Clinton crony and former DNC Chairman, Terry McAuliffe announced he will be seeking the Democrat nomination for Governor of Virginia next year, replacing term-limited Tim Kaine, who was just announced as the new DNC Chairman, replacing Howard Dean:

Terry McAuliffe on Saturday announced his candidacy for the Virginia governorship, attempting to position himself as the natural successor to Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. In an e-mail video distributed to supporters, the former Democratic National Committee chairman said he has lived in the commonwealth for almost 20 years and that his campaign would focus on the economy, energy and the records of Warner and Kaine. McAuliffe is a resident of McLean and said he would make a formal announcement on Wednesday.

Certainly no stranger to controversy, some things stand out more then others over the years. For instance, there was the $100,000 investment McAuliffe made in Global Crossing, that netted him a $18 MILLION dollar profit. Global Crossing, which has a history of donating to Democrats, filed for bankruptcy in 2002. (Note: Global Crossing and Enron filed for bankruptcy just months apart, both claimed $25Billion in assets and close to $14Billion each in liabilities. Both destroyed their employees 401k plans with overspending and illegal accounting practices, but which bankruptcy was laid at the door of George W. Bush and the Republican Party while the other was spared. To this day, Enron is still equated to Corporate Greed and Republican party failures while the Democrat friendly Global Crossing is barely mentioned at all.)

McAuliffe also bragged about having a George W. Bush welcome mat outside his DNC office, where he proudly wiped his feet on it, before entering the office. I hope McAuliffe makes a better politician then he does a handicapper, as he wrongly predicted Kerry would defeat Bush in 2004; “America is responding to our message, I am confident in predicting that John Kerry will be the next President of the United States and will send George Bush back home to Crawford, Texas.”

Two years earlier, he was so sure that Jeb Bush would never set foot in the Governor’s mansion in Florida; “Jeb is gone! There won’t be anything as devastating to President Bush as his brother’s losing in Florida.”

That didn’t exactly turn out as Mr. McAuliffe had hoped, and he still wasn’t done: Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe predicted a sweep back then as well - taking control of the House, holding a majority in the Senate and capturing a majority of the governorships for the first time since the GOP landslide of 1994.

Sorry Terry, the GOP actually INCREASED their lead in the House, and they took control of the Senate, making your then Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle now Senate Minority Leader. How about those Governorships, Terry? Oops, you were wrong on that one too.

Does the slimy snakeskin salesman, Terry McAuliffe, still have what it takes to fool and con enough voters to not only win the primary, but the general election to become the next VA Governor?

The handwriting is on the wall and it is now time to get used to saying Senator Al Frankin (D-Minnesota). The votes from election night have been recounted again. Absentee ballots that were mistakenly rejected have now been recounted pursuant to a decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court. “Landslide” Franken has won the election in Minnesota by around 200 votes;

Comedian Al Franken (D) extended his unofficial lead over Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) to at least 220 votes as state officials added 953 wrongfully rejected absentee ballots to the recount tally, the Associated Press reported Saturday evening.

The Coleman strategy of now going to court, even if victorious, still means Al Franken goes to Washington;

Franken stands to lose as many as 110 net votes if the court were to take Coleman’s side on the duplicate ballot issue. Coleman’s lawyers could also make an issue of the loss of 133 ballots in Minneapolis, which the Canvassing Board resolved by using the election night count for that precinct. If Coleman were to prevail on that, Franken would lose 46 votes.

The standards for accepting or rejecting absentee ballots are fodder for either candidate in a lawsuit, and Foley predicted that a lawsuit could also make use of issues that so far have received little or no attention.

There is also the issue that Norm Coleman has cherry picked 650 absentee ballots that were never counted to now be counted, even though they were previously rejected. This is eerily reminiscent of the Sore Loserman strategy of counting ballots only in Palm Beach, Miami Dade and Broward counties.

If Norm Coleman wants to count 650 cherry picked absentee ballots, then the dice should be thrown and count all the ballots that still have not been counted. That is essentially the spirit of the argument made by the Bush Campaign in 2000. Count them all or do not count them at all. Bush was right in 2000, Coleman is wrong in2008.

There was a mandatory recount completed, just like in Florida. The recounts in Florida and Minnesota caused slight shifting of the votes. Ballots that should have been counted the first time, were counted the second go around.

