LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

I can see the darkness at the end of the tunnel. As a conservative, living just outside NYC, I am dismayed at the spread of "tax & spend" liberalism across the "heartland" of the nation. Here's a quick primer, for those who don't get it: The two states with the highest tax rates (NY and California) also have the highest budget deficits. NYC's Mayor Bloomberg has declared it a "luxury" city, as if there were no place for "commoners," and NYS' Gov. Paterson has said that NY'ers can avoid his new proposed taxes by "not buying those things." Way to encourage economic prosperity, idiots! Gov. Schwartznegger's attempt to spin his "green" economic plan as "kicking ass" is true, in one way: it's kicking the average working joe or jane's ass! What we have here is a "perfect storm" of foolish liberal policies. Both of these governors are coming, "hat in hand," to the fede...

"At this season of the winter solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." This is the text of the "winter solstice display" in the Washington state capitol. Don't get me wrong; I'm sure ALL atheists aren't "intolerant pinheads." I will opine, however, that supporters of the above statement being displayed on government property qualify for that designation. How did I get there? Let's see...if this group wanted to put up a sign with a similar message opposite a Ramadan display, I doubt that Gov. Gregoire would allow it. I don't know if they have a Ramadan display in Washington's state capitol, but they do elsewhere, and I doubt that idea would fly anywhere. Why? Because it's patently offensive. The statement could have just celebrated the winter solstice for what it is , ins...

I am deeply disturbed by the terrorist attacks in India, and feel the deepest sympathy for the victims. I rode the Long Island RailRoad, and the "D" train on the NYC subway system on Thanksgiving, along with Anna. She saw the armed soldiers at Woodside, on Wednesday, and was very worried about a terrorist attack here in NYC on Thanksgiving, especially after the India attacks. I tried to ease her mind about the threat to the MTA system, but she knew more about it than I did. I told her I wanted to write this post before we went to Brooklyn, so it would get a "gazillion" hits here if we were blown up on Thanksgiving. That didn't go over well with Anna, and we ended up arguing about how her daughter could claim my Gather points if we both died together. Talk about yer "bad jokes gone wrong!" Seriously, the "threat level" has been upped, though I didn't see a single cop or soldier on our trip from Lynbrook to Brooklyn on Thanksgiving day. In ...

I hope everybody had as great a Thanksgiving day as Anna and I had! God bless America!

James Taranto wrote the following, in Tuesday's "Best of the Web" column, regarding efforts to overturn California's Prop. 8, which amended the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and woman ( link ): You may be wonder how the state Supreme Court could overturn a constitutional amendment. As Dale Carpenter , a Minnesota law professor who favors same-sex marriage, explains, the question is whether this amendment is actually a "revision" to the constitution. Although California voters can "amend" the constitution through a ballot measure alone, a "revision" must receive a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before being put before the voters. Without taking a side on the issue, I'll say that it's apparent that banning same-sex marriage is not "revising" the state constitution. Actually, the court's interpretation of the constitution that allowed same-sex marriage was "revisionist." Let's ...

I want to wish warm congratulations to President-elect Obama. I am now officially among those feeling "hope" and "faith" regarding him (I knew that "change" was coming, either way). Though I supported "the other one," I am proud that America has elected it's first Black president. The historic aspect of his election must not occlude the historic nature of the problems he faces, upon entering office. To be blunt: Sen. Obama, the first Black president, will be challenged with problems larger than either Reagan or Kennedy had to deal with, and may end up facing another worldwide depression, as Roosevelt did. I'm hoping that Pres. Obama is the right leader for our times, and have faith that he is. In a changing world, the USA has "risen up" to the challenge of "change." I can't predict whether things will get better or worse, but if I were a betting man, I'd bet on the latter. Pres. Obama's job is going to be v...

