The top political news of the day:
What Did Bill Richardson Know And When Did He Know It?
Illinios governor Rod Blagojevich is not the only governor who might face questions about pay-for-play involvement.
New Mexico’s Gov. Bill Richardson, the newly named Secretary of Commerce in Obama’s about-to-be Cabinet, is also being investigated by a federal grand jury in his home state for possibly steering state bond business from the New Mexico Financial Authority toward David Rubin, a significant campaign contributor, according to an NBC News.
Two former state officials say they’ve recently been questioned by a federal grand jury specifically about allegations that Richardson or aides pushed state business worth nearly $1.5 million in fees toward CDR Financial Products in 2004.
Investors are preparing to close out 2008 with Wall Street's worst performance since Herbert Hoover was president.
The ongoing recession and global economic shock pummeled stocks this year, with the Dow Jones industrial average slumping 36.2 percent. That's the biggest drop since 1931 when the Great Depression sent stocks reeling 40.6 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index is set to record the biggest drop since its creation in 1957. The index of America's biggest companies is down 40.9 percent for the year.
Analysts are already looking toward January as a crucial period for the market as it tries to recover some of the $7.3 trillion wiped from the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, the broadest measure of U.S. stocks.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081228/D95BV83O0.html
The United Auto Workers brass continue to own and operate a $33 million lakeside retreat in Michigan, complete with a $6.4 million designer golf course.
The resort is costing them millions each year.
The UAW, known more for its strikes than its slices, hosts seminars and junkets at the Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center in Onaway, Mich., which is nestled on "1,000 heavily forested acres" on Michigan's Black Lake.
The resort has lost $23 million in the past five years alone, a heavy albatross around a union asking for a taxpayer bail out.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,472304,00.html
Opinion:
Retrospective on the year that was
2008 will be remember in history as the year Barack Obama was elected president. Since history – at least history written in the immediate wake of events – is not a guarantee of accuracy, we can judge what we will see in advance.
Given the incredible spectacle of the mainstream media throwing off all sense of accuracy, honesty, and impartial reporting of fact, early histories of this past year will most likely not be honest ones.
Much of this corruption was powered by the cold hatred of George Bush and everything he did by a media so far to the left it seldom even bothers to deny it. Expect some of the more extremist members of our fourth estate to begin backing away from Obama because he is not being radical enough.
Obama’s real test will come the first time the country faces attack from its enemies among radical Islamic terrorists and their Holy War on civilization. Clinton turned his back on the threat and pretended we were not being attacked. 9/11 was the result.
The other major story was the financial collapse.
Midway through September, Treasury Secretary Paulson ran around Washington shouting “the sky is falling” and demanding Capitol Hill give him a blank check for ^700 billion. Paulson got his money and the stock market tanked – big time. He changed his mind about what he would do with the money, and now how it was spent and who got how much, is secret.
As a side note, US auto manufacturers came running Paulson-like to Congress demanding $25 billion in bail out cash to prevent their collapse. Congress was steadfast at first, sent the auto companies packing and ordering them to return in two weeks with plans that might work.
The companies returned in two weeks, but without plans and with demands for an additional pile of cash: $34 billion! No one ever said the auto company execs were not brash and lacking in pride!
They finally got about half of what they demanded, as the Bush administration kicked the can down the road a bit and left a final solution in the hands of the incoming Obama administration.
So much for 2008.
America faces a new year with a political situation that could be the greatest challenge normal America has faced.
Not just liberal Democrats, but extremely liberal Democrats, now control out government. Obama is the most leftist of all Presidents to date, and he has the slavish backing of Nancy Pelosi – a radical in her own right, and the hapless Harry Reid whose ability to provide gaffes may at least give the nation a chuckle now and then.
Of course he may be competing with Vice President Joe Biden who is arguably the most gaffe-prone official at whom we can laugh.
Fasten all chin straps.
Buddy
The Days Top Blogs
Overview Menu
1.
What I Saw At McCain Headquarters On Election Night 2008
Media corruption on parade as reporters covering McCain swap high fives at news Obama had won. “Honest Journalism” as an oxymoron.
2.
ACORN, Soros Linked to Franken Vote Grab
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Al Franken a lead some six weeks after incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman appeared to win by 725 votes on Election Day, has extensive ties to both the ACORN organization now under federal investigation for vote fraud, and to MoveOn.org ultra-liberal kingmaker George Soros.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_mark_ritchie/2008/12/22/164573.html
3.
2008 -- the year man-made global warming was disproved. Reality trumps political hype.
