Thursday, February 25, 2010
Exclusive Interivew with Senator David Hann about Seifert Endorsement
I was honored to be the first and only person to speak to Senator David Hann about his endorsement of Marty Seifert for governor or Minnesota. After Hann's dropping out of the race this week, many of his supporters where left wondering whom to support? Read about Senator Hann's personal endorsement of Seifert in my article at Hennepin County Conservative Examiner on Examiner.com.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Chinese Hackers Hit Government, Corporate Systems in U.S.
If you haven't yet heard about this, here's a good link to the Wall Street Journal article about it.
Why does anyone still think it's a good idea to have government-run socialized medicine with centralized databases filled with the medical histories of every American? Just asking.
Why does anyone still think it's a good idea to have government-run socialized medicine with centralized databases filled with the medical histories of every American? Just asking.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Conservatives, it's time to find each other!
I had a thought the other day when I was describing my neighbor to a friend. I was going to invite this neighbor to an event, and I was e-mailing my friend about it.
It suddenly struck me as I was writing the e-mail how completely different my neighbor is from me. She's about as old as my mother--maybe a few years younger. She has five very grown children and grandchildren that number into the 20's now. I still have children at home, but I am a grandmother as well. She is very frugal by nature, and she doesn't like animals. I don't think anyone would call me frugal, and I practically went crazy with grief last year when I had to put my two beloved poodles down. She is a very devout Catholic, and, while I am a Christian, I am far from being Catholic.
You wouldn't think we had anything in common, would you? Even so, she has been a rock for me to lean on when I need it most, and I go to her often with questions about morality, life and God.
Why?
We have one thing that binds us together: conservatism. When I moved into this neighborhood about ten years ago, I noticed she had a pro-life bumper sticker on her car. I don't even remember what was on it. We were checking our mail at the same time one day shortly after George Bush was elected. One of his first acts as president was to block U.S. funds to international family-planning groups that offer abortion and abortion counseling, which reversed a Clinton administration policy. I said to her, "Isn't it nice to finally have a pro-life president?" She agreed and we began to talk about the sanctity of life.
Most of our early conversations were about just that, and we have delved very deep into the subject. We don't agree on every little thing, but we agree on the vast majority of the issues that surround respect for human life.
Then I began to find that she had other conservative ideals, if I remember correctly, around the time we went to war in Iraq. We have tiptoed carefully through the minefield that is political conversation with someone you don't know well, and we came out the other side unscathed. Not only unscathed, but as friends.
Now we trade conservative e-mails, talk about the issues when we run into each other, and I have invited her to come along to many conservative events, including events for candidates we both support. She'll let me know if someone stole my lawn sign, and she has even had one replaced before I knew it was gone.
Though we are different, we are very much the same. We have the same worldview, the same value system, similar opinions. We are conservatives.
If we conservatives had the guts to reveal our true selves more often, we could find more friends. In Minnesota (the land of ten thousand liberals), we are often reluctant to say we are conservative. Liberals seem to have a talent for thinking everyone around them thinks like they do, and we just nod and smile while the they spout their rhetoric at parties and family gatherings. We are polite people by nature, so we don't like to rock the boat.
We need to stop hiding behind our polite smiles and our silence and speak up. Especially now, when our freedom is at very real risk, we must say who we are and be proud of it. I don't advocate rudeness; we should always talk about our conservative opinions in a respectful manner. We can reveal ourselves in other ways as well.
We can wear clothing, like the shirts made by Cool Conservative, an Eden Prairie company. You could drink your coffee out of a Cool Conservative mug. This company has made conservative wear you can be proud to own and that isn't offensive to anyone.
Or you can put a bumper sticker on your car. If you don't want to mess up your bumper, put it in your window. I have one that reads, "Women deserve better than abortion" from Feminists for Life. A liberal I know declared that a car bumper is no place for a discussion about abortion. But until we can just come out and talk about it, I think a bumper is a place to start--and anyway, I don't take orders from anyone.
We have to start somewhere. We need to find each other. We need to band together. We need to be strong, now more than ever, and there is strength in numbers.
Open your mouth. Put on a T-shirt. Put a Sarah Palin book on your coffee table. As for me, I think I'll put that bumper sticker on my car.
