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Taxpayers….Get ready!
Despite crazed lunatic opinion leaders like the NY Times uber-liberal Thomas Friedman running around saying the sky is falling, the folks who actually run the country won a round with Tuesday’s rejection of the socialization of the nation’s mortgage banking industry.
Cheers to those who voted against the so-called bailout and jeers to those who voted “aye.” The vote clearly defined the difference between the big government crowd and conservatives. On this matter, party affiliation matters very little: true conservatives voted no, the others yes. And while a bailout of some sorts is inevitable, the ensuing bill will be far better than the Giveaway to Billionaires Act that went down in flames Tuesday.
Oklahomans know a little more than most with their past economic struggles, and voters are seething over the Republican-led giveaway of hard-earned tax dollars to Oklahoma fat cats in this year’s legislative session.
Just to set the record straight, while Friedman and Speaker Pelosi and the cartoonish Barney Frank try to spin their way out of this by blaming everybody but themselves, even Frank’s own liberal hometown paper knows who is to blame. The idiotic Friedman blames those pesky voters, but this video proves over and over who really was looking the other way as the sub-prime mortgage house of cards was collapsing.
Meanwhile the action shifts to the Senate today. But our hats are off to congressional delegation members Mary Fallin, John Sullivan and Frank Lucas.
Related:
Green Country Values: Green Country Congressman votes, “No!” on the Bailout
Get Right OK: Does Tom Cole still deserve to be called a Conservative?
Okie Politics: Fallin, Lucas and Sullivan pro-Depression Deux
Right On!: Bailout or Ride it Out?
Hat tip: OklahomaHorizonTV
The Hotline: Pickens On Decline In Price Of Oil: “It’ll Go Up Again”
Right On!: Can we drill your BRAINS!?
Denise Bode: Strengthened Dollar Forces Crude Decline
Congress and America united when we suffered from an Arab Oil Embargo in 1973. Now we’re suffering from a Congressional Oil Embargo. This time, America is starting to unite on energy issues but Congress is not doing anything to solve the most urgent problem facing the country.
The Arab Oil Embargo only lasted six months. The Congressional Oil Embargo has lasted for decades and endures to this day.
Congress is now taking its summer six-week break, after months of doing nothing about energy prices (unless you count as action posturing and pretending). And recall that back in 1973, Congress passed legislation within six weeks of the Arab embargo.
A bipartisan group of ten senators, headed by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), claims they have a compromise proposal. But is it for real? One key Republican Senator privately said the group’s efforts were “fake negotiating. Read more…
It’s an ominous sign for your party’s election success when your congressional campaign chair suggests to congressional hopefuls that their two best options for winning are: (1) Throw your party under the bus while you’re in your district. (2) Don’t bother showing up for the convention because it would be a “waste of your time.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told GOP congressional hopefuls on Thursday that they should not be afraid to criticize both political parties – including Republican members of the House.
During a conference call, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman instructed candidates, campaign managers and press secretaries that given the anti-incumbent environment, it could be beneficial for House GOP candidates to distance themselves from politicians they may be serving with next year.
“These [congressional approval] ratings are worse than we had on the eve of losing the majority,” Cole said. “Don’t be afraid to say you are disappointed in fellow Republicans… don’t hesitate to be anti-Washington, D.C.”
The NRCC chief discouraged candidates from attending the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, saying that spending days there would be a “waste of time,” and they would be better off campaigning. Read more…
Related:
The Hill: The Culinary Inquisition: Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.)
By Ernest Istook
Environmentalists thought they had a lock on the current “progressive” Congress.
That lock is being pried open by public outrage about fuel and food prices – the consequence of wayward environmentalism run rampant.
Energy has become the biggest issue in America, and left-leaning politicians are either waking up to it or suffering a nightmare.
The repercussions are still in early stages as the ripple effect goes beyond the price of gasoline.
* Ethanol – the left’s favorite remedy (next to bicycling) – has literally come a cropper. The expansive mandate to substitute food for fuel has driven food prices up while doing little for clean air.
* Efforts to pin the blame elsewhere are not going well. Targeting oil speculators has found little traction. Blaming oil companies for not drilling on every current lease hasn’t worked, because people understand there’s not a gusher in every acre.
