Doug

CCAGW 2005 Congressional Ratings

Press Release
Washington, D.C. – The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today released its 2005 Congressional Ratings.  For 17 years, CCAGW has examined roll-call votes to separate the taxpayer advocates in Congress from those who favor wasteful programs and pork-barrel spending. 
The 2005 Congressional Ratings cover the voting year 2005, or the first session of the 109th Congress.  CCAGW rated 34 key votes in the House and 24 key votes in the Senate.  Votes included a budget reconciliation bill that will save a $39.7 billion over five years in mandatory programs, a tax reconciliation bill that would protect the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, reforms in class action lawsuits, the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and affirming the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommendations. 
The entire House had an average of 45 percent a six point increase over 2004.   House Republicans averaged 73 percent; House Democrats averaged 13 percent.  The entire Senate had an average of 46 percent also a six point increase over 2004.  Senate Republicans averaged 68 percent; Senate Democrats averaged 18 percent. 
There were two Taxpayer Super Heroes with a score of 100 percent:  Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in the Senate and Ed Royce (R-Calif.) in the House.  Taxpayer Heroes are members who scored between 80 and 99 percent.  The total number of Heroes and Super Heroes in the House dropped from 59 in 2004 to 52 in 2005.  The number of Heroes and Super Heroes in the Senate remained the same at 10. 
.
“Talk is cheap,” CCAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “The voting record is the best way to measure a member’s commitment to fiscal discipline.  Unlike the Taxpayer Super Heroes and Heroes, too many members of Congress demonstrate little regard for the harmfull effects of a large and cumbersome federal government.”
CCAGW’s website features the complete 2005 Congressional Ratings, including vote descriptions, scorecards for the House and Senate, personalized scorecards for each member of Congress, historical comparisons, and averages by chamber, party, and state delegation.  Visit www.cagw.org 
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.

Read more

Democrat Vision: “A New Era of Braveness Internationally”

Consider the nightmare vision, as presented by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as she addressed the 97th annual NAACP convention July 18th: Democrats are proposing a New Direction to take our country forward for all Americans, not just the privileged few. And when we do take back the Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus will lead … Read more

“A Reckoning”

The New World War
On this date, July 18th, in 1926, part 1 of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kamf, entitled A Reckoning, was published. As we approach a new world war, it is good to recall the past…
.
When studying past wars in history, the machinations in words and deeds of the warring parties leading up to the initial shots of conflict can be quite telling. While the opening salvos in a given war may have taken the involved parties by surprise, a careful study of actions prior generally reveals many telltale signs that should have foretold the events about to take place. Heated rhetoric by history’s long line of psychopathic madmen often contained hints at what they had planned long before their awful deeds were actually implemented.
.
On September 1st, 1939, Hitler’s army poured across the Polish frontier from the south, north, and west in what is considered the official start to World War II. Some fourteen years earlier, a book written by Adolf Hitler, Mein Kamf (“My Struggle”), was released with little fanfare. While he was nothing more than a well-known agitator (and ex-con) at that point, the future dictator put forth a blueprint for the coming horrors of the Third Reich within the convoluted writings of that now infamous book.
.
On the need for expanded living space for the German people (Lebensraum) in Eastern Europe then currently occupied by other peoples, Hitler wrote:
Nature has not reserved this soil for the future possession of any particular nation or race; on the contrary, this soil exists for the people with the force to take it.
He continued, on the consequences to those who might refuse to yield,
The law of self-preservation goes into effect; and what is refused to amicable methods, it is up to the fist to take.
That fist would ultimately smash an entire continent and then some.
.
Back in October, the new president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, caused a minor furor by declaring in a speech that
Israel must be wiped off the map.
In the same speech, he continued
Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?…You had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved.

Read more

Joke of the Day- Saint Kerry?

I have long found Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to be an absolutely loathesome individual. Given that, and all the seriousness lately regarding the new world war, I thought the following joke appropriate. It’s probably an oldie, but I can never laugh enough at the esteemed Senator’s expense. Did you know he served in Vietnam? I have no idea who wrote this. (hat tip Chris R)
On a Saturday afternoon, in Boston MA, Senator John Kerry’s campaign manager visited the Cardinal of the Catholic cathedral. He told the Cardinal that John Kerry would be attending the next day’s sermon, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Kerry to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling Kerry a saint.
The Cardinal replied, "No. I don’t really like the man, and there are issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over certain Kerry views."
Kerry’s manager then said, "Look. I’ll write a check here and now for a donation of $100,000 to your church if you’ll just tell the congregation you see Kerry as a saint." The Cardinal thought about it and said, "Well, the church can use the money, so I’ll work your request into tomorrow’s sermon."

