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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

From Real Clear Markets:

What one finds when reading congressional legislation is invariably surprising. Take the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, for instance, which was created by merging Senate and House bills. When the Senate returns from recess one of its first actions will be to vote on the bill, which passed the House on June 30.

I was searching the bill for a provision about derivatives. What did I find but Section 342, which declares that race and gender employment ratios, if not quotas, must be observed by private financial institutions that do business with the government. In a major power grab, the new law inserts race and gender quotas into America’s financial industry.

In addition to this bill’s well-publicized plans to establish over a dozen new financial regulatory offices, Section 342 sets up at least 20 Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion. This has had no coverage by the news media and has large implications.

The Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 12 Federal Reserve regional banks, the Board of Governors of the Fed, the National Credit Union Administration, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…all would get their own Office of Minority and Women Inclusion.

So, it not enough that all Cabinet-level departments already have individual Offices of Civil Rights and Diversity or that the EEOC and the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance already are in place to oversee the enforcing of racial and gender discrimination laws etc. Now there is to be a “Office of Minority and Women Inclusion” office in just about level of the federal government, probably right down to the boiler room in the Cannon HOB janitor’s room.

While this sounds bad enough, it gets even worse when you see that it will also extend to and all who deal with any of these agencies, whether private or government.

Each office would have its own director and staff to develop policies promoting equal employment opportunities and racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of not just the agency’s workforce, but also the workforces of its contractors and sub-contractors.

Not to mention, another by-product of this massive intrusion into the day-to-day dealings of private commerce is that it will supply the corrupt public-sector unions such as the SEIU, AFSCME and the NEA with many, many more workers who they then can use to extort more union dues from and then have them end up in Democrat campaign coffers. The same old racket, in other words.

Pelosi had it half right when she said a bill had to passed in order to see what was actually in it. Too bad it is always leftover dog crap that steams to the top of every one their so-called “bills” and “reforms”.

From Zero Hedge: (Hat Tip: The Mark Levin Show)

In case one is wondering why the House Democrats attached a document to the emergency war supplemental bill that “deemed as passed” a non-existent $1.12 trillion budget, which basically allows the ruling party to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the constraint of an actual budget, here is the answer: on June 30, the US closed the books with just over $13.2 trillion in total debt, an increase of $210 billion in one month, or $2.5 trillion annualized. There is just $1.1 trillion left on the ceiling.

So, with just $1.1 trillion left in the ceiling, which of course will have to spent on “Porkulous II” or whatever they want to name newest SEIU Funding Extortion scheme They will then claim that more “emergency” spending will be needed for “critical” government functions and proceed to raise the debt ceiling once more.

As it stands, the debt-to-GDP ratio is already flirting with the 90% level, which is historically the Tipping Point for government default. Greece and Spain were just warm-ups for the real main attraction.

Hat Tips: Red State and Mark Levin:

By the way, the federal deficit has also increased about 1,400% since the Dems took over Congress a little more than three years ago.

Doug Powers reports via the West Virginia Secretary of State’s site that some dates are coming up very shortly when it comes to the governor appointing Byrd’s possible successor.

If the vacancy occurs less than two years and six months before the end of the term, the Governor appoints someone to fill the unexpired term and there is no election. If the vacancy occurs two years and six months or more before the end of the term, the Governor appoints someone to serve until the unexpired term is filled at the conclusion of the next candidate filing period, Primary Election, General Election and certification. The winner of that General Election fills the balance of the unexpired term. The election for the full term will be held as scheduled regardless of the date of the vacancy.

Over at Salon.com, Steve Kornacki explains these the dates:

As others have noted, the key date here is July 3 — next Saturday. Under West Virginia law, were a vacancy to be declared before then, an appointee would hold the seat through this November, when a special election would be held to fill the final two years on the term Byrd was elected to in 2006. The winner of that special election would presumably seek a full term in 2012. Were a vacancy to be declared after July 3, an appointee would hold the seat through the 2012 election, when the full six-year term would be up.

Also, as Powers mentions, the Saturday date seems like a non-starter:

A glance at Byrd’s laundry list of missed votes since late March is evidence that his Senate seat has in fact been mostly vacant for some time, so the odds that the seat would be declared “vacant” by next Saturday no matter what happens are very slim indeed.

