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• There was no GOP “collapse” on New START – Just a Sell Out
  As the treaty speeds toward ratification, the biggest question that remains is: If the treaty ratification had been delayed until next year, would Kyl then have supported it? Was he ultimately trying to delay forever or was there really some amount of consultation and concessions that would have gotten him to vote yes?

  Whether or not Kyl's vote was ultimately winnable will simply never be known for sure. But in the end, Kyl's efforts resulted in the administration promising over $84 billion for modernization of the nuclear stockpile and nuclear labs. "At least Jon Kyl was able to get more money for modernization and that letter from President Obama making assurances on missile defense," Lowry wrote.

  And why did the argument to delay — made by McConnell, Kyl, Inhofe, McCain, Graham, and others — fail to convince the almost dozen Senate Republicans who will vote for New START?
  ++++++
  GOP Senators who voted for START will pay the price in a primary election especially Lugar

  (tags: START GOP)
• How many Poles does it take to pass New START? -
  As the White House scrambles to secure enough GOP Senate votes to ratify the New START treaty with Russia, there's a lot of overt political grandstanding — and a lot of horse trading going on behind the scenes.

  In a long floor speech on Wednesday Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) declared, "I am deeply concerned the New START treaty may once again undermine the confidence of our friends and allies in Central and Eastern Europe." Then, quietly, he offered his support to the Obama administration in exchange for waiving visa requirements for Polish citizens.

  Various GOP senators have submitted demands in exchange for their support of the treaty, but they are usually related to concerns over the treaty itself. For example, the administration has offered Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) over $84 billion for nuclear modernization, under the premise that shoring up the safety of the stockpile is needed to ensure national security.

  Too Many

  (tags: START George_Voinovich jon_kyl)
• Defunding ObamaCare in Continuing Resolution Wasn't Exactly a Secret
  If conservatives are feeling bad about START, they should be really happy about this. With the new Congress in January, the GOP will be in a strong position on fighting ObamaCare."

  In other words, the loss of funding is directly attributable to the slothful behavior of House and Senate leaders who passed no budget or appropriations bills before the lame-duck session. They assumed, I guess, that Republicans would roll over and pass an omnibus spending bill after an election, one that everyone had assumed was going to go badly for the Democrats. Well, that was poor planning. The failure was then compounded by Reid, who dramatically overreached on the omnibus, making it impossible to round up votes for cloture.

  +++++++

  ObamaCare will die a slow funding death – if not outright repeal in 2013 when Obama leaves office

  (tags: Obamacare)
• Just a reminder – Mike Huckabee Is NO Conservative & wants to use federal regulations to change your eating habits
  Mike Huckabee recently publicly expressed his disagreement with Sarah Palin's attacks on Michelle Obama's heavy-handed approach to childhood obesity:

  “With all due respect to my colleague and friend Sarah Palin, I think she's misunderstood what Michelle Obama is trying to do,” the former Arkansas governor said Tuesday on the “Curtis Sliwa Show.” …

  “Michelle Obama's not trying to tell people what to eat or not trying to force the government's desires on people,” Huckabee said. “She’s stating the obvious, that we do have an obesity problem in this country.”

  He added: “The first lady's campaign is on target.”

  Just as a reminder, Mike Huckabee is no conservative when it comes to using the federal government to regulate what we eat.

  ++++++

  And, why Sarah Palin will have him for lunch if he dares to run against her

  (tags: mike_huckabee sarah_palin)
• Some In GOP Cave On New START
  Strategy: The heirs of Ronald Reagan abandon his legacy and dream of defending America from nuclear attack. Our security will rest on ambiguous language and vague assurances, not on the genius of U.S. technology.

  Peace in our time, or should we say appeasement in our time, as a sufficient number of GOP senators signed on the New START treaty to give the Democrats and President Obama the 67 votes needed for ratification.

