Veteran Assaulted Protecting McCain/Palin Sign

Seriously, some people are unhinged during this election cycle.



(Originally posted to Hoosier Access)

Will You Look At This?

Interesting list of who received the most contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Name S/H State D/R Total PAC Individual

Dodd, Christopher J S CT D $165,400 $48,500 $116,900
Obama, Barack S IL D $126,349 $6,000 $120,349
Kerry, John S MA D $111,000 $2,000 $109,000
Kanjorski, Paul E H PA D $96,000 $57,500 $38,500
Reed, Jack S RI D $78,250 $43,500 $34,750
Reid, Harry S NV D $77,000 $60,500 $16,500
Clinton, Hillary S NY D $76,050 $8,000 $68,050

The Obamassiah Channel Now On Dish Network

Yep that's right fellow WPBHQ drinkers. I thought I was out on a bender of too many Jack & Cokes when I read about it on Free Republic. The Obamassiah bought a whole channel of Dish Network for The Anointed One's Followers and Faithful featuring non-stop praise and worship for The Presidential Massiah (mis-spelling intentional)

So joining traditional religion on Dish such as Daystar, EWTN, TBN, Joel Osteen, and others preaching gospel, The Obamassiah is preaching his new age religion of Marx, Lenin, Ayers, and Moore nonstop.

Sorry, you still must provide your own koolaid.

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Heard on the Street: "These guys are worse than crack whores"

IN the midst of the worse financial crisis arguably since (a) 1987 (b) 1973-74 (c) 1929, The US Senate has served up the quintessential "Pork Pie" and once again demonstrated they just can't resist loading up crucial legislation with perks for their pals. (For a great analysis, check out this post from our pals at Hoosier Access)

$193M (USD) for PR Rum? Hey, I like a cocktail just as much as the next guy - maybe more - but c'mon! Captain Morgan and ol' Ron Bacardi already have a corner on the Rum market. I know, "one man's pork is another man's project" and everybody earmarks, yeah, yeah ... just not in this kind of bill. Let's just have a clean bill with a responsible - market approach to stabilizing this thing.

Markets hate uncertainty. These traders are big Dudes (and Dudettes) and they can take bad news with the good. So let's give them the rules they need to play by and get the heck outta the way! Remember, the markets work because there is an equilibrium between Greed and Fear. The more you are willing to risk, the more you can gain - or lose. So let the losers lose, lick their wounds, then get back in the pit and fight their way out.

Changing Gears for Just a Moment:

This just popped into my mind. Let's just think for a minute about what happens when the USG takes over all these bad mortgages. Who's gonna manage all these properties? Whose going to fix the broken windows? Mow the grass? The mortgage holders are responsible, you know. Are we going to set up another bureaucracy? Will we create the National Real Estate Management and Disposal Administration? Does anybody think the USG can actually do this?

What about taking ownership stakes in private companies? Do we have some third tier appointees at Treasury sitting on the corporate boards? Does the USG get veto authority over the compensation committee? May I remind you, fellow taxpayers, that the Post Office is run by government bureaucrats. Anyone care to take a stab at the last time they turned a profit? (So much for the taxpayer making money on this deal.)

Back on Message:

So these freakin' Senators lard up this bailout - which, come to think of it, shouldn't be a news flash - almost as shamelessly as they turned every bloody personal pet project into a "National Security Priority" after 9-11-01.
Then, they get everybody going on TV and screaming "the world as we know it will come to an end" if we don't pass this "crap sandwich" by Midnight! If the bill was so bad the first time, what makes it less bad now? It's the same friggin' bill except now they have provisions for mental health insurance parity, an AMT patch, and all that pork. Hey look, I'm willing to argue that some or all of these things may or may not be good things. They deserve to be debated and voted on ... maybe ... but not in this bill! In fact, I don't even think this is a good bill. There is nothing in here but a taxpayer funded government takeover of the credit/commercial paper markets ... and all that pork.

In the end:

Bad News: Do we lose some value in our 401(k)'s? Likely. Will we lose some jobs? Yep. Will the really rich guys still be really rich? Count on it.

Good News: Gas is getting cheaper because oil is falling below 90/bbl. which means that Chavez and the Arabs are losing their shirts. See, there's a silver lining in every cloud.