I have told you everything you wanted to hear, and spent the money to make sure you heard it. If you haven't heard it, "I will be whatever you want me to be, and give you whatever you need. I will spend my unlimited resources to ensure that everyone has everything they need to live like Warren Buffet, or at least Jimmy Buffet." We're going to "stick it to the man," by giving their money to "the other 95%, including YOU!" I enjoyed all of those contributions of less than $200 from "doodad pro" and all of my other supporters, and you will get paid back ten times over. We're gonna have a party on Warren and Jimmy's dime! It will last for about 8.5 seconds, until we get back to spending money borrowed from China and Saudi Arabia. Oh, did I mention I appointed George Soros as head of the Federal Reserve? Resistance is futile. We control the money, and I own the presidency. I bought it "fair and square," public financing be da...

This guy is nothing, if not "slick." It sounds good, the way he explains it. The income tax "cuts" that go to people who don't pay any income tax actually "offset" other taxes they pay, like the FICA payroll tax, sales tax, or state income taxes. Why doesn't he go all the way, and call it a federal wage increase? There are many holes in the logic of this "tax plan," but I'd like to start with the thought that this "tax check" is meant to offset FICA, better known as "Social Security" tax. William McGurn takes this idea on, in his WSJ column today . In most parts of America, getting money back on taxes you haven't paid sounds a lot like welfare. Ah, say the Obama people, you forget: Even those who pay no income taxes pay payroll taxes for Social Security. Under the Obama plan, they say, these Americans would get an income tax credit up to $500 based on what they are paying into Social Security. Just two little q...

HA! SCARED YOU LIBERALS! Heck, I don't even know if Rezko is available to attend such a potential fundraiser! On a serious note, I don't think such an occurence is neccessary for McCain to win. As Sen. Obama said, "don't let our guard down," and as Sen. McCain said, "we've got them right where we want them," this race isn't over. Just a little "election fever" fun! Sorry to tease my conservative friends, if you bought the title! LOL!

Some questions for Sen. Obama on economic issues: The last Democratic president also promised a "middle class tax cut," but ended up raising taxes on people making less than $30,000 a year. Since your record doesn't show any support for tax cuts, why should we believe you? Medicare and Medicaid are losing billions of dollars every year, and are riddled with fraud. If the government can't pay for, and adequately manage these health care programs, how can it afford "universal" health care? Will you fix Medicaid/-care before proposing any new health care program? Rich people are notoriously cheap; many will tell you that's how they got rich. If you raise their taxes in an economic downturn, when they've already lost a signifigant amount of their wealth, won't that hurt many small busnisses that cater to them? Remember the "luxury boat" tax, a huge failure that had to be repealed? Some of us struggling middle class voters didn't take ad...

If I hear one more ACORN defender say "it was just a few bad canvassers' fault," I'm going to explode. By now, everyone must've heard of the fraudulent voter registrations collected by this group in around a dozen states. If this were really the work of "a few bad apples" that they hired, why is it happening all over the country? Further, why is it continuing, when they had these same problems for several election cycles? The evidence is becoming overwhelming that ACORN is a corrupt racketeering organization, using federal money to file fraudulent voter registrations. Michelle Malkin has a great round-up of the details, and it's not pretty. Some law-enforcement agency has to end their corrupt activities, for once and for all. Just as Rudy Giuliani used RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act to break (or at least weaken) the mafia's stranglehold on NYC politics in the 1980's, RICO can be used by the US Attorney General to ...

On Aug. 30th, I wrote this about Gov. Palin : "I'm betting that she's dealt with blowhards like Biden before, and will kick his butt in their debate." I'm here to collect my winnings. The most negative take one could have on her performance in the vice-presidential debate was that "she held her own," or "she stopped her downward momentum." There were roughly an equal number of gaffes, mispronunciations, and misstatements between them, but there was a palpable difference between the two. One liberal commentator (on MSNBC) said they seemed "as if they were on two different worlds," and though he meant that Gov. Palin was from "the other" world than his, most Americans live there, too. I sure do. After listening to most of the debate, I found myself right back at my first analysis of the governor, embodied by the title of that Aug. 30th post: "I LOVE SARAH PALIN! (In a Totally Platonic/Political Way)" This lady has e...

