Free Republic

An interesting scenario is setting up under the stimulus package. In Alaska, the Governor has line-item veto on budget matters. In the federal stimulus law, there is a provision that allows for the state legislature to by-pass the executive branch. H/T to conservatives4palin on the topic of the legislator's comments on the matter. The language of the stimulus bill: ADDITIONAL FUNDING DISTRIBUTION AND ASSURANCE OF APPROPRIATE USE OF FUNDS SEC. 1607. (a) CERTIFICATION BY GOVERNOR. Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, for funds provided to any State or agency thereof, the Governor of...

Nanook of the North, Katharine Mieszkowski, goes Whalin' for Palin by throwing harpoons at Palin's stance on beluga whales that swim up the Cook Inlet. Nanook Mieskowski, waxes poetic: But for all the amazing ways that the Cook Inlet belugas cope with their stark environment, there's one imminent threat for which they have no adaptation: Gov. Sarah Palin.Let's see, the beluga whales have one imminent threat that they can't adapt to and that be Gov. Sarah Palin. A quick fact check at google: Scientists catalog Cook Inlet belugas Estimates put the Cook Inlet beluga population at about 375, compared with...

Down at the Gaborington Post, one of the farm-hands Geoffrey Dunn tries to dole out parental advice on abstinence.In trying to do that, surrogate-father-want-to-be Dunn, tries to drive the emotional wedge between mother and daughter with a headline that reads: Palin's Evangelical Base Slaps Down BristolDunn tries to pull at reader's heart strings with the hope that his chance for a mommy dearest moment will come to play out in real life. Here is the mommy dearest quote from Dunn: one of mom Sarah Palin's chief support groups -- right-wing evangelicals who promote abstinence -- tore into Bristol over her...

When I first heard about the crash of Flight 3407, I had a bad feeling about icing conditions. I had posted a thread on the Skew_T data and ATC chatter. Today my feelings have been confirmed. The NTSB has released information on PIREPS that verify what my forecasting experience has taught me. That the conditions at and near Buffalo New York, warranted icing forecasts of moderate to severe icing. Not light to moderate as the NTSB is indicating. Moreover an investigation into ATC's handling of the forecasts and NWS forecasters should be done. My comments on the matter are in...

After reading about Obama's press conference on the stimulus package, I thought did he hit a home run with the press corps? Some of the highlights (not necessarily in the order) of the press conference: Number two is that although there are some programs in there that I think are good policy, some of them aren't job creators. I think it's perfectly legitimate to say that those programs should be out of this particular recovery package and we can deal with them later. But when they start characterize something as pork without acknowledging that there are no earmarks in this...

I briefly pointed out the stimulus project for the $600,000.00 Crown Victoria police cruiser in Arizona. Now, someone has the bright idea of asking for $1.4 million dollars to convert 50 police cars over to natural gas.It is estimated that the project will create 12 jobs. What type of jobs? That remains to be seen. It could be mechanic jobs to fix the mechanical problems that happen with the conversion. Here is an article on what happened when Dallas converted 100 police cars over to natural gas. First, what stands out from the article is; the city of Dallas converted...

I wanted to see how many dog parks were asked to be federally funded in this pork bill named Stimulus. So I did a quick search and I came up with Four projectsOver $3.5 million dollars. I expect to see an increase in pooper scooper sales and that is where I would put my money. Next, I wanted to see about the world's oldest profession, prostitution. I did a quick search and I came up with one project.This was in Dayton Ohio; $1.5 million to educate and house prostitutes and zero jobs created. I did a quick google search and...

Projects in Puerto RicoThe total of cost of all the projects submitted by Puerto Rico is $22,093,054,016.00 Here is some slick wording on the part of the group. StimulusWatch.org was built to to help the new administration keep its pledge to invest stimulus money smartly, and to hold public officials to account for the taxpayer money they spend. We do this by allowing you, citizens around the country with local knowledge about the proposed "shovel-ready" projects in your city, to find, discuss and rate those projects. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for...

On January 19th 2009, America celebrated the history of Martin Luther King Jr.. On January 20th, one day later, the people of this nation witnessed a man named Barack Obama become president. A nation’s voting majority and the media, became enablers to a man’s political aspirations and conduct which mocked the very words that were spoken by a black man with a dream. The dream of Martin Luther King Jr. was: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but...