In closing, I find myself asking "Where are all the limited government, free-market conservatives?" I see all these pols on TV saying things like, "I'm a free-market conservative, and I just hate this thing, but ..." But what? You either believe in these principles or you don't Senators. Stand for something and think about the next generation instead of the next election ... or your next fix, you pantie wastes.

THIS JUST IN ... (UPDATED 3:31pm EST) from the LA Times: "The bill wending its way through Congress would provide tax breaks worth more than $470 million over the next decade for movie and TV producers that shoot in the U.S."

Folks, that's $47M (USD)/year to shoot TV in the USA. Well, color me stupid, don't they do most of that here anyway? Gawd, it just keeps getting "worser and worser" as time goes by. These guys really are worse than crack whores - and that's almost insulting to the crack whores. Does anyone still wonder why these guys have a 15% approval rating?

Wrong. Just Friggin' Wrong.

Congress set to bail out Wall Street on the backs of Main Street.

Fellow Flacks, Hacks, and Dumpster Diving Professionals ...

UPDATE! Well, friends, a few intrepid souls who actually Love America, Democracy, and the Free Enterprise System sent this cocktail of turkey entrails down the flusher. Congratulations to those brave Members of the House that voted against this terrible legislation - now let's get a solution that actually preserves the best principles of our Constitutionally Federated Representative Republic and the Free Markets that are the envy of the world! (G.O.D.)

Good Piece from Capitol Brief: Read it here.


You have got to be friggin' kidding me. One Trillion Dollars? How effin' much money is that? I can't even get my arms around that. Why not just give every adult citizen of the United States like $4 million bucks - problem solved. The government can even tax it and get half of it back. The stupid, brainless and genetically challenged among us will blow it all in a couple of years, the rest of us will pay all our bills and invest some of it, then blow some of it. The really smart will figure out a way to fleece the rest of us. Within a couple of years, everything will be back to normal.

I'm also not buying this idea that somehow the taxpayers are actually going to make money on this thing. When has government ever made money on anything? Oh sure, they'll tell you about Chrysler, and la-de-da ... remember the Airlines, anyone?

This bill, in the words of Minority Leader John Boehner, is a "crap sandwich" which it appears the rest of us are going to have to eat. All I can say is: "You want fries with that?"

Convicted of DUI and DL revoked...

So what do people who use loopholes in the law to get around revoked DL's do? Ride scooters that's what. And that is WRONG!

One, when a scooter in involved in a crash, it counts as a motorcycle crash. This is wrong, as scooter riders are typically not trained, don't hold a motorcycle endorsement that is if the rider has a license in the first place. I've said it before scooter riders don't carry insurance nor have license plates on their scooters either.

The scooter rider that was the initiating cause of the school bus crash in Cass County had no drivers license because his license was revoked.

BMV revokes licenses for a reason. It's because the driver has shown he or she has no business being on the public roads. It's a slap in the face when a person who is determined to not deserve the privilege of driving hops on a scooter and rides on the roads anyway.

Solving the Market Instability Problem: My Two Cents.

I am not an Economist/Banker/Investment Professional. Having said that, let me take a stab at offering a solution to the current market instability problem.

Banks are not willing to lend to each other because they do not know who will survive the weekend. Some analysts envision a possibility that 100-150 could fail in the foreseeable future. But, rather than simply infuse $700B into the system by lending U.S taxpayer money to buy problem loans, might I suggest that the Treasury set up a “distressed fund” (sometimes referred to as a “vulture investment fund”) with the money in which these firms can negotiate for the capital they need and the investment fund (read: “taxpayer”) gets “convertible preferred stock w/ some percentage coupon” (similar to the deal Warren Buffett recently made with Goldman Sachs). Thereby, we the people are getting a preferred equity position that allows taxpayers to be paid interest each period while they wait for the companies to increase their equity value at which point the government will do a public offering and the taxpayers will enjoy the proceeds along with the management of the organization.

Given that total Credit Market Debt as a percentage of GDP is currently 348.5%, and Household Income to Debt = 102%, everybody is at the limit. Consumers are maxed out and in total the financial service system is essentially insolvent (total liabilities exceed total assets), so just throwing money into the system without a structure that is understood by all the participants risks could be catastrophic.

