Holt Fundraiser Report

UPDATE: Link to pics

I attended the Mad Pizza fundraiser for former State Senator Jim Holt last night. This was not the $1,000 dollar a plate event, but the $100 a plate event that is in reach even for the working man (like me!). It was also $250 per family, and there were several large families there. The room was packed, well over 100 souls at a time and people were drifting in and out.

The event was very informal and low-key. "Holt for Senate" signs were in evidence, but no announcement that he was in, either here or at the big-money event. There likely be some sort of notification of where and when he will make an announcement on his intentions for 2010.

I don't know much about the big-money event. I got one brief phone call about it. They said there were 11 weather related cancellations (I guess at 1K a plate they are keeping pretty close track) but that several of those had committed to donate the money anyway. Take that 11 away from my earlier report based on oral commitments that they had a full house for the event.

I may have a source for pics. If so, I will post them.

Patriots on Watch Net Radio Tonight

Patriots on Watch "The Road Less Travelled"; Tonight from 9-10PM, or catch it on the archives later. We are going to spend some time on the dust up between Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones and talk about "real" verses "fake" conservative media. Also, centralization and the dysfunctional personality. Why people who seek power most are the least fit to have it. All that and more on Patriots on Watch Radio.

Brummett on Holt

Brummett is back to making a living off of Holt. The usual stuff, except where he actually let Holt write his column for him (which was the most accurate part of the thing).

People read his stuff upside down, what he says is awful is what they are for. Still, he noted that Holt mentioned the need for economic health care reform three times and Brummett apparently did not take the bait. Brummett did not ask him about it, as an actual journalist would have. If Holt has some good ideas on health care we need to hear them, rather than the space being devoted to Brummett repeating the same cliche's he has used against Holt one hundred times.

Patriots on Watch Billboard Up on I-40

A patriot on watch gazes eastward towards Washington D.C., obviously none to pleased with what he sees.

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The group Patriots on Watch has been renting a large bill board on interstate 40 near the town of Atkins. The billboard faces the East, which means that it is most visible to traffic heading West.

Yours truly is the host of a weekly net radio program associated with the group. Take the red pill and give it a listen sometime.

Spinmiesters Show You How to Spin It in Rep. Senate Primary

Earlier I reported to you that State Senator Kim Hendren, one of a crowd of contenders for the U.S. Senate nomination to oppose Sen. Blanche Lincoln, had fronted himself $200,000 out of his personal fortune to hire some expensive campaign consultants. We now see the fruit of their handy-work.

They have release some tidbits of information about a poll they conducted. They combined that with carefully worded statements which support the idea that Hendren and Sen. Gilbert Baker are neck and neck for the nomination with no one else even that close. My estimation is that the race is still wide open until Jim Holt gets in, and that it will be all Jim Holt with a desperate attempt by the establishment to rally around Baker in a two-man contest after that.

For one thing, the statement acknowledges that "a large percentage of voters are undecided". For another, I am convinced that Holt was not given as an option. They are forced to fallback on the "of the voters who have made up their mind" routine. My guess is that about one-quarter to one-third of the voters have made up their mind (and a lot of those "undecideds" were because Holt was not listed as an option).

So let's say 33% of primary voters have already made up their mind. A third of those have decided for Hendren. That's 11% of the likely GOP primary voters. Heck, if they over-sampled Benton County as I suspect, then a good share of those votes are members of the Senator's extended family! At the lower end of 1/4th of voters having made up their mind, that is about 8%, which is very close to the "very favorable" ID rating that Hendren had in the earlier Rasmussen poll.

Don't get me wrong, I like Hendern (the Senator, not his brother the judge who committed an abominable miscarriage of justice in the Wayne Fincher case). Still, this is spin. Without Holt in the race, Hendren would win in Benton County, and lose in the rest of the state. Benton County has a big slice of the vote, maybe 30%, but that is not enough to make a LEGITIMATE claim of front runner status. It is just enough to spin into something if you poll before the rest of the state has made up its mind, and before the best-known candidate that many are waiting for has hopped into the race.

Merry Christmas- Christ is Lord and Savior

Our forbears recognized the importance of celebrating Christ as King. As Lord and not just savior.
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Our current rebellious culture has de-emphasized God's claim as rightful Lord of mankind and instead focused on His role as savior. But that is not the full gospel. Jesus is both Lion and Lamb. Once His role as King was put off, next came the savior part as godless forces (some glad in the garments of the clergy) started downplaying the reality and seriousness of our sin and the need for repentance.

There are kings in this world, their kingship is valid, but it is God who raises them up, and who brings them down. The kings have a King themselves. The lords have a Lord. And this declared doctrine of God is what rankles many of the mighty whose position has gone to their heads. They chaff against the very idea that there is a King over them.

When I look at the madness being pursued by our national government, it brings me great comfort in this Christmas season to know that though these reckless people have been given authority for a time, they are not the final authority. We all will answer to the King of King, and the Lord of Lords.

Patriots on Watch Net Radio: Tonight "The Trident of Liberty" PIII

Tonight from 9-10PM, or catch it on the archives later.

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UPDATE: I am probably not the best judge of my own program, but for whatever it is worth, I felt like this was the best one yet in terms of providing useful information for the patriot who is struggling for answers about what we need to do to restore the Republic.
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Piercing the noise and fog to explain to you why Obama is not constitutionally eligible to hold the Presidency, and that will only take five minutes of the program! This is part 3 of the Trident of Liberty, where Mark discuses the three system-changing ideas that the Tea Party should focus on if they really want to restore the Republic. Focusing on ideas requires more maturity and self-discipline than simply cheerleading for a political personality, but maturity and self-discipline are prerequisites for self-government.

The Southern Avenger on the Scam of Social Conservatism

Martin Warns About Rosy Projections

Coverage of a committee hearing at the "Off the Marble" blog run by Rep. Mark Martin had another interesting tidbit or two. As is my habit, I edit the dry stuff and give you only the jewels that popped out at me....