On November 8, 2000, the Florida Division of Elections reported that Bush won with 48.8% of the vote, a margin of victory of 1,784 votes.[1] The margin of victory was less than 0.5% of the votes cast, so a statutorily-mandated[2] automatic machine recount occurred. On November 10, with the machine recount finished in all but one county, Bush’s margin of victory had decreased to 327

An article at the Kansas State Collegian starts off with a message that applies in this situation at hand.

Hey, Republicans, remember the election eight years ago, when Al Gore and his liberal friends tried to steal the presidency by requesting recounts in Florida? Remember all the names we called them like “Sore-Loserman”? Remember the gigantic mess they made by drawing it out for months after the election?

Remember all that? Good. Now stop doing it yourselves.

Norm Colemans “strategy” is designed to do one thing and that is to help Norm Coleman while doing an extreme disservice in tarnishing the Republican brand ever further.

Al Franken should be promptly seated as the new Senator from Minnesota, subject to removal in the unlikely event of a change in “status.”

UPDATE: Powerline Blog also thinks that Coleman needs to do a lot of thinking on this;

I wonder whether Senator Coleman may now choose not to file an election contest following the declaration of Franken as the winner of the recount on Monday.

Remember back in 2000 when Rush and good Conservatives were highly critical of letting an election be determined by “men in black robes?” Looks like Sen Conryn (R-Texas) loves that approach;

“There is the pending Supreme Court case and likely election contest that will ultimately decide, consistent with Minnesota law, who won the election,” Cronyn said.

Yep, the Republican party has become the Party embracing “men in black robes.”

UPDATE TWO: How many absentee ballots were not counted?

But more than the 419, there was a total of 12,000 absentee ballots — out of about 300,000 cast — that were rejected for all sorts of reasons.

Ritchie gets downright emotional about this.

“There are 12,000 rejected ballots,” he said. “There’s hundreds that came in one day late, some from soldiers in Baghdad and Kuwait. They break my heart. But by law, they were rejected. “

So basically, the absentee ballots were separated into five piles. Pile five was the pile where local officials determined they should have been counted. In Pile Five, the two campaigns again challenged 419 ballots. Then Coleman goes searching in the other four piles and says lets count these 600 plus ballots. This is “Palm Beach/Broward County” redux. If the GOP wants to stand for something they should seek agreement with Franken to count all absentee ballots regardless of rejection reason and let the chips fall where they fall.

UPDATE THREE: Colemans cherry picked counties stand by their decision not to count those 600 plus absentee ballots;

What options does he have left? Coleman’s only hope would be to win on his campaign’s latest efforts to restart this phase of the recount and force the counting of about 650 rejected absentee ballot envelopes from red precincts, which the local officials say were tossed properly. An affidavit from a Hennepin County election official shows the Coleman campaign hasn’t even supplied reasons to look at these ballots, and election officials in multiple counties, including Ramsey county, Pipestone County and others all say they’ve been taking the time to review the Coleman list, and they stand by their decisions.

Based on the facts on the ground, we must ask ourselves is their a “path” for Coleman to achieve an election victory with a reasonable degree of ultimate success?

UPDATE FOUR: From the comments, it appears the Minn Supreme Court has struck down Coleman’ flawed but only chance;

#

January 05, 2009
MN Supremes To Coleman: Rejected!

The MN Supreme Court rejected an appeal today by Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign to count rejected absentee ballots from GOP-leaning areas, the latest blow to the incumbent’s bid for re-election. The decision effectively allows the State Canvassing Board to certify the recount results, and at this point, Democrat Al Franken holds an unofficial 225-vote lead.

…….

It’s over folks!

And NOT just for MN.

Comment by artist | 1/5/2009 - 1:07 pm | Edit This

Today at 1:00pm EST, Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform will host a debate between the 6 candidates for Chairman of the Republican National Committee, which will be decided by the 168 voting members of the RNC on January 30th in Washington.

The debate will be televised live on CSPAN. If you can’t get to a TV, you can watch it on streaming video at www.RNCDEBATE.org

Norquist will moderate the debate, asking questions that were submitted to the RNCDEBATE website.

The candidates are Saul Anuzis, MI GOP Chairman; Ken Blackwell; Katon Dawson, South Carolina GOP Chairman; Mike Duncan, the current RNC Chairman; Chip Saltsman, former TN GOP Chairman and Mike Huckabee’s campaign manager; and Michael Steele.

