Hero of the Day: Ellen Basinski

From the Cleveland suburb of Elyria we get this story with a happy ending:

Ellen Basinski refused to be intimidated by a man and three boys who forced their way into her house on Columbus Street and demanded money.

"One of them picked up my purse and just dumped it out," she said Wednesday. "Now, my purse is like Fibber McGee's closet, it's got everything in there. I got very angry." Before she even gave much thought about what she should do, she grabbed an Emeril Lagasse 5-quart sauce pan. "I picked up the saucepan and smacked him right on the head," she said. "He looked at me and said, 'Lady, why did you do that?' And I hit him again."

The intruders realized Basinski was no easy prey and ran. They didn't get far. The four were quickly caught by police with the help of neighbors who told police where they ran.

Police arrested Patrick Kostal, 18, and three juveniles, ages 17, 16 and 15. All four are from Elyria and were charged with a felony count of aggravated burglary.

Good for you Mrs. Basinski. Bullies aren't used to people, especially older people, standing up to them.

Crooks need to get the message that older folks aren't the easy marks they expect. Earlier today I called a friend from church who is in his mid-80's and his wife said he would have to call me back as he was in the basement doing his daily weight lifting.

Quote of the Day - Things Never Change Department

Over one hundred years ago, when serving as Minority Leader of the New York Assembly Teddy Roosevelt made this observation about the Democrat party:

"The difference between your party and ours is that your bad men throw the good ones out, while with us the good throw out the bad."

Obviously little has changed on that front in the last century.

President Abraham Lincoln

Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. I didn't have anything special to post at the time. However, last night I visited Cranky Conservative's blog and he had a series of entries on Lincoln including most of his best speeches and some of the letters he wrote. The letters, more than the speeches, give a better understanding of the man's style and his wit. If you have an interest in history, I encourage you to click the link and review his posts.

Breaking News: Gregg Drops Out of Commerce Job

President Obama loses another cabinet nominee. On the bright side this one isn't because of ethical lapses. This is more like a divorce before the wedding. Sen. Judd Gregg has dropped out from consideration to serve as Commerce Secretary citing irreconcilable differences. Gregg said that profound differences on issues such as the spending bill (ie: faux stimulus) and moving control of the Census from the Commerce Department to the White House convinced him they would not be able to work together. Gregg did the right thing in stepping down. No one should go into an administration knowing they would not be able to fully support the president's policies.

This is not really surprising. Based on Sen. Gregg's history as a fiscal conservative I never understood him accepting the position.

For the president, I wish you the best of luck in finding someone who pays their taxes to fill this position.

Gridlock

When you stop to say your prayers tonight include a request for gridlock in Washington. Remember the only thing worse that a do-nothing congress is a do-something congress. That is especially true when you consider the pork laden stimulus package they are rushing to pass before the details are understood. The more this crap sandwich is understood the greater the outrage.

Daschle & Geithner - What's the Difference?

Former Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew his name from consideration for HHS cabinet position yesterday and President Obama admitted he "screwed up" in nominating Daschle. Well, if it was a "screw up" (his own words) to nominate a tax cheat as Secretary of Health and Human Services isn't it a bigger screw up to nominate a tax cheat as Treasury Secretary which has oversight of tax code enforcement?

Call the White House and ask why one is a screw up and the other not.

Do Any of Obama's Appointee's Pay Their Taxes?

As we've noted and complained about Obama's nominee's for Treasury Secretary and Health and Human Services past failures to pay taxes, another Obama nominee had similar problems and we hadn't even heard of her or the position. Nancy Killefer has withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government because she didn't pay her taxes.

When her selection was announced by President Barack Obama, The Associated Press disclosed that the District of Columbia government had filed a more than $900 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help.

It is odd that over $30K in tax fraud didn't disqualify Geithner and over $100K in tax fraud hasn't caused the Daschle nomination to be withdrawn, but under a thousand got this lady kicked to the curb. Was she a sacrificial lamb so the new administration can pretend to have some standards?

Beyond her tax issues, when did we create another job of chief performance officer for the federal government? Here's an idea. Don't make up a new position unless you subtract an old one that's no longer necessary.


UPDATE: Let's not forget Al Franken. While he is not an Obama appointee, he owes the closeness of the Minnesota senate race to Obama's election night coattails.

Franken, who is still fighting incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman for Minnesota’s Senate seat, failed to pay at least $70,000 in taxes to 17 states prior to running for office.

Seems all these Dem's are in favor of higher taxes in order to expand government power. They're just not in favor of personally paying those taxes.

How Does VP Biden Feel About Unpatriotic Cabinet Members?

During last years campaign season, then Vice President Biden made comments stating that paying higher taxes is just being patriotic. Since then: Obama nominated a tax cheat as Treasury Secretary (somehow confirmed by our ethically challenged senate). Also Obama nominated Tom Daschle who "forgot" to pay $128K in taxes. So, would those people be considered unpatriotic by VP Slow Joe Biden?

For extra laughs we have this quote of Daschle's that Don Surber dug up:

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter.” — Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507

Click the link, Don also notes Daschle's sorry history of voting on tax related issues.