Joe Political

Survey Says...

The Pew Research Center has published a very interesting new survey that outlines the priorities of the public for 2010. The issues that top the list have not changed much from last year; the economy, jobs and terrorism are still the biggest concerns. Democrats had better continue their curiously timed transformation into budget hawks, job creators and champions of the middle class, because their list of priorities up until now have not matched those of the American people.  As you can see in the graph below, health care is smack-dab in the middle of the list, with global warming running dead last.

You can read the full summary of findings here.

Send Home the Men?

Riiiigght, I'm sure that all of the female Republican legislators would have voted for health care if the male representatives weren't present and have told her as much in the powder room.  

Juxtaposing this inane statement with what Ann Coulter told the New York Observer in 2007, highlights the vast gulf between the philosophies of the far left and the far right.

"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.

It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Democratic Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting men to vote for it. I mean, you do see it’s the party of women and 'We’ll pay for health care and tuition and day care -- and here, what else can we give you, soccer moms?'" 

Getting Carol Shea-Porter and Ann Coulter together would be like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room—but it sure would be fun to watch! 

Friday Florida Focus

Cape Coral checking in again

A federal fugitive was nabbed in Cape Coral on Thursday.  Bruno Montrond, who has evidently climbed Scar Face Mountain many times, was apprehended for his active warrant out of Brockton Massachusetts.

Temporary Protected Status seems sort of...well...permanent

Illegal Haitian immigrants are showing up by the hundreds to file for Temporary Protected Status in South Florida with an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 in the United States as of the time of the January 12 earthquake. At the risk of sounding like a totally uncaring di**, I have to point out that over 350,000 people live in the United States under this status already and it doesn't seem that temporary.

Lynn University 

Our prayers go out to the families of the missing.

Theft Simulator

In our Florida Is Bizarre segment - Orlando Sheriff's deputies nabbed a suspected car thief who had parked the ill-gotten vehicle outside of his hideout and was wiling away the hours playing Grand Theft Auto.

Obama, Dem Leadership - Tone Deaf

Testing, Testing...is this thing on?

Fresh off of the loss of their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the complete repudiation of their statist agenda by voters in Massa-blue-setts, President Obama and the Democrat leadership in Congress wasted little time in continuing to push their agenda.  According to Reuters, Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, told reporters:

 "We'll have to think through this next year from the standpoint of tactics but in substance the mission can't change."

While Nancy Pelosi told the U.S. Conference of Mayors:

"We will move forward with those considerations in mind -- but we will move forward."

Not to be outdone, Harry Reid stated:

"The election doesn’t change the Senate agenda that much — it just changes the math behind the votes."

He also completely flip-flopped on his statement in November that he would not use reconciliation to pass the health care reform bill.  Apparently, in light of the loss of "Ted Kennedy's seat," this is something that he would now consider. 

They have to be badly shaken privately, but at least in public, they are acting as if they were deaf to the "Scott heard round the world." Keep digging Democrats, you haven't hit the bottom yet.

Ed Schultz, Election Fraud Coordinator

As if we needed more proof that the media is anything but mainstream:

Bogus Bank Tax

On Thursday, President Obama called for a new bank tax; with the stated intent of "repaying the American taxpayer." 

"My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed.  And my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people – who have not been made whole, and who continue to face real hardship in this recession,”  said President Barack Obama. “That’s why I’m proposing a Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee to be imposed on major financial firms until the American people are fully compensated for the extraordinary assistance they provided to Wall Street."

The New York Times reported:

"Flanked by his economic advisers at the White House, Mr. Obama used some of his harshest language to date against the resurgent financial industry."

Right off the bat, it should be obvious that "repaying the American taxpayer" is not the primary purpose here.  Nancy Pelosi and others in Congress have been greedily eyeing the repaid TARP money and would like to use it for more "stimulus."  I certainly haven't heard any talk of cutting us all a check!  Secondly, the question arises as to why we would want to punish a "resurgent" industry that is the only bright spot in our troubled economy, just when it's starting to become healthy and make a profit. 

I thought the reason that we had to bail out the banks was because they were "too big to fail?"  Well not failing in the real world means making a profit, yet Mr. Obama's statement highlights "massive profits" as the reason for the tax, as if profit itself is an evil—which I suppose it is from the viewpoint of those who would remake our capitalist system.

This is about keeping their fingers in the financial industry and nothing more.  President Obama is hoping to use class warfare rhetoric to inspire average Americans to grab our torches and pitchforks and join him in his supposed efforts to make the evil banks and rich bankers repay us all.  Never mind that the majority of the financial firms that would be targeted by this tax have already repaid the TARP loans with interest—the light at the end of the tunnel is really the Obama Express.

If Washington is so concerned with paying us all back, why not levy a punitive tax against Fannie and Freddie as well?  Oh, right, sorry.  They are now wholly owned by the government and it does not tax itself.   

Oh Aaalll Gorrre...

 

For the first time since January 19, 1977 and only the second time in recorded history, snow flurries were reported in South Florida.

Small video of snow flurries in Oakland Park, FL.

Via: WPLG Local 10

Saturday Reid-A-Thon

Harry Reid is providing a virtual treasure trove of material this weekend.  From all accounts he is quite busy right now, dialing every black person in his Rolodex and apologizing for making the remark that candidate Barack Obama was "light skinned" and lacked a "...negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."  According to Politico, he called the President and apologized when this damaging blunder was "outed" in the new book Game Change. 

Mr. Obama accepted his apology and stated:

“I accepted Harry's apology without question because I've known him for years, I've seen the passionate leadership he's shown on issues of social justice and I know what's in his heart. As far as I am concerned, the book is closed."

Please allow me to clear up this whole mess in a "no BS" manner. As a former boxer, Reid should understand that you don't punch yourself in the face. His statement, while essentially true outside of the politically correct bubble, is hypocritical in the extreme when made by a torchbearer of leftist ideals.  President Obama's acceptance of his apology because he is a crusader for social justice (Robin Hood) also highlights the fact that socialists will "forgive and forget" to advance their agenda.

Where are the outraged calls from black leaders demanding that Sen. Reid resign?  Where is Reverend Jackson?  Where is "racial arsonist" Al Sharpton? 

Update - McDonald, et al., v. Chicago

The petitioners in what will surely be a landmark gun rights decision, McDonald v. Chicago, have challenged the NRA's motion for a divided argument, saying that the group is merely trying to get further involved after the court opted not to hear the NRA’s own appeal.  The NRA wants to be part of the oral argument that is scheduled for March 2 because they are concerned that the court will not hear enough debate on using the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment as the vehicle to incorporate the 2nd Amendment against the states.

I wrote more about the 14th Amendment and the concept of incorporation of the Bill of Rights via the 14th Amendment here.

Via: SCOTUSBlog

Reid Still Sinking

According to a new poll by Senator Reid's favorite newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 52 percent of Nevadans had an unfavorable opinion of him.  Against any of his top three potential opponents: Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian and Sharron Angle, the Senator would win no more than 41 percent of the vote.

This survey reflects the voter's repudiation of the policies of the Obama administration and Congress.  Barring a miracle recovery of the economy, which looks highly dubious considering the dismal jobless rate again last month, Harry Reid may have to be content with running for President of his homeowner's association in 2011.