For a race decided by party insiders, and only 168 of them at that, the race has received a ton of mainstream media and conservative grassroots attention due to some outside issues involving some of the candidates; like Katon Dawson belonging to a “whites-only” Country Club, or Chip Saltsman mailing a CD filled with song parodies to all the voting members that was viewed as offensive, to Michael Steele, who co-founded a Pro-choice organization with former NJ Governor Christine Todd-Whitman and receiving the endorsement of the Log Cabin Republicans.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview Grover Norquist and candidates Chip Saltsman and Saul Anuzis. You can listen to that interview by clicking this logo:

It’s official and the details are HERE.

Barack Obama, who campaigned on promising the American people the most ethical, open and transparent Administration ever, if elected, is going to be looking for a new Secretary of Commerce, now that his first choice, Bill Richardson has withdrew his name for the position due to an ongoing investigation:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

“Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact,” he said Sunday in a report by NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell. “But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.”

A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson’s political activities won a lucrative New Mexico state contract.

My apologies in advance to Polipundit readers for spoiling your Sunday.

You can blame bc3b for the link in another thread;

WASHINGTON – Former President George H.W. Bush said on Sunday he’d like to see his second son, Jeb, become President of the United States some day.

Interviewed on Fox News Sunday, Bush said his second son, a former Governor of Florida, had all the qualifications to serve in the White House.

What do other Polipundit readers think of another Bush running for President?

Worse than his Dad, and I thought that was impossible

Much, much, much worse than his Dad

In the dictionary under “clueless” are two pictures, W and HW

By God, if this party ever nominates another Bush for President I’m voting Socialist Workers Party

Comment by MFG | 12/28/2008 - 3:20 pm | Edit This

While I can not go so far as voting “Socialist Workers People,” as a Floridian I think I might just pen in “Lizard People” in the write in spot in 2010.

I am so happy to see that the 700 BILLION dollars is being put to good use; starting with AIG throwing lavish parties after they received their bailout bucks, to banking friends of useless Secretary Treasurer Henry Paulson getting billions.

The latest travesty of bailout bucks recipients, (that shouldn’t have been given out in the first place), is related to sponsors of the very expensive College Bowl games:

Football fans watching this year’s college bowl games may have noticed that some of the biggest sponsors were also recipients of federal bailout money, including Citigroup Inc., which presented the Rose Bowl game, as well as Capital One Financial Corp. and GMAC LLC.

“Some of the advertising folks at these firms might think it’s important to put their corporate brand on public events, but taxpayers might think they’re being taken for a ride,” said Pete Sepp, vice president for policy and communications at the National Taxpayers Union.

Seeing companies sponsor a major athletic event while holding out a hand out for public money from the $700 billion rescue plan highlights one awkward aspect of the government intervention. Treasury has been reluctant to put restrictions on the funds. Typically, big-game sponsorships can cost millions of dollars.

One such bailout bank is Citigroup, who happens to own the naming rights to the new New York Mets stadium. They have received $50 BILLION dollars in various forms to stay “afloat.”

New Jersey Congressman Scott Garrett, a vocal critic of the bailouts, is questioning why the funds are not going to the consumers in the form of the various lending vehicles they offer as intended, and since they aren’t loaning money asks “so what are they advertising for?”

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, is correct when he says there’s, “zero sense of shame.” The kicker is that Treasury Department officials have stated that “they didn’t want to impose restrictions for fear of reducing participation in TARP.”

So basically, because the Treasury Department was afraid the benefactor’s of the taxpayer funded bailout bucks would reject the money because there would be restrictions on how the money was spent, they made it a $700 BILLION dollar free for all?

Carter could be looking for some handouts from somewhere if this story proves true and these lawsuits hit his charitable organization hard:

RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart. Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes. A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.

The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves.

One also wonders, based on the location of the homes being on top of a wasteland and the record time the houses were built in, if any corners were cut or regulations that were not followed correctly.

I am in no way mocking the good intentions of those who volunteer their time to help those less fortunate by helping to build homes for them.

What I am pointing out is the self-indulging hypocrisy of the “darling of liberal social activists” by having Carter and these celebrities doing things that they probably weren’t qualified to do, so they could smile for the camera holding a hammer and wearing a hardhat, feeling good about themselves as they fly back to their mansions and private islands.

