US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's New Low: "They're Lying!"

The Democrats in Washington are running away as hard as they can from Obamacare.

Mainstream national new affiliate still register majority discontent with President Obama's signature legislation. Healthcare.gov has been shut down and restarted many times since its botched rollout in October, 2013. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius then lied to Congress, claiming that seven million enrollees was never the Obama Administration's goal.


"The Millions Affecting by Obamacare
Are Lying!"

President Obama has been hammered, even by left-leaning fact-checkers, that the greatest lie of 2013 was "If you like your health plan, you can keep it," followed by "if you like your doctor, you can keep him."

Millions of Americans are complaining, sparing not their frustration about a President's ambitious law which has done the exact opposite of what was intended. Millions have lost their health insurance, only to be forced to purchase a more expensive plan, to settle with unforeseen costs out-of-pocket, or to strain to find doctors who will take the coverage. More physicians are leaving the profession than ever before, and yet the Obama Administration and the chief architects of the law, including Congressman Henry Waxman (D-California) still claim that the Affordable Care Act is doing far more good than harm

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went one step further, and too far, claiming that all the horror stories about Obama care "are not true."

The pain and frustration felt by American losing their health insurance, losing their doctors, losing their jobs, losing their access to quality health care with rising premiums: they are all lying.

Like the quack calling the patient wrong, Senator Reid has neither moral nor factual standing to challenge anyone on truth and error. Not just working Americans, but media elites such as Donna Brazile have acknowledged that their health care premiums are rising. Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), who will be retiring this year because of pancreatic cancer, has shared that he lost his primary doctor because of Obamacare.

Dems' New Low:
"The American People are Lying."

Of course, there was also the twenty-two hour talk-a-thon from Senator Ted Cruz, who read off letters and reports from constituents all over the country struggling to make ends meet, pay their bills, and even find work because of Obamacare.

Would Senator Reid like to call the American people liars because they have been adversely affected by President Obama's disastrous overreach into health care? Would he care to sympathize with the rising tide of part-time employees still facing full-time financial needs? Would he like to confront Ms Julie Boonstra of Michigan, who has shared on talk shows and with newspaper reports that she was lied to, that she had believed the President when he said that she could keep her health plan, yet she couldn't?



Dr. Coburn lost his doctor because of Obamacare,
but not his resolve to fight back.

Harry Reid was a boxer and a Washington D.C. police officer at one time. He still likes to fight, he still likes to bully others, and now he is taking his bullying fights to the American People.

"They're lying!" has become the final, losing strategy of the struggling, US Senate Democratic Majority, even as Dems up for reelection, like Kay Hagan of North Carolina run from reporters and refuse to discuss their vote for Obamacare. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is running a "I was for it, but against how it was implemented" campaign, while Mark Pryor is hoping this his record of constituent service will balance out Arkansas' conservative resistance to Obamacare, federal encroachment, and ultimately their current Senator.

"They're lying!" cannot silence Ms. Boonstra, and the slanderous charge of falsehood will not restore the health coverage which millions of American have lost. "They're lying!" will not bring back the thousands of medical personnel who are fleeing the profession because of the federal invasion of paperwork, mandates, and regulations. Doctors will face heavy fines if they do not switch their record keeping over to electronic files. Rather than pay such penalties, physicians even in states as liberal and government-based as Massachusetts are quitting.



Reid's Other Defense:
The Old White Guy's Fault

Reid's pugilist attempt to call the American People liars, and then to blame the Koch Brothers for the ills of the federal government, even claiming that the Kansas-based oil magnates want to buy this country, as simply not working.

Reid will likely lose his majority status, and may find himself facing not just a serious challenge to his seat in 2016, but a forced retirement.

Congressman Peters: ObamaCare Killed My Healthcare!

Gary Peters: Obamacare Killed Ms Boonstra's Healthcare!

Congressman Gary Peters (D-Michigan) is running for US Senate.

Maybe that's why he threatened television stations which broadcasted the following commercial.

Julie Boonstra, diagnosed with Leukemia, shared that she had health insurance which she liked, which covered her expenses. She then shared how she lost her health insurance because of Obamacare, and she blamed Congressman Peters for voting for that law.

Her words from the commercial, produced by Americans for Prosperity:

 Congressman Peters, your decision to vote for Obamacare jeopardized my health. It is time to listen to me. It is time to listen to the other American citizens out there who are hurting. This is serious. It's not a game. 

 Congressman Peters, Obamacare is not the answer.

 According to Free Beacon Press, Ms. Boonstra went to Congressman Peters' home to speak with her representative. He refused to meet with her.

