I am linking to this from Powerline just because it's funny. Some people will look for any excuse to take their clothes off in public. In this case its to save the bulls. No seriously ... nude Australian women stripping for Spanish bulls. Really. I'm not kidding.
The Democratic NAFTA histeria once again ignores all of the facts. But when you are trolling for votes, as we pointed out yesterday, why let facts get in the way of a good story.
NAFTA supporters — this page among them — usually respond by pointing out that 39 million jobs outside of manufacturing have been created in that time in the USA. Even Ohio has seen a net gain of 900,000 jobs, including 60,000 in finance, 80,000 in professional services and almost 190,000 in health care.
The reality is that NAFTA has relatively little to do with either the overall job losses or job gains. China is a far larger factor. But the number that best displays the nonsensical nature of the debate is 66% — the increase in the manufacturing output of American industry since 1993.
Read the whole thing here from USA Today.
HotAir links to an interesting story on the Democrats attempt to add more stimulus dollars for distressed homewoners. The only problem is ... its not for distressed homeowners.
first of all, it would have continued what we started in the end of last year, foreclosure prevention counseling dollars, to give money to organizations around the country that are certifiably expert at this, organizations like La Raza. I know the presiding officer knows that group. We know also the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now, known by the acronym ‘ACORN.’
Angelina Jolie (yup, that Angelina) has just returned from a humanitarian mission in Iraq and has penned an interesting op ed this morning in the Washington Post. This is her second trip so there is a frame of reference.
The Iraqi families I've met on my trips to the region are proud and resilient. They don't want anything from us other than the chance to return to their homes -- or, where those homes have been bombed to the ground or occupied by squatters, to build new ones and get back to their lives. One thing is certain: It will be quite a while before Iraq is ready to absorb more than 4 million refugees and displaced people. But it is not too early to start working on solutions. And last week, there were signs of progress.
Sgt Wayne Lyde from Washington State wins a million bucks ... what's he doing next. Going back to Iraq. The Sgt has already done two tours and he told the folks on Fox and Friends this morning he just wants to do what is right and be with his buddies.
Here's the story on ABC News ...
and here's the audio interview this morning on Fox and Friends.
Having trouble with audio ... will have it up after the show.
The cover was actually blown before Drudge brought it to international attention. But I still have a problem with this. The Prince is clearly a target and revealing the story didn't just compromise the Prince but also his buddies in arms. Here's audio of the Prince this morning from Fox and friends.
Having trouble with audio right now ... will have it up after the show.
This from HotAir ... great news. When America believes ... it happens. The Democrats don't believe which is why they are running away faster than AQ in Iraq. As my friend John O'Neill told me one night at dinner, "The Democrats had been hurry up and surrender before we win this war."
I could be wrong ... but it seems to me the Democratic party has a HUGE problem with race.
I had not heard this, but Karl Rove quotes Barack Obama from September of 2004 where he is in favor of the surge. I thought he was against the war from the very beginning. I thought his position on the war has never wavered. Listen to it all. Just to put it in context, O'Reilly's question is "Isn't a good strategy for Obama to say the Bush strategy has fowled it up and we need to get out."
Defending Obama on Defense is pretty rich. Andrea Mitchell on Hardball tonight defends Obama's "I'll send troops to Iraq, if AQ is there" comment which actually is pretty undefendable. Good for Chris Matthews here. He calls her on it. My favorite is Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, "Obama was hawkish." I guess in their world he is.
Hillary has introduced her "Kids" welfare program ... a cornucopia of new federal programs that will take care of your children from birth to ... well. Hillary estimates $5 billion ... Stephen Moore at the Wall Street Journal estimates $40 billion ... and that my friends is just the kids. Pay attention to the end ... that's the kicker.
Yup ... Iran is proud to soon be all nuclear power. I am sure that's what he is talking about.
Barack Obama is now blaming the slowing economy on the Bush Tax Cuts.
The Democratic candidates did a lot of vote trolling Tuesday night at the expense of two of our biggest commercial allies. A point made in this clip by Tim Russert.
The point here is Canada and Mexico are two of the three biggest trading partners with the US ... (2006 US Census figures)
Canada: $533.67
China: $343.00
Mexico: $332.43
Japan: $207.74
Question: Why do Democrats spend so much time pandering to enemies and yet at the same time taking whacks at our allies. Investors Business Daily:
Far from being an enemy, Mexico is a partner with whom we did $350 billion in two-way trade last year. In the process, we've gained millions of high-paid jobs in the U.S. The relationship has boosted U.S. incomes an average $2,000 per family since 1994. Besides buying 35% of our global exports, Mexico and Canada are also two of our biggest oil suppliers, selling us energy we'd be in huge trouble without.
Casting NAFTA nations as villains sends a chilling message to the dozen other nations that have since signed NAFTA-like agreements — countries as friendly and diverse as Singapore, Jordan, El Salvador, Australia, Morocco and Chile
Am I missing something here?
A judge has ordered a 101-year old fraternal German club in Mystic to start admitting women. ``Clubs like these provide vital networking opportunities for small business owners like Sam Corcoran,'' said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, which brought the case on Corcoran's behalf. ``It was unfair that she be denied these opportunities simply because she is a woman.''
Part of me says women can smoke and swear with the best of us ... still.
If there's a lawyer out there send me an e-mail at jim.vicevich@cbsradio.com.
So many great stories on the Powerlineblog this week that we just had to have John Hinderaker on ... Yeah ... That's tomorrow!
The folks at Powerline warn, Republicans should not underestimate Senator Obama. He is smart able and convincing. How convincing?