"9:55 am – Richard Wiess presented the revenue forecast. AMAZING! Guess what, they predict we will have a 2.0 percent growth rate next fiscal year. Here is the forecast: Exhibit D.3 – DFA Official Revenue Forecast. I wonder who seriously believes that we should create our next budget based upon such a rosy forecast? The importance of this is big. The spending created in the upcoming budget session will be based upon this forecast. If the forecast predicts additional revenues, the budget will have increased spending. There is nothing conservative about this budget forecast."

Sounds like they are setting the stage for an "unforeseen emergency" tax hike.

They also reported that our unemployment trust fund is over $200 million dollars in debt to the federal government. Questions on whether this was a violation of the Arkansas Constitution were not addressed. We are supposed to have a surplus cushion in this fund, a cushion which was never generated. Here is an exchange on that....

"9:44 am – I asked where the errors to caused this situation in the first place, and even if we increased the unemployment taxes and begin to create the solvency reserve recommended of $700 million to $1 billion, what activity is in place to prevent the trust from being raided again by increasing unemployment benefits. I asked what went wrong, was the trust fund mismanaged by the legislature or due to recommendations by the department.

9:45 am – He tried to redirect to the point that we did not expect this economic downturn. I countered that by his own words that even before the economic downturn he knew that the $700 million to $1 billion was the balance required for solvency, but the trust had never been above about $225 million. Clearly this mismanagement by the department or the legislature created the current situtation. I was cut off by the chairman."

Nativity Scene and the "Free Thinkers"

The inappropriately named “Arkansas Free Thinkers” group sued Secretary of State Charlie Daniels because he had a nativity scene placed on the grounds of the state capitol this Christmas season. The so-called “Free Thinkers” reportedly have a membership that is 100% atheist. Do you not find it amazing that not even an agnostic graces their “free thinking” ranks? This group of “free thinkers” has apparently unanimous conformity of thought on this great question of the ages. They “know” that there is no God.

This means that they place themselves in the position of maintaining that none of the rest of us could possibly have valid information on this subject that they are not aware of. If they lived in the first century, five hundred people testifying to them (at risk of execution) that they saw Jesus ascend alive after He was dead and buried would not be taken by them as evidence that the resurrection was real, but rather as evidence that five hundred people can have the same hallucination at the same time. Even today, if they meet a man who was formerly a vile sinner who has changed into a kindly saint, they would dismiss his own explanation of “the Lord changed my heart” as mere delusion. You see they “know” that there is no God. And if you have information otherwise, they also “know” that you are mistaken and they are correct. Strong is their faith.

Such are the sort of men that the federal courts have placed over us. For the “Free Thinkers” sued to have their own “religious” display put up beside the Nativity Scene and the Federal Courts ordered the state to permit it. The “Free Thinkers” boasted that they could have gotten the federal judge to take down the Nativity Scene, but that they choose instead to have the Federal Judge force the state to display their own monument. Their display “celebrates” Winter Solstice and promotes alleged “Free Thinkers” in history along with anti-God literature.

Were Washington D.C. not full, from top to bottom in both major parties, of oath-breakers who have no regard for the Constitution, such judges would rarely be nominated and never be confirmed. For the federal judge’s ruling in this case is grossly anti-constitutional. There can be no constitutional grounds for a federal judge ordering the Secretary of State to either remove a Nativity Scene or to permit the erection of a “Free Thinker” display.

The first amendment says that “Congress shall make no law concerning the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Clearly, Secretary of State Charlie Daniels is not Congress, and his preferences on how to decorate the capitol grounds for Christmas is not a law.

Even if the 14th amendment applies all amendment’s restrictions on the federal government to the states, what Daniels did is not a law. Therefore, Constitutional guidance for this event falls under the ninth and tenth amendments, which state that all powers not expressly granted to the Federal government (including presumably the power to determine what decorations adorn the lawn of state capitol grounds at Christmas) are reserved to the states (which would be Mr. Daniels) or to the people (which would be the voters of Arkansas who may vote out anyone whose decorating tastes they object to). The tenth amendment emphasizes that this list of rights is not exhaustive, that the states and the people also have other rights, not necessarily listed in this document, which they may exercise. And against what might those unnamed rights be exercised, if not an intrusive and anti-constitutional Federal government?

Senate Race News

*Stanley Reed is out only eight days after jumping in. He cites health reasons. I can testify that the business is extremely stressful.

*Jim Holt will return the number of candidates seeking the nomination to eight as he is now widely expected to announce at two big fundraisers to be held December 29th.

* Conrad Reynolds loses a Campaign Director, as K. Ryan James announces his resignation. There was no hint of friction. The explanation could be as simple as Reynolds is likely out of money to make payroll.

* Kim Hendren ponies up. He loans his campaign $200,000 out of his personal fortune. He will burn through that quickly with the expensive campaign pros that he hired out of Oklahoma.

* Gilbert Baker starts spending. He has talked about how much he can raise. Now he is using it to robocall and send out fliers. This after the SEIU inexplicably paid for attack ads against him.

* The SEIU is also paying off the massive campaign debt of Lt. Governor Bill Halter. I continue to theorize that Halter is preparing to jump in the Democratic primary against Blanche Lincoln.

* Bill Clinton backs Blanche. Halter's former boss does not seem to care for him much. Clinton has asked everyone to see that Blanche gets re-elected. Right. By now she is so unpopular she would lose to anyone who does not practice cannibalism. On TV.

Ross Opponent Marc Rosson South Arkansan Who "Gets It"

Marc Rosson to oppose Mike Ross. Does he look like he's kidding?
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Congressman Mike Ross is probably the most skillful politician in Arkansas' Federal Delegation. He believes what Senator Blanche Lincoln believes, but she keeps getting caught while he moves more subtly towards the same goals. She is reviled on all sides while Ross is well-regarded by most.