  The Hill reported that Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., became the 10th Republican to support the treaty on Monday. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., was No. 9, saying on Monday afternoon, "I believe it's something important for our country and I believe it's a good move forward."
  ++++++
  Those GOP Senators who have caved into Obama on New START will regret their vote

  (tags: START)

US Senator John Kerry (D-MA) (R) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) (C) smile as they depart together after a news conference after the Senate ratified the START nuclear arms reduction treaty at the US Capitol in Washington, December 22, 2010

Too many and they will be held accountable by the Tea Party and conservative activists in their next GOP Primary elections.

With the new Republican power in Washington, it is doubly important to keep a close eye on the doings of GOP Senators and Congressmen to spot those who are straying from orthodoxy, seduced by power and the insider clubiness that characterizes Washington.

In the Lame Duck session, we want to draw attention to six Republican U.S. Senators who voted with the Democrats on a key issue. We should all bear their apostasy in mind and, in particular, make them mindful of the possibility of primary challenges to their re-nomination.

Two Senators, in particular, deserve to have primary challengers take them on in 2012 — Tennessee’s Bob Corker and Mississippi’s Thad Cochran. Both men voted for the START treaty which conceded a permanent edge in nuclear weaponry to Russia. While the Treaty provided for equal and reduced stockpiles of strategic warheads, it did nothing to address the vast piles of tactical nuclear warheads held by the Russians. The Russians have 10,000 of these battlefield nuclear weapons piled up in the stockpile while we have only a few hundred.

In addition, START’s preamble blocks the U.S. from developing missile defenses, now especially important in light of North Korea’s and Iran’s expanding capacities.

Both Corker and Cochran face re-election in 2012. They should both be challenged for the nomination by men who put our need for national security above appeasing the Russians. Having suppressed democracy, wiped out free speech, taken over all the media, nationalized their oil and energy industry, invaded Georgia, enabled the Iranian nuclear program, and tried to establish a natural gas monopoly in Europe, what else does Putin need to do before Corker and Cochran realize that appeasement won’t work?

Bob Corker’s vote for START probably stems from the insider-old boy network on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on which he sits. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who also voted for START, sits alongside him on the Republican minority on the committee. Led by Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking GOP member on the panel, all three voted for START. Unfortunately, Isakson is not up for re-election until 2016. When he does come up for re-election, we hope that the citizens of Georgia’s Republican Party hold him to account.

Lamar Alexander, also of Tennessee, backed START and faces re-election in 2014.

In a previous column, we called attention to the defections of Republican Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mike Crapo of Idaho from the ranks of fiscal conservatives. Both Coburn and Crapo voted for the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson Deficit Reduction Commission which recommended cutting the deductions for home mortgages and charitable contributions by two-thirds for most taxpayers and urged the enactment of almost $1 trillion in new taxes.

Coburn and Crapo only announced their intention to endorse the Commission report after they had been re-elected on November 2, 2010.

Here is the vote on New START.

So, who are they:

• Richard Lugar of Indiana – 2012
• Thad Cochran of Mississippi – 2012
• Bob Corker of Tennesses – 2012
• Johnny Isakson of Georgia – 2016
• Lamar Alexander of Tennessee – 2014
• Tom Coburn of Oklahoma – 2016
• Mike Crapo of Idaho – 2016
• Mike Johanns of Nebraska – 2014

Time for conservatives to re-evaluate support of these incumbent Senators and replace them.

Here is their contact information. Give them a call after Christmas and let them know what you think of their sell-out.

Thad Cocheran, Mississippi

Washington Office
United States Senate
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2402
202-224-5054 / 202-224-5054

Jackson Office
190 East Capitol St.
Suite 550
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
601-965-4459 / 601-965-4459

Bob Corker, Tennessee

Washington, D.C.
United States Senate
Dirksen Senate Office Building
SD-185
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-3344 / 202-224-3344
Fax: 202-228-0566

Memphis
100 Peabody Place, Suite 1125
Memphis, TN 38103
Main: 901-683-1910 / 901-683-1910
Fax: 901-575-3528

Mike Crapo, Idaho

Washington, DC
239 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6142
Fax: (202) 228-1375

