Marathon Pundit: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

California Collision: Fisherman's Wharf

In 1932, an unknown 17 year-old, Joe DiMaggio, played in his first baseball game for the San Francisco Seals. He was the son of a fisherman, one of hundreds who left San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf every morning, and with good fortune, returned with a boat full of fish.

Hence the name, Fisherman's Wharf. A few fishing boats still call the Wharf home, but now it serves as one of the must-see tourist attractions in the City by the Bay.

The Wharf is part Key West, part Boston's Quincy Market, part Niagara Falls (sans the falls), part Chicago's Navy Pier. Oh, Times Square, too. If you like T-shirt shops, wax museums, Ripley's Believe It Or Not emporiums, overpriced restaurants, and street peformers, then Fishermans Wharf is for you.

Speaking of restaurants, for years the Yankee Clipper and his brother Tom owned an Italian restaurant there, Joe DiMaggio's Grotto.

The Wharf's street performers are what pulled me there, but I came away disappointed. A friend of mine--whose wife is a regular reader of this blog--played guitar for a few weeks on the Wharf, and told me about some of the performers he interacted with during his stint there. One had an impeccable pirate outfit, complete with a large parrot on his shoulder. He'd pose for pictures, and if the pose-ees didn't drop cash in his kitty, he'd point his gun (a prop) at them and insult them until they paid up. Another told my friend that his wife threw him out of the house the night before, so he headed to the Wharf and set up shop on the sidewalk as a balloon artist. Was this his thought process? "Well, the wife kicked me out...it's balloon sculpture time for me." He was a pretty good one, my friend told me, so my guess is that he already knew the Wharf well.

I wasn't there long enough to find out who just got dumped, but also, many of the performers were the silent type, such as the woman on the upper right, a live mannequin. Hey, at least mimes (I hate 'em, by the way) move around a bit. The silver guys on the left danced to Michael Jackson songs playing on a boom box. They didn't talk either. Oh, I almost forgot, the wax museum moved its wax-o Jacko out front, next to the ticket booth, which meant I could snap the picture on the right without having to pay. Alas, the museum didn't have anyone pointing a gun at me. There were a few cards next to Jackson's statue expressing remorse. It didn't occur to me at the time to look for cash inside the cards.

I saw a few artists, including the man on the left who I assume created those neon skeleton thingees. Yes, there was one of those spray-paint artists. But very few musicians.

All in all, the street performers were pretty lame. The whole lot of them. And I was there on a pleasant Sunday afternoon, and the Wharf was packed with tourists--I wasn't there on an "off day."

I covered the sea lions in an earlier post, but for the last twenty years, a colony of several hundred of sea lions have called the Pier 39 section of Fisherman's Wharf home. They are the primary fishers there now.

Sea lions: That's something Key West doesn't have. But at least when I was there ten years ago, the town had great street performers.

Related post:

Sunday night at the Michael Jackson home in Gary

Earlier California Collision posts:

Harvey Milk's Camera Shop
San Francisco's Union Square
The Painted Ladies
San Francisco and the military
Haight-Ashbury
Mission San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco's sea lions
San Francisco's blues mural
San Francisco: Cable cars

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California

travel

usa

Tonight: See the Senate Doctors on Greta Van Sustern's show

What are you doing tonight? I have a prescription for you, watch "On The Record with Greta Van Sustern" at 10pm (9pm Central) on the Fox News Channel and catch the Senate Doctors live. The Senate Doctors are Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. and Sen. John Barrasso, M.D.

The Republican physicians will certainly talk about the Democrats' proposal for a government-run health care program.

Related post:

The latest episode of The Senate Doctors

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universal health care

obamacare

fox news

Democrats declare war on the insurance industry

The insurance industry employs hundreds of thousands of people in this country. Maybe millions. If you are one of them, then the Democratic Party has declared war on you.

From CNSN News:

"I don't think we should be crying great big tears about the insurance industry,” (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid said at a Capitol Hill press conference when asked whether insurance companies should be allowed to charge higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions.

"There is no business in America that makes more money than the insurance industry--over the last 10 years their profits have been increased by 450 percent," Reid said. "So I'm not really in very much of a mood to worry about the insurance industry."

From The Raleigh News & Observer:

"The truth is, we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry," Obama said, "but it doesn't always work well for you. So what we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health-insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable."

From The Hill:

A day after formally delaying a vote on a healthcare bill and having to accept a further weakening of a public option to compete with private insurers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lashed out at the health insurance industry and urged her members to do the same during the August recess.

"They are the villains in this," Pelosi said of private insurers. "They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening. And the public has to know that. They can disguise their arguments any way they want, but the fact is that they don’t want the competition."

North Side Chicago's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"

Earlier today AP issued a report that little of Barack Obamas's $787 billion ~~economic stimulus~~ boondoggle has been spent on fixing old bridges. The poor condition of many of our bridges was used to panic-peddle the stimulus bill during the early days of the Obama presidency.

Tens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges carrying 100 million drivers a day must wait for repairs because states are spending stimulus money on spans that are already in good shape or on easier projects like repaving roads, an Associated Press analysis shows.

President Barack Obama urged Congress last winter to pass his $787 billion stimulus package so some of the economic recovery money could be used to rebuild what he called America's "crumbling bridges." Lawmakers said it was a historic chance to chip away at the $65 billion backlog of deficient structures, often neglected until a catastrophe like the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed two years ago this Saturday.

States, however, have other plans. Of the 2,476 bridges scheduled to receive stimulus money so far, nearly half have passed inspections with high marks, according to federal data. Those 1,123 sound bridges received such high inspection ratings that they normally would not qualify for federal bridge money, yet they will share in more than $1.2 billion in stimulus money.

The latest episode of The Senate Doctors

Although there are five Democratic doctors in the House of Representatives, as opposed to ten Republicans, there are only two MDs in the Senate, Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY).

That's right, there are no Democrats who are doctors in the upper chamber.

Coburn and Barrasso host a weekly internet video program, The Senate Doctors. Below you'll find the latest episode:

Hat tip to Midnight Blue.

Related posts:

Illinois "Obama campaign signs" make Sen. Coburn's waste list

Stimulus funds lost in the Oklahoma panhandle

Sen. Coburn to propose amendment to ban Obama stimulus "campaign" signs

Senate needs more Coburns

Report from the bloggers' conference call on the Patients Choice Act

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universal health care

Chicago considering affirmative action for gays: Why stop there?

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is considering adding to the gays to the city's affirmative action program. In its current form, set-asides are rife with fraud; gay preferences, if enacted, promise to be no different. In fact, this one could be worse. Will someone claim they're gay just to get more city business?

Crain's Chicago Business' Greg Hinz thinks this parade shouldn't get started.

Mayor Richard M. Daley may have thought he was doing gay men and lesbians a favor when he pretty much endorsed a proposal by Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the city's first openly gay alderman, to set aside a certain share of city contracts for firms owned by homosexuals.

On behalf of what I suspect is a pretty big share of the community, I want to thank both for their gesture. I also want to suggest that this bad idea be filed right back in whatever drawer it came out of, 'cause this is not something Chicago needs, for straight or gay people.

Most gay and lesbian people just want what everybody else wants, to be treated the same as everyone else. That means no nasty names — I'll allow an exception if the queen next to me won't shut up when I finally get around to seeing Bruno — no discrimination and, yes, indeed, the right to be just as miserable in marriage as most straight couples pretend to be.

"Equality" doesn't mix with "preference." And that's what's wrong with this proposal.

But if the gay set-aside does go through, I have another group that is commonly discrimated against in Chicago that the mayor should consider helping out: Republicans.

When is our parade?

Related post:

California Collision: Harvey Milk's Camera Shop

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gay

Obama attacks insurance companies

President Obama traveled to North Carolina to plug his government-run health care plan, where he attacked insurance companies.

"The truth is, we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry," Obama said, "but it doesn't always work well for you. So what we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health-insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable."

That drew a quick reaction from Bob Greczyn, CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's largest insurer.

"It was disappointing that President Obama used so much of his time in North Carolina bashing insurance companies," Greczyn said in a statement. "We don't believe a government-run plan is necessary to achieve the reform Americans need."

Greczyn said the president was wrong to say that insurance companies don't cover routine care such as mammograms and colonoscopies.

Government-run health care programs in socialist countries are plagued with long wait-times and rationing of care, among other things.

UPDATE 3:00pm CDT: Pelosi is denouncing insurance companies too. Looks like a premeditated attack by the Dems.

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politics

news

health

universal health care

Rep. Kevin McCarthy appears on MSNBC's "The Ed Show"

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appeared on MSNBC's "The Ed Show," where he talks about the Pelosi House of Representatives, the proposal for government-run health care, jobs, and the 2010 elections.

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universal health care

california

msnbc

California Collision: Harvey Milk's Camera Shop

Yesterday afternoon the White House announced that 16 people, including the late Jack Kemp, will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Gay rights activist and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, who along with Mayor George Moscone was assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, will also posthumously receive a Presidential Medal.

I was planning to write about Milk a little bit later in my California Collision series, but I think the timing is better today.

On my last evening in the City by the Bay, I journeyed to the Castro District, which is synonymous with gay San Francisco.

Pictured on top is a painting of Milk on the second story of of his old store, Castro Camera. It's now a gift store. His shop doubled as a political headquarters for Milk's numerous political campaigns and rights' initiatives.

Next: Fisherman's Wharf

Related post:

Jack Kemp, RIP

Earlier California Collision posts:

San Francisco's Union Square
The Painted Ladies
San Francisco and the military
Haight-Ashbury
Mission San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco's sea lions
San Francisco's blues mural
San Francisco: Cable cars

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gay

usa

america

barack obama

obama

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Birther time: What is Obama hiding?

And he used to have a
consulting business in Indonesia...
Tom Waits, "What's He Building in There?," 1999.

Those lyrics come from a Waits spoken word piece, about a man's suspicious neighbor who appears to be hiding something.

I believe this is my first post on the the Barack Obama birth certificate controversy. I first started hearing rumors last summer that Obama was not born in Hawaii as he claimed, but in fact born in Kenya, which some people claim would not make him constitutionally eligible to serve as president. The Supreme Court has never defined the term "natural born citizen." I bounced rumor off of the ears of a few Republican operatives, and they responded that there likely is no "there" there, and the Obama campaign apparatus was keeping that question open as a canard for Republicans to grind their teeth on, rather than question his positions, his record, and his very thin resume.

A year later the "birthers" are still asking, "Where is the birth certificate?" The Obama-ites have released a certificate of live birth, which is not the same thing, that document is not contemporaneous. It was not printed in 1961, which is when the president was born.

I believe that Obama was born in Hawaii, but Andrew McCarthy raises some good points in today's National Review.

Who cares that Hawaii’s full state records would doubtless confirm what we already know about Obama’s birthplace? They would also reveal interesting facts about Obama’s life: the delivering doctor, how his parents described themselves, which of them provided the pertinent information, etc. Wasn’t the press once in the business of interesting — and even not-so-interesting — news?

And why would Obama not welcome Hawaii’s release of any record in its possession about the facts and circumstances of his birth? Isn’t that kind of weird? It would, after all, make the whole issue go away and, if there’s nothing there, make those who’ve obsessed over it look like fools. Why should I need any better reason to be curious than Obama’s odd resistance to so obvious a resolution?

There’s speculation out there from the former CIA officer Larry Johnson — who is no right-winger and is convinced the president was born in Hawaii — that the full state records would probably show Obama was adopted by the Indonesian Muslim Lolo Soetoro and became formally known as “Barry Soetoro.” Obama may have wanted that suppressed for a host of reasons: issues about his citizenship, questions about his name (it’s been claimed that Obama represented in his application to the Illinois bar that he had never been known by any name other than Barack Obama), and the undermining of his (false) claim of remoteness from Islam. Is that true? I don’t know and neither do you.

