• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 14:42

    These are my links for March 24th from 14:42 to 19:10:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 14:28

    These are my links for March 24th from 14:28 to 14:31:

    • Democrats Call Koch Industries ‘Extreme,’ but Justify Taking Their Money – Ben Smith reported this morning that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out a fundraising email, signed by Harry Reid, that tries to ride the anti-Koch bandwagon. Here's the relevant part of the email:

      Senate Democrats are fighting back each and every day. But with only a slim four-seat majority, we have no margin for error. If Republicans can knock just a few bricks free from our firewall, they’ll force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say “Koch brothers.” With the GOP on the attack and with 23 Democratic-held seats to defend, we have no time to spare. We must act now to keep our majority standing strong. I need your help!

      The DSCC must raise $150,371 by our March 31 FEC deadline to keep the Republicans at bay.

      Smith notes the DSCC got about $30,000 from the Koch family in the last election cycle. He also reported back in September that a limited number of Democratic candidates have also received Koch money, including sitting senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. New York's Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, also received $1,000 from Koch Industries in the last election.

      =====

      How do you spell HYPOCRITE?

    • Madison Wisconsin teachers given until April 15 to rescind fake doctors’ notes – Madison teachers who missed school last month to attend protests and turned in fraudulent doctor's notes have been given until April 15 to rescind those notes, officials said Thursday.
      The district received more than 1,000 notes from teachers, human resources director Bob Nadler said. A couple hundred of those were ruled fraudulent because they appeared to be written by doctors at the Capitol protests against Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to limit collective bargaining.
      Teachers who don't rescind fraudulent notes could receive a disciplinary letter of suspension, the most serious form of discipline aside from termination, Nadler said. The suspension would be considered already served — the time missed during the protests.
      "We didn't want to give anybody more time off," Nadler said. "They can't afford it. We can't afford to have them gone any more. I don't think kids need their teacher gone another two days."
      Teachers who rescind their note would receive a more minor "letter of expectation" and be docked pay at the end of the school year for the four missed days.
      Nadler said the majority of notes came from doctor's offices and the district doesn't plan on calling each one to determine if the excuse was legitimate.

      =====

      Slap on the wrist and if they are honest get docked pay.

      what a system! NOT

  • Elton Gallegly

    Rep Elton Gallegly Announces New Camarillo District Office

    Guess my Congressman is on the move from Thousand Oaks to Camarillo. In any case, here are his contact details:

    U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties) today announced that he will open a new district office in Camarillo on Monday. The current office in Thousand Oaks will be open during regular hours until 5 p.m. Friday.

    The Camarillo office will be at 5051 Verdugo Way, Suite 120, Camarillo, CA  93012. The new phone number is 805-482-2424. Faxes can be sent to 805-482-0024. Office hours will remain 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. The toll-free number will also remain the same, (800) 423-0023.

    In addition to the Camarillo office, Gallegly maintains a Solvang office at 485 Alisal Road, Unit 144, Solvang, CA 93463. The phone number is (805) 686-2525. Fax is (805) 686-2566. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

    Ventura County and Santa Barbara County residents can also contact Gallegly’s Washington, D.C., office: 2309 Rayburn HOB, Washington, DC 20515-0523. The phone number is (202) 225-5811. Faxes can be sent to (202) 225-1100. Washington, D.C., office hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

  • Charles Koch,  David Koch,  Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,  Harry Reid

    Hypocrite Democrat Sen. Harry Reid Forgets Koch Industries Gave Dem Senatorial Committee 30K While Dissing Them in Fundraising Letter

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. gestures during a news
    conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010

    OOPS. Cowboy poet enthusiast and Senate Majority Leader sends out this letter to the Democratic faithful today:

    Dear xxxx,
     
    We should be trying to put Americans back to work, not trying to put public radio out of business.
     
    Attacking labor unions…waging war on women’s rights…defunding NPR…repealing health care reform. The anti-worker, anti-woman, anti-Obama Republican agenda just proves that their priorities are seriously out of whack. How is any of this supposed to create jobs?
     
