AARP's Tax Trap

Translation: AARP was hoping to use its candidate survey to nail down enough support to raise taxes on Social Security and to defeat private investment accounts if Mr. Bush pushes for reform again next year. But now that its scheme has been exposed and is hurting its Democratic pals in tight races, AARP leaders want to deny that this is what they meant. Let's hope Republicans remember this AARP double-dealing, which resembles what the lobby did in endorsing a drug plan for Medicare in 2003 only to call it inadequate now.

... But I ONLY joined for the free stuff!

Deaf School's Leader Ousted Amid Protests

I've been hearing and reading this story for weeks and I still don't know what the issue is. Like so much protest these days all you hear about is the immediate objective, and often, as in this case not even the whys and wherefores of it all. What exactly was wrong with this woman? One report said that it had to do with WHEN she learned sign language. That's IT? According to one of the stories here that's not it at all. So, what IS it?

Is this a failure of the MSM to get to the bottom of the story, or is there perhaps no bottom to it?

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is all drummed up by "professional" protesters who no doubt have made or are about to make a buck or two off this whole thing. this protest will launch a career or two, and it has nothing to do with who gets the job of president. Several years from now you will hear about some new head of the DNC or some such organization and they'll be saying that person got their start by organizing this protest.

You are witnessing a new job class finally surpass lawyers in caring more about winning than in the actual effects of the outcome.

Hurray for our side. Now what?

The Non-Contract With America

As a campaign strategy, this may well pay off. But if they do win, Democrats will have to fill their campaign vacuum with something, and the best clue to what that would be is what they've already proposed. We've taken some time to inspect these policy priorities and thought we'd share a few of the highlights, if that's the right word. (Warning: Keep sharp objects away from drug-company and Wal-Mart shareholders.)

A New Campaign Tactic: Manipulating Google Data

Indeed, if all campaigns were doing it, the playing field might well be leveled.

Mr. Bowers said he did not believe the practice would actually deceive most Internet users.

But of course for the left, it's OK to try deception, while admitting that it might not work. Ever wonder why? Whether it is a stunt like this, or a misleading Oreo cookie analysis of the economy, or a parade of misleading victim testimonials on TV, the left will do anything to get their full power back.

Their goal: to trade the principles that made this country great for the principles that caused the Soviet Union to collapse. Oh, but to paraphrase John Kerry, they'll do it better than the Soviets.

Now when I confront a liberal with that comparison to the Soviets, there is always a denial that the goal is anything like Communism, or even Socialism. But what other label fits? "Progressivism" is meaningless, describing a state of perpetual change rather than an actual ideal state of being. Look at the specific goals:

To marginalize all religious practice and engender a total reliance on federal government solutions to every problem.

To bring down those filthy capitalists who run billion dollar companies (the rhetoric always leaves out what should be done about top sports and move stars and somehow you get the notion that its OK for them to make big bucks).

To take away almost any freedom of choice in personal matters (with the sole exception of course of those things that go on in the bedroom).

To install political correctness as the primary state sanctioned religion. This is thought control in as blatant a form as ever envisioned by George Orwell. they do it in their campaigning (as this stunt is a perfect example) and they'll carry the notion to its conclusion if empowered to do so. You can bet that the "Ministry of Education" will simply instruct Google and other such providers where certain search terms should take you. No need to "Google bomb".

The air-head actors of Hollywood threatened to leave the country when Bush got elected, but as far as I know none of them did. Of course they had plenty of places they could have moved that were closer to their ideal of an all-powerful central government, Canada simply being the closest, while the countries of Europe being more ideal. Why didn't any of them leave?

Where will you go when there is no freedom of thought (at least not that can be expressed openly) in America? Will there be pockets of such freedom in such places as Australia? Don't count on it.

Marx understood that for his theories to work, all avenues of escape must be cut off. World Communism wasn't just a nice goal, it was an absolute necessity for the system to succeed. There are those among us who have the same idea regarding our countries founding principles. They don't like states rights, which are all but gone thanks to judicial activism. States rights allow pockets of freedom to shine forth and attract those who love it. The existence of private (to their way of thinking) schools makes it impossible to make public education work, just as the existence of medical people who opt out of government subsidies make their ideal of health care impossible to achieve.

