According to Rush’s website, he is resting comfortably.
I just saw this on the news and the first thing that came to mind was the guaranteed celebration that would take place on the lefty blogs. Liberals never disappoint. JammieWearingFool has a link to some of the depraved comments at a liberal sewer of a blog.
Be well, Rush.
1994 Redux?
The trend is not the Democrats’ friend. At least not in 2010. The party of the sitting president almost always suffers losses in midterm congressional elections. To that time-tested dynamic now add voter angst about high unemployment, big deficits and controversial legislation. Expect Senate majority leader Harry Reid to lose his effective 60-seat supermajority and Nancy Pelosi to hand the House back to the Republicans. Here’s why 2010 is looking like 1994 all over again:
1. Virginia and New Jersey. Big GOP wins in the gubernatorial races not only highlighted discontent with incumbents by recession-weary voters, they also greatly helped Republicans with candidate recruiting for 2010.
2. History. More big political change isn’t predicated on America rekindling its love for the Grand Old Party. A recent poll had the Republicans finishing a distant third in popularity behind a fictional Tea Party and the actual Democratic Party. Yet American politics has a regular ebb and flow. In 13 of the past 15 midterm elections going back to 1950, the party in control of the White House has lost an average of 22 seats in the House. In 10 of the past 15 midterms the party running the Senate has lost an average of three seats.
3. Mean Reversion. Democrats have a wide field to defend after huge victories in 2006 and 2008. Particularly in the House, there are lots of Democrats in places with a proven willingness to vote Republican. Currently 47 of them are in districts won by both John McCain in 2008 and George W. Bush in 2004. And voters in those districts may be especially unhappy with a Democratic legislative agenda that causes many Americans mixed feelings.
4. Obama-Reid-Pelosi Agenda. A RealClearPolitics aggregation of polling data shows Americans disapprove of healthcare reform by a 51-38 margin. And only a little more than a third think the $787 billion stimulus plan has done much good, according to pollster Rasmussen. There’s also plenty of worry among the electorate that Washington spending is creating a dangerous level of government debt.
Happy New Year, Queen Nancy.
Friend of Angelo, Chris Dodd, gets heckled by a passer-by during a live interview. The heckler rightly informs Dodd that he is history next November.
Via Newsbusters (with video):
In the midst of a left-slanting report on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) triumphant return to his home state, there was a brief moment of sanity provided by (presumably) a Dodd constituent.
This can’t be a good omen for Senator Countrywide (hat-tip to FireAndreaMitchell.com):
REPORTER: A tired, but triumphant Senator Chris Dodd meets the media just hours after passing health care reform in the Senate, but he is heckled from a passer-by.JOHN Q. HECKLER: You’re not going to get re-elected.
SEN. CHRIS DODD: And uh – thanks. Merry Christmas!
With any luck, next Christmas Dodd will be a member of the dreaded private sector and will live long enough to be subjected to ObamaCare.
Our hapless governor has broken yet another promise.
The Massachusetts Democrat told reporters in a year-end interview that the writing has been slower than he expected and he may not finish the book before its planned 2010 release.
What would he write about, really? His abysmal poll numbers? How even The One couldn’t sell out a fundraiser for him? The Commonwealth’s ever-worsening fiscal crisis? Being dissed by the leaders of his own party at every turn? those property taxes he failed to cut? The cops he failed to hire?
While he plans to eventually complete it, he said it was not his “top priority.”
His top priority these days is hiring more hacks during a budget crisis.
Patrick received a $1.35 million advance for the book in 2008. It’s initial release date would have coincided with his re-election campaign next year.
Patrick was in NYC signing his book deal while his Casino bill was going down in flames on Beacon Hill.
If all goes as planned his autobiography will include a chapter on getting his ass kicked in a landslide next November.
Scroll for updates
Photo via CNN:
A Christmas miracle in the skies over Detroit.
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke — sending passengers scrambling to subdue a Nigerian man who claimed to be acting on orders from al-Qaeda to blow up the airliner, officials and travelers said.The commotion began as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crewmembers from Amsterdam, prepared to land in Detroit just before noon Friday.
“It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase,” said Peter Smith, a passenger from the Netherlands. “First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke.”
Smith said one passenger climbed over other people, went across the aisle and tried to restrain the man, who officials say was trying to ignite an explosive device. The heroic passenger appeared to have been burned.
Afterward, the suspect was taken to a front-row seat with his pants cut off and his legs burned. Multiple law enforcement officials also said the man appeared badly burned on his legs, indicating the explosive was strapped there. The components were apparently mixed in-flight and included a powdery substance, multiple law enforcement and counterterrorism officials said.
Multiple law enforcement officials identified the suspect in Friday’s attempted attack as Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab. He was described as Nigerian.
One law enforcement official said the man claimed to have been instructed by al-Qaeda to detonate the plane over U.S. soil, but other law enforcement officials cautioned that such claims could not be verified immediately, and said the man may have been acting independently — inspired but not specifically trained or ordered by terror groups.
I guess Abdul Mutallab didn’t get the memo that we are supposed to be loved in the Middle East now that the evil cowboy is back in Texas.
Update: ABC News is reporting that the plot was launched by Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect’s underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News.
Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. The so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, had only about 50 grams kin his failed attempt in 2001 to blow up a U.S.-bound jet. Yesterday’s bomb failed because the detonator may have been too mall or was not in “proper contact” with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.
Jim DeMint gave lumps of coal to Obama, Reid and Pelosi before the Christmas break. Erik Erickson at Red State calls this the best Christmas present ever. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it certainly warmed my heart to see that the Republicans are going to keep fighting the good fight for us.
