The World According to Hans Blix and Barack Obama

The Heat Is On...

And Jihad Jack Murtha is feeling a bit hot under the collar:

NEW – National media draws Murtha's ire

The Tribune-Democrat
A visibly angry Rep. John Murtha cut his Showcase for Commerce press conference short this morning after a reporters’ questions about Kuchera Defense Systems of Windber, which is under investigation by the federal government.

Kuchera offices were raided in January and the company was suspended from new Navy contracts last month. The Kuchera family and related companies are major campaign contributors for Murtha.

“What’s that got to do with me?” Murtha shot back to a reporter’s question about the investigation. “What do you think? Do you think I oversee these companies? That’s the Defense Department’s job. That’s not my job. You guys write these stories: You don’t have a clue what this is all about.”

But that's exactly what's bothering you, isn't it, Jack Murtha. The media are actually starting to get a clue, the same clue that we at Murtha Must Go!! have had since we started the blog in May of 2006. That you are a self-serving, self-indulgent, arrogant sorry excuse for a public official who thinks he can do whatever he wants to meet his ends, even going so far as to deny Constitutional rights to those who laid their lives on the line to defend them.

But now it isn't so easy, is it Jack. With two Republican challengers, and even a democrat primary challenger, the power you wielded so recklessly is now slipping through your greasy fingers like sands through an hourglass.

When you were giving your party cover as you declared the Iraq war unwinnable in November of 2005, Jack, you were the toast of the town. The darling of every antiwar moonbat, your eyes set greedily upon the majority leader post in Congress, you thought you were untouchable.

And now your plans are unraveling like a cheap $15 suit from the Goodwill, as you finally receive your comeuppance:

Murtha would not answer a question if he would distance himself from Kuchera, and cut the session off when asked if he had hired a lawyer.

“What kind of question is that?” Murtha fumed, leaving the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center, 201 Napoleon St.

The right kind of question, Jack. The kind of question the media should have asked you long ago.

Better late than never, I guess.

More Hopenchange on the Horizon?

I thought this news may have come out of Communist China. Perhaps Cuba. But from San Diego?

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.

"On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News.

"We told them this is not really a religious assembly — this is just a Bible study with friends. We have a meal, we pray, that was all," Jones said.

A few days later, the couple received a written warning that cited "unlawful use of land," ordering them to either "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," the couple's attorney Dean Broyles told San Diego news station 10News.

But the major use permit could cost the Jones' thousands of dollars just to have a few friends over.

For David and Mary Jones, it's about more than a question of money.

"The government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion," Broyles told FOX News. "I believe that our Founding Fathers would roll over in their grave if they saw that here in the year 2009, a pastor and his wife are being told that they cannot hold a simple Bible study in their own home."

This, dear readers, cannot stand. This wholesale ignorance of the U.S. Constitution by government agencies must stop, or there will be an uprising the likes of which haven't been seen since Bunker Hill.

Just sayin.

**UPDATE***

The Steady Drip has more of what I'm Just sayin'

Larry Haws--Aren't you a little old to be throwing tantrums?

In Larry Haws' latest email to his constituents:

..as a supporter of the New Minnesota Miracle this session, I was disappointed that a framework for moving in that direction was not part of the final budget bill. This education funding reform would provide schools with stable, adequate and more equitable funding, with $600 million in net property tax relief. It would also have fully funded the state share of special education costs. Nevertheless, the legislation that we passed this year represented the best-case scenario for Minnesota’s schools and students in these challenging economic times.

[SNIP]

Of course, as I’m sure you know, the session ended with the Governor signing all of the appropriations bills, but vetoing the revenue to pay for them—leaving a significant budget deficit, despite having been presented with a balanced budget by the Legislature. As a result, he has announced an unprecedented plan to engage in massive unallotment. I’m concerned these proposed unallotments will have serious and lasting ramifications for our schools.

Absolute. Hogwash.

Far from being the "Minnesota Miracle" that Mr. Haws touts, the proposed DFL budget actually would have cut K-12 funding by nearly $1 Billion, while, via smart prioritizing, each of Minnesota Governor Pawlenty's budgets presented this session INCREASED funding for K-12 schools.

Unfortunately, despite numerous offers throughout the session, the Governor refused to publicly meet with legislative leaders to reach a compromise
with the Legislature.

More. Hogwash.

