McCain Linkage

After noticing all of the hits that the McCain 2nd Amendment post started getting, I decided it might be a good idea to take the wraps off the McCain opposition research page that we put together after SC, and post it for all interested readers.

Here you go……………………….

Political contributions and bio

Why is this necessary?

Here is n2l’s explanation.

Useful research sites:

• Congresspedia
• Contractor Misconduct
• DOJ TrainingDB
• Earmark Watch
• FedSpending
• Follow the Money
• Govtrack
• Government Documents
• Legistorm
• LOUIS
• MapLight
• Metavid
• OpenCongress

• OpenCRS
• Open Hearings
• Open Secrets
• OS: Lobbyists
• OS: Revolving Door
• OS: Personal Financial Disclosure
• OS: Travel
• Project Vote Smart
• Taxpayers for Common Sense
• TRAC
• WashingtonWatch

from: sunlight foundation

Kathy Ramsey

McCain on Guns- Not a reliable gun advocate.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjIwYjQyOGQ4OWNhN2I0Nzc1MTE4NmVmZWR…

Supporter of Amnesty for illegal immigrants:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NWMyMzUyMWVhNzQ1YzJhNmEzZTU2ZDlmOTY…

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzFhMjRlYjk3NWJlNGQ4ODMwMjg2MjgzOWM…

Supporter of anti-competitive fuel-emissions standards.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTFiNDkxZjgzNTJjNmMzMGI3MmE4M2ZiMmU…

Weak on Intelligence Gathering and Enemy Interrogations:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTg0NTE5MjRiZDEzZmVmZGRjZWY5NWI3MmY…

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjM3ZTQ5YzVlNmViNzU0ZDcwODI0NGQzNmU…

Active suppressor of Free Speech for Political Action Groups.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmVhYjdlYzJjNzI0NGE2MjRlYTNlMDc0ZDl…

Member of the infamous “Gang of 14”, which impeded the President’s ability to nominate conservative justices.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTYzMDA3N2QyMTFlOTY2ZTExNGI3ZjA2YTh…

Consistently bucking his own party for matters of own self-interest:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTdmMTRkNWViNjVmMTIyYmE3MDFmNDkxODJ…

http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200509270807.asp

Flip Flops on issues just like Romney, but does not own up to them.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=M2M1MTg3NDY0MjhmOTI1YjAyY2U5MzkwYjA…

Would Ronald Reagan endorse your candidacy?

Absolutely the best response of the evening, and Mike Huckabee knocked it out of the park:

HUCKABEE:

I think it would be incredibly presumptuous and even arrogant for me to try to suggest what Ronald Reagan would do, that he would endorse any of us against the others.

Let me just say this, I’m not going to pretend he would endorse me. I wish he would. I would love that, but I endorse him, and I’m going to tell you why.

It wasn’t just his specific policies, but Ronald Reagan was something more than just a policy wonk. He was a man who loved this country, and he inspired this country to believe in itself again.

What made Ronald Reagan a great president was not just the intricacies of his policies, though they were good policies. It was that he loved America and saw it as a good nation and a great nation because of the greatness of its people.

And if we can recapture that, that’s when we recapture the Reagan spirit. It’s that spirit that has a can-do attitude about America’s futures and that makes us love our country whether we’re Democrats or Republicans. And that’s what I believe Ronald Reagan did — he brought this country back together and made us believe in ourselves.

And whether he believes in us, I hope we still believe in those things which made him a great leader and a great American.

Huckabee could go a long way towards rebuilding the Reagan coalition by offering the VP slot to Mitt Romney. It could work.

Reagan Library GOP Debate

Not a bad showing for the four candidates. Well, three. I like Ron Paul, he seems like a nice old man, and pretty smart. But his foreign policy creds are scary, and he is not a serious candidate.

The questions were weighted heavily toward Romney and McCain. At least 4 to 1, I haven’t counted, but it sure seemed that way. Plus, there was someone who would interrupt Huckabee on his few responses. I don’t know if it was Anderson Cooper, or someone else close to a microphone, but it was clearly an attempt to cut him off, when CNN had begun the night saying they would allow each candidate to give full answers without a clock.

The final question of the night, “Would Ronald Reagan endorse your candidacy?”

Huck hit it out of the park. Hopefully it will be up on youtube soon. I’ll post it when available.

Update:  CNN has posted the transcript
AP has more

Huckabee–the big winner

All in all: Huckabee gained ground, McCain probably lost ground, and Romney didn’t help or hurt himself – although he did effectively defend himself. McCain sounded petty – and that’s not the McCain voters know and like.

But to the extent that Huckabee may have made any gains from his performance, Romney’s got bigger worries out of tonight than the Arizona senator. – CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider

Edwards, Guiliani out

John Edwards, and Rudy Guiliani
are both expected to drop out of the Presidential race today.

Huck is probably not far behind.

Tuesday nite cool thread

Florida Primary.  Good news, bad news.  It looks like a McCain night.

It also looks like it’s time for Huck to drop out.  Maybe Rudy too.  Then, it’s McCain v Romney.

Hold the nose and vote for the nominee time.

Enough politics.

This is the Tuesday Night Cool Thread.  Presenting a brand new cool site that I’ve stumbled upon…called,

I Love Music Video.

Just type in the artist that you’re searching for, and voila!

So, naturally, I typed in Stevie Ray Vaughan.