“The bankers are scared and the government is in the driver’s seat on this thing”. We have the opportunity to both stabilize the system and extract our (the taxpayers) “pound of flesh” if we give them a reasonable offer. We can reinstate the greed/fear equilibrium back into the model, or a carrot and stick, whatever you want to call it, and protect the taxpayer. Remember now, only 25% of America supports a "bail-out" of these knuckleheads.

Once the “Distressed Fund” is established, we suggest the government hire an “investment banker” to execute the distributions and build an incentive plan to get the “smart people who know how to do this to do it” – which may mean hiring back some of the knuckleheads that created this mess to unravel it – but with the ability to set compensation that might reward performance (say, stock options in the “new company”) that can be exercised only once the taxpayer is made whole and the new company goes “public” again. Governments around the world are clients of these big investment banks, so there is nothing new here. They know how to do it.

Additionally, if we, the taxpayer, are going to "buy" assets it should not be just the junk but a position in the whole company so the taxpayer does not get left holding the bag. The other benefit is that it might soften the impending failure of non-financial corporations, which would create a spike in unemployment and a further contraction in the economy.

In any event, the policy decisions made after the crisis management phase will be equally critical to the decisions made during this crisis management phase. While recessions are a necessary part of the economic model, the government (remember the CRA?) and the Fed have artificially “softened” these recessionary periods since 1990-91 and the result has been the excesses we are experiencing now. With essentially free money, the tech bubble and the mortgage crisis were inevitable. Therefore, if I understand it, managing the recession correctly will allow for the necessary “cleansing of the system” without reaching near-catastrophic levels not seen since 1973-74.

As a comparison, the 1929 crash resulted in an approximately 25% contraction of GDP, approximately 25% unemployment, and some 14,000 banks failed (We can check with Ben Bernancke’s office for specifics, he apparently is the world’s leading expert on the Crash/Depression). 1973-74 it was approximately a 4-5% contraction in GDP, something like 10 or 11% unemployment, and not nearly the catastrophic bank failures of the 30's. Today, we have 6% unemployment, and we'll lose a couple hundred banks, and it remains to be seen what happens to GDP. We are going to be somewhere north of that 4% number of 1973-74. The question is: How far North?

In any case, there is no need to rush into a $700B deal without really knowing what the heck we're getting ourselves into. Japan in the '90s ... anyone? Buehler? If Wall Street thinks Washington doesn't understand it, and Washington thinks that Wall Street doesn't get it; What makes them think they can sell it to Main Street?

Let's take a deep breath. Let's stop trying to boost ratings and circulation by making comparisons to the Great Depression. Let's let the markets work and put the taxpayers money in where and when it will make the biggest difference. We're America. We can do it.

The Video The Obama Does Not Want You To Watch

Finally. A Start.

The talking and planning is finally leading to potential results. Finally, some logic is being injected the mass transit discussion.

Walk. Then Run.

Those who support massive mass transit projects seems stuck on spending billions of other people's money on what seems to be rails of gold with maglev trains. Maglev is slick and exotic but if you build it and nobody rides it doesn't do a damn bit of good.

The present "walk" plan is to re-use the former Nickel Plate - The Fair Train if you will - as a commuter rail. If you look at Google Earth there's rail corridor already for other parts of town you can build upon, though some is already converted to walking trail such as the Penn Central that runs along East Washington St.

This is a good idea whose time has come, and from this pilot project the determination can be made based upon ridership and revenue on expanding commuter rail in Central Indiana.

The Obama Experience

Dems to America: "Real Bi-partisan Energy Reform ... Nah!"

We ran across this in another blog, but since folks in Indianapolis will never read this story in the local cage-liner, we thought in the public interest we'd re-post it here ...

North Carolina Congressman on Burton Energy Compromise

Congressman Burton was a key part of an Energy Compromise bill that earned over 150 supporters. North Carolina Congressman Robin Hayes talked about the bill in a recent story from the Stanly News and Press.

Here's a key part of the article about the bill Dan supported:

In an effort to amend this bill, the Minority called for a vote on the Comprehensive, Environmentally Responsible Energy Plan for America, which Hayes was an original sponsor, and he voted to support this evening.