Idaho State Office
251 East Front Street
Suite 205
Boise, ID 83702
Phone: (208) 334-1776
Fax: (208) 334-9044

Tom Coburn, Oklahoma

Washington D.C.:
172 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008

Tulsa:
1800 South Baltimore
Suite 800
Tulsa, OK 74119
Main: 918-581-7651
Fax: 918-581-7195

Oklahoma City:
100 North Broadway
Suite 1820
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Main: 405-231-4941
Fax: 405-231-5051

Lamar Alexander, Tennessee

Washington Office
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4944 / (202) 224-4944
Fax: (202) 228-3398
TTY: (202) 224-1546

Memphis Office
Clifford Davis-Odell Horton Federal Building
167 North Main Street, #1068
Memphis, TN 38103
Phone: (901) 544-4224 / (901) 544-4224
Fax: (901) 544-4227

Johnny Isakson, Georgia

United States Senate
120 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3643 / (202) 224-3643
Fax: (202) 228-0724

One Overton Park, Suite 970
3625 Cumberland Blvd
Atlanta, GA 30339
Tel: (770) 661-0999 / (770) 661-0999
Fax: (770) 661-0768

Richard Lugar, Indiana

306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1401
(202) 224-4814 p
(202) 228-0360 f

Southern Indiana

101 NW Martin Luther King Boulevard
Room 122
Evansville, Indiana 47708
(812) 465-6313 p
(812) 421-1883 f

Northeast Indiana

6384 A  West Jefferson Boulevard
Covington Plaza
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46804
(260) 422-1505 p
(260) 424-1342 f

Central Indiana

1180 Market Tower
10 West Market Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
(317) 226-5555 p
(317) 226-5508 f

Northwest Indiana

175 West Lincolnway
Suite G-1
Valparaiso, Indiana 46383
(219) 548-8035 p
(219) 548-7506 f

Political cartoon by Michael Ramirez

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had an opportunity and a mandate from the November elections but he has failed to keep his party united. Even Senator Lyndsey Graham (Maverick 2 with John McCain) is bitchin’ and moaning.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) lashed out at fellow Republicans Tuesday for a “capitulation … of dramatic proportions” to Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in the lame-duck Congress.

Graham said Republicans have no one to blame but themselves for allowing ratification of the New START Treaty and other legislation in the period before new lawmakers are sworn in in January.

“When it’s all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch,” Graham said on Fox News radio. “This has been a capitulation in two weeks of dramatic proportions of policies that wouldn’t have passed in the new Congress.”

Republican senators have broken with the party’s leaders on several key votes in order to advance some of President Obama’s top policies during the lame-duck. GOP members defected to pass a repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and have done likewise to secure likely ratification for the START Treaty. Some Republicans might allow a health bill for 9/11 first responders to move forward, while three Republicans voted to end debate on the DREAM Act, an ultimately unsuccessful immigration bill.

Time for Senate Republicans to consider electing a NEW leader in January.

• Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley Say FBI Data Shows They Are Among Nation's Safest Cities
  Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley are among the top 10 safest cities in the United States with populations of at least 100,000, according to 2009 FBI crime data analyzed by the two Ventura County cities.

  Although the FBI advises against using the data for making such rankings because there are many variables that should be factored in before making valid comparisons of crime among different cities, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley each conducted their own analysis based on crimes per 1,000 residents.

  They both came to the same conclusion: Thousand Oaks is the fifth safest city in the country with a rate of 15.8 crimes per 1,000 residents, while Simi Valley is the eighth safest city with a rate of 17.7 crimes per 1,000 residents.
  ++++++
  Good to hear!

  (tags: Thousand_Oaks Simi_Valley FBI_Crime_Data)
• 2012 Electoral College Vote Map, After 2010 Census
  Blue States = 242 EV
  Red States = 253 EV
  Swing Purple States = 43 EV
  (tags: GOP President_2012 democrats)
• 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' Season Two Looks Likely – $1 Million Per Episode?
  She's back … 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' is such a huge hit for TLC that the network is busy trying to get the former governor to sign up for season two.