 The Washington Post gave the commercial two Pinocchios, arguing that she did find her doctor through another health plan, but the out of pocket expenses were what troubled her:

 Even the Washington Post updated their Fact Check report:

Update, Feb. 21: In an interview with the Dexter Leader responding to this column, Boonstra said: “People are asking me for the numbers and I don’t know those answers — that’s the heartbreak of all of this. It’s the uncertainty of not having those numbers that I have an issue with, because I always knew what I was paying and now I don’t, and I haven’t gone through the tests or seen my specialist yet.”

 

Alarmed by the impact of this commercial, Peters dispatched lawyers with a cease and desist order, citing the Washington Post's Two Pinocchios. Specifically, they asked (or rather, demanded):

 

Your station should immediately require AFP to provide the factual documentation of its claims if you are going to continue airing this advertisement.

 

Then came the mafia-style shake-down:

 

Failure to prevent the airing of  "false and misleadnng advertising "may be probative of an underlying abdication of licensee responsibility" that can be cause of the loss of a station's license."

 

What?! This is not Cuba. This is not the Sovite Uion, this is the United States of AMeican, where Freedom of Speech and the Press is protected in the United States Constitution.

 


 

Ms. Boonstra defended the commercial on Fox News:

 

I do have something to worry about Megan. 6000 dollars is a lot of money, that I don't have. I just don't have it in the bank. To me, it's unaffordable.

 

I do not care for not knowing what my expenses will be month to month.

 

She also shared:


"Under my old policy, I knew what I could afford every single month because I wasn't hit with extra charges. Now I don't know what I have to pay month to month," she said. "Leukemia tests are extremely expensive." 

 

I did believe the President that I could keep [my plan].

 

Hearing him lie to me, to the American people ,is crushing to me.

 

I am not better off. I found a plan based on my specialist. I credit my being here to my specialist and  my it was important to me that I keep my doctor. As far as saving any money,

 

She added: "I am not lying. ... I was lied to."

 

What was that lie?

 

President Obama: If you like your health insurance you can keep it.

 

Left-Leaning Politifact slammed President Obama for this lie (the biggest lie of 2013), as did the Washington Post (Four Pinocchios!).

 

Ms. Boonstra's a liar. The CBO is a liar.
But I tell the truth,
even when I (and the President)
LIE!

Democrats are so desperate to run from the Obamacare debacle which they have created, they are resorting to calling suffering victims like Ms. Boonstra liars. US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called all the horror stories about Obamacare untrue.  He even slammed the commercial with Ms. Boonstra. Now the US Senate Majority Leader is attacking Ms. Boonstra? How low can you go?
 
And it's all the Koch Brothers' fault. The final liberal-left-leaning argument.

 "These brothers are trying to buy America. I don't believe that Americas for sale."

Give me a break! Would the Majority Leader like to call Ms. Boonstra a liar to her face? Shame on them!

 Boonstra visited with Fox News again to share her reaction to the allegations of "Liar, Liar, Boonstra's on fire!"

 My old policy was $1100 a month. My new policy is @568. It's the out of pocket expenses. Under the old policy I knew what I could afford. Now, I don't know what I have to pay month to month.

Regarding Peters' allegation that Boonstra and AFP were lying., Boonstra replied:

 I am not lying, Steve. I lost my health care plan due to the implementation off Obamacare. And I do not have 5-6000 in the bank.

I was lied to be the President of the United States. I had a health care plan that I lied, and I lost it.

And Ms. Boonstra's message to Peters' lawyers?

 I am very upset with them for trying to stop my ad. They're not scaring me. Cancer is scaring ,e. Losing my life,. . .that scares me. 

 They're not going to intimidate me. I have my first amendment right.

I have met residents in my community who have shared about rising health care premiums, losing their doctors, and losing their health insurance coverage. One gentleman visit Covered California, and when he placed the lowest considerations for seeking health care, the exchange produced higher premiums. I have spoken with doctors who are alarmed about Obamacare, who have reported that their colleagues are retiring and living the medical profession.

Another website, MSNBC, brought some clarity worth recognizing:

Boonstra did offer some clarification in an interview with The Dexter Leader, saying she was upset to find a prescription that was once covered is no longer in her new plan. But she added that she wasn’t sure yet how her overall costs had changed. 

“I truly would love to show the public my numbers, but like I said I just don’t have that because I haven’t had those visits,” Boonstra said. “People don’t have that certainty – they don’t have the stability of knowing every month what they’re going to be paying now and it’s the ability to actually have that sum of money to pay.”

