Marxists, Czars & Thieves

SCARY STUFF HERE....Budget/Economic Outlook, FY 2010-2020: Testimony of CBO's Elmendorf

via budget.house.gov

Criminal Negligence as Government Policy

Great article about Treasury Secretary Timmy G's testimony today at the congressional hearing

UNDERNEWS: CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE AS GOVERNMENT POLICY

The Message of Massachusetts A crisis is a terrible thing to exploit.

The Message of Massachusetts - WSJ.com

Barney Frank's statement on Scott Brown Win in Massachusetts

Rep. Barney Frank is not a wobbly moderate in a marginal district, but a liberal Democrat who has been supportive of the health care push. And that's why this statement below, which essentially rules out all of the options being discussed for pushing through Obamacare, deals a potentially fatal to the legislation:

“I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democratic majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate. I am hopeful that some Republican Senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened. Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of the process.”

via spectator.org

Live coverage of the US Senate race - The Boston Globe

Live coverage of the US Senate race - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

10:24 p.m. -- Scott Brown campaign manager Beth Lindstrom says the campaign started about 4 1/2 months ago with just a few people who believed in "the little campaign that could."

10:11 p.m. -- President Obama has called both candidates to congratulate them. "The President congratulated Senator Brown on his victory and a well-run campaign. The President told Senator Brown that he looks forward to working with him on the urgent economic challenges facing Massachusetts families and struggling families across our nation. The President thanked Attorney General Coakley for her hard work and urged her to continue her advocacy on behalf of working people," press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

10:07 p.m. -- Coakley left the stage and shook people's hands to the strains of "Don't Stop," the song used by former President Clinton at his campaign events. The song says, "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow."

10:05 p.m. -- Coakley: "You don’t always win all the time but you put in your best efforts because sometimes it’s more important to travel hopefully than to arrive. And we will continue to travel hopefully, I know that."

10:01 p.m. -- Coakley: "OK, so this is the deal: Although our campaign ends tonight, we know that our mission continues and our work goes on. I am heartbroken at the result and I know that you are also but I know that you will get up together and continue this fight even with this result tonight. There will be plenty of Wednesday morning quarterbacking about what went right, what went wrong and I know everyone – including me – will be brutally honest."

9:59 p.m. -- Coakley talks about her husband joining her recently on the campaign trail. "There are at least two dogs who are very happy about these results because we're going to be back with them."

9:56 p.m. -- Coakley has taken the stage, thanks supporters. "I will not forget the fierce determination with which we approached this."

9:52 p.m. -- Senate President Therese Murray is addressing Coakley supporters. We are living in difficult times. People are uncertain about the economy and health care, where we’re all headed. Martha Coakley understood that and no matter what came her way in this campaign, she stood up for what was true and what was right.

9:47 p.m. -- Chants at the Brown victory party: "Obamacare is dead," "Shock the world," and "Yes, we can."

9:46 p.m. -- “Tonight, Scott Brown made history by exceeding all expectations and defeating Martha Coakley in the heart of the Democrat Party’s political stronghold," Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

9:44 p.m. -- "It goes without saying that we are disappointed in tonight's result. There will be plenty of time to dissect this race and to apply the lessons learned from it ... we will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of the America people and we will redouble our efforts to lay out a clear choice for voters this November" -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.

9:38 p.m. -- “I have no interest in sugar coating what happened in Massachusetts. There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient" -- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez.

“In the days ahead, we will sort through the lessons of Massachusetts: the need to redouble our efforts on the economy, the need to show that our commitment to real change is as powerful as it was in 2008, and the reality that we cannot take a single thing for granted and cannot afford even a second of complacency."

9:13 p.m. -- Coakley has conceded in a call to Scott Brown, according to a Brown aide.

9:09 p.m. -- At least Coakley won her hometown of North Adams, 2,854-965.

9:07 p.m. -- Bad news for Coakley from Woburn: The Brown margin there is wider than the margin for Romney against O'Brien in 2002. More bad news from Fall River, a traditional Democratic stronghold: Coakley wins there but with several thousand fewer votes than in 2002 and 2006.

8:45 p.m. -- A bad omen for Coakley in Boston's western suburbs? Take the town of Ashland, where Brown won 3,467-2,897. That's a turnaround from Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's 3,118-2,329 victory over Kerry Healey in 2006. And similar to Republican Governor Mitt Romney's 3,734-2,295 win over Shannon O'Brien in 2002.

8:33 p.m. -- Brown maintains early lead, 52 percent to 47 percent, with 8 percent of precincts reporting.

8:28 p.m. -- “The discussion outside is worrisome,” said State Representative Peter J. Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat who was at the Coakley party. But Koutoujian said he had been making phone calls for Coakley earlier in the day and the positive response he had gotten “made me feel better about Martha’s pending victory.”

8:24 p.m. -- Brown jumps to an early lead, 52 percent to 47 percent, but that's just with 4 percent of precincts reporting.

8:22 p.m. -- Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is expecting Brown to win. "He did what I couldn't do. It looks like he's going to win a seat for Massachusetts in the US Senate, and I congratulate him. He's been a strong candidate, run a good campaign, and he has made it very clear that the arrogance in Washington is being rejected by the people of Massachusetts and across the country."

8:14 p.m. -- The mood at the Coakley party is subdued. A few dozen people are snacking on hors d'oeuvres and checking their Blackberries.

8:10 p.m. -- At Coakley’s party in a giant ballroom at Sheraton Boston Hotel, the stage is draped with a huge American flag, Coakley’s name is projected on one wall, and Blue Soul, a rhythm-and-blues band, is playing. Aides said Coakley is in a room at the downtown hotel, awaiting results from the election.