But we should know. The point has little to do with whether Obama was born in Hawaii. I'm quite confident that he was. The issue is: What is the true personal history of the man who has been sold to us based on nothing but his personal history? On that issue, Obama has demonstrated himself to be an unreliable source and, sadly, we can’t trust the media to get to the bottom of it. What’s wrong with saying, to a president who promised unprecedented “transparency”: Give us all the raw data and we’ll figure it out for ourselves?

Okay, Barry, cough it up. Let's see your birth certificate.

More from "What's He Building in There:"

He's hiding something from
The rest of us...

UPDATE July 31: Dr. William A. Jacobson, a Cornell law professor, says the Dems are partly responsible for birther mania.

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Democrats <

Obama's legislative shortcomings coming home to roost

One of the best reasons not to have voted for Barack Obama last fall was that he hadn't accomplished much as a legislator while in Springfield and Washington.

To quote Obama's former pastor, "America's chickens, have come home to roost. Michael Barone tells us why:

We knew that day that Obama was good at aura, at generating enthusiasm for the prospect of hope and change. His inspiring speeches -- the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines, the race speech in Philadelphia, the countless rallies in primary and caucus and target states -- helped him capture the Democratic nomination and then win the presidency by the biggest percentage margin in 20 years.

But it turns out that Obama is not so good at argument. Inspiration is one thing, persuasion another. He created the impression on the campaign trail that he was familiar with major issues and readily ticked off his positions on them. But he has not proved so good at legislating.

One reason perhaps is that he has had little practice. He served as a legislator for a dozen years before becoming president, but was only rarely an active one. He spent one of his eight years as an Illinois state senator running unsuccessfully for Congress and two of them running successfully for U.S. senator. He spent two of his years in the U.S. Senate running for president. During all of his seven non-campaign years as a legislator, he was in the minority party.

In other words, he's never done much work putting legislation together -- especially legislation that channels vast flows of money and affects the workings of parts of the economy that deeply affect people's lives. This lack of experience is starting to show. On the major legislation considered this year -- the stimulus, cap-and-trade, health care -- the Obama White House has done little or nothing to set down markers, to provide guidance, to establish boundaries and no-go areas.

The bills with Obama's name on them that were enacted in the Illinois state Senate were largely the work of others, they and were pushed through by the ethically-challenged Emil Jones, then that body's president.

Related posts:

About Obama's state legislature "accomplishments"

Obama's state legislative record--he got a lot of help

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Rosemont's fallen Obama stimulus "campaign sign"

The O'Hare Airport area is not just a hub for flights, it's a hub for Barack Obama ~~economic stimulus~~ 2012 reelection campaign signs.

I don't know what happened to this one, my guess is that a truck broadsided it and that's how it ended up on the grass. But let me remind you that this blog does not tolerate vandalism or lawbreaking of any kind.

The fallen placard is resting on River Road, just south of Devon.

Related post:

Group: Illinois has nation's worst stimulus web site

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Northwest Chicago Suburbs

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Target 2010: Minnesota Dem who said 25 percent of his constituents are "truthers"

If the Republicans are going to take back the House of Representatives, which is the best way to to derail Barack Obama's socialization of America, targets for removal need to be identified.

Here's another one, Collin Peterson. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune explains why:

For a well-known straight shooter, Rep. Collin Peterson has caused a lot of collateral damage this week.

The Detroit Lakes Democrat was forced to apologize Monday for telling a Capitol Hill newspaper that a quarter of his constituents are conspiracy theorists -- a statement that immediately drew ire from political opponents back home.

"Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the Twin Towers down," Peterson told the website Politico, explaining why he does not like to hold town hall-style meetings.

The Minnesota Republican Party pounced on the quote, calling on Peterson to apologize for his "offensive and outrageous comments." Minnesota GOP chair Tony Sutton said that "Peterson revealed just how out of touch and disconnected he has become in Washington." The organization later announced it was launching an ad campaign against him.

The goof apologized for his comment, but we'll find out next year if his northern Minnesota constituents accept his mea culpa.

Related posts:

Donkey should be on every American's diet

South Dakota GOP looks to defeat Dem congresswoman

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Courtesy of the Lake County, Illinois GOP: How not to build a base

Twenty years ago, outside of the minority-majority areas, suburban Cook County, Illinois was predominately Republican.

Now the Democrats are making inroads to the north, in Lake County, which is the real estate between Cook and the Wisconsin state line.

Based on the way the GOP is behaving in Lake, it might be time to paint the county blue.

Paul Mitchell is challenging the incumbent Republican in the 62nd state House district.

My dear friends,

I'm sorry to be cluttering your inboxes again so soon, but I wanted you hear what happened today in my campaign to unseat the RINO Sandy Cole. Following up yesterday's message (quoted below) in which I told you that I planned to be at the Lake County Fair, I wanted to tell you about the funny thing that happened to me at the fair:

I was kicked out of the Republican booth.

Traditionally, the Republican booth at the Lake County Fair has been a place where all Republican candidates have been welcome to present their information and make contact with the voters. Even primary challengers to Republican incumbents have historically been welcomed there.

No more.

Two hours after I arrived at the booth this morning, with no warning, after no incident, I was informed by Avon Township Chairman Bob Powers that "[Lake County GOP Chairman] Dan [Venturi] says no candidates, elected officials only." He handed me my small stack of handbills, the only materials I had placed on the table. I pointed out to him that only 8 days earlier, at last Monday's meeting of the Lake County GOP central committee, he had himself announced that candidates would be welcome. Mr. Powers told me that he had quit any organizational authority for the booth last Friday, and that it was Mr. Venturi's project now. I left quietly without making a scene. I attempted to call Chairman Venturi, but was told he was unavailable, and would return my call later. Hours later, he has not called.

What happened in that two hours? Certainly nothing negative I did. Some of that time I spent in the booth, greeting and chatting with the few passers-by that stopped, and some of it I spent wandering the hall, visiting other booths to talk to interested people. I had nothing but cordial conversations with anyone. But during that time, someone called Sandy Cole, and she came personally to bring more campaign materials and displays, and then she called Dan Venturi, to demand that he kick me out of the booth. As I left, I noticed that the "Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate" signs remained prominently displayed.

I had already learned two things about fear in this race: 1.) Sandy Cole is afraid of me. Desperately so. The premise of my campaign is that an underfunded conservative can beat an incumbent liberal in a Republican primary. I believe I can. I think it's evident that Sandy Cole thinks I can, too. 2.) The Republican establishment in Lake County is afriad of Sandy Cole. The things I have been told by people in the party who want privately to support me but who fear publicly to do so had led me to believe this, but this incident confirms it in my mind.

This is an important incident, and it will lead to important consequences for Sandy Cole and the Lake County GOP.

In the meantime, take note: Tthere is no "big tent" GOP in Lake County. Standing up for conservative Republican principles against entrenched interests will not be tolerated by the party's current elected leaders. But there is nothing protecting the party's elected leaders from an influx of conservatives running for precint committeemen, and then voting them out of office. If you're reading these words, and live in Illinois, it's time and past time for conservatives to take back the GOP.

And to the other reform-minded candidates, local or statewide, who might have planned to campaign here, be warned.

In my run for the Republican nomination for state representative in Illinois' 62nd district, I have met a lot of people, and gained a lot of encouragement. It's already been a big education for me, and I have been truly humbled at the response I have gotten in my effort to present Republican voters in Lake County with a true conservative alternative to Sandy Cole.

Tomorrow, the campaign enters a new phase.

For much of the rest of this week, I'll be campaigning at the Lake County Fair; look for me in the Republican booth. Coming up, I'll be at the Young Republicans picnic on August 8th, I'll be in the Gurnee Days parade on August 16th, and I'll be at the RALC picnic on August 23rd. I'll be getting my name out and making my voice heard in some important venues and to some important audiences.

And I'd like you to be there with me.

If you'd like to come to a picnic, march in a parade, or help me work the fair, please reply to this email! There's more information about these events available at my campaign website at http://www.paulfor62.com and I'd very much like to have you there.

Also, we'll soon begin going door-to-door to collect the thousand signatures we'll need to secure a place on the primary ballot. This is a very important task, and I'm going to need as much help with it as I can get. If you'd like to help, please reply to this email, or sign up at the campaign website.

In the meantime, please help me spread the word about this campaign. Please forward this email to your own lists, and tell your friends and families about our effort.

Thanks for your support!

- Paul Mitchell

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Mark Buehrle sets major league record in loss

Chicago White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle added to his achievements yesterday, which include throwing a perfect game last week, by setting a Major League Baseball record of retiring 45 consecutive batters. Buerhle's feat was accomplished over three games.

The previous record was 41 batters. Jim Barr of the San Francisco Giants did it in 1972, and Buehrle's teammate, closer Bobby Jenks matched that in 2007.

All Buehrle needs to be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame is a few more good seasons, preferably one with twenty wins.

As for last night's games, the White Sox lost to the Minnesota Twins, 5-3.

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mlb

Group: Illinois has nation's worst stimulus web site

Illinois is pretty good about putting about stimulus road signs, but our prowess falls short in other areas, AP is reporting this afternoon:

A new report concludes Illinois has the worst official stimulus Web site in the country.

The report by the watchdog group Good Jobs First gave Illinois the worst ranking in its 50-state study. On a point scale of zero to 100, Illinois receive no points at all.

Researchers checked if states provided specifics on how much money's being spent in the state. It says Illinois' site has no such figures.

The study by the Washington, D.C.-based group sought to check how states are doing in fulfilling President Barack Obama's pledge that the $787 billion federal stimulus bill would strive for "an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability."

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Durable goods orders plummet

The good news is that the demand for campaign road signs (scroll down two posts) is up. The Wall Street Journal has the bad news:

Demand for long-lasting goods took the largest tumble in five months during June as orders fell for cars and planes, but bookings other than transportation rose strongly and a gauge of capital spending climbed.

Manufacturers' orders for durable goods decreased by 2.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted $158.57 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Orders for commercial planes dropped, down 38.5%. Aircraft giant Boeing Co. has suffered production delays of its new 787 Dreamliner.

Motor-vehicle orders were also lower, by 1.0%. Car makers General Motors and Chrysler are restructuring after filing for bankruptcy.

The demand for durable goods is considered an accurate barometer of the health of the economy.

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economy

Gallup: Benefits of health care reform a tough sell for Americans

This is why the Democrats want to rush through health care reform.

From Gallup:

Forty-four percent of Americans believe a new healthcare reform law would improve medical care in the U.S., contrasted with 26% who say it would improve their personal medical care. Forty-seven percent of Americans believe reform will expand access to healthcare in the U.S., while 21% say it will expand their own access to healthcare.

These results are important because much of the debate on healthcare reform rests on the assumption that it is imperative to fix what is assumed to be a broken healthcare system in the U.S. One aspect of the healthcare debate focuses on the benefits of healthcare reform to the country as a whole, while another addresses the benefits to the average American. Yet the majority of Americans are not sold on the notion that reform would have a positive effect on either. (Emphasis mine)

The wariness with which the public approaches the possible effects of healthcare reform on their personal situations is evident from results showing that more Americans say healthcare would worsen their medical care and reduce their access to healthcare, than say it would have the contrasting, positive effects. These "net negative" results contrast with the net positive perceptions Americans have about the likely impact of healthcare reform on the U.S. more generally -- albeit one that is quite muted.

And the more Americas learn about health care reform, the less they like it.

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health

universal health care

Des Plaines' third Obama stimulus "campaign sign"

Northwest Chicago Suburbs

Illinois

Chicago

California Collision: San Francisco's Union Square

Well time is always money
For the boys at Union Square
"Union Square," Tom Waits, 1985.

Actually Tom Waits was singing about New York's Union Square, but it's a great song, and I believe the only tune every recorded with Keith Richards on guitar and someone playing a coal shovel.

But since Union Square is in the heart of San Francisco's high-end shopping district, and it borders the city's financial hub, the lyrics do fit. And the theater district is adjacent to the plaza. Tickets to plays aren't cheap.

Lots of things come together at Union Square. Two cable car lines end there. Or do they begin there? And the doubledecker tour bus lines I wrote about in my last two California Collision posts collect their passengers at that spot. Geary Street, San Francisco's longest, abuts it.

