Defending New Jersey politicians

From the Warning Signs of Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

Know the Warning Signs from Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

I’d be surprised to learn that anyone in the Obama and Holder Department of Justice even knows how to spell “justice.”

On the same day it announced an indictment of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez (D) for allegedly taking bribes and engaging in various forms of corruption, it also announced that it would not pursue a criminal contempt of Congress resolution against Lois Lerner, the member of the Internal Revenue Service at the center of the effort to deny conservative groups the right to be certified for non-profit tax status.

Without such status, the group’s ability to raise funds and pursue their issues and agenda was significantly impacted. If you were a liberal group, however, you sailed right through. That’s that way the Obama administration has functioned in all aspects of governance since it began in 2009.

In what is now becoming a standard way of avoiding an investigation, last June the IRS announced that it had “lost” two years’ worth of Lerner’s emails in a 2011 computer crash. An IRS inspector general, however, unearthed the backup tapes believed to contain them. Lerner would not speak to lawmakers, but she has reportedly cooperated with the FBI.

In an April 1 Politico.com article, “Don’t Blame Menendez, Blame New Jersey” Jeff Smith and Brian Murphy would have you believe that New Jersey is a steaming heap of political corruption that has no equal. When was the last time a New Jersey senator was found guilty of bribery? 1981. Thirty-four years ago. An entire generation has been born and grown up in the Garden State since then.

I am born, bred, and live in New Jersey. Illinois has ex-Governors in jail and no New Jersey Governor ever shared that distinction.

Our current one, Chris Christie, came to statewide attention when, as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, he put a number of our politicians in jail for corruption in addition to a slew of convictions for sexual slavery, arms trafficking, and racketeering by gangs, along with other federal crimes.

He was a very good lawyer and had also been politically ambitious, rising through the ranks, campaigning for Bush 41 and 43, the latter who appointed him to the State Attorney post. In a very Democratic state, he would handily defeat Joe Corzine in 2009 to become Governor because Corzine was as incompetent then as Obama is today.

The rap on New Jersey is that politicians and those who donate a chunk of money to support their election are somehow different or special in some way. I doubt there is a political reporter or blogger in any other state that could not regale you with a history of their crooked politicians and appointees that would not equal or exceed ours.

Meet Senator Robert Menendez (D)

Now, let’s get to the heart of the charges against Sen. Menendez. More to the point, when the charges were announced. In early March he gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Menendez made no secret of his displeasure that the Obama administration was negotiating with Iran.

“When it comes to defending the U.S.-Israel relationship,” he told the group, “I am not intimidated by anyone—not Israel’s political enemies and not by my political friends when I feel they’re wrong.” He said that as long has he had an ounce of fight in him, “Iran will never have a pathway to a (nuclear) weapon.”

And Menendez had also made it clear that he opposed the normalizing of a diplomatic relationship with Cuba. “The deal achieved nothing for Americans.”

When the DOJ indictment was announced, the state’s largest daily newspaper virtually pronounced him guilty. “The litany of travel arranged by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s good friend, Salomon Melgen, reads like the operation of a small airline.” It salivated over the 68-page indictment and the favors alleged between him and “his wealthy benefactor” that included “more than $1 million to various political campaigns connected to the senator.” No question about it, Melgen was Menendez’s friend and supporter. That is, however, not against the law.

I doubt there is a member of the U.S. Senate that does not have such wealthy supporters, nor any that have not accepted an invitation to vacation as their guest. Did Menendez reply by using the influence of his office to facilitate visas or the approval of deals by which Melgen would benefit? In one cited case that influence did not have any effect on the outcome, but simply stated this is part of the job. It is the quid pro quo of politics and always has been.

The Department of Justice indictment came at the same time the Obama administration had squandered 18 months in useless, senseless negotiations with Iran to arrive at an agreement that would ultimately permit Iran to produce nuclear bombs. No other nation wants that. Iran had never ceased to tell the world it intended to “wipe Israel off the map”, nor cease to call America the “Great Satan.”

The level of hubris from the President to the Secretary of State to those engaged in the negotiations is beyond measurement. It blinds them to the obvious.

The White House clearly could not permit a prominent Democratic senator to tell the Israelis and the world what a bunch of jackasses they were. They feared losing control of the rest of the Democratic senators and thus Menendez is being subjected to a long, costly indictment as a lesson to the others.

The indictment suggests a pattern of corruption based solely on the relationship between Menendez and Melgem, both longtime friends. If Menendez broke the law the DOJ should have been able to come up with comparable charges involving others for whom he intervened. If I was a gambling man, I would bet that Sen. Menendez beats the charges.

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Let the budget battles begin

From the Warning Signs of Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

Know the Warning Signs from Alan Caruba

The announcement of a new fiscal budget for the U.S. government always sets the stage for struggles between the spenders and those trying to put some limits on the spending.

The spenders usually win because politicians—particularly progressive ones—love to tap the national treasury in order to reward their supporters.

As the Speaker of the House John Boehner said on the occasion of the March 17 announcement, “For 53 of the last 60 years, the federal government has spent more than it has taken in. It is unacceptable.” Not so unacceptable that one Congress after another has not seen fit to ignore common sense and fiscal prudence.

The sheer enormity of the budget tends to overwhelm and I suspect that most voters pay little attention to it and the issues it represents except to want assurances that their benefit check arrives. Rarely mentioned or largely unknown is the size of the nation’s unfunded liabilities, long term obligations in Medicare and Social Security. In 2014 they reached nearly $49 trillion with a “T”.

