Club for Growth PAC Endorses Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn
Washington - In its first two Senate endorsements of the 2010 cycle, the Club for Growth PAC has endorsed incumbent Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK).
“It is hard to find a more devoted duo to the principles of limited government and economic freedom than Senators Coburn and DeMint,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “Day after day, these two stalwarts have stood on the front lines fighting for taxpayers across America, even taking on members of their own party. Day after day, they have stood on the Senate floor, offering amendments to eliminate some of the most outrageous pork projects to come out of Washington.”
“In politics, it is rare to see such unwavering principle as we have seen in these two senators. As the country faces the prospect of even more spending and even more debt under President Obama, it is all the more important that we do everything we can to make sure Senators Coburn and DeMint return to the Senate to fight for the principles that have made this country great.”
For Barack Obama, after promising for two years to bring change to Washington, has only maintained and accelerated the worst aspects of the Bush economic program.
Bush gave us the Wall Street bailout, known as TARP; Obama is working his way through TARP II and has recently proposed TARP III: The Financial Stability Plan (”Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the market.”).
Bush bailed out General Motors; Obama fired the CEO, is replacing the board of directors and has guaranteed its muffler warranties.
Bush signed a small but futile stimulus in 2008; Obama signed a huge but equally futile stimulus in 2009.
Bush oversaw a doubling in the national debt in eight years; Obama’s budget would double it again in only five, then triple it within 10.
For couples separated by deportation orders-because only marriage conveys citizenship and federal law does not permit gays to marry-all the funds in the national treasury could not make full amends. Yet the admission of collective culpability behind such payments might offer a first step toward reconciliation.
However, the author - bioethicist Jacop Appel, whose work “has appeared in The New York Times” - does see a possible downside:
The only danger in such a proposal is the possibility that a minority of unscrupulous straight people might claim homosexuality in an effort to defraud taxpayers.
I’m sure we can find ways to guard against that - perhaps by hiring the Canadian immigration experts who turned down this Nicaraguan gay’s refugee claim on the grounds that he seemed insufficiently homosexual.
There is a great deal of chest-thumping among Obama’s supporters that “comprehensive immigration” reform is an invaluable campaign issue that will ensure a Democratic Southwest, as Republicans fall into some sort of nativist trap.
I’m not so sure. Hispanics respect the rule of law as much as anyone; closing the borders first, then worrying about the auxillary issues later, won’t necessarily prove polarizing, especially if presented in terms of a desire to insist on the rule of law and a racially/ethnically blind nation. This year’s immigration lead-ins on the evening news are not Minutemen on the border and poor immigrants wandering the desert deprived of water by cruel Americans, but lines of Americans at job fairs, reports that the unemployed are looking for any sort of work that they can get their hands on, and a brutality and savagery right across the border every bit as disturbing as what we’ve seen on jihadist videos.
The Rod Blagojevich scandal in Illinois appears to have freed his successor, Gov. Pat Quinn (D), to float some fairly bold reforms. First, Quinn would reset campaign treasuries at zero for next year’s governor’s election - candidates wouldn’t be able to use funds they’ve already raised. Second, he would push back the primary until June to abbreviate the campaign season.
The Chicago Tribune has the story. The reaction of Democratic colleagues to Quinn’s ideas - which tend to serve his own political interest, by the way - tells you all you need to know.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans have a favorable view of the “tea parties” held nationwide last week, including 32% who say their view of the events is Very favorable.
Thirty-three percent (33%) hold an unfavorable opinion of the tea parties according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department agreed to extend some portions of federal antitrust oversight by 18 months, to May 2011, according to court papers filed on Thursday.
Microsoft settled U.S. antitrust charges in 2002 that it abused its dominance of the market for personal computer operating systems. Court oversight had been scheduled to end on November 12.
The Justice Department and states involved in the antitrust suit said in the filing that the November deadline would not give them enough time to assess whether Microsoft had removed all the errors from the technical information it is required to give potential licensees who write programs for Microsoft’s Windows.
The Alaska Legislature voted 35 to 23 today to reject the confirmation of Wayne Anthony Ross, Gov. Sarah Palin’s pick for attorney general. According to Legislative Research, today’s rejection of Ross is the first time in state history that a head of a state agency has failed to be confirmed by the Legislature. All the Democrats in the Legislature voted against Ross, but they were joined by nine Republicans, including the Senate president and House speaker.
One of three people Gov. Sarah Palin has recommended for a vacant state Senate seat for Juneau is withdrawing his name. The governor’s office on Thursday said Joe Nelson is withdrawing as a candidate. In a letter to Palin, Nelson says it’s clear that Senate Democrats will not support any candidate that is not fully supported by the Juneau Democratic Party.
The Legislature has rejected Gov. Sarah Palin’s nominee for the board that decides how the catch of Alaska’s salmon, halibut and other fish should be divided between commercial, sport and personal use fishermen. Meeting in a joint session Thursday, lawmakers voted 42-16 to reject Brent Johnson of Clam Gulch for the Board of Fisheries.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked the U.S. Congress on Thursday for an extra $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, citing threats from al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban.
The request, to cover the rest of the 2009 fiscal year which ends on September 30, comes on top of more than $822 billion that Congress has approved to fund the wars since September 2001, Obama said.
The decision by Ms Bartz, who became Yahoo’s chief in January, to restart talks with the software group could be a watershed in lengthy, troubled manÂoeuvring between the two companies since Microsoft launched an unexpected takeover bid early last year.
Recent discussions, first reported by the technology blog AllThingsD.com, have involved a wide range of possible outcomes that would combine or pool some internet assets of the two companies, the same person says, adding they have yet to identify a preferred direction.
Mr Ballmer has said several times in recent months that some combination of the companies’ internet search businesses was necessary if they were to have a chance to catch Google.