End of Romney campaign?

In last week’s debate in Florida, Gov. Romney responded to the flip-flop accusations with the words: “I can point to a very simple way to find out exactly where I stand, and that is look at my record as governor.”

Mmmmmmkay…..

As governor, Mitt Romney issued an executive order forcing justices of the peace to perform homosexual weddings, or resign. Then he ordered marriage licenses changed to read “party A” and “party B” – instead of “husband” and “wife.”

As governor, Romney appointed a board member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association to the bench, and appointed more Democrat judges than Republicans.

As governor, Romney authored and signed a mandatory heath insurance plan backed by Ted Kennedy – including taxpayer-funded abortion on demand.

As governor, Romney overruled his own health department and forced Catholic hospitals to distribute the morning after abortion pill.

Homosexual marriage?

Tax-funded abortions?

Catholic hospital morning after pills?

Homosexual activist judges?

“Look at my record as governor.”

source: RoeGone.org

=====+++++=====

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VA Links Poor Care to 19 Deaths in Illinois

from AP…

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Substandard care at a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital may have contributed to 19 deaths over the past two years, a VA official said Monday as he apologized to affected families and pledged reform.

The hospital in Marion, Ill., initially drew scrutiny over deaths connected to a single surgeon, but two federal reports found fault with five other doctors.

The hospital undertook many surgeries that its staffing or lack of proper surgical expertise made it ill-equipped to handle, and hospital administrators were too slow to respond once problems surfaced, said Dr. Michael Kussman, U.S. veterans affairs undersecretary for health.

“I can’t tell you how angry we all are and how frustrated we all are. Nothing angers me more than when we don’t do the right thing,” Kussman told reporters during a conference call after releasing findings of the VA’s investigation and summarizing a separate inspector general’s probe.

Still, Kussman insisted, “what happened in Marion is an exception to what otherwise is a truly quality health-care system” across the VA.

The VA will help affected families file administrative claims under the VA’s disability compensation program, he said. Families also could sue.

The VA investigation found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March last year were “directly attributable” to substandard care at the Marion hospital, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.

Kussman declined to identify those cases by patient or doctor, though Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, said those nine deaths were linked to two surgeons he did not name.

Of an additional 34 cases the VA investigated, 10 patients who died received questionable care that complicated their health, Kussman said. Investigators could not determine whether the care actually caused the deaths.

Inpatient surgeries have not been performed at the facility since problems first became public last August. They will remain suspended indefinitely, Kussman said.

In pledging reforms, Kussman said the VA has launched an administrative investigatory board to review care problems and matters raised by employee groups.

The VA last September also installed interim administrators to replace the Marion VA’s director, chief of staff, chief of surgery and an anesthesiologist, moving them to other positions or placing them on leave, Kussman said. The anesthesiologist has since quit, Kussman said.

“The previous leadership will not return” to their former jobs, he said.

The VA’s investigation cited by Kussman covered a two-year span, the VA said.

The inspector general’s office blamed three deaths on substandard care at the Marion site, but that review covered only the past fiscal year, which ended in October, the VA said. That report was not immediately available Monday.

Telephone calls on Monday seeking comment from the Marion VA were directed to spokespeople with the agency’s Washington headquarters.

Neither Kussman nor the VA investigation’s 41 pages of findings named surgeons involved in the deaths, though Kussman acknowledged that much of the criticism has focused on Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez.

Veizaga-Mendez – identified in Monday’s report as “Surgeon A” – resigned from the hospital Aug. 13, three days after a patient from Kentucky bled to death after gallbladder surgery. All inpatient surgeries stopped a short time later.

Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, has said Veizaga-Mendez is linked to 10 patients’ deaths at the Marion facility, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis. Kussman declined to discuss that claim Monday, saying he didn’t want to influence additional internal investigations of six of the site’s surgeons he said had “at least one episode of substandard care.”

Veizaga-Mendez and another surgeon no longer practice at the Marion VA. The remaining four surgeons remain on staff but are “only doing minor cases at this time,” Kussman said.

“We don’t think the physicians killed the patients,” he said. “We think the physicians were trying to care for the patients and did so in an inadequate way.”

Veizaga-Mendez’s whereabouts are unclear. He has has no listed telephone number and has been unreachable for comment.

The Marion VA hired Veizaga-Mendez in January 2006 after he practiced in Massachusetts, where he was under investigation for substandard care in 2004 and 2005. The claims include allegations that he botched seven cases, two ending in deaths.

Veizaga-Mendez was permanently barred from practicing medicine in Massachusetts last November – a disciplinary move that also requires him to resign other state medical licenses he may hold and withdraw pending license applications. He has also made payouts in two Massachusetts malpractice lawsuits.

‘Kidney racket’ exposed in India

Last week, police in Gurgaon, a suburb of the capital Delhi, raided a house which was used to carry out illegal kidney transplants.

Hundreds of poor labourers were tricked into selling kidneys, officials says.

Trade in human organs is banned in India but many continue to sell their kidneys to clients, including Westerners, waiting for transplants.

Gurgaon is an affluent suburb of Delhi, home to high-rise apartment blocks and call centres.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

The article doesn’t say how the laborers are “tricked” into selling their kidneys, but it does say that they are paid $2500.