Our annual Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) what the U.S. takes in for goods and services is about $14 trillion. Our current national debt is $18 trillion and growing. Regarding the unfunded liabilities, Romina Boccia of The Heritage Foundation noted last year that they were “nearly three times the size of the total national debt or more than $150,000 for every person in the U.S.” He predicted that “even the most vulnerable Medicare and Social Security beneficiaries would see their benefits drastically cut after 2030.”

Here’s another way of looking at our debt. When interest rates return to normal WE are going to be paying several hundred billion in interest on our current $18 trillion debt. In short, we have to desperately start cutting spending NOW to reduce that debt. Or else!

The 2016 budget announced by House Budget Chairman Tom Price represents Republican values. As the Wall Street Journal noted, it “would cut spending by $5.5 trillion relative to the status quo over the next decade, reducing federal spending to 18.2% of the economy by 2024.

The share today is 20.3% and is headed toward 22.3% in a decade on present trend.” It’s useful to keep in mind that every dollar the government collects and spends is one less dollar that the private sector can spend on starting and expanding businesses large and small.

All that money represents opportunities for waste that are mind-boggling. A recent article in CNS News reported that “Medicare and Medicaid made a combined $77.4 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2014, a 20.4 percent increase from fiscal 2013, according to data published by the Government Accountability Office and the federal paymentaccuracy.gov website.”

Twelve government programs that wasted money made the Government Accountability Office list including the school lunch and public housing/rental assistance programs.

The good news about the new fiscal budget is that it openly calls for repealing ObamaCare. It also outlines deregulating Medicaid to give governors more flexibility. It is a terrific fiscal burden. The budget took note of the fact that there are too many duplicative government programs such as 92 antipoverty programs.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that consolidating such programs would increase real GDP per capita by 1.5% in 2015. Eliminating a whole bunch of them would save even more.

Jane M. Orient, M.D., the Executive Director of American Physicians and Surgeons, and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute, warned that “there seem to be some good first steps, such as block-granting Medicaid to the states. But even Republicans aren’t admitting that their budget also involves fighting over money that we don’t have, that the Federal Reserve will create out of faith and credit.”

“Also absent,” said Dr. Orient, “is recognition of the crushing burden of regulation, especially EPA rules to destroy a huge portion of our electrical generating capacity, with heavy subsidization of costly, unreliable, environmentally destructive wind and solar projects that can’t possibly replace coal, nuclear, or natural gas. Or recognition of the destructive impact of the Department of Education. How about devolving environmental protection and education back to the states, too, along with Medicaid?”

Facts-not-Fantasy

“This new House budget,” said Peter Ferrara, a Heartland Senior Fellow for Entitlement and Budget Policy, “shows the passing of the Age of Obama and the broad gulf of difference between today’s conservative Republicans and the modern, ultra-Left, extremist, neo-socialist Democrats.

Reagan-life, the plan would balance the budget without tax increases, while modernizing our increasingly dangerously lagging military.”

The Wall Street Journal editorial pointed out that, “As important, failing to pass a budget would also deprive Republicans of the procedural tool known as reconciliation. This allows the GOP to pass a final budget with a simple majority in the House and Senate, and thus it will be crucial to putting larger reforms of ObamaCare or taxes on Mr. Obama’s desk. A vote against the budget is in that sense a vote for the ObamaCare status quo.”

In sum, the proposed budget represents a serious effort to enact reforms that are long overdue. These and other measures are needed to encourage economic growth, the heart's blood of the nation.

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DC runs rampant with dictator wanabees

From the art studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco and featured at Comically Incorrect

For a Daily Dose of Humor or Reality Check Out the A.F. (Tony) Branco Political Toons

• Editorial cartoonist
• Net Right Daily
• Legal Insurrection
• Liberty Alliance
• ConservativeDailyNews.com

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Hillary asks - Does it make any difference?

From the art studios of Dan Youra at Utoons.com

Get Your Daily Dose of Humor or Reality from Dan Youra at Utoons.com

Dan Youra is one of the outstanding conservative cartoonists in the trade today who follows in the footsteps of the great political cartoon masters, whose quotes inspire a new generation of followers.

"Outside of basic intelligence, there is nothing more important to a good political cartoonist than ill will." ~ Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist.

"Too many of today's artists regard editorial cartooning as a trade instead of a profession. They try not to be too offensive. The hell with that. We need more stirrer-uppers." ~ Bill Mauldin.

Youra was one of the first recipients of a Fulbright Scholarship and worked in Latin America. He served as an editor of Current Thought on Peace and War at the United Nations in New York.

"As long as there are politicians who continue to try and fool the voters, there is no chance of ever running out of material to work with because they create it themselves and about themselves," says Dan Youra.

Dan is the small business owner and operator of the Youra Studios located in the State of Washington.

Visit the Youra Studios at Utoons.com

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Hillary will not run for President

From the Warning Signs of Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

Know the Warning Signs from Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

The revelations, reported initially in the most left-wing newspaper in the nation, The New York Times, that Hillary Clinton used her own private emails to conduct public business, suggests that there are forces within the Democratic Party that do not want her to be its candidate for President in 2016.

It’s not like Hillary did not know she was supposed to use the State Department’s email system for reasons of national security; her private emails could have been hacked by forces unfriendly to the U.S. All government employees are routinely briefed on the laws that require this.

For the record, I am no fan of Hillary Clinton. On September 18 of last year, I wrote a commentary titled “Go Away, Hillary” in which I asked “Other than earning her law degree, name one thing that Hillary Clinton has accomplished on her own. Her accomplishments—slim as they are—have been achieved on the coattails of either Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.”

Beyond Hillary, what I object to is the necessity to raise millions with which to secure either Party’s nomination and a billion to run for the presidency. We are electing someone who has literally bought the election courtesy of donors who have made the selection for the rest of us. There is something fundamentally undemocratic about that.

