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I mean, after all, you are a RICH MILLIONAIRE and California’s other U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein pays her own way.

Since 2000, Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, has taken 18 trips, sponsored by outside organizations, at a value of $97,975.

Naturally, if you want to learn about the Islamic world, you go to… Paris, France. With your spouse. For a week. At a cost of $12,272, as Boxer did in 2008.

If you want to become more familiar with the impact on U.S. policy on Latin America, clearly, you go to…. the Punta Mita beach resort in Mexico. With your spouse. Three times, in 2006, 2005 and 2002, at a cost of roughly $6,000 per trip.

If you want to learn more about U.S.-Russia-European relations, you go to… Dublin, Ireland for five days, at a cost of more than $6,000, as she did in 2005. (I salute her taste.) Or perhaps you go to London, at a cost of $8,260, as she did in 2002.

The Aspen Institute was most often underwriting the cost of Boxer’s trips; in addition to the destinations above, the group covered the costs of Boxer’s trips to the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, the outdoor sports resort town of Banff, Alberta, and Barcelona, Spain.

I won’t begrudge a lawmaker for attending an AIPAC conference; but I’ll bet an initiation to one in Hawaii must be more tempting than the usual annual meeting in Washington. Boxer found the time for that one in 2000.

And lest one think, ‘oh, every senator does this,’… some don’t. In 2005, the California press started to notice the wide disparity between the travel expenses of Boxer and the state’s other senator, Democrat Dianne Feinstein: “Ms. Boxer’s 14 privately funded trips averaged out to nearly $5,300 apiece. In sharp contrast, Ms. Feinstein averaged about $292 per trip.”

Feinstein’s spokesman, Howard Gantman, gently put it that his boss “does prefer to pay her own way.”

Taking a vacation is OK, Senator. But, what kind of influence are you selling by taking these outside donations for obvious junkets.

Geeeezzzzz

• John Bolton Partners with Nationwide Tea Party – ElectionDayTeaParty.com
  The Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, in partnership with former United States Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, has launched the Election Day Tea Party, a project to raise awareness and participation in the 2010 mid-term elections this November 2.

  "I joined the Election Day Tea Party project because — perhaps more than at any other in my lifetime — the results of this election cycle will determine the future of the United States as the leader of the Free World," said Ambassador John Bolton. "Election Day Tea Party is a great way for people to become involved in a substantial, productive way, no matter where you are in the country."

  The project's website, ElectionDayTeaParty.com, identifies the 50 contests for seats in the House of Representatives where an individual's efforts can help the challengers win their elections on November 2, 2010. The seats in all 50 of these races are currently held by members of Congress who have supported the Obama-Pelosi agenda.

  (tags: John_Bolton Tea_Parties)
• Older Unemployed Struggle to Rejoin the Work Force – But, the Great Recession is Over?
  Since the economic collapse, there are not enough jobs being created for the population as a whole, much less for those in the twilight of their careers.

  Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older. Nearly half of them have been unemployed six months or longer, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate in the group — 7.3 percent — is at a record, more than double what it was at the beginning of the latest recession.
  +++++++
  Can you hear us now?

  Change the government in November.

  After other recent downturns, older people who lost jobs fretted about how long it would take to return to the work force and worried that they might never recover their former incomes. But today, because it will take years to absorb the giant pool of unemployed at the economy’s recent pace, many of these older people may simply age out of the labor force before their luck changes.

  (tags: unemployment recession)
• Contract With America: Republicans will unveil new 'Contract' on Thursday in Virginia
  Republicans will unveil their new "Contract with America" in Virginia on Thursday, less than two months before election day.

  The GOP, which appears poised to win back the House this fall according to several independent projections, is culling the list of election-year agenda items from its "America Speaking Out" program. A spokesman for that project confirmed House and Senate GOP leaders will introduce the new contract on Thursday.

  The new contract, modeled after the 1994 "Contract with America," is intended to highlight what the Republican party would stand for if it returns to power in Congress. For much of the last two years, Republicans have won points from voters chiefly by opposing the Obama administration's agenda.
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  As was the case in 1994, the GOP will recapture the House.