This also brings up something that Mark Levin has mentioned several times over the last several months. That of how the Democrat’s majority in the Senate is very tainted. As it stands, out of the 59 current Democrat senators (including Byrd), five of them were appointed by their state’s governors, one is completely illegitimate due to naked vote fraud (Franken) and now we face the prospect of a sixth one being appointed. In reality, the Dems would then have only 52 sitting senators who were duly elected. (again I am not counting Franken as duly elected)

This type of gerrymandering has made it a LOT easier both for Obama and Reid to get their leftist agenda passed and made it much, much harder for the GOP to mount filibusters. Especially when there are turncoats like McCain, Snowes, Collins and Graham who have to be politically babysat whenever there is an important vote.

Granted, that will change in spades come November, but so much damage has already been done to this country at all levels with a tainted President and a tainted senate that it is enough to make a one a lifetime subscriber to Tums.com.

UPDATE:

Byrd has passed.

From the New York Times:

Robert C. Byrd, who used his record tenure as a United States senator to fight for the primacy of the legislative branch of government and to build a modern West Virginia with vast amounts of federal money, died early Monday. He was 92.

His office said he died about 3 a.m. at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. Senator Byrd, who lived in McLean, Va., had been admitted to the hospital late last week with symptoms of heat exhaustion and severe dehydration as temperatures in the Washington area approached 100 degrees. Though he was initially expected to be released after a few days, his condition deteriorated. He had been in failing health for several years.

Hat Tip: Creative Minority:

The quote:

We’re giving relief to people that I deal with in my office every day now unfortunately. But because of the longevity of this recession, these are people — and they’re not minorities and they’re not defective and they’re not all the things you’d like to insinuate that these programs are about — these are average, good American people,” Kanjorski states.

So does that mean that according to the Congressman that someone like Obama is defective? The stupidity and arrogance of the small Democrat mind knows no bounds.

From Bloomberg:

June 24 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. House, responding to a U.S. Supreme Court decision removing limits on corporate-and union-funded campaign spending, approved legislation requiring groups that air political ads to disclose who paid for them.

The legislation, passed 219-206, was spurred by the court’s decision in January that overturned a decades-old ban on companies using general-treasury money to run campaign ads supporting or opposing a candidate. The ruling, in effect, lifted such limits on union spending.

Two Republicans, Michael Castle of Delaware and Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, joined 217 Democrats in backing the bill. Voting no were 170 Republicans and 36 Democrats. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration, where its prospects are unclear.

Lawmakers supporting the bill said advocacy groups that receive corporate or union money to run ads should disclose the funding sources.

“This legislation restores transparency and accountability to federal campaigns and ensures that Americans know when Wall Street, big oil and health insurers are the ones behind political advertisements,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

Republican Criticism

Republicans portrayed the measure as an assault on the First Amendment. They said the measure favored some groups, like unions, over others, rendering it unconstitutional.

“We’re so cavalierly dealing with the First Amendment,” said Representative Daniel Lungren, a California Republican. “We’re so cavalierly dealing with free speech.”

The bill would affect all political advertising, including so-called issue ads designed to elect particular candidates without directly asking voters to support or oppose them.

It would require corporations and unions to disclose all political spending, including contributions to outside groups that now would also be required to disclose their donors.

Corporate chief executive officers would have to appear in ads run by the company and say they approve of the message, as candidates are required to do.

In short, free speech would be licensed and parceled out according to the whims whoever is sitting in the offices of the FCC. And if you are not a member of a favored group that has been given special consideration for exemption (i.e. Unions) then you are out of luck. Especially if you are small business or a conservative grassroots organization, such as your local Tea Party.

Nope, just like East Germany 1957 or North Korea 2010, speech is to be codified and given out like a bowl of soup in a Dickens novel.

And you can thank one, Mike Castle, for helping to prove the margin of victory for the Leninists. Truly a menace and one who needs to be and very well could be removed from office in the GOP September 14 primary. (More on that coming up)

The same people who for decades decried the lack of “affordable housing” (another Marxist Cloak Phrase, in the same vein as “living wage”) have, over the last 30+ years, caused a total breakdown in what was one of the more stable parts of the American economy over the last 100 years. That being the real estate market.

With foreclosures at a record rate, the number of mortgages underwater rising from about 5% around the time TARP I was passed to around 25% today and with the commercial real estate market also teetering, we could be in for not only a double-dip Depression, but a new housing crisis that could dwarf what started two years ago.

The major byproduct of this whole situation was of course, the passing of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 that was signed by President Carter. For a complete recap of how that act, along with ACORN and their chief attorney, Barack Obama helped to contribute to the current situation, read my post from last year, “ACORN: How A ‘Community Organization’ Helped Destroy the Mortgage Industry”.

