So the media is really in the bag for the Clintons. I have no doubt in my mind that they will do and say anything to get her elected.

Even when her fellow socialists Democrats attack her for being a divisive flip flopping ….. liberal, the media help portray Clinton as the poor innocent victim.  The Dems debated last night, and it seems Ms. Clinton stepped in it.

On the question of drivers licenses for illegals, she couldn’t figure out which interest group to pay lip service to.

Clinton may have given her opponents an opening to bear down on their “doubletalk” attack. In a convoluted answer to the same question, Clinton first said she thought New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to let illegal immigrants have driver’s licenses “makes a lot of sense.” Then she said she did not endorse Spitzer’s plan even though she repeated that he had the right idea. Then she accused Russert of asking a “gotcha” question.

(Anyone spot the YouTube of that?)

Of course they quickly move on and end the recap with something as unrelated as Dennis Coo Coo Kucinich and his UFOs, in their story.

I didn’t watch the debate, but I did mistakenly flip on MSNBC late last night after yard work. Surprise surprise, Chris Matthews has solidified his lefty hack status in my book. (I looked for the transcript, but it ain’t up yet.) On his Hardball show last night in the debate followup, it was a bleeping love fest for all things socialist liberal.

But anyways, here’s the collaborative Democratic position as guesstimated by me.

Out of Iraq.

Let Iran get nukes, threaten to call their mother if they continue to attack our allies. be diplomatic

Speaking of allies, Make sure you piss off each and every Muslim and Middle Eastern allie of ours in the war on terror.

Raise taxes.

Increase spending

Make people more dependent on Government.

Amnesty for illegals

Benefits for illegals

Tax increases

Socialism

Prosperity caps through Energy quotas

Quotas - Racial and sexual orientation

Nanny state

Sen. Chris Dodd may be the candidate who represents me best.

Dodd strayed most from the other candidates, disagreeing with their call for a massive move to alternative energy technologies. “Consumers are not going to be in a position where they can afford the more expensive fuels, the alternative fuels and technologies,” he said, instead urging a so-called corporate carbon tax, which would raise taxes on companies the more they pollute the environment.

Dodd also was the only candidate who raised his hand when Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” asked whether anyone believed illegal immigrants should not have driver’s licenses. “This is a privilege, not a right,” he said.

I wish my Senators had that kind of no BS, political pandering, common sense.

But nope, they want to make us pay those high prices for fuels, and I know one of them would give illegals licenses, the other one, I am not so sure on some days.

The acting Jimmy Carter of the MOB is currently overseaing the latest MOB Mayor elections. Well, by overseaing, I mean overlooking. You see one candidate is a Chair of a department at a University, and my moles tell me he is giving extra credit for votes. Another is a metrosexual who has opened his blog up for some 3 to 400 individuals who hate the Strib. And as usual, Bobo the foul mouthed chimp.

I am the incumbent, and have led the MOB through a time of peace and prosperity

Make sure you vote early and often. Pretend you’re a Dem Union goon and stuff that ballot box like you own it.

The Evil Dr. Banaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaian and Ms. Eberflees already are. We can’t let an economics professor become mayor. He’ll bore us to death.  And Ms. Eberly is simply running to hold a celebration party where people bring her booze.

Vote for AAA

…. but not the kind that he now wants to.

Pawlenty is going off the deep end on Al Gore environuttiness.

When famed explorer Will Steger sets off for the northernmost tip of the Canadian Arctic in the spring, he expects to rendezvous with an important potential convert on global warming: Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

If Pawlenty does go, and does try to outflank Arnold as the most liberal friendly Republican Governor in the Nation, I would consider it an act of political war on conservatism, because it is.

I believe that Gov. Pawlenty has done more to beat back true conservatism than the DFL legislative leaders. I believe if you want to know why Republicans lost so many House and Senate seats, you need to look no further than the top of the 2006 ticket.
Conservatives were pissed off at issue after issue where they were A) told they were wrong on and B) saw first hand that the Republican Governor was propelling liberal Big Government policies and programs.

To a core ‘conservative first, Republican second’ activist, Pawlenty is no friend when you look at the whole picture of his record as Governor. His latest legacy creating salvo on enironuttiness will be the nail in the conservative coffin here in Minnesota.

