting the number of claimants.

The annual £165billion welfare budget is predicted to balloon further over the next two years as the recession squeezes jobs - unemployment figures being released on Wednesday are expected to show the count passing the 2.5million mark.

The list, which covers seats in England, Wales and Scotland, ranks constituencies according to the proportion of working-age adults in receipt of incapacity, lone parent or jobseeker benefit. Other allowances, such as Housing Benefit, are excluded as they are also claimed by the retired.

The top constituency is Liverpool Walton, represented by Labour's Peter Kilfoyle, where 28.9 per cent of adults claim benefits. Mr Kilfoyle has been vocal on reform ideas, recently criticising plans to hire multinational companies to run back-to-work schemes.

Obama's pep talk to lawmakers.

2009-11-08T00:53:00.003-05:00

Pretty much what you thought it would be from him. Anyone against his healthcare takeover is anti-government teabag extremists.

Mr. Obama, during his private pep talk to Democrats, recognized Mr. Owens election and then posed a question to the other lawmakers. According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who supports the health care bill, the president asked, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

Another freshman Democrat from New Mexico, Representative Martin Heinrich, said the president’s comments overall were reassuring. “If you want to see a recipe for failure,” Mr. Heinrich said, “don’t do the things you talked about in your campaigns and turn your back on your base. All the independent voters in the world don’t matter if the Democrats don’t turn out.”

(AP) Hasan told 'There's something wrong with you'

2009-11-08T00:14:00.002-05:00

Now there has to be an investigation how much did political correct allow this guy to stay in the army and even when events were brought up they were not looked into a lot closer.

There was the classroom presentation that justified suicide bombings. Comments to colleagues about a climate of persecution faced by Muslims in the military. Conversations with a mosque leader that became incoherent.

As a student, some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the young Army psychiatrist — who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 29 others wounded — had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, alarming an Islamic community leader from whom he sought counsel.

"I told him, `There's something wrong with you,'" Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "I didn't get the feeling he was talking for himself, but something just didn't seem right."

"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Val Finnell, who studied with Hasan from 2007-2008 in the master's program in public health at the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out."

Finnell said he did just that during a year of study in which Hasan made a presentation "that justified suicide bombing" and spewed "anti-American propaganda" as he argued the war on terror was "a war against Islam." Finnell said he and at least one other student complained about Hasan, surprised that someone with "this type of vile ideology" would be allowed to wear an officer's uniform.

But Finnell said no one filed a formal, written complaint about Hasan's comments out of fear of appearing discriminatory.

The other question is how many people are in the military along the same wavelength that are not being reported due to political correctness?

Pelosi Health Care Bill Passes, America doomed.

2009-11-07T23:47:00.004-05:00

The 2000 page nightmare has passed and the Dems are happy. Planned Parenthood is outraged about the abortion amendment but that will killed off quickly. Now is the time to have the Dems to own this bill and stop it from passing the Senate. Attack this bill from every angle.

BTW, I hope all those seniors like their medicare cuts.

Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to attract the final votes to secure passage, a wrenching compromise for the numerous abortion-rights advocates in their ranks. They hope to make changes to that amendment during negotiations with the Senate, which will now become the main battleground in the health care fight as Democrats there ready their own bill for what is likely to be extensive floor debate.

Democrats say the measure — paid for through new fees and taxes, along with cuts in Medicare — would extend coverage to 36 million people now without insurance and would create a government health insurance program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill.

As for employers and especially small businesses, the Dems basically made you whores for their welfare segment of the country..

The House legislation, running almost 2,000 pages, would require most Americans to obtain health insurance or face penalties — an approach Republicans compared to government oppression.

Most employers would have to provide coverage or pay a tax penalty of up to 8 percent of their payroll. The bill would significantly expand Medicaid and would offer subsidies to help moderate-income people buy insurance from private companies or from a new government insurance plan. It would also set up a national insurance exchange where people could shop for coverage.

That means the middle class and up will now pay more to cover an ever larger welfare state.

Stupak Amendment doesn't mean anything for abortion.

2009-11-07T22:41:00.003-05:00

The point of this amendment is to give cover to blue dog dems, just because it passed now means it will die a vicious death in conference. You think for one second that a pro abortion President and his supporters wouldn't be a little bit more up in arms about it? I will even give you the scare that it will be in the final bill signed by the President and then the courts get a hold of it.

