Amanda Carpenter went on a search to find out how much of our taxpayer money goes to ACORN.  Her findings are listed at Townhall.com on one of their political blogs.  Most of the money is channelled through Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through various programs that were set up to help lower income people buy houses.  Her preliminary research came up with a figure of roughly $51 million dollars to ACORN and its related organizations.  We need to put a stop to this.  We are supporting voter fraud through our tax dollars.

Joe the Plumber is the man who said, “The Emperor has no clothes”.  All this talk about tax policies and financial policies by the candidates is enough to make your eyes glaze over.  However, Joe the Plumber understands how Barack Obama’s tax policies will impact him.  He does not make $250,000 a year, but he plans to.  With Barack Obama as President, those plans may have to be modified.  For further notes on Joe the Plumber, see Littlel Green Footballs.  This man understands what tax policy means to him.  We need to be aware of what tax policy means to us before we vote.

Hot Air has an article (including a video) about George McGovern’s opposition to ‘card check’ (the practice of taking the secret ballot out of union votes).  I used to be a liberal, and I voted for George McGovern.  This statement almost makes me feel vindicated.  I disagree with the man on almost everything, but at least he has the strength of character to speak out when he knows something is bad for the country.  It is good to know that there are still some politicians out there with principles.  The importance of card check is that it would essentially take away the freedom to vote against the unions and it would add considerable sums of money to democrat party coffers.  Every union member would be paying at least $500 a year in dues with no input in how that money would be spent politically.

Yahoo News is reporting that the number two leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq has been killed in Mosul.  There had been a lot of terrorism in Mosul recently aimed against the minority Christian population, and many of the Christians were fleeing the city in fear.  Evidently, one of the tactics of Al-Qaida in Iraq has been to pit minority religious groups against each other in order to destabilize the country.  These attacks have decreased dramatically since the surge, but they have continued.  With the death of Abu Qaswarah, these attacks should decrease.  It is believed that his death will cause serious disruption in Al-Qaida activities in northern Iraq.

If you haven’t seen the video of the Ohio plumber, please check it out–it is included in the link to The New York Post listed below.   Obama said he would raise taxes on the plumber in order to ‘spread the wealth around’.  Keep in mind that this is an average working man, this is not Donald Trump.  There is an article at Power Line that discusses the history of America’s relationship with taxes.  There is also an article in The New York Post that includes the video of the plumber talking to Barack Obama.  Remember, a lot of the people Obama is saying he will cut taxes for don’t pay taxes.  What he wants to do, essentially, is redistribute wealth without poorer people having to work for it.  What is the lesson taught in that?  If you don’t work very hard, eventually you will get more money from someone who does.  If you do work very hard, you will not be able to keep what you earn.  If you go back to the history of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, you will read that originally the pilgrims had a situation where all the land was held and farmed in common.  They almost starved to death before they allotted every family a plot of land and allowed them to prosper in accordance with their efforts.  After they began individual ownership, the people grew more crops and prospered.

The danger point in all this is that at some point the number of people not paying taxes who receive money from the government will be greater than the number of people who are working and pay taxes. 

Just for your information, this is the current situation. The overwhelming majority of federal income taxes are paid by the very highest income earners. The top 1% of income earners pay about 32% of all income taxes. The top 5% pays 51.4%. The top 10% of high income earners, pay 63.5%. The top 20% of income earners pays 78% of all federal income taxes. 

Since the people who do not work have the same right to vote as the people who do work, this could lead to some very ugly things.  Please read ATLAS SHRUGGED.  My parting words are “Who is John Galt?”.

The Buckeye Institute has filed a state RICO action against ACORN in Ohio.  There is an article posted by Michelle Malkin detailing the suit.  The action is filed in Warren County by two people charging that ACORN’s fraudulent acitivity deprives them of their right to participlate in an honest election.  It will be interesting to see where this goes.  In a related story, The St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Mickey Mouse was registered in Orange County, Florida (his registration had an ACORN stamp on it).  I want to be there when he shows up to vote!  The Dallas Cowboys starting lineup is registered in Nevada.  My, how some people get around!  I hope we have some way of identifying legitimate voters before election day comes.

Jesse Jackson spoke up today in France concerning how Barack Obama would treat Israel.  Power Line has summarized the statements Jackson made at the first World Policy Forum.  Basically what he said was that the Zionists have controlled American foreign policies and there will be massive changes in those policies.  Israel has been one of our strongest allies in the Middle East and may eventually be the country that deals with the problem of a nuclear Iran.  I would also like to say that it may be a safe bet that if Barack Obama is elected, Israel will bomb Iran before January 20.  They will probably assume that even thought the Bush administration will not support the attack, an Obama administration will react against it much more forcefully.  We really need to consider what the foreign policy of a Barack Obama administration would be like.