NowPublic

Tags: DELHI | gurgaon | India | police | banned | CLIENTS | exposed | Health | illegal | including | kidney | LABOURERS | ORGANS | racket | RAIDED | SUBURB | Transplant | Westerners

mu’ta imam and the runaway bride

In an exclusive story, the NY Post blows the lid off the wacky world of Muslim dating in New York….
IMAM E-DATE FROM HELL

A Wall Street stockbroker fears for her life after she rebuffed a Brooklyn imam she met on a Muslim dating Web site.
In an explosive $50 million lawsuit that blows the lid off the wacky world of Muslim dating in New York, Cherine Allaithy alleges the religious leader promised he would make her one of four future wives and boasted of a cousin in al Qaeda. When she dumped him, he trashed her reputation in the Arab press.

The imam, Tarek Youssoff Hassan Saleh, 42, says Allaithy is a loose, mentally unstable woman. He has filed criminal charges against her in Brooklyn for allegedly destroying two computers at the Oulel-Albab mosque in Bay Ridge. He also claims she threatened to frame him for rape.

Allaithy, 32, says she met the imam, who goes by the name Sheikh Saleh, online at the Muslim Matrimonial Network site in May 2007. They courted for a month.

In June, she claims in court documents, Saleh proposed marriage, telling her she would have to start wearing a veil and be subservient to him.

When Allaithy rejected the sheik’s proposal, she alleges, he suggested they have a temporary marriage, or mu’ta, so they could have sex without committing a sin.

Allaithy again declined.

Landslide

With nearly all of the precincts reporting late Saturday night, Obama had 55 per cent of the vote, Clinton had 27 per cent, and Edwards was in third with 18 per cent of the vote.

This sounds like “The Dean Scream,” doesn’t it?

Update:  Well, if the SC Landslide didn’t do it, this will.

Another Tale Of A Sweaty Young Man! The Road Trip To Dagupan!

It was a typical winter morning in the Philippines, sunny and dry, with a high temperature expected to be in the mid 80’s. The Sweaty Young Man, as usual, had been out until after curfew with his friends the night before, and was moving in slow motion, as he showered and dressed for work. Something about the mood and pace of the day seemed odd, and without giving it much thought, the SYM prepared himself for the unexpected, which of course, was to be expected.
It began with a phone call, that the customary pick up by his flight members to take them to the armory for their weapons, was canceled. Tri-Agency Patrol or Town Patrol, as most called it, was short three M-151 jeep type vehicles, as they were in the base motor pool for repairs. The normal number of patrols would be limited, and the motor pool would provide other vehicles when they were available. So the SYM had to catch a ride to the office from his apartment at Del Rosario compound, and from there they would take another patrolman’s personal vehicle to the armory. As they gathered at the office, they checked in with the grave yard shift, which was the shift they would be relieving. It had been a weird night, and morning, as reflected in the police blotter, the unofficial “pass-on” book, as well as the comments and looks in the eyes of the patrolmen. Town Patrol had three eight hour shifts, like so many other organizations, only structured differently, due to the times of day and night when activity was at it’s highest. The day shift was from 10a.m. to 6p.m., swing shift was from 6p.m. to 2a.m., and the graveyard shift was from 2a.m. to 10a.m. Town Patrol had to deal with a crime rate equivalent to Chicago, on a per capita basis, and this included the same types of crimes, as well as the same cause of most, drugs, alcohol, poverty, and testerone.
After relieving the graveyard shift, the normal calls started coming in, as people awoke to find items missing from their houses or cars, disputes of all sorts, and of course car accidents. When the day shift had taken charge of the office, they had been informed that a call had come in from a hospital in Dagupan that was unclear, but concerned a Filipina dependent wife of a member of the USAF. The long distance call was a bad connection, the caller didn’t speak very good English, and there were no native speakers at the office, when the call came in, so the day shift was given a heads-up. Not long after the shift began, another call came in from the Command Post, informing them of the incident in Dagupan, and that the dependent wife had been injured in a car accident the night before, and was admitted into the hospital in Dagupan, with unknown internal injuries. As Town Patrol was responsible for that area of the Island, with any incidents involving U.S. government or civilian personnel, TP was ordered to proceed to the hospital, and escort a USAF ambulance from the Clark AB hospital. They consulted with the NCOIC, and he with the Squadron HQ, as they were already short three vehicles, and would be leaving the office short four vehicles, as this was going to be an all day road trip. More than an hour and a half up, conduct an accident investigation, and escort the ambulance back. It was determined, that the only option was for the SYM, and Sgt. DeLeon, of the Philippine Constabulary(PC), to ride with the ambulance, and at some point, have the ambulance drive them to the accident scene, to conduct the investigation. The ambulance was ordered to the TP office, and they proceeded to Dagupan, as quickly as they could, which wasn’t very quick. The main highway through Luzon island was MacArthur Highway, a congested two lane highway, which combined with the unorthodox traffic customs, made for some interesting traffic maneuvers, especially when accelerating the big block 455 cubic inch Oldsmobile V8, on the long wheel base 1971 Oldsmobile ambulance. It was one big blue bomb, with a red “gumball machine” on the roof, and passing other vehicles was almost too challenging for the young E-3 ambulance driver, who had only been on the island for a few months.
After the tiring trip to Dagupan, the hospital was located, and they found the young woman that had been injured. Everyone at the hospital was gracious and helpful, and wanted to speak English, but things went much more smoothly when Sgt. DeLeon spoke to them in Tagalog. It was learned, shortly after they made contact with the doctor in charge, that the patient they had come for was about to be taken in for exploratory surgery, as they couldn’t determine the source of her bleeding. The medic in charge freaked upon hearing this, and stated they needed to take her out of this hospital and get her back to Clark as quickly as they could. The SYM was not happy. Not only was this woman’s health in jeopardy, but it meant he wouldn’t be able to conduct the investigation he was sent to perform, and that he wouldn’t be able to talk with the tall gorgeous nurse that was showing interest in the SYM. As the SYM realized that getting her to the Clark hospital quickly was the correct thing to do, he reluctantly agreed. The SYM looked into the beautiful dark and deep eyes of the nurse, and informed her that he must leave, to which those gorgeous eyes revealed disappointment, while her soft sweet voice said goodbye.(*sigh*)
The medic in charge stayed in the back with the patient, monitoring her vitals, while the other medic drove, Sgt. DeLeon rode “shotgun,” and the SYM rode in the middle, and since this was now an emergency, they were now Code Three…lights and siren. The big 455ci V8 rumbled along when it could, as they weaved in and out of traffic, getting stuck behind long trailers carrying sugar cane, and watching the gas gauge needle fall every time it accelerated to pass. The SYM was manning the “Federal System” or the electronic siren, with the varied tones, and he played it like a Moog synthesizer, making the high pitched electronic sounds as frightening as possible, gaining maximum impact on those who needed to be passed. The ambulance was rolling along , making good time, though they were all becoming fatigued from the days events, and the tense Code Three ride back, when they came up behind a sugar cane trailer, that wouldn’t cooperate or respond to the emergency signals. The trailer kept the ambulance tied in traffic, unable to pass for more than a mile, when it could have slowed down numerous times, to give them the room they needed to pass safely. Finally, they were able to pass, with a long stretch of highway open ahead, but as they were passing the cab of the truck, Sgt. DeLeon told the driver of the ambulance to slow and stay even with the truck. As they got even with the truck cab, Sgt. D leaned out of the passenger window, as the SYM grabbed his belt. Sgt. D was yelling at the driver of the truck in anger, and as he did, he took his vintage WWII U.S. M1a1 Carbine, and shoved it into the drivers face. The last they saw of the truck, it was headed off the road into a rice paddy. Laughter erupted throughout the ambulance, as the respect the SYM had already had for Sgt. D was observed and shared by the medics. Sgt. D was a warrior, a twenty year veteran of the PC’s, he had helped find Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungle for the G.I.’s when he was a kid, and had fought the Muslim and Maoist terrorist, all over the islands. Sgt. D was a trusted friend, a quiet and wise man, but one who would not tolerate people behaving badly. The SYM knew he would not have shot the truck driver, but the truck driver didn’t know.
After arriving at the main gate of Clark AB, the ambulance dropped the SYM and Sgt. D off, and proceeded to the hospital. The dependent USAF wife would recover from her injuries without surgery, and be able to return to Dagupan to finish visiting her family, before returning to Germany, where her husband was stationed.
The SYM returned to the office, made his official report, including notificatons in the chain of command, and would spend weeks defending his report, after it was kicked back several times for being an incomplete investigation. It took a personal interview with the Base Commander, to put the matter to rest, as it wasn’t possible to return to the scene of the accident, or find the pertinent witnesses, with so much time passing since the accident.
There would be other road trips for the SYM, but none as arousing, funny, noisy, or tense as the road trip to Dagupan.

