Happy New Year!

Let's hope that 2010 is a lot better than 2009 turned out to be. Happy New Year!

12/23/09 links.

Lack of updates lately, I'll try to do better.

• Lindsey Graham says ObamaCare is "sleazy".
• Alabama Congressman switches from the Democratic Party to the Republicans.
• Politico says the switch is a warning to Democrats.
• CNN is dropping 1 hour of "The Situation Room".
• Jim Demint plans to force a vote on ObamaCare's constitutionality.
  

12/18/09 links.

• Politico feature on Bret Baier, Fox News anchor of Special Report.
• Real Clear Politics average of Obama/Democratic healthcare plans show the those opposing outnumber those in favor by nearly 14%.
• Senate Republicans not backing down as round the clock voting looms.
• Majority of Americans do not believe global warming is a crisis.
• Jim Demint plans to force Christmas Eve healthcarevote.
• Iranian Cyber Army hacked Twitter.
• Officers warned of flaws in U.S. drones in 2004.
• Great column by Charles Krauthammer.
• Iran making new model centrifuges for nuke program.
• NFL.com breaks down the Saints/Cowboys Saturday night matchup.
  

Colts Stay Undefeated.

One of the two remaining undefeated teams left in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts remained undefeated as they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 35-31 on Thursday Night Football.

The Colts are now 14-0, while the unbeaten Saints will face the Cowboys on NFL Network Saturday Night.

Indianapolis was lead once again by superhuman quarterback Peyton Manning who finished the night 23 of 30 for 308 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Jacksonville falls to 7-7 on the year, and while still in the Wild Card hunt, will have to win their remaining two games and get help from other teams in order to make the playoffs. Jack Del Rio and company have to be frustrated by fielding a competitive and hard nosed team year after year, yet still falling short.

The Colts close out the season with games at home against the New York Jets, and on the road at Buffalo.

It remains to be seen whether or not Indianpolis head coach Jim Caldwell will play his starters for a significant period of time and go for the undefeated season, or if he will rest Manning and company for the playoffs.

Personally, I think he should play the starters, especially on offense where repetition and timing is key. Otherwise you run the risk of your team being rusty after a three week break, if you include the bye week.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the Colts and Saints remain hot down the stretch, or if they falter as they look forward to the playoffs. I feel like if Drew Brees and Peyton Manning play a significant amount of time both teams they will more than likely remain undefeated throughout the season. Having two undefeated teams in the same season would be pretty amazing, and something I never thought I would see.

For more information of tonights game:

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2009121700/2009/REG15/colts@jaguars

12/17/09 links.

• A blizzard has hit Copenhagen as world leaders discuss climate change.

• Obama and the Democrats continue to flounder in the latest poll from WSJ/NBC. Presidential approval stands at 47% while his party has a negative net in approval ratings.
  

• Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico could be the next leader of libertarian leaning Republicans.

• Texas governor Rick Perry says Al Gore has "gone to hell", because of his advocacy for global warming hysteria. 

•  Joe Lieberman is at least considering the possibility of becoming a Republican.

• Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, a Congressional candidate has been getting quite a bit of hype on conservative websites for this speech in Florida.

• John McCain thinks Charlie Crist will win the Florida Republican primary, although recent polls suggest a close race.

•  New claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week.

• Karl Rove on Obama's swift decline in the polls and his cheap shots at the Bush administration.
  

2010 candidate briefing: Peter Schiff.

2010 Briefing:

 

As we draw closer to the beggining of 2010, and the start of a new election year, I'll be doing features here and there on candidates who I believe would make a positive impact on the country as a whole.

Republicans across the country are upset with the GOP. The party has strayed from it's traditional platform of sound money, reduced government spending, a limited government role in day to day life, and a strong but reasoned foreign policy.

This has resulted in a non existent "Tea Party" doing better than the actual Republican Party in hypothetical matchups against Democrats, according to Rasmussen Reports.

This highlights voter dissatisfaction with the Republican Party, and it's governing over the past decade. Government has grown too large, deficits have become unmanagable, and coming tax increases threaten to choke any economic growth that may occur in the near term. 

I'm definately one who believes a third party is not the answer. It's an uphill struggle, and there's no need for one as the Republican Party platform is a recipe for success when properly enacted.

The quickest way to revitalize and modernize the Republican Party, and to avoid a 3rd party challenge, while giving voters an actual choice between the parties is to support Republicans who advocate a limited government philosophy in the upcoming primaries that will be occuring throughout the country in 2010.

Peter Schiff

One Republican that can be an advocate for real change in this country is Peter Schiff.  Schiff is a very successful stock broker, economist and author. He came to national prominence in the early to mid 2000's by accurately predicting the economic catastrophy of 2008, and the credit and housing bubbles which has resulted in the worst recession in decades. Schiff is also the president of Euro Pacific Capital, and was an ecnomic advsior to Ron Paul's presidential campaign.

