op ed review 10/10

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

“Late yesterday, Gallup came out with new numbers on the generic ballot question…… Among registered voters Gallup shows Republicans ahead by 46%-42%, about as good a score as Republicans have ever had. However, Gallup also shows the results for two different turnout models. These two numbers…suggest huge gains for Republicans and a Republican House majority the likes of which we have not seen since the election cycles of 1946 or even 1928. “The Gallup high turnout and low turnout numbers suggest it looks like 1894, when Republicans gained more than 100 seats in a House of approximately 350 seats. Having said that, caution is in order…..”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/gallups-astonishing-numbers-and-the-lake-superior-congressional-districts-104321583.html#ixzz11TYSvBPN

Gallup now estimates that 54 percent of “likely voters” for the Nov. 2 election are self-professed conservatives. If Gallup’s estimate holds up, self-professed conservative voters will outnumber self-professed liberals by 3-to-1, and self-professed moderates by 2-to-1.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54-percent-likely-voters-conservatives-n

One out of four Democrats wants Obamacare repealed.

http://thehill.com/house-polls/the-hill-anga-poll-week-1/122851-distaste-for-healthcare-law-crosses-party-lines

Reagan Democrats are returning to the GOP.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20101006/D9IM5PT80.html

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is advising Republican candidates on November's ballots to frame the choice for voters between Democrats as "the party of food stamps" while selling the GOP as "the party of paychecks."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101007/ap_on_el_ge/us_gingrich_food_stamps

House Republicans have drafted a go-for-broke blueprint for the final weeks of the midterm campaign that will bring them to $45 million in television ad spending, with spots reserved in 62 congressional districts across the nation. The National Republican Congressional Committee will take a bank loan of at least $6.5 million – but likely more—to expand its ad buys into seven additional districts beyond the 55 where the committee has already reserved time.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43213.html

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee may be throwing in the towel in Washington State’s Eighth District race between incumbent Rep. Dave Reichert (R) and former Microsoft executive Suzan Delbene (D).

http://redcounty.com/content/democrats-pulling-rip-cord-washingtons-8th

Republican Susana Martinez, the first Hispanic woman to win a major party nomination for governor, has widened her lead over the democrat, 51 percent to 41 percent, in New Mexico.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/03/gops-susan-martinez-poised-to-take-new-mexico-governors-seat-f/

A federal inspector general is looking into whether the Obama administration used confidential taxpayer information in an effort to attack a political opponent, Koch Industries.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/5/obama-use-of-foes-tax-records-reviewed/

“The Obama administration blocked efforts by government scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could become and committed other missteps that raised questions about its competence and candor during the crisis, according to a commission appointed by the President to investigate the disaster.”

http://www.ketv.com/r/25300912/detail.html

One month till votes in Washington state are counted, there is growing opposition to Initiative 1098 and growing support for Initiative 1107, according to SurveyUSA's latest exclusive poll for KING 5-TV in Seattle. I-1053, which re-states the existing laws requiring two-thirds majority votes in the legislature or voter approval to increase taxes, passes today 3:1 with broad support in every region of the state.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=1cdeb4c8-c99a-4c2e-898f-9c428114030f

Boeing and Microsoft released statements through the Defeat 1098 campaign opposing the income-tax initiative. This is the first time the companies have made their position known.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2013091502_boeing_and_microsoft_oppose_i-.html?syndication=rss

A new Republican poll conducted in the Washington Senate race shows Dino Rossi leading Sen Patty Murray 48 percent to 42 percent among likely voters.

