An Epiphany

From a Wise One at The Victory Caucus 

Many Americans have had an epiphany. Congress doesn’t care about them or their concerns. Congress is acting in the best interests of their constituents – and it ain’t us.

In 2005 I had my own epiphany. Congress was attempting to pass a major reform to the bankruptcy laws. They had been trying since 97 with no luck, but it looked like it was going to finally happen. Bankruptcy judges and trustees, those that had to deal with the law every day and for the most part objectively, were almost unanimous in their opposition to the changes. They would be costly, result in no substantial change in outcomes, but limit access to those most in need. Those that taught bankruptcy in law schools thought it was a bad idea. And of course, bankruptcy attorneys thought it was a bad idea. But, “personal responsibility” and “fraud” and “cost to people that were responsible – “bankruptcy costs everyone $400 a year in increased interest costs” – drove the debate. What did ordinary American’s think? That those opposed to the reform had a vested interest in the status quo. Many had “heard of” or “knew” people that gamed the system. This was a bad reform and it has hurt people….but Congress was acting to protect it’s constituents – and it was not those that were in dire financial condition. You may have heard about the 2 million people that rushed to file bankruptcy before the law changed – what you may not have heard was that the large credit issuers, almost without exception, reported NO change in profits during that time…so much for harm….oh, and, has your credit card rates declined over the last 2 years?

My epiphany was that those crazies that oppose congressional bills were NOT just a lunatic fringe not looking at the big picture. Two years ago, I was one of those crazies on the lunatic fringe. How many other bills had I ignored over the years because they really didn’t affect me and a bunch of crazies were predicting doom? How often was Congress passing legislation that was harmful to US, but beneficial to their constituents but I was too [insert appropriate term: lazy, disinterested, stupid, careless, ignorant].

Congress is not used to being called into account and they DON’T LIKE IT. They want us to TRUST THEM…they is from the government and just want to help…

Anti-incumbent movements, term-limiters and third party ranters are looking upon the average Republican or Democrat and saying: see, told ya.

Congress is doing what they were elected to do, represent their constituents….and it is NOT the American people.

Tracy Coyle
former Republican now independent
My blog: Moderate Mainstream

This Explains That!

Wow.  Remember when the SoH Pelosi went to Syria and misrepresented Israel as well as the United States?  Remember that?  We were all wondering what the motivation was and we thought and read and wrote amongst ourselves to the tune that she must be in bed with the Iranian puppet state of Syria.  Well, it appears that this was true after all.  Imagine that.

Fox News: Dick Morris

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has disclosed that she holds stock valued at up to $15,000 in Alcatel-Lucent (formerly Alcatel SA), a company with extensive investments in Iran and Sudan – nations that sponsor terrorism.

The disclosure of Pelosi’s holdings comes at the same time that legislation is making its way through the California legislature barring state pension fund managers from investing in companies, like Alcatel-Lucent, that do business with “terror-friendly” nations.

According to Divestterror.org, a citizens group pushing a South Africa-style disinvestment program to discourage companies from doing business in terror countries, Alcatel-Lucent’s investments in terror countries are so extensive that it is included on the organization’s “dirty dozen” list of offending companies. The organization estimates that the company has invested upwards of $300 million in terror sponsoring nations during the past five years.

According to Divestterror.org, Alcatel is aiding Iran’s terrorist activities by providing state controlled companies with data transmission and switching network capabilities. “These contracts have reportedly included the provision of hardware, software, technologies, and training to Iranian companies.” It is also installing an undersea telecommunications cable in Iran.

Prior to his overthrow, Alcatel carried out major fiber optic products for dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, despite U.S. government warnings to the French company that the project could advance Iraqi military capabilities.

Alcatel is currently “involved in similar telecommunications projects ranging from upgrading networks to the installation underwater fiber optic cables” in Sudan and Libya.

Criticizing Alcatel, former House Armed Services Committee Chairman and current GOP presidential contender Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) expressed his worry over Alcatel’s activities in a letter to President Bush. In it, he wrote, “I am concerned about potential transfers of technology or sensitive information to other countries with which Alcatel has business dealings, which have included Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.”