That said, I don’t think Hillary Clinton will run in 2016.

That may surprise you, but it surprises me as well. And, yes, I could be wrong, but the revelations about her patently illegal email use while Secretary of State suggests that there are forces within her Party that want to end her candidacy now rather than later. They are sending her a message.

Ron Fournier is the Senior Political Columnist and Editorial Director of National Journal. Prior to that, he worked at the Associated Press for 20 years, most recently as its Washington Bureau Chief. On March 3rd, he wrote an opinion piece titled “Maybe she doesn’t want to run in 2016, top Democrats wonder. Maybe she shouldn’t.”

“Two weeks ago,” wrote Fournier, “we learned that the Clinton Foundation accepted contributions from foreign countries. Assurances from the Obama administration and Clinton aides that no donations were made during her tenure as Secretary of State were proven false.”

“Now The New York Times is reporting that Clinton used a personal email account to conduct government business as Secretary of State, an apparent violation of federal requirements that her records be retained.” He quoted one unnamed “senior Democrat” as saying “This story has legs as long as the election”, noting that many senior Democrats “are angry.”

“My concern,” wrote Fournier, “is that Clinton does not see this controversy as a personal failing. Rather, she sees it as a political problem that can be fixed with more polls, more money, and more attacks.” He described her problem as “a lack of shame about money, personal accountability, and transparency.”

If there is one thing to which the Democratic Party is totally dedicated, it is winning the White House and control of the Congress. Ever since President Obama has been in office, it has taken a beating as voters have relentlessly transferred power to the Republican Party in Congress and in many States. It is an unmistakable trend and one that must keep Democrat strategists up at night.

In January 2014, a Pew Research poll found that 69% of women who identified themselves as Democrats hoped to see a female President in their lifetime, compared to only 20% of Republican women. In April 2014, a Rasmussen poll found that “51% of likely U.S. voters have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Clinton, while 44% view her unfavorably.”

The Huffington Post analysis of the Pew poll concluded that “not wanting Clinton in office is the only one explanation for Republican woman’s relative lack of enthusiasm about electing a candidate of their own gender”, adding that “It may be that (the) gender of a candidate has simply become a less compelling factor for voters…”

Six years of having a President who was elected primarily because he is black have taught voters that race and gender are insufficient factors on which to base one’s vote.

Six years of a sluggish economy, massive unemployment, declining wealth among the Middle Class, and a disaster called foreign policy will influence 2016 votes along with, of course, whoever the candidates may be.

So I will return to my conjecture that Hillary, no matter her desire to be the first woman U.S. President, will also have to address the practical realities of politics. Opposition from within the Democratic Party will likely be a deciding factor. She has put off announcing her intentions until April. If she puts it off again that would suggest some deep misgivings.

If you had the choice between a life of great wealth and fame as opposed to the daily inquisition and criticism that comes with the presidency, which would you choose?

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GOP Message: Incentives, Sound Money, Growth

After Mitt: A GOP Message of Incentives, Sound Money, and Growth To unleash American prosperity by Lawrence Kudlow at Kudlow and Company

Click here to Visit the Kudlow and Company Website

Mitt Romney showed once again that he is truly a class act. In his announcement that he will not be running for president in 2016, he stated, “I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee.”

Meet Larry Kudlow

This was unusual political humility. But let me highlight this specific phrase: “one who has not yet taken their message across the country.” Message.

If there’s anything the GOP needs -- besides a winner -- it’s a confident, incentive-based, pro-growth message. The party didn’t have one last year, but it won the midterms thanks to President Obama’s ineptness. That won’t be enough in 2016.

The fourth-quarter GDP report, just out, illustrates the importance of a growth message. GDP came in at a disappointing 2.6 percent, way below expectations. For the year, only 2.5 percent growth.

For the 22 quarters of so-called economic recovery, real GDP has increased by a meager 2.3 percent annually. Historically, since World War II, we’ve grown by nearly 3.5 percent yearly. And according to experts, alarmingly low labor-force participation and sinking productivity has reduced America’s potential to grow to well below 2 percent. This must be fixed.

All is not lost. The job numbers are better and there’s welcome relief from crumbling energy prices and a strong dollar. Consumer confidence has improved. Our resilient free-market economy is trying to plow ahead.

But my guess is this: If the economy were unshackled of rising taxes and regulations, and if there was a new long-run commitment to sound money and free trade, we could unleash a new American prosperity. Negativism would turn into optimism, and America’s global leadership position would be restored.

Unfortunately, while Romney was great at rescuing companies, he ran a poor political campaign. There was no clear growth message. As John Tamny reminds in a recent column, Obamacare was modeled on Romneycare; Romney talked of a trade war with China, throwing off strong signals of a weaker dollar; Romney never made clear how he would limit government spending; and while he had a reasonably good tax-cut plan, he rarely discussed it.

Ultimately, Romney’s highly flawed message was unpersuasive to voters. Now, the 2016 GOP candidate must have a strong growth message.

Somebody on the campaign trail should also talk about money. New York Sun editor Seth Lipsky points out that the GOP platform last time around called for a monetary commission to look at a metallic standard, yet Romney never mentioned sound money.

The Fed ran completely amok with its QE program. It ballooned its balance sheet by more than $4 trillion, yet there was no sustainable pickup in real or nominal GDP. Actually, this monetarist failure was a good thing: If the turnover, or velocity, of money had been stable, instead of crashing, today’s inflation rate would be 15 percent rather than practically zero.