FL Gov Charlie Crist endorses Mccain

Breaking 7:52 pm EST, Gov Crist endorses John McCain for President.

This is a nice endorsement for McCain. Tuesday’s vote will be close, and this is the type of thing that could move McCain to the top of the pack and keep him there.

Did it look like McCain was chewing gum?

Heh.

Attack of the killer dolphins

New evidence has been compiled by marine scientists that prove the normally placid dolphin is capable of brutal attacks both on innocent fellow marine mammals and, more disturbingly, on its own kind.

Film taken of gangs of dolphins repeatedly ramming baby porpoises, tossing them in the air and pursuing them to the death has solved a long-term mystery of what causes the death of so many of these harmless mammals – but has left animal experts baffled as to the motive.

Another mystery is that the animal ‘murders’ have only been reported in two parts of the world – along Scotland’s East Coast and in America off the beaches of Virginia, where even more alarmingly, the victims were scores of the dolphins’ own young.

The first clues to solving the riddle came in 1997 when, by coincidence, marine biologists in Virginia were finding young, dead dolphins with horrific internal injuries at the same time as young porpoises were washing up on Scotland’s north-east coast with identical causes of death. The body count was growing in both locations.

The two groups of biologists pooled information and, at first, it was believed the mammals had died through ‘blast trauma’. In American cases, this was supposedly from exercises by the US Navy, and in Scotland from air guns used by oil rig technicians to detect undersea caverns.

This theory was dismissed after further examination of the mammals’ bodies revealed the injuries – broken ribs, imploding lungs, damaged livers and massive internal bleeding – could only have come from prolonged, focused attacks.

When tell-tale teeth-marks were identified, the dolphin – the mammal classified as one of the world’s most intelligent, sensitive and sociable creatures – became the official suspect.

Confirmation of the murders came by way of two shocking films shot by holidaymakers.

