BRUCE ASH ON THE $410B OMNIBUS PORK BILL

Republican Leaders & Grassroots Activists..........





Please take a moment to listen to my response to the Omnibus Bill before the US Congress that has been proposed by Barack Obama and the Democrat leadership.





I hope our GOP leaders in Congress will rise up to defeat this wasteful and poorly planned appropriation.





I call upon all Republican leaders and grassroots activists to contact their house member and demand they vote against this bill.





Bruce Ash


National Commiteeman


http://www.ashforarizona.com/

CLICK HERE TO SEE BRUCE ASH' LATEST VIDEO

Oh …. did I mention taxes are going up and national defense spending is going down?

Speaker Pelosi describes the bill as “The unfinished business …… of the American people.” All this coming on the heels of the President’s economic responsibility summit. How cynical.

Do you think America needs Hawaiian canoe trips? The Ted Kennedy Senate Institute? Here is the best one - $1.7 million for swine odor and manure management research. I’d love to point out more greasy pork but like the Stimulus Bill the details are under wraps and not even the Democrats will likely see them before they vote.

Republican men and women…… elections do have consequences. How many pork bills, tax increases and insults to our values will it take to get you mad enough to fight for regime change?

IT'S OBAMA SPREADING PANIC By DICK MORRIS

Published on TheHill.com on February 24, 2009

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Ultimately, all recessions and depressions resolve themselves into crises of confidence. The instant, global, 24/7 communications of today make them ever more so.

President Obama, in his pursuit of liberal big-government spending, has totally neglected the role of the president of the United States in reversing global panic.

To the contrary, his every remark and the constant preoccupation of his Cabinet is to heighten the sense of crisis and to escalate the predictions of doom if we do not do as they tell us and raise spending now and taxes later.

Instead of being a firewall, reassuring Main Street even as Wall Street crashed, he has become a conduit of panic, spreading the mood of desperation from the stock exchange floor to kitchen tables across the world.

There are bad loans, which became bad assets, that lie at the root of the crisis. Through deregulation by the government and the greed of financial institutions, they spread to every portfolio in the world. But these basic facts have metastasized out of all proportion to their real harm into job and financial insecurity for every family on Earth.

It is President Obama, not the markets themselves, who has spread this fear.

A global Paul Revere, he has not only aroused us, but incited fear and trepidation in his wake.Previous panics have been global in impact, but local in focus. The world panicked because of developments in Mexico or Argentina or Thailand or South Korea.

Now, with Collateralized Debt Obligations spreading the poison of a bunch of bad loans all over the world, infecting every portfolio, the panic is not only global in impact but in focus as well. Modern communications have hastened the spread of the virus of panic throughout the global bloodstream.

In addressing this panic, the president of the United States must truly be the leader of the world -- showing the way back to confidence.

Instead, Obama has been instrumental in purveying fear and spreading doubt.

It is his pronouncements, reinforced by the developments they kindle and catalyze, that are destroying good businesses, bankrupting responsible people and wiping out even conservative financial institutions. Every time he speaks, he sends the markets down and stocks crashing.

He doesn't seem to realize that the rest of the world takes its cue from him. He forgets that he stands at the epicenter of power, not on the fringes campaigning for office. This ain't Iowa.

Why does Obama preach gloom and doom? Because he is so anxious to cram through every last spending bill, tax increase on the so-called rich, new government regulation, and expansion of healthcare entitlement that he must preserve the atmosphere of
crisis as a political necessity.

Only by keeping us in a state of panic can he induce us to vote for trillion-dollar deficits and spending packages that send our national debt soaring.

And then there is the matter of blame. The deeper the mess goes -- and the further down his rhetoric drives it -- the more imperative it becomes to lay off the blame on Bush.

He must perpetually "discover" -- to his shock -- how deep the crisis that he inherited runs, stoking global fears in the process.

So, having inherited a recession, his words are creating a depression. He entered office amid a disaster and he is transforming it into a catastrophe, all to pass every last bit of government spending and move us a bit further to the left before his political capital dwindles.

But the jig will be up soon. The crash of the stock market in the days since he took power (indeed, from the moment he won the election) can increasingly be attributed to his own failure to lead us in the right direction, his failed policies in addressing the recession
and his own spreading of panic and fear.

The market collapse makes it evident that it is Obama who is the problem, where he should, instead, be the solution.

Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!

Arizona GOP Party UNITY & DECENCY DO NOT exist in LD-6......Senator Pamela Gorman shown the GLASS CEILING by Sam Crump Fan Club Members

Pictured L-R, Carl SEEL and Sam CRUMP growin' up in CALI

Today, Politico Mafioso is about to go all Yellow Sheet on you….Enjoy.