Power Line has a post dealing with ‘card check’ (a process that takes the secret ballot away in company employees deciding whether to unionize).  The conventional wisdom is that if Barack Obama is elected president, the secret ballot in union elections will disappear, as will free speech (the fairness doctrine will be reinstated and talk radio will be seriously threatened).  Michael Barone at National Review has a column detailing all the anti-free speech moves made by the Obama campaign–from silencing critics (Stanley Kurtz on WGN) to screaming racism every time he is criticized.  Please think before you vote.

Hugh Hewett has an article on his blog Hugh Hewitt at Townhall.com relating what an Obama presidency would mean.  He lists five problems with Obama as president. 1) Based on his associations, who would he put in Cabinet positions? 2) Because of his lack of understanding of the victory in Iraq and its fragile nature, he would endanger the future of both Iraq and America in relation to that war. 3) Along with a Democratic congress, he will promote isolationist trade policies and higher taxes (both of which caused the “Great Depression”). 4) The American military will be defunded and demoralized. 5) He will bring back the death tax, which is nothing more than a redistribution of wealth. 

If you support the list above, vote for Obama.  If we elect Obama and we have a democrat congress, we will not recognize our country in two years.

Power Line has an article detailing a Stanley Kurtz investigation into the relationship between ACORN, Obama, and the mortgage crisis.  The story goes back to the mid 1990’s and ends with the following quote:

“Read it all. One of the common themes of modern American history is that liberals will create a problem by ill-advised government action, then benefit from it politically by proposing ever more intrusive government action to solve it. That appears to be happening again in connection with today’s credit crisis.”

Consider this as you begin to decide who you will vote for in three weeks.

The Wall Street Journal has the best article I have seen so far about Barack Obama’s tax proposals (it even has a graph!).  It explains why the policies would discourage people from working extra hours to earn more.  Generally the policies would discourage lower income working families from working hard to advance.  Because they would begin to lose their tax breaks as their income rose above $40,000 a year, there would be no reason to strive for higher wages.

Power Line has a short article noting that if Barack Obama is elected president, America will have the most left-wing leader present at the G7.  We might not like to policies that come out of the G7 at that point–they will not favor America and could damage our country.  Remember, this is not a man who believes in ‘American exceptionalism’.

There is an article on Little Green Footballs detailing ties between Barack Obama and ACORN.  Now that people are becoming aware of the voter fraud charges against ACORN, Barack Obama is adding them to the crowd already under the bus.  It must be getting pretty crowded under there (his racist grandmother, Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.).  The Barack Obama website is being quietly edited as the connection with ACORN becomes harder to deny.  Also, from the article:

Wikileaks.org has an article from the Winter 2003 edition of the magazine Social Policy (whose website has gone offline sometime in the past few days), making it very clear that  Barack Obama’s ties to ACORN are extensive.

I’m not sure you can incite rage (I know you can incite violence), but if it were possible, it may surprise you to see who is doing it.  Remember the best way protect yourself from an opponent accusing you of something you are actually doing wrong is to accuse him of it first.  That totally blunts the attack.  With that in mind, I would like to direct you to a Mark Steyn post at The National Review.   I need to put a warning label on this post.  The language on the videos is not anything I need to listen to, I just need to be aware that it is happening.

When I want the truth on something that has legal overtones, I go to the lawyers at PowerLineBlog.  This is the money quote from their article on the Sarah Palin ‘troopergate’ scandal:

“It is also not entirely clear (at least to me) that the efforts of Gov. Palin and/or her husband were intended to gain a personal benefit. Wooten seems to have been a genuine menace. Among other things, he tasered his young stepson and apparently had a drinking problem. If a governor concludes that a state trooper is a miscreant, the governor should have the ability to discuss that trooper. The report does not convincingly show that the Palins were driven by the desire to obtain a personal benefit, as opposed to the desire to rid the police force of a bad apple about whom they had personal knowledge. However, Todd Palin’s persistence suggests that, at a minimum, there he, at least had a personal agenda.”

I would like to point out that Todd Palin is not running for Vice President.  I would also like to point out that if someone in a position of power is aware of the kind of behavior on the part of a policeman that her ex brother-in-law engaged in, they have a moral responsibility to make as much noise as needed to have the person fired.  A policeman with a drinking problem who tasers his stepson is not my idea of the poster child for law enforcement.  I wonder if part of the flack she is getting is because she was (in a sense) taking on a very powerful union.

The Washington Post ran an article on Wednesday regarding John Kerry’s involvement with insurance giant AIG.  He and Ted Kennedy blocked legislation from John McCain that would have cut thousands of dollars off the cost of the Big Dig.  The story is fairly complex, but there was a vacation trip, a campaign donation, and a fairly large stock holding involved, and it really does not look ethical.  I would also like to remind any Massachusetts readers that if you go to OpenSecrets.org and look at the campaign donations that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made to politicians, John Kerry is one of the top three recipients of campaign donations from these organizations.

