FederalRepublic.net

Simply awesome…

United States forces have launched a strike against suspected Al Qaeda members in Somalia, a senior U.S. official tells FOX News.

After the attack by the Air Force AC-130 gunship, capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, the official reported casualties on the ground, but is not sure if any are suspected terrorists.

The U.S.S. Eisenhower aircraft carrier is also in the region, within striking distance and loaded with firepower, and could be called into action if necessary.

The operation would mark the first time the U.S. mounted a mission in Somalia since forces pulled out in 1994, two years after entering on a mission to feed starving people there.

The U.S. could be taking advantage of terrorists that have flown their hideout, as Al Qaeda operatives taking cover in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu were likely chased out when Ethiopian forces cleared out Islamists who had taken power there.

Let’s just say this is long overdue. After Clinton chickened out in 1993 and pulled troops from Somalia, our troops are finally allowed to do something about jihadists and Al Queda in Somalia. This is great news for the United States, Ethiopia, and the long-absent Somali government.

“Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people.” - George W. Bush

Now this is what I call an active defense!

Coming from AP:

Republican Mitt Romney began his drive for the presidency in earnest Monday, gathering his national fundraisers in Boston and having them call friends and colleagues in a push to raise the first of an estimated $100 million this year.

-Snip-

You guys today are my hope. I got to be honest with you. What you’re doing is going to make all the difference in the world,” Romney told the callers.

Romney said he was considering running to create “a new American Dream.” He said he feared for the world his grandchildren will inherit, and said the American Dream of a home in the suburbs “just doesn’t cut it.”

Source

I am really looking forward to the Republican primary season. Personally, I think Romney could be the answer for conservatives who have tired of President Bush’s appeasement of Democrats the last several years. Coming from Massachusetts, Gov. Romney knows what it’s like to govern with principle - even in an overwhelmingly blue state. His socially conservative views, along with his belief in fiscal discipline, and faith in our cause in the Middle East make him the GOP frontrunner in my book. I think his quick wit and charisma will be a huge help in communicating the conservative message to the American people in 2008.

Democrats are not ruling out raising taxes for the wealthiest people to help pay for tax cuts for middle-income families, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

-Snip-

“As we review what we get from … collecting our taxes and reducing waste, fraud and abuse, investing in education and in initiatives which will bring money into the Treasury, it may be that (repealing) tax cuts for those making over a certain amount of money, $500,000 a year, might be more important to the American people than ignoring the educational and health needs of America’s children,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview aired Sunday.

Read more…

Here are the problems, Madam Speaker, with your way of cutting taxes:

First, repealing Bush tax cuts on the highest earners really doesn’t do anything for you except penalizing rich people for simply being rich. Second, it undercuts productivity and initiative to put toward wealth creation and investment of capital for those in the highest tax brackets. Third, higher earners who run businesses may have to cut back on workers, wages, investment, and possibly raise prices on products they sell. This passes the cost unto the “middle-class” consumer you’re so interested in protecting and ends up putting an indirect tax on them. This fact goes for not only the so-called “rich,” but also corporations, especially those your party is targeting like oil companies.

You want to cut taxes Ms. Pelosi? Here’s an idea - introduce a flat tax as they have in Russia and some South American nations. There won’t be anymore class warfare in regards to taxes because everyone will pay their proportion. Revenues will rise to the U.S. Treasury, helping to offset and pay the deficit. You on the other hand, will receive all the credit from conservatives for reforming the system and would truly make the United States a better country to live in.

But Ms. Pelosi, you’re a leftist, so you really have no clue how to give the government back to the people. All you care about is increasing your power in Washington and taking more of my money. I can’t wait to vote against your party in 2008.

In my eyes, the following article shows a mindset that is a contributing factor to the total failure of the Bush Administration and the 109th Congress to reform immigration policy. A pizza chain in Texas will soon accept the Mexican Peso for sales of its food products:

Starting Monday, patrons of the Dallas-based Pizza Patrón chain, which caters heavily to Latinos, will be able to purchase American pizzas with Mexican pesos.

Restaurant experts and economists said they knew of no other food chain with locations so far from the Mexican border offering such a service.

“We’re trying to reach out to our core customer,” Antonio Swad, president of Pizza Patrón Inc., said Friday.

Read more at Dallas Morning News 

While I can see a distinct market advantage here, the question arises, “What happened to the practice of using American currency in America?” In my opinion, this is the same category of tragedy as seen in mid-2006, when thousands of illegal aliens took to the streets in protest of potential American immigration reform with Mexican flags in hand and other isolated incidents, including a Mexican flag being raised at a high school and a post office.