  "3.066 million people turned in last week to see her episode with Kate Gosselin," a TLC insider tells me. "That is more people than are watching Bravo's 'Housewives' series or most other cable shows. For sure the network is doing everything it possibly can to convince Sarah to do another season, but at the end of the day it looks like it will all come down to money."

  Sarah, who is reportedly making more than $250,000 per episode for the eight-week series, is no fool — when the show debuted to over 4.96 million viewers, insiders tell me she started talking about a new deal right away.
  +++++++
  I would say very likely, especially if Obama's poll numbers improve by April.

  (tags: sarah_palin)
• Handicapping the 2012 Republican Presidential Contenders
  So that leaves us with a top tier of five front-runners: Romney, Palin, Gingrich, Pawlenty and Daniels. Romney is the organizational front-runner; Daniels is the first pick of wonks and D.C. eggheads; Palin probably has the most devoted following among actual voters. Gingrich will dominate the debates, and Pawlenty (vying with Daniels) is the least disliked.
  +++++
  A fair assessment and it is Sarah Palin's to decline.

  Otherwise it looks like Mitt Romney Vs. Mitch Daniels or Newt Gingrich

  (tags: sarah_palin mitt_romney mitch_daniels mike_huckabee newt_gingrich)
• Interactive Census Map: Which States Will Gain or Lose Seats in Congress
  Census 2010: Gains and Losses in Congress

  The Census Bureau rearranged the country’s political map on Tuesday, giving more Congressional seats to the South and the West, and taking away from the Northeast and the Midwest. The state population counts are the first results released from the 2010 Census, and are used to reapportion seats in Congress, and, in turn, the Electoral College.

  The United State population grew to 308,745,538 over the last decade, an increase of 9.7 percent, the slowest rate of growth since 1940.
  ++++++
  Nice graphs of censis data

  (tags: census GOP)
• 2010 Apportionment Continues 40-year shift to South/Southwest
  Apportionment after each decennial Census is required by the United States Constitution. Article 1 Section 2 says “the actual Enumeration shall be made…within every subsequent Term of ten years.” Over time, America’s population shifts, and Congress adjusts by apportioning its members according to each new set of Census results. For each House seat shifted, one Electoral College vote shifts.

  The 2010 apportionment of Congressional districts among the 50 states is brings Western states’ gains to 26 Congressional seats since the 1970s, with the South picking up 27. The Northeast has now lost 26 seats and the Midwest 27 over the same period. The disparity in population growth will significantly alter the makeup of the House of Representatives. In the 1970s, the Midwest and Northeast together made up 52% of Congress. After 2010, they will hold only 40% of the seats. The Northeast alone held 104 seats in the 1970s, but that number is now down to 78.
  ++++++
  Read it all

  (tags: census)
• START: Sen. Kyl Got More From Obama Than U.S. Gets from Russia
  And yet Republican opposition to the deal has essentially crumbled. I think the Republicans are foolish to have gone ahead rather than hold out for full consideration in the new Congress. But I understand that it is hard to resist the entreaties of the entire foreign policy establishment and to set up the president to fail.

  We should also keep this all in perspective. The treaty, as I and others have argued, is not an earth-shaking matter, especially compared to the real nuclear threats we face from North Korea and Iran. But through the hard bargaining of Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) the administration ponied up for weapon modernization and showed some commitment to missile defense programs. In sum, Kyl got more from Obama than the U.S. is getting from Russia.

  +++++++
  Read it all.

  Would have been better to rethink this treaty in the next Congress

  (tags: START john_kyl barack_obama)
• Census: Population Up 27 Million in Just 10 Years – Mostly from Immigration
  Most of the media coverage of the 2010 Census will likely focus on the country's changing racial composition and the redistribution of seats in Congress. But neither of these is the most important finding. Rather, it is the dramatic increase in the size of the U.S. population itself that has profound implications for our nation's quality of life and environment. Most of the increase has been, and will continue to be, a result of one federal policy: immigration. Projections into the future from the Census Bureau show we are on track to add 130 million more people to the U.S. population in the just the next 40 years, primarily due to future immigration.
  ++++++
  Read it all.

