Showing posts with label Pelosi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pelosi. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Partisan disgrace Pelosi flips off 9/11 Commission's recommendations, compromises Homeland Security


Kenneth Timmerman writes:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision this week to pack the House intelligence committee with Democrats — despite a clear recommendation from the 9/11 commission to keep politics out of intelligence matters — has roiled Republicans.

Concerned by reports of the “politicization” of intelligence, the 9/11 commission recommended in July 2004 that the House and Senate intelligence committees be almost evenly balanced, regardless of the number of Republicans and Democrats in Congress... “The majority party’s representation on this committee should never exceed the minority’s representation by more than one,” the final report of the 9/11 Commission states on page 421...

... “Going to 13-8,” the new ratio in the House intelligence committee Pelosi announced on Tuesday, “means that she views the Intel committee the same way she views the Rules committee,” which she is ruling “with an iron fist,” [HPSCI ranking member, Rep. Pete] Hoekstra [said]... Hoekstra was careful to contrast Pelosi’s attitude with the treatment he and other Republicans have received so far from president-elect Obama and the transition team.

Let's see...

a) Closing Gitmo and returning terrorists to the battlefield... check.

b) Ending terrorist surveillance... check.

c) Terminating "don't ask, don't tell" in favor of political correctness... check.

d) Politicizing intelligence.. ka-boom!

Hey libs -- heaven forbid, if an American city goes up in flames -- you might want to peel those Obama-Biden stickers off of your cars.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

True Crime Comix: The 'Most Ethical Congress Ever'


I'm thinking about creating some comic books that will help edumacate the liberals progressives since they don't appear too interested in book learnin' and such.

For instance, how about a comic illustrating Nancy Pelosi's "most ethical Congress ever", considering that Pelosi, Rangel and Dodd all made Judicial Watch's Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians of 2008?

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rep. Charles Rangel, Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee [is being investigated by the] House Ethics Committee... The initial transgressions that led to the ethics panel probe involve: Rangel's failure to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property; his efforts to use his influence to keep hold of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem; and misusing his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center. Now Congress is looking into whether or not Rangel preserved a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding for the Rangel Center as well...

Last year House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the "most corrupt" list for sneaking a $25 million earmark for her husband into a $15 billion Water Resources Development Act passed by Congress. This year, Pelosi ran afoul of federal election law by participating in an illegal advertising campaign funded by Al Gore's non-profit Alliance for Climate protection. The advertisement featuring Pelosi ran at least 300 times nationally, including in the House speaker's district, during campaign season, representing an illegal in-kind contribution to her campaign. Perhaps more disturbing than this incident, however, is the fact that Speaker Pelosi has allowed corruption to run rampant in Congress and has ignored serious incidents of crooked behavior within her own party...

Question: Which member of the U.S. Senate took the most campaign money from corrupt institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Answer: Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Given this fact there is little reason to wonder why Senator Dodd blocked reform proposals for Fannie and Freddie, calling them "ill advised." Dodd's willingness to protect Fannie and Freddie would alone merit a spot on the "ten most corrupt list," but there is much more. Dodd was also nabbed for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial. The Connecticut Senator admitted earlier this year that he was told in 2003 when he refinanced two properties that he was being placed in Countrywide's "VIP Program," but said he believed this was simply a courtesy that had nothing to do with his position in the U.S. Senate. This is either a blatant lie or horribly naïve for a man who has served in the Senate for more than 25 years and currently chairs the Senate Banking Committee that regulates the mortgage industry...

Related:
Rangel's Spanish Excuse
• The world’s first Conservative comic book: Liberality for All

Update: Another apparent quid pro quo starring the Clinton Crime Family, this courtesy of The New York Times.

An upstate New York developer donated $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton’s foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman’s mall project.

Robert J. Congel donated $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation as Hillary Rodham Clinton pushed bills to help his mall project... Mrs. Clinton helped enact legislation allowing the developer... to use tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of [an] entertainment and shopping complex... Mrs. Clinton also helped secure a provision in a highway bill that set aside $5 million for Destiny USA roadway construction.

