Well, it was inevitable.

And with all of the hullalaboo over the new Facebook layout, I assume these two congress critters thought this was the perfect time to pounce on Facebook. More “man on a white horse to save the day” type of stuff. We have seen this movie too many times already.

From The Hill:

Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook’s practice of tracking users even after they log out of its site Wednesday.

Facebook admitted this week that it collects data when users visit websites that feature its “Like” button, even when the users have logged out of their Facebook accounts. A Facebook spokesman said the data collection is inadvertent, and the company does not use or store the information.

“When users log out of Facebook, they are under the expectation that Facebook is no longer monitoring their activities,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “We believe this impression should be the reality. Facebook users should not be tracked without their permission.”

As is always the case when the government and especially clueless congress critters get involved in things of which they have no idea about (which is just about everything), they shoot the horse and then burn the wagon.

Sites tracking you after you have left their domains is nothing new and has been going since the earliest days of the web. They are called cookies. Advertising networks and corporations have been using them for a good 16 years and that will not change any time soon. You wonder why you get certain ads that relate to your interests on website sidebars or as popups? It is because any retail site worth it’s salt will install a cookie (or more) on your PC whenever you visit them. While annoying in a lot of cases, it easy to remedy and does not requite a government agency in order to help you do so.

Of course, playing “hero” is always so easy when you have a no-account job, the largesse of the federal government on your side and claim to be pulling such ridiculous stunts “for the people”. When of course, we all known that they want to collect as much of your personal as they can from Facebook, under the guise of one of the greatest Marxist Cloak Phrases, “consumer protection”. I suppose ObamaCare and it’s GE software does not go far enough when it comes to collecting such data.

In no way am I am defending Facebook, as they have shown themselves to be partisan hacks for the Left, whose security procedures are akin to those of the TSA and who always claim that the customer is wrong. However, bringing in the federal government to monitor how they track their users is akin to teaching abstinence to the OctoMom.

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Between being under the weather for several weeks, the holidays and being out of town for a couple of weeks, I have nearly taken more time off from this blog then Obama has been running up $1.5 million golf vacations.

So, on that note, I will open the New Year with a harsh warning for the new GOP majority in the House. Remember WHY you were elected. For those that did elect you surely will come November 2012. Which is not all that far away now, is it?

Let us start with Rep. Darell Issa, who may prove to be the most powerful man in either house Congress for the calendar year 2011 and possibly for quite a few years after that. It all depends.

That is, if he does what he said he was going to do not too long ago:

Video link from Real Clear Politics via Pundit and Pundette:

Not this.

From Michelle Malkin:

Already, Issa has flip-flopped on his promise to probe the Joe Sestak/White House bribe scandal and softened his criticism of corruption in the Obama administration. And Doug Powers called attention to his strange comments quoted in a post-midterm conference call in November: “I want to prove the pundits wrong. My job is not to bring down the president. My job is to make the president a success.”

Just a humble reminder: Issa’s job — and this goes for every GOP House leader — is not to mollify Beltway pundits.

Their job is not to manage White House p.r. and “reach across the aisle” and “get things done” for the sake of bipartisanship.

The Issa’s, Boehner’s and Cantor’s are treading on very thin ice. The slightest bit of compromising or even the appearance of that four letter word in today’s political world, “bipartisanship” will bring out even more people to truly remake this congress and start the long, laborious process of rolling back this government at every level.

You think 2010 was bad for (mainly Dem) incumbents? 2012 could make 2010 look a stripper just taking off her coat in the dressing room, if the GOP leadership fumbles the ball this time around.

You are out of do-overs, GOP. Man up or leave.

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Ok, NOW we have found the funds to extend unemployment benefits for those still out of work due to the Obama/Reid/Pelosi Greatest Depression.

From NewsMax:

A government investigator says nearly 50,000 prison inmates claimed more than $130 million in tax refunds this year without providing any wage information to the IRS.

(snip)

The report noted that the IRS identified nearly 250,000 fraudulent tax returns during the 2010 filing season — a 50 percent increase over 2009 — preventing $1.48 billion in fraudulent refunds.