Ross got a free ride in 08, opposed only by a Green Party candidate that got 13% of the vote. This is a district where the Democrats are often more conservative than the Republicans in NWA are, so a challenge from the left is of no concern to Ross.

In 2010, Ross will have an opponent from the right. Farmer Marc Rosson has jumped in the race against Ross, and is committed to exposing the Ross record that the Congressman has so skillfully kept under wraps.

Rosson faces an uphill struggle against the well-funded (from out of state special interests) Ross, but I think the Congressman may have more of a challenge on his hands than the surface view would indicate. One thing that greatly impressed me was that Rosson volunteered to take the Tea Party survey that the Republican senate candidates (except major league nice-guy Fred Ramey) were balking at. Many questions on the survey gave credit for more than one answer. The first 22 of the 44 mostly multiple choice questions concerned what it means to keep one's oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. It is a shame that candidates for U.S. Senate on the Republican ticket would balk at answering such questions. Rosson stepped up.

While Rosson did not whine and ask that his answers be made secret like so many of those other candidates did, I'd like to wait to release his specific answers in the hopes that more candidates will do the right thing and voluntarily release their answers to the voters. I will say that he made a 91% overall, and only "missed" (that is, had an answer different from the one preferred by the committee - which I chaired- that compiled the survey) two questions over the critical first half of the quiz. Many of the ones he had different answers on in the last half were among the more controversial questions that honest people can disagree on.

Ross is tied to Lincoln and the national Democrats. If Rosson can make that truth generally known, in this restive climate we could have a good race down there.

Lincoln Displays Her Constitutional Saavy

Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was asked by CNSNews where in the Constitution the Federal Government has the authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance that meets the Federal governments standards. Her answer was completely wrong, but at least she answered. She did not sneer, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did, that "it was not a serious question." She did not evade the question, like even the Republican candidates who would oppose her evaded publicly answering questions about what it means to keep the oath to defend the Constitution.

She answered it, but her answer was embarrassingly wrong. She said the Constitution “charges Congress with the health and well-being of the people.” As CNSNews pointed out, neither "health" nor "well-being" ever appear in the document.

Obviously, her take on the document would give Congress a "blank check" to do anything that they felt was for our "well-being." That view subverts the whole intent of the Constitution as a document which limits the power of government, especially the central government. As founder Daniel Webster put it, "Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern, They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.."



Blanche Lincoln does not understand the Co

Should Jim Holt Get in the U.S. Senate Race?

Jason Tolbert has a poll on the matter over at his site. Feel free to drop by and cast your vote.

The way the question is phrased, the supporters of the eight other candidates are lumped together against Holt. In other words, Holt could lose the poll 60-40 and still be by far the single candidate with the most support, since supporters of all eight of the other guys are motivated to vote that Holt stay out of it.

Patriots on Watch Net Radio Tonight

"The Trident of Liberty, Part II". Live from 9-10PM, or catch it later on archives. What are the three most important issues that the Tea Party should focus on?

Banks Hoarding Money as Economy Staggers

Chart from the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis showing bank excess reserves deposited in the Fed itself.

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The reason that the bailouts and massive government deficit spending have not yet prompted large amounts of inflation is simple. The banks are hoarding the money. They were rescued with public money bailouts, and more importantly access to the secret Fed Discount Window where they could trade their bad bet trash assets for cash. The difference in value between what the Fed gives them and what the toxic assets are really worth will ultimately be paid by the taxpayers. Note that the exchange for toxic assets amounts to the same thing as printing money and giving it to their friends.

The excuse, the sole justification for this epic thievery, was that if they did not do it the "financial system" would collapse and people and businesses could not obtain credit. My initial response was that these insulated, self-important high rollers confuse the collapse of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan with the collapse of the country. Now we see that even though we have ripped off the next generation through debt to bail out the banksters, the banksters are not even sticking with the fig leaf of an excuse they offered for the crime. They are not providing credit to people and businesses, at least not anywhere near in proportion to what they got. Instead, they are hoarding the bailout loot on a scale that dwarfs anything the world has ever seen.

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I want to be clear that community and state banks are not a part of this scam. They are instead among the victims of it. They have to compete for capital with the big banks who are using the government to obtain it at an artificially low rate and they do not have access to the Fed Discount Window to pawn their bad bets off on the taxpayers. The money that the government gave the big banks in the hopes that they would "provide liquidity" is instead being used to buy out their smaller competition.

The government also forced the banks to make many bad loans via the so-called Community Re-investment act. That legislative idiocy is still in force, and it also means that many people who might be able to get access to credit otherwise can't. The simple reason is that the banks have to make a have number of loans in risky areas for every good loan they make. Because of that, they are being extra-careful about who they loan to. This is especially true now that we know how hot those hot-potato mortgage backed-securities are.

Liberals Say Holt Will Be In The Run-Off/Out Of 9 GOP Candidates

Although the liberal media has bashed Holt like the national media has Palin, they still recognize his strength in the state. Max Brantley with liberal Arkansas Times on November 24 predicted that if Holt enters the race, "that would just about guarantee nobody wins the primary without a runoff."

In today's Democrat Gazette, Liberal Pat Lynch said the same thing but in stronger language.

Excerpts from this link: http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2009/dec/14/our-other-favorite-sport-20091214/

"The former president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, Stanley Reed, is the eighth announced Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. He has a network of supporters and access to the mandatory ton of money. He faces two distinct obstacles on his way to a victory in November 2010.

"Even for a guy with more loot than Scrooge McDuck, setting oneself apart from seven not so brilliantly drawn cartoon characters is going to be an ordeal. State Sen. Gil Baker certainly will not roll over and play dead. In a recent straw poll, Curtis Coleman ran a close second to Baker, so he has some credibility. This is already a tight race.

"Then there is the “real” conservative, Jim Holt. Although Holt has not announced his candidacy, he would play a deciding role in a Republican primary. He would dismember Reed, who has previously been a financial backer of Lincoln and Bill Clinton. That would be some major fun.
Holt has a network of activists and is able to run a statewide campaign on a shoestring. He scared the daylights out of Lincoln a few years back. If he gets in, he will be in the runoff. Write it down.