  (tags: GOP Contract_With_America)
• WI-Sen Poll Watch: Bad News for Sen. Russ Feingold
  A Public Policy Polling survey in Wisconsin — which will be released tomorrow by DailyKos — will show Sen. Russ Feingold (D) trailing challenger Ron Johnson (R) by double-digits due to a "massive" enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans.

  If true, Republicans once again have a chance at taking control of the U.S. Senate.

  +++++++
  Boxer is up but Feingold is way down. Will Dems only survive California?

  (tags: Russ_Feingold Ron_Johnson)
• CA-Sen Poll Watch: Barbara Boxer leads by 8
  A lot of Senate races are heading in the wrong direction for Democrats right now but California is not one of them. PPP's newest poll there finds Barbara Boxer continuing to hold onto a 50-42 lead over Carly Fiorina.

  Republicans showed in Massachusetts they could win in a state as blue as California but Carly Fiorina isn't proving to have nearly the appeal to Democratic and independent voters that Scott Brown did. Fiorina is winning independents 50-38, a solid margin but well short of the 32 point advantage Brown achieved with those folks against Martha Coakley. And Fiorina is winning only 11% of Democrats, barely half of the 19% Brown got.

  Californians are pretty ambivalent toward Barbara Boxer and ambivalence is usually going to get an incumbent in a deep blue state reelected- it takes Jon Corzine sorts of approval numbers to lose in those places. 46% of voters approve of the job Boxer's doing and 46% disapprove.
  ++++++
  Carly will need to go "ON AIR" very soon. The race is closer

  (tags: carly_fiorina barbara_boxer)
• CA-Sen: Barbara Boxer’s Maxine Waters Corruption Connection
  Californians are already wary about reelecting their state’s junior senator, one of the chamber’s most liberal Democrats. But this week, Campaign Spot will dust off some of the misdeeds and ethical troubles, the sense of entitlement, and aspects of Boxer’s record that will probably infuriate Golden State voters across the political spectrum.

  You’re probably familiar with Rep. Maxine Waters, the California Democrat who’s under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations that she used her position in Congress to ensure the U.S. Treasury Department would help out a bank where her husband was a stockholder and former director.

  What you probably didn’t know is that Boxer has been sending large amounts of cash to Waters’s daughter for the past two cycles, and in exchange, Waters has been featuring Boxer prominently on her “slate mailer,” a sample ballot used by many voters in Waters’s South Central district.
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  Read it all

  (tags: barbara_boxer maxine_waters)
• Election 2010/12: Sarah Palin coming to Miami
  Sfla Conservative, a local Tea Party group, says its "proudly partnering with The Liberty and Freedom Foundation" to bring the former Alaska governor to the American Airlines Arena Oct. 6 — five days before President Barack Obama comes to town to raise money for imperiled congressional Democrats.

  "Governor Palin is in Miami to raise funds to help elect principled grassroots conservatives," the announcement reads. "You are invited to get involved in this, the most critical midterm election in our Republic's history."

  Tickets for the event go on sale Wednesday.
  ++++++
  Sarah looks like a Presidential contender. She will need to finish off Mitt Romney in Florida after South Carolina.

  And, who will help her?

  Rudy Giuliani and Marco Rubio – the newly elected Senator

  (tags: sarah_palin rudy_giuliani)

Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer ain’t going to debate Carly Fiorina. I mean she is either a little behind or a little ahead in the polls. Why take a risk, right?

From the video above:

KCAL/KCBS REPORTER: “Would it be fair for people to assume … that you really don’t want the people of California to see you debating the issues?”

BOXER: “No.” (cue 3 second awkward pause) “Do you want me to explain?”

KCAL/KCBS REPORTER: “Yes.”

BOXER:
“Ok. I’d like to debate many more times, maybe ten. And I intend to run a campaign based on what I need to do to let the people know I’m not that person that my opponent says I am. And I will be doing that and debating as many times as I possibly can.”

Quack Quack Boxer is sitting on about $10 Million to pay for one sided television ads.

Quack Quack – there will be no more Boxer-Fiorina debates after the next faux one.