Here is another sad but true story from ground zero of the “I Am a Former Student Council President and I Still Can’t Get Enough” crew, Arizona’s own Always Conservative Dixieland – Legislative District 6.

The monthly LD-6 Republican meeting was held Monday night at the Deer Valley Airport Restaurant The Quid Pro Quo Café, where the Crump Bunch Fan Club gathered to respectfully and publicly honor their very own California refugees…..House Representatives Sam Crump, R-Anthem and Carl Seel, R-The Village of DEER VALLEY not MOON Valley or Anthem. (Check the MAP HERE)

At the meeting, Keith Broadwater, a general contractor from Moon Valley and Crump & Seel donor, introduced and read a formal Resolution Nomination to recognize the considerable leadership and GOP budget cutting actions of those BFF Duke Boys, Sam Crump & Carl Seel.

The framers of the Resolution were just thrilled that the Duke Boys shot down any appropriations for the 21^st Century Fund – something they say calls “for government favor of one industry over another”. (They sometimes call it “government picking winners and losers.”)

But wait……the Fan Club Resolution also formally recognized AZ State Treasurer, Dean Martin (Boss Hogg?) for the same defeat of a $22.5M budget proposal for the 21^st Century Fund. Huh? I missed his vote. Hey, don’t the Duke Boys roll with Daisy Duke?

The slight of hand didn’t slip past other PCs and Officers in the room. Tony Bouie arose to ask that LD-6 Senator Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem be honored and added to the Resolution…..after all the AZ Senate has been in near sequestration while attacking the budget deficits of this State. Gorman deserves some recognition too. Right?

WRONG.

The founding fathers of this Resolution were publicly called out and offered a chance to remedy their oversight and/or neglect in failing to honor Senator Pamela Gorman. Easy fix, right?

WRONG.

Keith Broadwater became very defensive and upset at the idea of honoring Senator Pamela Gorman in the Resolution. Even the Second-Vice Chair of LD-6, Bob Haran protested the addition of Gorman – along with other PCs in the room.

The funniest and most awkward moment came from Carol Turoff, Moon Valley resident, owner/writer of the Seeing Red AZ blog and Crump & Seel donor. Turoff is unabashedly the lead cheerleader and a multi-pseudonymed commenter for the Crump Bunch Fan Club both in person and in cyber-print.

Here’s a sample of the devotion one of Turoff’s blogettes has to our local elected official:

http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/war-declared-on-arizonas-conservative-legislators/

Republican in LD-6 Says:
February 3, 2009 at 7:54 pm

I would walk over hot coals for Sam Crump. He got it right in the last election and he is right on this.

I digress for a moment, sorry….

After Bouie made his comments, Turoff saw RED and smacked her hand on the table while telling Bouie that the Resolution was meant to honor those legislators in the HOUSE! The argument was made that Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin is a statewide elected official and not a member of the House; however, Turoff didn’t want to talk about it. Let’s vote everybody.

The Resolution for BOYS ONLY, passed. Senator-type girls deserve no recognition or honor. Even after a debate. Ouch.

The echos of the LD-6 Good Ol’ Boys Club ring in the halls of the Capitol.……

“Atta-Boy Sam!"

"You da’ Man Carl!"

"DEAN-O, Go get 'em!"

"Bring me a drink, little darlin’, and drop this by Senator Pearce’s office on your way back. Remember, I like it with a little sugar. I like those boots too.”

God help Pamela, our daughters and granddaughters. God help the Republicans….again. How long is this crap going to last? GEEZ.

The true origins of the Resolution and the Revolution remain anonymous. However, there have been a plethora of Crump Bumps in the media lately. Sam has been working overtime to keep his name out there. He has also become chummy with the GOP WHEREAS Patriots. Oh, the Seels are known for blowing their own horn too. Things that make you go……hmmmmm.

WHEREAS, Pamela is a girl.
WHEREAS, Dean Martin doesn’t get to vote on the State budget.
WHEREAS, Pamela stays out and Dean stays in the Resolution.
WHEREAS, Sam & Carl walk off into the sunset. WHEREAS, one goes home to Anthem and the other goes home to DEER VALLEY .
WHEREAS, (Check the MAP HERE).

Of Pork and Payback By Congressman JEFF FLAKE

This week, Congress will vote on an omnibus spending bill to fund the government from March through September. The package will cost over $400 billion and includes more than 8,000 earmarks. That's right, over 8,000 earmarks in one bill. What's most insidious is that a number of the earmarks are going to clients of the now infamous PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm under FBI investigation.





