• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 30th on 19:46

    March 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 30th from 19:46 to 20:18:

    • Republican leaders say, ‘No deal yet’ on Budget – However, Republicans deny this is the case. Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) told me: “There have been discussion for weeks, and those discussions are continuing. There’s no agreement, and nothing will be agreed to until everything is agreed to.” A top adviser on the Senate side echoes that.

      The real issue may not be the dollar amount. A senior adviser to a top Senate Republican tells me that the riders on funding of Planned Parenthood, the EPA and ObamaCare are the bigger stumbling blocks. He believes that “in the end” there will be an agreement, although he jokes, “there are so many ways to screw it up.”

    • Planned Parenthood CEO’s False Mammogram Claim Exposed – A series of new undercover phone calls reveals that contrary to the claims of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards and other supporters of the nation’s largest abortion chain, the organization does not provide mammograms for women.

      In the tapes, a Live Action actor calls 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in 27 different states, inquiring about mammograms at Planned Parenthood. Every Planned Parenthood, without exception, tells her she will have to go elsewhere for a mammogram, and many clinics admit that no Planned Parenthood clinics provide this breast cancer screening procedure. “We don’t provide those services whatsoever,” admits a staffer at Planned Parenthood of Arizona. Planned Parenthood’s Comprehensive Health Center clinic in Overland Park, KS explains to the caller, “We actually don’t have a, um, mammogram machine, at our clinics.”

      Opponents of defunding Planned Parenthood have argued in Congress and elsewhere that the organization provides many vital health care services other than abortion, such as mammograms. Most prominently, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards recently appeared on The Joy Behar Show to oppose the Pence Amendment to end Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer subsidies, claiming, “If this bill ever becomes law, millions of women in this country are gonna lose their healthcare access–not to abortion services–to basic family planning, you know, mammograms.”

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      Read it all – and defund them….

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 30th on 18:06

    March 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 30th from 18:06 to 18:20:

    • Budget Negotiators Reach Tentative Deal To Avert Government Shutdown – Sources tell me that  budget negotiators on Capitol Hill have tentatively agreed on a deal that would involve at least $33 billion in spending cuts from this year’s budget.  That’s $23 billion dollars more than Democrats have previously agreed to in short-term continuing resolutions, and $28 billion less than Republicans previously passed in the House.

      Members of the House Appropriations Committee will begin discussing how to hit that number with their Senate counterparts as soon as tonight, and Vice President Biden is heading to Capitol Hill for a 6pm meeting with the Senate Democratic leadership.

      The deal could still fall apart over the composition of the cuts, or policy “riders” previously passed by the House. These include issues like de-funding Planned Parenthood and President Obama’s health care legislation.  It’s also not clear that this compromise will fly with rank-and-file House Republicans, which means that the $33 billion goal could still climb by a few billion.  But this is most significant progress since the beginning of negotiations.

      Update: Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Speaker of the House, tells me "“There is no agreement on a number for the spending cuts. Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.”

      ======

      OK for this year but only with a balance budget amendment.

    • Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as ‘The Governator’ – He’s been a famous body builder. He’s been a killer cyborg from the future. He’s been Governor of California. And now, in this week’s exclusive cover scoop, Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals his plans for the next phase of his extraordinary career: He’s going be a cartoon superhero, known as The Governator. “When I ran for governor back in 2003 and I started hearing people talking about ‘the Governator,’ I thought the word was so cool,” Schwarzenegger, 63, tells EW in his first press interview since leaving office last January. (Watch an EW-exclusive video of Schwarzenegger talking about the project.) “The word Governator combined two worlds: the world of politics and the movie world. And [this cartoon] brings everything together. It combines the governor, the Terminator, the bodybuilding world, the True Lies…” 
      The animated TV show and comic book, being co-developed by no less a superhero authority than Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee (pictured, right), won’t be out until next year,…

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      Hope the cartoon ends up better than his Governorship which was horrible.

    • Barack Obama authorizes secret help for Libya rebels – President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

      Obama signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter.

      Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place but does not mean that it will.

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      Read it all.

    • Barack Obama’s jaw-dropping hypocrisy on energy – McConnell gave a speech on the Senate floor this morning that including these zingers:

      Over the past two years, the administration has undertaken what can only be described as a war on American energy. It’s cancelled dozens of drilling leases. It’s declared a moratorium on drilling off the Gulf Coast. It’s increased permit fees. It has prolonged public comment periods. In short, it’s done just about everything it can to keep our own energy sector from growing. As a result, thousands of U.S. workers have lost their jobs, as companies have been forced to look elsewhere for a better business climate.