It suddenly struck me as I was writing the e-mail how completely different my neighbor is from me. She's about as old as my mother--maybe a few years younger. She has five very grown children and grandchildren that number into the 20's now. I still have children at home, but I am a grandmother as well. She is very frugal by nature, and she doesn't like animals. I don't think anyone would call me frugal, and I practically went crazy with grief last year when I had to put my two beloved poodles down. She is a very devout Catholic, and, while I am a Christian, I am far from being Catholic.
You wouldn't think we had anything in common, would you? Even so, she has been a rock for me to lean on when I need it most, and I go to her often with questions about morality, life and God.
Why?
We have one thing that binds us together: conservatism. When I moved into this neighborhood about ten years ago, I noticed she had a pro-life bumper sticker on her car. I don't even remember what was on it. We were checking our mail at the same time one day shortly after George Bush was elected. One of his first acts as president was to block U.S. funds to international family-planning groups that offer abortion and abortion counseling, which reversed a Clinton administration policy. I said to her, "Isn't it nice to finally have a pro-life president?" She agreed and we began to talk about the sanctity of life.
Most of our early conversations were about just that, and we have delved very deep into the subject. We don't agree on every little thing, but we agree on the vast majority of the issues that surround respect for human life.
Then I began to find that she had other conservative ideals, if I remember correctly, around the time we went to war in Iraq. We have tiptoed carefully through the minefield that is political conversation with someone you don't know well, and we came out the other side unscathed. Not only unscathed, but as friends.
Now we trade conservative e-mails, talk about the issues when we run into each other, and I have invited her to come along to many conservative events, including events for candidates we both support. She'll let me know if someone stole my lawn sign, and she has even had one replaced before I knew it was gone.
Though we are different, we are very much the same. We have the same worldview, the same value system, similar opinions. We are conservatives.
If we conservatives had the guts to reveal our true selves more often, we could find more friends. In Minnesota (the land of ten thousand liberals), we are often reluctant to say we are conservative. Liberals seem to have a talent for thinking everyone around them thinks like they do, and we just nod and smile while the they spout their rhetoric at parties and family gatherings. We are polite people by nature, so we don't like to rock the boat.
We need to stop hiding behind our polite smiles and our silence and speak up. Especially now, when our freedom is at very real risk, we must say who we are and be proud of it. I don't advocate rudeness; we should always talk about our conservative opinions in a respectful manner. We can reveal ourselves in other ways as well.
We can wear clothing, like the shirts made by Cool Conservative, an Eden Prairie company. You could drink your coffee out of a Cool Conservative mug. This company has made conservative wear you can be proud to own and that isn't offensive to anyone.
Or you can put a bumper sticker on your car. If you don't want to mess up your bumper, put it in your window. I have one that reads, "Women deserve better than abortion" from Feminists for Life. A liberal I know declared that a car bumper is no place for a discussion about abortion. But until we can just come out and talk about it, I think a bumper is a place to start--and anyway, I don't take orders from anyone.
We have to start somewhere. We need to find each other. We need to band together. We need to be strong, now more than ever, and there is strength in numbers.
Open your mouth. Put on a T-shirt. Put a Sarah Palin book on your coffee table. As for me, I think I'll put that bumper sticker on my car.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday's Vikings vs. Saints game unbelievable
I was listening to the radio last week after the Vikings victory over Dallas. One caller said he had just been listening to Dallas radio on the internet, and that rather than talking about the particulars of the game, the callers were talking about how one of their players should have just sucked it up, taken the punishment, gone after Favre on the sidelines, taken him out at the knees, and destroyed them.
I was in the car alone, and I shouted to no one, "That's just evil!" I'm sure I looked like one of those women who practically botoxes herself to death, I was so surprised. I didn't use the word "evil" lightly, either. How could someone advocate doing that to another human being over a game? I truly felt that even talking about potentially ruining not only a man's career, but his life (if you have bad knees, you know it can be hell to live with the pain), was truly an evil thought that should have never made it out of someone's mouth, let alone into their brain.
I guess I'm naive.
I have to admit I didn't watch most of yesterday's game between the Vikes and the Saints--just the last 45 minutes or so. But when I came into the room and asked my family what had been happening, they all told me the other team was hitting Favre "hard" and that they had hurt his ankle.
"You mean they're actually doing it?" I said to my husband, who had to listen to me rant about how evil I thought the radio caller's account was earlier in the week.
"Oh, you should see Favre's wife. They keep showing her every time he gets hit below the belt and she has her hands over her face."