Union Square is a 2.6 acre plaza that got its name for the many pro-Union rallies held there during the Civil War. However the obelisk in the picture honors Admiral Dewey's victory in Manila Bay at the beginning of the Spanish-American War.

Earlier posts:

The Painted Ladies
San Francisco and the military
Haight-Ashbury
Mission San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco's sea lions
San Francisco's blues mural
San Francisco: Cable cars

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Obamacare's abortion hurdle

Even if...and I think that's a pretty big if...liberal Democrats hash out an agreement over funding of Obamacare, they still have to get past the abortion hurdle.

Simply put, Barack Obama is the most pro-Abortion president ever. While an Illinois state Senator, Obama twice voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived third trimester abortions.

A federal version of the law sailed through the House, with just 15 nays, and was unanimously approved in the Senate by voice acclamation, and President Bush signed it into law.

Last week Katie Couric asked Obama if he favored federal funding of abortions, Obama's rambling answer included his admonition that we should "not get distracted" by this issue.

I'll bet the mortgage on this one: Obama favors it.

And it appears those Blue Dogs agree with me, as the Los Angeles Times--Oh, I borrowed the hurdle metaphor from them--explores:

If the House leadership's dispute with the Blue Dogs is resolved, abortion looms as the next sticking point. Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and other Democrats opposed to abortion rights want to ensure that the bill includes language restricting taxpayer funds for the procedure.

The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, explicitly prevents the federal government from using tax dollars to fund abortion through Medicaid. But the reach of that law grows murkier if the government establishes its own competitive health insurance plan, or if it assists in creating a new market in which the public could sort through various private insurance plans. Both ideas could be included in the healthcare bill under consideration in Congress.

The Obama administration has tried to stay neutral on the matter.

More...

"By being silent on this issue, [Obama is] actually making an affirmative statement in favor of taxpayer abortions," Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said.

He's right.

What about Joe Biden?

In his 2007 memoir, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics," the long-winded one recalls a 1973 conversation about Roe vs. Wade he had with Abe Ribicoff, a Connecticut senator:

"Well, I will not vote to overturn the Court's decision. I will not vote to curtail a woman's right to choose abortion. But I will also not vote to use federal funds to fund abortion."

A couple of paragraphs later he states, "I've stuck to my middle of the road position for thirty years."

That's not exactly true, as you'll find out here, but Biden's official position is that he opposes federal funding for abortions.

Which is the Blue Dog position.

As it is with most Americans. Even pro-choice ones.

A tough hurdle, indeed.

Related post:

Another GOP Whip Team conference call on health care

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health

universal health care

Last year's cheapest states for vacationers

This story goes back a year, but according to Digg there has been some recent interest in this Chicago Tribune photo series based on the AAA 2008 Vacation Costs Survey.

Click here for the 10 least expensive states for travelers.

I imagine that 2009 series isn't much different.

Three of the ten states I've covered in previous blog-o-vacations, and three of the others I quickly visited on those trips.

Here they are:

My Kansas Kronikles
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny
Midwestern Presidential Pathway

Number one? At least last year, the cheapest was North Dakota, which I visited in 2004.

The picture is from that trip, that's the Little Missouri River in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

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Obama's Blue Dog blues

The Democrats' plan for government health care is stuck in the mud right now. I can't see it getting through Congress in its present form, but what do I know, I was shocked that cap and trade made it out of the House. Of course that victory appears to be a Pyrrhic one for the left side of the aisle.

To calm down nervous Blue Dog Dems, the White House threw a bone at them, but it appears there is nothing there. Or they faked the throw. If you don't know what I mean, ask your dog.

The Wall Street Journal has more:

When Blue Dog Democrats revolted over the cost of ObamaCare 10 days ago, the White House quickly came up with a plan to give them political cover: a government board that would tell Congress how to restrain costs. Well, so much for that, as the Congressional Budget Office has now exposed this idea as another false economy. But it’s worth understanding the reason because it also exposes the core problem with government-run health care.

Over the weekend CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said the proposal will only save $2 billion over the next 10 years. That’s less than 0.2% of the total cost of the House bill, adding that “In CBO’s judgment, the probability is high that no savings will be realized.” Ever.

This is the same proposal that White House budget chief Peter Orszag has called “probably the most important piece that can be added” to the House health bill. Mr. Orszag has become a favorite of President Obama by claiming that “waste” can be sweated out of the health system without compromising quality. But lately he’s discovering that the power of positive technocratic thinking counts for little in Congress.

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California Collision: The Painted Ladies

Does this row of homes look familiar? If you watched the late 1980s and early 1990s situation comedy "Full House," they should. They appeared during the open credits of the popular show.

These San Francisco homes are known as the Painted Ladies, although sometimes they are referred to as Postcard Row.

I took this photograph from the top of a doubledecker tour bus. As far as I can gather, there are three such companies in San Francisco, the idea is you hop on one bus, hop off, and hot back on. As you read in my previous California Collision post, we hopped off at the Golden Gate Bridge--and we waited a very long time for our bus. And waited. Luckily, we were able to talk our way into a ride back to the city with a competing service.

The lesson here is not to scam your way onto another bus. Just find out which company in San Francisco has the most tour buses.

Next: Union Square

Earlier posts:

San Francisco and the military
Haight-Ashbury
Mission San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco's sea lions
San Francisco's blues mural
San Francisco: Cable cars

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Why the New York Times sucks

Michelle Malkin reports that the The New York Times' Sunday magazine has a 8,000 word story, with several glossy photographs, about Valerie Jarrett, a long time Barack and Michelle Obama crony.

Malkin reports that there is no mention of Jarret's time as CEO of Habitat, Inc., a company that managed Chicago's Grove Parc slum, an apartment complex in Obama's old state Senate district.

Jarrett was the CEO of the University of Chicago Medical Center engineered its patient-dumping scheme. Michelle Obama was in charge of that, and David Axelrod handled the public relations for the since-abandoned program, which was given the Orwellian tag of the Urban Health Initiative.

No mention of that in the Times article either.

And newspaper readership continues to decline.

I wonder why?

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University of Chicago

Chicago has coldest July in 67 years

This July has seemed a bit cool, even though I was out of town for a week, but the statistics are there to back up my assumptions.

Chicago is experiencing its coldest July in 67 years.

Last month the House of Representatives passed a national energy tax bill designed to combat global warming.

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Monday, July 27, 2009

California Collision: San Francisco and the military

Perhaps more than any large city, San Francisco's ties to the military are deep. The Spanish realized the strategic importance of the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay, so they established the Presidio on the northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula. When California became part of the United States, the Presidio became a US fort, and remained so until 1994, when the National Park Service took possession of the land. To the east of the Presidio was Fort Baker. In the bay, Alcatraz became a military reservation in 1850, and Camp Reynolds and Fort McDowell were established on Angel Island later in the century.

More on those two islands in later posts.

On our first full day, the Marathon Pundit family took a doubledecker bus tour that brought us over the Golden Gate bridge. We decided to depart and wait for the next bus, and the three of us took a mile or so walk up a hill where we got a great look at the city and the bridge--that is, when there wasn't any fog. Usually there is, but we caught a few moments when the fog wasn't much of a factor.

It was there we found Battery Spencer, which protected the bay and San Francisco from 1897 until 1943 with three rifled guns possessing 12 inch diameter barrels.

The guns are long gone, but the battery remains. Like the other San Francisco Bay defense installations, the guns on Battery Spencer were never fired at an attacker.

San Francisco doesn't respect its military heritage. As Jack Cashill wrote in "What's the Matter with California?: Cultural Rumbles from the Golden State and Why the Rest of Us Should Be Shaking," the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 to rename Army Street after Cesar Chavez. A referendum almost overturned that decision.

Of all the streets in the city, they just had to choose Army Street.

Next: The Painted Ladies

Earlier posts:

Haight-Ashbury
Mission San Francisco de Asís
San Francisco's sea lions
San Francisco's blues mural
San Francisco: Cable cars

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Mark Kirk repents (almost) on cap and trade

About cap and trade, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) one of the eight Republicans who voted for the national energy tax, "I've heard from people on this issue like no other. The energy interests of Illinois are far broader and deeper than from my North Shore district."

Calling the current bill dead, Kirk added, "What I really want to see is a new round of nuclear plants for the country, exploration for oil offshore, and the trans--Canada pipeline that would bring lower cost natural gas for the Midwest.

Kirk didn't quite repent, but he came close.

But it looks like he got the message.

H/T to Backyard Conservative.

Related post:

Cap-and-trade Tea Party at Rep. Mark Kirk's office

Ethically challenged Chicago Democrat Giannoulias announces Senate run

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Countrywide official: Dem senators Dodd and Conrad were told they were getting mortgage deals

More bad news for the Democrats, courtey of AP. It involves Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. The latter is not only one of the principal authors of the Democrats' health care bill, but is up for reelection next year.

Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation's largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.

Both senators have said that at the time the mortgages were being written they didn't know they were getting unique deals from Countrywide Financial Corp., the company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. Dodd still maintains he got no preferential treatment.

Dodd got two Countrywide mortgages in 2003, refinancing his home in Connecticut and another residence in Washington. Conrad's two Countrywide mortgages in 2004 were for a beach house in Delaware and an eight-unit apartment building in Bismarck in his home state of North Dakota.

Robert Feinberg, who worked in the Countrywide's VIP section, told congressional investigators last month that the two senators were made aware that "who you know is basically how you're coming in here."

Dodd's problems are well-documented, but Conrad has some sleaze in his background. After winning his Senate seat in 1986, he vowed not to run for a second term. But late in 1992, the state's other senator died, and Conrad ran for that seat, which in his twisted logic was okay, since he was not running for reelection. Conrad won that seat, and resigned his old seat to take his new seat.

What a piece of work. Both of them.

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Ethically challenged Chicago Democrat Giannoulias announces Senate run

Chicago Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois' state treasurer, officially announced his run for the US Senate yesterday.

Ethically challenged, he's the last thing Illinois needs in Washington.

With a hat tip to Backyard Conservative, here's why, courtesy of the Illinois Republican Party:

Buying a state board appointment from Rod Blagojevich: $10,000

Bankrolling Tony Rezko's gambling problem: $450,000

Loaning money to a convicted bookmaker and prostitution promoter: $12 million

Loaning money to a convicted mob money launderer: $15 million

Losing hard-earned Illinois family education savings: $85 million

Electing Alexi Giannoulias to U.S. Senate: Just not worth it

Documentation:

Buying a state board appointment from Rod Blagojevich: $10,000

"Gov. Blagojevich appointed Giannoulias' brother to a state board and reappointed him one month after a $10,000 contribution from Giannoulias' father: State records don't show Demetris Giannoulias as a campaign donor to the governor. But his father, Alexis Giannoulias passed away this summer after donating $10,000 to Blagojevich on June 29, 2005.

Demetris Giannoulias served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Broadway Bank in Chicago. This is the bank where Alexi Giannoulias was also an officer.