Now, for the details:
1.
http://townhall.com/columnists/AustinHill/2008/12/28/what_i_saw_at_mccain_headquarters_on_election_night_2008
What I Saw At McCain Headquarters On Election Night 2008
Austin Hill
Viewing the United States through the eyes of a foreign national is one thing. And viewing the United States through the eyes of foreign media professionals is another thing.
So as we close-out 2008, and begin a new year with the soon-to-be President Obama, the view from the “foreign news desk” may shed some light on some of the ways in which the world misunderstands both our country, and our President-elect.
I don’t have any “McCain scandal” to tell. No tabloid-style inside scoop about John McCain and Sarah Palin squabbling behind the scenes on election night, or Palin’s daughter’s boyfriend’s mom doing drugs, or “marital tension” boiling-over between celebrity Sarah and jealous husband Todd.
But on November 4, I was at McCain-Palin headquarters in John McCain’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. The headquarters were set-up at the luxurious Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort, a facility where Mr. McCain has spent election day for every one of his previous Senate campaigns, relaxing and watching the returns being reported.
I was hunkered-down in the “central media center,“ which was, essentially, a very large banquet facility packed with electronic equipment, and journalists and technicians from, literally, all over the world.
By 1pm Mountain Time, having watched multiple reports on the Fox Newschannel and CNN about “exit interviews” at polling centers on the east coast, there was a bit of a “lull in the action.” That’s when Ian, a reporter from Dublin, Ireland seated at the work station next to me, asked me to join him for lunch. And after some shop talk over food and beverages, the conversation got really interesting.
“You realize Europe wants Obama to win this thing, don’t you?” he asked.
“I know that’s a widely-held perception” I replied.
“You don’t think the polls are accurate?” he asked.
“I’m skeptical of them."
“The problem with McCain,” Ian explained, “is that he is perceived as being another war monger, jus like Bush, and Europe is fed-up with Bush.”
“Yes, that is another widely-held perception” I told him. “But I’m even skeptical of this supposed hatred of Bush.”
“What’s to be skeptical about?” he asked.
“Well, consider this” I told him. “During the Bush presidency, no less that four heads-of-state have campaigned on Bush-like themes of cutting taxes, and taking a strong stance against Islamic-driven terrorism, and also promised to their countrymen closer ties with the United States and the Bush Administration itself. Stephen Harper of Canada, Angela Merkel of Germany, Nicolas Sarkozy in France, and Tony Blair of England all campaigned on these platforms, in one fashion or another, and they all won their respective elections. So while the opinion polls may reflect Bush hatred, ballot boxes have conveyed something different, and I take the election outcomes more seriously than I do opinion polls.”
Ian seemed a bit surprised by this analysis, yet he didn’t try to argue about it. Changing the topic, he then asked me “so is Fox Newschannel really the most popular cable tv news outlet in the U.S.?”
“Yes, it is consistently ranked the highest in viewer ship” I told him.
“I find that ‘fair and balanced’ moniker to be very amusing” he said. “Seems to me that much of what I see there is anything but balanced.”
“I think you need to separate the news from the talk shows” I told him. “Fair and balanced is meant to describe the news product, while the talk shows are opinion and editorial-based.”
“But do you even agree that the news is either fair, or balanced?” he asked.
“I do” I told him. “Juxtaposed with the liberal bias that is inbred within other news organizations, Fox is refreshingly un-biased.”
“That’s interesting” he said with a smirk on his face. I could tell he was skeptical, but was politely choosing not to argue.
Later that night, when the clock struck 9pm on the West Coast, and California was “called” for Obama, and Obama was thus declared the winner of the election, several American journalists began cheering, “high-fiving” each other, and dancing about in the McCain media center. A shot of staffers jumping and hugging on the set at CNN in Atlanta appeared on our big screen monitors, as well.
“Oh dear God,” Ian exclaimed in his thick Irish brogue. “You weren’t jokin about the bias.”
“Pardon me” I replied, not quite understanding his point.
“I said you weren’t jokin about bias in American media” he said. “What’s with all this celebration for one candidate over the other?”
“It’s real” I told him. “You’re seeing some American media professionals in a rare moment of candor. Usually the bias is more subtle, but it’s always present. That’s why you can’t believe all the wonderful things told to you by the American press about Obama and other liberal politicians, nor can you believe everything terrible told to you about Bush and other conservatives.”
Conservative Americans have developed a healthy skepticism of our nation’s dominant, mainstream media. It’s time, now, to develop a skepticism of how our nation is being portrayed in the foreign media, as well. This will be especially important as we enter into the era of Obama.
Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
2,
ACORN, Soros Linked to Franken Vote Grab
By: David A. Patten
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, who orchestrated the recount that gave Democratic challenger Al Franken a lead some six weeks after incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman appeared to win by 725 votes on Election Day, has extensive ties to both the ACORN organization now under federal investigation for vote fraud, and to MoveOn.org ultra-liberal kingmaker George Soros.
In 2006, ACORN endorsed Ritchie in his bid to become secretary of state, and Ritchie also received a campaign contribution that year from Soros.
Indeed, Ritchie has credited his own political career in large part to an obscure, Soros-funded group called the Secretary of State Project (SoS), whose express purpose is to seed state election bureaucracies nationwide with partisan activists -- Ritchie among them -- who are strategically positioned to influence the outcome of close recounts like the one now underway in Minnesota.
The SoS Web site lauds Ritchie as “arguably the most progressive secretary of state in America,” and states: “Thanks to SoS Project donors, Minnesota’s Mark Ritchie – a true champion for Democracy – was able to defeat a two-term incumbent Republican by less than 5 points. We helped close the gap and make the difference with cable television ads targeting women and seniors.”
Nor does Ritchie downplay the role of the Soros-funded nonprofit in his own election win.
“I want to thank the Secretary of State Project and its thousands of grassroots donors for helping push my campaign over the top,” he states on the partisan political site.
Newsmax has learned that contributors to Ritchie’s 2006 campaign, which made him the No.1 official in charge of impartially supervising Minnesota recounts, is a veritable Who’s Who of partisans seeking to alter the outcome of elections, including:
Soros. He donated $250, but perhaps more importantly, he funded organization’s essential to promoting Ritchie’s candidacy.
Anne Chasnow, who donated $150. Chasnow is a longtime voter registration activist who listed her employer as ACORN.
Drummond Pike, a well-known rainmaker for leftist organizations with extensive ties to ACORN, who along with a family member donated $500 to Ritchie.
Deborah Rappaport, who donated $250. Her Rappaport Foundation underwrites progressive causes nationwide.
James Rucker, the former director of grass-roots mobilization at MoveOn.org, and reportedly a co-founder of the Secretary of State Project. He donated $250 to Ritchie’s campaign.
The link to the SoS Project is a major reason Washington Times editor Peter J. Parisi has described Ritchie as a “hyperpartisan Democrat” – not exactly the calling card most states would seek in their chief election official.
SoS is funded in part through Soros’ contributions, according to Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. Kersten describes Ritchie as a “poster boy” for SoS, and Ritchie has proudly endorsed that organization’s efforts to sway the outcome of electoral contests nationwide.
SoS was founded after Democrats involved in George W. Bush’s narrow 2000 election victory blamed Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris for influencing the outcome. They also charged that then-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell helped return Bush to power in 2004.
In response, SoS was created to target key secretary of state races nationwide – down ballot races that often can be impacted by even small amounts of money and assistance. So far they take credit for helping Democrats win those key jobs in New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, Ohio, and, of course, in Ritchie’s Minnesota.
That Ritchie would be the prize protégé of the SoS is no surprise, given his own long history as a community organizer. In 2003, he led National Voice to register over 5 million new voters nationwide.
As ruling after ruling by the Ritchie-led State Canvassing Board has gone against Coleman, some are now openly questioning Ritchie’s influence.
“Mark Ritchie as we all know now is a hard-core liberal who was endorsed by ACORN and funded by ACORN,” Matthew Vadum, senior editor of CapitolResearch.org, a nonprofit think tank, tells Newsmax. “It’s not surprising that he has a permissive attitude toward the recount process.”
A few weeks ago, Vadum says, he expected Coleman to emerge the winner. But now he says Coleman’s chances are “diminishing daily.”
Franken has a 251-vote lead, but many thousands of votes remain to be counted.
“I think things are looking pretty grim. It’s pretty ominous for Coleman. What battle in the recount process has he won? It’s pretty hard for him to lose every single challenge, and yet go on to win the election,” Vadum says.
Kersten, a long-time observer of Minnesota’s political machinations, writes that it’s too soon to say whether Ritchie’s influence and resume will taint the credibility of the contentious recount.
“What we do know,” she writes, “is that the referee in the contest appears to be wearing the colors of one of the teams.”
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_mark_ritchie/2008/12/22/164573.html
3.
2008 was the year man-made global warming was disproved
Looking back over my columns of the past 12 months, one of their major themes was neatly encapsulated by two recent items from The Daily Telegraph.
Christopher Booker
The first, on May 21, headed "Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts" , reported that the entire Alpine "winter sports industry" could soon "grind to a halt for lack of snow". The second, on December 19, headed "The Alps have best snow conditions in a generation" , reported that this winter's Alpine snowfalls "look set to beat all records by New Year's Day".
