Dannie's Insider Tea Party Has Arrived

IS IT ETHICAL ERROR FOR JUSTICE SCALIA TO MEET THE TEA PARTY CAUCUS?
I recently read that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is coordinating a crash course on the Constitution for the new members that will be joining the House in January.  I was a little surprised that one of the guest speakers for that course will be Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  While it is not unusual for Supreme Court Justices to interact with members of Congress, it disturbs me that Justice Scalia will be meeting with the Tea Party Caucus behind closed doors.  These very...

Salmonella scare highlights inspector shortage
ATLANTA — Tight state Budgets have led some of the biggest farm states to leave dozens of food inspection jobs vacant at a time when hundreds have been sickened by a nationwide Salmonella outbreak tied to a filthy peanut processing plant. Georgia, the site of the plant, has about 60 inspectors for some 16,000 sites, while budget cuts have forced the state Agriculture Department to keep 15 inspector positions vacant. California, Texas and Florida are among other states facing the same...

Tea Party scores major win on illegal immigration
Illegal Immigration has been a key issue in the Tea Party in this area - as at this June rally.    This area's Tea Party - which was rooted in Protests by area building tradesmen against Illegal Aliens - scored a major win today: the defeat of the DREAM Act mini-amnesty for younger illegal aliens.  Today, the Senate voted 55-41 to defeat the DREAM Act - and both senators from North Carolina, including Democrat Kay Hagan, voted to defeat it.    The Tea Party's leade...

Talk About Sour Grapes
There are two things you can do after you lose an election.  Either you concede gracefully or you make a big stink.  Last cycle, we saw several Candidates fall into both camps.  Well, in Hotsprings, we’re seeing a candidate that didn’t even run do the later. Bill Wisely had explored the race for House District 24 but, after the Garland County Dems decided to Caucus, he backed out and threw his support behind Q Byrum Hurst.  Well, the committee ended up going with ...

'Tis the Season to Celebrate Jesus, Not Obama
While minding my own business reading e-mails, I was included among numerous recipients receiving a holiday greeting e-mail from a dear black relative. The e-mail reminded us that the holidays are a great time to be "thankful for" the "blessing" of having Obama as president. The e-mail oozed with syrupy, over-the-top praise of Obama, including his (and I quote) "room-lighting" smile. Remarkably ill-informed and distorted, the e-mail listed every item of Obama's hos...

The Tea Party Flexes Its Political Muscle
It's undeniable that the Tea Party played a major role in the Midterm Election, and now Congressman Steve King, R-IA says the death of the Omnibus Bill is proof their influence "goes far beyond" the Ballot Box. Tea Party groups are claiming success after a campaign of phone calls and emails were sent to Capitol Hill in an effort to derail the earmark laden Omnibus bill. When asked about the push to pass the unpopular Legislation, King said "It's arrogance, elitism and spite altogether. Remember,...

Sen. Merkley Leads Drive Toward Senate Rules Reform
The collapse of the omnibus would not have occurred if there wasn’t a tremendous backlog on the Senate calendar and a need to get to those items. The Senate’s current rules make it very easy for a determined minority to painlessly create crisis moments and work their will on the body, despite a lack of public support. This is the major hurdle that we could see a resolution to on January 5, when Democrats in the Senate will wage a sweeping effort to change the body’s rules. Th...

Company: Home where disabled kids died improves care
A Chicago care facility where a high number of Disabled Children have died in recent years said it has taken numerous steps to improve care, including replacing the top administrator, hiring more staff and retraining employees. "We're looking at everything critically," said Bob Molitor, chief operating officer of the Alden nursing home chain, which oversees Alden Village North on North Sheridan Road. "Are we weak in that area? If we are, we want to boost that up." Alden Village North has been ...

Sheheen Rolls Out Reforms
S.C. Senator Vincent Sheheen may have lost the Palmetto state’s Governor’s race last month - but he’s still pushing ideas that he believes will make South Carolina’s State Government more efficient and accountable to the Taxpayers it’s supposed to serve. On Thursday, Sheheen rolled out a six-piece reform agenda that includes a number of items that fiscal Conservatives can (gasp) support. “I am pre-filing a legislative agenda that if enacted would fundame...

DREAM ACT; Disagreeing with Ed
Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey is looking at the failure of the DREAM Act Cloture vote and noting that six Democrats and two Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against their parties. Ed writes: It’s yet another miscalculation by Reid in a rapidly-closing window of opportunity. If he didn’t have six of his own Caucus in hand, why press the matter at all? Reid raised expectations and then dashed them, a bad strategy in politics. I have enormous respect for Ed , who I regard as my Blogfath...

Ed Miliband makes 'coalition' a banned word to focus fire on rightwing agenda
In a memo to his front-bench team, obtained by the Observer, the Labour leader's director of policy, Greg Beales, says that from now on they must use the term "Conservative-led government" to describe the alliance of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. "This is not a partnership and it is not a centre-ground coalition," the memo says. "To highlight this, we are changing how we talk about the government. It is wrong to talk about their policies as coalition policies when so many are right-wing C...

MasterCard willing to cut off pirate sites
Lobbyists working for MasterCard have told trade groups from the entertainment sector that the Credit Card company is supportive of The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, an antipiracy bill introduced into the Senate last September, sources with knowledge of the talks tell CNET. Backed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and committee member Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Utah), the bill would authorize the Department of Justice to shut down domain nam...