This is an amendment to give cover, don't believe the blue dogs will fight to keep it in at a later date like the GOP leadership.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) issued the following statement in support of an amendment offered by Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joseph Pitts (R-PA) that would prohibit federal funding of abortions under the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) health care plan:

“We believe in the sanctity of life, and the Stupak-Pitts Amendment addresses a moral issue of the utmost concern. It will limit abortion in the United States. Because of this, while we strongly and deeply oppose the underlying bill, we decided to stand with Life and support Stupak-Pitts.

“The danger of this bill passing without critical pro-life language was too great a risk to do otherwise. Indeed, a number of Democrat supporters of Stupak-Pitts had privately indicated to many of our colleagues that all they needed for “cover” was a vote, and they would support final passage even if the amendment failed.

“To be clear, the Stupak-Pitts Amendment's passage is the right thing to do. We believe you just don’t play politics with life.

“When this bill is conferenced with the Senate, the pro-life majority in the House of Representatives must ensure that this important amendment is in the final legislation. If it does not, this same strong majority must defeat the bill.”

Enough with the bogus McVeigh and Nidal Hasan talk.

2009-11-07T17:13:00.003-05:00

This old trick has come up anytime some Muslim extremist commits an act of terrorism or even arrested to disrupt a plan.

Local Arab-Americans, Muslims fear backlash from massacre : "Unfortunately this is reality, although it has nothing to do with Muslims and Arabs. It's just an American who went wacko, for lack of a better word. He's another Timothy McVeigh," Mahmoud said. McVeigh destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.

"When Timothy McVeigh did that, I don't think anybody brought up his roots or where his family came from," Mahmoud said

Another attack leaves US Muslims fearing backlash: U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, an Indiana Democrat who is one of two Muslims serving in Congress, cautioned against focusing on the alleged shooter's religion and instead said the discussion should be about mental health issues.

"This is no way a reflection of Islam any more than Timothy McVeigh's actions are a reflection of Christianity," said Carson, who supervised an anti-terrorism unit in Indiana's Department of Homeland Security and comes from a family of Marines.

Local Muslims defend faith in wake of Ft. Hood shooting : “It seems like there’s a lot of anger in the world right now and we want to blame,” said David Leslie with Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. He said it’s dangerous to condemn all based on the actions of one. Think about Timothy McVeigh, he said. He was Catholic but that was never mentioned.“Does that mean then that McVeigh, because he blew up the Murrow building, does that make him and all Catholics terrorists? No.” Leslie said.

Its a stupid sleight of hand because McVeigh was not some Catholic holy warrior who was spewing out bible quotes and bombing because of God. But you can go to every continent except Antarctica and South America to point out examples of Islamic terrorism especially in the last 10 years where Islam was the basis of their actions.

There is a sizable amount of people in the Muslim world for lack of a better term that adhere to a strict interpretation of Islam that carry out terrorist acts. Trying to play that down because you have some warped sense of self-righteous justice to not "inflame" the issue by pointing that out only makes matters worse for Muslims in general.

NYTIMES running sympathy angle on Malik Hasan.

2009-11-07T01:15:00.002-05:00

Its near the end of the piece here.

It was Major Hasan, though, who increasingly felt let down by the military, and deeply conflicted by his religion, said those who knew him through the mosque. Duane Reasoner Jr., an 18-year-old substitute teacher whose parents worked at Fort Hood, said Major Hassan was told he would be sent to Afghanistan on Nov. 28, and he did not like it.

“He said he should quit the Army,” Mr. Reasoner said. “In the Koran, you’re not supposed to have alliances with Jews or Christian or others, and if you are killed in the military fighting against Muslims, you will go to hell.”

Mr. Benjamin, who worked as a private contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan after leaving the Army in 2000, said the military should have let Major Hassan resign. “They should take more consideration of the human beings in the uniform,” he said, “rather than simply say, ‘We invested our money in you and need to get our money’s worth.’ ”

Still, Mr. Benjamin added, Major Hassan had overlooked an important, and peaceable, tenet of Islam. “We do have the right to retaliate,” he said, “but he who does not is twice blessed.”