Florida has passed, and its governor, Charlie Crist, has signed legislation to state pension funds to sell their equities in companies that do business with Iran, Syria, Sudan, or North Korea. Similar legislation has passed in Louisiana and is making its way through state legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Ohio and California. Missouri’s state treasurer Sarah Steelman has implemented a disinvestment strategy administratively.

For the Speaker of the House to own stock in such a company is a particular outrage. She should immediately sell her stock and call on all other members of Congress who hold stock in the company to do likewise.

Only if we send a signal to these companies that their associations with Iran and other terrorist states comes at a huge price can we dissuade them from continued involvement. But if there is a massive selloff of their stock, company executives will feel the pinch in their salaries and bonuses.

Iran is in serious economic trouble. Yesterday, it announced that it would have to ration gasoline – this in a nation with the second largest proven oil reserves. But it can’t get at its oil resources without massive foreign investment. As a result, government revenues from the energy industry have dropped from $55 billion in 2006 to a projected $44 billion in 2007. In a nation where 70 percent of the labor force is employed by the government, the costs in social instability of budget cuts militated by declining energy revenues could be formidable.

Under such pressure, Iran may well have to curb its nuclear ambitions or face the prospect of overthrow by an enraged population.

Mrs. Pelosi: Do your part!

Poor “Progressive” Bloggers!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  This all  too funny!

The poor “progressives” (translation: socialists) are whining about accountability and here we are with the lamest CONgress in history and the LOWEST approval ratings of CONgress in history and who are the “majority”?  Democrats.

Account for that,  moron!

What Will the Leftinistra Say Now?

The words of Tariq Aziz were lies after all?  Who would have thought such a thing?

News Max reports:

UNITED NATIONS — In a wide-ranging comprendium on Saddam Hussein’s secret weapons programs, the U.N. Monitoring, Observation, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) reveals that in late 1989, Saddam’s military launched a modified Scud missile that could have carried a nuclear warhead.

In a document released on Thursday, UNMOVIC states:

“In its only test flight on Dec. 5, 1989, the Al Abid space launch vehicle flew for about 45 seconds before encountering (an unidentified) problem. This space launch vehicle consisting of five Scud engines for its first stage had the potential to deliver a payload, including nuclear, to an intercontinental range.”

The issue of Iraqi nuclear missiles had been periodically raised by Russian authorities when it became known that the Al Abid missile had the potential of reaching Moscow.

The missile was also believed capable of reaching as far west as Paris.

Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, repeatedly waved off Western concerns about the missile program.

Now, it has become clear that such concerns were justified.

The 1,160-page report to be examined by the U.N. Security Council on Friday is likely to be the last by the U.N. inspectors. The U.S. and the UK intend to introduce a resolution to disband the inspection unit.

Down from more than 300 personnel, the remaining 34 UNMOVIC staffers had spent most of their time these days analyzing documents they had impounded before Saddam was overthrown in 2003.

Here Come The Losers…Again!

The Two Muppeteers, Reid and Pelosi,  are at it again.  I guess they firmly desire to further their plunge into obscurity and place their names in The Book of All Time Losers.  What are their approval ratings now?  And why do they cater to the Vocal Minority on a continual basis?  Your answer(s) are as good as my own.  I just know that the two largest losers in the history of the United Stataes CONgress will introduce further loser mentality in the hopes to raise themselves above the primordial ooze in which they are drowning in at the moment.

From The Crypt:

Pelosi, Reid to announce new push to end Iraq war

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are expected tomorrow to  announce a new coordinated effort to force votes in July to end the Iraq war, according to Democratic insiders.

Reid has already publicly declared that Senate Democrats will offer four Iraq-related amendments to the upcoming 2008 Defense authorization bill, including a proposal by Reid and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) to set a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring.

Pelosi is planning to announce that the House will also vote on a bill setting a new withdrawal timetable of April 1, 2008, although the details of the proposal were still up in the air at press time, according to Democratic sources. The House will consider this proposal as a freestanding bill, said the sources.

Pelosi is also planning to force a vote on a proposal by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to repeal the 2002 use-of-force resolution for Iraq. This “deauthorization” proposal may be offered as an amendment to the 2008 Defense spending bill, which the House is scheduled to take up following the week-long July 4th recess.