So the next Republican candidate should state a desire for the Fed to return to a market-based discipline using gold, commodities, dollar-exchange value, and bond-market indicators. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the King Dollar comeback, along with falling energy prices, has not only delivered a tax-cut effect to consumers, it’s reduced all business production costs, making the economy more competitive. GOP candidates should not be afraid to talk sound money. It’s pro-growth.

They also must focus laser-like on the importance of incentives to grow the economy. For instance, rather than propose spending roughly $1.6 trillion on child tax credits (according to the Tax Policy Center), Senator Marco Rubio, an otherwise sound thinker, would be better advised to propose a flattening of marginal tax rates to perhaps 15 and 28 percent. This would give everyone in the middle class larger tax savings and stronger incentives to keep more of the extra dollar they earn.

President Obama doesn’t understand that taxing capital is a negative for new businesses, jobs, incomes, and family spending. But Republicans should make darn sure they have a completely different vision.

And the GOP must recognize it can’t outbid the Democrats on lower- or middle-class benefits. Instead, they can talk incentives: If it pays more to work than to collect food stamps, or unemployment insurance, more people will work. The incentive model carries over to education and health care, where choice should be maximized. And Romney is right about this: Marriage is a key answer to poverty.

We’re about a year away from the first Republican primaries. The GOP has a solid bench. But the wannabes must get cracking on the central growth message of incentives, freedom of choice, and sound money to unleash a new wave of American prosperity.

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Simple Economics - Capital equals Spending

Commonsense Economics: Capital equal Consumer Spending by Larry Kudlow from the Kudlow Company

The GOP Cannot Outbid the Dems for the Middle Class

Meet Larry Kudlow

It’s too easy to label President Obama’s State of the Union as more tax-the-rich and redistribution. We know that. Rather than name-calling, Republicans must draw a clear line in the sand between their worldview and Obama’s. I’d call that line commonsense economics.

First, you can’t create a new business or sustain an existing one without the seed corn and nourishment of capital investment.

Second, only businesses create jobs. You can’t have a job without a business.

Third, jobs create all incomes, including middle-class incomes.

Fourth, incomes create family and consumer spending.

Okay? This is not complicated. It’s common economic sense.

University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan states this in a simpler way: Growth starts with investment and ends with consumer spending.

Regrettably, Obama doesn’t get this. That’s why he’s proposing the third capital-gains tax hike of his tenure. He started at 15 percent, went to 20, with Obamacare took it to 23.8, and now wants 28 percent. This damages business, jobs, and middle-class incomes.

Ironically, history shows that lower capital-gains tax rates produce higher revenues. Think Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But a higher capital-gains tax produces lower revenues. Think late-Reagan, Papa Bush, and now Obama.

Obama also proposes to raise the tax burden on capital by increasing inheritance and estate taxes. And he’s making another attempt to tax banks -- only this time he is adding in asset managers and insurance companies. Ironically, a huge part of Obama’s base -- police officers, firefighters, teachers -- might suffer a serious depreciation of pension-fund stockholdings.

So, taxing capital will hurt the very middle-class workers and incomes Obama claims he wants to help. His so-called middle-class economics doesn’t work.

A related point: Obama’s SOTU made no mention of cutting corporate tax rates. Instead the president trashed the top 1 percent and slammed companies for keeping profits abroad and using unfair loopholes and deductions.

He’s right about loopholes and deductions. Let’s close them. But while we’re at it, let’s slash the corporate tax rate and make America more competitive worldwide.

Obama kinda forgot the lower-tax-rate part, didn’t he?

Also, nearly all studies show that middle-income wage earners are the biggest beneficiaries of corporate tax cuts.

And regarding those evil 1 percenters, according to the Tax Policy Center, the top 1 percent of Americans paid 33.4 percent of their expanded cash income in federal taxes in 2014. Meanwhile, Americans in the middle 20 percent paid only 13.7 percent of their income in federal taxes, while the poorest paid 3.1 percent.

You’d think a good class warrior like Obama would like these numbers. Apparently not.

Why? He wants more money for government spending. A partial list includes more spending on child care, sick leave, equal pay, lower mortgage premiums, a higher minimum wage, student-debt forgiveness, tax credits, and free community college. Some say this could wind up costing $500 billion.

So there’s a lesson here for congressional Republicans and some of my fellow conservatives: Do not get sucked into this class-war politics. You will never outbid the Democrats on middle-class benefits. And take a cue from Ronald Reagan, who rejected class politics and argued that his policies would increase prosperity for all Americans.

For instance, Obama’s child tax credits would be available for couples up to $210,000, tripling the max tax credit for childcare by up to $3,000. And that’s very close to what some of my conservative friends want. But there’s a better way.

Get rid of the 10 percent bracket and collapse the 25 and 28 percent brackets down to 15 percent. So if you’re making $100,000 a year and paying $25,000 at the 25 percent bracket, your tax cost drops to $15,000 at the 15 percent bracket. That’s a $10,000 savings. If you have two kids, with a $3,500 tax credit per kid, that’s only a $7,000 savings.

From the lower marginal tax rates, the middle class gets a much bigger tax savings. And, with marginal rates coming down, the incentive effect kicks in as people keep more of what they earn. And all middle-class folks are included -- married with kids, single women without kids, millennials without kids, etc.

And there’s still a big savings for the kids we love and cherish. But it’s done without class divisions or the targeted tax credits that Democrats love. (My only exception would be an expanded earned-income tax credit, which would have a longer phase-out period so as not to penalize folks moving from welfare to work.)

Former CEA chair Glenn Hubbard argues that “free community college, an enhanced tax credit for child care and higher taxes on high-income earners and large financial institutions” will not generate “growth, work, and opportunity.”

Good advice, Republicans.