When Senator DeMint engineered, and Republican Leader McConnell actually objected to the appointment of the conferees, he was really handing the ball off to the left wingers — progressives if you will — and now they have their shot to either hold their own clan members who are against the Senate compromises and force them to vote No, or have their policy demands be ignored and take the crumbs from Senator Nelson’s and Senator Lieberman’s table.
Now, because of the Senator DeMint’s objection, unless the House votes for the Senate bill unchanged — which is highly unlikely (see below) — then the Senate ObamaCare bill must be amended on the House floor to gain the votes they need to pass it on the House floor. And because of Senator DeMint’s objection to the appointment of the conferees, there will be no conference, or conference report.
If the House amends the Senate bill, they then have to send the amended bill back to the Senate — where all the 60 vote margin cloture votes still apply — cloture on the motion to proceed, and cloture to end the filibuster and cloture on any amendment.
Do I believe that this objection to the appointment of the conferees will kill ObamaCare? Yes, if the progressives or those 64 House Democrats who voted for the Stupak amendment do not roll over and play dead.
This monkey wrench may explain why the White House is putting out the word that it wants the health care bill to pass the House after the State of the Union, in February.
Erickson goes on to explain why he believes this may be the “kiss of death” to Obamacare.
This is encouraging news. No conference means we get to watch the Democrats eat their own while they fight over the public option, taxing “Cadillac” plans, abortion, taxes, etc. Pass the popcorn!
Barack Obama and the Democrats own this bill. They own the mandate, they own the new taxes, they own the debt, the own the deficit , they own the cuts to Medicare, they own the death panels and every other provision in this odious power/money grab. But most importantly, they own the public’s rage for ignoring their will.
The latest Rasmussen Reports weekly tracking update shows that 41% of voters nationwide favor the bill and 55% are opposed. Those figures are essentially unchanged from a week ago. This the fifth straight week with support for the legislation between 38% and 41%.
Among senior citizens, the group most likely to use the health care system, just 33% are in favor while 60% are opposed. Most adults under 30 favor the plan, but majorities of every other age group take the opposite view.
The intensity remains with those who oppose the legislation. Just 19% Strongly Favor the plan while 45% are Strongly Opposed.
Polling released last week showed that 57% of voters say passing nothing would be preferable to passing the current legislation. Most voters (54%) believe they personally will be worse off if the legislation passes.
Have fun over Christmas recess, boys and girls. Get ready to feel the heat like you have never felt it before.
Scroll for updates
The Colgate defense.
State Sen. Anthony D. Galluccio has failed random alcohol tests – blaming his toothpaste – while on home confinement less than a week after pleading guilty to a hit-and-run crash in Cambridge.
A judge could rule as early as tomorrow if the Cambridge Democrat should be sent to jail for violating terms of his sentencing.
Galluccio pleaded guilty Friday to an Oct. 4 hit-and-run accident that injured two people, including a 13-year-old boy.
He vowed to stay off booze, but the Herald has learned he failed random alcohol tests given at his home.
Galluccio admitted today in a statement he failed Breathalyzer tests blowing “low level positive reads over the course of an hour.”
He blamed the positive readings on his choice of toothpaste.
“After discussing it with a physician, we have determined that is the result of my using two toothpastes – Colgate Total Whitening and Sensodyne Toothpaste, both of which contain sorbitol,” Galluccio added. “While I knew that mouthwash or cold medicine would set the machine off, it did not occur to me that toothpaste would.”
Gallucio is a menace and his hack status got him a sweetheart deal of home confinement. He blew it (literally) and he should be found in violation of his probation and should serve the rest of his sentence behind bars.
Update 12/23 @ 4:19 p.m.: Gallucio avoided jail today, but the judge ordered 24 hour house arrest until the full probation violation hearing on January 4th. In Massachusetts, when a probation officer reports a defendant for what they perceive as a violation of probation, the defendant has a probation surrender hearing where probable cuse is determined. The defendant will then have a full probation violation hearing (like a mini trial). If the defendant is found to be in violation at that hearing he or she will most likely end up going to jail for the remainder of what was supposed to be probation. Judges do have discretion to hold a defendant pending the full hearing. Today, Judge Nestor opted not to hold Gallucio – who obviously has a serious addiction to alcohol – over the objections of the district attorney.
Oh to be a hack in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Ben Nelson traded his vote for a big (temporary) payoff for Nebraska.
Under the current merged legislation (the version unveiled on November 18th), the federal government fully finances care for the expanded population for two years and increases its matching funds (known as FMAP) thereafter. Page 98 of the managers amendment specifically identifies Nebraska for higher federal matching funds, fully funding its expansion for an additional year:
‘‘(3) Notwithstanding subsection (b) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under subsection (b) with respect to all or any portion of a fiscal year that begins on or after January 1, 2017, for the State of Nebraska, with respect to amounts expended for newly eligible individuals described in subclause (VIII) of section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i), shall be determined as provided for under subsection (y)(1) (A) (notwithstanding the period provided for in such paragraph)
So the state of Nebraska gets a pass on paying for Medicaid expansion for a few years. But what happens after the three years are up? Nebraskans will be kicking in for this abomination like the rest of us. In the meantime, the majority of Nebraskans still will be forced to buy health insurance, will see their premiums rise and many will see a decline in their coverage. And all the while, their tax dollars WILL pay for abortions. Just ask Bart Stupak.
James Taranto busts Paul Krugman for being for the Senate filibuster before he was against it.
From yesterday’s WSJ Best of the Web Today:
“The big step by extremists will be an attempt to eliminate the filibuster.”–former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, New York Times, March 29, 2005
“We need to take on the way the Senate works. The filibuster, and the need for 60 votes to end debate, aren’t in the Constitution. . . . So it’s time to revise the rules.”–former Enron adviser Krugman, New York Times, Dec. 18, 2009
Paul Krugman, extremist.
SPITFIRE MURPHY 