EckerNet.Com

Today has been an exercise in patience and temper control. All day long, every immigration resource I have and every activist group I belong to, have been firing on all cylinders. It started this morning and hasn’t stopped since. And they are all repeating the same thing. The DREAM Act is up again, this time as a standalone bill (S. 2205).

The Master of Dirty Procedural Tricks (Senator Reid) is at it again. He has invoked “Rule 14″ which allows him to bring a bill up for a floor vote without going through a committee or having a debate. Once again, if they are trying to ram something through before anyone can take a good look at it, how good can the bill be??

At least three different sources indicate the DREAM Act will be up for a vote on Wednesday. You need to call your Senator now, and then again, and then again, and then again…..you should be noticing a trend here. Essentially you can stop when they turn the switchboards off.

Here are the numbers:

Senator Coleman - 202-224-5641
Senator Klobuchar - 202-224-3244

Rumor is that some of the Senators that voted against this in the past, did so primarily because it was attached to another bill. And now that it’s a standalone they’re willing to consider it. We need to change this!! We need to make sure that they understand that the first 28 times we told them “No!” we meant it.

Perhaps it’s fitting that this version of the DREAM Act is even worse than previous versions.

• AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS
• NO CAP on numbers of illegals given amnesty
• NO AGE LIMIT on “students” given amnesty
• NO STUDENT REQUIREMENT, as the educational requirement can be easily waived
• FEDERAL FINANCIAL AID FOR ILLEGALS who are granted amnesty

Here’s how it’ll go down on Wednesday. There will be two cloture votes. First cloture vote is to bring the bill to the floor. Once it’s on the floor, there will be a chance for Senators to pile even worse amendments. Then there will be a second cloture vote to end “debate” and vote on the bill. The cloture votes are were it is, fourty votes blocks the bill.

Make the calls…

Open Note To Coleman : This is your last chance to at least act like you’re not a completely spineless socialist weasel. At this point I would support a 3-day old serving of peach cobbler over you for the Republican nomination. Care to improve your standing?

[Crossposted at True North]

Well, that was quick….turns out the 2008 elections are already decided. Mostly because they are no unnecessary as one candidate has an overwhelmingly and undefeatable advantage.

Our next president will be former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Why you ask?? Well, Chuck Norris just endorsed him. Are YOU going to argue with the guy?? I sure ain’t. This is a guy that can slam revolving doors. Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

Besides, it’s a common misconception that the United States is a democracy. We’re actually a Chucktatorship, so if he says Huckabee, I guess that is who it will be.

Additional Bonus : We don’t have to put up with all sorts of lame political ads!! Score!

Ok so who watched the latest debate?? Yeah me neither. I watched and followed a few of the first ones, but my interest has quickly flagged. For one it’s damn near impossible to make it interesting when there are 135 candidates on the stage. Here’s an idea, anyone that isn’t polling 5% or greater, you’re out.

Also so far the debates have been a serious of incredibly vague, and completely clueless questions, which the candidate completely ignores to go on their little spiels of whatever. Honestly they could recite their ABCs up there and they’d probably be closer to answering the original question.

So clearly the debates have to be improved. I do like the idea of 10 Questions which many blogs are pushing. However, you still have the problem of about 84 stuffy suits giving overly scripted non-answers to questions.

“Enough!“, you say, “quit your whining unless you have a better idea!“. Well, now that you mention it….

Participants

Any candidate seeking the Republican Party nomination for President who is polling at least 5% in the latest Rasmussen poll. Also present will be a moderators Thomas Sowell, Mary Katherine Ham, and John Stossel.

Audience will consist of at most two party representatives from each district in the state the debate is being held in.

Attire

Ok I admit certain occasions require them. Weddings, Funerals, meeting the Pope, etc. However, I generally distrust them because too many people put on these monkey suits and believe it gives them some air of credibility and then they proceed to feed you BS. If you have a good message/product/speech/etc you can accomplish the same thing in a bathing suit.

However, since none of us want to see any of these candidates in anything even close to a bathing suit, I suggest a compromise. Everyone wears the jersey of their college, or in the event of no advanced degree, then their favorite college.

Setting

The podiums friggin suck. Plus no notes are allowed. So instead we’re all gonna be seated in arm chairs by a fireplace. A “fireside chat” type setting is what I’m looking for. Each armchair will have a end table next to it where they can have a drink of their choice.

Format

Alright, I’m sick of these candidates just feeding people BS and rambling. So each candidate will be attached to a lie detector, and that lie detector will also have a low-voltage wire attached to the candidates testicles. Side Note : This would work for all candidates on both sides if the Democrats want to try this too.

Moderators will also have control over the above mentioned testicular shock wire as well. If you keep talking after they notify you your time is up, you get zapped. Anyone trying to invoke Reagan, 9/11 and/or God in their argument is zapped….twice.

Oh and voltage increases as violations do.

Moderators will ask individuals questions, each participant has to answer the question. Depending on the question you get 2-5 minutes.

Last hour of the debate will consist of questions from the audience, directed towards individual participants.