Conservatives complain about Obama's vagueness mostly because they want to expose the dedicated liberal lurking behind Obama's modeerate demeanor. In truth, though, Obama's liberalism is no secret. His voting record, the policy positions laid out on his web site, and his own answers to questions in debates and town hall meetings make it clear that he is an unreconstructed liberal.
Obama's appeal lies, in part, in his ability to make liberalism seem palatable. Unlike Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, he is generally not shrill or hectoring. He comes across as calm and reasonable. In this, he really does resemble Ronald Reagan.
Ya know this is the kind of stuff they used to, actually still do, skewer President Bush on ... but then this is MSNBC and these are the Democrats.
For the record, if he wins, his name is Dmitry Medvedev ... not really that tough actually but then my name is Vicevich.
Uh Oh ... are the Democrats on to Obama? Last night on Fox Hannity, the Frank Luntz focus group thinks Hillary wins the debate .... ON THE ISSUES? Seems they think Hillary is right, Barack just parrots Clinton.
Watched this show while I was sick. Here's a woman who admits she cheats on her husband, would rather be with someone other than her husband and then ... says she's a good person. The kicker? She cries at the end. TV ... a wasteland.
Man this sounds like a setup to me, given what has happened to Southwest in the past. I fly Southwest all the time. Where are these girls when I fly?
Actually I went back and listened to the debate after she said this ... and ya know ... she's right. On NAFTA and on Russia Obama just parroted Hillary positions. Ya kinda got the feeling he didn't know what he was talking about, at least on these issues. I will have follow up video tomorrow.
This from Instapundit. Harvard will be setting aside women only gym time to accommodate Muslim students. Meanwhile Saudi religious police are arresting American women for having coffee at Starbucks with men. We accommodate ... they arrest. Nice deal.
My friend and I just finished watching the debate. Oh brother, McCain is going to just clobber either one of these Nanny Staters. He doesn't have a clue on NAFTA , domestic economic or foreign policy.
This is from Powerline. You must watch the video!
I tell you, pound for pound this guy is the most entertaining talker on TV. Tonight's Chris Matthews "What is he talking about?" moment.
Jim Angle with Fox News did a great job of outlining Senator Obama's very partisan voting record. Hardly a uniter he is as partisan as they come. And clearly if it comes down to a face off between him and McCain ... McCain wins the "uniter" title hands down. Here's a sample. I will play the whole thing tomorrow on the show.
I like Senator Dodd. Really I do. No, not his politics. On that we are just not even in the same ballpark. But Peace Corps, National Guard and Army Reserve, lawyer (OK, two out of three ain't bad) is worthy of respect from anyone, really. But this is just too hard for me to understand.
The warm up act for McCain's Ohio appearance ran into a snag today when Ohio talk show host, Billy Cunningham, decided to throw some political red meat to the crowd. Not sure the crowd liked it ... but then you never know. Here's what he said from CNN's "Situation Room":
I was hoping someone would take up this issue ... of course it would be Powerline.
Is there anyone in his right mind who really thinks it is a good idea to establish a breakaway Islamic state over in the corner of Europe that lit the match for World War I?
I have been ranting about this for months. Of course you already know the answer to this question don't you? Hmmm? Don't you?
While it's hard to come up with a precise price tag given the lack of specifics in many of their proposals, these plans are likely to cost the Treasury well into the hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The National Taxpayers Union, a conservative group that favors lower taxes and smaller government, gives a very rough estimate of $287 billion for Obama and $218 billion for Clinton.
How would the candidates pay for all these new programs without driving the deficit to new heights? Some have specific funding sources; some don't. The candidates rather vaguely claim that costs would be covered primarily by repealing President Bush's tax cuts and ending the Iraq war.
This is where the math gets fuzzy.
Somehow I think Senator Obama and the NYT are going to have a hard time making the case that McCain is in the pocket of special interests.
Well, anything is worth trying, I suppose, but there is the little problem of his record. McCain has fought one battle after another against lobbyists and special interests. And while I don’t have space to describe all his tussles, or even the lesser ones like his fight with the agricultural lobby against sugar subsidies, I thought that, amidst all these charges, it might be worth noting some of the McCain highlights from the past dozen years.
Update: Here's a great analysis from Powerline on this.
Thought this was interesting ... via Instapundit.
Thirty-four percent (34%) of all voters say they will definitely vote for John McCain if he is on the ballot this November. Thirty-three percent (33%) will definitely vote against him while 29% say their support hinges on who his opponent is.
Barack Obama has the same number who will definitely vote for him--34%. But, more people are committed to voting against him than McCain. Forty-three percent (43%) say they will definitely reject him at the ballot box. For 18%, their support depends on his opponent.
Read more. Not sure at all what it means in the overall scheme of things though.
Obama is looking out for us. Now it's College Tex Books are a scam ... no doubt pushed upon on us all by the most capitalisitic people of them all ... professors.
This from Hotair. Our troops are asked to present the Best Documentary Oscar ... for ... what else ... a film about the cruel and inhumane soldiers. Ya gotta wonder if these soldiers knew what they were presenting? My guess is no.
Republicans for Obama (from Hotair)... I guess its real ... but he's so liberal ... and they're Republicans and ... oh never mind.
Meanwhile Republicans are watching what they say about Obama. This is just stupid.
And finally via Instapundit: Communists win ... promise to preserve market system! Yeah.
I have been quite ill for about two weeks now. Tried an abortive comeback last week which was not a good idea. Seem to be recovering at this point so I will give it another go this week. Obviously you can tell I am a one man band here so when I go down the blog does too.