* Public opinion supports ending congressional bans on drilling where we know we can find oil and gas, offshore in particular. “Drill here, Drill now, Pay less” is a more popular slogan than “Not in my backyard.”
* Mass transit use is up, but that generates demand for more government spending. (Government subsidies pay for 75 percent of transit costs). Those who ride shift their transportation costs off onto taxpayers. Where will the billions come from to pay for this?
People want solutions, but many in Washington are focused on avoiding blame. Congress has dropped even below lawyers as the least-popular folks in America with 91 percent of Americans NOT approving of Congress’ work. Read more…
Related:
Danny Boy delivering the pork!
While most politicians in Washington are running as fast as they can from earmarks, Congressman Boren doesn’t seem to have gotten the message yet. We’re all for the military and troop preparedness, but is this $35 million dollars in spending really justified?
• $15 million for the Excalibur extended-range artillery projectile. Excalibur is the Army’s only close-fight precision artillery projectile. The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant will be utilized in loading a portion of these shells.
• $8.5 million for Ground Warfare Acoustical Combat System (GWACS) development. GWACS is a small arms and light weapons detection system.
• $6 million for the construction of connecting rail at McAAP. The new rail will connect the existing rail at the 38AT Magazine Group to the existing rail at the Ashland Depot to allow for expedited movement of munitions.
• $4 million for the procurement of ammunition peculiar equipment (APE) out-loading equipment at the McAlester Defense Ammunition Center (DAC), allowing ammunition to be moved more efficiently.
• $1.5 million for power conversion equipment to be used in the research and development of power generation technologies for future naval vessels, including the U.S. Nave DDG-1000 Destroyer Program and the CG(X) Cruiser Program.
After several days of speculation, Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, is giving a public vote of support to National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole.
Cole, the 4th District representative, had come under fire after yet another special election loss, the latest one last week in Mississippi.
Most observers think Cole is being set up for blame by Boehner, who has criticized Cole in the past. “I don’t know what Tom Cole is supposed to do about visionless dolts like John Boehner,” one Washington insider tells OKPNS.
From The Hill:
“Boehner’s leadership has been lacking,” a GOP lobbyist and strategist said.
Boehner last year reportedly called for staffing changes at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), but none happened after NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) refused to make them.
After the party’s devastating loss last week in a Mississippi special election, Boehner did not directly answer the question about whether Cole would stay on at the NRCC. With some of his GOP colleagues calling for quick and decisive action, Boehner lauded a 20-page strategic memo crafted by Rep. Tom Davis (Va.), a former NRCC chairman.
It wasn’t until five days after the Mississippi loss that Boehner provided clarity on whether Cole would be ousted.
“He’s staying,” Boehner said on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday. “And we know the kind of changes that need to be made in order to help our members and help our candidates go out there and do their best in a very difficult environment.”
Boehner said he met with Cole late last week to discuss those changes, but the minority leader’s office declined to detail them on Monday. Read more…
The man tasked with retaking the House of Representatives for Republicans, Oklahoma 4th District Congressman Tom Cole, is on the hot seat after yet another special election loss, but this time after a loss Tuesday night in a Mississippi district President Bush once won by over 25%.
It’s no secret that Cole, the National Republican Campaign Committee chair, is disliked by Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, and Boehner sees Cole as the perfect fall guy in the event House Republicans lose significant ground in the November congressional elections. According to reports, the long knives are coming out.
From Politico.com:
The House Republican Conference was rife with rumors of quick fixes. According to one rumor, retiring Rep. Tom Davis (Va.) would replace Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Another had Boehner recruiting a top White House political aide to revamp the NRCC. Neither seemed likely to happen. Both underscored the desperation Republicans felt to do something, anything, to avoid the November disaster that the special election losses seem to portend.
Cole and his top staff at the NRCC were at the center of this quickly churning rumor mill, but the griping also touched Boehner, who spoke privately with his campaign chief Wednesday.
The two leaders, who sparred last fall over operations at the committee, offered contradictory messages about what changes were afoot.
Cole said speculation about his resignation or the firing of NRCC staff amounted to nothing more than a “Washington parlor game.” Boehner, hinting that a shake-up was coming, said Wednesday morning that he expected House Republican leaders would discuss the party’s problems, and what “changes” might need to be made to address them, in a meeting later in the day. Read more…
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