Demetris was first appointed by Blagojevich in 2004 for a stint that expired in 2005. He was reappointed Sept. 1, 2005, for a term that expires July 21, 2008." (The State Journal-Register, Blagojevich has twice appointed Giannoulias brother, October 26, 2006)

"Demetris Giannoulias also appears on Blagojevich's "clout list" with Rezko as a sponsor: "'Clout lists' that tracked politically backed job seekers to Gov. Blagojevich's administration surfaced in the case of indicted businessman Tony Rezko. Rezko also pushed for the appointment of Chicago banker Demetris Giannoulias, brother of Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, to the Illinois Finance Authority board, records show." (Chicago Sun Times, Gov's 'clout lists' surface in Rezko trial, February 22, 2008)

Bankrolling Tony Rezko’s gambling problem: $450,000

Giannoulias bankrolled Tony Rezko: "Rezko's company -- Rezmar Corp. -- was helped by Thomas' Carnegie Realty Partners to obtain financing to build a 24-story condominium complex at Chicago and Hudson, a project that ultimately did not get off the ground. The financial institution that backed that deal was Giannoulias' Broadway Bank." (Chicago Sun Times, Mole put on Rezko, May 5, 2007)

Giannoulias even bankrolled Tony Rezko's Vegas debts: "According to the May 16 criminal complaint, Rezko bounced $250,000 over five checks at Caesars Palace Casino between March 24 and July 15 of 2006. He also is accused of bouncing four checks on July 13, 2006, at Bally's totaling $200,000. All nine checks, according to the complaint, were drawn on Rezko's account at Chicago's Broadway Bank, which is owned by the family of Illinois Treasurer Giannoulias." (Chicago Daily Herald, Caesars, Bally's, Bellagio They all say Rezko owes them, May 30, 2008)

Loaning money to a convicted bookmaker and prostitution promoter: $12 million

“Giannoulias bankrolled Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a Chicagoan twice convicted of bookmaking and promoting prostitution.” (New York Post, OBAMA'S 'MOB-TIE' $IDEKICK, September 5, 2007)

Giannoulias approved over $12 million in loans to Giorango while he worked at his family's bank: "Earlier, Giannoulias also had tried to distance himself from the loans, saying they occurred in the 1990s, when he was not a full-time employee at the bank. But subsequent reports revealed that Giannoulias had overseen $11.8 million in loans to a firm run by Giorango and Stavropoulos last year when Giannoulias was senior loan officer. Giannoulias insisted Wednesday he only meant that the bank's business with Giorango began when he was away at law school. He said banking laws and regulations had barred him from volunteering information on the more recent loans. "It wasn't an attempt to be misleading," he said." (Chicago Sun Times, Giannoulias: I take it back: Treasurer candidate says loans to crime figures were bad idea, April 27, 2006)

$3 million of that money went towards buying a casino: "During the March primary, Giannoulias said Broadway Bank "never financed any casinos. We never did anything like that." The Tribune later revealed that in 2005 Broadway lent $3.6 million to Giorango and Stavropoulos to acquire a casino boat marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Giannoulias previously said he thought that property was for condos, but on Wednesday said that comment was a mistake." (Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias speaks up on loans, April 27, 2006)

Giannoulias changed his story on what he knew of Giorango's criminal record: "Giannoulias insisted he only knew that Giorango had "some legal problems" while he was servicing the loans, declining to say whether he knew they were criminal in nature." (Chicago Sun Times, Giannoulias: I take it back: Treasurer candidate says loans to crime figures were bad idea, April 27, 2006)

"On Wednesday, Giannoulias said he once discussed Giorango's criminal past with him." (Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias speaks up on loans, April 27, 2006)

He also didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal: "Giannoulias described Giorango as a "very nice person" to the Chicago Tribune and questioned "what the charges are that makes him this huge crime figure." (Chicago Sun Times, Youth seems to be trumping experience in treasurer race, November 2, 2006)

Loaning money to a convicted mob money launderer: $15 million

Giannoulias bankrolled much of the Stratievsky $15 million real estate empire: "Bankrolling many of their mortgages was Broadway Bank, owned by the family of Illinois State Treasurer Giannoulias. From 2001 to 2005, before the men were charged, the bank lent more than $10 million to companies tied to Lev and Boris Stratievsky, records show. A spokesman for the treasurer had no comment on the loans." (Chicago Sun Times, The Face of the New Mafia, February 24, 2008)

"Boris Stratievsky admitted that he had struck a deal in 2000 with a man he thought was an associate of Ukrainian drug traffickers, but really was an FBI informant. Stratievsky transferred $80,000 in what he believed were narcotics proceeds from Moscow through Germany to a New Jersey bank. In return, he was supposed to receive a 20 percent fee. The New Jersey bank account was actually controlled by the FBI. On secret recordings, Lev Stratievsky called his son a "professor" of money laundering who washed millions of dollars for Moscow clients." (Chicago Sun Times, Millionaire Pleads Guilty, May 15, 2008)

Stratievsky wasn't averse to violence "In his youth, Borya was very daring," Stratievsky once said. "He had attempted murders and s---." The son, Boris "Borya" Stratievsky, also dubbed "Half Dollar," wasn't picky about the method, his father said. "It's the same for Boris, whether to stab someone with a knife or shoot them," Lev Stratievsky explained." (Chicago Sun Times, The Face of the New Mafia, February 24, 2008)

In addition to money laundering, Boris Stratievsky and his father, Lev, invested heavily in real estate and were among the worst slum lords in Chicago: "Ms. Diane Cosby lived in a roach-infested building in the 4500 block of North Magnolia that the Stratievskys owned through one of their companies, Interpacifica. Cosby, 61, remembers three Russian tough guys pressuring tenants to move out in the mid-1990s to clear the way for a renovation of the apartment building into condos. "They pulled the roof off the back part of the building, and it rained all over the people who lived there," Cosby recalled. "They were the worst landlords I ever had," she said. "We always called them Russian mobsters. . . . We did not know they were mobsters, but they sure looked like them." (Chicago Sun Times, The Face of the New Mafia, February 24, 2008)

Losing hard-earned Illinois family education savings: $85 million

In 2008, Illinois families saving for college lost $85 million investing in Alexi Giannoulias' Bright Start program. Some lost 38% of their college savings. Giannoulias picked the investments.

"Bright Start assets in the Core Plus fund fell from $355 million as of March 31 to $271 million at year-end -- down nearly $85 million. Investors in Bright Start's Active Fixed Income Portfolio, which put all its assets in Core Plus, had the most exposure.” (Chicago Tribune, Bright Start: Give back our money, January 15, 2009)

“Of the 178,805 Bright Start investment accounts, 2.5 percent were invested entirely in Core Plus. So 4,426 were exposed fully to its 38 percent loss in market value last year.” (Chicago Tribune, Bright Start: Give back our money, January 15, 2009)

“The treasurer announced this week that Oppenheimer Funds will take over management of Bright Start.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Illinois improves its college saving plan, March 16, 2007)

On May 3, 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported that Alexi Giannoulias' office spent Bright Start proceeds to buy a $26,000 SUV he uses as his state car -- the same fund that lost $85 million because of Giannoulias' failed investment strategy. (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/illinois-treasurer-alexi-giannoulias-bright-start.html)

The $26,000 used to buy an SUV for Treasurer Giannoulias' use would have paid for THREE students to attend Governors State University for one year or THIRTEEN students to attend Triton College for one year.

Seems like a lot, doesn't it? Do you think the Illinois GOP left some stuff out?

Yes, they did.

Giannoulias has been accused of being a "granny grifter."

And because of all of his ethical entanglements, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, refused to endorse "The Boy Banker" after he won the Democratic nomination for state treasurer in 2006.

And did you know that Alexi never voted in an election until his name appeared on the ballot?

This spring Giannoulias announced that he would not accept money form corporate political action committees, but it's assumed he will accept funds from union pacs.

Meanwhile, Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Barack Obama's first political sponsor and a former customer of Giannoulias' Broadway Bank, is being incarcerated at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he is believed to be cooperating with federal prosecutors.

Haven't we had enough?

Related posts:

Alexi Giannoulias: Not so transparent
Likely Senate candidate Giannoulias kowtows to SEIU
Just as with mob loans, Giannoulias quiet about SUV purchased from money losing state investment fund
Obama's Chicago skeletons: Rezko and Broadway Bank
Obama's "sweetheart" mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?
Obama, Alexi, and Broadway Bank
Coincidences and the Las Vegas Rezko arrest warrant
Obama's state treasurer pal needs a memory upgrade

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Another GOP Whip Team conference call on health care

Last week Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held another GOP Whip Team bloggers' conference call. I took part, ironically I was in California, but I struggled with internet hook-ups while I was vacationing in the Yosemite area.

So a few days late, here is my report from that call.

McCarthy is the Republican Chief Deputy Whip in the House, and as always he kicked off the call. He almost immediately referred to a recent Mayo Clinic report critical of the Democrats health care reform bill. Part of it reads:

Although there are some positive provisions in the current House Tri-Committee bill – including insurance for all and payment reform demonstration projects – the proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher-quality, more affordable health care for patients. In fact, it will do the opposite.

In general, the proposals under discussion are not patient focused or results oriented. Lawmakers have failed to use a fundamental lever – a change in Medicare payment policy – to help drive necessary improvements in American health care. Unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise of transformation in American health care will wither.

The real losers will be the citizens of the United States.

Kansas freshman Lynn Jenkins addressed the bloggers first, and the former state treasurer, viewing the financial big picture, said "I don't know how any of us can look our children in the eye and tell them that we're not responsible enough to pay for the things we are enjoying today."

Describing him as a "secret weapon," McCarthy turned the call over to an OB-GYN, Rep. Phil Gingrey of Georgia. The Democrats' plan, "will make (health care) more expensive for every American."

Gingrey passed the conversation on to a fellow southern doctor, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), who like Jenkins, is a House freshman. Throwing more water on the falsehood that the Republicans are "the party of no," Fleming told us that he campaigned on health care reform. There are serious flaws with current government health care plans. "One of the most very plaguing problems in my observation, and that of my colleagues in medical practice," Fleming explained, "is how already existing public plans, called Medicare and Medicaid, are bankrupting our health care system now, driving the cost of private insurance to the tune of $1,800 per family per year."

Universal health care can only make that fiscal situation worse.

The Democrats' plan will pay for abortions. A majority of pro-choice Americans oppose taxpayer funded abortions.

Fleming is the author of House Resolution 615, which calls for members of Congress who vote for the health care reform plan to enroll in the government program.

Moving back to my assertion that the GOP is not the "party of no," the call's final speaker, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), touted his site, the Congressional Health Care Caucus. I met Burgess at the Republican National Convention last fall, he's a smart and articulate man.

During the queation and answer session, I asked the congressmen about the Democratic doctors in the House, and where they stand on their party's proposal for government run-health care. Gingrey said there are five of them, and that we shouldn't hold out much hope that they will bolt and speak out against it. Although Gingrey did say one of the quintet is pretty conservative.

Since this call took place, Blue Dogs are getting somewhat more vocal in opposing Obamacare. And as I've been saying for a while, the more the public learns about the Democratic health care plan, they less they like it.

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universal health care

Thomas Frank's magazine "The Baffler" to return

From 1988 until 2003, Chicago-based The Baffler published leftist criticism. Thomas Frank was a co-founder, the Chicago Tribune is reporting this morning that The Baffler will return in November.

Frank makes much of his Kansas roots, but he once lived in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, the home of President Obama--and Bill Ayers.

As its first incarnation, The Baffler will be published in Chicago. Frank will be its editor.

Related posts:

In search of the real El Dorado, Kansas

Marathon Pundit Exclusive: "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Debunked on Page One: UPDATED AGAIN

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

California Collision: Haight-Ashbury

Last week I traveled to California and visited three popular tourist destinations. San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, and Napa Valley. I've called this trip a fact-finding mission, but it was really a vacation. However, I've decided to do another travel series, which I'm calling California Collision.

Here are my earlier anthologies:

My Kansas Kronikles
My Mississippi Manifest Destiny
Midwestern Presidential Pathway

The few years that San Fransisco's Haight-Ashbury was a hippie mecca, roughly from 1967-1969, keeps bringing young people back to the neighborhood between Golden Gate and Buena Vista Parks.

They're trying to recapture a movement that died at Altamont.

Pictured on the upper right is where Haight and Ashbury meet. Like the rest of San Francisco, you won't find many chain or franchise outlets, so the Ben & Jerry's, where I bought a $4.50 cup of ice cream, is an anomaly.

$4.50! Cones are more.

Other stores nearby, all on Haight Street, go by such names as Bound Together: Anarchist Collective Bookstore, Wasteland, and Distractions. If you're looking for weird hats, or bizarre t-shirts with a left wing slant, then head to Haight. There are a number of tobacco shops offering pipes there, I didn't walk in to see exactly what kind of pipes, however. But I could find only one head shop in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of homeless people ensconced on Haight, and in Buena Vista Park, most of them younger than their compatriots in the other sections of the City by the Bay. Homelessness is a big problem in San Francisco, one that I'll tackle in a later post.