Now comes word that the Barney Frank/Chris Dodd/Maxine Waters-led Crony Stalinist Slush Fund known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost the U.S. taxpayer at least $389 billion, if not a lot more.

From Newsmax:

For all the focus on the historic federal rescue of the banking industry, it is the government’s decision to seize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008 that reportedly is likely to cost taxpayers the most money.

So far the tab stands at $145.9 billion and rising, the New York Times reports.

The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the final bill could reach $389 billion.

Some analysts even estimate the total may reach $1 trillion, which Sean Egan, president of Egan-Jones Ratings, recently told Bloomberg is “a reasonable worst-case scenario.”

Egan told Bloomberg that the final tally could hit $1 trillion assuming a 20 percent loss on the companies’ more than $5 trillion in loans and guarantees, similar to what other big mortgage companies, like Countrywide Financial, suffered.

The two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) now own more houses than there are in Seattle and are foreclosing on homeowners whose mortgages they guaranteed, the Times said.

Fannie and Freddie maintain the houses for a while, then resell them at a huge loss.

Just another example of the Left’s Utopian Dream going up in flames, while pushing this country closer to total and complete insolvency. I cannot wait to see how expensive “free” health care will be.

Hat Tips to Free Conservatives and Doug Powers

You have to love how The Washington Post describes the assault:

“”Who are you?” asked Etheridge, grabbing one of the cameras and pointing it down — a move more typically seen from Hollywood bodyguards than congressmen. The second camera rolled as Etheridge, irritated, held the wrist of the first cameraman, then pulled the student to his side and grabbed him in a hug.”

That was closer to a Half-Nelson. Not a Barney hug. (Wait, better not give them any ideas)

I must say that we have some real pieces of work down herein NC. Etheridge, former Gov. Mike Easley whose corruption would make Blago sick to his stomach and of course, an Ag Secretary who served two years and a former House Speaker who is still in jail. Of course, the less said about John Edwards, the better.

Per CNN, Etheridge issued an apology:

“I have seen the video posted on several blogs. I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved. Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina , I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response. I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse.”

Looks like his opponent has just had a ready-made campaign made for him, for free.

Powers suggests the text for such an ad:

Etheridge’s opponent Renee Ellmers’ campaign might get some advertising mileage out of this one (suggested slogan: “I’ll focus my swings on knocking out the debt instead of my constituents”)

Go here to donate to Renee Ellmer’s campaign.

From Real Clear Politics:

ID-1: Labrador Upsets Ward In GOP Primary

Local tea party favorite Raul Labrador upset Vaughn Ward last night in the Republican primary for Idaho’s 1st congressional district. Labrador overcame a fundraising disadvantage and Ward’s endorsement by Sarah Palin to win 48-39 percent.

Labrador, who told the Idaho Statesman that the key to his victory was a consistent conservative message, will now face freshman Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick.

After defeating Republican Bill Sali in 2008 with 51 percent in the conservative 1st district, Minnick entered this election cycle as one of the most vulnerable incumbents. But he’s voted with his party less than any other member of Congress, according to the Washington Post Votes Database, and flies back to his district nearly every weekend, despite the distance and unease.

As poisonous as Obama is to Democrat hopefuls, the GOP Establishment touch is proving to be just as noisesome to many of their own handpicked candidates.

This is bad news for both sitting RINOs and those that the Establishment are grooming for the usual, “Yes, but…” type of compromising with the opposition.

State’s Evidence 1:

From The Washington Post via Michelle Malkin

Utah Sen. Bob Bennett lost his bid to be nominated for a fourth term Saturday, defeated at the state Republican Party convention amid a strong conservative sentiment that threatens to unseat other establishment-backed Republicans in the months to come.

Bennett, who had spent the past two decades as a respected insider in the Senate, came under fire in recent months for what some claimed were his insufficient conservative bona fides.

Bennett’s critics cited his vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as well as his seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee — both symbols, conservatives said, of his lack of commitment to shrinking the size of government.

While state Republicans had expressed uneasiness with Bennett, it was the DC-based Club for Growth that helped crystallize that opposition. The Club spent more than $200,000 on a combination of television ads, direct mail pieces and phone calls designed to influence the 3,500 (or so) delegates who attended Saturday’s state convention.

Under convention rules, all eight candidates appeared on the first ballot. The top three — attorney Mike Lee, former Congressional candidate Tim Bridgewater and Bennett (in that order) advanced to the second round of balloting.

Bennett was defeated there as Lee, a former counsel to popular former Gov. Jon Huntsman, and Bridgewater, who had lost two races against Rep. Jim Matheson (D), advanced to the final ballot.