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=375197

Lobbyists have given $666,000 to Sen. Patty Murray's reelection efforts since 2009, making her the second-highest recipient of the industry's political contributions among all members of Congress, according to a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Only Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took in more money from lobbyists during the current election cycle, the analysis found.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politicsnorthwest/2013086355_pattymurrayno2insenateinlobbyistdonations.html?syndication=rss

Dino’s latest ad:

http://www.dinorossi.com/whichone/

Nevada's largest newspaper has endorsed Republican Sharron Angle against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=13259878

In the latest Fox News battleground state poll of likely voters, Angle drew 49 percent to Reid’s 46 percent.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/05/fox-news-polls-gop-poised-gain-hold-senate-seats-key-states/

Same-sex attraction can be overcome and any type of union other than marriage between a man and a woman is morally wrong, an LDS apostle told millions of Mormons on Sunday.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/50404210-78/church-lds-sex-packer.html.csp

Your tax dollars at work: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism paid $918,856 in tax dollars to fund a five-year study of “Alcohol and Bar Violence” that determined that bar fights tend to occur in venues that are relatively dark, dirty, noisy, hot, and crowded.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/918856-federal-study-bar-fights-tend-hap

California officials are cutting off use of state-issued welfare debit cards at casinos across the country and on cruise ships, in the wake of Times reports that the aid cards have been used to spend or withdraw millions of dollars in benefits at popular vacation spots including the Las Vegas strip and on ships sailing from ports around the world. More than $69 million meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children was accessed in all 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/10/schwarzeneggers-office-cancels-access-to-welfare-benefits-on-cruise-ships-and-at-casinos.html

Nearly 200 Los Angeles County employees earned more than a quarter of a million dollars in 2009

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/nearly-200-la-county-employees-took-home-more-than-250k-in-compensation-last-year.html

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN

The Tipping Point

James P. Gannon 10/4

The reason that the mid-term election of 2010 is so important is that our county is at a critical tipping point.

The concept of the tipping point was popularized by the book of that name first published in 2000 by Malcolm Gladwell. In his definition, a tipping point is "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point."

Gladwell was writing about social phenomenon, not politics or ideology, but the tipping point concept applies equally well to the latter. The election of 2008 put the United States on a threshold that, once crossed, would change the country forever.

The Democratic Party had finally reached its critical mass by winning the White House and both houses of Congress. The long-delayed Democratic dream had arrived: A president who was the most liberal in the nation's history, backed by a Congress with large enough majorities to run roughshod over the opposition. Checks and balances were wiped away. The path was cleared for the final flowering of liberal policy. The "boiling point" was at hand, and Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid turned up the burners, eager to transform America. What followed was an effort to remake the economy: government takeovers of big banks, auto makers, all health care; rules and regulations to control industry, local schools and more; an explosion of Federal spending, handouts, subsidies and bribes ("cash for clunkers," mortgage bailouts) to make more and more voters dependent on government.

It was as if America were a huge Monopoly game board, and Obama had grabbed it and tilted it abruptly to the left, causing everything to slide -- houses, hotels, player's tokens, "Get out of Jail free" cards, cash -- to the left side of the board. Suddenly we were all sliding down to Baltic Avenue and everyone from Park Place and Boardwalk were labeled as greedy exploiters. "Go directly to jail" seemed a threatening possibility for large classes of people -- Wall Streeters, corporate executives, mortgage bankers, the "rich."

This truly was a game-changer for America, raising questions about the future of capitalism, individual liberty, the role and viability of state governments, the relevance of the Constitution. The sudden tilting of the playing field alarmed non-Leftist Americans. It gave rise to the tea party movement, and backbone to the weak Republican establishment, Suddenly the country had a Resistance movement, standing athwart the flow of Obama history, shouting, "STOP!"

That brings us to this historical moment. If it was not clear during Obama's 2008 campaign (and he made deliberate efforts to obscure it) certainly in late 2010 it is clear where he wants to take the county--toward a European-style socialism, a command economy, driven by an all-powerful central government, determined to redistribute wealth and remake America as a multicultural, secular humanist state. The election next month is not about returning the Republican Party to power in Washington. It is about stepping back from this tipping point, this precipice that Obama and the Pelosi-Reid Congress have led us to. There is a pervasive sense that this is momentous.

The alarm and the urgency that is felt by so many conservatives, independents, and even Democrats who feel they were duped in 2008, arises from the conviction that this may be a one-time chance to pull back from the edge. If American voters do not, with loud and clear voices, issue a commanding halt to the leftward slide next month, it may be too late in 2012 or beyond.