Stinky. Like bad fish.

Update II: Sweetness & Light points us to another Times article (you can tell election season is over because Pinch is publishing articles that reflect poorly on Democrats):

On April 21, 2008, [Rep.] Rangel met with officials of [AIG], to ask for a donation to a school of public service that City College of New York was building in his honor... [He] had already helped secure a $5 million pledge for the project from a foundation controlled by [a] former [AIG] chief executive...

You can actually smell the putrification that is today's Democratic leadership.

Update III: Porcupine Rim has additional money quotes from Judicial Watch. And I do mean "money quotes."

Linked by: Mitchell Langbert. Thanks!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

The Pelosi Congress: Before and After


Behold the economic transformation...

$165 Billion: Budget deficit, fiscal 2007
$1000 Billion: Budget deficit, fiscal 2009 (estimated)

4.5%: Unemployment rate: November 2006
6.7%: Unemployment rate: Today.

$50 Trillion: Net worth of the United States, November 2006
$44 Trillion: Net worth of the United States: Today.

12,157: Dow, November 2006
 8,600: Dow, Today.


Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democratic-controlled Congress have been a total, unmitigated disaster for Americans. Worst. Congress. Ever.

Based on: The Pelosi Record (WSJ). Linked by: Gateway Pundit, Conservative Grapevine, Right Wing Sparkle and SondraK. Thanks!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Democrats have a plan to stimulize the economy


The. Best. Congress. Ever. Just laid out a clear picture of their agenda.

Adding in the Citi bailout, the total cost of the bailout is roughly $4.6 trillion dollars. Or, as Barry Ritzholtz has calculated, more than what the country spent on the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the Race to the Moon, the Savings and Loan debacle, the Korean War, the New Deal, the Invasion of Iraq, the Vietnam War and NASA... combined... and all adjusted for inflation.

But don't worry, Robert Rubin -- senior transition adviser to president-elect Obama -- is on the case.

Wait a second... isn't that the same Robert Rubin who works for Citibank? And who would benefit from the bailout dough? The same Robert Rubin who mentored Treasury secretary designate Tim Geithner? No problem, Rahm Emmanuel -- former head of Freddie Mac -- is a senior staffer for Obama so I'm pretty sure nothing can go wrong.

Remember those 68 million acres of land Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the oil companies had to "use or lose"? The oil companies just lost 'em -- because some eco-Nazis just blocked a major drilling operation, presumably in order to save a plankton from going homeless. In other words, Democrats lied.

So far, Democrats have also blocked: the development of new sources of petroleum, exploration in ANWR, exploration off the coast of Florida, exploration off of the east coast, exploration off of the west coast, exploration off of the Alaskan coast, building new refineries, building clean coal plants, and clean nuclear energy production. They are, however, in favor of harnessing wind power and unicorn farts, which should make up for the shortfall.

How about legalizing illegal immigration? Harry Reid (D-NV) says there's another monumentally craptastic program on the way: "I don't expect much of a fight at all [on immigration this time]." Legalizing illegal stuff seems like a good way to go for Congress.

As for freeing terrorists - Democrats can do! As a precursor to closing Gitmo Salim Hamdan, Osama's driver and bodyguard, is being dispatched to his native country of Yemen. I heard Dick Durbin (D-IL) insisted we return the surface-to-air missiles he was transporting when he was illegally captured.

Bringing back Franklin Raines to run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with the Federal Reserve? Yup.

Just kidding about that last one.

Wouldn't surprise me though.

All of this stuff courtesy of Larwyn. Linked by: Jules Crittenden. Thanks!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Obama vs. Pelosi? Yes, we hope.


John Fund says the President-Elect's choice of Rahm Emmanuel signals a centrist agenda.

