reldim's blog
Posted at 1:21pm on Nov. 16, 2007 Spitzer to Push Gay Marriage
By reldim
Promoted from Diaries by Dan McLaughlin.
Because apparently the licenses for illegals debacle wasn't damaging enough, the NY Post reports that Spitzer wants a new Democrat-controlled State Senate to push through the gay-marriage bill the Assembly has already passed this session.
Polling has not shown gay-marriage to be widely popular in New York. A listed poll in the article notes that support for it runs somewhere around 45%, with about an equal number against. Earlier polls showed the opposition to be stronger. Democrats need a 3-seat pickup in the Senate to take control, and in a presidential year, that chance increases. However, between the licenses issue and now this, Spitzer is handing Republican candidates in the rural and even suburban areas of NY new reason to retain their Republican Senators and even to add a few more to the batch.
(Read on)
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Posted at 3:12pm on Aug. 31, 2007 Warner Won't Run/Craig Likely to Quit
By reldim
So reporteth Fox News.
Not terribly surprising that Warner has opted out. The buzz is that Tom Davis has the inside track to the nomination. That would be bad for two reasons - first, he's no conservative, so we wouldn't exactly be upgrading our model in the Senate. And second, his Northern Virginia House district is trending left and the GOP is unlikely to hold it if Davis does not run again.
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Posted at 4:16am on Jul. 16, 2007 Allard Changing His Mind?
By reldim
I haven't heard anything to confirm this. Sen. Allard announced in January that he would retire at the end of his term.
But in bumming around on The Green Pages - which I find to be a pretty solid resource on candidates and officials and such, I came across a note on the Colorado page, saying that Allard filed a Statement of Candidacy with the FEC on May 22, 2007.
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Posted at 11:41am on Feb. 15, 2007 Marshall and the Non-Binding Resolution
By reldim
RedHot reports that Congressman Marshall of Georgia is the only Democrat to announce opposition to the NBR before the House.
Perhaps this is true courage from the Congressman, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But let's also remember that, in a year when when Democrats won who shouldn't have one in places they shouldn't have won, Cong. Marshall nearly lost his seat.
That experience certainly puts in stark contrast the need to look more like a Republican than a Democrat if he wants to keep his job and return for the 111th Congress.
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Posted at 10:14pm on Oct. 30, 2006 The Coming Governmental Crisis
By reldim
We've heard much about the ramifications of a Democrat takeover of one or both houses of Congress. But what of their "threat" to force a pullout in Iraq through defunding? Is it real or a paper tiger?
We can all agree that Congress certainly has the right to cut off funding. But we also must concede that only the President, as Commander-in-Chief can order the troops home.
So let's say that the President rightly refuses to renege on our commitment to Iraq even in the face of discontinued funds. Who then takes "the blame?" Surely, the American people would not tolerate unpaid soldiers who are fighting without proper equipment and support. So who would be faulted - the President for not cutting and running or the Democrat Congress for not doing right by our troops? Could it be another standoff like the one over the budget that led to a government shutdown?
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Posted at 3:47pm on Oct. 25, 2006 NJ Supreme Court Grants Same-Sex Couples Equal "Rights"
By reldim
The NJ Supreme Court pulled a Vermont today, holding that same-sex couples must be granted the same benefits as straight couples but leaving it to the State Legislature to decide how that will happen - by recognizing marriage or by creating some other institution.
Thank you NJ Supreme Court. You have likely helped Republicans hold the Senate. This will be the big "new issue" in Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia, and will almost insure that Sens. Talent and Allen win re-election and that Bob Corker will join the Greatest Deliberative Body. It may also be just the thing to help people like Conrad Burns and Mike DeWine across the finish line.
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Posted at 9:40pm on May 23, 2006 Flake Amendments Fail
By reldim
Congressman Flake's attempts to remove pork seem to have generally gone down to defeat. Of his package most failed on voice votes. Flake only demanded recorded votes on three of the amendments.
Results are here, here , and here.
They got anywhere from 75 to 81 Republican votes with a handful of Democrats joining on each one.
Take a look at the results and see where your CongressCritter really stands on earmarks. I'm in DC, so I know where mine stands. Even my guy from back home in NY is a Donk - also squarely in favor of wasting my tax dollars.
I'm glad to see that some Republicans get it. And I give a lot of credit to the 24 Republicans who voted against passage of the pork-laden bill (those results are here).
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Posted at 7:22pm on May 21, 2006 Why Staying Home is Bad for Your Purse
By reldim
A quick rundown of some of the gems that will be running your country into the ground if you stay home in November to "send a message."
(This assumes that the Donks will elevate their Ranking Members, or most senior member to the Chair)
The picture is certainly not pretty, and should scare everybody - even if you want to throttle your nearest Republican elected official for their recent actions.
Read on and think about what kind of legislation is likely to come out of these yahoos for 2 years if they do take control.
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Posted at 8:19pm on Mar. 15, 2006 Another Example of Democrat Bankruptcy
By reldim
Kent Conrad is on the Senate floor - and yet again he is railing against the size of the national debt, condemning the President for increasing the debt by trillions.
Yet, whatever the "facts" of Conrad's argument, one thing is certain - Conrad has offered ZERO bills, amendments, or other measures that would do anything about it. While crying about the debt, he has voted all day to increase total spending in the budget resolution. Sure he wants to raise taxes, but not to pay down debt - the taxes would go to fund new spending in equal or greater amounts!