So, in effect, the issue that Ms Boonstra cannot afford her healthcare remains presently unsubstantiated. The ad does claim that right now she cannot afford her health insurance.

AFP should wait before broadcasting this ad. Will Ms. Boonstra survive, though?

And even MSNBC acknowledged:

No doubt, it’s an extremely stressful experience: In addition to navigating a new plan while facing a life threatening illness, Boonstra said she briefly went without coverage due to technical problems with the health care website.

Despite these discrepancies, Ms, Boonstra lost her health insurance, and it is indeed true that Congressman Gary Peters voted for legislation which killed Boonstra's health care. And the costs are not clear to her.

This is not what America was promised. President Obama gave us the lie of the year when he said that under Obamacare, if we liked our health care plan, we could keep it. Congressman Gary Peters owes not only Ms. Boonstra, but the American People as a whole an explanation not only for why he voted for Obamacare, and why he tried to shake down and intimidate this woman from sharing her pain and struggles because of Obamacare.

Centinela Valley: Poster Child for Abolition of School Boards

A progressive invention, public district school boards (in theory) would allow respected (?) members of the community to represent the societal (read, public) interests of the voting community. Numerous accounts have exposed the folly, failure, and corruption of school boards (Los Angeles Unified, NYC) but a LA working-class suburban school districts, Centinela Valley Union High School District, displays everything wrong with the school boards in and of themselves.

Every two years, a slate of candidates run for school board, citing concerns about the procedures and values of their local school. Any problems which community shareholders discovered, they could address to the leaders, and in turn the board would respond and reform the school district for the better.

The ideal is unreal.

Let’s start with the political fiction that school boards represent their community. Schools serve students, yet students are required to attend public school, and they do not vote. Where’s the representation for them?

The appalling voter apathy so apparent in school board races further attests to poor representation. Often held during off-year elections, school board races attract at best 10-15% voter turnout. The consequences for such pathetic voter turnout include not only unaccountable or unreliable leaders, or comfortable incumbents, but the rising power of dedicated, focused interest groups who can by school board elections and influence members to support policies, hire staff, and vote on motions as they please.

With the infiltration of these interests, coupled with voter apathy and the disjunction between the responsibilities of the school board with the individuals whom they are elected to represent and regard,

Instead of overseeing the daily procedures and decision-making of the school officials, members invest their prior experience, apart from a researched regard for the opinions and experiences of teachers ands school staff. Preferring to institute policies which promote their ideology while ignoring the better ideas of simple solutions, school boards can create more problems instead of what the intended to solve.

"Overpaid" Jose Fernandez

Even the best of intentions go awry, as in Los Angeles Unified, where the school board installed a new, comprehensive payroll system in 2007,which inadvertently docked thousands of teachers their pay, then cost the district hundreds of millions in repairs. Following the 2013 rollout of LAUSD’s Ipad program, equipment abuses and losses reaped more costs than benefits.

Instead of promoting oversight, school boards have become unsightly stomping grounds for vain retirees or ambitious officer-seekers. Instead of representing the public interest, school boards reflect the self-interest of the members or the will of special interests with more money and combined ambition than busy parents, powerless students, and uninformed community leaders.

Democracy without democratic values has created an undemocratic system, in which the will of the minority affects the vast majority of residents in a school district, and oftentimes residents shrug their shoulders following revelations of waste, fraud, and corruption in their local school board:

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

In a way, this sentiment is sentient, since one voter alone cannot sway any election. Yet a massive attitude of “There’s nothing I can do” allows the diligent minority of special interests – unions, contractors, corporate interests – to do just what they want.

Case in point for the failure of school districts: Centinela Valley Union High School District (CVUHSD) of Lawndale, CA (Suburb of LA), composed of three high schools and one continuation school. Maximum enrollment: 6000-7,000  students.

The predominantly Latino, working-class suburbs of Lawndale, Hawthorne, and Lennox end their kids through one of four feeder Elementary districts, whose test scores and academic culture often exceed the high school. Voter turnout hovers around 11%.

In the last two elections, TELACU construction company set up a PAC, Citizens for Better Schools, to promote candidates to the school board, who in turn joined with a recently-installed superintendent, Jose Fernandez, to raise his compensation and award multi-million dollar construction contracts to TELACU.

The superintendent oversaw massive teacher transfers and layoffs. A compliant school board awarded him hundred-thousand dollar salary increases, and a near-million dollar home loan (despite Fernandez’ prior bankruptcy filings). “Overpaid” under-describes Superintendent Fernandez.

