Obama And The 2nd Amendment November 17, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Uncategorized.comments closed
H/T to Dad29.
Buried in this Human Events piece on the probability of The Messiah and his fellow travelers in Congress overreaching is this tidbit:
Obama began revealing his true plans as soon as it became obvious that he would win. Just before the election he told an NPR reporter that while he believes in the 2nd Amendment, he intends to seek a federal law that would repeal state “right to carry” laws, thus letting leftist anti-gun groups know that he is with them. This was no doubt a promise made to these groups secretly far earlier and we can expect similar promises to be made public now that he’s won.
That’s right. Barack Hussein Obama wants Congress to enact a federal law that will wipe out the 48 existing state laws which protect citizens’ 2nd Amendment right to bear arms — CCW. Only two states — Illinois and Wisconsin — do not guarantee that right. Combined with the Chocolate Jesus’s stated intention to sign the Freedom of Choice Act eliminating all restrictions on abortion — even partial-birth abortion and the infanticide He supported as a state senator in Illinois — shows just exactly where Our Lord and Savior stands on the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Might as well repeal that one, along with the others He feels are inconvenient to His stated goals.
Another Bailout In Line? November 17, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Auto Industry, Bailouts, Bela Pelosi, Big Three, U.S. Congress, Uncategorized.comments closed
You could have seen this one coming a mile away. Once the government started bailing out private businesses, there would be no limit as to who would line up with their hands out.
Now it’s the Big Three Automakers, asking for $25 billion of our money.
WASHINGTON (al-AP) – All aboard, there may be another bailout train leaving the station on Capitol Hill. Talk of a $25 billion emergency loan package for the Big Three carmakers that could see a vote in a postelection session of Congress next week has a wave of business lobbyists clamoring for action – and a slice of the pie.
They’re dusting off their call lists and preparing for a furious round of vote-hunting that comes little more than a month after lawmakers approved the $700 billion bailout designed for banks and other financial firms.
Now with the three major U.S. car companies warning they could face a collapse before year’s end without new government help, Democratic congressional leaders are pushing to carve out a portion of the financial rescue money for them.
It’s far from certain the package will become law – or even see a vote. Republicans and President George W. Bush are reluctant to send new money to the carmakers, saying they should instead speed distribution of a $25 billion loan package Congress approved in September to help automakers develop fuel-efficient vehicles.
The proposal has the support of Bela Pelosi, who goes so far as to support a special session to approve the bailout package.
Here’s the little secret the Democrats don’t want you to know: in exchange for the bailout money, they want taxpayers to have an ownership stake. That’s right: by taxpayers, they mean government. Partial nationalization of the automobile industry.
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation to send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hope for quick passage of the auto bailout during a postelection session that begins Monday.
Legislation being drafted by Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Carl M. Levin, D-Mich., would dip into the $700 billion Wall Street rescue money, approved by Congress last month, for the auto aid.
President Bush is cool to that idea. But the White House says he is open to helping the industry, which is buckling under poor sales, tight credit and a sputtering economy.
Let’ s see. We’ve partially nationalized the banking industry. Now we’re talking about partially nationalizing the auto industry. That means government bureaucrats deciding what kind of cars will be made. And you think things are bad for the Big Three now? Wait until Washington dictates production; i.e., what kind of cars, how many, etc. We’re talking about people who couldn’t find their rear ends with both hands. We can almost guarantee Washington bureaucrats and politicians will demand Detroit produce cars no one will want to buy.
All a $25 billion handout will do is punt Detroit’s problems further down the road. What is crippling the auto industry is the lucrative pension packages being paid out to retired auto workers. About the only thing that will help the auto industry recover would be a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. That would allow Ford, GM and Chrysler to reorganize and get out from under those crippling pension payments. Chapter 11 isn’t without risks, but as the Indianapolis Star points out in an editorial:
The companies also have structural problems that make their longtime viability suspect, including high legacy costs (pension and health-care benefits), inept management and out-of-favor product lines. Federal handouts won’t resolve those issues.
Although painful, bankruptcy would force the companies to shake up senior management and confront out-of-line expenses. Industry analysts, however, warn that, unlike with other industries, the bankruptcy route could prove fatal to automakers because consumers would shy away from buying vehicles out of concern about coverage of warranties and repairs.
But at some point Congress must say no to additional handouts. The current federal deficit and the long-term national debt are soaring. The consequences of those trends could cripple the nation if not brought under control.
Jindal On What’s Wrong With The GOP November 17, 2008
Posted by The Underground Conservative in Bobby Jindal, Republican Party, Uncategorized.comments closed
Bobby Jindal summarizes what’s wrong with the Republican Party, and it’s nothing we haven’t talked about before. No. 1, it’s the spending, stupid. No. 2, it’s the corruption, stupid. No. 3, it’s the lack of ideas, stupid.
“As Republicans, we need to do three things to get back on track,” he said on CBS’ Face The Nation. “Number one, we have got to stop defending the kind of spending and out-of-control spending that we would never tolerate in the other side. You know, when voters tell us that they trust Democrats more to cut their taxes [and] control spending, that tells you something is wrong with the Republican Party. We’ve got to match our actions with our rhetoric.
“Number two, we’ve got to stop defending the kinds of corruption we would rightfully criticize in the other party. The week before the election, our most senior senator is convicted on federal charges – and that’s only the latest example.
“Number three, we have got to be the party that offers real solutions to the problems that American voters, American families are worried about. We don’t need to abandon our conservative principles; we can’t just be the ‘party of no.’ We need to offer real solutions on making health care more affordable, on the economic challenges facing families, on the international threats.”
Amen on all three counts. The GOP followed President Bush off the cliff when it came to exploding federal spending. Bush, who ran in 2000 on the idea of compassionate conservativism, quite obviously defines compassion as spending OPM, rather than accepting the notion that conservatism itself by its very nature is compassionate. There’s nothing compassionate about encouraging dependency on the government.
In his first four years, Bush — and Congress — spent more money than Bill Clinton did in eight, and that’s not counting rebuilding the military that Clinton gutted and homeland security after 9/11. The GOP also became the party of earmarks as well, funneling as much money back to their districts as they could. With the tolerance of corruption — Jindahl referred to the convicted felon Ted Stevens — becoming part of the Republican fabric, the GOP had gone native.
When exit polls indicate voters associate the Democrats more with being able to lower taxes and control spending, the GOP had better know it has a problem.
And simply opposing every bad piece of legislation the Democrats offer won’t be enough. The Republicans have to go back to their conservative Reagan roots and sell those ideas. Stop apologizing for who they are and what they believe. The so-called Big Tent approach is what cost the Republicans their majority, selling out principles to attract new voters, trying to be all things to all people. You don’t attract Democrats and Independents by acting more like, well, Democrats and Independents. You attract people by selling them on your ideas. That’s what Reagan did.
Jindal, along with Sarah Palin, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, are all considered bright stars for the future of the GOP.
One of the more recent bright stars — Mister Newt — said the governors represent the future of the GOP:
When you look at the governors – Governor Jindal and what he’s doing in Louisiana; you look at Governor Mitch Daniels, who won by 20 points in Indiana, while McCain was losing it; Governor Jon Huntsman, who has the lowest unemployment rate in the entire West in Utah and a $1 billion surplus last year, about a $300 million surplus this year – there are a lot of lessons to be learned out there.