Pawlenty cannot be allowed to drag the Republican party with him on his race to the left. The advisors and strategists who are calling the shots seem to believe like Pawlenty that “the era of small government is over”.

Well I beg to differ. You see there is already a place for voters to go if they believe the hype that this is the first time ever the Earth has warmed 1 degree over 100 years. For fools like Pawlenty who think man is single handedly killing mother Earth, I got news for you. It has been hotter, and there used to be giant glaciers covering parts North America, not to mention Pangaea, and dinosaurs.

These 10,000 lakes and our rivers didn’t just happen by luck.

The next State Central Meeting for the Republican party is coming up in December. Let’s hope Pawlenty’s little trip to Al Gore’s Church of global lunacy is at that time, because if he decides to lecture us how we need to see the big picture again, it will get ugly, I promise you. I’ve had it with this guy. We know what we believe, if he doesn’t like it, he needs to declare his own independence from us.

Mark my words, if Pawlenty is allowed to continue to define the Republican party, even though he is not on the ballot in 2008, he will destroy any chances of making gains in the Minnesota House.

This is where the Republican Party leadership has to do something. There are thousands of us, and just one Pawlenty. We aren’t looking for a legacy or higher job. We are stuck here, and beg that you do something to help us stop left wing policies take root. And if a Republican decides to propel left wing lunacy, the party needs to publicly oppose the wayward official for the sake of the base and OUR agenda, conservatism.

I know the powerbrokers believe the party is there to defend the elected officials no matter what. It has been the norm for quite a few years. Astonishingly, none of the degree holding professional strategists and advisors notice that there is now a visible series of bad elections for Republicans which just so happens to coincide with someone’s ascension……

It is time to stop hitching the party wagon to people who will take it off the liberal cliff.

Pawlenty is the gift that keeps on giving, but it is to the DFL, because they know he is dividing this party. Some people only care about winning, others care about the issues.

It is time for movement conservatives to retake control of this party and the messaging. I implore the Republican Party leadership to stand up and distance the party from Pawlenty on this one.

Silence on this one is an endorsement of Al Gore and all of his anti-capitalist lunacy. That ain’t gonna be good for the grassroots of the party. Pawlenty is declaring war on what we believe, it is time we fight back before it is too late.

You claim to be a movement conservative Mr. Chairman.

Prove it!

Stand up to Pawlenty before he takes our platform and ignores it further. His agenda does not match ours. Something has got to give. It won’t be those of us who share our core conservative principles. Time to choose.

The fact that he is even thinking of this Arctic adventure is proof that Pawlenty is a lost cause and seems intent on ignoring the conservatives. In fact he could be the rallying cry for conservatives in Minnesota. Stand up to the Governor and take back the House.

Lt. Col. Joe Repya (ret) won’t challenge Sen. Norm Coleman (R MN).

“I have decided not to pursue a challenge against Senator Coleman for his US Senate seat. I feel a challenge at this time would be financially difficult for my family and divisive to Minnesota Republican Party unity. I wish Senator Coleman success in his race in 2008.”

I’m off to the cabin for a weekend of relaxation. It has been one heck of a week, and I am sooooooo glad it is over. There’s been lots of stuff I missed, but I need some me time. I’m brain dead and worn out from the craziness that was work this week. Non-stop craziness!

Check that, I will have some company. The girlfriend and I just both celebrated our birthdays and we’re getting the heck out of town.

See ya Sunday

Rep. Keith Ellison (D MN5) has been claiming that he is the next Paul Wellstone, and on the 5th anniversary of the late Senator’s death, Ellison took to the floor of the US House trying to …. well, trying to prove how close he was to Wellstone. But he got a major fact wrong.

Here’s Ellison’s speech in video and text form.

Only the day before we lost him, he was scheduled to come to my office, and we were going to do some campaigning together. It was a long night, Mr. Speaker, when we heard back the reports as the news reports said that a plane has gone down in Ely, Minnesota, and it was thought to be containing Paul Wellstone and his partner, Sheila Wellstone, and their daughter and several other campaigners. We hoped all night that what we thought might have happened didn’t happen, but at the end of the evening, we learned that that tragedy, in fact, did occur. Our worst fears were confirmed when we learned that we lost him, but it was a long several hours before we realized that that tragedy had actually occurred, and we had hoped against hope. I will never forget that night.