Schiff's competitors in the Republican Primary in Connecticut are Linda McMahon of WWE fame, and Rob Simmons who is generally considered the "most electable" candidate by the Republican establishment. McMahon and Simmons are typical Connecticut Republicans. Pretty moderate on most issues, and they certainly don't provide voters will a real robust choice, though they would be better than the alternative, which is the extremely corrupt and economically illiterate liberal Democrat, Chris Dodd.

Recent polls show all three Republicans would defeat Dodd, whose approval rating is stuck around 40%, which spells trouble for any incumbent this close to an election.

While McMahon and Simmons are milquetoast moderate Republicans, Schiff is a libertarian republican in the mold of Ron Paul. He's an advocate for Austrian economics, restraint when it comes to foreign policy, and believes government should stay out of social issues, which means no government funding for abortion.

The unemployment rate currently stands at 10% despite the Obama administrations insistence that it would not go above 8% if Congress rushed and passed it's nearly one trillion dollar stimulus package. It has clearly failed, as unemployment has continued to rise, and the work force has continued to shrink.

As a strong fiscal conservative, and a constant critic of both the Bush and Obama administrations, Schiff has a leg to stand on when it comes to fiscal conservative cred, unlike many Republicans who blindly supported the growth of government programs, and increasingly high budget deficits during the Bush administration.

With most experts expecting unemployment to remain high in the lead up to the November elections, someone with the economic credentials of Peter Schiff would be the best candidate to go up against Chris Dodd who will have to explain himself to voters for supporting the failed economic policies of the Obama administration, while at the same time being one of the leading characters in the economic meltdown of 2008.

Candidates such as Schiff won't always be electable. But the election of 2010 is an excellent opportunity to capitalize on the economic miscues of the Democrats in Congress, and voters unhappiness with Chris Dodd to elect a true advocate of limited government, and the traditional principles of the Republican Party.

To learn more about Peter Schiff, or to donate to his campaign go to http://www.schiffforsenate.com

I also highly recommend his YouTube channel, which is updated with video blogs pretty regularly:  http://www.youtube.com/user/SchiffReport

12/16/09 links.

• Congress will vote on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling to 14 trillion dollars.
• In the midst of this recession, families are making tough decisions on how much they're willing to spend on a college education.
• Iran has test fired it's most advanced missle. 
• Marco Rubio has pulled even with Charlie Crist in the Florida Republican Primary for Senate.
• Walter E. Williams on ClimateGate.
• The Wall-Street Journal argues that Democrats are afraid to kill the "death tax".
• Sarah Palin makes a good point via Facebook about the effect of "green" policies on California's economy.
• Reason.com makes the economic case against a soda tax.
• House of Representatives voted to impose sanctions on Iran.
  

12/14/09 links.

• Gallup has President Obama's approval rating at 48%. 
• Experts say the United States needs to get it's debt under control soon.
• Obama gives himself a B+ grade in interview with Oprah. My grade for him would be much different.
• Reihan Salam says excessive centralized government is a failure.
• Citi & Wells Fargo will repay government bailout funds.
• NASA launches infrared telescope to scan the solar system.
• 22 million lost e-mails from the Bush administration have been discovered.
• Al Gore, loose with the facts, as always.
• California's Republican Party is in abysmal shape.
  
• The Washington Post wants you to vote on the most influential person of the past decade.
  

12/11/09 links.

• John McCain has become the Obama administration's "Critic in Chief", according to Politico.

• China says population control is a key in fighting "climate change".

• Pat Buchannan says Ron Paul's attempt to audit the Federal Reserve is his Hour of Power.

• Environmentalism is the new socialism, according to Charles Krauthammer. 

• Obama climate advsiors are having trouble getting their fear mongering stories straight, when it comes to global warming.

• U.S. Marines have big challenges ahead in attempting to train Afghan farmers to be police.

• Deroy Murdock says Harry Reid needs a history lesson.

•  The number of federal employees making over $100,000 per year has jumped over 30% since the beginning of the recession. 

• John Coryn released a memo suggesting Republicans will make whatever health care reform Democrats pass a big issue in the 2010 mid term elections. 

• Is John Thune the GOP's answer to Barack Obama?

12/10/09 links.

• Jim Demint says America is lost in the woods.
  

• Barack Obama accepted his Nobel Prize.
  

• The Washington Post says the current healthcare compromise is a step towards a nightmare single payer system.
  

• Close to a year into his presidency only 50% of the country prefers Barack Obama to George Bush. 44% prefer the former president. Clearly Americans haven't gotten the ridiculous memo from lefties that Bush is among the worst presidents of all time. 
  

• Politico highlights some conservative praise of Obama's Nobel acceptance speech.
  

• Something you can expect to be an issue in the 2010 elections. Democrats are preparing to raise the nations debt ceiling by 1.8 trillion.
  

• John Kerry is one of the politicians I respect least, but I have to give him props for flying commerical to Copenhagen. Can't lump him in with the rest of the hysterical global warming hypocrites. 
  

•  Andrew Breitbart is starting yet another website. This one: Big Journalism ,which will focus on the "democratic media complex", or as the rest of us call it, "liberal media bias".
  

• David Frum says America needs neoconservatism.  

• The GOP has erased the party popularity gap on the 2010 generic ballot.