Haight-Asbury has a lot of colorful murals that don't obscure another SF problem: trash. San Fransisco is a dirty city: For instance, the sidewalks are strewn with cigarette butts. San Francisco might be America's most literate city, but after reading a newspaper, apparently the next step is to toss it on the ground.

Some of the garbage I found on San Francisco sidewalks was just bizarre. After I felt that I saw enough on Haight, I walked north on Ashbury towards my hotel, and I came across a pile of plastic coat hangers and some books right in the middle of the sidewalk. One of the books was "The Kite Runner." I've been meaning to pick up a copy of that best seller, so I did. Right off of the sidewalk.

There may be a lot of pigs in San Francisco, but they are well-read pigs.

Related posts:

Mission San Francisco de Asís

San Francisco's sea lions

San Francisco's blues mural

San Francisco: Cable cars

Obama's economic stimulus "campaign sign" stains Yosemite National Park

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60s

Repost: April 30, 1922: Baseball's first "perfect" game

While I was in California, White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle hurled that rarest of baseball feats, a perfect game, which I briefly blogged about on my Blackberry.

It was the 18th perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball...but the "first one" was the work of Charley Robertson, a White Sox righty.

Below is my post about Robertson, who died in 1984, from April 30, 1922.

On this date eighty-five years ago, Charley Robertson of the Chicago White Sox threw major league baseball's first "perfect" game. Well, not exactly, other perfect games had been hurled in the big leagues prior to 1922, but Robertson's unlikely gem was the first one to be called a perfect game, according to the book Unhittable, it was a Chicago sportswriter who coined the term, writing that the...

White Sox, according to captain Eddie Collins, had not let the thought of a no hitter, to say nothing of a perfect game, dawn on them until just three men stood between Robertson and the rarest of baseball glory.

Robertson was making just his third major league start; he was up against Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers--the ornery one was managing the team then. Cobb protested the game, claiming Robertson was throwing spitballs, which had been banned the season before.

It's a common saying that "any pitcher can throw a no-hitter," just a little skill and a lot of luck are needed. For proof of that, there is Bobo Holliman of the St. Louis Browns, who in 1953 threw a no-hitter in his first major league start, and won just two more games in his very brief major league career.

Only the greatest pitchers, so it's believed, have the skill to throw a "perfecto."

But to counter that mantra, there is Charley Robertson.

Robertson had a much longer career than Holliman, but his career record ended up being just 49-80, the worst of any pitcher who threw a perfect game.

There would not be another perfect game thrown in the majors until the New York Yankees' Don Larsen performed the feat in the 1956 World Series. The next regular season perfect game would have to wait until 1964, when current US Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) tossed one for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Related post: Almost perfect: White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle throws no-hitter

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mlb

Tea Party Express crossing America

The Tea Party movement didn't peak on April 15, it was just warming up.

Crossing America soon will be the Tea Party Express.

The Express will be in Joliet, Illinois on September 7, I'm going to try to make that one.

Click here to contribute to the tour.

Hat tip to ThirdWaveDave.

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Obama tracking poll at another new low

Maybe Barack Obama is not the chosen one. Rasmussen explains the continuing slide in the president's approval numbers:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That's the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory.

These updates are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. Today is the first update based entirely upon interviews conducted after the President's prime time televised press conference. The number who Strongly Approve of the President has remained unchanged since the press conference but the number who Strongly Disapprove has gone up by five percentage points (from 35% on Wednesday morning to 40% today).

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Obama

Obama opens his Gates to Hell

While I was away, Barack Obama revealed his far-left creed by stating that Cambridge, Massachusetts acting "stupidly" in its handling of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. matter.

Gates, a Harvard professor in its African American studies department, which to me means he's in the racism business, apparently raised a fit when a white Cambridge police officer asked him to show an ID that he was the owner of his home. There had been a report of a break-in.

Unlike professors, cops put their lives on the line every day they put on their uniforms. Obama doesn't get it. Most of America does.

And Obama, who I've heard is so smart, is learning that most of American doesn't view the police in the manner he does. When you're in danger, who do call? The police. Not the local college.

Gates-gate will fade away, but before long Obama will let his true colors slip again.

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Point Reyes National Seashore

Friday, July 24, 2009

Napa Valley

Obama's economic stimulus "campaign sign" stains Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Park is a place of rest, a refuge from the roar and dust and weary, nervous, wasting work of the lowlands, in which one gains the advantages of both solitude and society..." Sierra Club co-founder John Muir.

As you probably know I spent a few days this week in California's breathtaking Yosemite National Park.

I've been to at least 10 national parks, and inside each of them there of course road signs--speed limits, warnings of potential rock falls, advisories on fire dangers and the like. Other signs are of a directional nature--visitor's center here, lodge there, camping this way, reminders to be safe..and of course those crucial placards informing visitors that a bathroom is nearby.

Every sign inside Yosemite was like that...except the one on top, which you'll find on Glacier Point Road near a speck on the map called Chinquapin, at 6,000 feet above sea level.

Yes, the Barack Obama ~~economic stimulus~~ 2012 reelection campaign has set up shop inside Yosemite.

Think of it--a sign promoting Obama's policies--an advertisement!--has stained the grand park.

Have they no sense of decency?

Related posts:

Skokie's third stimulus "campaign sign"
Des Plaines Obama stimulus "campaign" sign falls
Niles, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Lake Forest, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Obama stimulus "campaign sign" on Chicago's Northwest Side
Skokie's second Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Morton Grove, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Des Plaines, Illinois' two Obama stimulus "campaign signs"
Obama stimulus "campaign sign" in downtown Chicago
Park Ridge, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Illinois "Obama campaign signs" make Sen. Coburn's waste list
Illinois' Obama campaign signs ranks #3 on Hannity's Waste 101 list
Obama's 2012 reelection campaign and stimulus sign in Libertyville
Obama stimulus campaign sign in LaSalle, Illinois
Obama signs, Obama signs, everywhere Obama signs
Lincolnwood's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
This stimulus project has been brought to you by the perpetual Obama campaign

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Tenaya Lake, Yosemite

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Tiogo Pass,Inyo National Forest, California

Giant Sequoia, Yosemite

Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buerhle just hurled a perfect game, the first for the South Siders since Charley Robertson threw one in 1922. Go Sox!

Tom Waits, "Downtown Train"

This music video is interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is that boxer Jake LaMotta is in it, he's of course the fighter whom Robert DeNiro played in "Raging Bull." The other reason is the song, "Downtown Train," performed by the man who wrote it, Tom Waits. It's been covered by many artists, most notably Rod Stewart, who scored a big hit with it in 1989.

"Downtown Train" appears on what is arguably Waits' best effort, his "Rain Dogs" album.

Waits is usually described as "an acquired taste," but one that I'm glad I've learned to enjoy.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The picture below was uploaded via Shozu.com. Hat tip to Skye at Midnight Blue, http://www.midnightbluesays.com

Uploaded from Glacier Point, Yosemite.

Yosemite Sunset

Blogging from Yosemite National Park, via my Blackberry Bold. Writing will be a bit light for a few days, as I've had limited luck with my wi-fi so far.

Elvis Costello disparages Sarah Palin in 2008 video

I debated about posting this Elvis Costello video recording during the run-up to last year's presidential election, but hey, the album it appears on the quite enjoyable "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane," which was released last month.

During his brief introduction to "Sulphur to Sugarcane," Costello, who likes his native Britain so much that he lives in New York, let loose this nugget of wisdom, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way Sarah Palin blows."

Imagine if one of the conservative rockers said something like that about Hillary Clinton.

I wonder what Elvis thinks about Britain's socialized medicine?

Or the UK's onerous tax system?

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Alaska

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

President continues poll slide

Blogging from northern California.

Not even on the internet do I read USA Today much, but the San Francisco hotel we stayed in gives out complimentary copies, and look what I found:

Qualms about President Obama's stewardship of the economy are growing, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, as Americans become more pessimistic about when they predict the recession will end.

At six months in office, Obama's 55% approval rating puts him 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents at this point in their tenures. When he took office, he ranked seventh.

The president polls poorly on economic matters. Remember the mantra from the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign: "It's the economy, stupid."

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Obama

Blogging (No, I'm not driving) from Livermore, CA. I just heard on NPR that the Senate voted to cut off funding on the F-22 Raptor. Posted from my Blackberry.

Blogging on the road from San Francisco to Yosemite. Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is officially in the Ill. Senate race. Type "Alexi" in the blogs' search.

Obama administration panel misses Gitmo relocation deadline

Blogging fron San Francisco.

Barack Obama was president for one day when he issued an executive order calling for the closing of the Guantánamo Bay terrorist detention facility. He didn't have a plan then as to what do to with the inmates there, and the New York Times is reporting that he still doesn't.

An Obama administration panel will miss a Tuesday deadline to report on its efforts to meet President Obama's directive to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by January, administration officials said on Monday.

The officials said that a task force reviewing detention policy would need another six months to complete its report and a second group, reviewing interrogation policy, would need two more months to finish its report to Mr. Obama.

Senior administration officials said at a briefing for reporters that the missed deadlines did not mean the administration was bogged down in its effort to close the prison, which now holds 229 men suspected of terrorism.

Still, the missed deadlines seemed to underscore the gravity and complexity of the legal, political and policy problems confronting the administration as it tries to put into place new interrogation rules and figure out what to do with the detainees.

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news

Obama's mansion protection costs $2.2 million, city not fully reimbursed

Blogging from San Francisco.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that since becoming president, the tab on protecting the Hyde Park mansion of President Obama is already high.

Like most cities, Chicago is having some serious budget problems.

The Chicago Police Department has spent at least $2.2 million to secure President Barack Obama's Kenwood residence since he was elected in November, according to documents released Monday by the city.

The department will be reimbursed by the federal government for more than $1.5 million of those costs. But the expense of protecting the president's home since his January inauguration -- nearly $650,000 through the end of April -- is not currently scheduled to be paid back, according to the city's response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Tribune.

"There is no reimbursement mechanism currently in place for this [post-inauguration] money," the city's Office of Legal Affairs said in the written response.

The security expense comes at a time when the city's general budget woes have meant that hiring in the Police Department has slowed and command staff officers are taking unpaid days off. Mayoral spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard said she believed the money would be repaid.

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Monday, July 20, 2009

Mission San Francisco de Asís

Blogging from San Francisco.

Fray Junípero Serra was the Spanish Franciscan friar who founded the 21 missions in what is now California; the first one was consecrated in San Diego in 1769. One of the last was Mission San Francisco de Asís, which was founded on June 29, 1776. It is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco, and it can be found on the corner of Dolores and 16th Streets, on the edge of the the city's Mission District.

After visiting the Castro District this evening (more on that when I return to Morton Grove), I decided to take a look at the historic building. It is one of only two surviving structures where the resolute priest is known to have held mass--but Mission San Francisco de Asís was still under construction when Serra was there.

In 1988, Pope John Paul II beatified Fray Serra.

Next to the mission The Basilica Parish of Mission Dolores, pictured on the right. The original church was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, but Mission San Francisco de Asís, although damaged, survived. A new church was built and opened to worshippers in 1918.

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WSJ: Beware of the new Employee Free Choice Act

Blogging from San Francisco.

The absurdly-named Employee Free Choice Act and its card check provision is undergoing a makeover. But garbage spray-painted gold is still garbage.

In an op-ed, the Wall Street Journal applies some paint-removal:

Politicians don't typically broadcast their defeat, and when they do it pays to watch for the blindside hit. That's surely the case with last week's reports that six liberal Senators are abandoning part of labor's top priority, "card check" legislation.

The legislation to eliminate secret ballots in union elections has in fact been comatose for weeks, since Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas declared their opposition. So the real purpose of this "concession" is to shift to Plan B, which is to repackage most of what labor wants with new ribbons and wrapping. The bill that Senators Tom Harkin (Iowa), Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Mr. Specter and others are now considering would still give unions the whip hand in negotiations with management.