This brings to mind the failed “rescue” attempt of Sean Penn in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, as he was rowing in a leak filled boat which was crowded with his entourage and his own PERSONAL photographer, which led one bystander to ask “How are you going to get any people in that thing?”

Ken Blackwell, one of the six candidates vying to become the next Chairman of the RNC, received the endorsement of conservative leaders from around the Country.

Rob Bluey, the director of online strategy at the Heritage Foundation, not only reported on the meeting that took place that precluded the endorsement, but also signed the letter:

A cross section of conservative leaders today threw their backing to Ken Blackwell for the job of Republican National Committee chairman. The group, which was organized by the Council for National Policy, includes 23 economic, social and foreign policy conservatives.

He currently serves on the boards of Club for Growth, National Rifle Association and National Taxpayers Union, and he is a fellow at Family Research Council. He was vice chairman of the Platform Committee at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. The endorsement followed a 90-minute discussion Friday. I was invited to participate in the meeting and signed the letter.

The names that endorsed Ken Blackwell for Chairman are very impressive and include Morton C. Blackwell, L. Brent Bozell, Kellyanne Conway, James C. Dobson, Steve Forbes, Ed Meese,
Tony Perkins, Phyllis Schlafly and Pat Toomey.

While many of the candidates running for Chairman are running as, and may very well be, conservatives, it appears by this endorsement, that many conservative leaders and organizations are rallying around one candidate; Ken Blackwell.

New York Times opens Barack Obama memorabilia store.

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-South Carolina) in a November 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed entitled “Don’t Bail Out My State;”

I find myself in a lonely position. While many states and local governments are lining up for a bailout from Congress, I went to Washington recently to oppose such bailouts. I may be the only governor to do so.

Well the “lonely” and “only” Governor has had a change of heart. Just weeks after his op-ed, he is “lining up;”

Gov. Mark Sanford, who lectured President Bush and Congress about providing bailouts to banks and the Big Three automakers, agreed to sign off on a request for a $146 million federal loan the same day the unemployment benefits would have run out.

I knew deep down, that he would turn up at the trough but honestly thought he would be more classy about it and wait until we were well into the new Administration. After all, this guy is a GOP rising star! The question now is how quickly he will return asking for more and more, because with numbers like this, the question is when not if;

Meanwhile, the state’s 8.4 percent unemployment rate, the third highest in the country, is projected to reach 14 percent by the summer.

and

Here, the $146 million loan will, at best, allow the state to pay unemployment benefits through March. But with the commission paying out $14 million a week, Executive Director Ted Halley said it could need more money sooner.

Governor Mark Sanford, is about to learn that the mess his State is in will require borrowing, raising taxes or possibly both to get through this period. Well, unless he wants to take the “courageous path” advocated in his own Wall Street Journal Op-Ed from the prior month, regardless of political implications, and let the unemployment fund managed mis-managed on his watch, run dry and stop paying benefits to unemployed workers.

Yes, Mark Sanford is no different than the proverbial preacher telling you how to be saved on Sunday while he visits the brothel on Monday. And that is the perennial problem with the modern day Republican Party.

UPDATE: Matt Drudge has a new headline entitled “DEM GOVS WANT $1T.” I guess Matt does not know that the Republican Governor who condemned bailouts wants a piece of the “pie.”

For anyone who needs a refresher course on why politicians and government officials should stay out of economics, please read Mike Shedlock’s post How “Something For Nothing” Ideas Become Policy.

Here is the conclusion:

1) Those with money control policies in Congress. In return for sponsoring policies that make no economic sense, corporations pour massive amounts of money into campaign coffers of those who will support whatever legislation the corporations want. The first thing corporations want is government sponsorship at taxpayer expense. The last thing corporations want is a free market.

2) Inflation (expansion of money and credit) is a stealth tax (theft), demolishing the middle class over time. Inflation allows government to collect more every year in property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, etc., typically to pay for war mongering and social redistribution activities sponsored by the corporations that benefit from war mongering and social redistribution activities. The expansion of credit scheme “works” until it all blows up in deflationary bust every few generations.

3) Academia is a breeding ground for socialists. I discussed this aspect at length in Fiscal Insanity Virus Rapidly Spreading The Globe (Part 1) and Fiscal Insanity Virus Rapidly Spreading The Globe (Part 2). Academia likes to promote socialism and blame the free market for failures caused by excessive regulation.