Questions

So far the questions have sucked. They’re the same boilerplate BS. Most of thm are questions where we already know what the candidate thinks. And these questions have been scripted to death. Here are a few better ones…and remember, candidate’s testicles are attached to a lie detector.

1. Everyone that can potentially vote for you is an adult, keeping that in mind, can you please explain why or why not you feel it necessary for the government to act as our Mommy/Daddy??
2. Please name at least two cabinets you would eliminate and why.
3. Please name at least five entitlement programs you would eliminate and why.
4. When it comes time for appointments, are your cronies taken into account?
5. Will you veto a bill if it contains pork, or at least doesn’t contains enough cuts to pay for said pork?
6. Will you actually seal the border and if you can’t are you willing to resign and let someone who can do it?
7. Imagine you are President, and someone within the federal government leaks secret information to the New York Times….again. What do you do?
8. How many times a day do you read EckerNet.Com??*
9. Would you be willing to consider conducting a cost/benefit analysis on every federal program, especially in regards to whether the private industry would be better at it?
10. Have you ever read the Constitution? Did you understand it? Is it a “living document”?
11. Would you reject your federal pension/healthcare plans and instead be willing to live on the same Social Security/Health Insurance that real Americans do?? Why or why not?
12. Paraphrasing a famous quote it’s been said that a democratic government is only temporary and it dies when the public realizes they can vote themselves public funds. With this in mind would you support removing voting rights for those living on public funds? If not, how do you suggest dealing with this reality??**
13. Balanced Budget Amendment….yes or no? Why or why not?
14. Would you be willing to withdraw from the UN? If not, please explain what purpose you think it serves.
15. Ethanol…if you support it, please explain why it’s not an inefficient government boodoggle. If you oppose it, please explain how you plan to eliminate it.
16. In the second amendment, what does “of the people” mean?

* Note if they answer anything other than “Who?” they should be immediately disqualified from being President.
** I‘m not sure I’d agree with removing voting rights for those receiving public handouts, but I would be fascinated by the answers this generates.

Okay, that strikes me as an infinitely more interesting debate, and more importantly, it’ll throw candidates off their game and hopefully we’ll get to see how they really think about some of the issues.

hehe

The defense industry this year abandoned its decade-long commitment to the Republican Party, funneling the lion share of its contributions to Democratic presidential candidates, especially to Hillary Clinton who far out-paced all her competitors.

Clinton’s major industry benefactors - donors who gave the $4,600 maximum allowed by law — include Roger A. Crone, Boeing’s president of Network and Space Systems; Stanley Roth, Boeing’s Vice President for Asia, International Relations, $4,600; Anne Sullivan, a Raytheon attorney; William Lynn, Raytheon’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations; and Michele Kang, Northrop Grumman Vice President for health science solutions.

Ohhhh, that’s gotta piss off the Code Pinkos

Feel the love….

Kungfublood is excited

War forever! That’s her motto!
Grease that death machine baby, more children’s blood we need more blood from babies now! Vote Clinton for more dead babies!

GladysKnightsPIP explains it all…but don’t question his patriotism

Iran is actually trying to help Iraq rebuild……since Saddam is gone there is an air of cooperation to make the region better for them.Of course the Useless States can’t have that………..precisely the reason Blackwater continues to kill and foment strife between factions.

The evil one is the USA.

TJTelecaster hits all the buzzwords

Hillary is part of The Military Industrial Complex a No Change Candidate..her vote in regard to Iran and naming the Republican guard terrorists goes a long way towards her favoring more War and a senseless needless ruinous War..Idiot sheep will vote for her..she’s no Bush but just the same ole wine in a brand new bottle.

pacificoceanpark demonstrates his tolerance

“The bandwagon”??? yeah follow the others, go and dance to the drums of war. Sheep like you are what got us into the Iraq mess, and Sheep like you wont get us out. Keep that Status Quo going until America is bankrupt and enters the 2nd great depression.Hillary is a fugazi, electing a woman would be a change… but not this corporatist wench.

It’s always more amusing when they eat their own.

It’s getting so that one can almost mark the passage of the seasons by how long ago an amnesty for illegal aliens was offered. Apparently not getting the hint the first five times, Democrats are set to try to force amnesty on us yet again.

Once again, it’s the DREAM Act, which will likely to be offered as an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) on the Senate floor. And once again, things are moving so fast that many staffers don’t even have copies of the amendment. When legislators want to vote on something before anyone has a chance to read it, you know they are trying to hide something.

So it’s pretty likely….and hell, who am I kidding, it’s certain that this version of the DREAM Act is just as bad or worse than past versions.

If you think my darn near constant “amnesty alerts” are getting ridiculous, you’re right. It is ridiculous. But I only react to what our legislators do. They provide the material, I just report the stupidity.

Call your legislators, let them know that when you said “NO!” to amnesty the first five bagillion times, you meant it. And your opinion is not likely to change, no matter how many times they try. Perhaps if they’d stop trying to pass amnesties, they’d have the time to get something done.

So make your calls to both our Senators, and the rest….