Wellstone was a unique individual for sure, and I myself felt like I had been punched in the gut when I heard the news that morning. Despite our 100% difference on the issues, he wasn’t polarizing in public like most Democrats. Now behind closed doors I am sure all bets on that were off, as you don’t become the patron saint of liberal progressives by being nice to Republicans in Minnesota, but still, Wellstone was always who he was because it was who he was. He was never afraid to admit he was the fringe liberal he was, unlike those trying to follow in his footsteps.

Regarding Ellison’s floor stunt, it was in the morning when Wellstone’s plane crashed. It was a cold cloudy Fall day here in the Twin Cities, if my memory serves, when the news broke. Not in the evening or at night, as Mr. Ellison ‘never forgets’.

That’s right, I think Rep. Ellison is trying to steal the memory of Wellstone for his own benefit, and in his official memorial to the late Senator, he can’t even get the facts right. Facts are stubborn things, and Ellison sure seemed to be reaching during his speech. He was stammering and seemed to be grasping, not remembering.
Oh and oddly enough, Ellison has pulled the downloadable versions of his speech down. The links are still there on the speech page to download them, but the files have been removed. Maybe that is just another mistake on his part.

In the end, it was Wellstone’s day, but Ellison couldn’t leave it at that. He tried as hard as he could to claim the Wellstone mantle as his own. If I was a Dem and held Wellstone up as a progressive prophet, I’d be offended by Ellison’s speech. But I’m not a Democrat, thank the lord.

Republican Norm Coleman voted with Socialist Hillary Clinton on the DREAM Act.

Kev and Leo have the depressing news over at True North.

I know a lot of Republican activists keep lecturing me and others that it would be worse with a Democrat, and I have to respond back, would it? On far too many major issues, Coleman and other Republicans like Ramstad are on the wrong side, and worse, often leading the charge in propelling Liberal issues to the forefront.

Conservatives are not lemmings. We expect returns on our investments. Our investments being money, time, and energy to get Republicans elected. RINOs had better figure out real damn quick that we’re not going to invest if we feel we’ll be wasting our resources. Plus I am burned out, and have other things that seem so much more important now, and I know a lot of other activists who are saying the same thing.

Yep, politics is taking a backseat to my regular life now. That may seem odd to a lot of you know know me, but it is true. I don’t have time to do everything, and I am forced to make choices now. Sadly, the political stuff is now taking a backseat. Well, maybe I am just coming to my senses. Or maybe it is because there is nothing getting me excited.

No matter how much I personally do, I now see it doesn’t change anything. I can bitch and moan all I want, but it doesn’t matter. I can work my ass off for conservative issues and candidates, but still, the agenda of National and State Government is heading left even with Republicans in the Executive positions.

So why should I kill myself like I did in the past?

Sure Rep. Bachmann will get my help if she needs and wants it and I have the time to give. There will be some local candidates too that I’ll pound lawn signs for, but I sure feel like spending time at my cabin next Fall with my girlfriend and dogs would be far better spent than busting my butt for a guy who is voting with Hillary Clinton to give Amnesty to illegal aliens.

I shoulda got out after the last election. Some people talked me into staying involved. Unfortunately it seems a lot of people did get out and I have to believe it is because the RINOs have been defining the party and setting the agenda, and conservatives are getting pissing off, just like me.

Yeah, the era of small government is over. That was a pretty big blow to the conservative morale.

I got involved for the issues not to simply elect Republicans. Sure, a Democrat will never vote my way, but a Republican should. If they make the choice not to support my views, which are clearly stated, they will have to live with me and others like me making a choice not to work for their reelection.

Apologists far too often cast blame and accusations in the wrong direction. I didn’t vote with Hillary Clinton on Amnesty. Norm Coleman did.

As I told one person recently, I don’t take joy in going after RINOs. They are collateral damage in my mind. I’m attacking the liberal idea that we should grant Amnesty to illegal immigrants. It is Norm Coleman’s fault that he just so happens to be on the wrong side of the issue, and in the cross fire.

The US House Ways and Means Committee Chair is looking for ways to tax the rich.