"That's because she knows that at any moment, their lives could be ruined," I said. "Chronic pain's a bitch. It's hard to live with and sometimes even harder on the family. I'm sure he has some [chronic pain] already, but to watch people purposely trying to make life worse for your husband for the sake of a game has got to be horrible."
My husband then educated me on Brett Favre's previous struggle with chronic back pain and painkillers. I had no idea. I just haven't followed football much since before I had children. The knowledge of his past made the whole thing even worse.
Isn't there some rule against this?" I asked.
"Yeah, I suppose they would have been more strict about it if it had been earlier in the season, but it's so close to the Super Bowl they're letting it slide."
"You know--it happens. It's just hard to watch," he said.
Hard to watch? Hard to believe.
I was in the car alone, and I shouted to no one, "That's just evil!" I'm sure I looked like one of those women who practically botoxes herself to death, I was so surprised. I didn't use the word "evil" lightly, either. How could someone advocate doing that to another human being over a game? I truly felt that even talking about potentially ruining not only a man's career, but his life (if you have bad knees, you know it can be hell to live with the pain), was truly an evil thought that should have never made it out of someone's mouth, let alone into their brain.
I guess I'm naive.
I have to admit I didn't watch most of yesterday's game between the Vikes and the Saints--just the last 45 minutes or so. But when I came into the room and asked my family what had been happening, they all told me the other team was hitting Favre "hard" and that they had hurt his ankle.
"You mean they're actually doing it?" I said to my husband, who had to listen to me rant about how evil I thought the radio caller's account was earlier in the week.
"Oh, you should see Favre's wife. They keep showing her every time he gets hit below the belt and she has her hands over her face."
"That's because she knows that at any moment, their lives could be ruined," I said. "Chronic pain's a bitch. It's hard to live with and sometimes even harder on the family. I'm sure he has some [chronic pain] already, but to watch people purposely trying to make life worse for your husband for the sake of a game has got to be horrible."
My husband then educated me on Brett Favre's previous struggle with chronic back pain and painkillers. I had no idea. I just haven't followed football much since before I had children. The knowledge of his past made the whole thing even worse.
Isn't there some rule against this?" I asked.
"Yeah, I suppose they would have been more strict about it if it had been earlier in the season, but it's so close to the Super Bowl they're letting it slide."
"You know--it happens. It's just hard to watch," he said.
Hard to watch? Hard to believe.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Minnesota DFL gubernatorial candidate Dayton promises to tax rich; no spending cuts
Mark Dayton stepped right in to the Minnesota Gubernatorial race at a press conference held at the State Capitol. I don't think there was any speculation that he wouldn't run; he's just made it official.
During his speech, former U.S. Senator Dayton spoke about his background as a Minnesotan and public servant, criticized former Governors and their policies, and introduced his theme, "A Better Minnesota."
The thing that stood out most about his speech was his dedication to--if he becomes Governor--taxing the rich. I guess it's safer for him to say it than it is for other candidates; after all, Dayton is rich. He is an heir to the Dayton's department store fortune and spends millions of his own dollars on his various political campaigns. I suppose it's kind of like the unwritten rule in which a comedian can tell jokes or disparage people of his own race or creed and not get into trouble for it, whereas if you don't belong to a certain group but disparage it, you could be in big trouble. Dayton is talking about taxing himself and his peers, the people he grew up with and went to school with at Blake, isn't he?
Well, he called for taxing the wealthiest 10 percent of Minnesotans. But the definition, as published in the table on page 58 of the Minnesota 2009 Tax Incidence Study, of the wealthiest 10 percent shows their household income for 2011 is projected to begin at $136, 955. Does that figure fit your mental picture of a family rolling in so much excess dough that they should pay disproportionately high taxes to fund Dayton's programs? Not so much.
Besides taxing the rich, his other plans for Minnesota include throwing a lot of money at K-12 education, pre-school and lowering college tuition; retrofitting state buildings with heating and cooling methods using alternative energy to reduce "their carbon footprints;" highway construction and transit improvements; "affordable health care for all Minnesotans;" and several job creation programs.
He implied these spending increases and new spending projects will all pay for themselves. Oh, and the money from taxing the rich will help as well.
But what stands out most glaringly about his speech is that in the midst of all his ideas for "A Better Minnesota," he spoke not one word about cutting spending, eliminating wasteful spending, or saving money in any way. Just spending it. Spend, spend, spend. Because we all know that throwing money at things always fixes problems.
