Another sign Senator Fred Thompson may be making time for a political future:
“I’ve spoken to Fred today, and although he told me he has not made a firm decision about his political future, he felt that given the creative and scheduling constraints of the upcoming season, he asked to be released from his responsibilities to the show,” “Law & Order” creator/executive producer Dick Wolf said Wednesday. “I will sincerely miss working with him on a regular basis, and I obviously wish him the best of luck with whatever the future holds.”
Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing that week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.
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Thompson’s formal announcement is planned for Nashville. Organizers say the red pickup truck that was a hallmark of Thompson’s first Senate race will begin showing up in Iowa and New Hampshire as an emblem of what they consider his folksy, populist appeal.
A testing-the-waters committee is to be formed June 4 so Thompson can start raising money, and staffers will go on the payroll in early June, the organizers said. A policy team has been formed, but remains under wraps.
If Fred Thompson declares his candidacy, I guarantee he will shake up the GOP status quo. What’s impressive to me is that if Fred declares, the GOP may finally field a candidate who is a champion of the constitution, federalism, and states rights.
A couple videos giving a brief overview of Thompson’s political leanings:
“If you want to scare the American people, what you say is the bill’s an amnesty bill,” Mr. Bush said this afternoon at a training center for border enforcement agents located in this town in Georgia’s southeastern corner. “That’s empty political rhetoric, trying to frighten our citizens.”
Sorry Mr. President, you’re as wrong as wrong can get. What frightens people is what will happen if the proposed bill becomes law - suddenly 12 million illegal immigrants will be welcomed into this country with open arms regardless if they broke they law to get here. The proposed bill is amnesty, pure and simple. It awards illegal immigrants by allowing them to jump ahead in the immigration line, get a “Z” visa that can be renewed every four years for as long as they’d like, and awards them for jumping our border and breaking our immigration laws. The proposed bill is NOT acceptable and those in the GOP who support it are dead wrong; that means YOU, Mr. President.
“People in Congress need the courage to go back to their districts and explain exactly what this bill is all about,” Mr. Bush said. “The fundamental question is, will elected officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place that makes it more likely we can enforce our border and, at the same time, uphold the great traditions of —— immigrant traditions of the United States of America.”
The message is not getting lost or miscommunicated Mr. President. People simply don’t like the message and reject the premise of this bill, which seems to be the legalization of 12 million illegal aliens. Here’s a new fundamental question the president should consider: Does the Congress of the United States have the courage to actually follow the will of the people and reject this horrendous amnesty proposal? Anything less than total rejection of this horrible McCain-Kennedy compromise is simply unacceptable.
So Hillary Clinton finally came out and admitted she’d rather have a country based on socialism, instead of one based on personal responsibility:
Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.
I never knew it was my responsibility to provide for the welfare of others, especially in some socialist wealth distribution scheme. I don’t think the Constitution of the United States says anything about distributing the wealth of some for the “welfare” of others in terms of government programs and nanny-state handouts.
“There is no greater force for economic growth than free markets. But markets work best with rules that promote our values, protect our workers and give all people a chance to succeed,” she said. “Fairness doesn’t just happen. It requires the right government policies.”
So it’s the government’s responsibility to create more red tape and regulation for business? I don’t think so. History has shown that the free market works for the betterment of society if left to fend for itself; that the interest of the one will necessarily work for the interest of the whole. It’s time to get the government out of the market, to free business from the red tape and absurd regulations that keep the government in our lives. The market works best when people are allowed to run things - not government officials who want more and more of the people’s freedoms and money for control of an increasingly dependent populace.
Everyone should be reminded of this Hillary quote from 2004:
“We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”
Her statements do not deny what conservatives have known for a long time; Hillary Clinton wants socialism in this country. If elected President, I believe she will stop at nothing to transform this country into something resembling the typical European economy.
Linkin Park is one of my favorite bands. Recently, the group came out with their new album, “Minutes to Midnight.” The album includes some great songs and a different style than I’m used to. I was especially intrigued by the album’s number seven song, called “Hands Held High.” If anyone has ever heard this song or read the lyrics, you’d find that this song is basically blasting the Bush Administration about the Iraq War. More specifically, the lyrics promote the idea that the Iraq War is a poor man’s war; that it’s only the poor who fight and die for the rich elites:
Cause I’m sick of being treated like I had before
Like the stupid standing for what I’m standing for
Like this war’s really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn’t cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can’t put gas in your tank
These fuckers are laughing the way to the bank and cashing the check
Asking you to have the passion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like “what did he say?”
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It’s ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew up the mosque yesterday
There’s bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he’s got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it’s the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
As one who came from a well-to-do middle class family and has actually been deployed to Iraq, I say the lyrics and the idea behind the lyrics in this song are total crap and the artist has no clue what he’s talking about. As an Air Force member, I continue to serve with people from all walks of life, and the idea that the Iraq War is a poor man’s fight is simply inaccurate and undeniably flawed. Actually, it’s more or less insulting, the idea that somehow all my brothers-in-arms are all poor boys dying for a worthless cause. This is not a poor man’s war with the “rich” somehow cashing in on the death’s of American soldiers.