Rangel said the broader measure, which he has called the “mother of all reforms,” would contain a 4 percent tax-rate surcharge on adjusted gross income over $200,000 for married couples. The surcharge would rise to 4.6 percent for those with income of more than $500,000. In addition, households with income of more than $200,000 would have to pay rates as high as 19.6 percent on capital gains and dividends, instead of the current rate of 15 percent.

That provision alone would raise $831.7 billion, more than enough to cover the cost of eliminating the minimum tax, Rangel said.

A drop in the bucket.

The proposal also imposes $9.4 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes on lawyers, accountants and others who currently avoid them by organizing as a partnership. It would also raise $4.3 billion in taxes from investors by requiring stock purchase prices to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service beginning in 2009 and all other types of securities beginning in 2011.

gee, it almost seems like Rangel and Democrats don’t want people to invest in their own retirements.

As soon as I get time, I will be posting on an alternative to Rangel’s plan. Republicans in Congress are working on a workable, non-prosperity stiffeling solution.

It is just one of them hell weeks for me. Stay tuned.

Strib hack Nick Coleman is pissed about the 35W bridge contractors trucks and vehicle taxes. In his column today, we get to see the usual non-monkey at work. He tries to politicize the collapse, as usual, but also does catch Flatiron in a gaffe.

They bought a brand new fleet of trucks for the project.

YES THEY PURCHASED A FLEET OF BRAND NEW TRUCKS FOR THE PROJECT!

Now, I happen to have dealt with road construction companies, and have a more than uninformed knowledge of how they work. I happen to know that they can’t include a new fleet of vehicles into their bids with private companies, because their bids would be skyhigh and rejected. In fact, common sense would lead one to believe that already having the equipment (read: the fleet of vehicles to do the job) is going to keep costs low, and speed the job along, AND make their bid more attractive, since they obviously can and have done similar jobs.

But that is not the case this time. Nope, MNDOT hired a company that will not only do the job for tens of millions more than other bidders would, but also take weeks longer. And it just so happens that the company, Flatiron, also gets to buy a fleet of new trucks, on our dime.

The trucks are from Colorado according to non-monkey, and he turns his rant against MNDOT into a lecture on how much taxes were lost from the vehicles being shipped in. Now, one would think that this should be a teachable moment for non-monkey on high taxes. But nope, he doesn’t get it.

Now, I share the sentiment that the bidding process by MNDOT for the bridge is FUBAR, but I do have to say, we get what we deserve. This is a fine example of why more government and high taxes are bad.

Seriously, the company was smart to avoid our oppressive tax structure for vehicles in MN. Heck, according to non-monkey, over a million dollars of motor vehicle sales tax revenue (MVST) was lost since the new fleet was purchased out of the state.

What is more astonishing is what if they were purchased here.

Those taxes would have been higher due to all our add on fees imposed by the state and local agencies. But, ironically, the higher tax revenue for the fleet would not have entirely gone to pay for the bridge. Nope, thanks to the MVST Amendment that voters foolishly approved last year, no more than 40% of that million plus would go to roads and bridges and at least 60% would have gone to mass transit.

Oh and Coleman also rips on how the Colorado purchase helped Flatiron avoid helping to pay for the new Twins Stadium. Um, well, again, this is a teachable moment for high taxes. If one can avoid paying the taxes, one usually does.

Now, if Flatiron is so dang thrifty with their money and common sense enough to find the cheapest way to get the equipment, why in the hell is their bid so damn expensive?

I’m outraged at how screwed we taxpayers are getting in the process, and how little the Governor and MNDOT Commissioner are doing about it. I expect DFLers to tell me to hand over my wallet, but I kinda expected the Republicans “in charge” to slap their hand.

(crickets)

This bridge rebuilding is going to be a scandal. It will be the next big dig-esque example of wasting taxpayer dollars.

Private citizens and private companies would never hire the most expensive and longest deadline company with out good reason. So what is it? Aesthetics? The new design is ugly as heck.

They obviously didn’t have the capacity to do the job in the first place…. or why did they need to buy a new fleet of vehicles and ship them in? I could understand buying the fleet locally to save the expense of transporting them, but they didn’t do that.

So why is it that I feel like I once again got screwed by my Government?

Oh yeah, because I did!