So much for bringing transparency and change to Washington.Yesterday, my piece on pay-to-play earmarking, "Of Pork and Payback", ran in the New York Times. If you haven't read it, I would encourage you to do so. We need to end the pay-to-play game in Washington.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Also, I wanted to let you know that I was a guest on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News last night. The video above talks about the pork in the bill, and we talked about earmarks in the omnibus bill and pay-to-play in Washington. I hope you'll watch the program and read the piece in the New York Times. Afterwards, please click here to share your comments on FlakeDirect.





Thanks again for all you do for me.





Best Regards,





Jeff Flake

Subsidizing Bad Ideas By Howie Rich

As far as costliness goes, the $75 billion proposed by President Barack Obama to provide “mortgage assistance” to a select group of Americans is a small drop in a much bigger bucket of government interventionism.

After all, with $11 trillion of our money already pledged over the last five months toward government bailouts, debt reductions and other central economic planning measures (with at least another $2.5 trillion on the way), $75 billion has become mere “chump change” to the Washington elite.

But this particular pot of money is troubling for reasons that far outweigh its price tag.

First, the plan is emblematic of America's new “dependence mentality,” which is advanced by politicians like Obama who rhetorically extol the virtues that once made this country great while they systematically remove brick-by-brick the incentives needed to make it great once again.

Second, it's more of the same smoke-and-mirrors Washington politicians employ to hide the true coming-and-goings of your tax dollars in our nation's capital.

Third, it rewards many of the same financial institutions whose mistakes have helped bring this nation to the brink of fiscal ruin – and incentivizes them to make those same mistakes all over again.

Consider for a moment what it means to “preserve, protect and defend the American dream.”

We hear language like that from our politicians all the time, don't we?

In fact, we heard it from President Obama when he unveiled his mortgage plan last week, just as we heard it five years ago when ominous warnings were raised about the long-term stability of government-backed (now government-owned) mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.(Incidentally, as part of Obama's plan these two government behemoths were set to receive another $200 billion from the U.S. Treasury, on top of the $200 billion taxpayers have already poured into their toxic bureaucracies).

Of course, Obama praised his plan as embodying “those core values of common sense and responsibility … values that have defined this nation.”

Let's examine that statement, shall we?

First, Obama's mortgage assistance plan is accessible by less than 10% of American homeowners – specifically those who have either already defaulted or are on the verge of defaulting on their mortgages. That means the ninety percent of Americans who have managed to stay current on their payments through these difficult economic times get no relief.

In other words, if you played by the rules and worked your butt off to make your payments, you'll soon be subsidizing the mortgage payment of someone who didn't.

Second, this proposal is not “relief for homeowners,” it's another bailout of our bank's bad decisions.Specifically, financial institutions will receive $1,000 for each mortgage “modification” they perform in addition to $5,000 in principal on each “toxic” asset they own. Not a bad deal if you're in the banking business.

But how, exactly, does Obama propose to modify these “toxic” mortgages?Amazingly, by using the same ridiculous “zero down” and “exploding adjustable rate” nonsense that helped land
us in this mess to begin with.

Instead of learning the “lesson of liquidity” from last year's epic meltdown, Obama's plan provides new incentives for banks to get homeowners to borrow more than their houses are worth, which lenders call “being upside down.”

Also, while Obama's plan slashes interest rates for the most vulnerable borrowers in the short term, after five years these mortgage rates jump to market levels, which is sowing the seeds of yet another crisis when these same borrowers go delinquent on their loans again – as history has proven they will.

America's mortgage mess is a direct result of government incentivizing banks to grant loans to people who could not afford them. How on earth does repeating this same fatal mistake constitute a “rescue?”A real mortgage solution would be to offer relief to all homeowners by letting them keep more of the money they earn.

It would also involve acknowledging that the American dream is not something you can subsidize through government bailouts – it is something that must be earned by every citizen who aspires to attain it.

The author is Chairman of Americans for Limited Government.

http://alg31blog.timberlakepublishing.com/default.asp?Display=996

BAM'S BOLD GAMBLE - AN ENORMOUS BET ON BIG GOV'T By DICK MORRIS

Published in the New York Post on February 25, 2009

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With a speech to match the most eloquent of State of the Union Addresses, with strains of FDR and JFK and a touch of Winston Churchill thrown in, President Obama has clearly staked his presidency on the outcome of the economic crisis.

Whether or not you agree with his prescription for recovery (I don't), it's clear that he's not hedging his bets. If it works, his place in history is assured. If it fails, so is his early retirement.

The speech made it apparent that the Obama administration's response to this crisis will either go down in history as a success that Americans will admire for decades, or become a case study in economic failure that students and scholars will study and pick apart for generations.