The DFL refused to entertain Pawlenty's notions of not saddling hard working Minnesotans with even more taxes during one of the toughest economic times in decades. Pawlenty presented the Minnesota DFL with two balanced budgets, and the DFL dragged their knuckles and refused to work on solutions and instead spent their entire time in the legislative session (not to mention the meetings held during the summer months) engaged in exercises in mental masturbation and political posturing; chained to their certitude that, as per their usual behavior, they could milk the Minnesota taxpaying public into funding millions more dollars in special session costs and per diems.

You see, Larry Haws and his DFL cohorts thought it was going to be business as usual. Little did they know nor count on the fact that they were dealing with a governor who had enough of engaging in their petty adolescent games. Little did the teenagers with credit cards, a/k/a Minnesota DFLers know that their modus operandi of passive aggressive gamesmanship would no longer be tolerated by a governor who was not above being the parent.

And now, like youngsters who had to be spanked by their father, Larry Haws & his Minnesota DFL cohorts, caught literally with their pants down, are running around and whining and doing everything except taking responsibility that it was they, not the governor, who got themselves into this mess.

Dick Cheney's Day in Court

Click here for Cheney's speech.

He has more gravitas in his little finger than Obama has or ever will have in his lifetime.

Toyota Prius--Menace to Society?

Amidst all the hoopla about SUVs being the ruination of mother earth, causing all kinds of environmental mayhem that will kill us all, I would like to turn your attention to an even larger menace to society: The Toyota Prius:

Eight-year-old, Owen Erickson, was hit by a Toyota Prius while biking with a friend that he supposedly didn’t hear passing by. Although little Owen wasn’t injured, he did end up on the hood of the car.

Proof positive that hybrid cars are a menace, and target young children and the handicapped for their evil misdeeds.

I call on Congress to pass a law banning all hybrid vehicles.

After all, it's for the chiiildrennn.

Henry "Nostrilitis" Waxman: "Don't Bother Me With Details"

So let the envirowhackos write the bill fairytale and just rubberstamp it.

Yeah. That's sound policy decisionmaking.

A Twitter Conversation with Mariel Hemingway...

Marielhemingway

RT @TwilightEarth: From @nature_org: Is a slow economy good for the planet? U.S. carbon emissions fell 2.8% LY http://short.to/au20

0 more result since you started searching. Refresh to see them.

1. Leo_Pusateri @Marielhemingway A slow economy is great for you, dear. You have a job. You have money. Let the "little people" eat cake.
   
   
   
2. Marielhemingway@Leo_Pusateri i promise you ..u don't know my situation AT ALL..my attitude is never thinking about"little" people unless I am one of them. [still trying to figure out what that means--ed]
3. @Marielhemingway My point was, looking at the present economic situation as + is shortsighted. Mother Earth will take care of herself.
4. @Marielhemingway Trying vainly to "save a planet" that doesn't require "saving" is part & parcel of what got our economy in this mess...

To be continued?....

Don't get me wrong, I think that Mariel Hemingway is a great person.

But education needs to start somewhere.

****UPDATE****

Just got this message..

Marielhemingway i agree with you the planet doesn't need saving..i absolutely agree..just didn't want u to think i was being righteous.

I knew Mariel was a great person :-)

DFL Pandemonium in the Senate..

One would think that the Keystone cops were in charge of the Minnesota Senate. Actually, the DFL is. But I repeat myself.

Coming to a Minnesota city near you...

Having been scorned by "The Parent," Governor Tim Pawlenty, the dejected DFLers (a/k/a spoiled teenagers with credit cards) in the Minnesota Legislature will embark on a "Cry Me A River" tour around Minnesota today. While you're reading the story, as a public service, the Ice Palace has provided you with some relevant music:
First, the official DFL tour song:


Next, I present, "96 Tears" by Question Mark & The Mysterians..

And finally, this one's for Margaret Kelliher and Tarryl Clark:

Proud. Dad.

My son Doug is graduating today from Law Enforcement training. Go, Doug!

Pawlenty Plays the Parent

In an effort to fend off the inevitable "special session" that would have cost the taxpaying citizens millions of dollars (on top of the tax increases the Minnesota DFL was already planning to stick to us), Governor Tim Pawlenty today again played the adult in stopping the foolishness. Steve Gottwalt, in a letter to constituents, writes:

Dear Neighbor:

This afternoon, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced there will be no special session and no government shutdown. The 2009 session will definitely end Monday night at midnight. The governor has decided to take the bills the DFL majority has put on his desk, line-item veto in some places, and sign them. The DFL bills irresponsibly leave a gap of $3 billion, and the governor is in a position to unallot to cover the gap, although he said he would prefer a negotiated solution with the DFL leadership. They now have a few days to do that.