I'm suprised that no one has picked up on this yet. This whole "bailout" bill is based on "trickle down" economics, and the Democrat leadership has to explain it, and promote it. While conservatives were concerned about the amount of government intrusion into the private sector, they understand the principle of saving, or assisting large companies, because it usually helps the average person. They just wish the private sector to do it. None of the Dem leadership was comfortable in this role, and it's probably why Speaker Pelosi unleashed that tirade in the House the other day. She, and the other leaders (Frank and Dodd chief among them) who have been painting this as "bailing out the Bush policies" are deflecting blame from their own actions, which also prove the "trickle down" theory. This "bailout" bill is the "other shoe" of one that dropped more recently: The Fannie/Freddie bailout bill. I don't remember any of...

Back in May, I wrote an article titled " Expansionist Iran: Lebanon, Syria, Gaza." I didn't know it until recently, but a website called " Free Syria " published it, under my name , the same day I first published it on Gather.com . While I didn't know about it, I appreciate the exposure, and wanted to return the favor. I'm publishing an excerpt from the Chief Editor's Word , Oct. '06: The fear of freedom is the worst of all fears. A timorous leader is a prisoner who is simply unaware of the real importance of freedom. It is the only key to guarantee a national unity that could be weakened by oppression, it is the only incentive for rising up a country and promoting stability for the whole society. Freedom is the first step towards democracy which will guarantee the citizens' rights to decide for their own destiny and to exercise their freedom of religion, thinking and expression. Syria has been living for the past decades under a constant co...

I'm sorry, but the Obama campaign has stepped over the line with this one. Connecting Sen. McCain to Rush Limbaugh is beyond the pale. It was one thing, when their strategy was to paint McCain as "Bush III," but Mr. Limbaugh is even further from McCain than President Bush is, politically. In their zest to discredit Sen. McCain, Sen. Obama's campaign has done just this, with a "Spanish language" commercial using "quotes" from Rush to characterize Sen. McCain as hostile to Latinos. However, the two "quotes" from Rush Limbaugh are actually his characterizations of other points of view, not his own opinion. Here are the quotes: ". . . stupid and unskilled Mexicans" and "You shut your mouth or you get out!" This is an excerpt from Rush's WSJ piece about the "controversy." ( link ) And more to the point, these sound bites are a deception, and Mr. Obama knows it. The first sound bite was extracted from a 1993 hu...

The biggest "scandal" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is that they exist. Now that it's official that you and I "own" them, let's break them up, and sell them off to private firms, over the next few years. These corporations were "tools" for the government, to provide "liquidity" and "stability" in the housing markets. If you don't know it, these two objectives were at odds with each other, when housing prices "crashed." "Liquidity" means that if you want to sell a house, you should be able to find a buyer fairly quickly. "Stability" means that if you want to buy a house, it is going to be a good investment, over the long term. Fannie and Freddie have proved to be a failure at both of these policy objectives.They serve no purpose, other than political power over a large piece of the economy, for their political patrons. Because they had the implicit backing of the US taxpayer, they were allowed to...

When Charles Gibson asked Gov. Palin if she agreed with the "Bush doctrine," I confess I wasn't sure what he was talking about. I remember this term, but I also remember it being used by many people, to describe different Bush policy positions. Indeed, no single policy was ever oficially labeled "the Bush Doctrine." The media have taken, over time, different statements from several Bush speeches, and claimed them to be his "doctrine.*" I wasn't surprised that she didn't know which one he was talking about. "In what respect, Charlie?" was the correct reply. Further, as Bill Sammon of FOX NEWS points out (link): Gibson and his colleagues have been all over the map in defining the Bush Doctrine over the last seven years. In 2001, Gibson himself defined it as "a promise that all terrorists organizations with global reach will be found, stopped and defeated." But when Palin tried to give a similar definition on Thursday, Gibson c...