This bipartisan bill, led by U.S. Representatives Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), John Peterson (R-Pa.), Jim Costa (D- Calif.) and Dan Burton (R-Ind.), is a true comprehensive energy solution for America.

This legislation provides the first stable, designated funding source for the development of alternative fuels, renewable energy and environmental restoration by allocating the estimated $2.6 trillion in oil royalties from oil and gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf.

In addition, this bill seeks to combine responsible, targeted increases in domestic oil and gas production with an intensified effort to move vehicles to nonpetroleum alternatives and a strong federal conservation and energy efficiency commitment.

Even though the Comprehensive, Environmentally Responsible Energy Plan for America had more than 150 cosponsors — Democrats and Republicans alike — it failed by a recorded vote of 191-226.

H/T: TBB

Death Knell for Conservatism?

Whatever happened to Less Government?

Fellow Flacks, Hacks, and Dumpster Divers:

On the eve of this monumental expansion of government's reach into our lives - to the tune of a trillion bucks, I thought it might be time for some reflection.We have come a long way from those heady days in 1995 when a Conservative House of Representatives led the country to balanced budgets, a $155 billion budget surplus, and seeking every opportunity to shrink the size and scope of the federal government somewhere closer to the Constitutional parameters set out in our Founding Documents. It was the zenith of the movement of Ronald Reagan and William F.Buckley, Jr.; of Peter Viereck, and Russell Kirk.

Today, the Republican Party is rocketing toward mediocrity.

Since 2000, The Republicans led the way in creating the largest bureaucracy since FDR; the largest expansion of entitlements if not since the new Deal, then certainly Johnson's "Great Society"; to a projected budget deficit of one half trillion dollars (that's trillion, with a "T"). Ol' Everett Dirksen wasn't even close when he opined: "A million here, a million there; pretty soon we're talkin' big money" . Anymore, a million dollars is a "round up error" to these guys.

The Conservatives in Congress, and I regret there are so few left (perhaps 30 or so true Movement Conservatives), have been largely marginalized. The legacy of Ronald Reagan, the leadership of Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, the new ideas and fresh thinking of the RSC, are all just a fond memory of a time long ago when Republicans actually acted like Republicans, and Conservative ideology defined the parameters of the debate. Most Republicans can only be distinguished from their Democrat colleagues by their vote for Speaker.

Not that I can completely blame my malaise on the failure of the Republican Majority in the first years of this century at the feet of George W. Bush, he certainly had willing acolytes in both Chambers down Pennsylvania Avenue, but leadership does lead. The fact that the Congress didn't stand up and say "oops, wrong way" and redirect the ship back on course is also disappointing. To be fair, this Administration has faced some difficult and unprecedented challenges. Yet, I cannot but somehow believe that our conservative principles would have better addressed these challenges than a rush to infuse the federal leviathan with with even more nourishment.

The future is, well, "the future" and i do not know what lies across that horizon. I hope that better days are ahead for the Conservative Movement. Yet, I fear, there will be many dark days ahead before it is once again "Morning in America."

Reposting w/Update: RON SANTO Should Be In Hall of Fame

With the great news coming out of Cooperstown that Ronnie has made the list for another shot at the Hall of Fame, we thought that we'd re-post this piece on why Ron Santo should be in the Hall of Fame.

See the announcement here. You can follow the "@SantoFans" on Twitter and on their website here.

We couldn't have said it any better ... so we'll let the Cubs "Closer", Kerry Wood, speak for himself:

"The Hall of Fame vote and Ron Santo are talked about a lot in our clubhouse. He's been denied 18 times, and after each vote we'll look at his stats and ask, 'Are these Hall of Fame numbers?' You'll get a yes from 95% of the guys. When you start digging into the numbers, I don't think there's any doubt. How can you not vote for a guy who was a nine-time All-Star, earned five Gold Gloves, had four top-10 MVP finishes, three top-10 home run finishes and four .300-plus seasons, and led the National League in walks four times? And if you look at all the third basemen who played between 1950 and 1975, Ron ranks second in HRs, third in hits, RBIs and games played, fourth in slugging, and seventh in on-base percentage. And he did it despite having diabetes. For him to play in the big leagues at that level is amazing.