Pollster Doug Schoen, who helped Bill Clinton win re-election in 1996 over overwhelming odds after the 1994 Democratic debacle, recently warned in a Journal op-ed: "If the Democrats govern as if there is no Republican Party, they are likely headed to the kind of reaction that Bill Clinton faced when he made the same misjudgment after the 1992 election victory." Mr. Schoen cites specifically a meeting in Little Rock after the election with Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and House Speaker Tom Foley, when Mr. Clinton agreed to defer to Congress on key elements of his legislative agenda. The subsequent lurch to the left did incalculable damage to his presidency.

That may be one reason why Mr. Obama has chosen Rahm Emanuel, a respected member of the Congressional leadership, to become his new White House Chief of Staff. Mr. Emanuel has a reputation as a tough partisan, but he has also exhibited impatience with left-wing members of his party who have overly ambitious ideological agendas. A likely first assignment for Mr. Emanuel will be reminding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that, after only two years of Democratic control, Congress already has a lower approval rating than even President Bush's.

Mr. Fund's a bright guy, but I'll believe that the P-E has abandoned the hard left agenda when I see it.

Related: Memeorandum has more.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Nancy "Kreskin" Pelosi makes another prediction


Zombie volunteered at an Obama "phone bank" and spotted this t-shirt:

Perhaps Nancy Pelosi is printing these up at CafePress. She did say that Obama's chances of winning are "100%."

Of course, she also said that the 2006 Democratic Congress would be "the most ethical Congress ever."

William "Freezer Burn" Jefferson, Charlie Rangel, Allan Mollohan, Porky Murtha, and Harry "Land Deal" Reid were unavailable for comment at press time.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Judgment & Leadership: Barack Obama Quotes from the Mortgage Crisis (Bumped & Updated)


Barack Obama, 9/3/07: "Subprime lending started off as a good idea -- helping Americans buy homes who previously couldn't afford to."

And, based upon current events, still can't afford to.

Barack Obama, 9/23/08: "If they [Congress] need me, they’ll call me."

Barack Obama, 9/24/08: "I believe that we should continue to have the debate... It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

Note: In asking to delay the debate, McCain said: "It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration's proposal... I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time."

Barack Obama, 9/30/08: After offering only "tepid" support for the bailout bill, and after his most ardent backers voted against the bailout, Obama bravely took a stand: "...now is the moment for us to come together and put the fire out."

Courage!

Barack Obama, 9/30/08: ""There will be time to punish those who set this fire, but now is the moment for us to come together and put the fire out."

Note: Democratic Congressional leaders calmly took the helm and led the country out of this debilitating crisis.

Senator Majority Harry Reid: "No one knows what to do."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "...the costs of the Bush Administration's failed economic policies-policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system... we must act now, with the bipartisan spirit of cooperation which allowed us to fashion this legislation..."

I'm begging the RNC to run this ad: "Can your family afford two more years of a Democratic Congress?"


Congressional Democrats swept to power two years ago.

Since that time gas prices have soared.

Democrats continue to block oil exploration in our own country.

And instead want Americans to send money overseas to pay for fuel.

Housing prices have collapsed thanks to Democratic policies.

People who were unqualified for a home loan were subsidized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

And for eight years, Republicans have warned that these entities were melting down.

Democrats who took millions from Fannie and Freddie blocked every effort at reform.

Unless you want the next two years to look like the last two...

...Give Democrats the Pink Slip.

We can't afford two more years of a Democratic Congress.

Update: Jem turned the commercial into a video for your animated enjoyment. Check it out.

Linked by: American Thinker and American Digest. Thanks!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Worst Congress Ever. Donate now.


These past two years we've seen the most disfunctional, unpopular and irresponsible Congress in our lifetime. The Worst. Congress. Ever.

For the first time in US history this Democratic-led bunch abandoned our men and women in uniform on the battlefield by voting against funding war operations. They voted to lose a war.... Damn the consequences.

We've also seen gas prices more than double and the economy collapse as Democrats continue to offer no answers and no relief! We've seen Democratic politicians caught in scandal after scandal. We've also seen the Democratic leaders turn their heads the other way.

And, just this week we heard the most vile speech by a House Speaker we have ever witnessed in our country's history...