 Students protested the sudden transfer of teachers. The school board didn’t care. Paying attention to a contractor who paid for their election, the school board financed multi-million dollar construction contracts, yet closed the adult school and laid off teachers. Beyond financing junkets to Las Vegas and Washington DC, the superintendent took in a record $660,000 salary in 2013, including pensions-spiking “air time”.

If there is any poster child of the inherent dysfunction of school boards unchecked, look no further than Centinela Valley. After years of protracted frustration with lingering corruption and stagnant test scores, one elementary district broke away from CV. Following revelations of Fernandez’ outrageous pay, the Daily Breeze reported on the school board shenanigans, pay-for-play elections, and offensive emoluments to a lavish, live-it-up superintendent representing a working-class school district.

The district should not be called Centinela, according to critics, but Centi-Bell-a, after the LA Times expose of greedy public corruption against an uninformed voting community.

More importantly, CV is an argument for abolishing school boards and institute school choice for better fiscal management and accountability.

A Different Beat on "Sound Bites"





"You Didn't Build That. . .We Have to Pass it. . ." (Source: White House (Pete Souza)

 
















Carl Petersen, the “Different Drummer", claims that three Democratic politicians were "victims of creative quote shortening". I commend Mr. Peterson, or the Different Drummer (DD) for bringing a greater picture of what the three individuals stated. However, rather than positing that their statements were mishandles, DD inadvertently confirms the folly or the moral bankruptcy of those three politicians and their statements. 

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

-President Obama

President Obama veers from “someone” to “government”, and those two things are not the same. One of the basic problems with liberal arguments such as this one rests on the assumption that "The Government" is a beneficial, stable entity. DD distinguishes federal from local at the outset: more than "the government". Furthermore, state, county, and local governments are parsed into many agencies, filled with individual who fail in their tasks or successfully execute them.

President Obama said: "You didn't build that." He was indeed referencing the business and the businessman. The government did not build the business, and in many cases government regulations actually hinder the installation and expansion of businesses. Apart from diligent parents and teachers, "the government" did not educate the individuals who formed or furnished those businesses. There are even stories in which successful business entrepreneurs failed high school or dropped out of college.

Yes, individuals do receive information, skills, and training from other people, places, institution. This transmission of knowledge and identity is called "culture", not government. The argument of "The Government" as the source of essential/existential support is insupportable.

"You've heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don't know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention -- it's about diet, not diabetes. It's going to be very, very exciting.

But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

-Nancy Pelosi

Peterson comments that lawmaking is like sausage-making.  Exactly, and that's why many lawmakers dress up legislation in a cloud of controversy or pass legislation late at night: like Obamacare, with its kickbacks, vote-buying; the hundreds of pages of unread legislation, onerous regulations, unconstitutionality, and Obama claimed that it was not a tax . . .

 

Contrary to Peterson’s assertions, Pelosi wasn’t exuding excitement. She mumbled her words as soon as she spoke them. Meet the Press' David Gregory called her on the statement. Even President Obama has unilaterally delay/ignored portions of the law without Congressional approval. Apparently, he doesn’t like what's in the law, either. And in this case, both Obama and Pelosi (and their Dem colleagues) "built that".

 “With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. Now, honestly I will do my best to answer your questions about this, but the-the fact is that people were trying in real time to get to the best information. The I.C. has a process, I understand, going with the other committees to explain how these talking points came out.

But, you know to be clear, it is from my perspective, less important today looking backwards as to why these militants decided they did it, than to find them and bring them to justice, and then maybe we'll figure out what was going on in the meantime.”

-Hillary Clinton

In order to figure out what happened and to prevent future attacks, it makes a big difference what happened. It also makes a difference whether the State Department ignored the consulate’s pleas for more security or not. It also makes a big difference whether the talking points regarding investigations were scrubbed, and why. Not just Republicans, but Democratic lawmakers felt that it made a big difference. And 50% of Democratic voters want further investigation into Benghazi.

Obama, Pelosi, and Clinton meant what they said, and said what they meant. As lawmakers dedicated to upholding the Constitution, they have not been faithful 100%. The context of their statements does not diminish the unthinking or unreflective nature of their comments, but rather encourages greater, critical scrutiny into their motives and ideology.

Chris Matthews' Prediction: Ten Seats for the GOP

Matthews' Rosy Prediction: Five GOP Seats
Republicans' Rosy Prediction: Ten GOP Seats

What are 2014 Republican operatives worried about? Considering the dour outlook from liberal Chris Matthew’s perspective, they may have nothing to worry about at all:

 

“For the Democrats, a rosy scenario is to lose five seats. They could lose ten.”

