Since it’s basically Vista SP2, windows …
Since it’s basically Vista SP2, windows 7 should be free for vista users. http://tinyurl.com/82jdkz
that it’s rained for two days and snowin…
that it’s rained for two days and snowing today probably didn’t make Mr. Kidd’s decision any harder: http://news.cincinnati.com/article …
that it’s rained for two days and snowin…
that it’s rained for two days and snowing today probably didn
NYT Burn rate wont last through 2009? h…
NYT Burn rate wont last through 2009? http://tinyurl.com/8ao6r5
Blackwell Getting Big Endorsements For RNC Head
Filed under: Republicans
I told the blogmasters of PM that I would post on Blackwell’s campaign for the RNC and the chances thereof, if it looked like he was getting some traction.
So here I am, because all of a sudden, it’s looking like Blackwell is getting a lot of conservative love…
Blackwell Gaining Support For Leadership Job | NBC4i.com
Ohio’s former Secretary of State has picked up some support in his effort to become chair of the Republican National Committee.Saturday, Cincinnati’s Ken Blackwell picked up endorsements from several prominent conservatives, including Dr. James Dobson who is founder of Focus on the Family.
Other support was logged in from one-time GOP presidential hopeful Steve Forbes and Club For Growth president Pat Toomey.
The conservative wing of the GOP is seeking to maintain its influence in party leadership after experts say their position has lost ground along with legislative seats in the November, 2008, election.
The Blackwell plan is here. It seems pretty well thought out, but more importantly, Blackwell is positioning himself as a conservative, not a politician or operative. As noted in the article he is getting the support of both cultural and economic conservatives, both groups he’s been cultivating for a long time. If he wins, it should signal a conservative wing ascendancy in the GOP.
I’m still meh on Blackwell, because I remember too clearly the pain of 2006. That year, Blackwell set himself all the way up through the primaries as the anti-establishment Republican, going forth to win the governorship of Ohio back from the ranks of moderate Republicans, only to find that once he actually won the primary, he scuttled a constitutional balanced budget amendment and made peace with the very establishment represented by a governor whose popularity was in single digits (gov Taft).
So Blackwell could be framed as an establishment Republican, and was shellacked by Ted Strickland. Most of this was Governor Tafts fault and 2006 was a bad year, but Blackwell should have been running against Columbus, not against Ted Strickland.
That’s the worst. The best is that maybe he learned from the experience. He sure is talking a good game, but then again he did that in 2005 and 2006 too.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
I’ll buy almost anything if it’s shiny a…
I’ll buy almost anything if it’s shiny and made by apple http://tinyurl.com/7nror4
Michelle Can Get a New Pair of Earrings
Filed under: Economy, Taxes, Obama Administration
Well, I’ve got to admit, this sounds intriguing. I mean, tax cuts are more likely to benefit the average American than all those “shovel-ready” projects (unless you’re in construction, which 96% of us aren’t).
President-elect Barack Obama today kicked off his campaign to win approval of his economic stimulus plan, launching a series of face-to-face meetings on Capitol Hill to sell a plan that will now likely include $300 billion in tax cuts and another $500 billion, or more, in spending.
Hmmm, smarter than the average Clinton. Bill pushed through a 1993 tax bill with no Republican support and had to own it completely. Even if you can steamroller the GOP, doesn’t mean you should. But what’s in the tax cuts?
Searching for Republican votes, Obama’s aides indicated Sunday that the still emerging plan would include at least $300 billion in tax cuts, including a $500 individual tax credit and a host of business credits. That’s an increase of about $100 billion in tax cuts from the estimates aides provided during pre-Christmas negotiations among Obama’s advisers and House and Senate Democrats.
Wait, what? Did Obama check with Michelle first? Because we all know how she feels about those piddly rebates…
“You’re getting $600 - what can you do with that?” Mrs. Obama said in Pontiac, Michigan last week. “Not to be ungrateful or anything, but maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month. The short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good, and it may even feel good that first month when you get that check, and then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings.”