Therefore, I'm joining Ace of Spades HQ, Atlas Shrugs, Conservatives With Attitude, Gateway Pundit, Moonbattery, PoliPundit, Power Line, Redstate, Right Wing News, & Wizbang! to help raise money for worthy candidates in the last month of the campaign.


Gateway Pundit has more on the rationale and the slate we're supporting. Suffice it to say that you can make a difference. Any donation, no matter how small (even a dollar), can help kick the assclown to the curb.

Monday, September 29, 2008

How much damage can an assclown do in one minute?


Note: I think "assclown" is the term Nancy Pelosi prefers. Anyhow, I'm thinking the answer is about $700 billion.

Oh, and I found the following headline in CNN's dumpster: Pelosi's uplifting speech unites Congress behind the Bailout.

The transcript of Pelosi's speech -- which blamed the mortgage meltdown on Bush, Rethuglicans, Cheney, Rove, Reagan, Sarah Palin, radio talk-show hosts, bible-wielding Pennsylvanians and Walker Texas Ranger -- is something for the ages. It was as ill-timed and as dishonest a speech as has ever been given in the halls of Congress.

Pelosi and Reid make Benedict Arnold look like Nathan Hale.

Do you think Barney Frank regrets giving up that one minute of time to Madame Speaker? Because that's all it took for Pelosi to torch a verbal agreement in a manner similar to Genghis Kahn's rampage through the city of Balkh (which was destroyed it in the year 1221 and "has not fully recovered from the damage to this day").

Best. House. Speaker. Ever.

Here's the transcript. You can read between the lines. Literally.

SPEAKER PELOSI: Madam Speaker, when was the last time someone asked you for $700 billion?

Roughly the same time I asked someone to give me $18 grand, which is the amount Pelosi accepted in donations from Fannie and Freddie last year -- more than any other single person.

It is a number that is staggering, but tells us only the costs of the Bush Administration's failed economic policies-policies built on budgetary recklessness, on an anything goes mentality, with no regulation, no supervision, and no discipline in the system.

Correct. We know it didn't have anything to do with Clinton operatives Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Jim Johnson and others instigating an accounting fraud at Fannie Mae while sucking out $200 million in salaries. Or Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters and a host of other Democratic Congressional muckety-mucks who blocked every attempt at reform. Or Democratic front-group ACORN's phony allegations of redlining that forced banks to underwrite ever riskier loans. We know the meltdown had nothing to do with any of those things!

Democrats believe in the free market, which can and does create jobs, wealth, and capital, but left to its own devices it has created chaos.

That chaos is the dismal picture painted by Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke a week and a half ago in the Capitol. As they pointed out, we confront a crisis of historic magnitude that has the ability to do serious injury not simply to our economy, but to the American people: not just to Wall Street, but to everyday Americans on Main Street.

It is our responsibility today, to help avert that catastrophic outcome.

Kinda like how "Great Society" helped win the war on poverty. That was a big Democratic responsiblity that worked out swimmingly!

Let us be clear: This is a crisis caused on Wall Street. But it is a crisis that reaches to Main Street in every city and town of the United States.

It is a crisis that freezes credit, causes families to lose their homes, cripples small businesses, and makes it harder to find jobs.

It is a crisis that never had to happen. It is now the duty of every Member of this body to recognize that the failure to act responsibly, with full protections for the American taxpayer, would compound the damage already done to the financial security of millions of American families.

Over the past several days, we have worked with our Republican colleagues to fashion an alternative to the original plan of the Bush Administration.

I must recognize the outstanding leadership provided by Chairman Barney Frank, whose enormous intellectual and strategic abilities have never before been so urgently needed, or so widely admired.

Wait a second! Is that the same Barney Frank who fought off the Bush administration's two dozen attempts at reining in Fannie and Freddie saying "I think it is clear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are sufficiently secure so they are in no great danger... I don't think we face a crisis; I don't think that we have an impending disaster. ...Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do very good work, and they are not endangering the fiscal health of this country... I don't see any financial crisis.

Why, yes. I think that is the same Barney Frank! Well done, B!