We face a $6.4 billion budget deficit and the Constitution states we must balance our bottom line by July 1. But the legislative majority has failed to get the job done, so the governor's announcement today says he will do the hard work of erasing the deficit with or without DFL cooperation.

The following is Governor Pawlenty's news release. I will continue to provide updates as we close out the 2009 State Legislative Session.

Sincerely in service,

Rep. Steve Gottwalt
House District 15A
St. Cloud, Waite Park, St. Augusta and Rockville


NO SPECIAL SESSION, NO GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN -- GOVERNOR PAWLENTY SAYS HE WILL BALANCE STATE BUDGET

-Governor outlines plan to use executive action to balance budget, says
his preference is to sign into law a negotiated budget agreement --

Saint Paul - At the State Capitol this afternoon, Governor Tim Pawlenty said, “Politics as usual around this place is over. The people of Minnesota expect and deserve timely and decisive action. I will not let the legislature’s work spill over into a special session. We are notgoing to waste taxpayer money with a costly overtime or have a state government shutdown, especially in this economy. My preference would be for DFL legislators to work with me on a reasonable budget solution, but if they can’t get that done I will take executive action to balance the budget.”

“A key principle is that the DFL-controlled legislature shouldn’t spend more money than the state has available,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Unfortunately, they have done just that and now I’ll fix it.”

Over the past week, DFL majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate passed budget bills that leave a $3 billion shortfall between spending and revenues.

Governor Pawlenty announced today that he would use line-item vetoes during the upcoming period and his unallotment authority in July 2009 to bring the state budget into balance.

“Passing a balanced budget is the legislature’s most fundamental job. Unfortunately, so far this year the DFL majority has failed to get the job done,” Governor Pawlenty said. “In January, I outlined a balanced budget that prioritized important areas like public safety, military and veterans, and K-12 education. Now we’re in the final days of this legislative session and it’s time to let the people of Minnesota know that this will be resolved. It should get done on time and I’m saying it will get done on time.

“If the DFL cannot balance this budget without reaching into Minnesotans’ pockets and increasing our already uncompetitive taxes in ways that will kill job growth, I’m prepared to make the tough decisions they’ve avoided and take action to balance the budget.”

The Governor said final decisions have not been made regarding possible impacts to state programs, but areas could include subsidized health care programs, welfare, and other social services; K-12 and highereducation; and local government aid. In addition, state employee layoffs could be used to save additional funds. In Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle has said approximately 1,100 state employees could be laid off as
part of their budget cutting measures, along with 16 furlough days over the next two years.

A compromise offer from Governor Pawlenty to DFL legislative leaders earlier this week incorporated a House DFL position (a larger K-12 education shift than proposed by the Governor), a Senate DFL position (no funds included for the budget reserve, the Governor proposed $250 million for the budget reserve) and a reduction in a proposal that the DFL indicated they didn’t support (agreeing to use only half of the
tobacco appropriation bond funds). Even though the Governor was willing to move in their direction in all three areas, DFL leaders rejected the offer.

Governor Pawlenty has also compromised during this legislative session by showing a willingness to work with DFL legislators regarding their proposed fee increases for the courts system, their lower levels of funding for K-12 education and their lack of interest in the Governor’s proposals to reduce business taxes to grow jobs and spur investment.

The Governor stated that he is unwilling to raise taxes on Minnesotans, especially as the state looks to grow jobs and recover from the economic recession. DFL legislators have proposed numerous tax increases this session, including:

● New top income tax rate of 9 percent, which would befourth-highest in the nation, including:
● New top income tax rate of 9.25 percent
● Across-the-board income tax increases
● New sales tax on Internet downloads, including music
● Elimination of the local property tax cap, enacted just last year
● Higher taxes on beer, wine and alcohol
● Higher taxes on cigarettes
● Allowing counties to increase the sales tax by 0.5 percent
● Eliminating home mortgage interest deduction
● Eliminating deduction when a person donates an organ
● Eliminating elderly or disabled income subtraction
● Eliminating child and dependent care credit
● Eliminating exemption for Minnesota state and municipal bonds interest income
● Eliminating long-term care credit

“I’m willing to work with the DFL on a reasonable plan, but I’m not willing to let them squeeze more money out of taxpayers and further burden job creators and employers in the midst of the toughest economy in more than 60 years,” Governor Pawlenty said. “One way or another, we will get the budget situation resolved, keeping taxpayers and families first in our minds.”

