George McGovern’s Good Deed by Gregg Hilton

 

Former Sen. George McGovern (D-SD) died this morning. You are supposed to speak kindly of the departed, and McGovern did have an admirable record in World War II. However, during his 18 years in the Senate he represented the worst of the radical left, and always advocated unilateral disarmament.

He does deserve credit for admitting some of his mistakes. His Stratford Inn in Connecticut went bankrupt in 1991 primarily because of excessive government regulations.
McGovern said he understood why people did not like him, and wished he had run a business before he began legislating on things that affected them. He wrote: “After two and a half years with the loss of all my earnings from nearly a decade of post-Senate lecture tours, I gave up on the Stratford Inn. But not before learning some painful and valuable lessons.
“I learned first of all that over the past 20 years America has become the most litigious society in the world. Today Americans sue one another at the drop of a hat — almost on the spur of the moment.”
He said we need to “cut down vastly on the incredible paperwork, the complicated tax forms, the number of minute regulations, and the seemingly endless reporting requirements that afflict American business. Many businesses, especially small independents such as the Stratford Inn, simply can’t pass such costs on to their customers and remain competitive or profitable.
“If I were back in the U.S. Senate or in the White House, I would ask a lot of questions before I voted for any more burdens on the thousands of struggling businesses across the nation.”
Three years ago McGovern again broke with the left when he came out in opposition to the union card check legislation.

RIP Newsweek 1933-2012.

This morning it was announced that Newsweek is ending its print version, and in 2013 will be all digital. After 80 years in print, the magazine will finally be off the newsstands. Its decline has been obvious, and we are not sorry to see them go.
Two years ago Tina Brown bought the magazine and made it a unit of her upstart online Daily Beast news service. The magazine changed from a streamlined format to a dumbed-down picture book, and despite this cover, its liberal bias was worse than ever.
Chris Harper says “As a former Newsweek reporter when it was a good magazine, I wish Tina Brown and Barry Diller would simply move on without the Newsweek brand.”

Flashback: Arlen’s Specter’s 1980 Campaign

 

The funeral of former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), 82, was yesterday, and for 29 years he was one of the vanishing breed of liberal Republicans. Specter left the GOP after the stimulus vote when his own poll indicated he would lose a Republican primary. He should have known better when he cut a deal with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Reid promised to maintain Specter’s seniority but it never happened. Specter was put on the bottom of all four of his committees when he became a Democrat.
When Specter switched, there were many articles indicating this signaled the end for Pennsylvania Republicans. Fortunately they were wrong. In 2010, the GOP recaptured Specter’s seat, the Governorship and five Congressional Districts.
This September 1980 photo was from a very unusual campaign. It was one of the few times a Democrat ran to the right of the Republican. Specter’s opponent was former Pittsburgh Mayor Pete Flaherty, who had switched from Republican to Democrat, while Specter had switched from Democrat to Republican.
Flaherty had been elected Mayor after criticizing the Democrats unbalanced budget. He attacked labor unions, opposed busing, balanced the budget and was to the right of Specter on social issues. Flaherty cut the city’s payroll from over 7,000 to less than 5,000, and repeatedly cut property and wage taxes.
We know Specter’s vote was needed to ensure the first GOP Senate majority since 1954, but we do wish there more fiscally conservative Democrats like Flaherty.

Kyrsten Sinema Tries to Hide Her Radical Past in Congressional Campaign

 

Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) continues to be the frontrunner and may soon represent a new Congressional District. She was an Obama delegate, served on the White House Health Reform Task Force, and was with the President when Obamacare was signed. She has visited the White House at least 25 times.
The GOP has plenty of ammunition against her, but this is a tough district. Sinema led a war protest while wearing a pink tutu in her role of spokesperson for the Green Party. In 2003, she recalled “singing and spiraling” in a “pagan” dance pit in Miami during another anti-war rally.
In discussing women who do not have outside jobs she said “These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they’re choosing to live that life. That’s bullshit. I mean, what the f–k are we really talking about here?”
After the 9/11 attack she organized the Arizona Alliance for Peace and Justice (AAPJ), which denounces U.S. military aid to Israel. In accordance with AAPJ’s commitment to “world disarmament,” Sinema wrote that US military and political leaders have “blood on their hands,” and stated her opposition to using any military force to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. She has also accused the police of “repression and brutality.”

What Was Obama’s Biggest Lie?