"For some reason, third basemen get jobbed in the voting. There are only 13 of them—three Negro Leagues stars and 10 major leaguers. Nothing personal, but if George Kell is in [see chart], then Ronny should be too. Ronny crushed him in HRs, RBIs, hits and runs, and he did it with a respectable .277 career batting average, which is almost 25 points higher than the NL average during his career. I'm not saying Brooks Robinson doesn't belong in the Hall, but Ronny played eight fewer seasons and finished with 74 more HRs, a higher batting average and on-base percentage, and nearly the same RBI total. I know, Ronny never played in the postseason. Neither did Kell or Ronny's Hall of Fame teammates Ernie Banks and Ferguson Jenkins. Neither did Billy Williams when he was with the Cubs.

"I keep it simple: Look at the third basemen who are in, then look at Ronny's numbers. I'm amazed he isn't in yet. His next chance is in 2009. When it happens, and if the schedule lets us, I'm going to be there for the ceremony. He's the epitome of Chicago baseball. He's still part of this team. He lives and dies with it. In fact, I think we've put him in the hospital a few times. He should get in just for that."

How Ron Santo stacks up with his third-basemen peers in Cooperstown:

AVG HRs RBIs ALL-STAR GOLD GLOVES
Ron Santo (1960-74) .277 342 1,331 9 5
Eddie Mathews (1952-68) .271 512 1,453 12 0
Brooks Robinson (1955-77) .267 268 1,357 18 16
Wade Boggs (1982-99) .328 118 1,014 12 2
Mike Schmidt (1972-89) .267 548 1,595 12 10
George Kell (1943-57) .306 78 870 10 0

Read the whole ESPN - The Magazine Article Here

Cubs fans, even a non-baseball fan, look at the chart above and ask if George Kell, who played with Philly (Athletics), the Tigers, Red Sox, White Sox, and Orioles between 1943 and '57, is in the Hall - Why not Ron?

I don't know for certain but I do not recall any of the others playing with any more passion and hustle than Santo. I wasn't born when Kell played, and I don't remember much of Eddie Matthews as a player - I remember he managed Atlanta when Aaron spanked #715 - but I do have fond and vivid memories of Robinson, Boggs and Schmidt. I wouldn't pretend to diminish any of these great players careers because each of them deserve to be in Cooperstown. I point this out only to say that Ron Santo was every bit the player (and more) that these others were and he deserves to be there too. 18 years is long enough.

H/T ESPN -The Magazine

Sons of Bitches!

Via Michelle Malkin:

Sarah Palin’s private e-mail hacked, family photos raided
By Michelle Malkin

Scroll for updates…Wired News confirms…

Sometime early this morning, between approximately 3:00am - 4:00am, members of an infamous group of hackers broke into Gov. Sarah Palin’s private Yahoo e-mail account. The incriminating discussion threads included screenshots of Palin’s e-mail and private e-mail addresses of her contacts. The threads have since been deleted.

Hacking e-mail is a federal crime. A TV anchor who broke into his colleague’s e-mail account recently pleaded guilty and faces a maximum five years in prison.

The law will catch up to the hackers, but what about the lowlifes who are now gleefully splashing the alleged contents of Palin’s private e-mail account all over the Internet?

The Gawker smear machine — see here for all the background you need — has posted private family photos of Palin’s children that were apparently stolen from the e-mail account.

They have used Bristol Palin’s illegally obtained private cell phone number from her mom’s private account, recorded her voicemail message, and posted it on their website.

They have reprinted her husband Todd’s private e-mail address and son Track’s private e-mail address.

You think this is just a harmless prank? Those of you who have had to deal with break-ins and identity theft know exactly what a burdensome process it is to recover from crimes like this.

Gawker knowingly and deliberately published illegally obtained photos of the Palin children.

Where are the privacy absolutists now?

You think Palin Derangement Syndrome is bad now? These by-any-means-necessary lunatics are just warming up.

Let me repeat what I said about Nick Denton and his slime businesses in 2006. It’s every bit as relevant now. And I expect the same cowards who said nothing then to remain silent about the violations of the Palin family’s privacy now.

