RINO = Republican In Name Only.

RINO used to be a term applied to a member of the “conservative” Republican Party who often sided with the big government loving Democrats. But the past several years the Republicans have demonstrated time after time that they are also loyal fans of ever bigger government.

The 12 Bush years saw unprecedented expansions in all areas of government. While Clinton was in office, the Republican controlled legislature passed bill after bill, law after law, regulation after regulation, tax after tax. Even under the halcyon Reagan administration, the government grew, regulations were written, spending went up, and laws were passed by the book-full. Little if anything was ever repealed.

I suggest the meaning of RINO should be changed. Since the Republican Party seems to generally favor ever larger and more intrusive government, the Republicans who vote against government expansion, intrusion, taxation, and growing statistism are the true RINOs.

In the past couple of days I have seen several glowing pieces about the G.W. Bush presidency. When compared to what is in office now, that might be true. But Bush was a horrible president in almost every way.

He presided over massive expansions of entitlements and government programs with nary a protest, much less a veto.

He got us into a pointless war in Iraq. Even if Hussein had WMDs, he was not going to use them against the west. If he had them, he would have used them against Muslim fanatics like the Iranians or the Kurds.

He simple-mindedly allied with Ted Kennedy who betrayed his efforts.

He allowed political correctness and Washington politics to hamstring the war efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq so winning what should have been easy victories became impossible.

He tried to make 20 million illegal immigrants legal, and refused to police the borders.

He cut taxes while increasing spending.

So please, no more Bush was wonderful, misunderstood, or unfairly maligned pieces. Bush was a disaster.

2010 is another election year. Both parties are fishing around for issues. Here are a few things I’d like to see addressed. I choose these things because they cost little or nothing and require little if any new legislation.

1. Nothing is too big to fail. The next time a big company/bank/mortgage or insurance company goes bankrupt, pledge to let it do so. Bankruptcy does not mean it will disappear and all its employees will loose their jobs. Be prepared with a simple, easily understandable explanation of how a bankruptcy really works to refrute the media’s inevitable sob story presentations.

2. Seal our borders. This doesn’t require new laws, only enforcing laws already on the books. The furor over Bush 43’s attempt to legalize the illegals without sealing the borders first should have made this issue a no brainer. Why it wasn’t speaks volumes about what’s really going on the Washington.

3. School choice. If a school district spends $10,000. per year on a child, that child’s parents should be issued a $10,000. voucher if they choose to put the kid in a private school. These vouchers should have no strings attached and there should be no laws regulating the schools that accept them.

4. Pledge to new global warming legislation until the science is truly proved. Put Al Gore’s movie on a terrorism watch list.

5. Freeze government employee salaries until they are equal to those in the private sector. Remove rules and regulations that make firing incompetents all but impossible.

6. Pledge the overall number of government employees will not increase over the next (two) four years.

7. Require all new legislation have a sunset provision. This especially applies to new government programs.

8. Ban unionization in government agencies. There is no reason a union is necessary, other than for corrupt political purposes.

9. Put the Post Office, Amtrak, GM, Fannie, Freddie and all other government/private “businesses” up for sale. They could be sold by selling stock in them on the open market. Then let them sink or swim on their own merits.

10. Be honest and admit the government has huge unfunded future obligations. Pledge to eliminate COLAs and other increases until the obligations are affordable without tax increases.

11. Pledge that no new pages will be added to the Federal registers of laws, rules, and regulations.

12. Remove all restrictions on the military in Afghanistan. There is no reason Bin Laden is still alive other than Washington politics and political correctness.

13. All government budget increases should be limited to 1/2 the rate of inflation. If there is deflation, budgets should be cut the same amount as the deflation. This should be enforced until the budget is in balance

14. Require all government officials to fly commercial only. This especially applies to Homeland Security and TSA officials

Terrorism should be a winning issue for Republicans in 2010. In the year since Obama came into office promising to keep the country safe, we have had 3 attacks.

The first was the June shooting at the Arkansas Recruiting Center by Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad.

The second was the Ft. Hood shooting by Nidal Malik Hasan.

The third was the Christmas day attempted airliner bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The truth is, is is highly unlikely that anyone could have forseen or stopped any of these events. But the truth didn’t slow the Democrats down a bit when the Republicans were in power. Pay back’s a bitch, as they say.

In each of these cases there were plenty of unconnected dots, advanced warnings, and documented suspicious behaviors that were either missed or ignored. Political correctness seems to have become more important than fighting terrorism. Winning the hearts and minds of Muslims has not mollified them.

Besides being good campaign issues, the Republicans should open a few investigations and organize their talking points for the Sunday shows, mailings and everything else.

After going on ad nausea about how Bush’s war on terror has left the country unsafe, this issue is a gift from heaven to the Republicans. That is, if they choose to use it, and use it effectively.

In today’s news it was reported that two of the master minds behind the failed Christmas terrorist attack had been released from Gitmo. The terrorists were released to our good friends the Saudis, where they were set free.

Somehow they made their way to Yemen and set up shop. They trained Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the failed plane bomber.

The ACLU, CAIR, the SCOTUS, the International Red Cross, the relic media, and their ilk are responsible for the Gitmo terrorists being turned over to Saudi Arabia, and therefore are responsible that they are free today.