Obama and the Democrats see the stakes clearly and are desperately trying to divert voters' attention from this central question about the remaking of America. They need to make this election about how President George W. Bush's policies failed, or about the weakness of Republican Party leadership, or the flaws and sins of individual Republican or tea party candidates. The Democrats dare not run on their own ideas or their record in Congress, which they know is politically radioactive. They must somehow distract our gaze from the central question, from this tipping point they have delivered us to.

I do not believe a majority of my countrymen want to redefine America or overthrow what has made this nation a beacon of strength and hope to the world. That's what November is about. Only a devastating defeat of the party in power will send that message and pull America back from the tipping point.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/10/04/the-tipping-point

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FROM OTHER COLUMNS

"What about the politician who tells us that he's not going to raise taxes on the middle class; instead, he's going to raise corporate income taxes as means to get rich corporations to pay their rightful share of government? If a tax is levied on a corporation, and if it is to survive, it will have one of three responses, or some combination thereof. One response is to raise the price of its product, so who bears the burden? Another response is to lower dividends; again, who bears the burden? Yet another response is to lay off workers. In each case, it is people, not some legal fiction called a corporation, who bear the burden of the tax."

-Walter E. Williams

"The Obama administration has fewer people with real world experience in the private sector than any other administration in years. Maybe if they had more people with practical experience in the economy, we wouldn't be in the mess that politicians created."

-Thomas Sowell

"If more politicians were faithful to the Constitution, the government would be restrained. And restraining government is 'weird,' 'wacky' and 'dangerous' to so many liberals today."

-Jonah Goldberg

"It's raining! I don't like it! Why hasn't Congress passed the Good Weather Act and the Everybody Happy Act? Sound dumb? Why is it any dumber than a law called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which promised to cover more for less money?"

-John Stossel

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LEFTIST WATCH

The nation's biggest, richest and most powerful labor unions spent months organizing the "One Nation Working Together" rally at the Lincoln Memorial a week ago. With midterm elections approaching, they hoped to put on a show of political strength to energize struggling Democratic candidates. But even after giving it everything they had, they still weren't able to draw as many people as Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August. Why not? Because the labor movement is shrinking, aging and divided. Because the best program its leaders (and co-sponsors at the NAACP) could put together was one featuring Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Richard Trumka, Van Jones and Harry Belafonte.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Why-Big-Labor-couldn_t-match-Glenn-Beck_s-rally-1109946-104310813.html#ixzz11TZX3B6h

MUST SEE. Pictures of the Glen Beck rally compared to the One Nation rally, taken from the air at the same time of day. This is all you need to know about the difference in enthusiasm between Right and Left.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/the-outdoors/135988-glen-beck-rally-vs-one-nation-rally-a-picture-is-worth-1-000-words.html

“As the ralliers began to disperse from the “One Nation” rally, one thing was immediately clear: the area around the Lincoln Memorial had become a landfill.”

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/03/liberal-one-nation-working-together-rally-leaves-lincoln-memorial-ridden-with-trash-much-dirtier-than-glenn-becks-restoring-honor-rally/#ixzz11ndmtNqJ

The Socialist Party and the Young Communist League were well represented. Lots of pictures here.

http://maroonedinmarin.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-nation-of-commies-unions-other.html

Here’s the laundry list of ‘One Nation” sponsors; a who’s who of the American Left:

http://thevirtuousrepublic.com/?p=6386

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) is a busy lady. When she isn't appearing on Univision to warn Hispanic viewers about a nefarious "Vietnamese" scheme to "take away" her House seat (her Republican opponent, Van Tran, is of Vietnamese provenance), she's bragging to audiences about her "unwritten power" to impede construction of a fence along our southern border--which she compares to the Berlin wall:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/GuyBenson/2010/10/06/democrat_loretta_sanchez_compares_us_border_fence_to_berlin_wall

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ISLAM

Islamists say the Koran is destined to rule America. In fact, the Muslim takeover of the White House is not just an unfolding action plan but a directive from Muhammad himself. In an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week," British radical Muslim activist Anjem Choudary made clear what he and his Islamist brothers have planned for the West. "We do believe, as Muslims, the East and the West will one day be governed by the Shariah,'' he said. "Indeed, we believe that one day, the flag of Islam will fly over the White House."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/4/islamic-flag-over-the-white-house/