There is a lot of competition for that title, but a top contender would have to be this comment during the third 2008 debate with John McCain (see below link).
It was moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS who said next year there would be and “astounding $455 billion deficit,” and Obama’s proposals would add another $200 billion to the deficit. The then Senator responded “What I have done throughout this campaign is to promise a net spendng cut.”
He described himself as a “strong proponent of pay as you go (PAY-GO). Every dollar that I have proposed spending, I have proposed an additional cut. So that it matches. . . We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don’t work. I want to go through the federal budget line by line.”
Unfortunately, all of this was a complete lie. Obama never considered a net spending cut and of course it was not included in his proposed budgets. PAY-GO was passed by the Democratic Congress in early 2007, but they never once complied with it. The real farce was the news media which portrayed liberal Democrats as deficit hawks in 2006 and 2008.
Some of the other contending statements for biggest lie would be:

• I’ve done more for Israel’s security than any President ever.
• The GOP is responsible for Obama jobs bill not passing.
• Then you’ve got their (GOP) position which is dirtier air, dirtier water and less people with health insurance.
• The rich don’t pay their fair share.
• The health care bill will not increase the deficit by one dime.
• If you like the health care plan you have, you can keep it.
• We have run out of places in the US to drill for oil.
• We will cut deficit in half by end of the first term.
• Health care negotiations will be covered on C-Span.
• The unemployment rate will be 5.3% with the stimulus.
• “I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage”.
• Guantanamo Bay will be closed within a year.
• Didn’t know Jeremiah Wright was a radical.
• We will have the most transparent administration in history.
• I have visited all 57 states.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOZpJ4rSITo&feature=player_embedded

43rd Anniversary: What if Chappaquiddick Never Happened?

On this date in 1969, a car driven by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha’s Vineyard. Kennedy’s 28 year old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne died by drowning.
The Senator waited 10 hours before reporting the accident, but was never able to give a convincing explanation of his strange behavior. His license was suspended for six months. At the time of the incident, Kennedy was the nation’s most prominent potential Democratic presidential candidate.
If it had not happened, he may have still passed on a 1972 campaign against President Richard Nixon. He was only 40 that year. 1976 would have been a more realistic time for him, and it was an excellent year for Democrats.
When he did try to deny Jimmy Carter’s 1980 renomination, the Chappaquiddick incident haunted him and helped destroyed his chances. Writing in his book “True Compass,” which was published a week after his death, Kennedy described his actions as “inexcusable” and said that at the time he was afraid, overwhelmed “and made terrible decisions.”
Kennedy said he had to live with the guilt of his actions for four decades but that Miss Kopechne’s family had to endure far worse. “Atonement is a process that never ends,” he wrote.
The news media was relatively easy on Kennedy in 1969, and he was not forced to answer many difficult questions. That would not be allowed today. Kennedy’s popularity obviously declined, but even after Chappaquiddick, he still had a 58% approval rating in 1969, and was easily reelected in 1970

What Was The Worst Political Joke in U.S. History?

There are many candidates for this distinction, but the consequences were certainly devastating for Gov. John Gilligan (D-OH) in 1974. He is shown in 2009 with his daughter, Obama’s HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She is a former Kansas Governor and they are the only father-daughter governors in U.S. history.
The 1974 election occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The scandal allowed the Democrats to take 49 seats from the GOP in the U.S. House, and increased their majority above the two-thirds mark. One of the few bright spots for Republicans was Gilligan’s defeat for re-election.
Gilligan was an advocate of the first state income tax, and it was passed during his tenure. It was the major issue in the campaign, and Gilligan made it worse when he visited the state fair. He was asked if he was planning to attend the sheep shearing contest, and responded “I don’t shear sheep, I shear taxpayers.”
The comment was repeated endlessly and Gilligan lost by fewer than 1500 votes. Jack Germond of the Washington Star believes the joke may have also cost him the presidency.
He wrote: “Even before the returns were in from the 1974 elections, I had 1976 all figured out. After Watergate, Americans would be sick of anything connected to Washington, so the Democrats would nominate a governor.
“I even knew which one, John Gilligan. . . . My scenario fell apart, however, when Gilligan lost his campaign. . . Gilligan’s quick mouth didn’t help matters.”

