Archive for October, 2009

Morning Joe LEADS with NY-23

Posted: October 30, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Because of Pataki, they haven’t mentioned that the key endorsement was Palin.

The Pataki endorsement is late but it comes on the last weekend AND he is a NY governer. This is going to make a ton of difference, but remember no matter what the Telegraph says:

Perhaps the most significant intervention has been by Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a mainstream Republican who many party insiders believe has the most plausible claim to the party’s 2012 presidential nomination for a contest in which President Barack Obama could well be vulnerable.

it is the Palin endorsement that made everyone else move, they do conceede that she was first.

Sarah Palin, another possible 2012 candidate and a darling of the Right, had already announced on Facebook that she was backing Mr Hoffman. “Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense and a commitment to individual liberty,” she wrote.

This is an English paper so it can be excused to some degree meanwhile on the Pataki endorsement:

Mr. Pataki announced his support for Mr. Hoffman at a Conservative Party fundraiser at the New York Athletic Club. Mr. Pataki said he has a farm in the 23rd congressional district and I know that district inside and out.

John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also backed Mr. Hoffman at the event.

While Huckabee is being quiet:

While former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has also declined to endorse Hoffman in the race, on Wednesday he said, “I have chosen not to endorse the Republican in the 23rd.”

“Now we need to ask about Romney, why won’t Huckabee endorse, etc.,” Erick Erickson, the editor and founder of the influential RedState blog, wrote earlier this week.

“I’m willing to give till Wednesday for candidates to get on,” he wrote. “After Wednesday morning, it’s just for show.”

RedState speculated that ongoing tensions with former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, a former Huckabee GOP primary foe who has endorsed Hoffman, have kept Huckabee from weighing in. Huckabee is widely thought to be at odds with Thompson over the senator’s refusal to drop out of the 2008 contest until well after he was a viable candidate.

This is going to be the story of the year no matter how it ends.

Update: The Other McCain is there for the kill, and Morning Joe seems to have steered away from it. There is a Mass for my father this morning so I’ll only be watching for a few more minutes so I don’t know if they will go back to it. They didn’t make a lot of fuss about Palin but I suspect they will make some noise about Pataki.

But just remember that if you listened to Charles Johnson (peace be upon him) you would think there was nothing going on. McCain has owned this story and if you follow him so do you. Professional reporters, don’t leave home without em.

Oh forgot to say: Vote Hoffman!

The difference between an enemy and someone you don’t care for

Posted: October 29, 2009 by datechguy in Afghanistan war, internet/free speech
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My mother is the quintessential Sicilian. There are people she doesn’t like or care for, but she is very proper in public concerning them as long as she isn’t questioned directly. She always taught me the value of being able to publicly associate with your enemies. And with enemies you need to establish “neutral ground” such as Church or a funeral where you can be friendly and not let your personal enmity harm or inconvenience others.

There were also other bounds, you would not hurt a foes family or attempt to cost them their livelihood. On shared occasions such as sporting events when you both cheered for the same team it was even acceptable to celebrate together and most importantly there were some rumors and accusations that were so beyond the pale that you didn’t repeat them even about your foes. I saw her do this with people that had directly hurt and insulted her publicly. It was amazing to see.

Most of this was taught by example. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me I tended to take my fathers example instead. He liked and got along with everyone and as long as they didn’t mean harm to his family he would help anyone. At his funeral I never saw so many people and neither did the funeral home guy for any non celebrity. (He even cooked his own funeral dinner but that’s another story…)

This is one of the reasons why I have taken such a hard line on Charles Johnson and lgf. His accusations against Robert Stacy are not only contrary to the personal experiences of people with actual expereince but it puts his ability to support his wife and family at risk.

Banning people from comments is childish, the comments on Jumping in Pools are childish an revealing, but the actions on the gentleman from Maryland are despicable and continue to be. (This doesn’t even count his actions against Pam Geller, Gates of Vienna et/al).

As I’ve said I’ve never met Charles so I don’t know his motivations, how he thinks, if he is having personal problems that lead to this stuff or anything, but right now I must say I don’t care much for him.

That said he has not yet crossed two particular bright lines that are significant.

He has not crossed over to opposition to Israel vs the Palestinians.

He has not crossed over to the defeat caucus concerning the radical Islam in general and the war in particular.

These are both important lines not only because of what they represent but because unlike some who support the above positions he has the facts and without a question knows better.

As long as those two lines are not crossed his chance of redemption is still intact and I will hope for it while still teasing him over his foolishness and chiding him severely for his offensives against a man I call friend.

Once those lines are crossed, once he actively supports the other side in war then all bets are off. Over time this will be the true test of him and if he just being petulant or if he is doing wrong.

I hope I’m wrong but I have a horrible feeling that this administration will very soon put this to the test.

24 will get you 4.5

Posted: October 29, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
Tags: ,

The Christian science monitor reports that Cash for Clunkers cost taxpayers $24,000 for each new car sold.

Well, it’s in how Edmunds crunched the numbers. A valid way to evaluate the program economically, it says, is to look at how many people purchased cars that otherwise wouldn’t have been bought. The firm says that number is about 125,000 cars. By that measure, the government spent $24,000 to generate each sale of a new car.

For comparison, the average price for a new vehicle in August 2009 was $26,915, minus an average cash rebate of $1,667.

In all, the government spent $3 billion on a program that provided cash toward 690,000 car purchases – about $4,348 per car. That makes 565,000 people who got as much as $4,500 to buy a car they would have bought anyway, according to the Edmunds analysis.

So that mean in taxes that $4,500 that you were given cost you 19,500 PLUS the tax you will pay on the $4500 as income.

Of course this is on the national credit card so you might not notice it but you or your kids will pay for it, assuming you have anything left after Obamacare et/al. Snapped shot agrees.

If you thought that was a good deal, wait until you see what these nimrods do to your healthcare plan by this time next year. I’m sure you’re going to love it.

Gateway Pundit says:

It would have been cheaper to give them away free.

Jim Jim Jim, you’re missing the whole point, this entire program was a PR buy for the Obama administration and congress. The purpose was to help facilitate their re-election and prop up their numbers.

Exit question, we know where $4500 of those dollars went, where did the other 20K or so go? Who got it, what interest group cashed in on it?

Why you should not trust the MSM reason 469,771

Posted: October 29, 2009 by datechguy in employment, opinion/news
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Comes in two parts. Part one is the reporting on Cash for Clunkers. Lets look at Google News:

cash clunkers google

Google search 1 p.m. EST 10/29/09

You have 1,400 articles vs 23 on the effectiveness of Cash for clunkers.

Part two comes from one of those few articles that report on it. It isn’t in the meat of the article it is in the request at the bottom after the story:

Do you have a job because of the $787 billion stimulus package? We want to hear from people whose jobs have been created or saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Please e-mail your stories to CNNMoney.com and you could be part of an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. To top of page

In other words Please please PLEASE there must be someone we can paint as the poster child for the 787 billion that Congress and the president spent.

Lets cut to the chase, if they could point to the success of the stimulus package, they wouldn’t be trolling for people who benefited from it.

Update: Legal Insurrection explains why this is necessary.

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