Completely ignoring spending cuts reveals an interesting difference about Mark Dayton, Gubernatorial candidate, as compared to his fellow candidates. As I said before, he's rich. So he thinks like a rich person. If something's broken, buy a new one. If there aren't enough staff to do the job, just hire more. There's no need to think about saving, because money is always abundant.
Which begs the question: Can Minnesota afford to have a rich man in the Governor's office during a deep recession?
During his speech, former U.S. Senator Dayton spoke about his background as a Minnesotan and public servant, criticized former Governors and their policies, and introduced his theme, "A Better Minnesota."
The thing that stood out most about his speech was his dedication to--if he becomes Governor--taxing the rich. I guess it's safer for him to say it than it is for other candidates; after all, Dayton is rich. He is an heir to the Dayton's department store fortune and spends millions of his own dollars on his various political campaigns. I suppose it's kind of like the unwritten rule in which a comedian can tell jokes or disparage people of his own race or creed and not get into trouble for it, whereas if you don't belong to a certain group but disparage it, you could be in big trouble. Dayton is talking about taxing himself and his peers, the people he grew up with and went to school with at Blake, isn't he?
Well, he called for taxing the wealthiest 10 percent of Minnesotans. But the definition, as published in the table on page 58 of the Minnesota 2009 Tax Incidence Study, of the wealthiest 10 percent shows their household income for 2011 is projected to begin at $136, 955. Does that figure fit your mental picture of a family rolling in so much excess dough that they should pay disproportionately high taxes to fund Dayton's programs? Not so much.
Besides taxing the rich, his other plans for Minnesota include throwing a lot of money at K-12 education, pre-school and lowering college tuition; retrofitting state buildings with heating and cooling methods using alternative energy to reduce "their carbon footprints;" highway construction and transit improvements; "affordable health care for all Minnesotans;" and several job creation programs.
He implied these spending increases and new spending projects will all pay for themselves. Oh, and the money from taxing the rich will help as well.
But what stands out most glaringly about his speech is that in the midst of all his ideas for "A Better Minnesota," he spoke not one word about cutting spending, eliminating wasteful spending, or saving money in any way. Just spending it. Spend, spend, spend. Because we all know that throwing money at things always fixes problems.
Completely ignoring spending cuts reveals an interesting difference about Mark Dayton, Gubernatorial candidate, as compared to his fellow candidates. As I said before, he's rich. So he thinks like a rich person. If something's broken, buy a new one. If there aren't enough staff to do the job, just hire more. There's no need to think about saving, because money is always abundant.
Which begs the question: Can Minnesota afford to have a rich man in the Governor's office during a deep recession?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Will the Left Finally Get It?
So Scott Brown, a Republican, is to be the new Senator from Massachusetts. A Republican hasn't been elected to the Senate in Massachusetts since the 70's. This is big.
There were a lot of factors that went into Martha Coakley's stunning defeat. She was inherently unlikable, for one thing. She couldn't seem to open her mouth without offending someone. She offended Catholics in a radio interview by saying if they object to certain medical procedures on moral grounds then they shouldn't work in emergency rooms. Great move--insult Catholics in probably the most Catholic state in the country.
But there was more. This was a litmus test, if you will, on the left and its entire existence. It was a referendum on Obama, Peloci, Reid and Emanuel. It was a decisive opinion on socialized medicine, government takeovers of private businesses, and big government in general.
So, will the left finally get it? Will they understand that they're shoving socialized medicine down American's throats and we don't like how it tastes?
I doubt it.
They are so wrapped up in their own elitist bubble that they are, I believe, incapable of seeing what's beyond it. They have their ideas about what's best for the American people, and they don't really care if the people like it or not. In the typical liberal elitist fashion, they think they know what's best for the "little people."
They have their agenda, and I think they'll stick to it no matter what America thinks. If they do anything that seems logical to help Americans (like Senators Franken and Kerry's proposed amendment to the health care bill that would delay taxes in medical devices until 2013--after the next round of elections) it will be for personal gain. They didn't care about the consequences of the tax on medical device companies and their employees; they just cared about Democrats getting re-elected before the companies were furious about the effects of being slammed with another huge tax. Typical.
So, in my humble opinion, the left will not get it, they will never get it, and we have to stop thinking they will. We just have to vote as many of them out of office as we can at every opportunity we have to do it. That started tonight with the election of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate.