      Consider this: just three of the areas we could tap in Alaska are thought to hold enough oil to replace our crude imports from the Persian Gulf for nearly 65 years. So the problem isn’t that we need to look elsewhere for our energy. The problem is that Democrats don’t want us to use the energy we have. It’s enough to make you wonder whether anybody in the White House has driven by a gas station lately.

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      Well, at least he made a speech on energy – finally.

      The Democrats will do nothing to end American dependence on foreign oil by domestic exploration and drilling.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 30th on 11:06

    March 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 30th from 11:06 to 14:25:

  • Dan Lungren

    Video: California Democrats Go Saul Alinsky Over Rep. Dan Lungren and Styrofoam

    March 30, 2011 /

    Christopher Guerrero and the CDP crew wanted to meet Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) halfway after he ended the use of compostable utensils and take out trays in the U.S. Capitol

    Come on, how stupid is this? Saul Alinsky must be proud of all of the RIDICULE. But what are the facts?

    First the Republicans took over the House. Now it’s the cafeterias.

    Republicans say the use of “compostable” cups and utensils, a key part of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Green the Capitol initiative, was “neither cost-effective nor energy-efficient.” So they brought back plastic utensils and foam cups, ditching the eco-friendly dining wares of the Democratic era.(…)

    But Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Gold River), whose committee oversees the cafeterias, ended the $475,000-a-year composting program initiated by Pelosi after a study found it had increased energy use and barely reduced carbon emissions.

    “I never thought I’d be known as ‘Styrofoam Dan,’ ” said Lungren, who is surprised by all of the fuss.

    In defense of the decision, Salley Wood, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the Committee on House Administration, said, “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find taxpayers who consider blowing a half-million dollars on a failing program a ‘small thing’ in this economic environment.”

    But, with the Saul Alinsky disciple Democrats, Rep. Dan Lungren is now “Styrofoam Dan” and a environmental boogie man – just like the billionaire Koch Brothers. As you see, it is all symbolism over substance with the LEFT.

    Far Left Speaker of the House was wasting half a million dollars a year to be environmentally correct, when, as it turns out, the program was a FAILURE. In fact, the program, had crappy utensils, used MORE energy and barely reduced carbon emissions.

    We all want a sound environment AND a sound government. But, wasteful government spending, like this program, we can do without.

    So, go ahead, Democrats and ridicule Rep. Dan Lungren as “Styrofoam” Dan – because he just saved American taxpayers a mere $ half a million.

  • Bill Nelson,  Polling,  U.S. Senate 2012

    FL-Sen Poll Watch: Sen. Bill Nelson in Decent Shape?

    March 30, 2011 /

    Maybe, according to the latest PPP Poll.

    Job Approval Vs. Disapproval:

    Senator Bill Nelson: 38% Vs. 34%

    38% of voters approve of the job Nelson’s doing to 34% who disapprove. Those numbers sound uninspiring but the main reason for them is that only 55% of Democrats approve of the job he’s doing, where you’d usually expect someone to be in the 70-80% range within their own party. Nelson gets 74-80% of the Democratic vote against each of the Republicans we tested him against so this is a classic case where his base might not love him, but they’re still going to vote for him.

    While Nelson doesn’t generate much enthusiasm from within his own party, he’s also not much of a turn off to Republicans. An unusually high 21% of them approve of the job he’s doing and he gets as much as 19% of the GOP vote in the head to heads against named Republicans.

    Most of the time people focus on politicians’ approval number when analyzing their reelection chances and if you do that in Nelson’s case 38% doesn’t look so hot. I think it might be more instructive here though to look at Nelson’s disapproval number- is someone who only 34% of voters are unhappy with really going to get tossed out of office? Seems doubtful- certainly didn’t happen to any Senators or Governors last year.

    Yes, but Nelson is still not viewed very favorably for an incumbent and that is a good sign for the GOP.

    A bad sign for the Republicans though is that the candidates that poll the best against Nelson are not going to run.

    Connie Mack IV, who announced he wouldn’t seek the office after we’d already started the poll, trailed Nelson by 13 points at 47-34. Another incredibly long shot candidate, MSNBC host and former Congressman Joe Scarborough, trails by 13 points as well at 45-32. Among the more plausible candidates former Senator George LeMieux does best but still trails by 15 points at 48-33. Mike Haridopolos and Adam Hasner trail by 16 points at 50-34 and 48-32 respectively, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales does the worst with a 19 point deficit at 47-28.