"Stanley Reed’s other challenge is Stanley Reed. He is asking Arkansas voters to let him start at the top with no previous experience. A man like Reed expects those under him, and that is just about everybody else, to defer to his superior judgment. He is going to wake up in the middle of the field and wonder what hit him.

I rarely agree with Pat Lynch but I think his article is a very good summary of the race, except I see Holt even stronger than Pat Lynch does. I believe Holt will be able to raise more money this time because the conservatives and Tea Party are so determined and so fired up.

And look how well Holt did last time with less than a shoestring budget according to an article after the last race by Mike Masterson in Arkansas Democrat Gazette, May 30,06.

"The final numbers had Holt spending just $ 57, 054 to garner 57 percent of the votes cast compared with former U. S. Attorney Chuck Banks, who spent $ 205, 500 to get 27 percent, and state Sen. Doug Matayo, who spent $ 63, 649 for 16 percent. In other words, Holt had more votes than Banks and Matayo combined and won all but a handful of the state’s 75 counties.

"The numbers also translated to Holt’s spending 17 percent of all the GOP candidates’ campaign money spent on the lieutenant governor’s race to win the nomination."

Weekly Standard Article on Lincoln Names Names

This Weekly Standard article explains why Lincoln is the most endangered Democratic Senator up for re-election in 2010. It also has some unkind, but not necessarily untrue, things to say about former Governor Huckabee.

I believe that the writer (perhaps a friend of new Reed campaign hireling David Sanders) does indulge in fantasy when he touts Stanley Reed as the heroic rescuer of the Republican's attempt to capture the seat. Poll after poll shows Lincoln losing to ANY Republican they put up against her, even ones that are largely unknown. The state GOP does not need Reed to take the seat, and I seriously doubt that he will get the nomination. IMHO he and Gilbert Baker will split the establishment vote, which is smaller than the grassroots majority vote in any case.

Double Dipping Explored At Audit Committee Meeting

Rep. Mark Martin's Off the Marble blog has commentary from a recent meeting of the Legislative Audit committee. There is lots of red meat in that one. The cliff notes version.......

"9:24 am – So far there are seven county officials who have refused to return the questionaires and have hired an attorney."

"9:33 am – Rep. Gaskill asked if not for the courage of Rep. Kerr would this have goine on forever? APERS Executive Director confirmed that it probably would have just gone on and on."

"9:52 am – Sen. Jeffress is asking if it would be appropriate to have an APERS perform a survey of all “Agency Heads and 99s”. He stated that in the form of a motion. There is currently wordsmithing going on. Ms. Stone said that she would comply “as much as I am allowed” then quickly said she misstated that and agreed to fully comply. What does that mean? “As much as I am allowed” by whom? Who would not be allowing her to comply."

"10:06 am – The point was made that even when this investigation is made we would not have names to connect to the violation due to confidentiality. That right there would be a good place to create some sunshine in government. This is an area that needs some openness and accountability."

"10:37 am – This whole meeting I have been wondering why Gail Stone, Executive Director of APERS, seemed to be obstructing this legislative inquiry with guarded answers. Well, there is more to the story, perhaps she is not the “bad guy”. Apparently the Chairman of the Board of Directors for APERS is currently under investigation for this very thing. This person is Larry Fraetsi (spelling?) currently the Jefferson Co. Collector. So a person who is Ms. Stone’s boss has a direct conflicting interest in the situation. It seems a resignation is in order. I now feel sorry for Ms. Stone. She is in a tough position."

It seems to me that some full time media people ought to delve into some of these issues a little more.

Ron Paul Says it is Time to Leave Afganistan

....and he makes a strong case.

USA Today Says Federal Workers Salaries Exploding

Just amazing. The parasites are sucking the remaining life out of the host at an alarming rate. While the private sector economy collapses, they engorge themselves on what little is left.

A few jewels from the article:

*Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months — and that's before bonuses.

*When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

*The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker's pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.

Arresting Developments in Missouri

By Paul Jacobs

Our out-of-touch and out-of-control federal government generates most of our political grumblings. Washington is the government furthest away, and takes the biggest bite out of our wallets — to simultaneously wreak the most economic havoc through their complex matrix of subsidies, regulations and mandates.

Yet, the sort of arrogance, corruption and political bullying we’ve come to expect in national politics, has now reached Everytown, USA.

St. Louis, Missouri, to be specific.

Last week, Gustavo Rendon was arrested in broad daylight — right in front of his two boys. One St. Louis policeman threatened that his sons would be sent into foster care.

What horrific crime did Rendon commit? He passed out fliers to his neighbors. He spoke out on public policy — opposing an eminent domain land grab and promoting a petition effort to put the city’s development plan to a vote.

After being held for nine hours, Rendon was released and the trumped up charge against him was quickly (and sheepishly) dismissed. There probably is a legal case here, though: Rendon suing the city of St. Louis for big bucks for flagrantly violating his rights.

Dave Roland, an attorney for the state’s Show-Me Institute, argued on the group’s blog and on Charlie Brennam’s KMOX radio program, that this is much more than a one-time overstepping of constitutional authority by a couple of rogue cops. Roland calls it part of “an unsettling pattern of government officials trying to prevent the people from having their say.”

Overwhelming majorities of Americans oppose the current culture of eminent domain. And yet the abuse continues unabated. Governments regularly transfer property from one private owner to another — by force — for no purpose other than a vague claim of “economic development,” measured by nothing more than increased tax receipts.

Our local politicians shed crocodile tears, claiming that their larceny is laudable as the necessary by-product of “saving the economy” or “revitalizing neighborhoods.”

But such alleged developments have to be weighed against that other by-product: Namely, the abuse of our fundamental right to speak and to petition our government.