More Foolishness From Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)

Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) received national attention last year by claiming the Tea Party goal was “to see blacks hanging from a tree.” He was back in the news when he addressed the Islamic Circle of North America convention.
The Congressman said madrassa schools (Islamic parochial schools), should be a model for how American children are taught.
The schools receive government funding in the UK, but reports have demonstrated students are beaten and taught intolerance of all things non-Islamic.
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the “9/11 Commission”), says the schools in Pakistan were fostering anti-American and terrorist sympathies.
The Congressman later said he was not promoting the Koran or his religion, but that is not what the video demonstrates.
Rep. Carson said the Koran should be the “foundation” for American schools: “America will never tap into educational innovation and ingenuity without looking at the model that we have in our madrassas, in our schools, where innovation is encouraged, where the foundation is the Koran.”
The lawmaker said “I say to those who are here under cover … Allah will not allow you to stop us. . . There are only two Muslims in Congress and we want more; and we have to have more. . .
We have to registered to vote.
“We must begin to groom the mayor of Hartford Connecticut. We have to groom the next city councilor, the next governor, the future President; the first Muslim President. . . It’s time for us to create the next generation of leaders.”
After a firestorm of negative publicity, the Congressman was asked if he believes American public school curriculum should be based on the Koran. He has apparently changed his viewpoint because today Carson is saying, “No, no no.”

QUESTION: What was Tammany Hall?

Tammany Hall on the corner of 17th Street and Park Avenue South in Manhattan is now the Union Square Theatre.

 

ANSWER: It is back in the news today because of the death of Edward Costikyan, 87, its last real chairman. Tammany Hall was formed when the Constitution was adopted in 1789, and through patronage and corruption, this political machine was a major force in New York state politics.
Its best known leader was Boss Tweed in the Gilded Age. For 80 years it picked Democratic nominees and controlled New York City from 1854 until Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was elected in 1933.
Its highpoint was when Gov. Alfred E. Smith (D-NY) won the 1928 Democratic presidential nomination.
Tammany Hall is best remembered for numerous graft and election fraud scandals. Manhattan District Attorney Thomas Dewey received prominent national attention by prosecuting key leaders of Tammany Hall.
Dewey won dozens of bribery convictions and was able to link Tammany Hall to powerful organized crime figures such as Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. His track record as a corruption and crime fighter was a key reason the GOP nominated Dewey for president in 1944 and 1948.
Reform efforts finally forced Tammany Hall to collapse in the early 1960s.

The National Battle Has Begun: Labor Approves an Emergency $30 Million Lobbying Budget

 

This was the scene yesterday as over 70,000 people gathered outside the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin.

STAND WITH WISCONSIN AND WALKER: The national battle has begun and the mission and moment of fiscal conservatives has arrived. What began in Wisconsin this week is leading to a decisive day in numerous state capitals throughout America. Organized labor responded today by approving an initial $30 million lobbying budget to stop numerous reform efforts of GOP Governors.

Labor now wants to roll back last November’s mandate. As this SEIU list demonstrates, protesters from the liberal/labor alliance are coming to your state, and they are highly motivated:http://action.seiu.org/page/s/solidarityaction

The SEIU, AFSCME and AFL-CIO leaders are correct, “Events are happening at a breakneck pace, and things will never be the same again”. Gerald W. McEntee, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) noted: “If they succeed in Wisconsin, the birthplace of AFSCME, they will be emboldened to attack workers’ rights in every state.”

In 1959, Wisconsin became the first state to permit collective bargaining for public employees. These union contracts make it next to impossible to reward excellent teachers or fire failing ones. Between 1958 and 1974, the pay and benefits of teachers increased 6%/year and starting in 1974 it increased 7%/year for the next 16 years.

Many states have found collective bargaining to be the biggest hurdle to balancing their budgets. The unions rarely concede anything in negotiations because they always prevail in arbitration.

Now, for the first time in 50 years, the union monopoly is being challenged. This is necessary because the current fiscal path in so many states is unsustainable, and there has been a sharp deterioration in their financial outlook.

Beleaguered taxpayers can no longer take it, and to save many states the union stranglehold must be broken. This is a battle which must be taken to Blue America.

Last month the deficit hawks lost the opening round in Illinois which is now America’s worst credit risk. They have not balanced a budget in a decade, and they responded with the usual liberal solution. Democrats increased state income taxes by 67 percent and business taxes by 46 percent.

The union benefit package proposed in Wisconsin is outstanding compared to what private sector workers receive.