The speech began where it needed to begin, with a bold affirmation of faith in the rebuilding and recovery of America. Then Obama listed some of the more popular parts of his spending-stimulus program.

The specific items he recalled from the package were attractive. But Americans know, by now, that much of the program (largely unmentioned last night) is a mountain of pork - money spent for
the sake of spending it to spur recovery, not to achieve particularly important ends.

Obama did not seek to justify the spending for the specific purposes to which it is dedicated. Courageously, he said that he passed it because it will work.

For his sake, it better. But I doubt it.

Then he spoke unconvincingly about his bank-rescue plan. Promising to punish and regulate bankers even as he stressed the need to restore their confidence, he reminded me of the facetious sign posted in a friend's workplace: "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

How he plans to restore the nerve and confidence of our bankers as he castigates them is unclear. But, then, so is his program for financial rescue.

One suspects that he knows full well that he will nationalize the banks. But even that step assumes that politicians can do what bankers can't: Act quickly, ruthlessly and honestly - never a notable attribute of elected officials.

Halfway through the speech, the president got to the minefields of Social Security and health-care reform. He avoided any specifics, but it's clear that he plans to salvage the former with increases in the payroll tax and implement the latter by government rationing of health care. If you like your HMO, you'll love Obama's health plan.

And then Obama affirmed that he'll support big tax increases on the richest 2 percent of American families. Disregarding the fact that these households already pay upward of half of all income taxes, while earning only a quarter of the national income, he has singled out the entrepreneurs, professionals, innovators and businesspeople of America for taxation.

Oh, but he won't raise taxes until he's had a few years to stimulate the economy. How many in that 2 percent feel like one of those huge hogs in the Chicago stockyards, being fattened up to slaughter the next year?

Can all this work? Can Obama get banks to lend even as he terrorizes them?

Can he get the engines of our economy back to work even as he announces that he'll be taking away more of their earnings? Can he persuade the American people to accept bureaucrats deciding their health-care choices?

And can his economic stimulus survive a huge increase in the payroll tax on the most productive citizens?

Probably not; Obama likely won't succeed. This speech will be viewed as his high-water mark - the time before we came to realize how flawed is his understanding of economics and how supreme is
his commitment to expanded spending. It will be seen as a sort of age of innocence before we realized what he had in mind.But it sure was a great speech...while it lasted.

Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!

VIOLENT VERSES—PART 8 BY HJS

Another verse that demands violence on the part of the followers of the Prophet against those who adhere to other faiths, is that shown below. Whenever people of other faiths hear such antagonism shouted against them, they can be excused for feeling dismayed at such life-threatening vehemence.

Strike Terror into the Hearts of the Enemies

وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُمْ مَّا ٱسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ ٱلْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدْوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَآخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَيْءٍ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لاَ تُظْلَمُونَ

Against (unbelievers) make ready your strength to the
utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not
know, but whom Allah doth know. (Sura 8:59)

And from Mawdudi’s Introduction to Sura 8 [1]

Subject: Problems of Jihad

This sura enunciates general principles of war (one aspect of Jihad) and peace while reviewing the Battle of Badr and uses them for the moral training of the Muslims.

This portion deals with the problems of the "Spoils of War". The Qur’an says that these are not the spoils of war but the "Bounties of Allah" and proves this by showing that the victory at Badr (and in all other battles, too,) was won by His succour and not by the efforts of the Muslims. It also declares (in v. 40) that the war aim of the Muslims should be to eliminate all unfavourable conditions for the establishment of Islam and not to gain spoils. Moreover, the spoils, being the bounties of God, belong to Allah and His Messenger and they alone are entitled to allocate them. Then after conditioning the Muslims to accept these things, the different shares have been allocated in v. 41. 1 - 41

The Battle of Badr was ordained by Allah so that Islam should triumph over "ignorance". The lesson from this is that the Muslims should trust in God and prepare themselves for war and should not be beguiled by Satan as the disbelievers were. 42 - 54

Sanctity of treaties has been enjoined and the Muslims commanded to observe them as long as the other party does not break them. 55 - 59

The Muslims should always be prepared for war on every front, but should be ready to make peace if the other party is inclined towards it. 60 - 66

Original Text Translated by Muhammad Asad[2]

As for those with whom thou hast made a covenant, and who thereupon break their covenant on every occasion, not being conscious of God {56}—if thou find them at war with you, make of them a fearsome example for those who follow them, so that they might take it to heart; {57} or, if thou hast reason to fear treachery from people with whom thou hast made a covenant, cast it back at them in an equitable manner: for verily, God does not love the treacherous! {58}

And let them not think-- those that are bent on denying the truth—that they shall escape God: Behold! They can never frustrate His purpose. {59}