Read more

Newt: Early Stages of WW3

Newt Gingrich was on Meet the Press today. I think he’s a long-shot presidential contender speaking to issues that resonate with many ordinary Americans, among them borders and health care issues. Today, however, he appeared on Meet the Press to discuss another area where he is strong- foreign affairs. The question comes from host Tim Russert-
Mr. Speaker, what are we witnessing in the Middle East?

Read more

PeeWee Knew- A World War Had Begun

The New World War

The following is the first in what will be a series of posted essays on the topic of the new world war, which I believe started Nov. 4th, 1979. I have been writing off and on about the subject in my weekly newspaper column for quite some time. Lately, others in the media are beginning to suggest a similar analysis.
————————————————————————————————————— 
In 1980, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie featured a memorable scene in which actor Paul Reubens, aka PeeWee Herman, played a wimpy, whiney desk clerk at a dingy hotel. Soon after the arrival of Cheech’s cousin, Dwayne ‘Red’ Mendoza, complete with a duffel bag filled with “illegal substance” slung over his shoulder, the hotel and its guests found themselves in a classic slapstick uproar. The hilarious scene showed a panicked PeeWee on the phone trying unsuccessfully to get the local police to respond to the mayhem. He then shouted his famous line from that movie, “I think they’re Iranians!” Suddenly the movie showed hundreds of police cars, including SWAT and paramilitary units, helicopters and all, converging on the seedy hotel. Such was the atmosphere in Jimmy Carter’s America in the summer of 1980- Iran was public enemy number one…
.
Of course, with Commander-In-Chief Carter at the helm, taking cheap comedic potshots at the hostage-holding Iranians in stoner movies was about as much as America was able to muster as a response to this overt act of war. At least it brought some laughter to a nation otherwise gripped by near military and diplomatic paralysis. You know the story… no, wait- maybe you don’t, or perhaps you’ve forgotten- the hostage crisis that many believe set the stage for Ronald Reagan’s ascendancy to the Oval Office has seemingly been erased from the nation’s collective memory. Why is that? Is it that it was such an awful period in American history that everyone just wishes to forget it ever happened?

Read more

Israel, Gaza, & Our Common Enemy- Know the Facts

David Horowitz writes a fantastic piece in FrontPage Magazine on the goings-on in Israel. The outbreak of combat in that region represents another step in the long march towards world war. He lays out facts about the situation as it exists that all of us need to understand… Americans need to take a hard look at what is going … Read more

Signs of World War?

Are we witnessing more of the long march to world war? Israel gives Syria 72 hours to stop the Hizbullah attacks against Israel and cough up the kidnapped soldier. Click here. Additionally, they finger Iran as having a role in the recent escalation of hostilities. Click here. Don’t forget this. Hugo Chavez, would-be dictator of Venezuala weighs … Read more

City & Town. Voters & Tax Caps.

Besides public employee salary and benefit costs, nothing impacts local property taxes more than big construction projects like new $chools, mammoth libraries, and police $tation megaplexes. Throughout the state, and indeed the entire country, we see massive projects proposed or under way. Why not? The economy is good right now. People seemingly have enough money to continue paying the ever-rising cost of funding their government. Or do they? How often do we hear the liberal Democrats and their comrades in the news media tell us that the “Bush economy” only benefits the rich and leaves “the little guy” losing ground as their costs grow faster than paycheck raises? Perhaps one reason there may be a grain of truth to that notion is that the fiscal backsliding is being caused in large part by people’s ever-growing tax burden.
.
Can it be that ordinary folks are beginning to understand that their local governments have a spending problem that finds tax bills digging deeper into their weekly paychecks? Let’s look at the “tale of two cities” if you will- Laconia and Gilford (actually, a town). Both locales have recently passed initiatives aimed at either directly, or indirectly, slowing the pace of government growth. In both, “It [is] the best of times, it [is] the worst of times.”

