Senate Republicans decline any further participation in the assault against the Intelligence Community.

Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said Friday that they will no longer participate in an investigation into the Bush administration’s interrogation policies, arguing that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s decision to reexamine allegations of detainee abuse by the CIA would hobble any inquiry.

And Sen. Bond is absolutely correct in his assessment of the current injustice.

“Had Mr. Holder honored the pledge made by the President to look forward, not backwards, we would still be active participants in the Committee’s review,” the ranking Republican on the intelligence panel, Sen. Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, said in a statement. “What current or former CIA employee would be willing to gamble his freedom by answering the Committee’s questions? Indeed, forcing these terror fighters to make this choice is neither fair nor just.”

But a few paragraphs into the story, WaPo gets to the real heart of the matter.

The Republicans’ decision is a blow to the goal of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, to produce a bipartisan report that cannot be described as a political attack on Bush-era policies.

Even though the resulting political gain might be unintentional, a victory is still a victory.

From a recent press release by Rep. Darrell Issa, the Ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee:

“The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has repeatedly and deliberately engaged in systemic fraud,” according to the report’s executive summary. “Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate. Emerging accounts of widespread deceit and corruption raise the need for a criminal investigation of ACORN.”

Committee investigators have received numerous documents and significant new information from ACORN “whistleblowers” which appear to substantiate these serious allegations. A full congressional/criminal investigation is warranted.

Read More →

The Iranian people do not have the right to have their voices heard, nor do they have the right to participate in free and fair elections. The State grants privileges only to those who conform. That’s the black-and-white of reality.

President Obama’s Cairo Capitulation™ instilled a sense of “hope” throughout much of the Middle East. Apparently, it was only false-hope, because his inaction has since proven beyond all doubt that his speech was just words.

That said, President Obama’s equivocation regarding the clearly fraudulent results of Iran’s presidential election and his refusal to take a stand in defense of Liberty have sealed the fate of the fledgling reform movement, and consequently, the immediate future looks very bleak for the Iranian people.

President Bush stood with the Iraqi people, an oppressive dictator was justly removed and the cause of Liberty was advanced.

Following President Obama’s equivocation and inaction, I’m curious to know how much time will pass before the damage to the cause of Liberty can be undone and the Iranian people are willing to trust the words or motives of an American president?

If the GOP doesn’t adopt and implement a “scorched earth policy” prior to the 2010 mid-terms, it may be too late to save our Republic. It will almost certainly be too late to save the GOP, as it will have lost the will to fight, along with any hope of regaining its credibility with the American electorate.

Our current federal debt obligation is approximately $63.8 Trillion, and will likely increase an additional $3.5 Trillion by the end of 2010. Many economists are predicting a “double-dip” in 2010, and given the 111^th Congress and its propensity to spend other people’s money, the federal debt obligation may exceed $70 Trillion.

Even though many are not yet born, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are broke. The first baby-boomer will turn 65 in 2011, and the debt obligation only skyrockets from that point going forward. The unemployment rate will undoubtedly reach double-digits later this year, or early 2010. The GOP can go-along-to-get-along and share the blame for the impending fiscal disaster, or stand up and fight both tooth-and-nail against the progressive’s agenda of redistribution, and stop the madness.

If the partisan press successfully deflects the blame for the impending fiscal crisis away from President Obama and the Democrats, even just a little, there will be no GOP advantage in 2012, and no grin. The foundation must be laid now, and the GOP must be battle-ready before the 2010 mid-terms.

Read More →

The future economic outlook, as the result of a government mandated “green” economy, is nothing short of horrific. When added to the current administration’s irresponsible fiscal policies, and coupled with a full frontal-assault against our domestic energy producers, the recipe for disaster is complete. The current economic recession will soon seem like a walk in the park compared to the fiscal nightmare which lies ahead.

The Heritage Foundation has published an excellent analysis, which projects the economic impact resulting from Waxman-Markey, and separates myth from reality.

About those “green” jobs touted by President Obama… It’s virtually impossible to create a positive atmosphere that promotes job growth while the economy is suffering through a $9.6 trillion decline in GDP. Waxman-Markey is no exception.

– Compared to no cap and trade, real GDP losses increase an additional $2 trillion, from $7.4 trillion under the original draft to $9.6 trillion under the new draft;
– Compared to no cap and trade, average unemployment increases an additional 261,000 jobs, from 844,000 lost jobs under the original draft to 1,105,000 lost jobs under the new draft; and
– Peak-year unemployment losses rise by 500,000 jobs, from 2 million under the original draft to 2.5 million under the new draft.

Though the proposed legislation would have little impact on world temperatures, it is a massive energy tax in disguise that promises job losses, income cuts, and a sharp left turn toward big government.

Let this sink in a minute… As opposed to no cap-and-trade, average unemployment will increase an additional 1,105,000 jobs as the result of the government mandated “green” economy.

Read More →

Writing in the NewMajority, Mr. Frum had this to say about Gov. Jon Huntsman’s appointment as Ambassador to China.

It’s a brilliant appointment from the point of view of the political interests of Barack Obama. Gov. Huntsman’s intellect, his popularity in his state, his undoubted conservatism combined with his open-minded new approaches on social issues and the environment - not to mention his enormous personal wealth - positioned him as the natural leader of the reform forces within the GOP. By sending him across the Pacific, President Obama has acted deftly to enhance the continuing dominance of the Republican faction that serves him best. The Limbaugh-Obama axis wins again!

Mr. Frum is just flat-out wrong by all accounts. The real winners are the Republican Party, the conservative mainstream of the American electorate, and more importantly, our constitutional Republic.

Mr. Frum, this really should have been all of the evidence that was required to prove the fatal flaw in your logic.

The enthusiasm we feel for him here at NewMajority has not to date proven infectious: The Republican party of Kent County, Michigan, outright cancelled an event rather than host the governor.

“The voters want and expect us to stand on principle and return to our roots. Unfortunately, by holding an event with Governor Huntsman, we would be doing the exact opposite,” [county party chairwoman Joanne] Voorhees wrote in an e-mail quoted in The Grand Rapids Press.

Clearly, the Republican Party of Kent County, Michigan gets it.

However, Mr. Frum attempts to justify his twisted logic, and with this quote from Benjamin Franklin, he cleverly attempts to label his critics.

“Experience is a hard teacher, but fools will have no other.” – Benjamin Franklin

Mr. Frum, Mr. Franklin was speaking to you.

Without organized voter fraud, John Kennedy would have lost Illinois to Richard Nixon, and therefore, the presidency.

That was 1960…

Fast-forward forty-years to an unsuccessful attempt…

The media group which descended on Florida after the 2000 recount debacle, with hundreds of election lawyers from both sides in tow, had hoped to prove that President Bush was “Selected/Not Elected.”

Read More →

Via scotusblog:

In re: Brunner v. Ohio Republican Party

The Supreme Court, acting on the case after the Circuit Justice, Justice John Paul Stevens referred the matter to the full bench, not only granted the secretary of state’s plea to stay the federal judge’s temporary restraining order, but actually vacated it, thus removing any legal obligation spelled out in that order.

Read More →

President Bush has not directed the EPA to issue regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has indicated the agency would seek further public comment before making a determination on the matter.

The New York Times Editorial Board is all in a tizzy.

The Bush administration made clear on Friday that it will do virtually nothing to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. With no shame and no apology, it stuck a thumb in the eye of the Supreme Court, repudiated its own scientists and exposed the hollowness of Mr. Bush’s claims to have seen the light on climate change.

(emphasis mine)

Way to go President Bush!