Hence, make ready against them whatever war and war mounts[3] you are able to muster, so that you might be able to deter thereby the enemies of God, who are your enemies[4] as well, and others beside them of whom you may be unaware, but of whom God is aware; and whatever you may expend in God’s cause shall be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged. {60}

Analysis

The followers of the Prophet were now a force to be reckoned with in the Arabian Peninsula and each of them now had to change their thinking with respect to dealing with those people who chose not to follow the Prophet. In this case, the followers were instructed to be careful of each treaty with respect to the probability of abrogation on the part of the non-followers, and be ready to take whatever action is necessary under the circumstances, including preparing for war. Once war becomes necessary, the believers should fiercely follow through with actions that are designed to discourage others from choosing war in lieu of fulfilling their treaty obligations.

So, again we find a verse used for one purpose—threat
against the West—that was not at all addressing that purpose. It was merely instructing Muhammad’s followers in the practical aspects of dealing with those who break treaties. A Western nation, on the other hand, might be inclined to think twice about trusting Middle Eastern nations not to break treaties, considering their history of unilateral treaty abrogation, starting with the Truce of Hudaibiyya.

The inference that “enemies of God are your enemies also” asks too much of people not trained in law enforcement or jurisprudence. One problem that nations of laws might recognize with respect to some immigrants from the Middle East is a proclivity of some toward punishing unilaterally those whom they consider having broken the “laws of God”, especially if those “laws” are assumed and not coded in national or local law. Honor killings and vigilante-type killings of apostates or heretics whether because of religion or tradition must never be tolerated anywhere. Is it not the arrogance of ignorance that makes one believe that one can know who is an enemy of God, which supposes that one can know what is in another’s heart or mind. Generally speaking, the average citizen should never expect or be given such pretentious power.

HJS

[1] The Noble Qur’an, Online edition, Saudi Arabia Introduction to Sura 8

[2] The Message of the Qur’an, Muhammad Asad. The Book Foundation, Bristol, England, 2003 (page 281) I omitted parentheses from assumed words for smoother reading.

[3] A local reference which signifies “holding in readiness mounted troops at all points open to enemy invasion.

[4] Implying that every enemy of God is an enemy of those who believe in God. (an invitation to believers to punish “sinners” or unbelievers unilaterally?)

Cong. John Shadegg on Spending Bill: 9,000 Reasons to Vote No

Shadegg: “There are 9,000 reasons to vote against this spending bill – 9,000 earmarks slipped and crammed into this pork-stuffed nightmare… Last night, President Obama bragged about this claim that there were no earmarks in his stimulus bill – and yet he’s silent today as he prepares to put his signature on 9,000 earmarks.

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) released the following statement about Congressional Democrats’ $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill:

“Everyone across the country is cutting back. They are saving every dime they can, doing with less, and prioritizing their budgets. Everyone, that is, except Congress.

“On the heels of the largest spending bill in our history,
House Democrats are now supporting a $410 billion dollar appropriations bill – a nearly 10% increase over 2008.

“How many Americans do you know that are increasing their spending 10 percent in this economy?

“Outside of this chamber, not many.

“In fact, there are 9,000 reasons to vote against this spending bill – 9,000 earmarks slipped and crammed into this pork-stuffed nightmare. There’s so much lard in here it’s glistening. A chunk of it for every pet project and political interest you could imagine.

“Last night, President Obama bragged about this claim that
there were no earmarks in his stimulus bill – and yet he’s silent today as he prepares to put his signature on 9,000 earmarks.

“But then again, the President also held a fiscal responsibility summit at the White House days after signing into law one of the most fiscally irresponsible bills in history.

“And President Obama has said he’s not a fan of big government – while simultaneously making it the centerpiece of his administration.

“These mixed messages may be confusing, but they do not confuse my conscience: I cannot and will not support such an egregious waste of taxpayer money.”

Steele on GOP primary challenges of senate stimulus supporters (Specter)...

To Arizona Republican Grass Roots.........

THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!

We have a new RNC Chairman who says what he means and means what he says !! Listen to the interview with Neil Cavuto on FOX News regarding how to handle Senator Arlen Specter's re election plans after he led the defection on the recent so called stimulus bill.

There is a finally good news for the GOP grass roots and his name is Michael Steele !!

Bruce Ash
National Committeeman
http://www.ashforarizona.com/

Steele on GOP primary: 'I am open to that baby'

RNC chair Michael Steele says he is "open to that baby" when it comes to supporting primary challengers against the three GOP senators who voted in favor of the stimulus package.