So while the Democrats might like to talk about how they are the true "deficit hawks," simply scratch the surface and you find the same old tax-and-spend liberals. Republicans need only highlight the hypocrisy that is Democrat talk versus Democrat (in)action to complete disarm any "advantage" the Democrats might think they are getting from all of this.
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Posted at 8:05pm on Mar. 8, 2006 Schumer Brings Lobbying Reform to Screeching Halt
By reldim
Chuckie Schumer has derailed efforts to efficiently move forward with bipartisan lobbying reform. Earlier today, Schumer managed to sneak in a second-degree amendment to an amendment of Sens. Wyden and Grassley that had nothing to do with reform. It's purpose was to prohibit DP World from managing port facilities in the U.S.
Apparently Chuckie is not willing to withdraw his amendment, so that Bill Frist has been forced to file for cloture on the bill to limit amendments to those that are germane. Harry Reid seems amenable and the vote may occur tomorrow morning, but it could come as late as Friday - disrupting what has so far been a very bipartisan consensus on rules changes and reform.
Given that House Republicans will be effectively killing the deal themselves this evening, there was no reason for Schumer to halt the proceedings on ethics reform and tie up the Senate. Unless of course, Chuck isn't interested in ethics reform - I wouldn't be surprised at all since he's always struck me as one who plays fast and loose with the rules.
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Posted at 5:02pm on Mar. 2, 2006 Which Side are the Clintons On?
By reldim
So Hillary is yelling about "selling our ports", but according to the Financial Times, hubby Bill advised Dubai on how to deal with the stink over the DPW takeover of P&O.
Clinton also called the UAE a "good ally." So why does his wife think they should be summarily denied the ability to perform a service?
I wonder how much the couple made off of this "consulting" while Hillary continues her cheap demagoguing on the matter.
Ah, the smell of hypocrisy in the air!
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Posted at 3:27pm on Mar. 2, 2006 Sheets Byrd Spirals Off to the Left
By reldim
In his continuing transformation into a screeching Lefty, Robert Byrd has just finished speaking on the floor of the Senate - he decried Bush's "illegal" "domestic spying," calling for a "non-partisan" commission to find violations of law in the program.
This follows four - count 'em FOUR - votes against the Patriot Act on procedural motions yesterday (and there still hasn't been a final vote - I expect he will make it 5 for 5 on anti-Patriot provisions later this afternoon).
Has age softened his ability to reason? He appears to realize he's up for re-election, but he apparently seems to think that he need not represent the opinions of the people of West Virginia. While his Republican opponents are weaker than we might have hoped, ole Sheets is giving them a big barrel full of cannon fodder with which to bludgeon him.
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Posted at 12:26pm on Feb. 7, 2006 Patty Murray - Speed Reader
By reldim
While the President only delivered his $2.7 trillion FY 2007 budget to Congress yesterday, apparently Patty Murray (Dim-Washington) was able to read the whole thing last night.
She is currently on the floor telling us that the President's priorities are terrible and that he is going free up money for tax cuts for the rich on the backs of the poor.
She's also decided that we need to spend more money on education, healthcare, infrastructure and a host of other programs. Yet, she complains about the rising deficits and debt.
So, while pronouncing the budget a wholesale failure, what she doesn't tell you is that her vision for the budget - with all of these new "investments" and with deficit and debt reduction - requires Joe Taxpayer to shoulder higher taxes. Because make no mistake, that's what every Dim loves - higher taxes, especially on "the rich" (in New York State, "the rich" include anybody making $100,000 per year - now try living in the suburbs and raising two kids on that and see how "rich" you feel).
Where else is Sen. Murray going to get the money to pay for all these wonderful programs, to restore the "painful" cuts in the President's budget, and to reduce the deficit, if she's not planning on raising your taxes?
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Posted at 8:01pm on Feb. 6, 2006 Happy Birthday Mr. President
By reldim
As Sen. Allen has just reminded me, today would have been Ronald Reagan's 95th Birthday. The Senator is giving a very nice speech in commemoration of the century's "greatest advocate for personal freedom" and one of (along with Margaret Thatcher and John Paul II) the few who took a bold stand against Communism and sought to defeat it rather than live with it.
As we Republicans embark on the midterm election campaigns and a new era in leadership in the House, it would behoove us all to think back on the principles that drove the man who is very much a father of today's conservative movement and ask, "how would President Reagan have handled these issues?"
On this, the Gipper's birthday, we should all rededicate ourselves to the principles that got us to this point where we have won the hearts and minds of a majority of Americans, that we might not lose sight them.
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Posted at 2:15pm on Feb. 6, 2006 Why the Generic Ballot Polls Mean Nothing Right Now
By reldim
Proof positive can be found on the site of none other than Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. This press release comes from May 24, 2004 - about 5 months out of the election.
You will note Mr. Hoyer crows about recent polls giving Democrats a 13-point and 9-point edge in the generic ballot question.
Now, as far as I can remember, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong. By the time November rolled around the GOP actually gained House seats.
So, I continue to maintain that looking at generic ballot questions - which are inherently less reliable - this far out is even less meaningful than looking at polls wherein opinions on actual candidates are gauged. It's just too far out to be useful as an individual number.
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