There were a lot of factors that went into Martha Coakley's stunning defeat. She was inherently unlikable, for one thing. She couldn't seem to open her mouth without offending someone. She offended Catholics in a radio interview by saying if they object to certain medical procedures on moral grounds then they shouldn't work in emergency rooms. Great move--insult Catholics in probably the most Catholic state in the country.
But there was more. This was a litmus test, if you will, on the left and its entire existence. It was a referendum on Obama, Peloci, Reid and Emanuel. It was a decisive opinion on socialized medicine, government takeovers of private businesses, and big government in general.
So, will the left finally get it? Will they understand that they're shoving socialized medicine down American's throats and we don't like how it tastes?
I doubt it.
They are so wrapped up in their own elitist bubble that they are, I believe, incapable of seeing what's beyond it. They have their ideas about what's best for the American people, and they don't really care if the people like it or not. In the typical liberal elitist fashion, they think they know what's best for the "little people."
They have their agenda, and I think they'll stick to it no matter what America thinks. If they do anything that seems logical to help Americans (like Senators Franken and Kerry's proposed amendment to the health care bill that would delay taxes in medical devices until 2013--after the next round of elections) it will be for personal gain. They didn't care about the consequences of the tax on medical device companies and their employees; they just cared about Democrats getting re-elected before the companies were furious about the effects of being slammed with another huge tax. Typical.
So, in my humble opinion, the left will not get it, they will never get it, and we have to stop thinking they will. We just have to vote as many of them out of office as we can at every opportunity we have to do it. That started tonight with the election of Republican Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate.
Monday, January 18, 2010
So Long Norm--For Now
So former Senator Norm Coleman isn't going to run for Governor of Minnesota. He posted a statement on his Facebook page that made it very clear why.
I have to say that even though I really like Norm, I think this is probably the right decision. It's a little bittersweet; I think he would make a great Governor for Minnesota, but I also feel like I know it would be wrong for him to run. Frankly, I think we need to bring the Republican party closer to the Tea Party definition of what a conservative really is. That movement has such momentum that I think it will define who should run and who will ultimately run in all upcoming elections for a time. Norm is more of a centrist, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But right now, I think conservatives are craving a real conservative.
I don't know Norm personally. I met him on several occasions during his run for Senator. I volunteered a lot for his campaign, and I have photos of him with me, my husband, my children and holding my granddaughter. I have shaken his hand and spoken with him more times than I can count; I believe you can tell a lot about someone by shaking his hand and looking him in the eye.
What I felt viscerally about Norm was that he is a good man. Hearing him speak just enforced that. I really feel his intentions are pure and that he has a genuine love for this country. I also think he possesses the traits necessary to work across party lines and not alienate people (unlike the current occupant of his job).
Early on in the campaign when I spoke with him about issues, he had an energy and passion that was palpable. But what I remember most is an appearance I attended with a very small group of people about two days after the ludicrous charges came out about his wife funneling money through her employer to him (more about that in an upcoming column). When I shook his hand and looked him in the eye, when I handed him my granddaughter, he seemed as if he had been punched in the gut. When he spoke briefly about the allegations, you could feel the anger bubbling below the surface. One can hardly blame him. The eleventh hour attack was malicious and despicable. But mostly, he seemed beleaguered. That's the word that keeps coming to mind when I think about it now.
The protracted recount process for the Senate seat didn't seem to help. Photos of him in the courtroom show a stressed-out, tired man.
And now? Norm looks like he did when I first met him. He looks healthy, energized and happy. Again, I do not know Norm Coleman on any level but as an occasional acquaintance while volunteering for his campaign, and I'm just trying to convey my innate sense of the man.
I hope he continues to thrive in his new life. But, as I said, it is bittersweet. Since he's not running for Governor, what's next for him in public service? I really think he should hold public office again; I just wonder what it could be. I, and many of his other supporters, aren't ready to say good-bye just yet.
In the meantime, Norm, so long, good luck, and thanks for your service.
I have to say that even though I really like Norm, I think this is probably the right decision. It's a little bittersweet; I think he would make a great Governor for Minnesota, but I also feel like I know it would be wrong for him to run. Frankly, I think we need to bring the Republican party closer to the Tea Party definition of what a conservative really is. That movement has such momentum that I think it will define who should run and who will ultimately run in all upcoming elections for a time. Norm is more of a centrist, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But right now, I think conservatives are craving a real conservative.