Microsoft last summer proposed a deal to take over Yahoo’s internet search business, in return for paying a share of advertising revenues to Yahoo. But Ms Bartz has said a presence in internet search could be strategically important for Yahoo.
Inmates at the Topeka Correctional Facility run for many different reasons. Some for the exercise it provides. “I like the physical aspect,” said Kristy Wilson, an inmate there.
Some like the sense of freedom it gives them when they’re out in the open. “It’s like you’re completely not here when you run. When you run around the track, it’s total freedom,” said Carma Smith, an inmate at the prison and member of the running club.
But most do it to insight positive change into their lives. “Being able to have some control over your lifestyle and a sense of accomplishment,” said Wilson.
Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder and has been in prison for 14 years here. She joined the running club as a way to atone for her past actions. “A lot of us have made mistakes we know we made and want to make amends for that, not only with ourselves and our family, but those who we may have hurt,” she said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department said Friday that the budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in March, and is near $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year, as costs of the financial bailout and recession mount.
Last month’s deficit, a record for March, was significantly higher than the $150 billion that economists expected.
The deficit already totals $956.8 billion for the first six months of the budget year, also a record for that period. The Obama administration projects the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.75 trillion.
A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous annual record of $454.8 billion set last year. The March deficit was nearly four times the size of the imbalance in the same month last year.
Republican Bob McDonnell has lengthened his lead on all three Democratic hopefuls in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, but it’s a long way to Election Day.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds the closest race is between McDonnell, the former attorney general and lone GOP candidate, and Brian J. Moran, a former state delegate from Alexandria. McDonnell now leads Moran by 10 points, 44% to 34%.
The highest profile Democrat in the race is next. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton confidant and former national party chairman, trails McDonnell by 12 points, 45% to 33%.
Two-thirds of American adults nationwide (66%) say their vote really matters on Election Day.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that only 25% believe their vote doesn’t matter, and nine percent (9%) aren’t sure.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Democrats say their vote really matters, along with 69% of Republicans. However, those not affiliated with either major party are less convinced: Just 57% say their vote matters. Thirty-one percent (31%) of unaffiliateds say their vote doesn’t matter.
I’ve written recently on this blog about political polarization, noting several factors that point to its rise: (a) there has been an increase in ideological sorting among the parties, with conservatives being more closely identified with the Republican party and liberals more closely identified with the Democratic party; (b) partisan identification is a better predictor of vote choice than it was several decades ago; (c) partisan sentiment for the other side has been turning negative; (d) job approval of recent presidents has fallen more starkly along partisan lines in recent years.
The implication of these considerations is that the electorate is becoming more deeply polarized. However, we have to be careful with how far we take this idea, as recent scholarly work has shown that there might be limits to the polarization hypothesis. The evidence is mixed - and there are competing camps among political scientists. Some, notably Alan Abramowitz of Emory, have argued that polarization along issue and ideological lines has been on the rise. But others, notably Morris Fiorina of Stanford and Samuel Abrams of Harvard, have cautioned against this conclusion, asserting that while the electorate might be closely divided, it is not deeply divided.
Perez Hilton asked Miss California’s Carrie Prejean her thoughts on legalizing gay marriage during the Miss USA 2009 pageant, which aired live Sunday night on NBC.
“Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage,” he said. “Do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not.”
At first, Prejean seemed to trip over her words before giving an answer that drew a mixed reaction from the audience and a look of thinly veiled disgust from Hilton.
“I think it’s great Americans are able to choose one or the other,” she said. “We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what in my country, in my family I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be, between a man and a woman.”
With ironic precision, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates zeroed in on an airborne laser weapon that the Boeing Co. and Wichita hold dear.
Surprising no one, members of Congress from Kansas have cried: “Shields up!”
At stake in the 2010 budget is a second test Boeing 747 to be outfitted with three lasers to zap ballistic missiles.
On Monday, Gates said: “The ABL program has significant affordability and technology problems, and the program’s proposed operational role is highly questionable.”
Translation: It’s expensive, not working yet, and do we even need it?
While the economy remains the top issue nationwide, taxes are moving up on the priority list. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% of voters see taxation as very important; it’s highest level in nearly two years.
Last month, 61% said taxes were very important to them. Prior to that survey, that number never rose above 60%.
Two-thirds of U.S. voters (66%) think President Obama is likely to raise taxes on people who less than $250,000 per year. That figure includes 47% who say he is Very Likely to do so.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 18% doubt that will happen.
Democrats, not surprisingly, are more confident that the president will keep his word. But, 46% of Democratic voters say he is somewhat likely to raise taxes on those with lower income. That view is shared by 89% of Republicans and 68% of unaffiliated voters.
NEW YORK (Fortune) — An e-mail message with the provocative subject line, “Entrepreneurs: France’s Newest Export,” arrived at Fortune’s offices one March evening at about 6:30 pm Eastern Time. (That’s 12:30 am Paris time.) “More and more U.S. technology companies are founded by French entrepreneurs,” it read.
France, of course, is well known for many of the finer things in life — its cuisine, its wines, its culture — but it is not notorious for its prowess in technological innovation.
As it turns out, there are some 400 to 500 French companies operating in California’s Silicon Valley, according to French trade groups, among them are Talend, a data integration company founded in France in 2005 which now has offices in Los Altos, Calif. (and the UK, Germany, Belgium) and boasts clients such as Yahoo!, Virgin Mobile, Honda, Sony and the United Nations. VirtualLogix, a French virtualization software start-up based in Silicon Valley, has received financing from Cisco Systems, Intel and Motorola. Qualys, another privately held company offering network security software as a service to companies such as eBay, Cisco and Hewlett Packard, was started by two French entrepreneurs and is now based in Redwood Shores, Calif.