Read more

Aviso! Don’t Drink the Water!

In a July 6th posting, I wrote Over the Independence Day weekend, I visited Hampton Beach for a time and attended the midnight fireworks show at the Weirs. At both locations, when watching and listening to those around me, I found myself faced with the reality that we are fast being swarmed by a foreign … Read more

Government: Perpetuity? That was a long time ago…

Charles M. Arlinghaus is the president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. He writes a fantastic op-ed piece in the July 12th Union Leader demonstrating yet another reason, as if we needed any more, not to put too much trust in the government. While not mentioned, I wonder if the issue Charlie discusses might somehow include all those "land trust" deals towns make to "protect" lands into perpetuity?
.
From the piece entitled, "Don’t trust government with your house, land, or money," he writes:
ABOUT 50 YEARS ago, a little old lady named Mabel Chandler wanted to leave her house to the city of Nashua on the condition that it be used as the city library. She didn’t hope they would use it as the library, she insisted upon it. If the city stopped using the house as a library, she directed it be given back to her estate. The city considered rejecting the gift because of the restrictions but decided in the end to take it.
. 
Now 50 years later, someone thought “wouldn’t it be great if the gift didn’t have those restrictions and we could just sell the house and use the money?” The obvious solution was to pretend the restriction was “obsolete” and just act as if it didn’t exist. The city pretends to meet the “spirit” of the gift by using the cash to renovate the main library building and claim the old gift was impractical.
.
If this were done within a few years of the gift, it would be criminal, thoughtless and outrageous. In truth, it still is. The passage of time doesn’t change the clear intention of the donor; it merely emboldens the officials who want the gift to be different.

Read more

Thought You Had a Tax Cap? Think Again…

MORE LOCAL (central NH) NEWS- KEEP READING- IT’S PROBABLY HAPPENING WHERE YOU LIVE TOO…(*followup to this prior posting on the Laconia tax cap issue*) …Now that the Laconia “Broken Arrow” City Council is proceeding with preparations for a tax-cap breaking, new middle $chool building construction bond issuance, the options left for the already over-burdened taxpayers are few. Back in April and then in May, the Broken Arrows led by Mayor Matt Lahey started the ball rolling with the approval of “supplemental appropriations” to pay for engineering and associated costs of the multi- million dollar project. While those actions were apparently not in violation of November’s voter- approved tax cap by the letter of the law (according to the AG’s office, the tax cap applies only to NEXT year’s budget) requiring an actual vote to specifically “override,” they certainly went against the spirit. I’ll bet money that those voting for the cap expected a cap- now.
.
Moving forward with the spending commitment on a new middle school pitching the premise that new construction is cheaper than renovation, the Broken Arrow Council seems to have paid little heed to the City Manager’s forecast of future necessary tax cap- busting budgets even with NO new school being built. What will the hapless Laconia taxpayers do? The voters passed a tax cap and then elected big spending candidates who actively campaigned on an anti-tax cap platform with a promise of business as usual. With the manager’s dire predictions regarding upcoming budgets, the situation demands a radical alteration of how the city is conducting its operations.

Read more

Make love, not war! No guns at soldier memorial?!

I was thrilled when I began to read the July 12th Citizen article reporting:
The Gilford School Board is planning on dedicating a memorial for Gilford High School graduates that lost their lives serving our country Students will be asked to help with the design as well as selecting an appropriate location for the memorial. Many on the board feel that involving students will be both beneficial for the students and the project as a whole. "I see this memorial as serving two purposes. Number one, of course, is honoring our fallen graduates. Number two, is building awareness among our students of the preciousness of life and of the sacrifices others have made for them and our nation," said GHS Principal Ken Wiswell.
.
I know for a fact that many people throughout the community have wanted to do such a thing since the tragic death of Gilford Middle High graduate PFC Nicholas Cournoyer, killed in Iraq. I commend those in the school district who are engaged in the memorial effort.
.
My pride and excitement while reading the Citizen piece was short lived, however, when I continued reading this:
School Board members have come up with a preliminary design for the memorial. While the design is far from ready and student input has yet to be given, there are already some problems with what some are proposing.
.
In a email to School Board members, Chairman Derek Tomlinson voiced concerns over a suggested graphic that depicts, amongst other military uniform items, a military weapon.