The first was initially believed to show a dolphin fishing for salmon – until closer examination revealed a relentless attack on a porpoise, its body spinning round with such force that its back was broken and its soft tissue shattered.

Marine experts now believe that these displays of attacks on non-rival, non-predatory, peace-loving porpoises and, more shockingly, of dolphin infanticide, may have always taken place. Source: UK Telegraph

Killer gangs of dolphin murderers? Dolphin on dolphin crime? What in Neptune’s name is going on here??

This looks like a good spot for an open thread.

Libyan connection to violence in Mosul

From AP:

A devastating explosion in northern Iraq was spearheaded by foreign fighters under the sponsorship of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader, a security chief for Sunni tribesmen who rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq said Saturday.

Col. Jubair Rashid Naief, who also is a police official in Anbar province, said the Anbar Awakening Council had alerted the U.S. military to the possible arrival in the northern city of Mosul of the Seifaddin Regiment, made up of about 150 foreign and Iraqi fighters, as long as three months ago.

The U.S. military did not immediately respond to an e-mail request for comment about Naief’s claim.

“They crossed the Syrian border nearest to Mosul within the last two to three months. Since then, they have taken up positions in the city and begun blowing up cars and launching other terror operations,” Naief told The Associated Press.

Roggio has more.

Abolish the IRS

Why not?

Go Mike!

WFFOT: Aaaaaaaaay!

By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
MILWAUKEE (AP) – The ultra-cool Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli is coming to Milwaukee – permanently. A bronze statue of the leather-jacketed biker from “Happy Days” will be erected in Milwaukee, where the TV sitcom was set, now that local groups have raised the $85,000 needed to do it.”Holy mackerel!” said actor Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie during the show’s run from 1974 to 1984, when he first heard about the effort to immortalize the character.

“The second thing that hit me was, ‘What a phenomenal compliment,'” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview this week from his home in California. “I mean it’s not often you have a dream when you’re 7 lying in your bed, you get to live your dream out and then someone is going to erect a life-size statue of your creation.

This is the World Famous Friday Open Thread. A Free Speech Zone.  Trackbacks welcome.

WFFOT: It’s Friday…. Aaaaaaaaay!

Fiscon Identity Politics

“I would also suggest that one needs to look very carefully at exactly what the business record is,” Huckabee said.”If it’s taking companies that are in serious trouble, buying them when they are in pain, selling off their assets, then making huge profit off of it then that’s not something a lot of Americans can relate to, except those that have lost their jobs because of those kind of transactions.If that’s the turnaround then there are a lot of Americans who do not want to see their lives turned around like that.” source

Before taking a morning jog in Ft. Lauderdale, Mike Huckabee’s remarks regarding Mitt Romney’s business record drew a very sharp distinction between the vision of conservatism espoused by Wall Street Republicans and Main Street Republicans. It is a distinction drawn previously by both Huckabee and Duncan Hunter, and one that has come into increasing focus as the economy emerges as the top issue in the campaign.

Ironically, it is the success of the Bush national security policy, and the counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq that has diminished the war and national security as the primary focus of the campaign. But, if the economy is Romney’s supposed strong suit, a closer look at his record in the private equity business is warranted.

…as the leader of private equity firm Bain Capital from 1984 to 1999, Romney’s record shows that while some of the firm’s investments helped companies grow, others ended in thousands of layoffs, and in some cases, bankruptcy.

Layoffs are a common result of private equity takeovers, with Bain Capital no exception….

Companies such as office supplier Staples Inc. and pizza company Domino’s were successful Bain investments under Romney.

But medical test maker Dade Behring, circuit board maker DDi, American Pad & Paper and auto parts company Cambridge Industries are among the companies that went bankrupt after Bain invested in them with Romney at the helm….

The private equity model is built on loading companies up with debt — which can ultimately prove too heavy a load for the business, as was the case with DDi.

Bain invested $46 million in DDi in October 1997 and later sold shares worth at least $93 million, according to a report by the Orange County Register newspaper. The Anaheim, California, company ultimately went bankrupt, laying off 2,100 employees. source

“It always makes sense to fight for every single good job.”

This was Mitt’s campaign rhetoric in Michigan and SC. It makes perfect sense for a candidate for President to say this.

But, if this had been his attitude as a businessman, this is certain: He would not have amassed the personal fortune that is financing his run for the Presidency, and thousands of “good jobs” at DDI, American Pad and Paper, Cambridge Industries, and others might still be around.

It does help to explain, however the club for growth’s enthusiastic support for Romney, despite his less than sterling fiscal record as governor of Massachusetts — he’s one of their own.

“his support for broad-based tax cuts in liberal Massachusetts together with his enthusiastic embrace of the Bush tax cuts on the campaign trail offers hope that Governor Romney’s previous ambivalence on tax policy is more a function of Massachusetts politics than his core beliefs.”

Ah yes. hope!

The fiscal record of Romney is somewhat similar to Huckabee. They both governed Democrat majority states as pragmatic conservatives. But Romney comports himself as a fiscon, so establishment Republicans give him a pass, and praise his record as offering hope.

He’s one of their own. More “identity politics?”

==========

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Police: Woman Thinks She’s Being Fired, Sabotages Boss

A Jacksonville woman is facing charges after police say she sabotaged the business from which she thought she was being fired by erasing some important computer files.