Here’s an idea for consumers who intend to pay physical pesos for goods in the United States - go to a bank and exchange your pesos for American dollars!

A little late in coming to FederalRepublic.net, but Mitt Romney has submitted the paperwork necessary to set up a presidential exploratory committee towards a 2008 bid for President of the United States:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took the initial step in a 2008 presidential bid, another hopeful in a crowded Republican field headlined by the party’s more familiar names of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

-Snip-

“After talking to my family, I have decided to take this initial step of forming an exploratory committee in order to raise the resources and build the campaign organization required to pursue the highest office in our country,” Romney said in a statement.

-Snip-

“Given his pedigree,” said Richard Bond, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and declared backer of McCain, “he is a serious candidate.”

Source

As a conservative student and military member, Romney gives me a feeling of confidence about his candidacy. His conservative social views, fiscal restraint, and Reagan foreign policy principles makes him a prime contender for the highest office in the land. Though I believe Mr. Romney needs to further explain some of his past statements on abortion and the rights of gays, I think he’s got a great chance to make a statement in early Republican Party primaries. I definately think he’ll give McCain a run for his money.

A link to his exploratory committee

Links to Romney supporters:

Mitt Romney for President 2008

Americans for Mitt

I can’t believe the MSM didn’t pick up on this sooner. I picked it up right away days ago…

Reid’s action was surprising “because a week ago Senator Reid was quoted as saying he would support a surge if there was some plan for withdrawal,'’ said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, in an interview on “Political Capital with Al Hunt'’ to air this weekend on Bloomberg Television. “This is sort of a 180 in a very short period of time.'’

Reid told reporters he changed his mind after learning that U.S. commanders on the ground didn’t think a surge would work.

Source

It’s nice to know Democrats have had a “plan” for Iraq all along.

The Boston Herald is reporting that Terry McAuliffe, former Democratic Party Chairman, is up in arms about the inadequacies of John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004:

McAuliffe said Kerry’s camp was so afraid of offending swing voters that it didn’t defend his record or criticize Bush. He said he was muzzled by Kerry’s aides from assailing Bush’s military record.

-Snip-

“I thought the decision of the Kerry campaign to back off any real criticism of Bush was one of the biggest acts of political malpractice in the history of American politics,” he said.

Mr. McAuliffe is right in his opinion of the Kerry campaign, but for the wrong reasons. You see, John Kerry already offended swing voters in 2004 by first, being a “Taxachussetts” liberal on the wrong side of history. Kerry, with votes against military funding, 2nd amendment rights, tax cuts, and “yes” votes for more social programs and spending, flip-flopped through the entire race on all of these major issues. Not only was Kerry a huge liberal, he gave the public a preview of what it would be like to have a defeatist in the White House.

Read the full article…

Environmentalist whackos in the Congress are at it again. As reported by the AP, a bill to permanently protect ANWR from oil drilling was submitted in the House on Friday:

Legislation introduced in the House on Friday would make the oil-rich 1.2 million-acre coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a permanently protected wilderness and end repeated efforts to open the area east of the Prudhoe oil field to energy companies.

“The consensus is that there should not be drilling in the refuge, so the logical next step is to pass legislation which turns it into a wilderness,” Rep. Edward Markey, chief sponsor of the legislation, said in an interview.

Let’s hope this ridiculous idea is killed in committee. If we are to get off our dependence on foreign energy, Alaska is a great place to start! Democrats, as usual, have no clue.

Read more

Fox News is reporting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a strong message to President Bush today:

On their first full day on the job, newly-elected Democratic leaders Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi fired a shot to the White House warning President Bush that it would be a mistake to consider a surge of troops as part of his revised Iraq policy.

-Snip-

The letter by Senate Majority Leader Reid of Nevada and House Speaker Pelosi of California cautioned that any plan of “surging forces is a strategy that you have already tried and that has already failed.”

I’m not surprised Democrats are already flip-flopping on their support President Bush’s new plans for Iraq. Like John Kerry and the rest of the liberal kooks, Democratic leadership never had a “plan” for Iraq. This is proven by a report by the Washington Post on Harry Reid in December:

The Senate’s top Democrat offered qualified support Sunday for a plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq, saying it would be acceptable as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by 2008.

Read more about Senator Reid’s flip flop:

Reid OK With Short-Term Surge in U.S. Troops in Iraq

Reid: Brief Troop Increase OK in Iraq

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