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Elect Mike Huckabee President

Let's Elect Mike Huckabee the President from Warning Signs by Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

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Say "HI" to Mike Huckabee - Former Arkansas Governor

I am going to miss the Huckabee show on Fox News every Saturday evening When he closed his show on January 3 he announced that he would no longer host it because he would decide whether to run for President in the “late spring.”

I cannot think of any Republican whom I would prefer more as our next President.

I don’t think the Democrats have anyone, including Hillary Clinton, that would have a chance to defeat Mike Huckabee. Like many Americans, I am not that fond of our political class. It only rarely produces men of high character, but Huckabee is all about high character.

People sense that and, from 1996 to 2007, as Governor of Arkansas, the voters repeatedly reelected him. He became that state’s third elected Republican since Reconstruction and would serve the third-longest tenure in that office after Democrats Orval Faubus and Bill Clinton.

As far as politics is concerned, I rarely write about it. There is a legion of journalists and others who do, so my focus is on issues, not personalities, but there is no question in my mind that Huckabee has, through his radio and television shows, and his books, emerged as a major personality on both the cultural and political scene. I rarely missed watching his Saturday evening Fox News show since it premiered in 2008.

The reason is simple enough. Huckabee is an unabashed conservative. He advocates and articulates conservative values and opinions in ways that other political figures tend to moderate. Huckabee’s “big tent” is filled with people who believe in God, who are disappointed with Barack Obama, want a smaller federal government, a stronger military, and recognize the radical Islamist movement as the greatest threat facing the world these days.

Huckabee is a conservative Republican that makes it look and sound like fun! He has a lively sense of humor along with a serious grasp of the issues facing America.

Last year when Huckabee began to seriously lose weight again, I began to suspect he had 2016 presidential ambitions. When he was first elected governor of Arkansas, he was obese. In 2003 he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

He subsequently shed more than 110 pounds and appears to still be losing weight. A good Baptist, Huckabee has never smoked or drank. I cannot say that for myself, but I admire it in him.

I don’t know that America has ever had a President with a pastoral career like Huckabee’s. Jimmy Carter used to teach a Sunday school class, but Huckabee was a pastor at a Baptist church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas from 1980 to 1986, and in Texarkana from 1986 to 1992. He served as president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989 to 1991.

Politically, he has won many more elections than he has lost and I suspect that, having gone through the primary marathons in 2008, he has concluded that he is ready to campaign for the 2016 candidacy. He will, however, need to attract significant financial support to be competitive with Jeb Bush, the GOP establishment choice.

A January 4 article in The Washington Times says that he “will make sure that he can raise at least $25 million—or even up to $50 million by the first week of February—before declaring for the Republican presidential nomination…”

Who else do the Republicans have? Forget Mitt Romney. Just on principle, many are wary of “another Bush” running for the office his father and brother held! The others, with the exception of Sen. Ted Cruz, are largely careful to not offend any particularly large group of Republican voters.

Huckabee does not offend anyone within the conservative electorate and as a 2016 candidate is likely to attract not only Republicans, but independents, and even conservative Democrats. He’s doing very well in the early polls.

The mainstream media is going to have a very hard time saying anything harsh about him.

“Late spring” is not that far away and the fact that Mike Huckabee is going to seek the Republican nomination to be its presidential candidate brings just the right measure of political savvy and personal integrity that I have been waiting for since the days of Ronald Reagan.

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Liberalism: A true death cult

Liberalism as a death cult by Judson Phillips, Founder of the Tea Party Nation

Click Here to Visit the Tea Party Nation

Liberalism has been described as a mental illness. That is so true. It is also a death cult.

It wants to die. It not only wants liberals to die, it wants everyone to die. What can you say of an ideology that embraces both abortion and euthanasia?

What can you say of a cult that wants to embrace and assist groups who openly declare their desire to destroy Western Civilization and enslave billions of people?

The latest insanity from the left would do nothing less than bring down civilization as we know it. It would reduce us from one of the leading economies in the world and bring us down to a level below that of North Korea.

If the left were to succeed in its latest lunacy, Afghanistan would look like a first world nation compared to where we would be.

The left’s latest lunatic idea is divestment of fossil fuel stocks. The radical left wants colleges and universities, as well as churches, retirement systems and other groups to sell stock they hold in companies that produce fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

The ultimate goal of the divestment strategy is not simply to have these organizations sell any stock they hold in fossil fuel companies. The goal is to destroy the fossil fuel sector of the economy.

Thinking has never been the strong suite of liberals and most of them don’t even think through this idea. They believe somehow that if fossil fuels are wiped out, “Green” energy will magically appear and take its place.

First, they ignore the fact there is no green energy sector. It simply doesn’t exist. But what happens if they succeed and destroy the fossil fuels industry?

The obvious, immediate casualty is the American car. What will happen to the millions of cars that require petroleum products not only for fuel but for lubrication as well? What about airlines? What will happen to all of those jets? They need petroleum products to fly? How will Hollywood liberals and fat Al Gore get around if they can’t get on their private jets? Oh the horror of Al Gore being forced to walk!

What about the Americans? Most Americans believe they have a constitutional right to food on demand. Most Americans have never known a situation where they could not walk over to the refrigerator or down to a fast food store to get what they wanted.

With out petroleum products, the food supply chain in America would collapse.

America has a massive power grid. Most of the power is generated with oil, gas, coal or nuclear. What will happen if these suicidal liberals win? The power grid would mostly be gone. America would be like a third world nation where power is only available a few hours a day. How will Democrats recharge their Obamaphones?

There is a much more serious problem. There are areas that have very cold winters and oil is used to heat homes. If you leave the American sector and go to places like Massachusetts or Vermont, heating oil is a matter of life and death.