4) People want to believe someone is in control. Even though it is crystal clear that the Fed is a huge part or the problem, people want to believe the Fed is in control. It is very discomforting to think the Fed has no idea what it is doing, so people simply refuse to accept the fact that the Fed has no idea what it is doing.

5) People want to trust the experts even though the experts screw them time and time again. The same thing exists in the stock market. People want to believe stocks will go up so they believe anyone who tells them stocks will go up.

6) There is an overwhelming propensity by everyone to seek something for nothing. People will listen to and vote for anyone promising something for nothing. Economic professors and members of Congress are both particularly adept at promoting something for nothing.

Oh, this is going to be good. On Tuesday, when the US Senate reconvenes, Roland Burris, embattled Governor “Hot” Rod Blagojevich’s pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat will be PHYSICALLY prevented from entering Senate Chambers:

(CNN) — Senate Democratic leaders think Roland Burris, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s pick to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, will likely show up on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the opening day of Congress, according to a Democratic aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans. They have prepared a contingency plan in case he does, the aide added.

Burris will not be allowed on the Senate floor, according to this aide and a Senate Democratic leadership aide. The aide familiar with Senate Democratic leaders’ plans said if Burris tries to enter the Senate chamber, the Senate doorkeeper will stop Burris. If Burris were to persist, either trying to force his way onto the Senate floor or refusing to leave and causing a scene, U.S. Capitol Police would stop him, said the aide.

If that isn’t bad enough, Democrats are preparing for the “Hot” Rod himself showing up to join Burris on Capitol Hill to see his handpicked replacement take his Senate seat:

Senate Democratic leaders, who consider Governor Rod Blagojevich a loose cannon, also have discussed what might happen if Blagojevich shows up on Capitol Hill Tuesday, said the aide familiar with their plans. But the leaders see that move by Blagojevich as unlikely at this time.

This would be a “radioactive” situation, according to the aide, because Senate Democratic leaders could not deny Blagojevich entry, as sitting governors have floor privileges in the Senate. Governors are allowed to walk around the Senate chamber or talk with senators while on the floor, though they cannot vote or formally address the Senate.

This couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people. We can only hope that a brawl starts up during the proceedings and arrests are made!!

The race for RNC Chairman may grow from six to seven candidates, if the rumors of Florida GOP Chairman impending decision to join the race are true. Jim Greer, personally selected to lead the Florida GOP as Chairman by moderate Governor Charlie Crist, has used the Chip Saltsman parody song gift CD “scandal” to aggressively condemn Saltsman’s lack of judgment:

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer is once again considering a bid to head the national committee in the wake of the scandal surrounding Chip Saltsman and the “Barack the Magic Negro” parody.

In a statement, Greer criticized Saltsman, the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, for sending a CD that included the song as a Christmas present to Republican National Committee members. He also offered support for those RNC candidates who have criticized Saltsman.

“As the GOP chairman in one of our nation’s most ethnically and culturally diverse states, I am especially disappointed by the inappropriate words and actions we’ve seen over the past few days,” Greer said in the statement.

“I am proud of those party leaders who have stood up in firm opposition to this type of behavior,” Greer’s statement read. “We can only achieve success if Republican leaders reject racial or any other acts that divide us and instead embrace what unites us as a nation.”

The article also states that in correspondence to the 168 RNC voting members, that he is taking under advisement the comments from supporters to enter the race himself.

Greer has his own issues to worry about, as we posted in early December, Greer has come under fire for some lavish spending sprees and questionable expenses, which include suites at various hotels, expense dinners, chartered planes, trips to Disney World and sporting events.

IMHO, I think Mr. Greer should worry about his own State Party and stay out of the National race for Chairman.

In response to emails asking who I was supporting, I have not yet made any official endorsement of any of the candidates. I am waiting to see and hear all the candidates at the debate on Monday, January 5th at 1:00pm. We will also be interviewing in the next few weeks on Attitude! Radio, candidates for RNC Chairman Ken Blackwell and Katon Dawson.

We have already interviewed Saul Anuzis, Chip Saltsman, (before “CDGate” broke), and Grover Norquist, who is hosting the debate on Monday.

I’m fortunate enough to be posting from a tropical beach with family and friends. This seems to have become a hot spot for TV characters, as we’ve spotted George Snuffleupagus and the lesbian doctor from Grey’s Anatomy.