In addition, House Democrats will push proposals to prohibit the creation of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, as well as a “readiness” initiative similar to that authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). The Webb proposal would limit deployments of U.S. soldiers and marines in Iraq by requiring the Pentagon to keep military units from being sent back to Iraq until they have been stateside as long as they were in the combat zone.

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the powerful Defense subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee and a leader of the anti-war movement, is planning to offer his own new measures as part of the Defense spending bill.

Pelosi has been quietly meeting with various factions within the Democratic Caucus this week on the Iraq initiative, including Blue Dog conservatives skittish about being seen as anti-military, and the Out of Iraq Caucus, whose members have pushed hard for an end to the U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

Both Pelosi and Reid have come to the conclusion that President Bush’s plan for a “surge” in the number of U.S. troops inside Iraq, has failed and that Democrats, despite losing their showdown with Bush and the Republicans over the recent Iraq supplemental funding bill, must continue to force votes to end the war. Gen. David Petraeus is supposed to report back to Congress in September on the state of the “surge,” but Democrats have decided not to wait for his report.

“The surge is a failure, it isn’t working,” said a Democratic aide familiar with the new initiative. “We just can’t leave American soldiers out there dying and not do anything.”

Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the leaders of the Out of Iraq Caucus attended a meeting with Pelosi, other Democratic leaders and the Blue Dog lawmakers today.

After the meeting, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Democratic leaders “are working to build a consensus” within the Caucus on the Iraq proposals, but promised votes all next month on the issue. Hoyer said no date had been scheduled at this time for any of these votes, although the Defense spending bill is set to reach the House floor in mid-July.

And Reid…

CENTCOM Briefs

US CENTCOM Press Releases

3 TERRORISTS KILLED, 26 SUSPECTS DETAINED IN COALITION RAIDS Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:43 AM CDT 3 TERRORISTS KILLED, 26 SUSPECTS DETAINED IN COALITION RAIDS

CLEARING CONTINUES: DRAGONS INTERDICT IEDS, CAPTURE IRANIAN ROCKET MATERIALS Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:28 AM CDT CLEARING CONTINUES: DRAGONS INTERDICT IEDS, CAPTURE IRANIAN ROCKET MATERIALS

POLICE RECRUITING IN NASIR WA SALAM, ABU GHRAIB A ‘RESOUNDING SUCCESS’ Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:23 AM CDT POLICE RECRUITING IN NASIR WA SALAM, ABU GHRAIB A ‘RESOUNDING SUCCESS’

BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS, WEAPONS SEIZED FROM TWO RASHID DISTRICT MOSQUES Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:18 AM CDT BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS, WEAPONS SEIZED FROM TWO RASHID DISTRICT MOSQUES

TROOPS NAB CACHES, INSURGENTS IN THREE SEPARATE EAST BAGHDAD OPERATIONS Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:09 AM CDT TROOPS NAB CACHES, INSURGENTS IN THREE SEPARATE EAST BAGHDAD OPERATIONS

NORTH BABIL’S POLICE GRADUATES, READY FOR ERU TRAINING Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:04 AM CDT NORTH BABIL’S POLICE GRADUATES, READY FOR ERU TRAINING

INSURGENTS LAUNCH MORTARS AT EAST BAGHDAD MARKET Posted: 29 Jun 2007 05:01 AM CDT INSURGENTS LAUNCH MORTARS AT EAST BAGHDAD MARKET

AIRPOWER SUMMARY FOR JUNE 27 Posted: 28 Jun 2007 10:00 AM CDT AIRPOWER SUMMARY FOR JUNE 27

JOINT MILITARY SEMINAR HELD IN BAGHDAD Posted: 28 Jun 2007 09:47 AM CDT JOINT MILITARY SEMINAR HELD IN BAGHDAD

Poll Palsies

NYPost:

Click to enlarge

June 29, 2007 — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the runaway winner over the race’s lone black candidate in the Democratic debate, according to groups of African-American voters in Harlem and Washington, D.C.

In the nation’s capital, 33 undecided voters who identified themselves as people of color and who supported John Kerry in 2004 scored last night’s face-off an overwhelming victory for Clinton.

Twenty-seven participants gave the former first lady the nod, compared to just two who went with Barack Obama.