In their zealous desire for more tax receipts, politicians become heedless of basic rights.

Roland points to a number of assaults against First Amendment rights that are in part tied to the government’s addiction to taking private property though eminent domain. Perhaps the most nose-on-the-face obvious is the continuing legal saga of the city’s attempt to force Jim Roos to take down his sign protesting St. Louis’s abuse of eminent domain.....

excerpt, rest of article here.

Sanders Rates 'Em, Brummett Hates 'Em

Sanders says in column that beef's day is past, the future is chicken.

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Ok, so actually that is not the Sanders I am talking about. I am talking about the way David Sanders rated the Senate candidates in his column on Dec. 10th and then announced that he was going to work for one of them on December 11th! Did I mention that he made very favorable mention of the fellow who hired him and spoke unwell of others? The whole tone of the column was that the existing candidates were inadequate and the people needed someone of more stature to come in and make a splash (while at the same time disparaging the obvious choice for such a task, Jim Holt).

Were I a gambling man, I'd offer to bet him our first pay-check in June that his guy will be out of the Senate race, but then David might not have a pay check at that time. Heck, in this economy, I might not either and I have a real job.

As an example of the kind of disclaimer that Sanders should have made in his column but didn't, I once worked for Jim Holt. Unlike Sanders when he wrote his column, I am not now being paid nor seeking a paid position from Holt or any Senate candidate.

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Let me also mention that John Brummett's column on the same event (the straw poll) was up to his usual standards. In other words, full of absurd contentions. One was that he took issue with Ed Bethune's assertion that President* Obama was a socialist. If a consistent policy of attempting a government takeover of one sector of the economy after another isn't socialist then the word has lost all meaning. There is more doubt about whether or not Obama is actually eligible to be President than there is doubt about whether or not his policies are socialist. Of course they are.

It barely rates mentioning that Brummett is wrong when he attempts to label both Gilbert Baker and Jim Holt as "extreme conservatives". Maybe "extremely conservative relative to the "hyper-extremely delusional liberal" newsroom at The Morning News, but not relative to voters in Arkansas. Brummett fails to name even a single issue on which either of them is "extreme". I mean, Holt was the top Republican vote getter in this state for two of the last three election cycles. How outside the mainstream can his views be? Until Brummett runs and we find out what percentage of the vote he is able to garner, Brummett is not the one who gets to determine who is "extreme" and who isn't.

*status unconfirmed

Honest Currency Essential to Private Property Rights

Having an honest currency is essential to property rights. If the government and their banker friends have a fiat currency, they can simply print up as much as they want and buy out anyone they please.

You may argue that without an abuse of eminent domain laws the property owner could always choose not to sell. The problem with that is that laws WILL be abused when the government/bank complex has what amounts to a "magic money machine" to buy off state officials, media, and anyone else in their way.

[Another problem with the argument is that those with the magic money machine can ramp it up to cause a boom and then cinch it tight (except for their inner circle) to cause a bust. In the bust, property owners will be desperate for cash and many will have to liquidate against their will because the credit crunch will have otherwise reduced them to insolvency. Worse, this liquidation will be at bargain basement prices!

Click here for a speech by Congressman Ron Paul of Texas as he introduces the Free Competition of Currency Act. Among other things, he makes a good case that the federal government was given no authorization to pass "legal tender" laws, only the states were- with the restriction that they themselves could not coin money and could only make gold or silver legal tender.

There is no doubt in my mind that what the Founders envisioned was the Federal government coining honest money and then the states approving that money by granting it the status of legal tender within their state. Check and balance, the government with the power to coin the money does not also have the power to mandate its use.

Why Leaderless Tea Parties are Beating the GOP

I am not sure they are, but the writer of this article from The American Thinker believes so and I thought it was an interesting take.

One of many points from the piece...

"The 10th Amendment, which has been collecting dust in the closet, is a natural resource for the "leaderless" Tea Party Movement. The way to restrain the abuses of power and create a culture of freedom and economic prosperity lies within the Constitution itself. Tea partiers will use the Constitution, which has been so disregarded by the three branches of government, to tame the beast of tyrannical big government. The 10th Amendment is one key to overcoming what Ms. Welsch articulates for all of us as a "systemic problem.""

Halter to Challenge Lincoln?

The Tolbert Report alerted readers yesterday to the news that Lt. Governor Bill Halter met with numerous political bloggers on the subject of mounting a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln.

The move highlights the growing power of bloggers in politics, especially for candidates who are either outsiders (which Halter isn't re: Washington politics, but IS in the politics of Arkansas) or challenging incumbents. The blogs are the cutting edge against the establishment. Remember, everything you hear on broadcast media, including FOX News, is coming from an entity with a license from the federal government. There is only so far they dare go. FOX for example, won't touch the issue of Barak Obama's eligibility, except to occasionally attack those questioning it. This despite the unwelcome but easily demonstrable truth that Obama is not constitutionally eligible to serve in the office he now occupies.

Lincoln is terribly unpopular, and I can see a scenario where she just takes her multi-million dollar war chest, the tainted rewards of years of selling out the people of this state to monied special interests, and go home (that is to where she lives in Virginia, not that empty house in east Arkansas). It may be that the insiders decide that no amount of money can rescue Lincoln's image or smear her opponent enough to buy her another term. In that case, look for Lincoln to bow out and Halter to get the nod. My hunch is he has been itching to get back to DC anyway.

Another thought occurred to me, if former Sen. Jim Holt jumps in the race and wins his third state-wide primary then no matter what we will have a re-match. If against Lincoln, I would say the winds have shifted against her. Events proved Holt to be in the right on the major issue of that campaign- did we need a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution to preserve marriage or was the so-called "defense of marriage act" enough. Holt argued the former, Lincoln that latter. Homosexual marriage, though consistently voted down by the people, has been insidiously creeping into American life ever since.