Where will you go after the revolution?

Not Facing Reality

In his interactions with both secularists and Christians after writing his first book, he notes "my correspondence with liberals has convinced me that liberalism has grown dangerously out of touch with the realities of our world … despite abundant evidence to the contrary, liberals continue to imagine that Muslim terrorism springs from economic despair, lack of education and American militarism.

"I don’t know how many more engineers and architects need to blow themselves up, fly planes into buildings or saw the heads off of journalists before this fantasy will dissipate."

and

The one group which speaks with moral clarity about the war in the Middle East is the religious right, Mr. Harris notes, while admitting he disagrees with that group over almost every other political issue.

"Unless liberals realize that there are tens of millions of people in the Muslim world who are far scarier than Dick Cheney, they will be unable to protect civilization from its genuine enemies," he concludes.

Prosperity Amid the Gloom

Nancy Pelosi vows that if Democrats capture Congress they will "jump-start our economy." A "jump-start " is administered to a stalled vehicle. But since the Bush tax cuts went into effect in 2003, the economy's growth rate (3.5 percent) has been better than the average for the 1980s (3.1) and 1990s (3.3). Today's unemployment rate (4.6 percent) is lower than the average for the 1990s (5.8) -- lower, in fact, than the average for the past 40 years (6.0). Some stall.

John Stossel: Health Insurance Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be

Great, let's bankrupt America even faster! Medicare already has an unfunded liability of $32.1 trillion — that's how much more money the politicians have promised versus the amount the Treasury has to pay for it. The Medicare Trust Funds report says expenditures "are expected to increase & at a faster pace than either workers' earnings or the economy overall."

Can We Talk? Apparently Not

The real issue, however, is neither heterosexual or homosexual, and it extends even beyond the important question of the best interests of the child.

The larger question for American society is, as Joan Rivers has often said: "Can we talk?"

Political bigwigs in San Francisco say "No." They are demanding that Pete Wilson resign. In San Francisco, no one is supposed to criticize anything done by homosexuals.

Couldn't Resist

A Party Without Principles

"If Democrats cared about poor women and minorities, they would be clamoring to reform Social Security. But instead they get a childish gratification out of stamping their feet and refusing to discuss the subject. They can't muster the courage to block the suspension of habeas corpus. But when it comes to blocking entitlement reform, the Democrats ride out to battle."

Even lifelong liberals get it every now and then.

Funny thing, the article started with the phrase: "After years of single-party government, " and the first thing that popped into my mind was the period from 1952 to 2000. For most of that time the Repubs were a minority, at times very much so. They continued to work for their ideals and worked to block things they were against without simply rejecting anything that the Dems came up with. For the most part, the Republicans are STILL making concession after concession to the Democrats as if they (the Republicans) were still the minority.

And let's not forget the left still controls the media via which most of you are being brainwashed without even knowing it. The trick is not slanted coverage (although there is plenty of that too) but mostly a slant in picking what to cover. The news you never see is what the left is all about. Why else would they be so concerned about the occasional exception such as Fox News? For their slant to work, they need exclusivity. Not a foreign notion after all, as any Socialist will tell you, their system works best when the Capitalists have no place to escape to.

THE ASSOCIATED (WITH TERRORISTS) PRESS

"Let me repeat that: An Associated (with terrorists) Press journalist gets caught with an alleged al Qaeda leader and tests positive for bomb-making materials. That. Is. News. How does a news organization explain away its decision to sit on it for five months? Like this: "The AP has worked quietly until now, believing that would be the best approach."

The best approach to journalism? No. The best approach to suppressing a damning connection to terrorists.

The mainstream media enjoys mocking bloggers as journalistic wannabes who don't do any "real" reporting and have no concern for the "public interest." But as in the case of the Reuters photo-faking debacle this summer, it is bloggers in their little home offices -- not the professionals on the ground thousands of miles away -- who smoked out a war story with profound national security implications."