Senator Coleman - 202-224-5641
Senator Klobuchar - 202-224-3244

And FYI, both Senator Coleman and Klobuchar are listed as “Unknown” as far as their opinion on the DREAM Act according to FAIR. How’s that for representation folks? Our two senators can’t even make up their minds whether our laws mean anything or not.

I’ve mentioned The Capitolist before, which is basically an online clearing house for Washington DC legislative aides to post random thoughts. It’s an interesting glimpse into the thought process of the inner sanctum of our legislators. Which makes comments like the following all the more amusing.

i can understand republicans going to the mattresses on spending…i really can…but you find your balls on spending over A CHILDREN’S HEALTHCARE BILL!? insanity. pure insanity. You idiots have ruined a once respectable party.

Yeah, here’s the problem with that…it’s not a children’s healthcare bill, much of that money is going to adults and this new expansion of it, would only make that worse. There are roughly 500,000 uncovered children, and while Republicans would prefer those children are covered first, Democrats would like to expand the number of adults covered. Adults…who are not children and therefore could be providing for themselves.

In fact there are some states, that spend more on ADULTS rather than children. And guess who is at the top of the list. That’s right. Minnesota.

Republicans….at least most of them, have recognized that this SCHIP bill is not a “Children’s Healthcare Bill”, it’s an attempt to implement socialized health care. Of course, this makes Republicans who don’t recognize this look even more ridiculous, especially when their state is the one with the greatest mis-use of funds.

Ok I admit, I was away this weekend taking advantage of Minnesota’s pheasant hunting opener. So perhaps I missed a news story or two, but as far as I know Pawlenty hasn’t switched parties. So what am I supposed to make of the fact that he apparently has started worshipping at the Temple of Gore, and wants to find ways to penalize Minnesotans for driving.

First of all, let’s set aside the whole man-made global warming thing being completely ludicrous. What really bothers me is how completely ignorant one would have to be of Minnesotan culture in order to think this is a good idea.

Consider for example, what has been basically a staple of Minnesotan life. During the week, we work our tails off to fund our liberal government’s many many entitlement programs. During the weekend, many go “up north” for the weekend. Okay sure, not every weekend, but many. Sure not everyone has a “cabin on the lake”, but they probably know someone who does. Yeah, it’s not necessarily up north, but it’s outstate (read : far away). Start tacking on fees and penalties and monetary penalties for driving and consider the impact that will have?? How much do those cabins and vacation homes contribute to the Minnesota economy, not to mention our sanity?

Let’s also consider tourism. Minnesota has been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. And largely part of our culture has been to maintain them, and we’ve been very successful without the meddling of the nanny-state. From the boundary waters, to the lake resorts, to the north shore to rolling hills in southern Minnesota. There are alot of outdoors to enjoy. Start adding fees onto all that, and how many out-of-staters are going to want to visit? How many Minnesotans will put aside their plans for a nice trip up to the north shore to instead get that yard work done they’ve been putting off?

And let’s not forget a industry that contributes untold numbers of dollars to the Minnesota economy. Hunting & Fishing. This is a sport that very frequently requires travel, unless one is lucky enough to live on the land that they hunt, or on the lake that they fish. Not to mention that as our metropolitan areas increase and our population is increasingly concentrated there, travel will be increasingly necessary to find decent hunting/fishing areas.

And before you write off that industry entirely, let me remind you that roughly 39% of Minnesota fall into this category, and sportsmen contribute a hell of a lot more to conservation efforts than any environmentalist. Even in the worst case scenario it’s for selfish reasons…they need habitat to hunt on, habitat that will support wildlife. Although I suspect that those are a minority in the sporting community, with many simply having a passion for the outdoors. Putting all sorts of additional fees on this industry is not likely to further your goals.

And while we’re talking about conservation. Can I point out that your damn fool insistence on furthering this agricultural boondoggle, otherwise known as ethanol makes conservation/water quality very very difficult. Massive subsidies on corn usage, makes it harder to convince farmers to restore land to it’s natural state, amongst all sorts of other problems.

Tell you what Pawlenty, take your little blue ribbon committee and stuff a corn cob in your mouths. Stopping the hot air you’re blowing will do more to preserve our environment than any damn fool social engineering you can come up with.

[H/T Rezidral Forcees]

[Crossposted at True North] 

Awhile back a co-worker/friend of mine got offered a really great temporary job assignment and because temp job assignments for our company brings some major benefits, he took it. Down side, it’s in California. BIG downside…it’s in San Fransisco. It’s been a year now and he’s climbing the walls. For good reason….here’s a pic of something he saw at the SF Art Institute not too long ago.

Now I’m not sure how to feel about it. I’m either really amused at the level of discourse the left has sunk to. Or, I’m really sad at what passes for “art” these days. Maybe a little of both.

Perhaps even a slight bit of joy because it makes for an extremely easy blog post, during a time at which I’m suffering for no-time-itis and writer’s block.

And the Ron Paulites wonder why we think they’re nuts.

[H/T: Influence Peddler]