With the stroke of a computer key and by pulling some important cables police said 41-year-old Marie Cooley nearly destroyed $2.5 million worth of computer files at a Southside architect company.

Investigators said Cooley thought she was being fired, so she deleted expensive drawings in an attempt to incapacitate her boss’ computer system to get revenge.

Source: news4jax.com

As it turns out, Ms. Cooley was not going to be fired.

But, I doubt she will be getting much of a job reference from her former boss.

NowPublic

Tags: Jacksonville | police | being | BOSS | Computer | FIRED | People | sabotages | thinks

A toon’s eye view of the GOP Primary

From Politico.com

Darwinian Splodeydope

We have an early favorite for the 2008 Darwin Awards, and winner of posthumous Splodeydope Merit Badge, while wounding three others in the city of Khost, Afghanistan………

A WOULD-be suicide bomber fell down a flight of stairs and blew himself up as he headed out for an attack in Afghanistan, police say.

It was the second such incident in two days, with another man killing himself and three others on Tuesday when his bomb-filled waistcoat exploded as he was putting it on in the southern town of Lashkar Gah.

Yesterday’s blast was in a busy market area of the eastern town of Khost, a deputy provincial police chief said.

The would-be attacker tripped as he was leaving a building apparently to target an opening ceremony for a mosque that was expected to be attended by Afghan and international military officials, said Sakhi Mir.

“Coming down the stairs, he fell down and exploded. Two civilian women and a man were wounded,” Mir said.

source

Wednesday Reading List

Courtesy of Boortz

Bill Clinton falls asleep during an MLK event. Wow, that’s REALLY gonna help Hillary in South Carolina, isn’t it? Sorry folks, thought this was on the Nuze yesterday.

Here’s a print and save story for you. A comparison of all the candidates and where they stand on the issues important to our country.

Hillary Clinton is trying to paint Barack Obama as a flip-flopper when it comes to healthcare. She is upset because his plan really isn’t “universal.” In other words, it doesn’t make the government strong enough.

Coming soon to a left-wing campus near you. A global warming “teach in!” Can’t wait! My guess is that Emory will be first in Atlanta .. then Ga. State to be followed up by Georgia Tech.

Looks like my friend Congressman John Linder decided to pen a little column about Mike Huckabee!

Michelle (sigh!) Malkin says that McCain still hasn’t learned his lesson on the subject of immigration and illegal aliens.

The U.N. Security Council’s permanent members have agreed to a new draft resolution on sanctions against Iran, which includes moderately expanding existing sanctions.

There’s a Hitler suite at a hotel in Yugoslavia. Jews aren’t amused.

Oh great. Now it’s Venezuelans running off to Florida … to get away from Hugo the Hideous.

MoveOn Democrat party officials are getting a little antsy about the feud between Hillary and Obama. Hey … we’re lovin’ it!

The Wall Street Journal says that Obama is just now starting to realize that the Clintons will do anything .. and that means anything … to win.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd says that more action is needed to aid housing and financial markets, despite the emergency Federal Reserve interest rate cut. I’m sure that Dodd is talking about bailing out borrowers who borrowed money they knew or should have known they couldn’t pay back.

This isn’t a good start to fixing our absurd obsession with pork barrel spending. President Bush says he’s unlikely to defy Congress on spending for pet projects, but he might insist that lawmakers provide more justification for earmarks in the future. And so it has been for the past seven-plus years.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Muslim inmates cannot sue the government if copies or the Koran or their prayer rug go missing. Ahhhh. A victory.

Osama bin Laden’s son says that his father is “very sorry when he does something like 11 September.” Gee, I feel better now. What do you say we just let him slide.

Here’s a taste of the “blasphemous” movie on Islam, made by a Dutch politician. The mobs are gearing up to protest. Me? I’m looking for a DVD.

Senator Byron Dorgan is upset that starting January 31st you will have to show a birth certificate or passport to cross the Canadian border.

How much taxpayer money will be spent to ensure that these endangered frogs don’t go extinct?

The “Today” show tried a little stunt where they all carpooled to work together to “save the environment.” That didn’t work out so well.

A popular Dutch merchant is selling items with the image of Anne Frank wearing a kaffiyeh – the symbol of Palestinian terrorism.

In Britain, one out of every four people who contacted a debt helpline last year admitted that some of their financial woes were because they spent too much money on sex. Remember, my friends. There is no such thing as free sex.

Wow is this kid a piece of work. Congrats to the parents for raising such a productive member of society!

In an effort to save our inbox, the book Neal mentioned by Chris Crowley was Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy—Until You’re 80 and Beyond.

The Lynching of David Seanor

Has it really come to this? Have the forces of political correctness so taken over that we can’t even discuss the topic of race in this country without being labeled racist?

You may have heard of the controversy created when Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman, in a moment of breathtaking stupidity, said that the only way to beat Tiger Woods would be to “lynch him in a back alley”, a comment which practically had co-host Nick Faldo scrambling for a crowbar to help her get her foot out of her mouth.

Nice going, Kelly. Given the number of black men who really have been lynched in back alleys, the remark was profoundly stupid, insensitive, and unfunny.

Not surprisingly, this caused a major uproar. Al Sharpton, the man who has never met a television camera he didn’t like, predictably called for her firing. Interestingly, Tiger Woods himself, acting with characteristic maturity, downplayed the whole incident, and accepted Tilghman’s apology. Tilghman was suspended for two weeks.