One proposal would slash the time for an organizing vote, requiring that it be held within five or 10 days after 30% of workers had signed cards asking for a union. The median time today is 38 days. Organizers want the rush because they know the more time workers have to learn about a union, the less they usually want one. Once employees hear the other side of the story, support dwindles.

This also explains a Big Labor demand to bar companies from requiring their workers to hear management's side during a union campaign. Labor supporters say this creates a "captive audience," but these meetings are one of management's few opportunities to address workers, since companies are barred from the sort of outreach allowed to union organizers -- such as visiting employees at home. At the same time, Senators want to give union organizers access to company property.

employee free choice act

McConnell explains his opposition to Sotomayor

Blogging from San Francisco.

Following up on his announcement that he would vote against confirming Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the US Supreme Court, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gave made thes comments of the floor of the Senate earlier today.

I want to begin by thanking the Judiciary Committee staff, as well as Senators Leahy and Sessions, for conducting a collegial, civil, and dignified hearing. In my view, the hearing was in perfect keeping with the importance of the task before it.

Article II, Section II of the Constitution says the President shall nominate — by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate — Judges of the Supreme Court. It's an obligation that all of us in the Senate take very seriously, even though senators haven't always agreed on the exact meaning of the phrase "advice and consent." In fact, it's been the subject of significant disagreement and struggle over the years.

I remember from my days as a young staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the early '70s, when this very debate flared up over the nominations of Clement Haynsworth and Harrold Carswell after a full century in which appointments to the Supreme Court had more or less been a sleepy presidential prerogative.

It was during that time that I first grasped the danger of politicizing the process. By focusing on a nominee’s ideology or political views above all else, I feared, the Senate would end up distorting its traditional role of providing advice and consent and weaken the presidential prerogative of making appointments to the court.

I was so concerned about the potential dangers, in fact, that I wrote a law review article on the topic which I’ve repeatedly returned to over the years. Its purpose was to establish a meaningful standard for considering Supreme Court nominees that would bring some consistency to the process.

In the course of developing that standard, I went back and looked at the history of nominations, and I noticed something interesting: every time a senator had opposed a nominee in the past, the reason for doing so was almost always based on the nominee’s ‘fitness’ — even if it was perfectly clear to everyone else that the senator’s opposition was really based on political or ideological differences.

What this polite fiction showed me quite clearly was that up until fairly recent history, ideology had never been viewed as an openly acceptable reason to oppose a nominee. And in my view, this aversion to political litmus tests was a good convention, and well worth following if we wanted to avoid gridlock every time the White House switched parties. So I developed a list of fairly standard criteria that I had hoped would govern the process: a nominee must be competent; have obtained some level of distinction; have a judicial temperament; violated no existing standard of ethical conduct; and have a clean record in his or her life off the bench.

I short, a President should be given great deference on his choice of a nominee, and these criteria allowed that. And as a senator, I’ve consistently applied these criteria to Supreme Court nominees by presidents of both parties.

In adhering to this standard, I was confident I had history on my side. Despite a few notable exceptions, during the last century the Senate understood its advice and consent role to be limited to an examination of a nominee’s qualifications — not his or her ideology. This attitude is consistent with the Framer’s decision, after no little debate, to invest the President, not the Senate, with the power to nominate justices. They didn’t want politics to interfere. And that’s why it was always my view that opposing a nominee to the Supreme Court just because he or she has a different judicial philosophy than I do wasn’t really a valid reason for doing so.

During the Clinton years, I had no illusions about the ideology or political views of Stephen Breyer or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg’s views on a number of contentious issues were well-known and clearly different than my own, such as her view that Mother’s Day should be abolished or that the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts should be criticized for perpetuating false stereotypes about gender.

“Most Americans, and certainly most Kentuckians, don’t think these things. Yet despite that, I and the vast majority of my Republican colleagues voted for Justice Ginsburg. Why? Because the Constitution gives the President the power to nominate. And, in my view, Justice Ginsburg met the traditional standards of competence, distinction, temperament, and ethical conduct.

The vote in favor of Justice Ginsburg was 96 to 3. The vote in favor of Justice Breyer was 87 to 9. I voted for both, just as I had voted for every previous Republican nominee to the High Court since my election to the Senate — consistent with my criteria and based on their qualifications. In voting for nominees like Ginsburg and Breyer, it was my hope that broad deference to a President’s judicial nominees would once again become the standard. Even if the treatment of Republican nominees, such as Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, suggested that many Democrats felt differently than I did, it was still possible at the time to imagine a day when the traditional standard would reemerge.

As it turned out, that hopefulness was misplaced — and short-lived.

Things changed for good during the last Administration. It was then that Democrats turned their backs on the old standard once and for all. Ideology as a test would no longer be the exception, but the rule. The new order was firmly established at a Democratic retreat in April 2001 in which a group of liberal law professors laid out the strategy for blocking any high-level conservative judicial nominee. The strategy was reinforced during a series of hearings in which Senator Schumer declared that ideology alone was sufficient reason to block judicial nominees.

These events marked the beginning of a seismic procedural and substantive shift on judicial nominees, and the results were just as I had anticipated as a young staffer. Democrats would now block one highly-qualified nominee after another to the Appeals Court for no other reason than the fact that they were suspected of being too conservative for their tastes.

Miguel Estrada was one of the first victims of the new standard. Because he had been nominated by a Republican, Estrada got no points for his compelling personal story, despite the fact that he had come here as a child from Honduras, went to Harvard Law School, clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court, and served as a prosecutor in New York and at the Justice Department. He was blocked by seven leadership-led filibusters — an unprecedented action for an Appeals Court nominee.

Opponents of the Estrada nomination were ruthless, and eventually succeeded in driving him to withdraw from consideration after more than two years of entrenched opposition. He wasn’t alone. Democrats employed the filibuster strategy against an entire block of Republican nominees on the insistence of special interest groups and in complete contravention of Senate tradition — often relying on the flimsiest of pretexts for doing so.

As a result, several widely-respected, highly qualified nominees saw what should have been a high honor transformed into a humiliating and painful experience for themselves and their families; the country was deprived of their service on the Circuit Court; and the standard that I had articulated and applied throughout my career became essentially irrelevant. Despite my efforts to preserve deference and keep ideology out of the process, the proponents of an ideological test had won the fight. They changed the rules. Filibustering nominees on the grounds of ideology alone was now acceptable. It was now Senate precedent.

Some may argue that Republicans were no better, since a few of them supported filibusters against two Clinton-era nominees, Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon. It’s a flawed comparison. First, neither filibuster attempt got very far. And in both cases, the Leadership of the Republican Party, including me, strongly opposed the effort.

Senator Lott, the Majority Leader at the time, voted in favor of allowing an up-or-down vote on both nominees, even though he would ultimately vote against them as nominees to the Ninth Circuit, as did I and the vast majority of our conference. It was our view that a President deserved considerable deference and that therefore his nominees should not be filibustered.

The new standard devolved even further during the Roberts nomination. Judge Roberts was a spectacular nominee, a man whose background and legal abilities, even according to Democrats, made him one of the most qualified Supreme Court nominees in history. For him, Democrats came up with an even more disturbing test.

Ironically, no one senator articulated this new test more forcefully than Senator Obama. In a floor speech announcing his opposition to John Roberts, Senator Obama was perfectly straightforward. Roberts was completely qualified, he said. But he still wouldn’t get his vote. Here’s what Senator Obama said on the Senate floor: Quote, "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind Judge Roberts is qualified to sit on the highest court in the land. Moreover, he seems to have the comportment and the temperament that makes for a good judge. He is humble. He is personally decent."

The reason Senator Obama would vote against Judge Roberts, he said, rested not on any traditional standard, but on a new one, a standard which amounted to a kind of alchemy based on what he described as, quote, "one’s deepest values, one's core concerns, one’s broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one's empathy" — what’s come to be known as the "empathy standard."

So over the course of the Bush Administration the rules completely changed. Not only had it become common practice to block nominees on the grounds of ideology, but now it was acceptable to reject someone based solely on the expectation that their feelings wouldn’t lead them to rule in favor of certain groups. Suddenly, judges weren't even expected to follow the fundamental principle of blind justice. Deference had eroded even more.

Now, as I’ve stated repeatedly throughout this debate, empathy is a very good quality in itself. And I have no doubt that Senator Obama, now President Obama, had good intentions, and that his heart was in the right place when he made this argument. But when it comes to judging, empathy is only good if you’re lucky enough to be the person or the group that the judge in question has empathy for. In those cases, it’s the judge, not the law, that determines the outcome. And that’s a dangerous road to go down if you believe, as I do, in a nation not of men, but laws.

“Which brings us to Judge Sotomayor. Over the past several weeks, Judge Sotomayor has impressed all of us with her life story. And the confirmation process isn’t easy. I admire anyone who goes through it, which is why I was gratified by Judge Sotomayor’s statement at the conclusion of the hearing that she was treated fairly by everyone.

But the first question I have to ask myself in deciding how to vote on this nominee is this: How stands the traditional standard for voting on nominees?

Deference is still an important principle. But it was clearly eroded during the filibusters of Appeals Court nominees early in the Bush Administration, and it was eroded even further when senators voted against John Roberts and tried to filibuster Samuel Alito. Moreover, the introduction of a new standard — this empathy standard — forces us to reevaluate again the degree of deference a President should be granted. Isn’t it incumbent upon even those of us who have always believed in deference to be even more cautious about approving nominees in this new environment? I believe it is.

If empathy is the new standard, then the burden is on any nominee who is chosen on that basis to show a firm commitment to equal justice under the law. In the past, such a commitment would have been taken for granted. Americans have always had faith that our judges would apply the law fairly — or at least always knew that they should. Unfortunately, the new empathy standard requires a measure of reassurance about this. If nominees aren’t even expected to apply equal justice, we can’t be expected simply to defer to the President — especially if that nominee, as a sitting judge, no less, has repeatedly doubted the ability to adhere to this core principle.

This doesn't mean that I would oppose a nominee just because he or she is nominated by a Democrat. It means that, at a minimum, nominees should be expected to uphold the judicial oath that judges in this country have taken since the earliest days of our nation; namely, that they will "administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich and ... faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon [them] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help [them] God.’

Looked at in this light, Judge Sotomayor]s record of written statements suggests an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath. This is particularly important when considering someone for the Supreme Court since, if she were confirmed, there would be no higher court to deter or prevent her from injecting into the law the various disconcerting principles that recur throughout her public statements. And for that reason, I will oppose her nomination.

Judge Sotomayor has made clear over the years that she subscribes to a number of strongly-held and controversial beliefs that I think most Americans and certainly most Kentuckians would strongly disagree with. But that’s not why I oppose her nomination. Rather, it’s her views on the essential question of the duty of a judge — and the fact that there would be no check on those views were she to become a member of the Supreme Court.

In her writings and in her speeches, Judge Sotomayor has repeatedly stated that a judge's personal experiences affect judicial outcomes. She has said her experiences will affect the facts she chooses to see as a judge. She has argued that in deciding cases judges should bring their sympathies and prejudices to bear. She has dismissed the ideal of judicial impartiality as an "aspiration" that, in her view, cannot be met even in most cases. Taken together, these statements suggest not just a sense that impartiality is not possible — but that it’s not even worth the effort.

But there's more. It appears these views have already found expression in Judge Sotomayor's rulings from the bench. The clearest evidence of this is the judgment of the Supreme Court itself. The Supreme Court doesn’t take easy cases. It only takes cases where there is no easy precedent, where the law is not crystal clear — cases where someone’s policy preferences can more easily make their way into an opinion. In this vein, it's worth noting that the Supreme Court has found that Judge Sotomayor misapplied the law in nine of the ten cases in which her rulings were brought before it. In this term, in fact, she is 0 for 3.

Not only isn’t this a record to be proud of. Together with her statements about impartiality, it’s a record to be scared of if you happen to find yourself standing in front of a Justice Sotomayor. Her most recent reversal by the Court is a perfect illustration of how her personal views can affect an outcome.