Easily one of the most important stories of 2008 has been all the evidence suggesting that this may be looked back on as the year when there was a turning point in the great worldwide panic over man-made global warming.
Just when politicians in Europe and America have been adopting the most costly and damaging measures politicians have ever proposed, to combat this supposed menace, the tide has turned in three significant respects.
First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. Last winter, as temperatures plummeted, many parts of the world had snowfalls on a scale not seen for decades. This winter, with the whole of Canada and half the US under snow, looks likely to be even worse. After several years flatlining, global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century.
Ever shriller and more frantic has become the insistence of the warmists, cheered on by their army of media groupies such as the BBC, that the last 10 years have been the "hottest in history" and that the North Pole would soon be ice-free – as the poles remain defiantly icebound and those polar bears fail to drown. All those hysterical predictions that we are seeing more droughts and hurricanes than ever before have infuriatingly failed to materialise.
Even the more cautious scientific acolytes of the official orthodoxy now admit that, thanks to "natural factors" such as ocean currents, temperatures have failed to rise as predicted (although they plaintively assure us that this cooling effect is merely "masking the underlying warming trend", and that the temperature rise will resume worse than ever by the middle of the next decade).
Secondly, 2008 was the year when any pretence that there was a "scientific consensus" in favour of man-made global warming collapsed.
At long last, as in the Manhattan Declaration last March, hundreds of proper scientists, including many of the world's most eminent climate experts, have been rallying to pour scorn on that "consensus" which was only a politically engineered artefact, based on ever more blatantly manipulated data and computer models programmed to produce no more than convenient fictions.
Thirdly, as banks collapsed and the global economy plunged into its worst recession for decades, harsh reality at last began to break in on those self-deluding dreams which have for so long possessed almost every politician in the western world.
As we saw in this month's Poznan conference, when 10,000 politicians, officials and "environmentalists" gathered to plan next year's "son of Kyoto" treaty in Copenhagen, panicking politicians are waking up to the fact that the world can no longer afford all those quixotic schemes for "combating climate change" with which they were so happy to indulge themselves in more comfortable times.
Suddenly it has become rather less appealing that we should divert trillions of dollars, pounds and euros into the fantasy that we could reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 80 per cent. All those grandiose projects for "emissions trading", "carbon capture", building tens of thousands more useless wind turbines, switching vast areas of farmland from producing food to "biofuels", are being exposed as no more than enormously damaging and futile gestures, costing astronomic sums we no longer possess.
As 2009 dawns, it is time we in Britain faced up to the genuine crisis now fast approaching from the fact that – unless we get on very soon with building enough proper power stations to fill our looming "energy gap" - within a few years our lights will go out and what remains of our economy will judder to a halt.
After years of infantile displacement activity, it is high time our politicians – along with those of the EU and President Obama's US – were brought back with a mighty jolt into contact with the real world.
I must end this year by again paying tribute to my readers for the wonderful generosity with which they came to the aid of two causes. First their donations made it possible for the latest "metric martyr", the east London market trader Janet Devers, to fight Hackney council's vindictive decision to prosecute her on 13 criminal charges, ranging from selling in pounds and ounces to selling produce "by the bowl" (to avoid using weights her customers dislike and don't understand). The embarrassment caused by this historic battle has thrown the forced metrication policy of both our governments, in London and Brussels, into total disarray.
Since Hackney backed out of allowing four criminal charges against Janet to go before a jury next month, all that remains is for her to win her appeal in February against eight convictions which now look quite absurd (including those for selling veg by the bowl, as thousands of other London market traders do every day). The final goal, as Neil Herron of the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund insists, must then be a pardon for the late Steve Thoburn and the four other original "martyrs" who were found guilty in 2002 – after a legal battle also made possible by this column's readers – of breaking laws so ridiculous that the EU Commission has even denied they existed (but which are still on the statute book).
Readers were equally generous this year in rushing to the aid of Sue Smith, whose son was killed in a Snatch Land Rover in Iraq in 2005. Their contributions made it possible for her to carry on with the High Court action she has brought against the Ministry of Defence, with the sole aim of calling it to account for needlessly risking soldiers' lives by sending them into battle in hopelessly inappropriate vehicles. Thanks not least to Mrs Smith's determined fight, the Snatch Land Rover scandal, first reported here in 2006, has at last become a national cause celebre.
May I finally thank all those readers who have written to me in 2008 – so many that, as usual, it has not been possible to answer all their messages. But their support and information has been hugely appreciated. May I wish them and all of you a happy (if globally not too warm) New Year.
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