Faisal Shahzad had one last moment in the spotlight before being shipped off to a lifetime behind bars for his attempt to explode a car bomb in Times Square last May. "Brace yourselves," he warned, "because the war with Muslims has just begun. Consider me the first droplet of the flood that will follow. The defeat of the US is imminent and will happen in [the] near future."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/moderate_islam_pr_nightmare_HRoq557GjD2UMNjwCdDvVJ

In August 1996, al-Qaeda declared war on America, the West, Christians, and Jews. Almost nobody paid attention. Last month, the Muslim Brotherhood, a group with one hundred times more activists than al-Qaeda, issued its declaration of war, endorsing anti-American jihad and much of the rest of al-Qaeda's dogma. The declaration is contained in a speech called, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny." You can read the speech, as translated by MEMRI, here.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/10/027405.php

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ACTIVISM

Kirby Wilbur: “We need your help. Our November is Coming campaign plans on distributing voter education material in a number of legislative districts around the state by door dropping key precincts and calling voters. We cannot achieve success and change the destructive policies of Congress and the state legislature without you. It’s time to stop the talk and do the walk! Please, contact us today at afpwa2010@gmail.com and volunteer to help educate voters in these districts. This is the most important election in our lifetimes. Wake up the morning of Wednesday, November 3rd, knowing you made a difference.”

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GLOBALONEY

New data indicates that changes in the Sun's output of energy were a major factor in the global temperature increases seen in recent years. The research will be unwelcome among hardcore green activists, as it downplays the influence of human-driven carbon emissions.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/07/solar_as_big_as_people/

“Forecasters say this winter could be the coldest Europe has seen in the last 1,000 years.”

http://rt.com/prime-time/2010-10-04/coldest-winter-emergency-measures.html

“California grossly miscalculated pollution levels in a scientific analysis used to toughen the state's clean-air standards, and scientists have spent the past several months revising data and planning a significant weakening of the landmark regulation,,,”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/07/BAOF1FDMRV.DTL#ixzz11mnvafzV

Environmentalism, al-Quida style. The video was produced by the 10:10 campaign, a group that seeks to persuade people to reduce their carbon consumption (i.e., standard of living) by 10 percent. As the Telegraph reports, the 10:10 video "has revealed the snarling, wicked, homicidal misanthropy beneath its cloak of gentle, bunny-hugging righteousness." Yes, this is an actual commercial. (Warning – disturbing graphics)

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/10/027361.php

A statement from the organization said: "With climate change becoming increasingly threatening, and decreasingly talked about in the media, we wanted to find a way to bring this critical issue back into the headlines whilst making people laugh….”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/climate-change-promo-bombs/story-e6frg6so-1225933556471

Emaciated polar bears clutching to melting icebergs. Smokestacks fading to reveal wind turbines and clear air. These are the kinds of images you typically see in a TV spot for climate change awareness or clean energy use. But exploding children?

http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10/02/climate-change-group-apologizes-violent-video

Here’s another one: Go Green Or Die:…”Climate Change Group Hangs Children in Latest Ad”

http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/10/go-green-or-die-climate-change-group-hangs-children-in-latest-ad/

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ARTICLES

The tea-party movement is turning more professional. Around the country, tea-party groups are building increasingly sophisticated political organizations and overcoming early bickering to push legislative platforms, elect their own delegates, shake up statehouses and even form alliances with the Republican Party establishment they profess to dislike.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704847104575532693771514772.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

A week ago, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray looked like she might be running away from Republican challenger Dino Rossi in the Washington Senate race. But that was before the GOP launched a nearly $4 million fusillade of TV advertising. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has begun running $3 million in ads that will last until the Nov. 2 election. And Crossroads GPS, an outside group that is part of a rising infrastructure of new conservative political groups built by Republican operatives such as Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, announced Tuesday they will pump an additional $780,000 into the Evergreen State.. Washington could potentially be the 10th pickup for the GOP that would push them over the top in their quest to regain a majority.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/05/republicans-use-4-million-to-yank-washington-back-into-their-crosshairs/#ixzz11ZRb3KQv