I also want to recognize Rahm Emanuel, who combined his deep knowledge of financial institutions with his pragmatic policy experience, to resolve key disagreements.

Is that the same Rahm Emanuel who "who served on the board of Freddie Mac and... opposed every reform proposed by the Bush Administration"? The same Rahm who reportedly fast-tracked illegal aliens through the voter registration process to promote vote fraud? And has blind trusts valued at between $6.5 million and $28 million (the hallmark of an honest politician)? That's deep knowledge of financial institutions!

Secretary Paulson deserves credit for working day and night to help reach an agreement and for his flexibility in negotiating changes to his original proposal.

Democrats insisted that legislation responding to this crisis must protect the American people and Main Street from the meltdown on Wall Street.

The American people did not decide to dangerously weaken our regulatory and oversight policies. They did not make unwise and risky financial deals. They did not jeopardize the economic security of the nation. And they must not pay the cost of this emergency recovery and stabilization bill.

So we insisted that this bill contain several key provisions:

This legislation must contain independent and ongoing oversight to ensure that the recovery program is managed with full transparency and strict accountability.

Is that kind of like the oversight that Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, David Scott, Gregory Meeks, Franklin Raines and a host of other Democrats fought tooth and nail for the last eight years? That kind of oversight?

The legislation must do everything possible to allow as many people to stay in their homes rather than face foreclosure.

The corporate CEOs whose companies will benefit from the public's participation in this recovery must not benefit by exorbitant salaries and golden parachute retirement bonuses.

Say, CEOs like Franklin Raines ($90 million salary) and Jim Johnson ($21 million) who drove Fannie Mae into the ground while cooking the books to make their bonus numbers? And then took jobs advising Obama on housing? Those kind of CEOs?

Our message to Wall Street is this: the party is over. The era of golden parachutes for high-flying Wall Street operators is over. No longer will the U.S. taxpayer bailout the recklessness of Wall Street.

Great. But when do we get to stop bailing out the criminals and Democrats (but I repeat myself) who raped and pillaged Fannie Mae in the name of "economic fairness"? Like Barney ("I don't see any financial crisis") Frank?

The taxpayers who bear the risk in this recovery must share in the upside as the economy recovers.

Do we get to share in the profits with the crooks at ACORN? Those guys are really good at paying for votes with crack cocaine, making up names of voters, cajoling the dead to vote, and convincing illegal aliens to register.

And should this program not pay for itself, the financial institutions that benefited, not the taxpayers, must bear responsibility for making up the difference.

These were the Democratic demands to safeguard the American taxpayer, to help the economy recover, and to impose tough accountability as a central component of this recovery effort.

Why start now? You could probably get away with a few more years of ripping off taxpayers just like Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick and Jim Johnson did.

This legislation is not the end of congressional activity on this crisis. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will continue to hold investigative and oversight hearings to find out how the crisis developed, where mistakes were made, and how the recovery must be managed to protect the middle class and the American taxpayer.

Yes. We're all eagerly awaiting the investigation into the root cause of the crisis.

With passage of this legislation today, we can begin the difficult job of turning our economy around, of helping those who depend on a growing economy and stable financial institutions for a secure retirement, for the education of their children, for jobs and small business credit.

I guess we'll have to take a raincheck on the Tang, Mattie. I mean, Nancy.

Today we must act for those Americans, for Main Street, and we must act now, with the bipartisan spirit of cooperation which allowed us to fashion this legislation.

This not enough. We are also working to restore our nation's economic strength by passing a new economic recovery stimulus package- a robust, job creating bill-that will help Americans struggling with high prices, get our economy back on track, and renew the American Dream.

Today, we will act to avert this crisis, but informed by our experience of the past eight years with the failed economic leadership that has left us left capable of meeting the challenges of the future.

We choose a different path. In the new year, with a new Congress and a new president, we will break free with a failed past and take America in a New Direction to a better future.

The only "new direction" you're gonna get, honey, is a AAA TripTik for your ride back to Frisco after your ass gets fired.

Drain. The. Swamp!