I don't know Norm personally. I met him on several occasions during his run for Senator. I volunteered a lot for his campaign, and I have photos of him with me, my husband, my children and holding my granddaughter. I have shaken his hand and spoken with him more times than I can count; I believe you can tell a lot about someone by shaking his hand and looking him in the eye.
What I felt viscerally about Norm was that he is a good man. Hearing him speak just enforced that. I really feel his intentions are pure and that he has a genuine love for this country. I also think he possesses the traits necessary to work across party lines and not alienate people (unlike the current occupant of his job).
Early on in the campaign when I spoke with him about issues, he had an energy and passion that was palpable. But what I remember most is an appearance I attended with a very small group of people about two days after the ludicrous charges came out about his wife funneling money through her employer to him (more about that in an upcoming column). When I shook his hand and looked him in the eye, when I handed him my granddaughter, he seemed as if he had been punched in the gut. When he spoke briefly about the allegations, you could feel the anger bubbling below the surface. One can hardly blame him. The eleventh hour attack was malicious and despicable. But mostly, he seemed beleaguered. That's the word that keeps coming to mind when I think about it now.
The protracted recount process for the Senate seat didn't seem to help. Photos of him in the courtroom show a stressed-out, tired man.
And now? Norm looks like he did when I first met him. He looks healthy, energized and happy. Again, I do not know Norm Coleman on any level but as an occasional acquaintance while volunteering for his campaign, and I'm just trying to convey my innate sense of the man.
I hope he continues to thrive in his new life. But, as I said, it is bittersweet. Since he's not running for Governor, what's next for him in public service? I really think he should hold public office again; I just wonder what it could be. I, and many of his other supporters, aren't ready to say good-bye just yet.
In the meantime, Norm, so long, good luck, and thanks for your service.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Four reasons conservative Minnesotans should help MA's Scott Brown be elected to U.S. Senate
Why should Minnesota conservatives care about a Senate race between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown? After all, it's taking place all the way over in Massachusetts
Minnesota has a stake in killing the tax on medical devices as well. There are 1,008 medical equipment and device companies in Minnesota, 463 of them in Hennepin County alone. The tax on medical devices included in the bill could do catastrophic damage to companies such as Medtronic, whose world headquarters is in Minneapolis.
This even caught the attention of senator Al Franken (oh, it hurts to write that), who co-sponsored an amendment to the health care reform bill with fellow liberal senator, John Kerry, to to delay the device tax to 2013. The amendment was not adopted in the Senate's final version of the bill. I don't know what they thought delaying the tax would do to help medical device manufacturers; it would still threaten to destroy some of them and seriously decrease the profits of others--possibly driving them out of the country--whether the tax is in 2010 or 2013. The only reason I can see for doing that is to delay the tax to start after the 2012 election. Hmmmm, do you think that was behind this? Thanks for looking out for us, senator Franken.
Pray this works because our future and the future of our children depends on electing conservative candidates to the Senate to stop Obama's socialist agenda.
That's Coakley on the left clearly looking at Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack, who was "allegedly" pushed to the ground by the other man in the photo, who is linked to Coakley's campaign. She later stated she was "unaware" of the incident.
Poto by AP
Because it could have a direct effect on you, your children and your grandchildren.
Martha Coakley, a Democrat, and Scott Brown, a Republican, are in a very contentious race for the U.S.Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy.
The Senate is very polarized these days, and we are in desperate need of more Republican Senators. It would be a coup for Republicans to win a Senate seat that had been occupied by liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy for 47 years. More important, it would deny Democrats the crucial 60th Senate seat they need to stop Republican filibusters of bills that further Obama's socialist agenda.
Brown has been running on the promise to stop the Senate health care "reform" bill. He is particularly opposed to the part of the bill that puts a tax on medical devices. With 1,349 medical equipment and device companies in Massachusetts, the state has a huge stake in stopping this tax.Minnesota has a stake in killing the tax on medical devices as well. There are 1,008 medical equipment and device companies in Minnesota, 463 of them in Hennepin County alone. The tax on medical devices included in the bill could do catastrophic damage to companies such as Medtronic, whose world headquarters is in Minneapolis.