Charlotte Observer as well with a tweak.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of North America Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances and the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council released a joint statement to "denounce this barbaric act of violence."

Following the prayer service at the Charlotte mosque, Inayat von Briesen, 40, said it's a "dark day" for Muslims.

He said Islam does not allow the killing of innocent people. He said the government needs to look into Hasan's actions, but people also need to consider the actions of the U.S. government and its participation in what he called an "ambiguous" war.

"If he killed a lot of people, he was wrong," the information technology specialist said. "But we've been responsible for the killings of many thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan also."

The next angles to this terrorist act is Hasan was a victim and America needs to look at its wars more closely. This would be the same sort of angle pushed a couple of years back by various Muslim groups in the UK after 7/7 that implied if foreign affairs weren't changed to their liking more Muslims would become radicalized.

Media spinning Nidal Malik Hasan as PTSD is shameful.

2009-11-07T00:27:00.002-05:00

Newsweek and Time Magazine is leading the charge to let Hasan off the hook expanding the definition of post traumatic stress disorder beyond its breaking point. It is insulting to veterans coming back from the war who do suffer from it.

TIME: Stresses at Fort Hood Were Likely Intense for Hasan

TIME: Hasan's Therapy: Could "Secondary Trauma" Have Driven Him to Shooting?

Newsweek: Is Fort Hood a Harbinger? Nidal Malik Hasan May Be a Symptom of a Military on the Brink.

MSNBC's Chris Matthews: We may never know if religion was a factor at Fort Hood.

and on it goes. They are skirting around it being someone who became radicalized and went on a killing spree. NPR is going a good job filling in the gaps and it doesn't show any PTSD and the wire services all point to a radicalized Muslim.

Classmate: Hasan said terror fight a war on Islam

Fort Hood suspect said his goodbyes before rampage

Details emerge about Fort Hood suspect's history

The media is burying itself trying not to talk about radical islamists and all this other talk to shy away from it is gatekeeper journalism because they think they would inflame the "uneducated masses."

The other angle that is legit is why did the Military keep this guy and promote him thru the ranks when it was obvious some major red flags kept popping up?

Royal Mail kept Benny Hill off their stamps due to PCness.

2009-11-06T01:57:00.002-05:00

Not shocking given the politically correct mentality over there but has Benny Hill ever gotten the proper respect at this level? He was basically booted off television because he was too "sexist" and his shows to quote his biographer are "taboo." That is just pathetic.

He famously ended his shows chasing after scantily-clad women.

But that running gag has cost Benny Hill his place in history.

Documents yesterday revealed how the comic was dumped from appearing on a set of stamps to commemorate 50 years of ITV because of concerns about his saucy style.

Royal Mail deemed that his jokes were 'in direct opposition to the company's policies on harassment in the work place'.

The editing was performed by a committee that meets a number of times every year to discuss what should and shouldn't be on the nation's stamps.

Minutes show the experts had the Benny Hill Show, Spitting Image, the Kenny Everett Video Show and Rising Damp as possibles for the comedy show stamp and plumped for a picture of a front door to illustrate Rising Damp.

UK: Obama's 'dithering' hurts Afghan mission

2009-11-06T01:50:00.002-05:00

People are calling this dithering but I keep saying this is part of the plan. Keep putting it off till the public supports drops to a low enough level that it doesn't politically hurt him. That is all he cares about anyway.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that there is growing frustration in Whitehall at the US president’s prolonged deliberations over Afghanistan.

Since early September, Mr Obama has been considering a review of Afghan strategy by General Stanley McChrystal, who has advised the president to send an extra 40,000 US troops to Afghanistan.

As well as troop numbers, Mr Obama and his advisers are also considering the fundamental Western strategy in Afghanistan, trying to decide how much emphasis to put on counter-insurgency operations against the Taliban and how much to put on hunting down al-Qaeda terrorists.

The president’s long decision-making process has led to accusations of “dithering” by his Republican opponents. The White House says the decision is too important to hurry, but the wait is causing growing exasperation in London and other European capitals.

One British source said that the absence of a clear strategy from the US, the largest troop contributor in Afghanistan, is hampering the British Government’s attempts to maintain public support for an increasingly unpopular conflict.