The AFL-CIO does not want to accept any reductions. They are outraged because reform Governors such as Scott Walker (R-WI), Chris Christie (R-NJ), Rick Snyder (R-MI), Mitch Daniels (R-IN), John Kasich (R-OH) and Bill Haslam (R-TN) are telling them the truth. With huge deficits taxpayers can no longer afford union luxuries, and the overwhelming majority of public sector workers pay nothing toward their pension benefits.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

• This week a Tennessee State Senate committee approved a law abolishing collective bargaining rights for teachers. Tennessee is already a right to work state.
• Over 60,000 left wing demonstrators were present in Wisconsin today and they are all advocating tax increases to address the state’s $3.6 billion budget shortfall. The liberal backlash will continue to be strong because they know the stakes. Of course the GOP wants to cut the budget in every state, but this crusade goes well beyond that to the very core of our nation’s fiscal problems.
• The same measures being debated in Wisconsin and Tennessee have already been introduced in Ohio and  Indiana. Nevada and Florida are close behind. Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) has said the focus on Wisconsin is also helping to galvanize his supporters.
• Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) ended collective bargaining for state employees on his first day in office in 2005. Now he is supporting a measure to limit negotiations by teachers to wages and benefits.
• Michigan is the Vatican City of the liberal/labor alliance, but deficit hawks are now hitting them hard in their home base. Fiscal sanity must return because a million jobs have already been lost in Michigan, and the GOP’s top priority is restoring economic growth throughout the land.
• This is a fiscal war. GOP Governors have been forced to slash aid to schools, social programs and important services, but it is not enough. The big problem involves 7.6 million overpaid public employees. They are the majority of the nation’s union movement. Practically all of them have benefit packages which are no longer affordable.
• Freshman State Rep. Andrea LaFontaine (R-MI) is expressing the frustration felt throughout the heartland. She is 23 years old and was motivated to challenge an incumbent Democrat last November because so many of her friends had already left Michigan in search of jobs.
• Because of exorbitant pay packages given to public employees, her state enacted the Michigan Business Tax. Andrea says “Small businesses are job creators and this high tax suffocated them. We have two years to make a difference and if we don’t do it then we don’t deserve to have these jobs again. We are not going to waste our mandate for change, and this historic opportunity.”
• Wisconsin teachers do not have to join the union but they still have to pay union dues ($1000/year). The Governor’s proposal would end the practice of automatically deducting union dues from an employee’s paycheck. NYC Transport Workers lost that right in 2007 after an illegal strike. They then lost more than 35% of their income.
• Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has already promised to call out the National Guard and it is a promise he may have to keep on Monday. If labor does not go back to work, those jobs will have to be filled. The list of applicants is a long one.
• The opposing chants were heard today at the demonstrations in Madison. The liberals proclaimed “Union Yes, Walker No,” while fiscal reformers responded “Walker Yes, Union No!” This was followed by one side shouting “Kill The Bill,” and the other responding “Pass The Bill.” Another slogan was “On, Wisconsin!” It was the cry of Arthur MacArthur in the Battle of Missionary Ridge in the Civil War. “On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!, Champion of the right, Forward, our motto, God will give thee might.”

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

The situation in Wisconsin is at an impasse because 14 Democratic State Senators are hiding out in Illinois. There are 19 Republican Senators, but 20 are needed (three fifths) to establish a quorum. Among the options being discussed are:

1. Eliminate direct deposit of a Senators compensation, and require them to pick up their paychecks personally from the Secretary of State.
2. Suspend absent employees without pay, and take appropriate disciplinary action for their dereliction of duty.
3. Cutting off pay to the staff of lawmakers who refuse to return to work. Their offices could also be locked.
4. The three-fifths requirement is for fiscal bills. For non-fiscal bills the necessary quorum is one-half, which the Republicans already have. They could introduce a stand-alone union reform bill which would not be tied to the Governor’s budget reform proposal.
5. A recall campaign has already been launched against State Senator Jim Holperin (D) who was elected in 2008 with  51% of the vote. They need to obtain 25,000 signatures, and the goal is to get Holperin to come back to Wisconsin.
6. Many believe unions are paying the Chicago hotel bills for the absent State Senators. It should be determined if this constitutes an illegal gratuity or contribution.
7. If Walker’s collective bargaining reforms are rejected then massive lay-offs of state employees has to begin.