Tomlinson stated to School Board members heading up the memorial Margo Weeks and Kurt Webber, "I think you should seriously look at alternatives before we take this to the students."
Man… was I torqued off! This person decrying the display of a soldier’s weapon in a memorial is MY elected school board chairman (don’t blame me…).

Read more

The Lunatic is in My Head… Syd Barret RIP

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky. Shine on you crazy diamond. You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom, blown on the steel breeze. Come on you target for faraway laughter, … Read more

Claremont solved?

The legal fallout from the Claremont education funding edicts issued by the NH Supreme Court continues. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano and Massachusettes tourists returning to clog up our roads and restaurants here in the Lakes Region year after year, NH residents can count on some group of school districts suing the state for … Read more

Party Crasher

The July 9th Concord Monitor reports (hat tip- John H) Kinney O’Rourke, co-owner of the Black Cat Café in Laconia, is a lifelong Democrat. But after he learned Jim Fitzgerald would challenge Sen. Robert Boyce in a Republican primary, O’Rourke changed his status so he could vote for Fitzgerald. While anybody is free to do … Read more

Big Wind

Back in January, I wrote about wind farming in my weekly Laconia Daily Sun column–The January 9th NH Union Leader contained an interesting story about a man constructing a wind-generating farm on Mt. Jerico in Berlin. With the help of his father, Massachusetts transplant and entrepreneur Christain Loranger has been working since the summer building three windmills that will conceivably produce enough clean electricity to power nearly 700 homes. The article reports Berlin’s mayor, Bob Danderson
“is enthusiastic about the project, saying it will help diversify the city’s mill-based economy.”
Sounds pretty good, right? Living in an era of rapidly escalating fuel and energy costs, what could be wrong with generating power with wind? No CO2 emissions. No spill hazards. What a concept! Not so fast- the Union Leader article reports that not everyone is thrilled with the concept of harnessing wind to make electricity.
“Some environmentalists are fighting the larger wind projects. They say 300- to 400-foot towers are too big, noisy, and destructive to birds and bats, which can be killed by the spinning blades.” The piece concludes: “Lisa Linowes of National Wind Watch says a project on the scale of Loranger’s isn’t nearly as bad as some. But if it succeeds, she predicts big companies will try to move in to capitalize on the resource. ‘What we will do is invite big wind into Berlin,’ she predicted.”

Read more

But who “paid” for the tax cuts?

Wait a minute, I thought tax cuts added to the deficit? What is this? The New York Times (THE NEW YORK TIMES!) is reporting today (Saturday, where all good news that might help Bush gets relegated) that An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit … Read more

DDT: The big lie continues

Ever since I can remember, my Dad was complaining about the demise of the pesticide DDT. "There were no mosquitos back then," he still says to this day. He always insisted that the reasons used by the environmentalists to create the near panic that led to its being outlawed was nothing but a bunch of hogwash.
* 
West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitus (EEE) were unheard of back then. Malaria was in check – even in the poorest parts of the globe like Africa. How many thousands have died as a direct result of the infamous 1972 ban of DDT?
*
A July 7th FrontPage Magazine article, DDT: The Bald Eagle Lie, by Steven Milloy shows that the product is still being slammed even after all these years.
In its July 4 article reporting that the number of bald eagle pairs in Pennsylvania had increased from 3 in 1983 to 100 for the first time in over a century, the Associated Press reached into its file of bald eagle folklore and reported, “DDT poisoned the birds, killing some adults and making the eggs of those that survived thin. The thin eggs dramatically reduced the chances of eaglets surviving to adulthood. DDT was banned in 1972. The next year, the Endangered Species Act passed and the bald eagles began their dramatic recovery.”

Read more

These people must stay awake late thinking this stuff up…

LOCAL NEWS ALERT***- Yes this piece is about the town in which I live. I still think many readers will find it relevant, because one finds big spenders with no thought or consideration for the hapless taxpayers in EVERY town and hamlet across America. Is there no end to the things that municipalities and school districts … Read more

Share to...
BufferCopyFlipboardHacker NewsLineLinkedInMastodonMessengerMixPinterestPrintRedditSMSTelegramTumblrVKWhatsAppXing