Of course that was on the campaign, silly me. And besides, I need a new pair of earrings. And I sure am glad we’re not doing any short term, quick fix kinda stuff. (Harvard educated people talk like that, so I can too).
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
back from a two week vacation trying to …
back from a two week vacation trying to get a handle on things
Now We Know Why Bill Kept the Donor List Secret
Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Investigations, Obama Administration
via the
IHT:
A developer in New York state donated $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton’s foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman’s mall project.
Hillary Clinton helped enact legislation allowing the developer, Robert Congel, to use tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex, an expansion of the Carousel Center in Syracuse.
She also helped secure a provision in a highway bill that set aside $5 million for Destiny USA roadway construction.
The bill with the tax-free bonds provision became law in October 2004, weeks before the donation, and the highway bill with the set-aside became law in August 2005, about nine months after the donation.
Let’s see we have the Blagojevich scandal threatening Reid and Rahm and anyone who talked to him. We have Charlie Rangels hits that keep on coming, and the Richardson crack-up today and now this. But whod’ve thunk it up about the Clintons.
But why didn’t this stuff come up in the primaries? Oh that’s right, then the foundation donors were secret. Then Obama nominates Hillary to SOS, on the condition that they release the donor list, and cynical minds might say that this is one clever way to maneuver both Hillary and Bill out of the way. Since I have a cynical mind, consider it said.
Caroline Kennedy should not be measuring the drapes in that senate office just yet.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Governors With Their Hands Out
Filed under: Economy, Budget, Obama Administration
Mo Money - Reuters:
…Gov. David Paterson of New York said 43 states now have budget deficits totaling some $100 billion as tax revenues plunge.
…
The latest package calls for $350 billion to create jobs by building or repairing roads, bridges and other public works; $250 billion to maintain education; and another $250 billion in “counter-cyclical” spending such as extending unemployment benefits and food stamps, which are typically a responsibility of the states.
The remainder would be used to fund middle-class tax cuts, stimulate the embattled housing market, and stem the tide of home foreclosures thro
h a loan-modification program.
So is this a whole other trilion dollar bailout or are they just asking for more money as part of the currently discussed Obama “stimulus”? Because if it’s the former than we would have a $700 bailout for finance, whatever it takes for GM and Chrysler, a trillion for the Obama big gun stimulus, and then this too?
Sooner or later we’re talking about real money.
But the Republican response has so far been anemic:
“The proposal by the Democratic governors goes beyond things like ’shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects and is essentially a bailout of these states’ general funds,” Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement. “Now is the time to focus on finding cost-effective ways to provide essential services without burdening future generations with ever greater debt.”
The debt level is not the problem: it’s the inflation, stupid. These bailouts are financed by printing money a-la Zimbabwe, and we all know what happened there. Let’s imagine 70 million baby boomers with their 401ks wiped out by inflation and you just might have a political issue.
Of course the issue would work better if Bush and McCain hadn’t kicked all this spending off with the initial $700 billion that Paulson said he needed, but later said he didn’t. But that’s a soul of the GOP issue that we’ve been having for awhile now.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Blago’s Pick Tried to Execute an Innocent Man
Filed under: Senate, Scandal, Investigations
Blagojevich’s Thumb-in-the-eye pick for senator is quite a guy:
While state attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who twice was convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. The crime took place in 1983.
But by 1992, another man had confessed to the crime, and Burris’ own deputy attorney general was pleading with Burris to drop the case, then on appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court.
Burris refused. He was running for governor.
Some more Juicy Tidbits:
“I cannot sit idly by as this office continues to pursue the unjust prosecution of Rolando Cruz,” she wrote. “I realized that I was being asked to help execute an innocent man.”
…
State prosecutors carried on with the prosecution, even after DNA evidence in 1995 excluded Cruz as the victim’s rapist and linked somebody else, sex offender Brian Dugan, to the crime.
Perhaps Blago should have vetted the guy a little more. Then again A) he had to know all this, B) it isn’t really about Burris anyway, and C) it’s not like Burris was his first pick.
