Another Thirty Pieces of Silver

In the months leading up to the 2008 election several prominent, and formerly actively pro-life Catholics publicly endorsed Barack Obama for the presidency. A few months ago we noted Dan Rooney receiving his payment of thirty pieces of silver in the form of appointment as Ambassador to Ireland. Today, another payment has been made as Doug Kmiec was nominated as Ambassador to Malta. A law professor who also served in the Reagan administration, Kmiec was a strong pro-life advocate until a year ago. He supported Mitt Romney in the primary, but after Romney lost in the primary he strangely switched allegiance to Barack Obama the most pro-abortion candidate to run on a major party ticket. Prior to the election Kmiec authored abook titled "Can A Catholic Support Him?: Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama" which somehow made the case that it was possible for a faithful Catholic to support a pro-abortion presidential candidate. I can only wonder if when all is said and done he will feel the ambassadorship is worth betraying all he used to profess to believe?

Karl Malden - RIP

Karl Malden died today at 97 years of age. The veteran character actor was one of my favorites from old classic movies. He is better known to more recent audiences as the guy from the American Express commercials who says "never leave home without it." His birth name was Mladen George Sekulovich. With the way that rolls off your tongue I have to wonder why he changed it.

Rest in Peace Mr. Malden.

Sestak to Challenge Specter in Dem Primary

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) switched from RINO to DINO out of fear that he would be easily be beaten in the Republican primary next year because of his ridiculous vote supporting the massive pork laden faux stimulus bill. Now, after switching to Democrat to seek another term in the senate it turns out he will have a decent challenge for the nomination of that party. Rep. Joe Sestak announced today that he will oppose Specter. I'm no fan of Sestak (he had a reputation in the Navy of being a crappy boss resulting in demotion from Vice Admiral to Rear Admiral and sudden retirement), but I hope he gives Specter a hard bruising fight in the primaries. Let them spend lots of stupid money and then the most damaged and beaten man can face off against Pat Toomey in the general election. Both Specter and Sestak voted for the Stimulus bill and will be vulnerable on that front especially if the economy continues to stumble.

Funniest Thing on the Internet Today

I know there is a lot of funny stuff on the internet, but this tops all. Click the link to watch a video Alo Konson of BrainShavings posted of a corrupt but funny two-bit Cuyahoga County politician explaining that it is all a Karl Rove led Republican conspiracy to have the Feds go after corrupt Democrats throughout the Great Lakes region. What a moroon!

Hey, Jimmy. Guess what, I know quite a few folks in law enforcement, and believe it or not some of them are actually Democrats. If any administration attempted to push prosecutions specifically aimed at the opposition party the newspapers would quickly find out. The most an administration could do is change priorities which happens all the time. The emphasis shifts from white collar crime to the "drug war" to kiddie porn to fighting terrorism and so on. In a case like local corruption the most likely catalyst for the investigation is a complaint from a concerned citizen or a political opponent (which in Cuyahoga County means a fellow Democrat). Jimmy Dimora may think he is a major player, but I highly doubt Karl Rove ever heard of him.

What is Cap and Trade?

There has been a lot of internet chatter over this weekend about Cap and Trade. Friday night the House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favor of Cap and Trade legislation. What is Cap and Trade? What did they vote to do? Why was there such a rush to pass this legislation that they could not even wait for it to be read and understood before voting? What's next?

Well, starting with the legislation, the only accurate description of the bill I've found comes from our congressman, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH-18): "Hey, people deserve to know what's in this pile of s--t." Okay, Boehner assessment may be accurate, but I'll admit it is not a very informative description.

So, what is Cap and Trade supposed to be? The general idea is some naive people have bought into the ridiculous idea of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) and think we need to take drastic action to save the planet. With that in mind, proponents of the theory of AGW want to Cap greenhouse emissions and then there will be trading of allowances to exceed the Cap. In other words, companies that generate emissions (that is any company that creates stuff) will be charged a fee. Call the fee whatever you want, but bottom line is it is a massive tax on productivity. The obvious impact will be felt by consumers of the power companies. Basically, since the cost of these fees will be passed on to consumers, this is a massive tax on every American. Amazingly, there are people who actually believed the snake oil salesman from Chicago when he said no one making less than $250,000 will see a tax increase. Fools!

The question concerning the rush to pass this legislation is the easiest to answer. Whenever Congress says they need to rush something through without debate and without even reading the legislation then you know congressional "leadership" realize the proposed legislation would not survive full examination. Consider the pork laden "stimulus" bill from a few months ago.

What's next? The bill goes to the senate for consideration and if it passes the senate then to the president for signature or veto. There is no doubt that the current president is a an adherent of the religion of global warming so he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. So, if we are concerned about our countries future we need to attempt to influence enough senators to vote against Cap and Trade. Also, since even if this bill dies in the senate we will see more attempts to push this in the future we should continue to pressure members of the House of Representatives. I know my congressman (Boehner) isn't an idiot. How about your congressman? Give your congressman a call. Their staffs keep track of public sentiment on contentious issues and fear of losing votes can influence their position.

Breaking News: Bernie Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison

Financial investing scam artist (thief) Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his massive Ponzi scheme. His crime was running the second largest Ponzi scheme ever run (only trailing Social Security). Wall Street cheered the sentence and the stock market is up slightly today, but this conviction and sentence really has no bearing on the future of the economy. Companies that increase their profits will grow in value those that don't won't. However, having said that, this sentence will help to restore some faith in the markets. People will, wrongly or not, see this sentence as a strong deterrent against future fraudsters. Confidence in the integrity of the financial markets is paramount to keeping people willing to participate.

Breaking News: Supreme Court Overrules Sotomayor in Ricci Case

This should make Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings more interesting:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

By itself, this is not necessarily disqualifying. I'm fairly certain that most Supreme Court nominees have had prior cases overturned. However, what makes this more problematic for Judge Sotomayor is her incorrect ruling in this case plays into the growing image of her as a judge who allows identity politics to sway her rulings rather than solely considering the legal precedents and merits of the case at hand. Baring a major smoking gun, I doubt her nomination is in any real trouble. This just gives senators on the judiciary committee something to stir up.