If these fools actually succeed in their plan to destroy the fossil fuels industry, not only would it reduce America to absolute poverty, it would kill millions of Americans.

There is a famous satellite photo of the Korean peninsula. It shows well lit cities in South Korea and it shows well lit cities in China. But in the space that is North Korea, there is simply blackness. If these liberal fools have their way, that photo would be repeated in North America. There would be well lit Mexican cities and well lit Canadian cities. There would simply be a black hole where the United States sits.

Most liberals have not thought that one out. There are a few that have and they seriously want this goal.

Either way, liberalism remains a death cult. And this is simply more proof that liberals should not be allowed to decide anything more significant than which pair of socks they should wear.

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Liberals will get us all killed

Liberals Will Get Us All Killed from the Warning Signs by Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

Know the Warning Signs

The news from Sydney, Australia was of another incident in which a lone Islamic fascist took civilians hostage to fulfill a demented notion of a “holy war” on non-believers. After a siege by police two of the hostages he had taken were dead along with the gunman.

These attacks are becoming more frequent, referred to as “lone wolf” events, but in a larger context, they represent an effort by al Qaeda and the Islamic State, ISIS, to recruit individuals to wage a war of terror everywhere.

Looking back over the year, in May Mehdi Nemmouche who had returned to France after fighting for ISIS, entered the Jewish museum in Brussels and killed four people. In October Martin Couture Rouleau ran down two Canadian soldiers in Quebec, killing one of them.

The same month, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau killed a soldier at the Canadian parliament in Ottawa. Also in October, Zale Thompson attacked four New York police officers with an axe, injuring two in an incident that was deemed to be an Islamist attack.

In the wake of these attacks police everywhere are grappling with what they can do to anticipate and respond. In the attacks that have occurred, the perpetrators were all known to law enforcement authorities for their extremist views.

In September, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI put out a joint intelligence bulletin that the Islamic State has the capacity to mount attacks on U.S. targets overseas with little or no warning. Presumably the warning also included domestic attacks as well.

At a time when the threat is real and growing, there are forces in America that have deliberately sought to undermine public support and trust in the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, both on the front line of defense against the Islamist menace.

The release of a report by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Senate Intelligence Committee chair, was widely denounced for its evident failure to interview those named as engaging in “torture” to deter further attacks. This 20-20 hindsight and reinterpretation of events is an offense on many levels.

One has to ask why it is always liberals who are unable to acknowledge an actual threat and defame those charged with preventing them. It is as if they live in a parallel universe, a make-believe world where our enemies do not exist.

This is the mind-set that led the President to remove our troops from Iraq, creating a vacuum that ISIS filled. He is now lowering our role in Afghanistan and the news of the day is a barbaric attack by the Taliban in Pakistan that has killed 130, mostly school children. Can liberals grasp the barbarity of the Islamist enemies of our nation and the whole of humanity?

Most serious, though, are the negotiations with Iran, led by the Obama administration, that are sure to permit a leading sponsor of terrorism to acquire its own nuclear weapons.

Learn About Caruba's Warning Signs at Facts-not-Fanrtasy

This is why many cringed when the anticipated Democratic Party candidate for President, Hillary Clinton, a former Secretary of State, recently touted an approach she calls “smart power,” urging America to use “every possible tool and partner” to advance peace.

This, she said, includes “leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect even for one’s enemies, trying to understand and insofar as psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view.”

This is the classic liberal excuse and attitude for not taking our enemies seriously when they say they want to destroy America. There isn’t a single justification for empathizing with people who want to kill you!

I frankly find the outcry against the nation’s police corps curious and outrageous. In the Ferguson incident, it was a case of self-defense that got Michael Brown killed. In Staten Island, it was the unanticipated death of Erik Garner who had resisted arrest and had a long record of similar offenses. The police did not set out to kill him, but a combination of his ill health and the takedown triggered his death.

The response of the communist Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, was not to defend his police force, but to join in the condemnation. Around the nation thousands marched, repeating the lies about Brown’s innocence and the claims about Garner’s death.

The marches, held in a number of U.S. cities, were organized by groups with an agenda and it was aimed at undermining public support and trust in our police corps.

Remember, too, liberals are also opposed to the Second Amendment which empowers Americans to “keep and bear arms.” There is no way to misinterpret or not understand the limit this puts on government from the federal to the local level. Even so, the calls for such limits are constant.

Reportedly, “according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey – the leading source of international public information about firearms – the U.S. has the best-armed civilian population in the world, with an estimated 270 million total guns.

That’s an average of 89 firearms for every 100 residents.” Liberals translate this as an invitation to mass murder in the streets and homes of America, but the reality is that gun ownership prevents criminal mayhem and protects lives. In states that permit concealed carry, the crime rate is less than in those that do not.

Liberals, though, would have you fear your local police force and those agencies that are tasked with protecting the nation, the CIA and the NSA. And, yes, the FBI too.

If not resisted, liberals would cause us all to be killed by our nation’s very real foreign enemies and the domestic perpetrators and criminals who prey on our society. Next time you see a police man or woman, take a moment to tell them how much you appreciate their service.

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Party of Ku Klux Klan: Endangered species

Behold: the decimation of the Democrat Party in the Deep South from the files of Colonel Allen B. West

Congressional district control by party (Red = GOP)
Map courtesy of Politico.

Remember all the chatter about how the final determination for the control of the U.S. Senate would probably come down to two runoff elections — in Georgia and Louisiana? Pollsters and pundits claimed were tight races and these two would hang in the balance, and the whole nation would be focused on them in December and January.