 

If liberal talking-heads are shaking in their shoes about the Democrats’ chances of holding the US Senate, then Republicans should be filling a tingle up their. . .everything, everywhere!

 

However, for the sake of honoring all concerns, as nothing is certain until the final ballots are tallied on election day, let us respect the reasons in abstracto why Republican operatives are taking no chances.

 

They are looking over their shoulders at the wreckage of 2012, in which President Obama was running against a moderate Republican Governor from a blue state, who had sponsored and signed into law a blue print health insurance mandate, the template for the national Affordable Care Act.

 

Let’s review the autopsy report.

 

A presidential year, with a middling Republican standard-bearer hurt Republicans nationally, including winnable races for US Senate in North Dakota and Montana, as well as Congressional races in California. 2012 witnessed a weak field of Presidential candidates, all of which were better in some ways compared to the weak, and weakened front-runner. Media flubs from a virulent, pro-Obama media sunk qualified candidates in Indiana and Missouri, too.

Besides, President Obama faced no lingering primary challenges, and no third party spoilers. Political scientists will affirm that no incumbent without those setbacks ever lost a reelection bid for the White House. Ever.

 

Now facing 2014, an off-year election, Republicans can wager that voter turnout will be diminished. Still, wise political operators never rest the hopes of the Republic on how low the voter turnout turns. Voter fraud is always lurking to spoil an election, yet even now Texas Electoral registrars have beaten back “Battleground Texas” affronts to the political process.

 

While the prior RNC Chairman Michael Steele fomented controversy around his tenure, the current leader Reince Preibus is fighting back against current media bias and future debate-debasing, as he and his leadership caucus have limited the number of debates, shortened the primary season, and scheduled an earlier National Convention in 2016. He also slammed MSNBC’s frequent race-baiting tweets toward conservatives and Republicans, and has called for a party-wide boycott against the left-leaning MSNBC. Punching back twice as hard, National Republicans are not playing defense with an indefensible media. Even former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s “sugar daddy” remark actually vaulted him briefly to Presidential front-runner status, with conservative advocates declaring that the best defense against “War on Women” rhetoric is a strong offense.

 

The leadership has paid attention to 2012 failures, and that National Party affiliates are pouring money into races all over the country. Perhaps they are heeding Rove’s suggestion, by way of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean: time to enact a fifty-state strategy.

 

And the fifty-state strategy is in full spin. For the first time in more than a decade, the Republican Party can capture a US Senate seat in Michigan, where the party also holds every major statewide office. The Detroit bankruptcy has exposed the bankruptcy of failed class warfare commissioned by a half-century  of embittered liberal malcontents. Democratic US Senator Max Baucus of Montana has resigned to become ambassador to China, and the strongest Democratic candidate, former governor Brian Schweizter, has declined to run.  The interim Senator of Montana is already losing to the current Republican, the at-large House Rep Steve Daines. South Dakota will flip red, guaranteed, and as long as Susan Collins remains in the running, Maine will have one Republican senator (albeit a more liberal one).

 

The Southern Strategy is in full swing, too, as Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana fend off sharp challenges to their tenure. Red states with blue senators have greater propensity to push their representation completely into the red. Arkansas lost one Democrat, Blanche Lincoln, in 2010 by thirty points. Pryor will share the same fate. As for Landrieu, Rhode Island US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, of climate alarmism infamy, has suggested that the red-state blue senator will help forge environmental restrictions as the incoming Chair of the US Senate Energy Committee. With such liberal cheerleading, the Republicans challenging Landrieu won’t have to fight.

 

ObamaCare is in full swing, ravaging like an inglorious mental patient, ruining health care, forcing the cancellations of millions of health insurance plans, and pushing doctors out of the profession. I wonder which party physicians will endorse in 2014.

 

Jeff Merkley: Trying to put on a happy face
for 2014 Obamacare Backlash

Even liberal bastions Oregon and Illinois will sponsor strong Republican challengers. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has been targeted in billboards throughout the Beaver State, where the state Obamacare exchange has failed miserably. As for DIICK Durbin, despite his failed media spin about Obamacare enrollees, he has conceded that the Democrats cannot keep up with the 2014 GOP momentum for take over.

 

Forgetting the failures of 2012, election year 2014 is looking like a GOP tidal wave. Even Chris Matthews says so!

 

Do you feel a tingle up your leg, GOP?

The Mass GOP is. . .Alive!