Wash Post: How McDonnell overcame thesis paper.

2009-11-06T01:47:00.002-05:00

Not much on the role of the Washington Post macacaing the hell out of the guy while trying to drag Deeds to the finish line.

The Washington Post learned of the thesis in a mid-August interview with McDonnell and obtained a copy from Regent's library, where it is publicly available. The Post planned to publish a story on the thesis Sunday, Aug. 30. On Thursday, Aug. 27, the paper provided a copy of the thesis to the McDonnell campaign and asked for comment.

"I won't forget that day for the rest of my life," said McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin.

At least four McDonnell advisers hunkered down that Thursday night and all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to deal with potential problems: Cox; Martin; Jasen Eige, the research director; and Ed Gillespie, the campaign chairman. Eige took a first pass through the document with a highlight pen and orange index stickers. Then the group divided the paper into sections, scouring them for potentially damaging passages.

"There were certainly a lot of problem areas," Cox said with a laugh. "We were reading the footnotes to try to determine how it was framed. It was such a big document that it took some time. We said, 'Look, we are going to have to deal with this.' We recognized immediately that it was going to be a part of the campaign from that day through to Election Day."

At the top of the campaign's concerns was what McDonnell wrote about working women, who were a crucial part of McDonnell's strategy to appeal not only to exurban independents but also to Northern Virginia moderates.

At the same time, McDonnell enjoyed deep support among conservatives outside of Northern Virginia. The trick was to disavow the more problematic parts of the thesis without alienating that base. That predicament encapsulated a central tension of McDonnell's campaign: how to attract crucial votes from the middle without alienating conservatives who had backed him for years.

"Bob was in a box," said a Republican strategist from Northern Virginia who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "The thesis was solely an inside-the-Beltway issue. He couldn't disavow the thing because the right would have abandoned him. They would have said, 'What do you mean you don't support these things?' "

McDonnell decided to disavow anything that suggested opposition to women entering the workplace. He emphasized a pledge to hire and fire only on the basis of merit and not gender or sexual orientation. And he planned to make clear that he still believed many of the ideas in the thesis, notably that family is the "bedrock" of society and that government cannot step in and do what is rightfully the role of families.

NZ Mayor: Pay problem parents not to breed

2009-11-06T00:04:00.002-05:00

It is eugenics (kinda) but it is a tempting proposal considering some of the wretched spawns out there in the world. As long as its voluntary, try it.

AN outspoken Kiwi politician has proposed a new solution to the country's child abuse problem - pay the "appalling underclass" not to breed.

Michael Laws - who stirred up controversy by calling the late Tongan King a "bloated brown slug'' - has again hit the headlines.

"That there is a group within our society who give their children no hope nor opportunity from the moment that they are born," the regional mayor wrote on the New Zealand radio website where he broadcasts as a talkback DJ.

"That these ‘parents’ are known to authorities ... and yet the authorities can only intervene after children have been harmed."

Mr Laws goes on to write: "it would be far better for this appalling underclass to be offered financial inducements not to have children, given the toxic environment that they would provide for any child in their care."

The mayor believes "the consequent financial and social savings to our community would be considerable.

"There are too many people who should not have children."

Mr Laws said a report in New Zealand's Dominion-Post newspaper yesterday had incorrectly attributed the view to him that all those who got welfare should be sterilised.

Mr Laws wrote on the website "that most welfare beneficiaries are good parents" but it was the problem ones who should be offered money not to breed.

Yesterday's Dominion-Post newspaper quotes him as saying: "If we gave $10,000 to certain people and said 'we'll voluntarily sterilise you' then all of society would be better off,'' he told the .

"There'd be less dead children and less social problems.''

Pelosi's Health Care Bill costs: $1.8 Trillion dollars.

2009-11-06T00:02:00.001-05:00

Yeah, Pelosi lied. I am shocked and surprised.

Don't buy the claim that the Sen ate health-care bill is substantially more moderate than the House measure. While Speaker Nancy Pelosi's legislation is even more onerous than the package created by Sen. Max Baucus and now championed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the larger story is how similar the two Democratic bills are.