Recently, the Heritage Foundation actually put out a study that disproves that American military forces are disproportionately poor:
This paper reviews the demographic status of the all-volunteer military and refutes the claim that enlisted troops are underprivileged and come from underprivileged areas. In terms of education, household income, race, and home origin, the troops are more similar than dissimilar to the general population.
Put simply, the current makeup of the all-voluntary military looks like America. Where they are different, the data show that the average soldier is slightly better educated and comes from a slightly wealthier, more rural area. We found that the military (and Army specifically) included a higher proportion of blacks and lower proportions of other minorities but a proportionate number of whites. More important, we found that recruiting was not drawing disproportionately from racially concentrated areas.
It seems like the Congress is still obsessed with the idea that price gouging is to blame for higher gasoline prices…
The House today voted, 284-141, to pass a bill that would make gasoline price gouging a federal offense.
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The legislation would give federal authorities the power during presidentially declared energy emergencies to investigate and prosecute anyone selling fuel at a price that is “unconscionably excessive” or “indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage unusual market conditions.”
The White House contends that the definition of gouging is vague and would make the law difficult to enforce. The administration also questioned the need for the legislation, noting that many states currently have price-gouging laws.
For the last three years, I’ve heard the same rhetorical nonsense from Congress when it comes to gas prices. The problem is NOT price gouging! Here are a few suggestions for Congress about how to deal with high gas prices:
Open ANWR and additional federal lands to drilling
Allow more refinaries
Allow more nuclear power plants
Cut gasoline taxes
Cut taxes for oil companies
Repeal laws regarding mandatory blends
Quit appeasing Iran and actually do something about the threat its Islamic nutcases present to the world
The above are common sense steps to deal with high gasoline prices. Unfortunately, many in Congress aren’t listening.
*Update: I have a problem with how the legislation is worded; it seems some sellers could be penalized if the price of their gasoline…
indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage unusual market conditions.
If this legislation is actually signed into law with language as vague as the language above, I guarantee we’ll see more situations like this in our country:
A service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices.
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But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin’s Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2% more than the wholesale price.
Oh how I love socialist price controls and vague legislation.
Apparently, John McCain and John Cornyn had a “spirited exchange” before going public on the recent immigration deal:
During a meeting Thursday on immigration legislation, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) got into a shouting match when Cornyn started voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive, according to multiple sources — both Democrats and Republicans — who heard firsthand accounts of the exchange from lawmakers who were in the room.
At a bipartisan gathering in an ornate meeting room just off the Senate floor, McCain complained that Cornyn was raising petty objections to a compromise plan being worked out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House. He used a curse word associated with chickens and accused Cornyn of raising the issue just to torpedo a deal.
Things got really heated when Cornyn accused McCain of being too busy campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations, which have gone on for months behind closed doors. “Wait a second here,” Cornyn said to McCain. “I’ve been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You’re out of line.”
McCain, a former Navy pilot, then used language more accustomed to sailors (not to mention the current vice president, who made news a few years back after a verbal encounter with Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont).
“[Expletive] you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” shouted McCain at Cornyn. McCain helped craft a bill in 2006 that passed the Senate but couldn’t be compromised with a House bill that was much tougher on illegal immigrants.
John McCain, you’ve sold out your constituents, your party, and the America people more times than I’d like to mention, especially when it comes to immigration and your back room dealings with Ted Kennedy on any number of issues. I hope Giuliani or Romney pulvarize you in the primaries. You don’t deserve to be President of the United States.
Update: I’ve had enough of McCain’s crap.
After making a few comments, McCain left the Capitol to head to New York for presidential campaign events. Later that day, McCain missed his 43rd straight vote, this on the $2.9 trillion budget outline.
And he has the nerve to jump on Cornyn for legitimate issues when he’s missed 43 votes. Thanks for earning your paycheck Senator…sickening.
Do I think Ron Paul was wrong last night about nonintervention in regards to Al Queda? Absolutely. But is Paul a crazy nutjob? Absolutely not. As I predicted yesterday, Paul’s comments about nonintervention were misinterpreted by the mainstream media and many GOP pundits. Paul was not saying that we were at fault for 9/11, but rather our interventionist foreign policy made an attack like 9/11 more plausible. He also stated that the United States needs to give thought to our interventionist policy, being aware that some of our actions worldwide could cause resentment or “blowback.”
I don’t really agree with Ron Paul in that our foreign policy makes attacks like 9/11 more plausible, but it makes sense that some regions of the world could resent our actions. However, for the sake of the national interest, the world and its “opinion” can stick it. The interests of the United States come first, not the interests of other nations.
Anyway, here’s the YouTube clip - decide for yourself.
Update: Doug Mataconis has a great article on the distortion of Ron Paul’s comments here.