Repeat after me, “There is NO such thing as a safe seat.”

Missouri:

From Rassmussen Reports:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the state’s Likely Voters shows Carnahan, Missouri’s secretary of state, with 42% of the vote. Only four percent (4%) would opt for some other candidate, while another four percent (4%) are undecided at this point.

Still, support for both candidates has changed little over the past several months. Since January, Blunt has earned between 47% and 50% support. His support was slightly lower in September and December of last year.

Carnahan’s support has ranged between 41% to 43% in surveys conducted in 2010. She earned a high of 46% last September and December.

Missouri voters are even more strongly in favor of repeal of the new national health care plan than voters nationally. Sixty-two percent (62%) of Missouri voters favor repeal of the plan, up three points from 59% a month ago, while 35% are opposed to repeal. This includes 51% who Strongly Favor repeal and 27% who Strongly Oppose it.

This is a critical race if the GOP has a chance to recapture the Senate. While Blount leads by 8 now, it would not surprise me if this became a much closer race. Which could become very worrisome, since St. Louis is loaded with ACORN and SEIU agents who will do their best to bribe, cajole and import as many voters as they can to get to the polls. More than once. Plus this is more than one questionable judge in that state that very could allow all sorts of shenanigans to occur under the radar. One need look no farther than the debacle in 2000 when one judge allowed certain St. Louis polls to remain open until midnight, so that the AFL-CIO could bus in more voters. Which is probably what caused Ashcoft to have his legit win be stolen out from under his feet.

Florida:

From Rasmussen Reports:

The Florida Senate race appears to be a whole new ballgame with Republican Governor Charlie Crist’s decision to run as an independent.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Florida Voters finds Crist earning 38% support to Republican Marco Rubio’s 34% and Democrat Kendrick Meek’s 17%. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.

Two weeks ago, before Crist announced his decision to run as an independent candidate, Rubio held a seven point advantage in the race.

Since then, Crist has gained eight (8) percentage points in the poll while Rubio and Meek have each dropped three (3) points. It remains to be seen if this is a temporary bounce or a lasting change in the race.

Frankly, I think this both temporary and that Rubio will run away with this race. Meek is living up to his name and Crist is playing with political dynamite first by dropping out of the GOP primary (which I first called back in February) and then running as independent. Snuggling up to Obama and his policies is poison to any politician today, no matter what party they are from.

I predict that Rubio gets 50%+ of the vote come November. The polls did not switch by some 50% between Crist and Rubio in less than six months for no reason.

Colorado:

From Rasmussen Reports:

Support for the candidates in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race largely remains in the same narrow range it’s been in for months, with all three Republicans continuing to hold modest leads over their Democratic opponents.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton with 48% support to 41% for incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet. Norton posts a 46% to 41% lead if her opponent is former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who is challenging Bennet for the Democratic Senate nomination.

But Norton, who has led the race for months, is now being challenged by Ken Buck, a county district attorney who also picks up 48% support to Bennet’s 41%. That’s Buck’s best showing yet. He enjoys a 45% to 40% lead over Romanoff.

Ex-State Senator Tom Wiens also gets 45% of the vote to Romanoff’s 40%. His 44% support puts him in a virtual tie when matched with Bennett who earns 42%

Another important state for the GOP. Colorado has been trending Democrat for the past 10-15 years, but that seems to ending and a turn to the right seems to be on the horizon. A massive influx of illegals, higher crime rates and fiscal problems are causing disenchantment in the state.

Since not everything has been settled as far as primaries are concerned, it is a bit early to be making any predictions. However, this is a prime state for the GOP to pick up and it looks like that the odds are in their favor for now.

Meanwhile, looking to the future, Chucky “Marie Antionette” Schumer will officially be challenged by businessman Jay Townshend:

From Big Government:

Remember Joe and Eileen Bailey? They are the imaginary friends of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who accompany him wherever he goes. He talks about them often.

charles_schumer

This year, New Yorkers may finally realize that it’s only Schumer’s imaginary friends who benefit from his presence in the senate. Businessman Jay Townsend may be the person who convinces them of it.

Townsend – who announced his candidacy against Schumer last Saturday – opened his campaign with a speech which featured the Baileys. Townsend said, “Senator, instead of inventing a family that does not exist, perhaps you could find some time to listen to real New York families that are struggling to make ends meet, put their kids through school and pay the taxes and fees you impose upon them from your throne on Capitol Hill.”