Accountability. Back. To. Congress!

Best. Congress. Evah!

This ignorant, hyper-partisan assclown needs to do all Americans a favor and resign. Now.

Related: Swamp Politics: Bailout sunk by Pelosi speech ("Pelosi, the House's top Democrat, outraged Republican members of their conference who might have been on the fence before her speech. By her words , she pushed them to vote against the legislation.")
Linked by: Gateway Pundit, Pax Parabellum and Take our country back!. Thanks!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Atlanta Gas Lines, Fuel Shortages cheered by Democrats


Atlanta drivers -- and many others throughout the South -- are suffering through fuel shortages resulting in long waits at gas stations. Linda Gregg of Virginia Highlands waited two hours to gas up her Toyota Prius.


"It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. What is this, Haiti?" Other drivers agreed, some of whom had driven dozens of miles trying to find a gas station with fuel.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) applauded the waits as "necessary conservation measures that are moving America closer to a green economy." *


The Democratic leaders pointed out that their 30 year track record speaks for itself.

Democrats have blocked the development of new sources of petroleum.
Democrats have blocked drilling in ANWR.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the coast of Florida.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the east coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off of the west coast.
Democrats have blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast.
Democrats have blocked building oil refineries.
Democrats have blocked clean nuclear energy production.
Democrats have blocked clean coal production.

A proud tradition, to be sure, and one certain to get more Democrats elected in the fall.

* I'm pretty sure this is what they said, but the dog was barking when they were talking, so I won't guarantee the transcription.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Gasoline: the real price-gougers


Hurricane Ike threatens our largest oil refineries...

Gas prices hit all-time highs...

...and the Democrat-controlled Congress continues to prohibit drilling for energy around 93% of the U.S. In fact, they even prohibit exploration!

It's nothing new. In 1994 Democrat Bill Clinton vetoed exploration in Alaska

In 2008 Democrat Nancy Pelosi claimed that drilling for oil is a "hoax".

And in July of this year Democrat Ken Salazar refused to consider drilling even if gas hit $10 a gallon!

Ten dollar gas? Vote for Energy. Vote McCain-Palin.

Update: Larwyn adds:

Look at the Dems' "No Zones" and realize that if drilling and refinery sites were spread out, a hurricane in the Gulf would not have such a dire effect on our economy and on your pocketbook.

Common sense folks! If your banked cash exceeds the FDIC insurance limits, you use more than one bank. Time we create more than ONE ENERGY BANK for this country....

Well said.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Rangel found floating in Pelosi's swamp


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi swept into power with a promise to "drain the swamp" and combat a "culture of corruption."

It turns out that the swamp has in fact not been drained; it instead continues to rise and new floaters seem to surface every day.

Yesterday Bloomberg reported on the latest turd to pop to the surface of the cesspool.

He goes by the name of Charlie Rangel.

Oh, and there are some income tax violations as well.

New York Representative Charles Rangel received an interest-free loan from the developer of his Dominican Republic vacation villa, a resort official said.

...The assertion that Rangel didn't know about the interest- free loan is one of several unusual aspects of his financial and real estate dealings. He said yesterday he failed to report more than $75,000 in rental income from the villa on his federal or state tax returns. The units rent for $500 to $1,000 a night, according to the New York Times.

The revelations come on the heels of a report that Rangel occupies four different rent-controlled apartments -- including one as a campaign office -- and has violated New York City regulations in doing so.

It turns out Rangel just hit the ethics investigation trifecta; his use of congressional stationary to solicit donors for a university center that would carry the Rangel name is also under review.

With that, Rangel joins other Pelosi floaters including:

William "Freezer-burn" Jefferson (D-LA), who was found with $90,000 in marked bills stuck in his freezer at home. Federal agents told a judge the money was part of a $100,000 payoff delivered to Jefferson by an informant in a bribery probe. That probe has already led to guilty pleas by a Kentucky businessman and a former Jefferson aide. The Justice Department been investigating Jefferson's relationship to various international telecommunications agreements.