"Oh, yes, I'm always open to everything, baby, absolutely"
Steele said yesterday on Fox News' 'Your World with Neil Cavuto'.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (Maine) all gave the thumbs up to the Obama stimulus plan, making conservatives vent their wrath on the blogs, television and talk radio. Specter is the only one of the three up for re-elect in 2010.






Steele said he is not going to fight the conservative wrath within each members states, proving that he really is the new sheriff in town.

"My retribution is the retribution of the voters in their states," Steele said. "They're going to have to go through a primary in which they're going to have to explain to those Republican voters in that primary their vote."

"My responsibility is to follow the lead of the state parties, to get their advice, what their intent is. Those senators are going to
have to account to those voters there. And we'll work with the state party and we'll follow their lead," he added.

"It's just like anything. When the state party says, 'We're going to endorse a candidate and support that candidate,' the RNC is behind them. When the state party says, 'We have a problem with that candidate,' so does the RNC."

Not All Talk Is Cheap By the National Review Online Editors

February 25, 2009

We would wager that President Obama’s speech will go over well. Much of it sounded good to us. The president says that he does not believe in big government and, indeed, wants to abolish ineffective government programs. He seeks to avoid as much as possible bailing out irresponsible homeowners, bankers, and automakers. He promises to stand up against protectionism. He claims that nobody making less than $250,000 a year will pay a single dime more in taxes. He favors tax-free universal savings accounts for retirement. He is, judging from the speech, uninterested in promoting social liberalism. And even where we disagreed with what he said, he usually made a cogent, reasonable-sounding case for his position.

He lost us, however, on “nobody messes with Joe.” People don’t mess with Joe Biden because they’re busy ridiculing him. As for the centrist tenor of his remarks, we confess to being among the cynics about whom Obama has so often warned.

We do not see how Obama’s cap-and-trade plan to fight global warming, or his plan to tax small businesses for health-care coverage, is compatible with his tax-cut promise in any but the
most technical sense. We think Obama’s focus on high-school and college graduation rates, while popular, is precisely wrong, a distraction from the more important task of seeing to it that young people know more and gain more skills. We suspect that Obama’s hope that ailing automakers survive while unwinding unwise commitments would be more likely to come true if his administration permits orderly bankruptcies.

We worry that government attempts to nurture the industries of tomorrow have typically failed.

Obama’s comments on foreign policy were platitudinous, and brief: Iraq got a sentence; Afghanistan shared one with Pakistan. Obama’s heart lies elsewhere. We were told that the U.S. should “not shun the negotiating table,” as though the last administration had. Perhaps someone can brief Obama on the progress of the six-party talks about North Korea. We wonder whether our cynicism may catch on in the months ahead. Obama’s many nods to the residual conservatism of the public may be sincere, but they do not seem to be reflected in his actual program. Nor does the balance of power on Capitol Hill seem likely to result in the moderation of that program.

Obama is often said to be a figure full of promise. Republicans should hold him to account for his best promises, and point out the unpleasant implications of his worst ones.

PMSNBCer Says "Oh God" Before Jindal Response

Link:

CLICK HERE TO SEE PMSNBCER KEITH OLBERMANN MAKE A JACKASS OUT OF HIMSELF

Obama Criticizes Bad Loans, Promises More Lending By Robert Romano

“You see, the flow of credit is the lifeblood of our economy.”—President Barack Obama, first speech to a joint session of
Congress, February 24th,
2009.

In a magnificent display of duplicity, President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress, wherein he pretended that bad loans originated not as a matter of government policy, but at the discretion of bad lenders.

In doing so, his rhetoric misrepresented the actual causes of the financial crisis, and failed to live up to his own proclamation that “it is only by understanding how we arrived at this moment that we'll be able to lift ourselves out of this predicament.”

President Obama stated, “People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.” And who was pushing the lenders? Government bureaucrats intimidating banks. Stormtroopers at ACORN. Courts.

Who accommodated the housing bubble? Where did the banks get the money to lend? Specifically, the Federal Reserve through too low interest rates and incredibly cheap money.

Who sold the securitized mortgages? Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac bought up most of the loans, and yes, pushed them off as securities. They sold them all over the world using the implicit backing of the federal government. And now that they are practically worthless, those purchasers are demanding their money back, and for reasons not yet disclosed, we're paying them.

The economy has been on steroids for some time now, but it didn't have to be this way.

To summarize, in an effort to make sure the economy stayed strong after 9/11, the Fed flooded the economy with cash. This was government policy. When housing boomed, they began to believe their own propaganda that it would continue to rise. They promoted it. For years, it was criticized as a “credit card economy,” and for years policymakers turned a deaf ear and pretended everything was okay. The most dire and urgent warnings, which turned out to be correct, were cast off as the kook fringe.