Every Illinois and national Democrat, and that includes president-elect Obama, who backed away from calling a special election (out of fear of losing the seat) owns this pick and the ensuing spectacle. The pain will now be longer and slower because they didn’t burn it out when they had the chance. They have learned nothing from Ted Stevens, Rep Jefferson in LA, and Mark Foley, (Rangel soon to be added to this list). Remember, they could have called for a special election and removed the choice out of Blago’s hands. Instead, they get to deal with two corrupt politicians for the price of one.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Davis Turned Down Blagojevich Offer
Filed under: Senate, Scandal, Investigations
Hmmm… turns out Burris wasn’t the first choice:
At a Tuesday news conference here, Mr. Blagojevich breezily introduced Mr. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, as the “next United States senator from Illinois.” But United States Representative Danny Davis, who like Mr. Burris is a longtime fixture of the Illinois Democratic Party and an African-American, said he was offered the seat in a meeting with an emissary of the governor last Wednesday, and turned it down on Friday.“Given all the revelations and all the controversy, I would not be able to take it from the governor,” Mr. Davis, who has represented a Chicago district in Congress since 1996, said in an interview. “I felt that if I was to take the appointment, I would spend so much of my time deflecting and defending the position that it would take away my real reason for being involved in politics and political life - to find solutions to problems.”
Ha! Makes Burris look like a fool doesn’t it? That takes some guts, i.e. I’d like to be senator but sure as hell not this time. Also, both Davis and Burris are black, was Blagojevich purposely looking for someone who could play the race card? looks like it.
This all could be avoided if the Illinois legislator had agreed to hold a special election for the seat mid-December, but their fear of losing to a Republican means they get to live with Blagojevich and his corruption in this long slow drawn out process.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
The Blagojevich-Burris Appointment Nuts and Bolts
Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Scandal, Investigations
For those of us who are interested in senate rules and procedures, the scenario of the senate Democrats refusing to seat Burris will be interesting to watch.
According to a Senate staffer familiar with the process, it’s likely that the Secretary of the Senate will receive Burris’ credentials from Governor Blagojevich prior to the start of the new Congress (and the objection of the Illinois Secretary of State is reportedly irrelevant to the issuance of those credentials). On that first day, the roll call of Senators to be sworn in will then include Burris’ name. Senator Reid - or someone else - will object to Burris taking the seat, and the Democratic majority will vote to refer the matter to the Senate Rules Committee for review. It is a foregone conclusion that the Rules Committee will recommend against seating Burris, and that recommendation will be affirmed by a Senate vote.Assuming that nothing happens to resolve this dispute, Burris and the State of Illinois will presumably take Reid and the Senate to court - since the Supreme Court made clear in Powell v. McCormack that the Senate cannot reject a Senator on other than the straightforward question of eligibility for the office. And it is entirely conceivable that this fight could end with the court mandating that the Senate seat Burris.
And what would Harry Reid do then?
What I suspect he will do is nothing in that case, what else could he do? Privately he and others must be fuming? Doesn’t Blagojevich know he’s ruining the Democratic moment? Why won’t he just go away quietly. Instead he continues to make news that links the words - Blagojevich, corruption, scandal, Obama, Reid, all up in the same news story.
Not that I’m complaining. It would be interesting if Blago had picked someone totally above board and with no possible quid pro quo to really put the senators in a bind. Oh wait, never mind.
The former Illinois Attorney General gave $4,500 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund in the form of personal donations and donations from — what appear to be — him and his wife, according to Illinois State records. The most recent donation came on June 27, 2008, when the governor was knee-deep in charges of ethical misconduct.
Burris also attended high-end Blagojevich fundraisers on at least three separate occasions, according to a review of newspaper filings by the Huffington Post. Most recently, in July 2008, he was in a crowd of 1,000 at the Chicago’s River East Art Center when Blagojevich — beset by ethics scandals — hosted one of six events to raise money for his campaign fund (which had suffered because of mounting legal bills).