CBS Leaves Me Lost in a Blizzard of Words

Yesterday I noticed a link on the Drudge Report to a CBS editorial talking about the diminishing "Sarah Palin Phenomenon". The piece wasn't talking so much about Palin's political status so much as her star status. And frankly, while it had some decent, but truths to swallow, in the end I felt like Charlie Gibson during the Palin interview and lost in a blizzard of words. Mostly, because it was laughable at best.

This charade of an editorial seemed to view Governor Palin, not as a vice presidential candidate, but as a celebrity like that of Britney Spears or Michael Jordan (their words).

The primary reason why the Palin bubble will burst is that the media will decide that they are bored with her. They'll need to move to shine a light on a fresh issue or individual.

This is how the world works in the age of 24/7 news cycles. Whether the subject is Britney Spears, Michael Jordan or Sarah Palin, we inevitably raise stars to mythic levels, out of all reasonable proportions. Then we knock them down.

Forgive me as I almost spit out my food while writing this. Did that just say they raised Palin to mythic levels only to knock her down? Am I missing something here? She was never raised, but was knocked down to begin with and continue the process by repeating stories that originate out of the lefty loonisphere only to be proven wrong once the media is put on the defense and actually has to do real digging.

Or how about that interview with Charlie Gibson:

Gibson, as dignified a newsperson as America has now, treated Palin fairly and didn't resort to hectoring her with "gotcha" questions, either.

Palin's supporters may be chagrined that their candidate didn't sound more self-assured or expert when she discussed Alaska's relationship to Russia. But Gibson didn't try to trip her up. He pretty much asked the kinds of questions I would have put to Palin as well.

Gibson treated her with the respect befitting a vice presidential candidate. ABC, while discussing the interview Friday on "Good Morning America" unleashed political correspondent Jake Tapper to assess the "truthiness" of Palin's remarks on the ABC show.

I won't deny that Mr. Gibson is a dignified newsperson. I won't deny that, at times, he may have treated Governor Palin with respect, but please what interview was this person watching?!

When I turned on the interview, I started watching right at the point he asked about the "Bush Doctrine". I had missed everything up to that point. Was I surprised at her answer? Yes. Then again, ask the current 535 members of congress what the Bush doctrine is and I'm guessing you get 535 different answers if any of them know exactly what it is in the firstplace. If you check out the "Bush Doctrine" wikipedia page, that the site is continually changing in fact, it was changed as of this writing days after the Palin interview.

And excuse me! Didn't resort to "gotcha questions'?!?! While Mr. Gibson may not have, the editors of the interview sure made it appear as if he did.

This piece of unadulterated fluff tries to make the point that they are treating Sarah Palin with kidgloves. I would beg to differ. And frankly, anybody who has been watching the news would beg to differ. Are they asking honest and tough, but fair and fitting of a VP candidate? Yes. But when they going around distorting her words, such as the instance at her church, they must be the ones wearing the rose colored sunglasses.

Let's be honest here. The media won't tire of Sarah Palin in the next 50+ days. She's a VP candidate who has drawn more attention to herself and the McCain team than Joe Biden has to Barack Obama. And let's not forget that the media loves Obama's celebrity even as he implodes on himself. And who is Obama making a big deal about? Sarah Palin.

So excuse me if I think the media will not be tiring of her.

Follow Me, Or Else!

I've broken down and joined twitter. Perhaps it will annoy the crap out of me and I'll turn it off.

Here's my site:

Twitter / jacobperry

You Thought the Lipstick Comment was Good ... Try This One!

Dudes and Dudettes,

We so completely ripped this one off from Hoosier Access, but we can't help ourselves.

The latter half of Team BOJoe caught on tape once again. Thank the "Man" for getting us the camera/video on a cell phone!

Check out the Hoosier Access post and see the video clip HERE.

Biden, in typical Biden-style, inserts foot (A) into mouth (B) then, in a lame-ass-rally-the-troops attempt, seems to try to make the gaffe into a "tribute moment".

The story line goes like this:

Biden is doing some intros at an event in Missouri. He gets to State Senator Chuck Graham.

"Stand up, Chuck!", he says. One problem. Senator Graham is wheelchair bound. (Some staffer screwed the pooch! Usually, the candidate gets briefed about "special circumstances" - ask any of the hacks hangin' around here) ...