First, we need to get past the misleading accounting games. Each bill is routinely "scored" for its 10-year costs from 2010-19. Yet this includes several years when the spending wouldn't yet have kicked in. According to the Congressional Budget Office, fully 99.9 percent of the Pelosi bill's costs would hit from 2013 onward. Similarly, 98.3 percent of Reid's spending would come after 2014.

If you start the tally when the bills' spending would actually start (in 2013 for the House bill and 2014 for the Senate bill), then the bills' real 10-year costs become clear -- and are remarkably similar.

The CBO reports that, in their true first 10 years, the House bill would cost $1.8 trillion, and the Senate bill would cost $1.7 trillion. Pelosi would raise Americans' taxes by $1.1 trillion over that period, while Reid would hike them by $1 trillion.

And the House bill would siphon about $800 billion from Medicare to spend it elsewhere, while the Senate bill would suck out about $900 billion.

So the financial bottom lines are almost the same.

666: Pelosi's Health Care Bill does pay for abortions.

2009-11-05T23:59:00.001-05:00

Anyone who thought the Dems wouldn't use taxpayers money to fund abortions is not paying attention. Nice touch with the post number being "666."

Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions.

What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan. It’s right there on line 16, page 96, section 213, under “Insurance Rating Rules.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

Section 213 describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run plan. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.

Obama's shout out was disrespectful and stupid.

2009-11-05T23:54:00.002-05:00

Mind blowing ridiculous behavior from the President of the United States. Do your little shout out and addressing this group after your say about the terrorist act at Fort Hood. It was disrespectful and glib. Even when he was addressing the shooting he seemed disinterested and dispassionate.

AARP to back Dem's House Healthcare Bill.

2009-11-05T01:40:00.002-05:00

No surprise as back in the summer during the townhalls the AARP leadership made it clear they don't give a damn if their members tell them not to back it. But the AARP is ready to support a bill that cuts Medicare benefits and raise taxes? Good luck.

WASHINGTON – In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

An endorsement from the seniors' lobby was critical when then-President George W. Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely divided Congress in 2003. House Democratic leaders are hoping it will work the same political magic for them as they strive to deliver on President Barack Obama's signature issue.

...The House bill is estimated to expand coverage to about 96 percent of eligible Americans. Beginning in 2013, it would provide government subsidies to extend coverage to tens of millions who now lack it, and ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical problems.

For the three years before the federal aid starts flowing, the bill would set up a temporary "high-risk pool" through which people who have been denied coverage because of poor health could obtain a government-subsidized policy.

The bill would set up health insurance "exchanges" through which self-employed people and small businesses could buy coverage, either from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer protection rules, making it easier to shop and compare among them.

The majority of middle-class Americans covered under big employer plans would not see dramatic changes. But coverage for the poor through Medicaid would be significantly expanded.

Seniors in traditional Medicare would get improved preventive benefits. Also, the prescription coverage gap known as the "doughnut hole" would be gradually closed. However, seniors signed up for private insurance plans through Medicare could lose some benefits, as the bill scales back extra payments that the plans have been getting.

In addition to raising money by cutting payments to hospitals and other medical providers, the House bill boosts taxes on upper-income earners. Democrats also moved Tuesday to close a biofuel tax credit loophole, raising about $23 billion to help pay for the legislation.

Cowboy Cheerleader "blackface" uproar is stupid.

2009-11-05T01:26:00.002-05:00

Take it from this colored guy right here, this is not blackface and when did Deadspin become the moralizing sports blog? Its like Rick Reilly without the bloated salary tut tuting everyone else.

When are people going to learn that you cannot upload photos to your Facebook page if you don't want them to get out? What we have here (allegedly) is a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader dressed as Lil' Wayne. In blackface.

The cheerleader in question. according to the Facebook screenshots, appears to be 21-year-old Whitney Isleib, who I assume is dressing up for Halloween as Lil Wayne. According to her profile page on DallasCowboysCheerleaders.com, her hobbies include "dancing, sleeping, eating, and watching movies" and her favorites books are "mysteries." An anonymous tipster made us aware of these photos on her Facebook page.

Enjoy the carnage.

There is no carnage, actually makes a good Lil Wayne. Now if she worn a jail suit then she should win first prize. I am more offended by the Twilight guy just on general good taste and principle.