If he runs against Halter, then I would say this time Halter would be the one with an unpopular President dragging down the whole ticket. In the closing weeks of the 06 campaign Holt expressed his frustration to me in his efforts to move swing voters, "they are all mad at Bush" he reported. His usual magic at winning people over once they heard him out could not overcome that anger.

There is another factor. In early October it became clear that the Republican's best chance to win a state wide office was the Lt. Governors race. Conversely, the Democrats only chance to lose was that race. They dumped in $250,000 in advertising to smear Holt and back their guy. The Holt campaign (including me) appealed to the Republican Chairman to help us like the Dems helped their candidate in the closest race. The Chairman, who a few minutes before was bragging that he just brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Washington for the Party, said there was nothing he could do. That Chairman? Gilbert Baker. One cannot help but wonder if even then he had his eye on Lincoln's seat, and was not anxious to support anyone who could be a future rival for it.

Patriots On Watch Radio: The Trident of Liberty

Catch the archived show here.

Poll: 33% of Republicans Favor Tea Party Candidate; 39% a GOP

But in All Other Groups, the Tea Party Groups are Stronger Than the Republicans

My comment. If you study the poll below carefully, it appears that the only way to oust the Democrats is for the Republican Party to pick a candidate that will hold the Republicans and Tea Party people together. Jim Holt is a perfect candidate to do that. He is a Republican but has stood with the people rather than with the Republican establishment ever since he has been in politics, and there are plenty of media stories and voting records to prove it.

As a Republican, he has already pulled over 44 % of the vote against Lincoln in 2004 at a time when she was not even vulnerable and without the help of the Republican establishment. With the addition of the fervent, enthusiastic Tea Party people, he should be the best candidate to finish the job.

And conservative voters and Tea Party groups, BEWARE! Anyone who dares to strongly champion your causes publicly and in their voting, will soon be dragged through the mud and get the same media treatment that Senator Holt and Sarah Palin have. And based on the past, we have no way of knowing if the new candidates on the scene will stand or fold if they go to Washington. The only way to victory is for conservatives to become strong enough to overcome the negative media attacks. I pray that we are about there. Debbie

Rasmussen Poll posted Monday, December 07, 2009
"In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided. [The Tea Party 18% plus 23% would be 41% if the Republicans and Tea Party groups would stick together, but the Tea Party is stronger than the Republicans]

"Among voters not affiliated with either major party, the Tea Party comes out on top. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer the Tea Party candidate, and 30% are undecided. Twenty-five percent (25%) would vote for a Democrat, and just 12% prefer the GOP. [33% and 12% would be 45 % which would still beat the Democrats by 12 % points - Note that the Tea Party is stronger than the Republicans in the swing votes]

"Among Republican voters, 39% say they’d vote for the GOP candidate, but 33% favor the Tea Party option.

"For this survey, the respondents were asked to assume that the Tea Party movement organized as a new political party. In practical terms, it is unlikely that a true third-party option would perform as well as the polling data indicates. The rules of the election process—written by Republicans and Democrats--provide substantial advantages for the two established major parties. The more conventional route in the United States is for a potential third-party force to overtake one of the existing parties. "
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/december_2009/tea_party_tops_gop_on_three_way_generic_ballot

If the establishment Republicans in Arkansas don't heed the warning provided for us in this poll and the one below, we will probably still have Obama and Lincoln in 2010 and 2012.

If you recall, I sent the following poll out in October which adds more credence to what I said above. Debbie

Republican Voters Say GOP Reps in Congress Still Out of Touch

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republican voters say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 18% of GOP voters believe their elected officials have done a good job representing the base.

Most Republican voters (55%) say that the average Republican in Congress is more liberal than the average Republican voter.

Just 18% of Democrats believe than the GOP representatives in Congress are more liberal than GOP voters.

See this link for several more interesting findings from Rasmussen - Dated September 1, 09 http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2009/republican_voters_say_gop_reps_in_congress_still_out_of_touch

Other links you may be interested in:
Senator Jim Holt and Senator Gilbert Baker's Voting Record compared:
http://www.wpaag.org/Gilbert%20Baker%20&%20Holt%20voting%20record.htm
Why I would support Jim Holt as US Senator:
http://www.wpaag.org/Holt2%20-%20Why%20I%20support%20Jim%20Holt%20for%20US%20Senate.htm
Candidate Senator Gilbert Baker's voting record by a liberal group - voted more liberal than any Republican senator and 41 House members.
http://www.wpaag.org/Gilbert%20Baker%20voting%20record%20by%20liberal%20group.htm
Candidate Gilbert Baker relies on Brummett endorsement in fundraising letter
http://www.wpaag.org/Gilbert%20Baker%20fundraising%20letter%20-%20Brummett.htm
Washington News - GOP is picking Senator Gilbert Baker too soon http://www.wpaag.org/Gilbert%20B%20-%20GOP%20picking%20him%20too%20soon.htm

Jody Mahony and Growing Up

Here is a young and foolish Mark Moore about to debate Senator Jodie Mahony. I ran against Mahony when he ran for re-election in 1998.
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I lived in El Dorado from 1992 to 2001. I brashly challenged Mahony when he ran for re-election to the State Senate in 1998. Today I heard about his death from cancer at age 70.

This is not the time to discuss the policy differences that led me to challenge him in that race. He beat me soundly in that election, as you might expect. Though I never accepted his premises of government, I came to respect him on the primal level that one man respects another who has bested him at something important.

To show you how much I have changed since that time, one of the non-policy issues that caused me to run against him was that then-Governor Mike Huckabee came to town and I felt that Mahony slighted him from the podium. After I started campaigning, I began to see the other side of Mike Huckabee, and got a lot more sympathy for where Mahony was coming from. Huckabee was afraid of offending Jody Mahony and clearly wanted nothing to do with me! I remember one time when Huckabee came back to town and shook Mahony's hand warmly. Every time I, the Republican candidate running against Mahony at that time, tried to get anywhere near the Governor he darted away from my approaches with an agility that was surprising for a man of his heft.