Had it not been for the constant harassment of the US government by these organizations, the terrorists would not have been released. Pandering for votes, Obama joined in the close Gitmo amen corner.

Without this unholy alliance, the terrorists would still be safely tucked away in Cuba, enjoying the good life on a tropical island. Their every need would be met, except the need to kill innocent people. They would have enjoyed a lifetime taxpayer paid tropical vacation.

If Flight 253 had been brought down, the blood of 300 people would be on the hands of the ACLU and their friends.

Whenever someone commits a horrible crime it is inevitable that the relic media will go out and find all sorts of friends, relatives, neighbors, teachers, and co-workers who will attest to his good character. That has already started with the failed terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

The AP was first with this headline on December 27: Bomb suspect’s teacher describes exemplary pupil.

From ABC New we learned that Abdulmutallab led a life of privilege as the son of a prominent Nigerian banker. He lived in an upscale neighborhood in London, attended top boarding schools and a London college.

“He was a very nice, friendly person,” said Efemena Mokedi, a former classmate. “He was a person who did a lot of good things.”

In e-mails sent over the last six years, and obtained by ABC News, Abdulmutallab worried whether his religion would allow him to attend a high school prom, worried about low college SAT test scores.

Newsweek tells us that “because (Umar’s) father called attention to his son’s possible involvement in Yemen, one or more U.S. intelligence agencies did begin some kind of effort to further investigate the son’s Yemeni connections.” But they were unable find anything alarming about the lad.

Michael Rimmer, one of Umar’s British teachers, characterizes Abdulmutallab as a “dream” student: “Very keen, enthusiastic, very bright, very polite.”

Michael Rimmer, again, called him “a model student, very keen, very enthusiastic.”

The US Embassy in London issued a two-year multiple-entry visa to him on June 16, 2008.  “At the time that his visa was issued, there was nothing in his application nor in any database that would indicate that he should not receive a visa. He was a student at a very reputable school. He had plenty of financial resources, so he was not an intending immigrant.

There was no derogatory information about him last June “that would indicate that he shouldn’t get a visa, so we issued the visa,” Kelly said.

And so it goes…

Today it has  been reported that Abdulmutallab bragged that there are many more exactly like him in Yemen and they are waiting to attack us. My fervent hope is that his exploding underwear has taken him out of the human gene pool, so there won’t be any more nice young men exactly like him.

In the U.K. Sun today was a story about 25 British born Muslims who have been in jihad training camps in Yemen. Apparently they were radicalized in mosques in Britain. Then they went for terrorist training in Yemen and are due to return to Britain in 2010.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2785733.ece

Apparently the authorities are completely aware what these guys are up to. Is sedition not a crime in Britain? Why is nothing done?

Why would Britain allow them back into the country? And why would Britain allow the mosques that preach jihad to operate within its borders? Is this utter stupidity? Political correctness gone amuck? Self-destructive behavior? Has someone been paid off?

It makes me think the British will get what they deserve, although the decision makers will not be the ones who suffer. It will be innocent British subway riders or vacationers on planes. Why is there no outrage about this?

An even more important question is are we headed down the same path as Britain?

Ted Kennedy left behind some rather large shoes. At first it appeared no Senator would be able to fill them. It seemed The Lion of the Seante cound not be replaced. Then Max Baucus stepped up to the plate.

His drunken, slurred speech on the Senate floor is all over the web now.  This show came on the heels of scandals about him recommending his girlfriend for a judgeship, an adulterous affair with her, giving her an undeserved raise, and other scumbag behavior. Ted Kennedy would be proud.

I wonder if Baucus was drunk when he voted on the health care bill? How about when he read it, as if there was a chance in hell he actually read it. How often has he been drunk, but didn’t speak?

I suspect his fellow senators will find nothing wrong with his behavior. In fact, most probably wished they could have had a few with him. Maybe they can open a Senate bar and name it for him. It would be stocked with expensive liquor paid for by the taxpayers.

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that both Baucus and Kennedy are Democrats.

I hope the people of Montana who elected him are proud. I know the ghost of Ted Kennedy is smiling.

After the Christmas day terrorist attack on a Northwest flight to Detroit, you can be sure the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA will come up with a new set of rules, restrictions, and expensive equipment to insure a similar attempt is thwarted.

The lines will get longer at airports, we will have to arrive earlier, and submit to ever more intrusive inspections and screenings. We will be allowed to carry few items on planes with us, and our movements inside the airports and on planes will be more limited. In short, flying will become more of a pain than ever before.

Like generals fighting the last war, TSA will impose new rules aimed at the last attack. Meanwhile the terrorists are plotting new ways to take down planes that are not being addressed.

A simple solution to this trend would be to require all government officials to fly commercial only. If Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the gang at Homeland Security had to endure what the average traveller does, you can be sure things would be different. 

My prediction is that security would improve while the lines get shorter. And if I am wrong, then at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing that the perpetrators of this farce will be suffering equally. No more “do as I say, not as I do.”

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a plane as it was landing in Detroit. Reading the story made me wonder what would cause a person to do such a thing.