Now you Dems, who are intentionally holding up the extension, you ridiculous RINOs, led by the useless boil on an ass, Scott Brown, who are caterwauling about “adding to the deficit”, PASS THE GODDAMN EXTENSION.

We have a freaking $4 trillion budget, along with trillions in national income snuck out of the country and larded onto foreign banks, but you cannot “find” $56 million to those who are staring homelessness, no money for food, no money for heating this winter and the like, right in the face. And at Christmastime of all times. It is literally criminal of all of you.

To hell with “adding to the deficit”. Get serious and help these people and worry about TRULY cutting the deficit by repealing MengeleCare, proposing an IMMEDIATE (and real, not a baselined) 10% reduction in ALL government sectors. After that, you then better start working on eliminating a slew of agencies. Like the EPA, OSHA, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education and the NEA. Just for starters.

And since the IRS is obviously so incompetent, (I have personal experience with that myself), maybe it would be a good idea to make a serious push for the Fair Tax and start the process of getting the 16th amendment repealed and have the IRS be abolished forever. Instead of hiring 16,500 new agents to implement MengeleCare.

You people make me sick.

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As I have said numerous times, no congressional seat is safe in this year’s charged atmosphere. And here is some more proof.

According to an OnMessage poll, (granted this is with a very small sample size of 400), Frank has now fallen below 50% in terms of support.

As any pollster will tell you, any incumbent who falls below that 50% threshold is considered “vulnerable”.

From Sean Bielat’s campaign site:

“Today, Sean Bielat, candidate for Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District, released the details of a survey that shows support for Barney Frank in the district has dipped below 50% in the head-to-head contest with Bielat. According to the poll, Frank leads Bielat by just ten points, with 48% favoring Frank and 38% supporting Bielat. Those who are undecided make up 13% of the poll. Notably, Independents support Bielat over Frank by the wide margin of 51% to 34%.”

And once again, we see the indie vote falling heavily towards the GOP candidate. While the indie vote gets way too much credit when it comes to polling, the indie votes are generally far more important for the Dem candidate then the GOP candidate. When the GOP candidate espouses solid conservative ideals and policy issues, that is generally sufficient to get their base energized and out ot the voting booth. However, when the indie vote also comes out strong for the GOP candidite, that usually makes a slam dunk Dem race one that is suddenly competitive.

The wave continues…

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Well, it looks like that a certain congressman has expressed out loud what many other Democrat House members have been running in their re-election ads over the last few weeks. That is, when it comes to their party leadership and the Leader in particular.

I know one thing. I would not want to be around Bug-Eyed Nancy come November 4, if I was this guy. That gavel is heavy and if we know Pelosi alright, it is probably spiked to boot.

From The Washington Post: (Hat Tip: Doug Powers)

Yesterday I noted here that some House Dems in tough districts are now aggressively distancing themselves from the Obama/Pelosi agenda, with some Dems taking direct shots at the President and the Speaker.

Blue Dog Dem Bobby Bright of Alabama has raised this to a new level, joking to constitutents that Pelosi might “get sick and die” before he has to support her again for Speaker, a local reporter tells me.

(snip)

So I called the reporter, Cosby Woodruff, and he gave me Bright’s actual quote.

“He had been asked a question from the audience about his support for Pelosi,” Woodruff told me. “He said, `Let’s wait until that comes up. He listed a long list of reasons why Pelosi might not run for Speaker of the House.”

“The last one was, `heck, she might even get sick and die,’” Woodruff told me.

I never thought I would say this, but this is the kind of faux pas that would even embarrass Joe Biden.

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You know, when I first got wind of nancy pelosi’s threatening suggestion that those who oppose the “Ground Zero” mosque should be “investigated”, I was miffed…But not shocked.

Granted, I’ve been a bit desensitized by the whole name-calling rhetoric this administration and their political goon-squads have used against those of us who dare to be in the opposition, on any given topic.

Still…The impact of pelosi’s threat didn’t quite make an impression on me, until I watched this:

Kinda brings it all home, doesn’t it? It also brings it all back….Memories and emotions of that day, all come flooding back when I watch something like that.