This even caught the attention of senator Al Franken (oh, it hurts to write that), who co-sponsored an amendment to the health care reform bill with fellow liberal senator, John Kerry, to to delay the device tax to 2013. The amendment was not adopted in the Senate's final version of the bill. I don't know what they thought delaying the tax would do to help medical device manufacturers; it would still threaten to destroy some of them and seriously decrease the profits of others--possibly driving them out of the country--whether the tax is in 2010 or 2013. The only reason I can see for doing that is to delay the tax to start after the 2012 election. Hmmmm, do you think that was behind this? Thanks for looking out for us, senator Franken.
Brown's opponent, Democrat Martha Coakley has revealed herself today to be a typical liberal who has trouble with the truth and blames things on right-wing conspiracies. She was approached last night after a Washington D.C. fundraiser by Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack. He asked her if she stood by her comments, made during a debate on Monday, that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan. She rudely refused to answer his question. Shortly thereafter, a man linked to Coakley's campaign knocked McCormack to the ground. According to McCormack, she looked at him lying on the ground and kept on walking.
When asked about the incident today, Coakley said, “I’m not sure what happened. I know something occurred, but I’m not privy to the facts. I’m sure it will come out, but I’m not aware of that.” She went on to blame GOP "stalkers" for any problems that occurred after the event. There is an AP photo and video of the incident. You can plainly see Coakley was "aware" of the incident.
So there are four reasons why Minnesota conservatives should care about this far-away Senate race:
- The seat is needed to deny Democrats the crucial 60th vote.
- We need a conservative voice to help stop the tax on medical devices, which could cost Minnesotans jobs. The liberals are only using the issue to look out for themselves.
- Democrat Martha Coakley is a typical liberal who seems to have a distant relationship with the truth and blames her problems on GOP conspiracies. We don't need another one of these in the Senate. We have enough of them, thank you.
- Stopping the Democrat insanity in Washington is key to your future and the future of your family. Banding together and helping conservatives be elected across the country will help America stay recognizable.
Pray this works because our future and the future of our children depends on electing conservative candidates to the Senate to stop Obama's socialist agenda.
That's Coakley on the left clearly looking at Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack, who was "allegedly" pushed to the ground by the other man in the photo, who is linked to Coakley's campaign. She later stated she was "unaware" of the incident.
Poto by AP
Monday, January 11, 2010
Harry Reid Not Racist, Just Incompetent
Unless you've been living under a rock these past few days, you know that the new book, Game Change, by political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, alleged that Harry Reid said Americans would be “ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama –-a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.’ ”
There has been much debate over whether Reid is racist or not. I don't really know. Based on his comments, I think he was trying to be a realist and just trying to divine the political winds of the time.
But what I do know is that anyone who would refer to anything having to do with an African American as "negro" is so out of touch with modern America that he is unfit to lead.
I really don't have anything more to say. It's as simple as that.
There has been much debate over whether Reid is racist or not. I don't really know. Based on his comments, I think he was trying to be a realist and just trying to divine the political winds of the time.
But what I do know is that anyone who would refer to anything having to do with an African American as "negro" is so out of touch with modern America that he is unfit to lead.
I really don't have anything more to say. It's as simple as that.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Friendly Neighborhood Republican Has New Gig
While I still remain focused on my Friendly Neighborhood Republican blog, I have a new on-line column. I'm the Hennepin County Conservative Examiner with Examiner.com.
This new column will have a mostly local focus, though I will write about national and international topics as well. I may also, from time to time, overlap columns by posting Friendly Neighborhood Republican columns on the Examiner.com site, and vice versa.
I'm excited about this new opportunity to write for Examiner.com. I'm even more excited about my first article, which went live today.
It's a profile of local entrepreneurs Sheila Kihne and Betsy Gall and their new Cool Conservative clothing and gift line. Thanks to Sheila and Betsy for willing to be the subjects of my first column.
Please check out Examiner.com and look for me, the Hennepin County Conservative Examiner!
This new column will have a mostly local focus, though I will write about national and international topics as well. I may also, from time to time, overlap columns by posting Friendly Neighborhood Republican columns on the Examiner.com site, and vice versa.
I'm excited about this new opportunity to write for Examiner.com. I'm even more excited about my first article, which went live today.
It's a profile of local entrepreneurs Sheila Kihne and Betsy Gall and their new Cool Conservative clothing and gift line. Thanks to Sheila and Betsy for willing to be the subjects of my first column.
Please check out Examiner.com and look for me, the Hennepin County Conservative Examiner!
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