8:07 p.m. -- The mood is upbeat in the packed ballroom where Brown supporters are gathering, with red, white, and blue balloons poised for a triumphant balloon drop in nets on the ceiling. At one table, Brown's daughter, Ayla, a former American Idol contestant, is expected to sign CDs.

8:03 p.m. -- At the Park Plaza ballroom where Brown supporters are gathering, senior Brown adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told NECN that the turning point for Brown was the Dec. 30 "JFK ad" which put the campaign on the map. "After that, it was like riding a rocket ship for 2 ½ to 3 weeks till today," he said.

8:01 p.m. -- Polls are closing around the state in the extraordinary race for US Senate featuring Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley. It's all over but the counting.

7:57 p.m. -- Galvin estimates turnout could hit the same number as turnout in the 2006 gubernatorial campaign between Deval Patrick and Kerry Healey: 57 or 58 percent.

7:51 p.m. -- With polls closing in just a few minutes, Secretary of State William Galvin says turnout is "high everywhere" in the too-close-to-call special election for US Senate

The Message of Massachusetts - WSJ.com

Whether or not Republican Scott Brown wins today in Massachusetts, the special Senate election has already shaken up American politics. The close race to replace Ted Kennedy, liberalism's patron saint, shows that voters are rebelling even in the bluest of states against the last year's unbridled pursuit of partisan liberal governance.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of President Obama's Inaugural, and it's worth recalling the extraordinary political opportunity he had a year ago. An anxious country was looking for leadership amid a recession, and Democrats had huge majorities and faced a dispirited, unpopular GOP. With monetary policy stimulus already flowing, Democrats were poised to get the political credit for the inevitable economic recovery.

via online.wsj.com

Republicans, Democrats Step Up Campaigning in Massachusetts - WSJ.com

MEDFORD, Mass.—Voters headed to the polls across Massachusetts Tuesday in a closely watched special election that threatened to tip the Senate's balance of power and undermine President Barack Obama's policy agenda.

With much at stake, indications were that turnout was going to be high in Tuesday's balloting. Long lines were reported at polls across the state. Brian McNiff, spokesman for the secretary of commonwealth, said as many as 2.2 million voters were expected to go to the polls today, close to the number in 2006 when the state elected Democrat Deval Patrick as governor. As of noon, some 55,000 voters had cast ballots in Boston. By comparison, some 58,000 Boston voters had cast ballots by noon in 2006.

via online.wsj.com

The Backlash Is Coming! The Backlash Is Coming! - WSJ.com

Boston With characteristic hubris, people in this state like to think they've been at the leading edge of American politics since the "shot heard 'round the world" in 1775. And in the past few years, we've given the nation a preview of Barack Obama's presidential campaign with Deval Patrick's successful 2006 bid for governor; provided a critical boost for Mr. Obama's candidacy in the form of an endorsement by Edward Kennedy; and enacted a health-care law that is a template for ObamaCare. But hubris has yielded to shock here at the possibility that the next political trend the Bay State might foreshadow is a voter backlash against the Democratic Party. After Kennedy's death in August, few imagined there would be any problem replacing him with another Democrat in the U.S. Senate. It's been 16 years since Massachusetts elected a Republican to a congressional seat, 31 years since the last Republican senator left office. Gov. Patrick appointed a former Kennedy aide as the interim senator, and Democratic primary voters chose the well-regarded state Attorney General Martha Coakley as their nominee for the special election. That election, which will be held on Tuesday, was widely seen as a formality. Ms. Coakley coasted through the holiday season while the GOP challenger, little-known state Sen. Scott Brown, scrambled for traction.  

The new year, however, brought polls showing the race tightening. This week a Rasmussen Reports poll gave Ms. Coakley a slim 49% to 47% advantage; a Suffolk University survey has Mr. Brown with a narrow lead. Independents are breaking for Mr. Brown by a three-to-one margin, Rasmussen finds. And many people do not realize that independents outnumber Democrats—51% of registered voters in the state are not affiliated with a party, while 37% are registered as Democrats and 11% as Republicans

 

.Read the rest at  online.wsj.com

Why D.C. Democrats should hope Brown wins in Mass.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Democrat, is at risk of losing her state's U.S. senate seat to a previously unknown Republican state senator named Scott Brown in next Tuesday's special election. 

Republicans are in near ecstasy at even the possibility of capturing "the Kennedy seat" and at the same time breaking the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority in Washington. Recent polls have Brown actually ahead of Coakley, after trailing her by double digits less than a month ago. 

Even Former President Bill Clinton has been dispatched to try and help drag Coakley across the finish line. The political drama is heightened by the tense, closed-door discussions at the White House to cut a deal on healthcare reform. 

Democrats had assumed an easy win in the Massachusetts election. But with the very real possibility of losing a seat to a Republican who is actively campaigning against healthcare reform, the president and his congressional allies may soon face a stark choice: 

1.) Delay Brown's seating in the Senate until Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi ram healthcare through, or 

2.) Seat Brown and then blame Republicans for filibustering the bill death. Healthcare reform is President Obama's "signature" issue. 

So the first choice is clearly preferable regardless of the likely political disaster in November. But defying the will of the electorate to ensure passage of a wildly unpopular bill is not a populist message. And if healthcare reform is this politically toxic in Massachusetts, the ultimate Democrat stronghold, it's bound to be fatal elsewhere.

read the rest at  www.marketwatch.com

BUSTED!: "Obama As Hitler" Poster Was A Democrat/Union Plant

"BUSTED!: "Obama As Hitler" Poster Was A Democrat/Union Plant"

This screenshot was used in reports by the MSM who painted the protesters as Nazis. Here's the thing, though - that black man is a Dingell supporter!...  [A]n eyewitness that said... that he clearly saw from his vantage point that very Obama as Hitler poster in that back hallway after the union thugs took their seats.

via digg.com