Enter Golfweek Magazine. Again not surprisingly, they ran an article on the whole sorry affair, and the cover of that issue (pictured above) featured a startling image of a noose.

This caused even more of an outcry than the story it was covering. Faced with (what else?) the threat of advertisers walking out the door, Golfweek fired editor David Seanor.

Am I the only one who sees a certain irony in all of this? Kelly Tilghman makes a stupid, racially insensitive remark, and gets off with a slap on the wrist. David Seanor attempts to examine not only this incident but also the larger issue of race as it relates to this overwhelmingly white sport, and he loses his job.

Seanor explained to the Associated Press, “Most people who are objecting to it—within the golf industry—are saying this episode was just about over,” Seanor said. “I think it’s indicative of how, when you bring race and golf into the same sentence, everyone recoils…I wish we could have come up with something that made the same statement but didn’t create as much negative reaction…but as this has unfolded, I’m glad there’s dialogue. Let’s talk about this, and the lack of diversity in golf.”

Now before you start sending me the hate mail, let me make something perfectly clear. Blacks have gotten screwed in this country for hundreds of years. The way blacks have been treated in this country is an evil blot on our history. Whites, at least some of them, have much to answer for.

But what is so very troubling about this is how when the subject of race rears its ugly head, rationality seems to be the first victim. Seanor’s heart was, from all accounts, in the right place. Golf is just about the most lily white sport there is–to this day there are country clubs which don‘t allow blacks–and this incident provided an admirable place to examine this issue. What we have here is a classic case of shooting the messenger.

Was David Seanor being provocative? Sure he was, but last time I checked, that’s what editors are supposed to be. Even if he did cross the line, what was warranted, at most, was an apology, and frankly, I don’t think he has anything to apologize for. As editor, his job is to intrigue the reader, make you want to read the article, and hopefully, make you think.

This has not happened here. Indeed, people seem to have stopped thinking. Sadly, it seems as though everyone is too busy focusing on the cover to actually read the article. Had they done so, they would have read a thoughtful exposition of not only the controversy in question, but of the issue of race in golf in general.

But even more troubling is how the notion of freedom of speech is being subverted by political correctness, which is in reality nothing less odious than censorship masquerading as benevolence. If the concept of freedom speech is to have any validity, then it must apply to everyone, not just to those who are saying what you want to hear. Not everything that is said is going to be intelligent, or kind. But the price you pay for being able to say or write what you want, is that you have to put up with everyone else saying and writing what they want.

As I read this story, all I could think of was the stories of David Howard, a Washington, D. C. mayoral staffer, and Stephanie Bell, a fourth grade teacher from Wilmington, NC, who both got themselves into hot water for using the word “niggardly“, a word which has absolutely no racial connotations except to the uneducated and hyper-politically correct. David Howard lost his job. Stephanie Bell was ordered to write a written apology and attend sensitivity training! This is what happens when political correctness replaces factual discourse.

As a strange little sequel to all this, I read in the paper yesterday that, when asked if Bill Clinton was the “first black president”, Barak Obama stated that he would have to “investigate [Clinton’s] dancing ability” before he could “accurately judge whether [Clinton] was in fact a brother”. So, like any good American, I checked out the video.

The audience laughed. Hillary laughed. I laughed. John Edwards looked extremely uncomfortable, as well he should have. He knows damn well that if he had been that “witty” he’d be out of the race by now. You can check out the video here.

What is happening in this country is that this most cherished of our freedoms is being eroded by the twin forces of political correctness and advertising dollars. What Kelly Tilghman said was stupid, but she did not deserve to lose her job. In fact, it seems as though the Golf Channel wasn’t going to punish her at all until it was pressured by advertisers, resulting in her two week suspension.

Is it fair that David Seanor, whose only crime was a desire to report the incident and create dialogue, should suffer a worse fate than Kelly Tilghman? I think not. It bodes ill for us all if we cannot even discuss the issue of race in this country without being labeled racist.

-Smith

The Reluctant Candidate

Fred Thompson’s supporters are rightfully disappointed. Today was a tough one.

I’ve often thought, and several times written, that if Fred wanted the nomination half as much as his supporters wanted him to have it, the whole thing would have been wrapped up in Carolina.

He had everything going for him: momentum, money, star power, name recognition. Everything except presidential ambition. Carl Cameron has the background story……..

“Now It Can Be Told — The Thompson Story”

I reported first that [Fred] was eyeing a White House bid [in March 2007]. At the time several insiders told me OFF THE RECORD that it was largely a trial balloon to gauge his popularity and float his name as a possible vice presidential nominee. I was sworn to silence.

Those insiders have now lifted the conditions on our conversations. From March to August of 07 through postponed announcement days, staff changes, firings, resignations and general disarray the Thompson camp was stunned by the incredibly positive response and didn’t really know how to manage it. The trial balloon soared mighty high and he found himself being dragged into a race that he was not even sure how to run.

He took third in Iowa and Third in South Carolina, after which his aides openly suggested the #2 slot on the ticket. The circle has been closed, and Fred Dalton Thompson is waiting to see if he gets the call from the eventual nominee.

He has not said who he will endorse. He is friends with John McCain. But if he doesn’t throw his support behind anyone …it makes it easier to be picked by everyone.

Will border security get the attention it deserves?