    Head to Head:

    • 50% Nelson (D), 34% Haridopolis (R)
    • 48% Nelson (D), 32% Hasner (R)
    • 48% Nelson (D), 33% LeMieux (R)
    • 47% Nelson (D), 34% Mack (R)
    • 45% Nelson (D), 32% Scarborough (R)
    • 47% Nelson (D), 28% Wales (R)

    Favorable Vs UnFavorable:

    • Mike Haridopolis: 9 / 23
    • Adam Hasner: 6 / 17
    • George LeMieux: 8 / 22
    • Connie Mack IV: 21 / 23
    • Joe Scarborough: 15 / 20
    • Jimmy Wales: 3 / 14

    The GOP wants a pick-up in Florida. They just have to decide on a candidate and run him hard. Certainly, Nelson’s lack of favorability at this point smells like vulnerability but the NRSC and the Florida GOP have to understand that they will have to work hard to throw Nelson and hence Harry Reid out of office/majority.

  • GOP,  President 2012

    President 2012: Reagan Library GOP Debate Rescheduled from May to September

    March 30, 2011 /

    Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is the only declared Republican candidate for President

    Bowing to the reality that it is too EARLY for GOP candidates to be exposed to the pro-Obama media.

    The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation has postponed its debate for Republican candidates from May 2 to September 14.

    The move, announced Wednesday in conjunction with cosponsors NBC and POLITICO, follows an unexpectedly slow start to the Republican presidential nominating contest.

    Organizers worried that the May 2 debate, which was announced shortly after the midterm elections last November, would not attract candidates who will eventually get into the race but are delaying announcements for legal and political reasons. Only one top-tier candidate, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has officially created an exploratory committee.

    John Heubusch, the Reagan foundation’s executive director, said that pushing the debate back four-and-a-half months will allow “enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate.”

    “The Reagan Foundation prides itself on sponsoring world class debates in which all of the major candidates in contention can make their point of view known to the widest possible audience,” he said in a statement. “Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May.”

    The September 14 debate at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif., will still be moderated by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams and POLITICO Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris. A reporter from Telemundo will also participate.

    I believe Fox News is also sponsoring a debate in early May in South Carolina but I would not be surprised that it is rescheduled. There is NO reason/advantage for the Republican candidates to debate prior to the end of summer and so — they won’t.

  • GOP,  Harry Reid

    GOP House Freshmen Tell Harry Reid: “It’s Time to Pass a Bill”

    March 30, 2011 /

    Laying down the gauntlet, they are – says Yoda.

    Just as GOP leaders prepare a “Government Shutdown Prevention Act” as a way to pressure Senate Democrats into passing long-term spending bill, a group of freshman members have sent a strongly worded letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) announcing that they will “rally on the Senate steps every day until you pass a long-term Continuing Resolution.” The letter was authored by Rep. Rick Crawford (R., Ark.) and has so far been signed by 30 members of the freshman class.

    “Make no mistake,” the letter admonishes Reid. “Any government shutdown is the result of your lack of leadership.”

    “Mr. Reid, it’s time to pass a bill,” they conclude, before signing off in telling fashion: “Bound together and determined.”

    The full text of the letter is here.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 30th on 06:32

    March 30, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 30th from 06:32 to 07:37:

    • Did Obama Administration Play Favorites With Energy Loans? Green Firms Financed By Obama Fundraiser Steve Westly Score Millions in Federal Loans – When the White House announced the federal government would loan $465 million to Tesla, a California start-up company with plans to develop an all-electric sedan, President Obama called it an "historic opportunity to ensure that the next generation of fuel-efficient cars and trucks are made in America."

      The loan also represented a lucrative opportunity for Steve Westly, a major investor in the car company who had raised more than $500,000 for the president's campaign.

      In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy lent more than half a billion dollars to companies backed by Westly's California venture capital firm. In 2010, the White House tapped Westly for a seat on a special energy advisory panel that gives him regular access to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Westly boasts on his website that his firm is "uniquely positioned" to take advantage of the Obama administration's interest in green energy.

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      Read it all

      More CRONY capitalism from the Obama Administration

    • Black And Blue 2: Blacks Flee Blue States in Droves – Americans ultimately have to accept the reality that you can’t eliminate poverty by hiring professionals with postgraduate degrees and six figure incomes to sit in downtown offices and engineer policy solutions to urban ills. Poverty in a society like ours is a human problem and it is solved one human being at a time, usually through person to person contact: above all the parent but also the teacher, the preacher, the mentor, the entrepreneur who helps the lost and the overcome find solid ground on which to stand and build a life.

      As Blacks flee the citadels of blue thought, and as the paladins of blue like Bob Herbert move toward retirement, the problems of the inner cities and the underclass are still very much with us. Top down solutions and bureaucratic interventions have at best a limited utility in this new environment; it is time for a national re-think and a national re-engagement on the problems of race, poverty and class.

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      Read it all