This morning I was fortunate to be part of a group of people who met with Senate candidate Jeff Beatty, who is running against John Kerry.  In the thirty years I have lived in Massachusetts, I have considered it a one-party state (with occasional Republican governors).  But it may be time for that to change.  Jeff Beatty came across as a natural leader with business, military and personal experiences that have prepared him well for the job of Senator.  His work with the military and government agencies has allowed him to see up close and personal how Washington works (or doesn’t work)  and to understand how to change it.  He was interested in hearing what issues our small group was interested in, and was knowledgeable in those issues as well as several others he brought up.  This man definitely has leadership qualities that we could use in Washington.  There are two debates scheduled between John Kerry and Jeff Beatty before the election.  I will post reminders as they get closer.

When I first looked at this, I thought it might be serious.  It’s an indication of where we are.  There is an article at Little Green Footballs stating that ACORN has filed a voting rights suit on behalf of imaginary Americans.  I love it.

There is a website called Hillbuzz run by a group of democrat supporters of Hillary Clinton that now support John McCain.  That site has an article on RICO charges being brought against ACORN.  Clinton supporters are sharing information with the people investigating the voter fraud charges against ACORN.  It’s an interesting website–it deals with caucus irregularities and strongarm tactics used by the Obama campaign during the primaries.  Remember, however, that this site supports the Clintons, who in the past have not been totally honest in all their dealings either.  However, I don’t believe that they were ever guilty of voter fraud. 

If this were not totally pathetic, it would be funny.  Do you remember the Carter years–gas lines, 18 percent mortgages, unemployment, the invention of the “misery index” because things were so bad that they had no way to measure them?  This is rich.  The article is at Reuters.  Meanwhile as we speak, the price of oil has dropped to $80 a barrel.  As we watch OPEC cut production to raise the price, we may remember why we need to be energy independent.  Just a note, a vote for Obama is a vote to relive the Carter years.

We have pretty much won the war in Iraq.  Where is the thank you to our troops?  Where is the celebration of the fact that people are no longer being sent through chicken shredders feet first?  Where is the celebration of the fact that children are no longer tortured in front of their parents or put in prison?  Where is the celebration of the end of the rape rooms?  Where is the celebration of the end of the mass graves?  Does anyone remember that Saddam Hussien violated the treaty that ended the first Gulf War umpteen times and would probably continue to do so?  Part of this war had to do with human rights.  If the UN were worth anything at all, they could have dealt with it and cleaned it up.  Does anyone remember that the UN left Iraq as soon as the situation became difficult?  I say all this to remind anyone who is willing to listen that the picture that has been painted for us by the press has left a lot out.  Please keep that in mind and THANK A SOLDIER TODAY!!!

Investor’s Business Daily posted an editorial yesterday about the future of the alternative media (that’s what you are reading right now!) under an Obama administration.  It lists some of the anti-free speech actions taken by the campaign to squelch opposing ideas.  The alternative media (talk radio and the internet) have played a role in recent presidential and congressional elections, and it has not been a role appreciated by the democrat party.  Their lives would be easier without pesky internet people checking their facts.  (Remember the Dan Rather scandel–that was uncovered due to the blog Little Green Footballs.  The photoshopped pictures of the Iran rocket launchings were also exposed by the internet–I think that was Little Green Footballs, also.  The phony pictures of damage to Lebanon in the war with Israel were also exposed on the internet).  Factcheck.org is a poliltically neutral organization, but it exposes democrat as well as republican lies.  We need a media that reports both sides of any issue, and right now the mainstream media is not doing that.

There is an article in The New York Post about someone who took part in the ACORN voter fraud scam.  It’s important to know what is going on with ACORN and voter fraud.  The Obama campaign has given money to ACORN for voter registration, but claims not to be involved in any of the voter problems.  ACORN is saying that any problems are due to employees not understanding the rules–that it has no responsibility for the fraud.  The talking point is “we are only trying to register more voters”.  There are also counties in some of the swing states that have registered more voters than people who actually live there over the age of 18.

1.  Why haven’t we heard anything about the war in Iraq?  Have you read that Iraq will be holding parliamentary elections in January and the groups that boycotted last time have agreed to take part?  Did you know that Iraq has worked out its oil revenue sharing program?  Did you know that public opinion polls in the Middle East (there’s a strange concept) have shown that suicide bombing is not as popular as it used to be?  Evidently it is now considered a destructive but not particularly effective tactic.  I think that’s good news.  Have you read anywhere that freedom in Iraq is as much a destabilization problem for Iran as Iran has tried to be to Iraq?  Hmmm

2.  Have you read that the crowds for McCain-Palin are getting larger while the crowds for Barack Obama are shrinking?  I have no idea what that means, but I find it interesting.  I listened to part of a McCain-Palin rally in Wisconsin today, there are some angry voters out there.

3.  Why are we asking the Congress, whose policies caused the demise of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to fix them?  Why is Henry Waxman investigating the financial meltdown when it was a democrat problem?  See previous post “Follow The Money” on September 16, which links to opensecrets.org which shows campaign donations by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

These are the things we should be seeing in our newspapers.  Have you seen any of them?