Ed Factor claims that the Mass GOP is committing suicide by adding planks to the state party platform which recognize the tragic aspects of abortion as well as the fundamental importance of marriage.  Even though he fears that the Mass GOP will commit suicide with such a platform, was it not the same Ed Factor who wrote: "The Mass GOP is. . .dead"? Either the party is dead, or it isn't. I submit that any party which stands for principles and embraces the fight for life and liberty is not only alive, but also kicking.

Specifically, regarding the reports of the supposed death, er suicide of the Mass GOP, Ed Factor wrote:

Well, well, well. I have been warning everyone for months that social conservatives who can't understand years of polling and election results - would try to use the MassGOP platform to get the party to be officially anti-abortion and anti-gay.

Right and wrong, life and death, are not subject to debate and historical trends.

What did the Boston Globe write, anyway, regarding social conservatives' drive for added planks to the platform (and remember, we are talking about the liberal-left-leaning, Gabriel-Gomez-always-apologizes Boston Globe. . .)

 A proposal written by several key conservatives would go beyond the current party platform, which affirms “the inherent dignity and sanctity of human life.” It would add, “We believe that every instance of abortion is tragic.”

Honestly, "inherent dignity" is good enough. Personally, I believe that there is no need to add that abortion is tragic. However, the Mass GOP, and every other state GOP, should affirm that because of life's tragic elements, abortion in restricted circumstances is acceptable (rape, incest, life of the mother, etc.) Most women (as well as men) respect these limitations.

Then the Globe writes: 

The draft would also add a line referring to same-sex marriage: “We believe the institution of traditional marriage strengthens our society.”

Libertarians (and limited government conservatives in general) can argue: "Get the government out of marriage altogether". The liberal-progressives had insisted on getting Big Government involved in "I do" to begin with. Most people living out homosexual conduct do not marry, anyway.

Finally, the Globe manufactures conflict:

But the party’s leading candidate for governor, Charlie Baker, and Richard Tisei, its best shot at breaking the Democratic stranglehold on the state’s congressional delegation, quickly distanced themselves from the platform proposal.

Says who? There are more Republicans than Tisei and Baker, and the will and thrill to walk the precincts, knock on doors, and reach out to everyone lies within any person's capacity, as he or she sees fit.

This has to be said, too: seeking to protect life and respect marriage as an institution of one man and one woman does not constitute negatives, i.e. anti-abortion or anti-gay. Frankly, conservatives in the Bay State, and just about everywhere, should practice the Ten Percent Principle, which suggests that shifting ten percent of any population to think differently can shape the cultural decisively.

Instead of accommodating the standard as outlined by "Mister Governor" Patrick and liberal Beacon Hill, the Mass GOP can show that they can stay alive, and stump for the life of the unborn as well as traditional marriage.

But back to square one. No one can argue that a political party is about to commit suicide if the party is already dead. More importantly, a party which stands on principles is a party that is. . .alive!

CA State Sen. President Steinberg's Resigned Hypocrisy



Sate Senate President pressures Calderon;
yet says nothing about Wright -- that's wrong!

The Los Angeles US Attorney's office has charged State Senator Ronald Calderon (D-Montebello) with numerous federal charges, including bribery and influence peddling. This indictment follows months of investigation, including a report from Al Jazeera.

Specifically, Calderon has been charged with taking bribes related to the following situations:

·  to halt workers' compensation laws to benefit a Long Beach hospital executive

·  to an undercover agent for a state-funded job in the state Senate

·  to support legislation that would help independent film studios receive tax credits

 State senators do represent their individual districts, but they receive a salary, and must never get away with demanding a bribe to help out a constituent.

These corruption charges are substantial, and Calderon has only been indicted, not yet convicted.
Despite the recent announcement against Calderon, State Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is already calling on the Montebello machine politician to resign or face suspension from the upper chamber.

However, not even one month prior, another state senator, Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) was not only indicted, but tried and convicted of felonies relating to voter fraud. Steinberg so far has said nothing, and still remains silent on Wright.

Why this arbitrary discrepancy? Some Wright supporters have contended that the law on legislator residency is so contorted, that one cannot avoid breaking the law, while Calderon’s alleged crimes involve public integrity as well as bribery.

Despite the discrepancy between the senators’ indictments, Steinberg's "resigned hypocrisy" is unacceptable. No matter what crimes the state senators have committed (non-violent, corruption, etc), no matter what the status of the charges, the state senate leadership has a responsibility to expect all members to live under the same laws imposed on all Californians. Steinberg allows a convicted felon to remain in office, while another state senator, indicted yet not convicted of numerous felonies, is facing pressure to resign.