McConnell vows to grill vulnerable 2012 Dems on healthcare reform repeal
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said he will force Democrats to vote on a Repeal of the landmark Healthcare Reform law when Republicans control half of Congress next year. “I’m hoping we will receive from the House of Representatives a full Repeal of ObamaCare; it will be hard to get that through the Senate,” McConnell said on CNN's "State of the Union." McConnell said he hopes “that among those who had maybe second thoughts in the Senate, including the 23 Democrats

Boehner, Bachmann, and a reckless committee assignment
BOEHNER, BACHMANN, AND A RECKLESS COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT.... As the start of the 112th Congress draws closer, House Republican leaders are making committee assignments for their new majority Caucus. One assignment, in particular, appears inexplicable. In a Press Release yesterday, incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) explained, "The members of the House Intelligence Committee are charged with one of the most significant responsibilities of Congress -- keeping the American People safe by ...

White Supremacists To Boycott Thor Over Black Actor Playing "White" God
Privacy: We will never share your Email Address. Have you seen, heard or read something interesting lately? A white nationalist group called the Council of Conservative Citizens will Boycott the forthcoming cinematic adaptation of longstanding Marvel Comic hero Thor because the black, English actor Idris Elba (The Big C) is playing the Norse God, Heimdall. The CoCC, which supports a large variety of conservative and paleoconservative causes including white separatism, says in a Press Release, "I...

Keeping Virginia's government open
AS MEMBERS of Virginia's legislature a decade ago, Robert F. McDonnell (R) and Bill Bolling (R) - now Governor and Lieutenant Governor - struck a blow for open government by pushing to create the state's Freedom of Information Advisory Council. The council, later copied in other states, is tiny; it consists of just two lawyers, one of whom also works for the legislature. But in the 10 years since it was established, the council has played a critical role in ensuring that citizens are able to p...

Ga. woman sues to overturn assisted suicide law
ATLANTA (AP) - Living with a fatal degenerative disease, Susan Caldwell relied heavily on the support of a Georgia-based right-to-die group. She had tried to kill herself in 2008 by strapping on a helium-filled hood, and just knowing the group—the Final Exit Network—was there for her gave her peace of mind. Then, the organization went on hiatus in Georgia when four group members were charged with Assisted Suicide. Awash with anxiety, the 43-year-old Caldwell filed a Lawsuit last week ...

Quote of the Day, Early Edition
We reserve the right to revise and extend our remarks. But for now, this sums up both our current climate, and where Conservatives, Libertarians, Tea Partiers, et al must aim for, going forward: “I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to ...

National Review eyes John Bolton for 2012
link from the #TCOT Report | story from Politico No, it’s not just an attention-getting stunt. John Bolton is seriously considering running for president. Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field. And his case, while far-fetched, is not altogether implausible. “As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open,” Bolton told POLITICO. “I don’t think the party’s anywhe...

National Review eyes John Bolton for 2012
link from the #TCOT Report | story from Politico No, it’s not just an attention-getting stunt. John Bolton is seriously considering running for president. Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field. And his case, while far-fetched, is not altogether implausible. “As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open,” Bolton told POLITICO. “I don’t think the party’s anywhe...

The Council Has Spoken!!!
Filed under: The Council Has Spoken! The votes have been cast, and this week’s Watcher’s Council results are history. “We turned our backs on our own values for the love of our own abject fear”? What exactly does this mean? But if I had a nickel for every time some “progressive” cried “fascism” due to the efforts in the GWOT (General War on Terror) let alone anything suggested by Conservatives/Republicans, I’d be a rich man right now. And h...

Reforming Healthcare Reform
The hopes and dreams of Conservatives around the nation came to fruition, at least partially, on Monday as President Obama’s Healthcare Bill finally found resistance from the judicial branch. With another Lawsuit backed by twenty states hitting the docket, ObamaCare is no longer looking unstoppable. It will ultimately be heading to the Supreme Court where conservative appointees outnumber liberals by a slim 5-4 margin. Does this mean that we can expect to see ObamaCare on the trash heap of f...

NJ Congressman proposes constitutional training for staffers
At the Daily Caller Caroline May reports that Congressman Scott Garrett proposed a rule in the House of Representatives which would require that members of congressional staffs be factually trained on the United States Constitution at the beginning of each year. Congressman Scott Garrett is a Republican who represents the fifth Congressional District of New Jersey. The resolution, officially known as H. Res 1772, was introduced on December 16, 2010. There were 25 co-sponsors for the resolution. ...

Paradox of Judicial Activism
Virginia Federal Judge Henry Hudson recently struck down the mandate provision of the Federal Health Care Law, contending that penalizing citizens for not purchasing a product is not within the authorities granted to the Federal Government, and is therefore Unconstitutional. However, since judicial review is not a power granted by the Constitution to the judiciary (all legislative powers belong to the U.S. Congress as per Article I, Section 1 - and that includes the ability to strike down law), ...

Republicans = slavery lovers (or so saith an article in the NYT)
Every summer for the past several years, we've gone to a local (and wonderful) Civil War reenactment. Without exception, the people who have chosen to reenact the Southern side will tell one, quite earnestly, that the Southern side was about states' rights, not about Slavery. Even 145 years after the war ended (or perhaps I should say, especially 145 years after the war ended) there is no other line to take to justify dressing up in the gray, even for the fun of playing with fake guns and cannon...