Interesting read: “Most pundits agree John McCain ran at best a lackluster and at worst a completely feckless 2008 presidential campaign. Yet if the GOP does in fact gain control of one or both chambers of Congress this November, its members should fall prone upon the earth and thank their lucky stars that McCain—and not Huckabee, Romney or any of the other 2008 Republican candidates—won the Republican Party nomination. Why? Because McCain did the one thing that none of those other men would have dared to do. And in so doing he unwittingly introduced kryptonite into the presence of Barack “Superman” Obama. In 2010 political lingo, kryptonite is spelled in the form of ten other letters: Sarah Palin. When McCain astonished with his choice of Palin as vice-presidential running mate, a chain of events unfolded that created the arch-nemesis of Barack Obama, the one force that would torment the would-be Social Justice-draped crusader more than Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh combined could ever do…..”

http://biggovernment.com/gopelka/2010/10/07/john-mccain-purveyor-of-mid-term-kryptonite/#more-178125

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is one of New England's largest and one of the country's most respected health insurance companies. This past week it notified 22,000 seniors that the company is dropping their Medicare Advantage Plan. These are the first few thousands of seniors of millions who will soon feel the bite of "Obamacare" on their lives.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/Seniors-won_t-be-fooled-by-diversions1097363-104248218.html

“Yes, folks, there are two Americas: the authentic America of community builders and the other America, made up of socialist group-thinkers, moochers, and no-accounts, many of them living off government grants or welfare checks. The tension between these two Americas has been a constant tug-of-war for nearly a hundred years, since our premier socialist-progressive president, Woodrow Wilson, bore the first rotten fruits of liberal fascism on our shores.”

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/the_other_america_marches_on_w.html

The Obama administration’s determination to unnecessarily damage America’s relations with its best friends and allies apparently continues unabated. Britain has been infuriated by America’s “neutrality” over the Falklands or Malvinas, relations with Israel have reached the lowest point in 50 years over new buildings in Jerusalem, many see as a betrayal the cancelling missile bases in Eastern Europe, and there has been the pointless and destructive interference in Honduras. As well as damaging relations with old friends, there is not the slightest indication that any of this has won a single new friend…..Now Australia looks like being added to the list of insulted allies. President Barack Obama has dropped plans to visit Australia. Twice in the past year, a visit to Australia and Indonesia has been proposed, then canceled.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/09/28/now-obama-offends-australia

As a Chicago pol, President Barack Obama must be familiar with rumors that the cemeteries vote. If so, he’d probably be worried to find out that in this campaign year, he’s even lost the dead. In death notices from around the nation, the recently deceased are reaching back to canvass the living. “In lieu of flowers, Hal has requested that donations be made to your local animal shelter or to any candidate running against Barack Obama in 2012,” reads the death notice of Harold Groves, a retired Air Force fighter pilot...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/04/swing-vote-newly-dead-now-oppose-obama/

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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s voter guide. How much did your legislator cost you?

http://www.effwa.org/files/pdf/informedvoterguide.pdf

And the Initiative Guide:

http://www.effwa.org/files/pdf/IVG-INITIATIVES.pdf

Trailer for the new movie, “Battle for America” by David Bossie, Dick Morris, Newt Gingrich, and Lou Dobbs

http://battleforamericamovie.com/?gclid=CNG024nFxKQCFVkJ2godcn68Bw

Great ad for I-1053

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6hx_9LcIxs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Incredible volcano footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAxj2ob_JoU

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LATE NITE

Jay Leno: President Obama has moved a 12-day tour of India and Asia to right after the November election. I can’t imagine why he would want to leave the country right after the midterm election…….Obama is going to tour India and Asia. I guess he wants to check up on American jobs…Christine O’Donnell has a new campaign ad where she says she’s not a witch. Nancy Pelosi was furious. She said, “Hey, that’s my slogan.”

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WISE WORDS

"Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do."

-Joseph Sobran, 1946-2010

"Politicians never accuse you of 'greed' for wanting other people's money -- only for wanting to keep your own money."

-Joe Sobran

"Things in our country run in spite of the government, not by the aid of it.”

-Will Rogers

"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

-James Madison