When you have a bunch of spoiled teenagers, a/k/a the DFL in control of the State legislature, whining for Daddy's credit card, what's a parent to do?

Gene Pelowski: A DFLer Who Gets It.

DFLer Gene Pelowski has guts. He's one of the few with the balls (and the honor) to tell it like it is:

In the Middle Ages, a serf could petition the lord to stop paying taxes. The lord would come to the serf’s home and pour a quantity of wine on the serf’s roof. If the wine ran down the serf paid his taxes. If the wine ran up the serf did not have to pay.

The Minnesota Legislature is sending tax bills to Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s roof in the hope that he will sign them. Much as the medieval serf hoped the wine would run up, the Minnesota Legislature hopes that Pawlenty will sign a tax bill. The medieval serfs had an excuse — they had no education and had never heard of gravity. The Minnesota Legislature and Pawlenty only have the excuse of playing politics.
The economic crisis in this country and in Minnesota demands that a politician become a statesperson and do what is best for Minnesota and the country. Whatever is done this session will only be the beginning of a process that will take years to resolve Minnesota’s economic woes. The $6.4 billion crisis can only be addressed by the Minnesota Constitution and its requirement to balance the budget that can be accomplished with a combination of revenue increases and cuts or just cuts, but the budget has to be balanced.

Pawlenty has repeatedly stated that he will not sign a revenue increase. There are not enough Republican votes in the House for an override of his veto of a tax bill, so the entire $6.4 billion shortfall will have to be addressed with cuts. Since the session ended in May 2008, I have met with local units of government and constituent groups asking them to prepare for what was then predicted to be a $2 billion to $4 billion shortfall (and is now a $6.4 billion shortfall) and to prepare their budgets accordingly.

Cuts this deep will transform Minnesota’s relationships with local units of government, K-12 education, higher education, and state agencies. Services once taken for granted will no longer be part of Minnesota’s quality of life. The impact the cuts will have on every aspect of life in Minnesota should have been the discussion all during session.

Instead we are pouring wine on Gov. Pawlenty’s roof and hoping it will run up. The gravity of this crisis requires that we at least tell Minnesota the truth and do the best with the resources that we have, with or without a tax bill.

DFLer Gene Pelowski represents District 31A in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Minnesota DFL has a collective hissy fit...

Uncontent until they can tax everything and everyone under the sun, the Minnesota Democrats (DFLers) in the Minnesota House and Senate are throwing a collective tantrum, because Governor Pawlenty doesn't want them to have their way on tax increases.

So, instead of setting priorities, instead of looking at substantially trimming their own budget before asking Minnesota taxpayers to trim theirs, the DFL-run Minnesota Legislature has passed a "Lights On" bill that would have the effect of forcing a government shutdown, in an attempt to force Governor Pawlenty to sign on to what amounts to onerous tax increases.

This "Lights on" bill would mean that government would essentially go on as is, without any reforms or downsizing, nor setting of spending priorities, until the government literally runs out of money. This, of course, is unsustainable.

This proves that the DFL cares nothing for Minnesota's taxpayers, and only cares about paying off their cronies in the unions and other teat suckers of the government's taxpayer-funded largesse.

There is still ample time for the Minnesota DFL to come to the bargaining table. Governor Pawlenty has presented no fewer than two balanced budget options. The Governor was even willing to compromise with DFLers on some budget targets. What he won't compromise on is to burden Minnesota taxpayers with even more taxes in what is a demonstrably shaky economy, that will become even more shaky as wealthier taxpayers register their disapproval with higher taxes by moving out of state.

But it is clear that the Minnesota DFL would opt for a scorched-earth policy than even fathom the thought of setting priorities and budgeting without tax increases. Governor Pawlenty showed them how to do it.

But like self-indulgent teenagers with taxpayer-funded credit cards, the Minnesota DFL, including Larry Haws, Larry Hosch, and Tarryl Clark will have none of it.

The Official Barack Obama 2012 Campaign Song