I don't know if it's just me, but Sen Obama seems a little "shakey" in his recent campaign events. His "lipstick" gaffe is a prime example, but it's more than that. He seems to have trouble focusing on what he's trying to say, as if he's "overthinking" every word. The "uuh's" and other lapses don't sound like the candidate that beat Sen. Clinton in the primaries. That is, unless you count the later stages of the primaries, when he couldn't win the nomination outright. He "backed into" the nomination, and he knows it. No sooner did he "smooth things over" with Sen. Clinton (if not all of her supporters), when Sen. McCain named Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Since then, Sen. McCain has had a signifigant "bounce" in almost all of the various polls. This was a bigger swing than after the Rev. Wright mess came to light, late in the primaries. (With all due respect to Sean Hann...

Yeah, that's better!

"Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." It's not demeaning to compare Sarah Palin to the "cheerleader" in the NBC Sci-Fi show "Heroes." After all, the "cheerleader" is also an "indestructible hero." You gotta love this lady.

Before Gov. Palin addresses the Republican National Convention Wednesday night, I want to review some of the "vetting" that has occupied the media since Friday. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say that McCain has "baited a trap" for the liberal media, and they took the bait. Let's start with the story of her daughter Bristol's pregnancy, which was front-page news in every newspaper, and the lead subject of every TV news outlet, both broadcast and cable, in the nation. I don't have the time or patience to review all of the coverage, so I will cite one example. On PBS, Mark Shields implied that Gov. Palin's acceptance of McCain's offer of the VP slot "guaranteed that her daughter would be known globally as the best known 17-year-old unwed teenager in the world, and that decision many people question." I'm sure he meant to say "pregnant" in there, but he continued on: "The ambition of going on a national ticket,...

McCain is still a maverick. The choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is "on the edge of the bubble" to some, but she is an excellent VP candidate. I'm betting that she's dealt with blowhards like Biden before, and will kick his butt in their debate. Her experience should be an issue, because it compares so favorably to Obama's. Sarah Palin took on corruption in her own party, and has an 80% approval rating. She has been more than bipartisan in her appointments, by including "independents," as well as Democrats. She fits well with McCain, who should now change his stance on drilling in ANWR. Her story will come out, and she will impress the nation. Alaska deals with more international issues than most states, so her experience may be greater than Obama's, on a practical level. Granted, he just did the "big tour" of Western Europe, but what does he know about keeping the Russians from claiming all of the oil in the arctic circle? Less than she d...

Drs. Cornell West and Julianne Malveaux panned Sen. Obama's acceptance speech, in an interview with Tavis Smiley, on PBS. Tavis Smiley got them to open up, and gives us a real insight into their point of view. This link has 4 minutes of it, and I'm hoping the most critical parts aren't edited out. I saw the whole interview, but didn't view the online excerpt. Dr. West said that Obama's speech was "running away from history," and Dr. Malveaux called it a "whitewash," and stood behind that word, when challenged by Mr. Smiley. I f you don't know who Drs. West and Malveaux are, see their websites ( Dr. Malveaux , and Dr. West ), or just search the web. It is safe to say that they come from the liberal end of the political spectrum, and they are both African-American. It's an interesting interview, and deserverves to be transcribed fully. PS: I have to commend Tavis Smiley, because I am a huge fan of his. He is ten times as good at interviewi...

Michelle Obama said: "All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do--that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be." I have a few quick questions: How does a US president change "the world?" Who decides "how it should be?" What does "just won't do" mean, in this context? It "won't do" what, for who? Okay, if I take it as a figure of speech, meaning "is unacceptable," it still doesn't make sense, because "the world" has never "been acceptable" to everybody. Everyone has competing ideas on ethics, morality, and culture. Does her "obligation to fight for the world as it should be" extend to Iraq? Not likely, given her husband's advocating abandoning Iraq before the surge, when things were rough. Unfortunately, her husband is the one who "just won't do," and it's not because of his race. It's because of his equi...