It will be interesting to see if The New York Times runs negative stories on Obama's inauguration. They slammed President Bush in an Op-ed piece on the cost of his inauguration and then had the audacity to state that the Iraq war should have been cause for restraint in spending for the inauguration. The New York Times on the Bush inauguration. At the rate President Bush's supporters are giving money, his second inauguration threatens to stand out in the history books like the common folks' muddy boot prints on the White House furniture at Andrew Jackson's gala. The $40 million...

I as I write this, I look outside and think where are the man-made global warming theorists right now? Are they sitting in some cozy location thinking of ways to cover their butts on new data that contradicts the theory that oceans will rise, the gates of weather hell will be unleashed and we will all be wearing some triple numbered SPF lotion? What is interesting is a new study that came out and was published in Science on January 2nd, 2009, has not made the rounds in the media. The meat of the study: A paper published by Science...

The union representing state troopers has backed off allegations that a drug investigation of Sherry Johnston was slowed down last fall to shield the national candidacy of Gov. Sarah Palin. An inquiry Monday by officials for the Public Safety Employees Association concluded that investigators did not delay a search warrant for political reasons, said union president Rob Cox. Charges of political meddling erupted last week because of misunderstandings between investigators working on the case and senior state public safety officials, Cox said.

Full DisclosureThis thread is going to offer some criticism I have with the Palin administration. Having said that, I will say two things. One, I voted for Palin, and two, I still support her and I want to see her succeed. I say this because I come from a point of view that I understand how "pay to play" politics work in Alaska. This is not to say "pay to play" politics is only indigenous to Alaska politics. But recently Alaska has seen its fair share of public scrutiny and investigations on the corruption in Alaska. And the cronyism that...

The Alaska Standard has commissioned a poll by Dave Dittman. The poll was done on a theoretical race between Senator Lisa Murkowski and Governor Sarah Palin.The short side is; Senator Lisa Mukowski beats Governor Palin. For myself I would expect as much. I wouldn't vote for Palin in 2010. And if I was asked if I would vote for Palin, I would have said no. Governor Palin needs to finish getting the job done on the gasline. And do it correctly. I don't believe that will be accomplished by 2010. The polling seems realistic, but in the end of the...

I am telling you the world has gone Acorns. The Disney film Ice Age 2: The Meltdown has more scientific validity than Al Gore's film chocked full of scientfic data that is now being debunked by a recent study by scientists. Greenhouse gases could have caused an ice age, claim scientists Filling the atmosphere with Greenhouse gases associated with global warming could push the planet into a new ice age, scientists have warned. Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that 630 million years ago the earth had a warm atmosphere full of carbon dioxide but was completely covered with...

"...The whistle-blower's complaint, dated Dec. 2, is now the subject of an internal investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, according to a memorandum and order signed Friday by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia. Sullivan revealed the existence of the complaint, and three secret hearings about it last week, in his 29-page order. Sullivan said little about the nature of the alleged misconduct. Among the allegations was that a government employee accepted "multiple things of value" from sources cooperating in the investigation, Sullivan said. The judge also reported that the whistle-blower accused at...

Emanuel was not named in the SEC complaint (click here to read) but the entire board was later accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) (click here to read) of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention."

That's why on November 9, while she was in New York on business, he offered her the job as senior advisor to the president and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison. This position has her reporting directly to him and places her in the inner sanctum of the president of the United States, and ensures that her voice will be heard on nearly every issue. I know the date well because on November 10, she confided in me that she had been offered the job, but I couldn't report anything until the announcement was about to...

President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser and chief political strategist, David Axelrod, penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune in 2005 that could come back to haunt Obama as the investigation into disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich goes ahead. In the article, Axelrod, who was a political adviser to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley before becoming the architect of Obama's presidential campaign, wrote that trading political jobs for favors is a perfectly acceptable practice and part of the way American democracy works. "The democratic process is often messy. Diverse constituencies fight fiercely for their priorities. Their elected representatives use the influence they...

The LA Times reports on what Jacues Rogge had to say about Obama. They have an interesting question and answer part from Peter Ueberroth about media revenues not being shared with overseas sponsors. Other links discuss how much money would be funneled to Chicago for infrastructure upgrades. Links from LA Time,USA Today aand other sources