Now, today, when it turns out the kooks were right, the government is still in the process of “buying” some $600 billion of rotten debt from Fannie and Freddie. Interest rates are about as low as they can go. Government is ready to force the banks to “restart lending” through the “terms and conditions” of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's two-trillion dollar bank bailout; TARP-recipient banks will do what they're told.

The bailout—including appropriations, commitments, borrowing, and printing funny money—has topped $8 trillion. There are some $2 trillion in loans that the Federal Reserve refuses to account for. The Treasury still cannot fully account for the $700 billion bank bailout of 2008.

Mr. Obama would like to chalk up the failed government policies that led to this crisis as failures of the free market. In fact, it was rose-colored glasses by policymakers that got the nation into this mess, and now government's credibility is on the line as public confidence falters. The Administration believes they've got to fix it. They've got to do it right.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, red glasses on display,

yesterday stated to Congress that if today's policies were successful, there was a “reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009.”

The truth is, no amount of wasteful spending, mortgage
giveaways, bank bailouts, national health care, global warming nonsense, and funneling money to the NEA and the President's other hack union buddies will make the economy any better. And yet, as the President so boldly proclaimed last night, the tiers of the new Obama economy will be: easy money, more risky
lending, green energy, socialized health care, and yet more spending for public education.

To make matters worse, the states have just been bailed out of their own budget woes with over $50 billion through the so-called “stimulus” package. In the process, state policymakers have been bailed out of their own malfeasance, saving them from bearing any responsibility for their ineptitude while severely damaging the federal system.

Meanwhile, the national debt is soaring, set to top $11 trillion this year as the budget deficit balloons to over $1.2 trillion. Under these circumstances,

as ALG News has repeatedly warned, inflation is inevitable. The biggest bubble of all is government. And it is growing at a record pace, financed through deficit-spending, borrowing, and printing more Monopoly money.

The only thing more insulting than Mr. Obama's giveaway to delinquent borrowers, on display last night, was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begging on her knees over the weekend to a band of murderous tyrants in Asia to keep lending us more money. She suggested it was to finance the trade deficit, but in truth it was to bankroll an out-of-control, irresponsible, and incompetent regime in Washington.

Mr. Obama proclaimed in his speech that through all of the troubles that led to the current financial meltdown, “critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.” He's right. And his duplicity knows no bounds.

ALG CTA: President Obama is promising more of the same and calling it "change." But, more lending will not solve a debt crisis. Go to StopBailouts.net and sign the petition to put an end to the bailouts once and for all! Contact your Congressmen and Senators--before it's too late--and tell them that enough is enough with the bailouts and that not another cent should go to Wall Street or Washington! The Capitol Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

Robert Romano is the Editor of ALG News Bureau.

Taxpayer Tea Party this Friday!

Dear Arizona Taxpayer:

Join the Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), allied pro-taxpayer organizations, and hundreds of activists for an Arizona Taxpayer Tea Party, this Friday, February 27, at noon at the Tempe Beach Park to protest (and stop) the tax increases proposed by big-spending politicians at the federal, state, and local levels. Wally the (Empty) Taxpayer Wallet will also be in attendance.

Two weeks ago, AFP delivered to Congress over 430,000 names
of Americans who signed AFP’s NoStimulus.com petition. The liberals in Washington went ahead and passed the Spendulus package, but American taxpayers are now mobilized for the next fight.And there are plenty of fights coming. Obama, Pelosi and Reid are continuing the Bush-Paulson tradition of using your tax dollars to bail out people who got themselves into bad mortgages.

Gov. Jan Brewer and the majority in the Arizona Legislature have held firm thus far against raising taxes to fix the gigantic state deficit caused by over-spending. They are, however, taking heavy political flak from the spending lobbies and newspaper editors, and will need our help during the budget battles in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, cash-hungry local politicians are raising property tax levies.

Join us in sending a powerful message to the politicians, special interests, and the mainstream media by taking part in the Arizona Taxpayer Tea Party.

Our initial meetup will be at 11:45 a.m. at the Tempe Beach Park, west of the Mill Avenue Bridge. A parking lot is available next to the park, on Rio Salado Parkway.

Map: http://phoenix.about.com/library/blmaptempebeachpark.htm

Please let us know you will attend by sending an email to infoAZ@afphq.org.18th-century attire welcome. Tar and feathers optional.

For Liberty,
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits.

For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity

GOLDWATER INSTITUTE TO FILE BRIEF TOMORROW IN THE US SUPREME COURT ON SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING ACTS RIGHT

Here are the proofs of an amicus brief we will file tomorrow in the USSC arguing that the recent extension of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires “pre-clearance” of voting changes (including annexations and other technical changes) by the US Justice Dep’t, and which applies only to a handful of mostly deep-South states but also AZ, is unconstitutional.