This kind of double-standard cannot be ignored. It’s wrong for Steinberg to ignore the convicted Wright while imposing on the indicted Calderon.

Contact Senate President Steinberg, and tell him to hold every member of the California State Senate accountable. If the senate president is already moving to remove Calderon, then he has no right not to ask Wright to resign, as well.

Capitol Office
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento,  CA  95814
Phone:  (916) 651-4006
Fax:  (916) 651-4906

District Office
1020 N Street, Room 576
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-1529
Fax: (916) 327-8754

Registration Does Not (Have to) Matter, Mass GOP!

The voter registration in Massachusetts certainly appears daunting. With a three-to-one Democratic spread, and a whole bunch of independents going either way (usually to the left), and an ultimate low of 10% registered Republicans, the Massachusetts GOP has more than its work cut out for taking back Beacon Hill.

Or does it?

The year 2010 was a watershed year, certainly, with a special election to replace the recently-deceased Ted "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy. Despite the three-to-one Dem slant, state senator Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) worked hard, campaigned throughout the state, and took the election from a double-digit deficit to a five-point win over Martha "Red Sox: Who are they?" Coakley.

Throughout the country from 2010 to now, Dems were on the run. McDonnell won the Virginia Govenror’s race, and US Attorney Chris Christie won in New Jersey.

Conservative columnist George Will displaced former House Speaker Tip (Me Over) O'Neill's assertion that all politics is local. With the advent of Obamacare, and the growing backlash from the states in 2010 and 2012, Republicans dominated state legislatures, even winning Dem seats in usually strongholds throughout the South. I still remember reading about the Alabama Democratic Party on life-support, as four members of the Cotton State Democratic delegation bolted for the GOP.

And of course, the Election Day shellacking of 2010 cannot be forgotten, which still represents the House of Representatives in spite of the National GOP’s botched efforts.

And in my state, Republicans are punching back to win in Dem strongholds.

The Central Valley is all dried up, because of liberal, statist supermajority Democratic posturing. All the pandering for a smelt has sent the Central Valley up the river.

GOP Can sweep in Massachusetts!

In comes cherry farmer Andy Vidak (R-Hanford), a generational name in the region, well-known among the salt of the earth and the agricultural interests. Following a 2013 special election to fill in a two-to-one Democratic seat, Vidak carried the primary and the general election by six points. Yeehaw!

Two more special elections, one in the Pomona region, and another in the West Valley of Los Angeles, forced Democratic operatives to outspend the conservative/Republican opposition ten-to-one, and yet the liberal candidates only eked out wins by a few hundred votes. Frustrating at first for the GOP, these near-victories exposed a weakened Democratic brand, one in which registered Dem and liberal voters were more than happy to throw their support to the Republican. I should know. I made calls over the past few weekends into the West Valley region, where Democrats and liberal-leaning independents declared their support for the fiscally conservative (and pro-Second Amendment) Republican.

Then the waves really started rising for the California GOP. Back to 2013, Democratic Mayor Bob Filner of San Diego resigned in disgrace following eighteen allegations of sexual misconduct against female coworkers in the city. Another special election ensued, and Republican Councilmember Kevin Faulconer stepped up, winning the top vote in the primary, and then the final February run-off by nine points in a 13 point Dem advantage city. Further study proved that Faulconer had cross-over appeal not just with Independents but also registered Democrats, all of whom were still smarting over the painful costs and unseemly cuts brought on the city because of prior public sector union demands.

By the way, Democrats poured millions into the San Diego special election, and lots of foot power from the unions, and the Republican candidate still won! Voters in California are tired of collective bargaining lobbyists tying up the statehouse. Two pension reform initiatives already passed by 70% margins in very liberal San Jose as well as moderate San Diego.

The reform momentum favored Faulconer, and can favor the state GOP in November. Democrats will be putting out fires all over California, as Democrats as well as Republicans are retiring from office. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) has widened the Dem Civil War between identity politicians and public sector union puppets. A primary challenge from the left is hitting confirmed liberal Mike Honda (D-Sunnyvale), and Republicans are prepping to recover ground inadvertently lost in 2012.

How does any of this help the Massachusetts GOP? Simple enough. The national outrage over Obamacare, gun grabbing, and wasteful spending, along with NSA spying and the failed rollout not just of Obamacare Care but Common Core can give Republicans all over plenty of ammo to fight back and take the high ground again. Registered Democrats have already voted for Republicans who represent their interests rather than the special interests. The same can happen in the Bay State, too.