Boy howdy, did they get that all wrong! The race in Georgia between David Perdue (R) and Michelle Nunn (D) wasn’t even close. And in Louisiana, the venerable Senator Mary Landrieu who comes from a political household family name — and had served 18 years in the Senate — went down in flames, basically holding on to the same number of votes she acquired in the Louisiana “jungle primary.” (is that racist?)

As reported by Fox News, “Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu lost her reelection bid Saturday in a runoff race with Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy, despite a relentless, against-long-odds effort. Landrieu, who was seeking a fourth term, trailed by double digits and had lost most of her support going into the election. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting late Saturday, Cassidy had received 56 percent of the vote, to 44 percent for Landrieu.”

Nationally, probably more folks were tuned into the college football conference championship games than the Louisiana Senate race on Saturday. But my interest isn’t in discussing the intricacies of this Senate race — or even how bad the pollsters did this past midterm election cycle, hurting their credibility.

Having been brought up in the deep South, I must say there’s something far greater afoot– a sort of changing of the political guard across what some used to refer to as “Dixie.”

If you look across the southern states, you’d be hard pressed to find any Democrats holding statewide elected office after this election — and control of State legislatures is also a phenomena — nationally the GOP holds some 69 of 99 state legislatures (Nebraska has a unicameral system).

Since Missouri is in the SEC, I’ll count them in and they have a Democrat Governor and Senator, along with Virginia –- northern Virginia has a lot to do with that — but Ed Gillespie came darn close. Kentucky has a Democrat Governor but two GOP Senators. And in Florida there’s Democrat Senator Bill Nelson.

But when I reflect on my days growing up down South, the place was a Democrat stronghold — some folks just couldn’t get over the whole Civil War (or War of Northern Aggression) thing — and as we know from history the Democrat Party was the party of the KKK, Jim Crow Laws, segregation, poll taxes and literacy tests, while a study of GOP history makes clear its stance for individual liberty and civil rights.

Remember it was a GOP Senator, Everett Dirksen, who enabled passage of the civil rights — Democrat Senators Robert Byrd and Al Gore Sr. weren’t having it. And Dwight D. Eisenhower offered up similar legislation as president only to have it thwarted by Democrat Senators.

There has been a seismic change in the South, which the National GOP should recognize and understand. Down in our “neck of the woods,” the Democrat Party and its policies are no longer regarded as those of the working man and woman.

And more folks are beginning to reject the victimization and welfare nanny-state message and embrace the message — as Booker T. Washington championed — of education, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance.

The Democrat Party has become more aligned with far left progressive socialist ideals — which are the antithesis of the South’s values of faith, family and duty to country. The Democrat Party has become the party of the elites, who feel they can better determine how you should live their life than you can.

And as long as the leftists and their media allies embrace the sense of mobocracy and disregard for the rule of law and the judicial process, they’ll find themselves at odds with the fundamental conservative values of the South.

Now, it becomes vital for the GOP to champion principles and policies that promote the growth, opportunity, and promise of Americans. They’ve been handed an opportunity to govern, as Americans are rejecting the “big government” solutions from today’s Democrat party.

Now, the ideological battle for the soul of America is far from over, as a matter of fact, I think it’s about to get even more vicious. But, if the message centers around principle, not party; policy, not politics — the greater days of America lie ahead. The key is to take that message into every corner of our Constitutional Republic — and that means the inner cities where we sorely need a sense of hope and opportunity.

I believe that in the presidential election of 2012, Mitt Romney won some 72 percent of counties in the United States but that only resulted in a larger electoral college defeat. Why? Because the Democrat party has turned presidential election politics into a science, knowing exactly what counties and what precincts in what states yield them a resounding victory. That is the challenge.

But the GOP cannot win by pandering, but rather by engaging, inspiring, and enlightening the American populace about the right choices for its future — and that of their children and grandchildren.

Yep, in my lifetime I have seen the first black president — and also the decimation of the Democrat Party in the Deep South.

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Republicans deliver Liberals the crying towels

Democrats are reluctant to throw in the towel so Republicans deliver news that will bring out crying towels from the art studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco and featured at Comically Incorrect.com

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Some things the election did not change . .

There is one thing that the mid-term election did not change from the political art studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco and featured at Net Right Daily.com

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83 year old Black granny dumps the Democrats

Black grandmother says she’s tired of Democrats and voting straight Republican [VIDEO] from the files of Colonel Allen B. West


When I was growing up they used to say, “listen to the old folks.” Well, take just a couple of minutes to listen to this 82-year-old black grandmother from Texas who took the time to call into CSPAN’s Washington Journal. Seems the fear mongering tactics of the Democrat party in the black community didn’t convince this woman named Joyce.

Meet Colonel Allen B. West

For Joyce it seems the social issues DO matter because it’s a matter of faith, family, marriage, and protecting the unborn. This is why Ronald Reagan — who 50 years ago today delivered his “Time for Choosing” speech — spoke of the three pillars of conservatism: fiscal, national security, and social.

Now of course the high-powered DC consultant class will tell you not to speak of these issues — well it seems they still matter to Joyce. And of course there are those who will say Joyce is an outlier and she’s a member of the “old school” generation, which has no relevance today.

Well, I bet this ol’ mother in the church has plenty of relevance and impact, if you know the black family — which of course is being decimated by the progressive socialist programs of the modern Democrat party. It doesn’t matter how many flyers depicting lynchings are placed on black churchgoers’ cars in North Carolina.

It doesn’t matter how many disgusting ads are run by the Georgia Democrat Party comparing Ferguson, Missouri to voting for a privileged white Democrat senatorial candidate. It does not matter how many black congressional members try to patronize their inner city constituents into blind obedience and pacification.