C artoon by Sean Delonas , from Page Six of the NY Post. Want to know how corrupt NYS politics are? Here's the latest from Fredrick U. Dicker of the NY Post, in another great expose. This one's about NYS Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, who expects to be majority leader after the Nov. elections. (link) SENATE Minority Leader Malcolm Smith told a conclave of lobbyists in Kingston last week that their clients would be shut out of a Democrat-controlled Senate in January if they didn't pony up large contributions now, a "shocked" longtime lobbyist has told The Post... ..."The whole thing was incredible. Malcolm got up there and thanked everyone for coming and told them we should think of his fund-raising event as being like an IPO, an initial public offering. "He said we should get in early because then it doesn't cost as much. The longer you wait to get in, he said, the more it will cost you and if you don't get in at all, then it will be p...

After Saturday's Presidential Forum with Rick Warren, Obama tried to jump on McCain's answer to the question "On taxes, define rich." McCain tried to define it in terms of a person's wealth, not income. He said that it "Should be defined by a home, a good job and education, and the ability to hand our children a more prosperous and safer world than we inherited." When pressed on income, he said "If you're just talking about income, how about five million." When the audience laughed, he used the words "but seriously" several times, trying to finish his point, which was that he wants to keep everyones taxes low, even "the rich," and focus on out-of-control spending. There is a larger point here. Someone may only make the kind of money that the government taxes at the highest rate for very few years. People move up and down the income scales, and many of them sacrifice much to get there, and lose it all long before they pas...

Crossposted from GRAFFITI POLITTI on Gather (08/11/08), with an update below: South Ossetia was the flashpoint. Now, other provinces, notably Abkhazia, are also under seige. There are naval blockades, and other nations are denying port access to Russian vessels. The US is going to transport 2,000 Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia. Russian Prime Minister Putin has said that Georgia's President Saakashvili "has to go," according to one press report. Will this war result in a "regime change" in Georgia? How can it be averted? Was the "Rose revolution" totally in vain? Reality check: It's not 1968, and this ain't Prague. My US Dollars are still betting on freedom, in the longer term. In the near term, I see lots of fighting, death, and destruction. Same as it ever was. There are some interesing angles to this story. Georgia was applying to become part of NATO. This should be a lesson not to accept any nations with "provincial" disput...

How about them apples? US oil consumption dropped by the largest amount in 26 years, and world oil consumption still increased! I suppose it would have risen more, if not for all of us Americans conserving our resources. High prices will do that, you know. ( source ) Does this have anything to do with the recent falling of oil prices? You bet it's a large factor. There are also new sources being found all the time. Oil prices are coming down, because the market says so. Watch the pols line up to take credit, when they did nothing.

Something I didn't remember was that the offshore drilling ban passed by Congress expires on Sep. 30th. This is an interesting twist to this issue. What are they going to do, a month before the election? The markets already have this one figured out. Congress is going to let it expire or pass something expanding offshore drilling. Here's an excerpt from the Evans Novak Political Report , which is still publishing without Mr. Novak, who has a malignant brain tumor. I want to wish him all of God's grace, and my prayers for his health, as I quote his successor, Timothy P. Carney: Republicans are winning the energy debate and will continue to highlight the issue until Democrats are forced to either renew the existing offshore ban when it expires on September 30, or allow it expire. Democrats need to hope for prices to come down and stay down until the election. Whether they have a legislative way to bring that about (such as releasing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve)...

Anyone who didn't see this coming is living in another reality. The man who had the nerve to call Pres. Bush "the Devil" in front of the UN a while back has once again shown where the stench of brimstone really came from. Who wants to bet he stays in power beyond his term limit? I ask all of the people who think that Bush is a "dictator" (if not the Devil) to make an objective comparison. Read the AP piece linked here , and you will realize why I laugh off the allegation of Bush's "tyranny." Speaking of tyranny, Rep. Maxine Waters recently threatened to try to nationalize America's oil industry. Chavez did this a long time ago, which shows what path Rep. Waters wants to take this nation down. I doubt that even a potential Pres. Obama (or a majority of Democrats) would go along with this, but it's important to know that we also have a faction that is as tyrannical as the Chavez regime. Watch out for "El Diablo," and his American a...