I'm referring to the Ricci case, in which a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court rejected Judge Sotomayor’s decision and all of them agreed that her reading of the law was flawed. Here was a case in which a group of firefighters who had studied hard and passed a written test for promotion were denied it because not enough minority firefighters had scored as well as they had.

In a one paragraph opinion that a number of judges on her own court criticized as insubstantial and less than adequate given the seriousness of the circumstances, Judge Sotomayor flatly rejected an appeal by the firefighters who had scored highly. Here was a case where Judge Sotomayor’s long history of advocacy for group preferences appeared to overtake an even-handed application of the law. Judge Sotomayor didn’t empathize with the firefighters who had earned a promotion. And they suffered as a result.

This is the real-world effect of the empathy standard. If the judge has it for you, great. But if she has it for the other guy, not so good. That’s why you can call this new standard a lot of things, but you certainly can’t call it justice.

Judge Sotomayor’s record on the Second Circuit is troubling enough. But, as I’ve noted, at least on the Circuit Court, there’s a backstop. Her cases can be reviewed by the Supreme Court. This meant that in the Ricci case, for example, the firefighters whose promotions were unfairly denied could appeal the decision. Fortunately for them, the Supreme Court sided with them over Judge Sotomayor. If, however, Judge Sotomayor were to become a Supreme Court Justice, her rulings would be final. She’d be unencumbered by the obligation of lower court judges to follow precedent. She could act more freely on the kinds of views that animated her troubling and legally incorrect ruling in the Ricci case. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take.

From the beginning of this confirmation process, I’ve said that Americans expect one thing when they walk into a courtroom, whether it’s traffic court or the Supreme Court — and that’s equal treatment under the law. Over the years, Americans have accepted significant ideological differences in the kinds of men and women that various presidents have nominated to the Supreme Court. But one thing Americans will never tolerate in a nominee is a belief that some groups are more deserving of a fair shake than others. Nothing could be more offensive to the American sensibility than that.

Judge Sotomayor is a fine person with an impressive story and a distinguished background. But above all else, a judge must check his or her personal or political agenda at the courtroom door and do justice even-handedly, as the judicial oath requires. This is the most basic, and therefore the most fundamental standard of all upon which judges in our country must be judged. Judge Sotomayor does not meet the test.

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law

Obama's stimulus campaign signs meet Chicago public transportation

Blogging from Angel Island, California.

AP is reporting this afternoon that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has officially declared his intention to run for the US Senate.

The AP article neglected to mention his controversial vote in favor of the national energy tax, better known as cap and trade.

This post was composed on my Blackerry Bold.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Ill. Gov. Quinn visits troops in Iraq

I've been pretty critical of Governor Patrick Quinn since he succeeded Rod Blagojevich in Illinois. But he's a strong supporter of our troops, and while he was lieutenant governor, he attended, without fanfare, the funeral of every Illinois soldier killed in the War on Terror.

Shortly after signing the state budget bill, Quinn flew to Iraq, along with four other governors: Jay Nixon of Missouri, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Rick Perry of Texas, and Jim Gibbons of Nevada.

Thank you, governors.

Related posts:

Lt. Gov. Quinn: Donate airline miles to troops

Lt. Gov. Quinn in Germany meeting with troops

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San Francisco's sea lions

Blogging from San Fransisco.

A few months after the 1989 earthquake, the sea lions that that had been living off of seal rocks of San Francisco's western coast, migrated into San Francisco Bay, choosing Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf as their new home.

Boat owners weren't too happy, but they eventually began to get used to the barking beasts, and the boats were given new slots.

There were about 100 sea lions this afternoon at Pier 39. The mostly just sat on the pier, a few swam, a few fought each other.

If you want to take a look for yourself, visit the sea lion web cam.

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San Francisco: Cable cars

Blogging from San Fransisco.

The City by the Bay is famous for a lot of things, one of them is cable cars. They're neat to look at, and the technology that makes them run, slow down, and stop, is fascinating.

To prepare for our ride, we visited the Cable Car Museum in the Nob Hill district, where admission is free.

Gears and of course cables (I'm sure I'm misphrasing this) power the cars. Some of them are pictured on the lower left side of this post.

After a half hour wait, we hopped on a cable car on Powell Street across the street from the museum--we were told the cars run every ten minutes--mechanical difficulties slowed this one down.

Getting on the car was chaotic, the driver wasn't sure if there was space for us. There was, but amidst the confusion, he forgot to charge us the to get on the car. A ride is $5.00, but it's good for the entire day

The ride: We hated it. The cars are slow, the ride is jerky, the seats were all taken, so we couldn't see much, and friction of the cables gives off an odd smell, similar to the odor of an electrical fire.

But the cable cars are great to look at.

Related posts:

San Francisco's blues mural

San Francisco arrival

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

San Francisco's blues mural

Blogging from San Francisco.

You walk around any city and you're bound to find a hidden treasure such as the blues mural found at the Hamilton Recreation Center on Post Street and Steiner.

San Fransisco hasn't produced many blues artists, but it can boast that KPOO, the first non-commercial black-owned station west of the Mississippi.

Muddy Waters, Bobbie "Blue" Bland, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan are among the blues artists on the mural, but some performers not considered practicioners of genre, including James Brown, Tupac Shakur, and Mahalia Jackson have been committed to paint there. Another Jackson, Jesse, can be found among the stars.

The project actually consists of two murals, a celestial frieze divides them.

Related posts from My Mississippi Manifest Destiny:

Leland's Blues Murals
Highway 61 Blues Museum
Blues Trail
Clarksdale, Home of the Delta Blues
Robert Johnson's Crossroads

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Sen. John Kyl delivers the weekly Repubican Senate address

Blogging from San Francisco:

Senate Minority Whip John Kyl (R-AZ) delivers this week's Republican Senate address/

The Democratic mantra about the Republicans is wrong: The GOP is not the "Party of No."

In his address, the Arizonan explains, "Republicans believe all Americans should have access to quality health care and that we must find ways to reduce health care costs."

"Republicans have put forward common-sense ideas," Kyl continued, "Including rooting out Medicare and Medicaid fraud, reforming medical liability laws to discourage frivolous lawsuits, strengthening wellness and prevention programs that encourage healthy living, and allowing small businesses to band together and purchase health insurance like large corporations do.

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universal health care

john kyl

arizona

San Francisco arrival

Blogging from San Francisco.

We just checked into our hotel room--it's in the Cathedral Hill section of the city.

Our cabdriver, a Chinese man named Mr. Lee was an engaging sort who bemoaned the homeless problem here, and seemed disgusted with the benefits given to them by the well-meaning but misguided city government.

The Civic Center is just east of us--it seems to be a popular gathering place for the indigents of San Francisco.

I've heard that nearby communities bus their homeless to San Fransisco, alleviating their towns of their indigents, but essentially "kicking the can" elsewhere.

During our ride, an oblivious handholding couple made it a point to cross Geary Street as slowly as possible, blocking our way. Yes, I'm aware the pedestrians have the right-of-way, but once run over, it doesn't really matter, does it?

Which led our cabbie to discuss the high cost of taxi insurance. He pays $7,300 a year.

Ouch.

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The Kinks: "Days"

"Days" from 1968 is the last great single from the Kinks' "lost period" in America. In 1965 the band was effectively banned from performing in the US by the American Federation of Musicians.

Touring was much more important for rock artists forty years ago. Artists came to town, disc jockeys played their songs, and the bands reciprocated by professing their love for the radio station. Record labels subsidized concert tours because live performances moved units.

Only the Beatles could abandon the road and survive.

Ray Davies, the band's principal songwriter, singer, and resident genius, was at the top of his game with "Days," one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

Two years later, Davies struck back at unions with "Get Back in Line."

Related post:

The Kinks peform "Have a Cuppa Tea"

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Friday, July 17, 2009

McConnell to vote "No" on Sotomayor

Barring the uncovering of something extremely damaging, Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be confirmed as the nation's next Supreme Court justice.

But many Republicans won't vote for her, assuming they follow their the Mitch McConnel's lead:

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will formally announce his opposition to Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in a floor speech on Monday, July 20. The following are unembargoed excerpts from his prepared remarks:

"From the beginning of this confirmation process, I’ve said that Americans expect one thing when they walk into a court room, whether it’s a traffic court or the Supreme Court — and that’s equal treatment under the law. Over the years, Americans have accepted significant ideological differences in the kinds of men and women that various presidents have nominated to the Supreme Court. But one thing Americans will never tolerate in a nominee is a belief that some groups are more deserving of a fair shake than others. Nothing could be more offensive to the American sensibility than that. Judge Sotomayor is a fine person with an impressive story and a distinguished background. But above all else, a judge must check his or her personal or political agenda at the courtroom door and do justice even-handedly, as the judicial oath requires."

"Judge Sotomayor’s record of written statements suggests an alarming lack of respect for the notion of equal justice, and therefore, in my view, an insufficient willingness to abide by the judicial oath. This is particularly important when considering someone for the Supreme Court since, if she were confirmed, there would be no higher court to deter or prevent her from injecting into the law the various disconcerting principles that recur throughout her public statements. For that reason, I will oppose her nomination."

"In her writings and in her speeches, Judge Sotomayor has repeatedly stated that a judge’s personal experiences affect judicial outcomes. She has said her experiences will affect the facts that she chooses to see as a judge. She has argued that in deciding cases judges should bring their sympathies and prejudices to bear. She has dismissed the ideal of judicial impartiality as an ‘aspiration’ that, in her view, cannot be met even in most cases. Taken together, these statements suggest not just a sense that impartiality is not possible, but that it’s not even worth the effort."

"Judge Sotomayor’s record on the Second Circuit is troubling enough. But, as I said, at least on the Circuit Court, there’s a backstop. Her cases can be reviewed by the Supreme Court. This meant that in the Ricci case, for example, the firefighters whose promotions were unfairly denied could appeal the decision. Fortunately for them, the Supreme Court sided with them over Judge Sotomayor. If, however, Judge Sotomayor were to become a Supreme Court Justice, there would be no backstop. Her rulings would be final. She’d be unencumbered by the obligation of lower court judges to follow precedent. She could act more freely on the kinds of views that animated her troubling and legally incorrect ruling in the Ricci case. That’s not a chance I’m willing to take."

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law

California man

Blogging will be light for a couple of days. Very early tomorrow morning, the Marathon Pundit family and I are headed for my much fact-finding trip to the former Golden State, California.

We arrive in San Francisco Saturday morning--we'll be heading to Napa Valley and Yosemite.

To prepare for my journey, I read "What's the Matter with California?: Cultural Rumbles from the Golden State and Why the Rest of Us Should Be Shaking."

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liberal

Dems drop card check from Employee FORCED Choice Act

The New York Times has some some news about the Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act, which should be called the Employee FORCED Choice Act:

A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.

The so-called card-check provision — which senators decided to scrap to help secure a filibuster-proof 60 votes — would have required employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. Currently, employers can insist on a secret-ballot election, a higher hurdle for unions.

The abandonment of card check was another example of the power of moderate Democrats to constrain their party’s more liberal legislative efforts. Though the Democrats have a 60-40 vote advantage in the Senate, and President Obama supports the measure, several moderate Democrats opposed the card-check provision as undemocratic.

In its place, several Senate and labor officials said, the revised bill would require shorter unionization campaigns and faster elections.

However, during a bloggers' conference call last week, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) had this to say about then-speculated EFCA compromises:

I want to be very clear on this point. There cannot be a compromise when it comes to "card check" and mandatory arbitration. The stakes are simply too high for workers, for small businesses and for our economic recovery.

Dan Riehl has more on this subject.

My take on the compromise? Will the Dems try to rush this bill through Congress, giving members little or no time to read it?