I finally left the room without ever shaking the Governor's hand, concluding that the only way I could get a hold of Huckabee was literally to tackle him at a dead sprint, so eager was he to avoid contact with the impudent young fellow running against the Senator.

Obviously, I have grown up a lot since that time (I was in my mid 30s). Time mellows us all. I do remember one time when Senator Mahony told me that I needed to "grow up". While I was running against him we were talking and I asked him about his salvation. He replied that he was a member of such-and-such a church. I said, "But do you admit you are a sinner in need of God's forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ?" That's when he said that, and turned and walked away. He was right in the larger sense. I was in my 30s, but I still had a lot of growing up to do.

Though he was farther along in life than I was at the time, it is my fervent hope that he grew up in the interval too. God was always good to him in life, and it is easy for me to believe that Jody Mahony was one of those people that God determined to bless whether what they did was good or bad. My belief is that if Jody Mahony were asked this past year the same question that I asked him near the steps of the Union County Court House eleven years ago then he would give a very different answer. My hope is that his answer would be the same as mine- yes.

No matter what office or standing we have in this life, it is nothing but a blink in comparison to eternity. All, both great and small, will one day stand before the true King of All the Living. On that day, our growing up will be complete.

Early Straw Poll Results

From the Republican Party Straw Poll. 700 were in attendance.

Gilbert Baker 35%
Curtis Coleman 33%
Conrad Reynolds 23%
Tom Cox 4%
Kim Hendren 2%
Fred Ramey 2%
Buddy Rogers 1%

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Those numbers don't need much analysis. They mostly speak for themselves. Here are a few bullet points....

1) There is no front runner in this race. It is a divided field and no one stands out.

2) There is a clear break between the top three and the rest, except that Hendren is strong in NWA. If the vote were held in Benton County right now I would say Baker and Hendren would trade spots. The event was held in Central Arkansas. I guess I am saying that the GOP is not only divided among the top three vote getters here, but that the party is also divided regionally.

3) Tom Cox is running as the Tea Party candidate, but IMO he has less Tea Party support than Conrad Reynolds does.

John Brummett Lies to His Mother

He told her that nothing would happen to her Medicare under the Democrats Health care legislation.

Did he lie to her? Of course he did, even if he can temporarily convince himself otherwise. But don't take my word for it, read the last six paragraphs of this story from yahoo news service. Actually, I will just quote a bit of it below....

Republicans planned to use the sixth day of debate on the bill to offer the third in a series of amendments highlighting the legislation's more than $400 billion in cuts in projected Medicare spending to private insurance companies, hospitals and other providers.

This time Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., will try to eliminate $42 billion in cuts in Medicare payments to home health agencies. The retirees group AARP supports the overall Medicare cuts as getting at inefficiencies and overpayments in the program, so Democrats have political cover to keep them in the bill.

On Friday, Republicans tried to restore $120 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage, the private insurance plan that provides seniors with better benefits than the traditional program.

At the very least the Obama bill will take away her ability to move to a Medicare Advantage plan that likely offers her more benefits for less money than what she has now. By cutting reimbursement rates to providers, it will also make it more difficult for her to find doctors willing to treat her. If rates get low enough then at some point no "provider" will provide it. The Democrats may claim that the benefit itself is not being cut, but that is pure semantics if the reimbursement rates are so low that you can't find a decent doctor willing to work for what the government is willing to pay them.

And of course, if she ever needs a home health agency then she is going to be pinched by the bill, as the article noted.

All of this is separate from the issue of whether or not Medicare can survive in its current form no matter what. It can't. One of the best arguments against nationalized health care is that we can't afford the nationalized health care that we offer just seniors right now, much less pay for it for everybody. That is not a pleasant thing to think about, I wish it were not true. But it is true. John Brummett may lie to his mother, but I won't lie to you.

Mark Martin to Run for Secretary of State?

The Tolbert report tells us that State Representative Mark Martin is considering a run for Secretary of State. Martin is a Republican. The office will be open (Charlie Daniels is term limited) and at least three Democrats plan to run for the position. Martin is the first Republican to express interest. The final decision will come after Christmas. Hey, at least he gets that he should file for a position that has no GOP applicants instead of doing like the rest of them and announcing for U.S. Senate!

We last noted on this blog that Martin has a strong resemblance to a young Red Skelton, the late great comedian. Like Skelton, Martin is known for having a silly-quirky sense of humor.

I will say here what I said on the Tolbert Report....

Even though Martin and I have not always seen eye to eye, even I admit that he would be a great Secretary of State. Lots of candidates have the legislative experience, but as Wayne points out, Martin has an engineering background. Not just any engineering, but one that is a near perfect match for physical plant issues that are a major part of the Secretary of State’s duties.

Some people would be good candidates, but maybe not so good at the job. Martin would actually be good at the job.

Only Nixon Could Go to China......

....and it seems only Democrats can get away with slashing Medicare as they do under Obamacare. It is a political maxim that people who are thought of as hard on issue X are those that can most get away with being soft on issue X.

Examples of the maxim abound. Nixon was thought of as a war hawk and tough on Communism. Thus he was the perfect tool for global corporate interests to use to begin a rapprochment with the communist giant. When the Federal Reserve act was first tried, it was voted down. Only when the key players got the backing of a Senator who was perceived as being tough on the big banks to support the measure did it get passed. The Democrats are perceived as defenders of the elderly, thus they are the ones in best position to slash its funding without getting called on it. A complicit establishment media, who would howl at Republicans if they tried it but are largely silent as the Democrats do it, helps greatly.

The way it is cut is revealing. It just guts Medicare advantage programs, where insurance companies negotiate with providers to hold down costs. That does not effect so-called medi-gap plans which are pushed by AARP. Those plans simply pay the parts of the bill that the government does not pay. This is how AARPs backing was purchased by Obama even though his plan will hurt Medicare funding overall- the hurt part is concentrated in the place where AARP's rivals sell product. The destruction of this competing product will enrich AARP at the expense of seniors who have been enjoying enhanced coverage through medicare advantage plans.