Happy New Year wherever you are!

My hopes for 2009 are modest. I’d love to still have a job this time next year, and I’d love to see the cretins responsible for the current mess, from Mozilo to Dodd and Paulson, in prison.

Be safe out there and cherish what you have.

A comment from an old thread;

#

The independents turned away from McLiar simply because they recognized him to be a hypocritical, lying RINO, who believes in Obambi’s platform about as much as Obambi does,

And of course, we conservatives viewed McLiar similarly, so we were on the same page with the independents.

So basically, McLiar’s voters were limited to his fellow RINOs, who will obviously vote for any piece of sh!t imaginable, as long as they have a little “R” after their name.

But to win, this RINO hypocrisy has to end. If you voted for this RINO hypocrite… at any point in the process… then you are part of the problem.

Next time, don’t vote for a RINO… ever. Don’t send money… don’t start shrieking for them 2 years before the election… and don’t come in here to RINO Central shrieking that we conservatives MUST vote for your RINO fav. We won’t. If you RINOs send up another POS, expect similar results.

Remember, both the independents and we conservatives will always see right through RINO hypocrisy, and we will both recoil from it.

I’d recommend you RINOs take a deep breath, stop scurrying about ADD-like, stop squealing about personalities, and start thinking about principles… conservative principles.

Comment by Anonymous | 12/29/2008 - 10:02 am | Edit This

That summed up 2008 for me.

The legislative battle took a few years to clear all the hurdles in both the New Jersey Assembly and State Senate, but finally today, Grace’s Law was signed, sealed and delivered when acting Governor Dick Codey, put pen to paper:

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Herb Conaway, M.D. today issued a multimedia package on the enactment of legislation he and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. sponsored to require health insurance plans provide coverage for hearing aids for children 15-years-old and younger.

The bill (A-1571), dubbed “Grace’s Law” in honor of Grace Gleba, a New Jersey girl with a severe hearing impairment, was signed into law today by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey in a public ceremony in the Governor’s Outer Office.

Nearly 10 percent of New Jersey’s public school children have either a hearing problem or hearing loss. Many insurance providers cover the cost of annual hearing tests, but few cover purchasing hearing aids - even when the device is deemed medically necessary.

This issue, was/is near and dear to my heart because my 3 yr old son was diagnosed after birth with a “profound hearing loss” in his left ear and was fitted for a hearing aid that year. With Cole being born without a ear canal in his right ear, he was basically deaf.

Finding out that a medical necessity for his hearing was NOT covered by New Jersey Insurance companies was a huge blow to us, considering we were already dealing with his diagnosis and the cost of Hydrocephalus and some kidney issues, and now had to scrape up another $1,500 dollars so we could buy a hearing-aid and allow our son to hear somewhat.

Luckily, months later, and after the purchase of the hearing-aid, without explanation, Cole was able to hear in his left ear and the hearing aid was no longer needed. We were lucky, we were able to get the money to pay for the hearing-aid, but what about those who can’t get that kind of money, what would they do?

It was at that time that the fight for this legislation was starting and I am very happy to see that our children won this round and hearing-aids are now covered by insurance companies!

A new and interesting angle is being played out in the latest chapter of the Chip Saltsman Christmas gift CD saga. With some of his rivals for the position condemning him for sending out the CD, and one candidate, namely Ken Blackwell, standing up for him, everyone forgot to ask the actual RNC members who will be doing the voting, how THEY felt about this issue:

The controversy surrounding a comedy CD distributed by Republican National Committee chair candidate Chip Saltsman has not torpedoed his bid and might have inadvertently helped it.

Four days after news broke that the former Tennessee GOP chairman had sent a CD that included a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro” to the RNC members he is courting, some of those officials are rallying around the embattled Saltsman, with a few questioning whether the national media and his opponents are piling on.

“When I heard about the story I had to figure out what was going on for myself,” said Mark Ellis, the chairman of the Maine Republican Party. “When I found out what this was about I had to ask, ‘boy, what’s the big deal here?’ because there wasn’t any.”

Alabama Republican committeeman Paul Reynolds said the fact the Saltsman sent him a CD with the song on it “didn’t bother me one bit. Chip probably could have thought it through a bit more, but he was doing everyone a favor by giving us a gift,” he said. “This is just people looking for something to make an issue of.”