He said of Schumer, “One person, more than any other, stands as a stark symbol of what is wrong with Washington. Chuck Schumer is considered the most powerful Democrat on Capitol Hill. He is the head financier, the architect, the enabler, the avatar, the cheerleader-in-chief of an Imperial Congress that turns a deaf ear to those begging to be heard; the back of a hand to those who dare disagree.”

Schumer appears to be more vulnerable than many assume.

I 100% agree with that. Schumer is a perfect fit for my “no seat is safe” scenario. This campaign will probably be a bloodbath and of course, very expensive. Schumer is the face of everything that is wrong in the Nation’s Capital. Corruption, graft, special favors for friends, unabashed arrogance and criminal behavior. Schumer has those in spades.

I have also long wanted a new Olympic event called the “Mic Mile”. Take two chairs, place Schumer in one and Jesse Jackson in the other. Place the microphone a mile down from Constitution Ave., fire a starter’s gun and see who can reach that microphone first. It would be a race for the ages.

From Sen. Jim Demint via Big Government:

For millions of American teenagers braces are an embarrassing rite of passage, and for their parents, a tremendous cost. According to bracesinfo.com, the average prices of straightening a teenager’s teeth is about $5,400. In South Carolina, where themedian family income is approximately $45,000, the cost of braces for one child can total more than 10 percent of a parent’s gross income for the year.

Because braces are so expensive, many families pay for them through an installment agreement with their dentist. This is often a fair and affordable option that allows families to avoid charging the expense on their credit card and paying double-digit interest rates.

But the Democrats in Washington are clamping down on health care payment plans with the banking bill. As the bill is currently written, health care providers, or any other business that allows customers to make payments in more than four installments or assesses any kind of late fees, will be treated under the same terms as AIG, Freddie Mac and Goldman Sachs. A new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, housed in the Federal Reserve, will regulate their transactions and could subject them to further regulatory burden.

The banking regulation bill was supposed to crack down on Wall Street, but it’s just another power grab that’s going to hurt Main Street doctors, dentists and small-town businesses. And, certainly the families who struggle to find ways to pay for their doctor bills.

From toilets to lightbulbs to automobiles to your own backyard, there is basically nothing you do from the time you get out of bed to the time you go to sleep that the government, at any level, is not sticking it’s nose into. Now they want to get into your mouth as well.

How wonderful it will be when you wake up in the morning and have a blinding toothache or a crown that has fallen out, to find that your local dentist has already used up his yearly allotment of hours and cannot see you or any other patient. Because some nameless, faceless government paper-pusher has deemed it so.

That is how it is done in Britain and why they have some of the world’s teeth. Granted, it is rather fitting, seeing that when it comes to socialism, there is little to ever smile about.

On the other hand, I WILL be smiling at the title of Sen. MAJORITY LEADER Jim DeMint come next January.

From Politico: (Hat Tip: Hot Air)

In a major blow to Democrats, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey has told close associates that he will not seek re-election and an announcement of his plans is expected as early as Wednesday.

The Wisconsin Democrat faces tough poll numbers at home, but until Tuesday night his staff had insisted he was running aggressively and had hired campaign staff. But a person close to him confirmed the decision to POLITICO Wednesday and said Obey was preparing to make a statement. …

Obey’s frustration with the White House has been no secret either, and his unhappiness helps explain the repeated delays in the House over moving ahead with new funding for the war in Afghanistan. He himself is torn about the President Barack Obama’s commitment of increased U.S. troops at a time of continued economic troubles at home. And after first setting a Memorial Day deadline, Democrats admit privately that Congress may not complete action on the package until the July Fourth recess.

The combination of his retirement—and Murtha’s death—means a major change in the hierarchy of the Appropriations panel itself. And if Democrats retain power, Rep. Norman Dicks (D—Wash) will be pushed to the forefront after serving until recently as chairman of the Interior and natural resources subcommittee, overseeing one of the smaller of the dozen annual bills.

As Ed Morrisey mentions:

When committee chairs retire, it usually means they don’t expect to remain committee chairs for very much longer. When an Appropriations Committee chair retires — a position considered one of the pinnacles of Congressional power — then that goes double. Obey had an iron grip on power and wielded it to great effect, except on the issue of Afghanistan. On that issue, Barack Obama circumvented Obey’s power of the purse by allying with Republicans and moderate Democrats for war funding.

With Murtha passed on and Obey and Dodd stepping down, this creates major power vacuums in the Democrat committee leadership on both sides of the Capitol, regardless of what happens in November. Even if the Dems pull off a miracle and retain power in both houses, they will much more inexperienced members heading these prize committees. Which can only benefit the American taxpayer.