Another way the plan cuts medicare is by cutting reimbursements to doctors and other medical professionals. While the Democrats are technically correct that this will not cut any benefits, in the real world it will make it harder for seniors to find doctors willing to take them. I guess if Democrats understood the laws of supply and demand and other simple economic principles they would not have spent us into oblivion.

Off course the Republicans spent us into oblivion when they got the chance too, so the practical difference is whose friends get the money. Doctors and insurance companies are largely the GOP's friends, so they are losing money. ACORN and AARP are Obama's friends so they get money. This is government as organized plunder, and if it does not end soon then this country will.

Rasmussen Confirms Lincoln in Trouble

This is almost a recurring theme here at AW. Any serious, or even half-serious, Republican candidate can beat Blanche Lincoln. All four challengers they included in the survey out-polled her, even Tom Cox and gaffe-prone Kim Hendren. This is the race conservatives have been waiting for- one in which "he can win" is not a reason to pick a pro-establishment candidate. ANY decent or even not that decent candidate can win, this is our chance to pick a staunch one.

Other points from the poll:

*The really bad news for Lincoln is that 56% of Arkansas voters Strongly Oppose the congressional health care plan. Just 18% Strongly Favor it.

*Nineteen percent (19%) of Arkansas voters have a very favorable opinion of Lincoln, while 36% view her very unfavorably. Those numbers are considerably weaker than they were earlier. In September, 26% offered a Very Favorable opinion and 28% said Very Unfavorable.

*All GOP Challengers relatively unknown: Very favorables and very unfavorables for the GOP challengers are generally in single digits.

*Obama dragging her down:just 34% of voters in the state now approve of the president’s job performance. That’s down three points since September.

*Beebe viewed as a Sun God: But 70% approve of the job Democratic Governor Mike Beebe is doing while only 28% disapprove.

*Stimulate this!: Arkansas voters believe that cancelling the rest of the stimulus spending would create more jobs than spending it.

Pardon Me

Mike Huckabee did a base thing.
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The Des Moines Examiner was quick on a list of Huckabee pardoned re-offenders. Somebody had opposition research on the Huckster handy for just the right opportunity. Below is an excerpt.....

Clemmons is just one of 1,103 criminals who were granted clemency by Huckabee. 163 got out of prison early because of Huckabee's actions. Twelve of them were murderers. Several went back to a life of crime, with at least 9 percent going back to prison. Prosecutors and victims often objected to the clemencies.

The reoffenders include:

--Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist of a teenager, was freed after Huckabee pressured the parole board. He later was found guilty of murder in Missouri.

--Eugene Fields, convicted for DWI. Two years after having his sentence reduced by Huckabee, he was arrested for a new DWI charge. Teresa Belew, director of Arkansas Mothers Against Drunk Driving, publicly complained about Huckabee’s clemency. Huckabee sent her a letter, suggesting that MADD was trying to “fan the flames of controversy that have been stirred in this case by the unusual curiosity of certain media members.”

--Wade Stewart, sentenced to life in prison for murder. He had 35 disciplinary marks on his prison record, but was released after Huckabee made him eligible for parole in 2004. He was later convicted on a weapons charge and felony theft.

Other violent criminals given clemency by Huckabee:

--Denver Witham, convicted of beating a man to death with a lead pipe

--Robert A. Arnold, Jr., convicted of killing his father-in-law.

--Willy Way, Jr., pled guilty to shooting a grocery store owner, while the owner's wife looked on.

--James Maxwell, murdered a reverend. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, when the reverend's daughter pleaded with Huckabee to deny clemency, Huckabee "affectionately referred" to her father's killer as "Jim".

--Bobby Ray Fretwell, sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly man. Huckabee commuted the sentence to life in prison.

Other notorious clemencies:

--John Henry Claiborne, sentenced to 100 years for robbing two elderly neighbors at gunpoint. The Rev. Charles Williams, pastor of a Little Rock church, wrote a letter to the governor on the inmate’s behalf. “Everybody knows that Mike Huckabee makes up his mind what to do by what God tells him to do,” Williams said later.

--Donald Clark, convicted of nine burglary charges in four counties. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 1996. Huckabee commuted his sentence to time served in 2001.

--David Hale, former judge who was sentenced to two years and four months for his role in the Whitewater scandal. Later found guilty of lying to state insurance regulators in a separate case and sentenced to only 21 days in prison. Huckabee commuted the sentence to time served.

--Trent Harmon, Jr., convicted of first-degree battery. Anglin caused permanent brain damage to his victim in 1996 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Huckabee cut the sentence to time served in 2001.

-Elizabeth Diane Hagar, convicted of manslaughter in the 1997 shooting death of her husband. Sentenced to 10 years by the trial judge. Huckabee ordered her release in 2003.

Attempted clemencies that were blocked:

--Don Jeffers, pleaded guilty to first degree murder for a 1980 killing and was sentenced to life in prison. In 2004, Huckabee wanted to make Jeffers immediately eligible for parole. The prosecutor sued Huckabee over this clemency, and a judge voided the clemency.

--Glen Martin Green, who beat an 18-year-old pregnant woman with Chinese martial-arts sticks, raped her as she barely clung to life, ran over her repeatedly with his car, then dumped her in the bayou. He was sentenced to life in prison, but Huckabee was convinced by Rev. Johnny Jackson, who had close ties to Huckabee, that Green had found God and did not mean to kill the woman.

--Dennis Lewis, fatally shot a store owner during a robbery. Huckabee reversed himself in the Green and Lewis clemencies following public outcry.

Huckabee very rarely offered reasons for his numerous clemencies, although he was required by state law to do so. His pattern of clemencies usually fell into four categories:

The justice system treated them more harshly than most.

They knew a person who had known the governor.

They worked at the Governor’s Mansion.

A minister interceded for them.