“I don’t think he intended it as any kind of racial slur. I think he intended it as a humor gift,” Oklahoma GOP committeewoman Carolyn McClarty added. “I think it was innocently done by Chip.”

The song came with 40 others on an album from conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, a personal friend of Saltsman. The song is a parody of a 2007 Los Angeles Times column of the same title and is written to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon.”

This is pretty much the correct way to be looking at this, and not through political correctness glasses. The current RNC Chairman, Mike Duncan, who is running for re-election, was totally off base with his comments regarding this matter, and reminded me of the time John McCain condemned the NC GOP for running an anti-Obama ad as offensive and insensitive, WITHOUT seeing the commercial. As for Saul Anuzis, who is a voting member and running for the position, who was also critical of Saltsman, Saltsman didn’t have his vote anyway, so no loss here.

I have to agree with the columnist on this one, this may just backfire and bring people over to Saltsman. More then that, if Saltsman doesn’t win, but does get some nice support, do you think he is going to offer his supporters to Duncan and Anuzis after they dumped on him, or Blackwell for defending him.

It’s pucker time! From Bloomberg;

Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) – Japan should write-off its holdings of Treasuries because the U.S. government will struggle to finance increasing debt levels needed to dig the economy out of recession, said Akio Mikuni, president of credit ratings agency Mikuni & Co.

The dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes “drastic measures” to help bail out the U.S. economy, Mikuni said. Treasury yields, which are near record lows, may fall further without debt relief, making it difficult for the U.S. to borrow elsewhere, Mikuni said.

“It’s difficult for the U.S. to borrow its way out of this problem,” Mikuni, 69, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television broadcast today. “Japan can help by extending debt cancellations.”

The scary thing is that Japan is thinking of this in a benevolent manner leading myself to ponder what the Peoples Republic of China would do with their “Made in China Profits.”

A few weeks ago, I received the following e mail from the “Spalding Group;”

Dear Spalding Group Customer,

January 20, 2009 marks the end of an era as President Bush leaves office, following his historic 8-year tenure.

For months our Spalding Group customers have been requesting items commemorating President George W. Bush and his legacy.

We are happy to introduce to you, through our George W. Bush Online Store, our new Commemorative Line of products honoring our 43rd President.

Any one of these heirloom-quality items offer you an opportunity to capture a piece of history as we celebrate President Bush’s loyal service to our country.

In addition to our commemorative line, we continue to offer our Classic Line of items, including our most popular “W” items from the past.

Visit the George W. Bush Store today and make your selections. Order now and we’ll make sure you get your selections by Christmas.

My first reaction was who on earth would want anything to remember the last eight years?

Well, CNN did a poll that now answers that question;

(CNN) – A new national poll suggests that three out of four Americans feel President Bush’s departure from office is coming not a moment too soon.

Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday said they’re glad Bush is going; 23 percent indicated they’ll miss him.

If you are part of that 23%, then you can get your heirlooms by going to the “georgewbushstore.”

I know two longtime readers that will not be ordering anything, MFG and right wing yahoo!

Hey, I wonder if the “heirlooms” they are selling are “Made in China?”

With just about 5 weeks to go until the vote in Washington, DC to elect the next Chairman of the Republican National Committee, the six candidates running have very little time to impress and convince the 168 voting members of the Republican National Committee that they would be the best candidate for the job.

To my knowledge, the campaigns have been positive, with each candidate pretty much sticking to promoting their own plan for the future of the GOP, while touting their individual accomplishments and resume, instead of going negative on their opponents.

In fact, in some cases, the candidates themselves have been their own worst enemy. Just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that South Carolina GOP Chairman and RNC Chairman candidate Katon Dawson was a 12 year member of a “whites-only” Country Club.

Michael Steele, another candidate for RNC Chairman, and former Lt. Governor of Maryland and currently seen on the Fox News Channel, has come under fire from Conservatives for being co-founder of a Pro-Choice “moderate” organization along with Christine Todd-Whitman, only to have that followed by questions from Social Conservatives about why the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed him for Chairman.