    Senate Democrats are fighting back each and every day. But with only a slim four-seat majority, we have no margin for error. If Republicans can knock just a few bricks free from our firewall, they’ll force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say “Koch brothers.” With the GOP on the attack and with 23 Democratic-held seats to defend, we have no time to spare. We must act now to keep our majority standing strong. I need your help!
     
    The DSCC must raise $150,371 by our March 31 FEC deadline to keep the Republicans at bay. Our March Match means you’ll be matched dollar for dollar – your $300 contribution will only cost you $150. Please click here right now to contribute! I’m not satisfied with playing defense. Democrats are ready to move this country forward by investing in our future – rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, and focusing on innovations that will create not just jobs, but entire industries.
     
    And a year after President Obama signed health care reform, we’re unwilling to let Republicans put health insurance companies back between you and your doctor.
     
    We’re ready to go on offense, waging a tough grassroots campaign to preserve our majority, standing strong with Democratic incumbents and recruiting top-flight challengers to take on vulnerable Republicans.
     
    We have to put our money where our mouth is – and that means we need your support at this critical moment. Ninety percent of the DSCC’s donations come from individuals giving less than $200. And during our March Match, your $300 gift will only cost you $150 – every dollar will be matched!
     
    The DSCC needs to hear from you immediately in order to meet its $150,371 goal by March 31 – so please click here and make a contribution right now.
     
    Senate Democrats are standing up strong against the GOP’s backward priorities. But we can’t stand alone, not with Republicans and their special interest allies pouring more resources into breaking down our firewall every day.
     
    And with just 8 days to go until the March 31 deadline, a $150,371 goal to meet, and a dangerous Republican agenda to defeat, we need you now more than ever.
     
    Thank you,
     
    Harry Reid
     
    Paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, dscc.org <http://dscc.org> , and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

    Well, nice move, Dingy Harry to diss a donor who gave your Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $30,000 during the last campaign cycle.

    So, Harry is the DSCC going to send the money back?

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 10:02

    These are my links for March 24th from 10:02 to 11:25:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 10:02

    These are my links for March 24th from 10:02 to 11:25:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 10:02

    These are my links for March 24th from 10:02 to 11:25:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 10:02

    These are my links for March 24th from 10:02 to 11:25:

  • Barack Obama,  Libya,  Tom McClintock

    California Rep. Tom McClintock Accuses President Obama of Violating War Powers Resolution Over Libya Military Action

    California Congressman Tom McClintock

    My old friend Tom McClintock is not to happy with President Obama about ordering military action in Libya. Here is his letter to the President:

    The Honorable Barack Obama
    President of the United States
    The White House
    Washington, D.C. 20500

    Dear Mr. President:

    I have read your letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate dated March 21, 2011 concerning your order that United States Armed Forces attack the nation of Libya. You cite the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 and your “constitutional authority to conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.”

    The Constitution clearly and unmistakably vests Congress with the sole prerogative “to declare war.” Your letter fails to explain how a resolution of the United Nations Security Council is necessary to commit this nation to war but that an act of Congress is not.

    The United Nations Participation Act expressly withholds authorization for the President to commit United States Armed Forces to combat in pursuit of United Nations directives without specific Congressional approval. The War Powers Resolution states that the President’s power to engage United States Armed Forces in hostilities “shall not be inferred . . .from any treaty heretofore or hereafter ratified unless such treaty is implemented by legislation specifically authorizing the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities…”

    The War Powers Resolution unambiguously defines three circumstances under which the President as Commander in Chief may order United States Armed Forces into hostile action: “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Your letter cites none of these conditions.

    Nor can the power to order an act of war be inferred from the President’s authority as “Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.” The Constitution’s Framers were explicit on this point. In Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton draws a sharp distinction between the President’s authority as Commander in Chief as “nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces” and the authority of the British king “which extends to the declaring of war and to the raising and regulating of fleets and armies ~ all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature.”

    With all due respect, I can only conclude that your order to United States Armed Forces to attack the nation of Libya on March 19, 2011 is in direct violation of the War Powers Resolution and constitutes a usurpation of Constitutional powers clearly and solely vested in the United States Congress and is accordingly unlawful and unconstitutional.

    Sincerely,

    Tom McClintock
    Member of Congress

    I, frankly, don’t see ANY national security interest in Libya and a rationale for being there.