Media Clowns

"One of the biggest media figures boycotting the Plame story has been MSNBC host Chris Matthews who has yet to mention the scandal at all since the Armitage report broke, a dramatic contrast to the 27 times he mentioned the "scandal" in the five months leading up to it."

Back in the USSR

And they say Bush has dictatorial aspirations!

Snow Should Grant Hothead Newsman's Wish

Newsman to Tony Snow: 'Don't Point Your Finger At Me!' said apparent member of the loopy left David Gregory, who doesn't like having his bias pointed out.

Why can't the MSM just fire these guys? With all the party-school fodder being turned out of journalism schools these days, replacements should be a dime a dozen. It would go gentle on that bottom line too. Is this the kind of publicity you need NBC?

I suggest for starters, Tony Snow honor his request and never point to him again. That should pretty much end his need to attend the White House press conferences in the first place. Leave the rest to NBC.

One more from the gang that can't shoot straight...

"Armitage's involvement in the matter does not fit neatly into the assertions of Bush administration critics that Plame's employment was disclosed as part of a White House conspiracy to besmirch Wilson by suggesting his Niger trip stemmed from nepotism at the CIA. Wilson and Plame have sued top administration officials, alleging that the leak was meant as retaliation."

Theya-culpa

Gore isn't quite as green as he's led the world to believe

Unless you count "green with envy" of George Bush.

"Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself."

WSJ.com - Socialism in Reverse

"This week Robert Poole and other scholars at the Reason Foundation released the 20th Anniversary Edition of their annual global privatization report. It chronicles this sweeping economic trend that began in Margaret Thatcher's England, spread to the U.S. under Ronald Reagan, then to China and the former communist nations of Eastern Europe. A 2005 World Bank report also finds that, from 1990-2003, governments around the globe have generated $410 billion in privatization proceeds."

Capitol Hill Blue - Screwing the pooch

"With the help of 'Bill' and some other volunteers who held the intervention Monday that helped me see the light we've gone back through the databases and removed quotes from unverified sources and eliminated stories that didn't fit the criteria I claimed to follow but did not.

The stories we have removed from the database include:

* Bush's erratic behavior worries White House aides (June 4, 2004)
* Bush's obscene tirades bother White House aides (Aug. 25, 2005)
* Dangers of a drunk Dubya (Sept. 22, 2005)
* Bush's Increasing Mental Lapses and Temper Tantrums Worry White House Aides (Nov. 2, 2005)
* White House keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 political enemies (Nov. 8, 2005)
* Bush on the Constitution: It's just a 'goddamned piece of paper' (Dec. 9, 2005)
* Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk during shooting incident (Feb. 22, 2006)
* Bush just can't stop lying (March 22, 2006)
* The decider-in-chief: Drunk with power (July 22, 2006)


There will be others. It takes a long time to go through three different databases from the three different publishing systems we've used over the years to try and correct too many mistakes."

WSJ.com - Osama in Genevaland

"Mr. England's memo overturns a 2002 Justice Department memo that ruled explicitly that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to members of al Qaeda or the Taliban, a policy change the White House confirmed late on Tuesday. For an Administration that has fought so hard, and in our view rightly, to protect its executive powers, this is being heralded as an embarrassing reversal. It also has the smell of a bureaucratic fiasco, since we can't recall another situation in which Presidential power was so freely handed away."

12 DOWN: TOP SECRET WAR PLANS, 36 ACROSS: TREASON

"What if, instead of passing information from the government's secret nuclear program at Los Alamos directly to Soviet agents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had printed those same secrets in a newsletter? Would they have skated away scot-free instead of being tried for espionage and sent to the death chamber?

Ezra Pound, Mildred Gillars ('Axis Sally') and Iva Toguri D'Aquino ('Tokyo Rose') were all charged with treason for radio broadcasts intended to demoralize the troops during World War II. Their broadcasts were sort of like Janeane Garofalo and Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio -- except Tokyo Rose was actually witty, and Axis Sally is said to have used a fact-checker."