In April 2006, Burris hosted a 3,000 person event in the main hall of Chicago’s Field Museum. That event saw Blagojevich soliciting donations of $1,000 for “sponsors” $2,500 for “patrons,” $5,000 for “benefactors” and $10,000 for “co-chairs,” according to the invitation.
And remember, we still don’t know everything about Blagojevich yet. That part has just started.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Karl Rove On Bush’s Books
Filed under: President Bush, 2008 President
With only five days left, my lead is insurmountable. The competition can’t catch up. And for the third year in a row, I’ll triumph. In second place will be the president of the United States. Our contest is not about sports or politics. It’s about books.…
At year’s end, I defeated the president, 110 books to 95. My trophy looks suspiciously like those given out at junior bowling finals. The president lamely insisted he’d lost because he’d been busy as Leader of the Free World.
…
In the 35 years I’ve known George W. Bush, he’s always had a book nearby. He plays up being a good ol’ boy from Midland, Texas, but he was a history major at Yale and graduated from Harvard Business School. You don’t make it through either unless you are a reader.
Something to remember when you read gushing reports from the media over Barack Obama’s capacity for intellectual thought and his love for reading. We could have seen those reports all along for W, but didn’t.
The fact is that Bush is not a stupid man, as measured in the usual way by intellectual and educational achievements. Those hoping for change with Barack Obama because of his intellectualism may do well to remember that. Either educational and capacity for intellectual thought don’t help as much as you think with critical decisions that need to be made on the presidential level, or Bush may have had good rational reasons to make the decisions he did every step along the way.
Oh and also Jimmy Carter made it through Admiral Rickover’s nuclear program, clear evidence for a brilliant mind, and his presidency wasn’t exactly the best ever either. So again, those who are telling us that Obama will be great because he’s sooo smart? …. makes me worried.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Caroline Kennedy Tells Reporters To Write for A Woman’s Magazine
Filed under: Senate, Sarah Palin
Hilarious! via Fox News:
But Kennedy appeared to insult women’s magazines when she responded to a question by one of the reporters to recall, for the sake of storytelling, the moment she decided that wanted to be the senator from New York.
“Have you guys ever thought about writing for, like, a woman’s magazine or something?” she asked, to which the reporter countered by asking what she has against women’s magazines?
“Nothing at all, but I thought you were the crack political team here,” she answered.
So she’s complaining because they are doing puff pieces? Well maybe so, but if it wasn’t for the puff there wouldn’t be anything at all to write about:
It also highlights what many New York political insiders are questioning, which is the validity of her experience. Kennedy has never held political office or shaped public policy. But she has worked with the New York Board of Education for the last six years and said she can use her well-known name to focus attention on New York’s need for a larger share of federal stimulus money.
I think we all know what’s going on here. The liberal media and intelligentsia have just spent the last few months tearing down an accomplished woman and governor who bootstrapped herself with no name, money or any connections at all.
The comparison of that treatment with a coronation of someone who is presumably a nice lady, but is purely trading on her name with no political experience or accomplishments at all? I think it’s a little much for even liberals to defend… Other than the egregious Kathleen Parker of course, but besides than a few isolated incidents like that, I’m not seeing a whole lot of liberal punditry willing to go to the mat for Caroline Kennedy.
Pre-Palin, the Kennedy in the senate deal would likely have been a slam dunk. It’s a good thing for Hillary that she made her move six years earlier and prior to the Palin phenomenon, backlash, and anti-backlash.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Amazon Best Seller: the 2009 Sarah Palin Calendar
Filed under: Featured Stories, Sarah Palin
Among office products anyway, the most popular item is a Sarah Palin calendar. HT Jules Crittenden:
Not, mind you, NOT, an Obama, McCain, Biden, Romney, Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, or Huckabee calendar. Of course none of them look good holding guns.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Sarah Palin Turns Down Pay Raise
Filed under: Budget, Energy, Sarah Palin
Gov. Sarah Palin says she didn’t ask for a pay raise and won’t accept one during her current term.