So now. Joe, realizing that the good Senator can't stand up, turns back to the crowd and exhorts them to, "Stand up for Chuck!" It's just classic.

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words.

H/T Hoosier Access for letting us rip them off.

Be afraid of the campaign that does NOT brag about its ground game.

Obama Banks on the Ground Game - TIME: "The Obama campaign has placed an emphasis on expanding the electoral map. They say they will have staff in all 50 states, even if those states are not even remotely in play. In Texas, where McCain leads Obama by 11 percentage points, they already have 15 paid staff, which they insist is an investment for the future. 'We certainly don't think it's a waste of money to be there,' Hildebrand says, 'There's a potential House seat we could pick up there and there's a real shot at winning back the State Senate this fall. With redistricting coming up it's very important as to who controls the legislative body there.'

Obama may believe in investing in a mandate to govern — helping to expand Democrats in Congress and in local and municipal races — but that won't matter a whole lot if he fails to win the presidency. 'This 50-state strategy, I hope it's real,' says Bill Steiner, the RNC's director of strategy. 'But I actually think what it's for is to cover up some of their weakness in targeted states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio. States that Democrats can't afford to lose. This is about quality versus quantity.'

Not surprisingly the Obama campaign takes issue with that assessment. Over Labor Day weekend, while waiting for Obama to finish an event, David Axelrod, the nominee's top strategist, noted their strategy is broader than McCain's, and therefore requires a lot more leg work, but has more potential pay off. 'We're going into November 4 with many different scenarios to get to 270 electoral votes,' he says, squinting at airplanes buzzing overhead, part of Cleveland's annual air show. 'I think their path is very, very narrow, as is their thinking.'"

They sure seem pretty confident. Thats ok. It will make it funnier when they lose.

At the RNC behind a dark curtain you can hear the sinister laugh of Michael Beach. He is hunched over reams of information from many states that says we will be just fine.

GOP "boogeyman" used to scare poor voters

Michigan Messenger » Lose your house, lose your vote: "Vote suppression: Not an isolated effort
Carabelli is not the only Republican Party official to suggest the targeting of foreclosed voters. In Ohio, Doug Preisse, director of elections in Franklin County (around the city of Columbus) and the chair of the local GOP, told The Columbus Dispatch that he has not ruled out challenging voters before the election due to foreclosure-related address issues.

Hebert, the voting-rights lawyer, sees a connection between Priesse’s remarks and Carabelli’s plans.
“At a minimum what you are seeing is a fairly comprehensive effort by the Republican Party, a systematic broad-based effort to put up obstacles for people to vote,” he said. “Nobody is contending that these people are not legally registered to vote.

“When you are comprehensively challenging people to vote,” Hebert went on, “your goals are two-fold: One is you are trying to knock people out from casting ballots; the other is to create a slowdown that will discourage others,” who see a long line and realize they can’t afford to stay and wait.
Challenging all voters registered to foreclosed homes could disrupt some polling places, especially in the Detroit metropolitan area. According to the real estate Web site RealtyTrac, one in every 176 households in Wayne County, metropolitan Detroit, received a foreclosure filing during the month of July.

In Macomb County, the figure was one household in every 285, meaning that 1,834 homeowners received the bad news in just one month. The Macomb County foreclosure rate puts it in the top three percent of all U.S. counties in the number of distressed homeowners."

I have seen some biased and ridiculous articles in my time but this is just plain dumb. I am not speaking on behalf of the GOP or any of our state parties here.

It not suppression you moron, it is making sure that only eligible voters get to vote. Every year the Republican Party has reams of documented evidence that illegal ballots are cast from abandoned homes and or vacant lots.

Maybe a better question is why a city run completely by Democrats has such a high foreclosure rate? Maybe someone might want to ask why these, so called, community groups have to turn to incendiary tactics like some bogus story of voter intimidation? ACORN has a comment??? Give me a break, how many ACORN organizers have been charged with voter fraud this year? 5, 10, 20?

How many documented cases of GOP voter suppression are there? The silence is deafening...

But how many times do we have to prove that organizations like ACORN are taking advantage of disadvantaged voters before the press gets a clue?

Also, The Michigan Messenger is not a legitimate "news" source. It is run by the Center for Independent Media which is run by an Obama donor...go figure.