And the latest incident involves Chip Saltsman, who is in a ‘wee bit’ of hot water for sending out a CD of 41 song parodies to all the RNC voting members that included the song “Barack the Magic Negro“, sung to the music from “Puff, the Magic Dragon.":

However, one of the candidates, Chip Saltsman, the former presidential campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, may have made a fatal move in his bid after The Hill newspaper reported today that Saltsman sent a 41-track parody CD to the RNC’s 168 member committee that includes a song entitled “Barack the Magic Negro.”

The song, to the music of “Puff the Magic Dragon,” was first popularized on Rush Limbaugh’s conservative radio show. It was written by Saltman’s pal and conservative satirist Paul Shanklin.

“Paul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies,” Saltsman told The Hill.

Maybe. Or Maybe Saltman’s gag gift will turn off committee members mindful of the fact the party is losing support among minorities and that mocking Obama—with high approval ratings and today listed as the most admired American—may not be the best way to give the GOP that more “inclusive” vibe it’s been searching for since their November losses.

The mainstream media has been all over this and perhaps made it a bigger story then it really deserved to be, plus most of the other 5 candidates have been forced to address this story as well. Saltsman himself has released this statement on his website:

Liberal Democrats and their allies in the media didn’t utter a word about David Ehrenstein’s irresponsible column in the Los Angeles Times last March. But now, of course, they’re shocked and appalled by its parody on the Rush Limbaugh Show.

I firmly believe that we must welcome all Americans into our party and that the road to Republican resurgence begins with unity, not division. But I know that our party leaders should stand up against the media’s double standards and refuse to pander to their desire for scandal.

What was supposed to be a race decided by 168 members and a party position, this race is getting much attention.

With Senator Mel Martinez announcing that he will not seek reelection in 2010, former Governor Jeb Bush has been very busy pushing digits on his phone hitting up friends and supporters checking if there is any interest in his seeking the GOP nomination to replace Mel Martinez in the US Senate:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush – the son of one president and the brother of another – has been working the phones since Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced earlier this month that he won’t seek reelection in 2010. Sources say Bush hasn’t made up his mind yet about running for Martinez’ seat yet, but that he’s getting green lights from would-be contributors and blessings from Republican Party leaders.

Strategists and political observers take it as a sign that Bush will run.

“Everything indicates that he’s in,” said David Johnson, a Republican Strategist and the CEO of Strategic Vision. “You’re not making calls and laying the ground work for fundraising unless you’re clearing the field for your candidacy.”

Interesting scenario developing if Bush runs. A very popular Governor, with a nationally unpopular last name, will he be judged by his resume or his name?:

Although Bush’s older brother will leave the White House next month with approval ratings around 30 percent, sources say that the former Florida governor is hearing from GOP leaders that the Bush family name won’t be a barrier if he decides to enter the race.

“Quite the opposite actually,” said one source close to Jeb Bush. “What he’s found is that everyone is encouraging him to run. It’s actually been a little overwhelming.”

Bush’s supporters note that he left the governor’s office two years ago with high approval ratings, was lauded for his hands-on role in handling several destructive hurricanes and has maintained his popularity in private life. “The support is there,” a source said. “Fundraisers are calling him. The money will be there.”

With a decision expected in the next week or two, if Bush does enter the race, does that preclude current Governor Charlie Crist from getting in, as Crist is mentioned as someone who is also interested in the seat, or does an early entrance keep other candidates from getting in?

In You suck, Cox, we wrote:

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox became flustered when John McCain attacked him for not making stocks go up.

You don’t want to see a cowardly politician when he’s flustered.

Cox tried to appease McCain by lashing out at short-sellers about the financial crisis, which is roughly equivalent to lashing out at Siskel & Ebert for the box office failure of Waterworld. In his ill-considered, late-night order, Cox banned the short-selling of all “financial” stocks, throwing the market into chaos. The order was like changing the poker rules after everyone has placed their bets: “Okay everyone, deuces wild!” This is not how developed markets operate. Welcome to the new emerging market of 2008.

Now, the coward Cox confirms the story, though he blames Paulson, not McCain, for bullying him:

Cox said the biggest mistake of his tenure was agreeing in September to an extraordinary three-week ban on short selling of financial company stocks. But in publicly acknowledging for the first time that this ban was not productive, Cox said he had been under intense pressure from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to take this action and did so reluctantly.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year, everybody!

May 2009 bring you and your family many, many government bailouts.

NORAD has gone on alert

At 12:15 PM EST, they are tracking an inbound to Omrsk, Russia.