There is a war going on in Mexico. It is being felt on both sides of the border. Mexican forces are not only hunting drug cartel leaders, but also going after their hired muscle, like the Zetas, who terrorize the towns they control.

From NYTimes

…[Mexican] troops, along with thousands of federal agents, have begun putting pressure on drug gangs, the midlevel mobsters and hit men have put up a surprising amount of resistance. Again and again, they have chosen to fight it out rather than surrender.

They have ambushed and killed more than 20 police officers this year. In the past two weeks, four federal agents and three Baja California police commanders have been assassinated, along with the wife and child of one of them, apparently in retaliation for arrests, law enforcement officials said.

That violence has spread to the United States. On Saturday morning, drug-smuggling suspects from Mexico killed an American border patrol agent, Luis Aguilar, 32, when he tried to stop their cars in sand dunes about 20 miles west of Yuma, Ariz., then fled back across the border. Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, said the killing demonstrated how Mexican criminal organizations had responded to the crackdown on their operations with increasing brutality.

“The Zetas are defying the state,” said Jorge Chabat, an expert on narcotics trafficking and security at CIDE, a Mexican research group. “This operation in the north of Mexico in recent days has no precedent.”

The best choice for Reagan supporters

Rep. John Linder (R-GA) has penned an interesting recollection of the early days of the Reagan Revolution — and how they compare to Mike Huckabee’s campaign.  His essay appears in The Gwinnett Daily Post.

I was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives 34 years ago. I have watched this party change for a long time. Some changes have been better than others.

Two years after that first election, I went to work on the Reagan campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. I was one of the leaders of that campaign in Georgia, and my friend, Paul Coverdell, led the establishment’s efforts to nominate President Ford.

It was the typical establishment-versus-interloper campaign. Most of the friends I had made in the party were in the establishment. Most of them thought the nomination of Ronald Reagan was not only impractical, but would destroy our party.

Reagan had just served two terms as the governor of California. His record was not all that conservative. He signed the biggest tax increase in the history of the state. He got the best he could get with a Democrat-dominated general assembly. He signed a bill legalizing abortion. But governors have different challenges than presidents.

Frankly, most of the establishment couldn’t have cared less about abortion. They thought the discussion of it was, well, tacky. But we were, at the time, the party that Barry built, and the new foot soldiers cared about abortion.

Their concern with Reagan was that he just wasn’t up to it. What did he know about foreign policy? How could he stand up to the Soviets? Did he understand detente?

During that campaign, as in all campaigns, the establishment sat at the head table, and the rest of us milled around the small round tables below.

Coverdell approached me, after Ford had won the first several primaries, and urged me to switch sides. Paul was convinced that Ford had the best chance of winning. Paul recited all of the reservations mentioned above and then said, “John, Reagan cannot win. No one will take him seriously.” That was also the consensus of the Republican writers and commentators.

I said, “Paul, I think politics is all about what you believe. I know what Reagan believes. I have no idea what Ford believes. But you need to watch Reagan connect with the people. He is the best communicator I have ever seen. He is bringing new people into the party. And these are folks you won’t be meeting at the club for lunch. They carry a lunch bucket to work. Or a brown paper bag.”

Four years later, I worked again for Reagan and Paul worked for George H. W. Bush. Again, the Wall Street crowd sat at the head table, and the Main Street crowd sat at the small round tables on the floor.

The same arguments came from the establishment. His tax cut idea was a “riverboat gamble.” In fact, his tax cuts doubled the size of the economy and doubled revenues to the treasury. Unfortunately, they spent that and more.

Reagan didn’t understand that the world is a dangerous place and dealing with the Soviets required a more “understanding” policy. It also required a willingness to sign more treaties. They didn’t know that Reagan had no interest in understanding the Soviets. He wanted communism consigned to “the ash heap of history.”

It was a neverending series of put-downs until New Hampshire. Then it was over.

Reagan won that election with the support of Larry Lunch-bucket and Betty Brownbag. They were called the Reagan Democrats. When we celebrated that victory, I asked some of them why they chose to join us. They said, “When he talked, we felt that he was talking to us.” The Reagan Democrats believe they have been ignored since 1988.

The establishment doesn’t like change. They have always felt that their seats at the head table were threatened by those new to the club. The establishment that so ardently opposed Reagan’s nomination in 1980 crawled all over each other to chair his 1984 race.

Today they now see themselves as those who put Reagan in power. His presidency was their presidency. They believe they are the keepers of the flame.

Today’s establishment includes elected officials, consultants, lobbyists and even conservative writers and commentators. Unless you allow them to write the rules and approve of your positions you are unwelcome. Anyone who does not genuflect before their altar is “not conservative.”

When you look at the many fine candidates seeking the Republican nomination for president, who do you believe can best speak to those Reagan Democrats?

I believe that candidate is Mike Huckabee.

When Reagan became president, one of his first moves was to reduce income taxes from 70 percent to 50 percent and ultimately down to 28 percent. As pointed out above, both the size of the economy and the federal revenues doubled in eight years.

Huckabee doesn’t want to lower income taxes. He wants to abolish them – along with the IRS, the most intrusive, coercive and corrosive federal agency ever. Mike would replace those taxes on income with a sales tax – the FairTax. Every American will become a voluntary taxpayer paying taxes when you choose, as much as you choose, by how you choose to spend. How conservative can one get?