That’s from her spokesman, Bill McAllister, who says he talked to the governor about the $25,000 raise that a new state commission is recommending this week.
It’s unclear if Palin would give the money to charity - as commission chairman Rick Halford suggested - or simply not receive the extra pay.
While it’s still one of the least taxed states in the union, theres no income tax or sales tax and every Alaskan gets a check yearly for their share of oil revenue, the drop in the price of a barrel of oil will hit the state budget hard. Theres going to be more than a little pain there to match the pain of a loss of oil jobs if the low oil prices continue.
Now is definitely not the time to get a $25k pay raise, regardless. Sarah Palin’s political instincts are right on. Alaska won’t implode, at least they didn’t when oil was under $36 barrels a few years ago, but they will need to tighten belts.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
What Santa Brought for Christmas
Filed under: 2008 President
To Barack Obama: A nice Hawaiian vacation, hopefully with no talk of bailouts, Bush, or Blagojevich. Rest up!
To John McCain: congratulations, you won’t be president and can just concentrate on doing the job you love, being a pain-in-the-ass senator. Plus governor Napolitano will be director of Homeland Security and thus not a threat to your senate seat in 2010.
To Sarah Palin: Hopefully a healthy first grandchild. Also a job as the governor of the state in likely the best financial shape in the country. Also, continued stratospheric favorability among conservatives.
To Joe Biden: A second dog! This one hopefully won’t cause any controversy.
To Hillary Clinton: Congratulations, you’re the new Secretary of State, too bad it only cost you $13 million of your own money to get it, but at least, unlike Joe Biden, you have actual responsibilities.
…
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Fitzgerald Interviews Obama… with Lawyers
Filed under: Scandal, Investigations, Obama Administration
I’m going to highlight the interesting parts of this AP article:
With his own lawyer by his side, Obama sat down Thursday with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s staff to tell what, if anything, he knew about Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s efforts to cash in on appointing Obama’s Senate successor.
…Incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett brought their own lawyers with them to discuss with investigators what they knew about Blagojevich’s efforts to fill the Senate vacancy. Neither are targets in the federal case, but Emanuel is on FBI recordings made of conversations about the appointment, a transition source said.
Wait, I thought that Emanuel and Obama were not a focus of the investigation… What are they worried about? Were they under oath? The answer is that they are not stupid. They know that Fitzgerald has a history of setting up perjury traps, and that in those traps he asks questions that he already knows the answer to. Sitting down and talking to any federal prosecutor is dangerous. And that goes double for this one.
And it really doesn’t even matter whether Obama and Emanuel are under oath or not. Libby was charged with two counts of making false statements to FBI agents while he was not under oath, and he was convicted of one of those counts.
Yes lawyers were needed, because Obama and Emanuel and anyone who talked to Blagojevich are in hazardous territory. Merry Fitzmas!
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Minnesota Recount: Canvassing Board Lenient on Franken Voters
Filed under: 2008 Senate
In this example there are two separate ballots, one with the Franken oval filled in, the other with the Coleman oval filled in. In both instances, an “X” covers the oval for both the Senate race and the Presidential race. However, the Board allocated the Franken vote for Franken while the Coleman vote was designated a “no vote.”
Here’s the Franken vote… counted as one for Franken:
But if a Coleman voter does the same thing…
Then that’s obviously an X in there and what the voter meant to do was not vote for anyone. I honestly have no idea how widespread this sort of thing is, but Coleman has other examples at his blog. But if there are no countervailing examples on the other side, where consistent patterns are treated unequally, then I’d say Coleman has definite grounds for a lawsuit.
Franken has a 48 vote lead, due potentially to treatment like this, but there Coleman is contesting about 133 votes that they say are double counted. This is not quite over yet.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Welcome to NixGuy.com
Dave is a geek, network admin, and political junkie who contributed to the now-defunct Wide Open and AOL’s Political Machine. Some posts here are linked back to both sites.
email: dave -at- nixguy -dot- com / Follow me on Twitter
Recent Comments