Politico's Inadvertent Autopsy of Modern Labor Movement

Politico, a left-leaning news aggregate source, cannot ignore the continued decline of the Modern Labor Movement, hastened by market forces in the private sector, prodded along by concerted grassroots effort, both of which are fighting back against collective bargaining units, which have bought politicians and tied up entire cities with sclerotic regulations, plus unsustainable pensions and benefits at the expense of future generations.

Unions in Trouble

In December 2013, Stephanie Simon reported “Teachers unions face moment of truth”. Specifically documenting coordinated rallies in New York City and San Francisco, the piece pointed out that teachers union ranks are shrinking. Why? Teacher layoffs, certainly, have siphoned away support, body and money, but so have charter schools, a growing number of which resist unionization. One system of charters in the San Francisco, offer teachers the same pay and benefits and more freedom, removing any reason to organize. In addition to the rise (and rising success) of charter schools, Midwestern states enacted reforms which forced unions to recertify (Wisconsin) or reinstated individual employees right to not join a union in order to get a job (right-to-work in Michigan, following Indiana).

Teachers unions are getting a bad rap, as well, with one expose after another revealing union leaders which protect the most incompetent or immoral (i.e. convicted sex offender Mark Berndt, Miramonte Elementary in Los Angeles) at the expense of new, passionate, and growing educators because of last-hired, first-fired contractual agreements.

In the Los Angeles area, I have spoken with individual teachers very critical of their unions, as they face larger class sizes with few if any salary increases. School Board members, either openly or otherwise, acknowledge that teachers unions are commanding less respect. Despite such plain negatives,  Politico did report a slight membership increase in the American Federation of Teachers, but among retirees and part-time workers, and thus a measured decrease in union funds. The National Education Association has also cut staff, as well as overextending its line of credit.

Legal challenges are further chipping away at union power. Student-driven lawsuits are challenging teacher tenure laws, which have too often rewarded the worst at the expense of first-rate, yet new teachers because of arbitrary, politicized collective bargaining. Interestingly enough, the Politico report neglected to mention the grassroots nature of the tenure challenges, while also leaving out the recent lawsuits filed by California teachers, who resent forced membership and dues, all of which support causes and candidates without their individual support. Not only in the courtroom, but within union ranks new teachers are bumping against old-guard union leadership, which has prized power over pupils and the higher purpose of education.

Teachers unions are not only losing the PR war, in the courts of media opinion and the law, but even on the radio, where union/labor concentrated radio broadcasting is fading away, along with liberal-progressive radio talk shows in general. Politico contributor Mackenzie Weinger documented the increased silence:

The golden age of unions is long gone — and for the radio shows that focus on labor and workers rights, every day is a struggle just to stay on the airwaves.

Radio broadcasting is all about bringing in money, yet labor unions have driven away business, investment, profits, and through their own “success” created more unemployed, no longer joined to unions, who have no interest in labor radio.

Rick Smith, who runs one of few local labor radio talk shows, lamented:

“The only people who are going to invest in a program like mine are the people who see my message as something they believe in. Corporate America? Not so much.”

Invest, message, believe:  these terms conjure up the free market, the very system of supply and demand which labor unions disrupt to further their ends at the expense of corporations, communities, and most importantly, consumers. Since these labor talk shows take in so little money, they should follow Mr. Smith’s logic and deduce that there are very few people who believe in the conflict-theory, Marxist distortions inherent in union-dominated labor relations.

(Regarding Corporate America, by the way, this fact cannot go unreported: the greater beneficiaries of the Citizens United decision have not been the corporations, but rather the labor unions, who sponsor left-wing politicians, who inadvertently enough want to overthrow Citizens.)

Further into the Meinger piece, frequent guest Mark Critz to Pennsylvania-based “The Union Edge” (the only nationally syndicated labor-radio talk show left) commented:

With the anti-labor push at both the federal and state level, I feel very strongly that we need to stay on the airwaves talking about the difference unions have made in people’s lives.

Critz’ rhetoric betrays the division manifesting itself from labor unions. “Anti-labor” reforms like Wisconsin’s Act 10 or Michigan’s right-to-work legislation are indeed pro-labor, but anti-union. The fact that so few labor talk-shows remain, combined with UAW’s failure to organize Tennessee’s VW employees, further suggests that there are few stories where unions have impacted laborers’ lives for the better.

Once again, labor unions have proved adept at succeeding themselves into failure, so much so that left-leaning publications like Politico  cannot ignore but must comment, like surgeons conducting an autopsy over a warm cadaver.