Allan "Jed Clampett" Mollohan (D-WV), who is a former chair of the House Ethics Committee under federal investigation after the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the department regarding a bizarre increase in Mollohan's net worth. For 2005, Mollohan and his wife reported assets worth $6.8 million to $25.7 million, up from $116,000 to $315,000 in 1999. His financial disclosure restatements came only after the group's complaint.


John "Porky" Murtha (D-PA), the famed chair of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee; a charity founded by a longtime Murtha aide has become a "funnel for money" to his campaigns from defense contractors and lobbyists who directly benefit from his decisions. A Taxpayers for Common Sense spokesman noted, "It's a real tangled web between the congressman, the nonprofit, the defense contractors and the lobbyists."


Harry "Land Deal" Reid (D-NV), the Senate Democratic Leader who collected a $1.1 million windfall profit on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't owned the property for at least three years. Reid also did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company. The AP learned of the land deal from a former Reid aide concerned that the deal had been "hidden from Congress."

Linked by: One Big Dog. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The towering intellect that is Nancy Pelosi


Excerpt of Tom Brokaw’s interview with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on "Meet the Press":

REP. PELOSI: You can have a transition with natural gas. That, that is cheap, abundant and clean compared to fossil fuels. So, so there is a way to transition this instead of doing more of the same.

...REP. PELOSI: I'm, I'm, I'm investing in something I believe in. I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.

From Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary:


Main Entry: fossil fuel

: a fuel (as coal, oil, or natural gas) formed in the earth from plant or animal remains

How is natural gas an alternative to fossil fuels when it is a fossil fuel?

When you're Nancy Pelosi, by gum!

It's comforting to think that this mental midget stands second in line to the presidency, isn't it?

Hat tip: Jerry

Saturday, August 23, 2008

SF Follies: The Anti-Military Sanctuary City Strikes Again


Unbelievable.

SF Chronicle: Family blames sanctuary policy in 3 slayings:

San Francisco's immigrant sanctuary policies played a "substantial" role in the slayings of a father and two of his sons by allowing city officials to shield the alleged killer from deportation, despite his violent history, according to a legal claim filed Friday on behalf of the victims' family.

Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, were shot to death on a street in the Excelsior district June 22. Edwin Ramos, 21, of El Sobrante, who authorities say is a member of a street gang, has been charged with three counts of murder... Tony Bologna's wife, Danielle, and other relatives denounced the city's sanctuary practices after The Chronicle reported that Ramos, a Salvadoran native suspected of being in this country illegally, had committed felony attempted robbery and assault as a juvenile.

The Chronicle reported that officials with the Juvenile Probation Department, relying on their interpretation of San Francisco's sanctuary city ordinance, had not referred Ramos to federal immigration authorities for possible deportation. The ordinance bars city officials from cooperating with federal crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

SF Chronicle: Pelosi censors poster of troops:

The tale of Pelosi's folly begins with Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. He wished to pay tribute to the service members of Camp Lejeune who had been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Accordingly, Walter placed a poster flat against the wall in the corridor outside his office showing their names and pictures... It was altogether fitting that Jones saluted the fallen soldiers on congressional premises. Congress authorized the wars that occasioned their tragic deaths. Congress appropriated the money that dispatched them to mortal danger...

The posters communicated to congressional visitors that war is a combination of heroism and hell. Voters would leave with more informed judgments about the costs of the twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There was no tension between Jones' wall poster and the ordinary use of the House Rayburn Office Building to host direct communications between Members of the House and the public. On one occasion, for instance, a mother from Minnesota entered Jones' office with tears in her eyes to thank him for displaying the picture of her son who had been killed while serving the nation.

Speaker Pelosi apparently took umbrage. Under federal law, she is empowered to issue and enforce rules and regulations governing the use of the House office buildings. A 1999 rule prohibits "displaying any flag, banner, or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice any person, party, organization or movement..." On April 17, Pelosi issued a sister hallway policy to improve compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act by restricting "the display of flags and the placing or storing of any items within a hallway exit access, exit or stairwell of the House Office Buildings."