The old school way still exists in the black community and women like Joyce still hold sway — even black pastors fear those ol’ church mothers. The lies and deceit of the original party of slavery, secession, segregation, and now socialism are coming home to roost. The black community was enraptured by the sensationalism and iambic pentameter rhetoric of one Barack Hussein Obama.

However, now he’s finally he being seen for what he is — just a slick talking charlatan who enabled the Democrats to use the black community to advance a progressive socialist agenda — which has left them behind.

And now, as usual, the Democrats are showing up to harvest that critical crop from the 21st century economic plantation — votes. And just the same as the boll weevil destroyed the cotton crop — the failing policies of Obama, as Joyce articulated, have continued the destruction of the black community.

So to the GOP political “geniuses” who walk around with white boards and think they’re so brilliant — perhaps you need to start talking to Joyce.

And this isn’t about “outreach,” it’s about having a principled discussion on policy inclusiveness and the restoration of what was once the pride of the black community — the three principles of Booker T. Washington: education, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance.

That, along with the resurrection of the strong black family, won’t lead only to success in the black community — but success for our America.

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The results of the Obama 'War on Women'

The results of the Obama 'War on Women' from the political cartoon studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco and featured at Comically Incorrect.com

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Tom Coburn Will Be Missed By Conservatives

Tom Coburn Will Be Missed By Conservatives from the files of Michael Shannon

Meet Tom Coburn

This is Senator Tom Coburn's last year in the Senate.

It would have been his last term anyway, because he's an honorable man and adheres to his term limits promise.

He first ran for the congressional seat held by Mike Synar.

I would not have supported Coburn because at that time I was a deluded Democrat. Fortunately I changed and he didn't.

Complete details are at the Shannon Newsmax Insider column.

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Control Freaks: Islam - Dracula - Leftists

CONTROL FREAKS: Dracula, Leftists and Islam! from the files of Audrey Russo at Clash Daily.com

Read the Russo File at Clash Daily.com

It’s that time of year again. Every horror movie under the sun, surfaces for Halloween. Thanks to all the retro cable stations popping up, we can still watch some of those old black and white horror flicks with that blood-sucking, hypnotist Dracula - always busy controlling his followers one bite at a time.

It reminds me of Leftists - but they don’t do it one-by-one through hypnosis. They work deceptively under, over and around the democratic process until they have a stranglehold on a society. Law-abiding citizens (which they were never) end up having to do their bidding. Leftists are wannabe tyrants in denial.

But, worse and scarier than these two, are those devout, Quran-worshiping followers of Islam. These are the Muslims who know that the verse of Abrogation substitutes the later, violent verses for the earlier peaceful verses of the Quran. They do as Muhammed did in conquering, raping, pillaging and murdering for Allah.

They control not merely those that follow Islam by force, but all those that are allowed to live in Islamic lands.

Proof of this tyrannical, OCD-like behavior can be found in the home of Islam’s most holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Muhammed, the Quran and Sharia Islamic Law. Wahhabi Islam, the strictest form of Islam, is practiced by the Saudi Kingdom.

This form of Islam was named after Abdul Wahhab, a stern 18th century Muslim revivalist who considered that Islam (and Arabia in particular) needed cleansing and purifying back to Islam’s fundamentals. Saudi Arabia is considered the paradigm for an Islamic society, run by the Sharia.

And infidels, non-Muslims are forced to comply with Sharia Law.

They have:

• No individual freedom
• No free speech rights 
• No religious freedom (Bibles, Crosses and Stars of David are all confiscated and destroyed on entry to the Saudi Kingdom)
• No independence for women
• Barbaric punishment for ‘crimes’

The ideology of Islam and its adherents rather than Dracula and current-day Leftists, are by far the scariest control freaks on earth today.

If you doubt it, try moving to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Party of Fraud: They're at it again

The Party of Fraud is at it Again from the Files of Judson Phillips, Founder of the Tea Party Nation

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In Cook County Illinois, the dead vote. Everyone has known that for years. There is even a running joke about people putting a clause in their will that they will not leave their vote to the Democrat Party.

But it appears that Party of Treason and voter fraud is ramping up its efforts to steal elections.

From Fox News:

Early voting in Illinois got off to a rocky start Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats.

Republican state representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote Monday at the Schaumburg Public Library.
“I tried to cast a vote for myself and instead it cast the vote for my opponent,” Moynihan said. “You could imagine my surprise as the same thing happened with a number of races when I tried to vote for a Republican and the machine registered a vote for a Democrat.”

The conservative website Illinois Review reported that “While using a touch screen voting machine in Schaumburg, Moynihan voted for several races on the ballot, only to find that whenever he voted for a Republican candidate, the machine registered the vote for a Democrat in the same race.

He notified the election judge at his polling place and demonstrated that it continued to cast a vote for the opposing candidate’s party. Moynihan was eventually allowed to vote for Republican candidates, including his own race.

Moynihan offered this gracious lesson to his followers on Twitter:

“Be careful when you vote in Illinois. Make sure you take the time to check your votes before submitting.”

Isn’t it amazing that when these incidents happen with electronic voting machines, they always benefit the Democrats? In 2010, in Nevada, there were multiple reports of voting machines changing Republican votes into votes for Harry Reid.

This is one of the compelling reasons why every election should have paper ballots. At least there is a hard copy to show what really happened.

While this time, the electronic screen showed the vote being given to the Democrat, a more insidious fraud would be for the screen to show the correct vote but the actually vote tallied in the machine’s memory would be the wrong one.

If anyone thinks that is not possible, think again. A few lines of code is all it takes.

Meanwhile we know something never change. This includes the need for Democrats to steal elections.

Visit the Tea Party Nation Website.

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