Clint Bolick
Goldwater Institute
Director, Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation

Click on Picture Below to see larger:

RNC Chair Michael STEELE has a message and a mea culpa for FEDS: $TOP Spending $$ now! We admit….the 2008 GOP Bailout was “JUST OUTRIGHT BONEHEADED"

Yeah Baby! Michael STEELE doesn’t need a couple of shots of tequila to tell the truth about the hemorrhage of taxpayer $$ flowing out of Washington .

In an interview late yesterday afternoon with FOX News host, Neil Cavuto, Steele gets straight to the point by saying,

“We have watched over $1 TRILLION worth of CASH flow into this economy, into this system. The market response to that has been obvious. It’s NOT- it’s NOT pulling the triggers that need to be pulled.”

Steele agrees with GOP leaders on The Hill who are calling for a federal spending freeze; yet he makes no excuses for the hypocrisy of the GOP’s Bush Administration who kicked off the Greenback Garden Party before the President left office.

Steele cut to the chase with this confession,

“We know of what we speak, Neil. We're in a 12-step recovery program right now for that very thing. We spent like crazy, and we brought ourselves to this point, expanding the size of the federal bureaucracy some 40 percent, spending money that the taxpayers did not have, and then at the end, putting in place a bailout mechanism that was just outright boneheaded."

High-5 to Michael STEELE for breaking it right on down to the ground.

Now, it's my turn......

The GOP centrists, right-wingers, ultra-righties, clandestine Constitutionalists, bloggers, loggers, anti-everythings and Evangelicals are ALL implicated and guilty as charged. You’re a doggone liar if you don’t admit that you were BUSH happy….even if you only liked it the first time around.

You asked for it, you got it....

“Capitalist Guys Gone Wild – The BUSH Years !” This mythological DVD set should be the first item catalogued into the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

As we used to sing in Sunday School, “The foolish man built his house upon the sand….the rains came down as the floods came up….and the house on the sand went SPLAT!”

WE built that house, fellow Republicans. WE built that house. No one twisted our arm or held our head underwater. WE have been subsisting on a profound “sense of entitlement” – the same one we say the Dems have now. We might have a different political ideology, maybe a different socio-economic class, a different American Dream…....yet we all take the SAME bait……GREED.

Our GOP “sense of entitlement” gave us:

• A 5 bedroom 4,500 SQ FT house instead of a 3 or 4 BR 2,200 SQ FT house – financed by our delusional dreams of a near-future financial windfall.
• Mega-Houses, Mega-Churches, Mega-SUVs, Mega-TaTas, Mega-Erections and Mega-Egos
• Three new cars for 2 old drivers - financed by pulling all of the equity out of our home.
• A dream vacation every other year – financed by refinancing a mtg.
• $20K in veneers and personal trainers for me and $30K in veneers and plastic surgery for the wife – financed by refinancing a mtg.
• A yearly cash money Bonu$ at the office – for doing nothing extraordinary
• A new 2 carat diamond ring and ear studs for the wife – financed by a home equity LOC.
• A Viking and Sub-Zero kitchen for a master-chef & a toilet for a king – financed by a second mtg.
• A ski boat dry-docked at Lake Pleasant – financed by a refinanced second mtg.
• A home theater experience to die for, a Plasma TV in everyroom, a cell phone in every pocket, a game console for each child – all financed by creative financing.

Welcome home Republicans.

We are all in a “world of hurt” as my dearly-departed Pop would say. Might as well start telling the children & grandchildren now….about those barefoot, 5-mile walks in the snow to your one-room schoolhouse & the kettle of "Squirrel Soup" on the stove when you got home.

Public Schedule for Governor Brewer - Week of February 23, 2009

Public Schedule For Governor Jan Brewer

Week of February 23, 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

· Nations and Tribes Legislative Day, breakfast kick-off
Governor to provide remarks
8:00 am, Steele Indian School Park, Memorial Hall – 300 E. Indian School Rd, Phoenix


Thursday, February 26, 2009

· WESTMARC Luncheon
Governor to provide keynote address
11:30 am, Glendale Civic Center – 5750 W. Glenn Drive, Glendale

· Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business Legislative Reception
Governor to provide remarks
6:00 pm, Phoenix Convention Center, North Ballroom – 1625 N. Central Ave., Phoenix


Friday, February 27, 2009

· Tour and briefings, Yuma Sector Headquarters, United States Border Patrol

· Yuma Community Leadership Luncheon
Governor to provide remarks
Noon, Hilton Garden Inn – 310 N. Madison Ave, Yuma