The voters, gathered in a focus group with GOP pollster Frank Luntz on the Howard University campus outside the debate hall, each evaluated the candidates with a “dial machine” linked to a computer – turning the knobs to the right to 100 for great answers, or to the left to 0 for bombs.

Clinton scored consistently in the 80s, while Luntz’s panelists panned Obama as flat.

Even though the participants preferred Clinton, they went gaga over Obama when he ducked into their viewing room after the debate – whipping out camera phones and posing for photos – with one woman shouting, “We’ll see you in the White House.”

“That’s the idea,” he responded.

The Harlem panel, organized by The Post, had a more mixed response but still leaned to Clinton.

Of 18 voters – eight of whom were truly undecided – six thought Clinton won, two people gave candidate John Edwards the edge, and one gave Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd a nod.

Just one viewer thought Obama won, while eight others picked one of the other of the eight candidates on stage.

“I would have liked to have heard [Obama] give more of [Clinton’s] answers,” said Ernestine Roach, a 66-year-old Harlem denizen who works for the Sanitation Department.

Thomas Donaldson, a 41-year-old lawyer supporting Obama, said, “I think [Hillary] spoke forcefully and with conviction . . . I don’t think it’s a measure of his candidacy. I just think she’s a better performer.”

But Corwin Breeden, 43 – the lone vote for Obama as the debate winner – disagreed, saying, “I think he answered the questions appropriately, and he understands the significance of what black people stand for in this election.”

Pondering the ILLEGAL Alien Legalization

NY Post:

The Senate drove a stake yesterday through President Bush’s plan to legalize millions of unlawful aliens, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.

After the stinging political setback, Bush sounded resigned to defeat.

“Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress’ failure to act on it is a disappointment,” he said in Newport, R.I. “A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn’t find common ground. It didn’t work.”

Dear Mr President.  Guess what?  The MAJORITY of the American people don’t want amnesty for the law breaker aliens.  We are all for LEGAL immigration and welcome the law abiding imigrants with open arms.  Condoning the non-law abiders citizenship is unacceptable.  Get over it. 

The bill’s Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.

Some senators in both parties said the issue is so volatile that Congress is unlikely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will dominate politics.

The vote was a defeat for a bipartisan group of lawmakers who advocated the bill as an imperfect but necessary fix of current immigration practices in which many illegal immigrants use forged documents to live in the United States.

Not only was it “imperfect”, it was retarded and was pushed through on the hopes that the bill  would pass through before anyone knew what it was all  about…behind closed  doors and in “secret”.  That right there doomed it from the get-go.   We caught it and defeated it.

It was a victory for Republican conservatives who strongly criticized pathways to lawful status for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Voting to allow the bill to proceed by ending debate were 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans and independent Joe Lieberman (Conn.). Voting to block the bill were 37 Republicans, 15 Democrats and an independent.

All Democratic presidential candidates in the Senate, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, voted for the bill.

Imagine that.  The Leftinistra leadership sided with GWB to develop a new voter base.  Here’s your sign!  Anything the Leftinistra want is a bad thing for America.  Get over it.  This won’t be the last time the Silent Majority will trounce such ignorant attempts of selling our country to the highest bidder.

What Does It All Mean?

Cops Defuse Central London Car Bomb

Photo: AP Photo/Simon DawsonLondon police have defused a “potentially viable explosive device” in a car in the central theater district. Officials say propane canisters and nuts and bolts were found in car, and the device would have caused significant damage if it had exploded. More…

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 Interactive: Global Terror
 Watch: Expert On British Bomb ScareWas London Bomb Plot Heralded On Web?

CBS News has learned that hours before police dismantled a car bomb in the heart of London’s theater district, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Web forums: “Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed.” More…

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Watch: Expert On British Bomb ScareABC News:

British and U.S. officials have become increasingly convinced that two cars found in London and laden with explosives are part of a “terror plot involving Islamic extremists,” according to ABC News’s Brian Ross.

CNN:

CNN International Security Correspondent Paula Newton said the Piccadilly Circus bomb was potentially aimed at theatergoers or nightclubbers, echoing plots recently thwarted by anti-terror police in which Islamic militants intended to attack prominent dance venues and shopping malls.