  The impacts are pretty dramatic.

  Immigration policy needs a redo.

  (tags: census immigration illegal_immigration)
• Census: U.S. Growth Slows As Southern States Gain
  The Sun Belt will gain new seats in Congress as the U.S. population continued to shift south and west, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and its director, Dr. Robert Groves.

  The new data show the country grew at a slower pace than it has in earlier decades. But states in the south grew at a faster rate than states in the Rust Belt. Those states will give up some representation in Congress, while southern states will grow in influence.

  Texas, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, Georgia, Utah and Washington State will all gain members of Congress. Texas's delegation will grow the most, adding four seats. Florida gained two seats, while Arizona gained one seat.

  Meanwhile, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Louisiana will each lose House seats. New York and Ohio, two states hard hit by generations of migration and more recent industrial stagnation, will lose two seats each.

  ++++++
  GOP Gains

  (tags: census)
• President 2012: Beware of Conservative Magazines Bearing Cover Stories
  In sum, when Republicans misstep on the issue of race, they are rightly and roundly lambasted. Some complain about a double standard (Harry Reid said dumb things, too!), but the fact remains that the vast majority of modern conservatives don't tolerate this sort of thing, and it can be fatal to one's political aspirations.

  And finally, this is a reminder that candidates who look promising in 2010 may not be around for long, and those who stay out of the fray for as long as possible may be the savviest contenders.

  +++++++
  This is why Sarah Palin will keep her powder dry and assess her ability to beat Obama as late in the Spring 2011 as she can.

  (tags: Haley_Barbour sarah_palin)

Representative Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley and Flap, January 15, 2010, Thousand Oaks, California

From the press release:

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) today was named Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by incoming Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

“Congressman Gallegly is a very valued, experienced and effective Member of this Committee and is very familiar with the global challenges facing us today, as well as with leaders around the world who we must work with closely to address those challenges. I greatly look forward to working with him and getting his input on the direction that our Committee should take in the next Congress,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
“I appreciate incoming Chairman Ros-Lehtinen providing me with this opportunity to serve the full committee as Vice Chairman,” Gallegly said. “The United States and our allies face many challenges and it is critical that the House Foreign Affairs Committee lead Congress in meeting those challenges.”

Gallegly is a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and currently Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe, which he chaired the last time Republicans were in the majority. He is finishing up his third term on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and its Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence Subcommittee. For years, Rep. Gallegly has been in the forefront of homeland security and the United States’ war against terrorism.As a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Gallegly has worked with America’s European allies to fight terrorism here and abroad. He has met with more than 50 heads of state, government delegations, or members of foreign legislative bodies here and abroad. He introduced and passed major NATO expansion legislation and represented the House of Representatives at the NATO summit in Prague at the request of President Bush.

In 2008, he was the only member of Congress to fly to Pakistan to meet with the country’s then-President Pervez Musharraf the day after the elections that brought a new Parliament to power. He also flew to Israel to meet with then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then-Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israeli-Palestinian relations and other Middle Eastern issues, and to tour Sderot, an Israeli town under siege from rockets fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza.During the 108th Congress, Rep. Gallegly was handpicked by then-Foreign Affairs Chairman Henry Hyde to chair the newly created Subcommittee on International Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights. As such, Gallegly chaired one of the first hearings on the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, a hearing that led to eight provisions being included in the final bill.

In January 2004, Gallegly – representing the Foreign Affairs Committee – and former Rep. Curt Weldon representing the Armed Services Committee led a congressional delegation of three other members to Libya to meet with Moammar Gadhafi after the Libyan strongman denounced terrorism and agreed to open his country to international arms inspectors. It was the first American delegation to travel to Tripoli in about 30 years.

Six weeks later, Gallegly chaired a meeting with family members of the victims of Pan Am 103 to discuss their pending settlement against Libya.

A great appointment for an excellent Congressman.