For me, September 11th 2001 is a “hinge-pin” in the history of my life.
There’s my life before 9/11. And there’s my life after 9/11.
Everything changed, for me. Nothing will ever be the same.

But for all the emotion and pain that I felt (and still feel) because of that day, nothing can obviously compare to the emotion and pain felt by the family and friends of the victims lost.

So I await more “clarification” from pelosi, as to whether or not she would truly “investigate” the families and friends of victims lost. But until then, I have a few choice words for “madame” speaker:

Nancy dear – you have no idea what you have done.

The political ‘firestorm’ that you have ignited by your tyrannical edict, (no matter how many times you attempt to ‘clarify’ or ‘walk it back’), is one that has irritated an already raw and exposed nerve. Couple that with the statement made by obama, in support of the mosque,…And you have the makings of a citizenry about to march their way to ‘Ground Zero’ themselves, and physically stand guard so that no one can defile the losses suffered on that day.

HOW DARE YOU….HOW DARE YOU “madame” speaker….Even give the impression that you will use your governmental powers and influence, to investigate, or even ENCOURAGE investigations, against those who oppose this mosque, which include a majority of the family and friends of those lost!!!!

How quickly you forget, “madame” speaker, that were it not for the heroic efforts of those on Flight 93…Your life may have ended on that fateful day as well. Had that plane made it back to Washington D.C., and hit it’s intended target…That big building YOU work in…You may have ended up being counted among those lost on that day. And now you DARE to suggest investigating the families and friends of those people who saved your sorry ass??!!??

The word “gall” doesn’t EVEN begin to describe your insanity, “madame” speaker!

Just remember this…And make sure you pass this along to all those in your party who would agree with your suggestion to investigate these poor people:

You can demean, degrade, and damn regular ol’ citizens as much as you’d like, when it comes to this subject.
Go ahead…You do it anyway. You’ve already had plenty of practice pissing all over the constitution and the citizenry in general.

But don’t you dare….DON’T…YOU…DARE…Even remotely imply that the families and friends of those lost on 9/11 should be investigated for their opposition to this mosque! Their words are NOT merely rhetorical opposition. No. For them, the motivation for opposing this mosque comes from a pain that is so deep, and so real, it cannot be fathomed by the regular mind. Many of them didn’t even get so much as a piece of clothing or strand of hair recovered from their lost loved one. They have no grave to go to. They have no headstone to lay flowers on. And a majority of them believe that this mosque should NOT be located that close to the only piece of ground they have left in this world, where they can go visit the spot where their loved one was last alive…And perished all too soon.

YOU will eventually have to run for re-election one day…And political karma is a bitch.

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While there are a lot of things to avoid in today’s charged climate, there is one thing that a few hundred wish they could avoid altogether in this election year. That is, being an incumbent. In any race, local, state or federal.

According to some recent polling, incumbents are looked at with more disdain and with more disgust than the local serial puppy killer.

How bad is the news for incumbents? Let us count the ways…

From Rasmussen Reports:

Just 27% of Likely U.S. Voters think their representative in Congress is the best possible person for the job, down six points from November of last year. Only 37% think their local congressional representative deserves reelection, compared to 42% who felt that way last fall.

The money line…

Forty-four percent (44%) say their member of Congress is not the best possible person for the job. Another 29% are not sure.

If that was not bad enough for the Democrat majority, the newest Generic Ballot should lead to a run on Tums, Rolaids and Kaopectate.

From Rasmussen Reports:

Republican candidates have jumped out to a record-setting 12-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, August 15, 2010. This is the biggest lead the GOP has held in over a decade of Rasmussen Reports surveying.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 48% of Likely Voters would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate, while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.

This means punishment, indeed.

One more from Rasmussen:

With midterm elections less than three months away, nearly two-out-of-three U.S. voters (65%) remain at least somewhat angry at the current policies of the federal government, including 40% who are Very Angry.

(snip)

Yet while 83% of Mainstream voters are angry at the government’s policies, 92% of those in the Political Class are not.

There will be need to be a suicide-watch in some Democrat districts come about 11PM on November 2.

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