Related posts:

Report from the bloggers' conference call about EFCA with Rep. Tom Price
Report from the bloggers' conference call with Rep. John Kline talking about EFCA
Union members: More equal than others in Obama's America
EFCA still sub-sixty?
Compromise on card check coming?
Report from the bloggers' conference call on EFCA and cash for union coffers
Report from the bloggers' conference call on EFCA and under-funded pensions
SEIU prez: Union spent $60.7 million to elect Obama
George McGovern: "The ‘Free Choice’ Act Is Anything But"
Report from the bloggers' conference call about Employee FORCED Choice binding arbitration
Report from the bloggers' confernce call about card check
Former union organizer talks about card check
Nonsense from a South Dakota AFL-CIO official about card check
Minority business groups coming out against card check
Sen. Mitch McConnell on card check
Card check update: "A mortal threat to American freedom"
Blagojevich and union "card check"
Employee "free choice" may drive economic uncertainty

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employee free choice act

South Dakota

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Blago returning to the radio

Are you ready for successive Sundays Rod Blagojevich on the radio? Well Blago will be back on WLS-AM, "the Big 89," on July 19 and 26, from Noon to 2pm.

WLS has a strong signal, so if you're within 200 miles of Chicago that day, you should be able hear Blago's delusions about what a great guy he really is.

Or you can listen in on the internet.

The disgraced former governor filled in for the vacationing Don & Roma on the same station a few months ago.

I'll miss the first show, look for me in San Francisco that day.

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wls

Terror attack in Jakarta

Australia's ABC News has another reminder that we live in a dangerous world:

Coordinated bomb attacks have hit two luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, killing at least six people, including foreigners, and injuring a number of others.

"There were explosions heard from two separate places, one the JW Marriott, the other in the Ritz Carlton. We are still trying to check because right now we are still helping the victims," South Jakarta Police Chief Firman Santyabudi told Indonesian Metro TV.

A caller to Fairfax Radio in Melbourne said his son, an Australian, was among the injured.

"He was in the building and all of a sudden there was a massive explosion and he was bleeding from the left leg," the caller said.

Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda linked group, is believed to be behind the attacks.

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Ill. state rep lands plane safely with no alternator

Illinois Rep. David Winters (R-Rockford), a candidate for lieutenant governor, should be up to the pressure of handling statewide office.

Winters routinely pilots a plane to Springfield. But this week's flight was far from routine, his alternator failed, which forced the plane to pull all of its electricity from the battery.

But he landed the aircraft and he lived to talk about it.

Hat tip to Capitol Fax.

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Not just conservatives fretting about Sotomayor testimony

A few liberals, in addition to many conservatives, have problems with the Senate testimony of Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor, as ABC News tells us:

In an online debate last night, liberal Georgetown Law Professor Mike Seidman declared himself "completely disgusted" by her testimony.

Seidman, who clerked for liberal icon Thurgood Marshall, wrote:

"If she was not perjuring herself, she is intellectually unqualified to be on the Supreme Court. If she was perjuring herself, she is morally unqualified. How could someone who has been on the bench for seventeen years possibly believe that judging in hard cases involves no more than applying the law to the facts?"

"Legal academics who defend what she did today have no such excuse. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

As one of my colleagues pointed out, Seidman clearly isn’t gunning for the Sotomayor holiday card this year -- unlike so many legal experts and analysts who have so eagerly defended her performance as a nominee (knowing, incidentally, they will soon be appearing before her as a justice.)

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law

Mark Kirk will be in Arlington Heights on Sunday

Here's your latest chance to let Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) know how you feel about his vote in favor of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill.

Sunday, July 19 at 2:30 p.m

Congressman Mark Kirk will be here at HQ to hear our concerns and answer our questions about his vote on "Cap & Trade" (a/k/a "energy tax," a/k/a "carbon tax," a/k/a "global warming"). He has indicated he will be available until 4:30. This is your opportunity to ask him questions and give him your views. Don't miss it.

Faithfully,

Ruth O'Connell
Republican Committeeman
Republicans of Wheeling Township

909 E. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60004

847.632.1774

I will be on the first full-day of my fact-finding tour in California, but I will be in Arlington Heights in spirit.

Related post:

Cap-and-trade Tea Party at Rep. Mark Kirk's office

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Northwest Chicago Suburbs

Dodge City has got khat

Cathine, also known as khat, is a commonly used drug in Somalia.

Could an alleged incident that took place in Dodge City, Kansas portend the spread of cathine in this country?

Dodge City police arrested five men earlier this month for alleged possession of a little-known drug.

Mohamed Ali, Hasssam Jama, Dahir Ibrahim Wais, Ahmed Yusuf and Ahdiwahid Yusuf were arrested July 4 on suspicion of possessing cathine, more commonly known as khat. The drug's effects are similar to but less intense than those associated with methamphetamine or cocaine.

Police Chief John Ball told the Globe on Thursday that Wais is from Dodge City, and the other four men hail from St. Cloud, Minn. The four had brought Wais from St. Cloud back to Dodge sometime around July 4.

Angel dust and meth were once unknown drugs.

Related post:

Dodge City, Beef Kingdom

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Obama says it's his economy now

It's Obama's economy now:

With four simple words — "Give it to me!" — President Barack Obama took possession of the economy.

For months, the White House and Obama's economic team have laid the economic crisis at the feet of President George W. Bush. But there comes a point in a presidency when inheritance becomes ownership. Obama made that pivot this week in Michigan, the state suffering the worst unemployment in the nation.

"I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, 'Well, this is Obama’s economy,'" the president said, pointedly deviating from his prepared text. "That's fine. Give it to me!”

It was a defiant moment, reminiscent of Bush's own '"Bring 'em on!" taunt in 2003 to militants in Iraq.

Liberals like Barack Obama made sure that statement would haunt Bush.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

PETA decries Jacko butter statue at Iowa State Fair

Iowa is honoring Michael Jackson in a Hawkeye State way: With a statue of the the late King of Pop made of butter.

The Des Moines Regiser's John Carlson spreads the news:

The often-detested, sometimes-loved and always-controversial People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals thinks Michael Jackson's image most definitely should not be sculpted in butter at the 2009 Iowa State Fair.

Heck, PETA doesn't even think the butter cow should be made out of butter.

The animal rights organization recommends using something called "Earth Balance," which it describes as a "nondairy buttery spread." Either that "or another vegan spread instead of butter."

Not likely, since the butter cow is one of the most popular attractions at the fair every year, the display is sponsored by the Midwest Dairy Association and the fair is a meat-centered food extravaganza where pork chops on a stick are more popular than cotton candy and deep-fried Snickers bars.

Deep-fried Snickers bars? Eew!

Oh, but we were talking about Michael Jackson...

The live Jacko had crossed paths with PETA. Apparently the radical group does not want Jackson to rest in peace. Or butter.

Related post:

Sunday night at the Michael Jackson home in Gary

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America is an Obamanation: Obama's TelePrompTer™ is dead

America is an Obamanation has the tragic news. Obama's TelePrompTer™ has passed on.

Click here to learn more about this developing story.

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Obama and "Cominskey Park"

A few thoughts on Barack Obama and last night's Major League Baseball All Star Game.

Fox showed the president throw out the ceremonial first pitch, but they didn't show where the ball landed. By the way, there were some clearly noticeable boos after Obama was introduced.

Was this something the White House demanded from Fox--so embarrassing clips of Obama throwing a limp pitch ending up 10 feet from home plate wouldn't end up on YouTube for eternity?

Shortly after the midsummer classic started, Obama was interviewed by Tim McCarver and Joe Buck.
The president, who claims to be a longtime Chicago White Sox fan, referred to the park they play in as "Cominskey Park." It was Comiskey Park until 2003, when it became US Cellular Field.

And finally, which baseball team, if any, did Barack Obama support when he was a kid growing up in Hawaii? I believe most Hawaiians follow the San Francisco Giants, many others are devoted to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As for myself, I've been a White Sox fan for as long as I remember.

Regarding the name of the park, I prefer the name of the old stadium had when I was little: White Sox Park. Simple, but effective.

As for Obama, he's a bandwagon hopper. He picked the right church--at the time--after he moved to Chicago which was of course the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ. And he chose to cheer the team most blacks in Chicago support--the White Sox.

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mlb

mlb

US Route 12...Chicago Road...Sauk Trail

Many of the old US Highways are predominately straight-line routes. In Northwest Indiana, it's curvy. There's a reason why: It replaced the old Chicago Road, which ran from Detroit to, well you know where. That road was built on an old Indian Trail, known as Sauk Trail, which ran all the way to Rock Island, Illinois.

Sauk Trail, a busy thoroughfare in Chicago's far southern suburbs, follows a portion of that route.

The Indiana portion of US Route 12 is known as the Iron Brigade Highway, named for fierce fighters in the Civil War made up of soldiers from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Related posts:

Indiana Dunes: The Revolutionary War Battle of Le Petit Fort

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore: Cowles Bog

Indiana Dunes

Indiana Dunes sunset

The U.S. Grant Memorial Highway

Highway 61 Blues Highway marker unveiled on Thursday

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Rezko mansion to be auctioned

If you are in the market for an historic Chicago North Shore mansion, then head to Wilmette next month. The home of convicted felon Tony Rezko, Barack Obama's first political sponsor, will be put on the auction block, Crain's Chicago Business is reporting this afternoon.

Bank of America will auction off Antoin “Tony” Rezko’s north suburban mansion early next month to try to recoup part of the imprisoned developer’s past-due $5.15-million mortgage.

Mr. Rezko took out the loan on his more than 8,400-square-foot home at 1250 Chestnut Ave. in Wilmette in September 2003, roughly three years before he was indicted on federal fraud and money-laundering charges.

The original lender, Chicago-based LaSalle Bank N.A., filed a foreclosure lawsuit in October 2006, after Mr. Rezko, a key fundraiser for politicians including former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, allegedly missed his August 2006 payment, according to a copy of the complaint filed in Cook County.

Now, the home where Mr. Rezko once held a lavish fundraiser for President Barack Obama will be auctioned off Aug. 10. Bank of America, which acquired LaSalle Bank in fall 2007, is expected to set a minimum sales price for the property, though the amount was not yet known, says Scott Jensen, a partner at Murray Jensen & Wilson Ltd., a Chicago-based law firm that’s representing the bank.

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Senate HELP Committee passes health care bill

Along party lines, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 13-10 to pass the Kennedy-Dodd bill, the Senate's health care reform proposal.

Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) gave the bill an "F," while Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) said the legislation would add $1 trillion to the national debt.

Related posts:

Wyoming Senator finds lots of pork in Kennedy-Dodd health care bill

Sen. Judd Gregg: "A budget to beggar us"

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universal health care

Republicans don't believe Sotomayor

I don't believe Judge Sonia Sotomayor is being trutful in her testimony in front fo the Senate.

Byron York agrees with me:

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are convinced that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has not been candid with them in under-oath testimony about her speeches and legal activism. But given the assurance that majority Democrats will vote to confirm Sotomayor no matter what, the GOP effort against her is largely an attempt to convince other Republicans that Sotomayor has not earned a vote for confirmation.

Republican aides worked through the night, Tuesday into Wednesday, studying the 108-page transcript from Tuesday's hearing. They believe Sotomayor told a variety of stories, none of them entirely truthful, to explain her series of infamous "wise Latina" speeches. And they question her efforts to distance herself from the work of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, on whose board she served for twelve years in the 1980s and early 1990s.

For example, in response to questioning from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sotomayor denied involvement in PRLDEF litigation which argued that the denial of taxpayer-funded abortions amounted to a form of slavery. One brief, in 1980, compared the withholding of taxpayer abortion funding to the Dred Scott decision, and another, in 1992, argued that for poor women, especially blacks, denying taxpayer-funded abortion violated "the right to privacy in matters of body and reproduction -- a right that was trammeled with state sanction during centuries of slavery."

Sotomayor testified that she "never reviewed" and "wasn't aware of what was said" in the abortion briefs. Yet Sotomayor served on PRLDEF's litigation committee at the time, and a report last May in the New York Times, citing several former board members, said that, among the PRLDEF board, Sotomayor "stood out, frequently meeting with the legal staff to review the status of cases." The paper reported that for Sotomayor's entire 12 years on the board, "she played an active role as the defense fund staked out aggressive stances on issues like police brutality, the death penalty and voting rights."

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law

legal