This budget is going to cause some issues for the legislature. This is good for us because it means the New Jersey Legislature will be too busy to want to spend time and resources on one-gun-a-month. The budget has to be in by June, so there’s not much time.
Category: Politics
Not What Women Need
The former opponent of NRA-endorsed Congressmen Charlie Dent has been tapped to help women run for office. Even though we are not volunteers in that district, we did reach out to Dent’s campaign for signs and other materials when we did events on the northern edge of Bucks County since they would regularly draw some of his constituents. When I did a bit of research on the race to see what his competition looked like, it wasn’t hard to make the decision which one would be less of an embarrassment.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_7up-ZGams[/youtube]
Yes, came from out of no where. Or maybe another planet. We’re not sure yet. (To see the full speech described as a “meltdown,” click here.) It gets better. During the Congressional campaign, she lied about local banks folding, and the media was so concerned that her statements would end up costing shareholders and customers money – in addition to doing harm to two local employers – that they actually censored the debate and covered her mouth when she said the names.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUqC36DDRP8[/youtube]
So in addition to just being weird, her understanding of “business” (something the group tapped her for, according to their statement) could have cost her neighbors their jobs and savings.
There’s not much out there on her, but she seems to run for office and lose. She lost in a district that leans Democratic in both voting history and registered voters in an overwhelmingly Democratic year. So the Women’s Campaign Forum decided she was just the kind of leader they wanted to help them achieve their goals – getting more pro-choice women elected to office. Something doesn’t quite fit here.
Of course, though they claim to be non-partisan, given that their website is managed by Blue State Digital and they donated 97% of their funds in 2008 to Democrats, I guess we should be thankful they are bringing in a leader who doesn’t know how to win a campaign.
Polar Bears May Kill the Economy
Those damn polar bears are up to no good. You think they are all cute, but then they go and screw us. Or rather, US Senators are up to no good in the name of polar bears – no good that will very likely get in the way of economic recovery and any efforts to encourage more energy independence.
Last year, the Bush Administration put the polar bear on the threatened species list. We interviewed NRA-ILA’s Darren LaSorte at the Blog Bash about the issue since he works on hunting policy.
As part of the listing, they Administration also said that federal permits could not be held up to lawsuits seeking to stop projects based on their potential threats to polar bears. Now, the Senate has voted to repeal that protection. You want more power plants? Sorry, that might kill a polar bear which might be threatened at some point in the future. You want more oil exploration? Lawsuits won’t be about the actual impact on animals around the exploration site, now they will be about the potential impact on animals thousands of miles away. This should be fun.
Putting Obama in Perspective
Karl Rove has a very interesting graph posted over on his web site, which shows that in terms of approval rating, Obama isn’t actually doing that particularly well compared to other presidents.
It’s Raining Canadian Geese in Pennsylvania
As if we don’t have enough of them, we don’t really need the sky to open up, and Canadian Geese fall from it. Next thing you know, it’ll rain fish.
More on CeaseFire NJ
Apparently, in 2000, Corzine donated $2500 to CeaseFire NJ, and then received and endorsement from them. Bryan, I hate to break this to you, but it’s supposed to work the other way around. You’re supposed to give money to Corzine’s campaign, and offer him an endorsement that helps him win, with the idea that such support will not be forthcoming in the future if he doesn’t vote your way.
But it’s interesting that in New Jersey politicians buy interest groups rather than the other way around.
Twittering the Porkulus
Senator McCain is twittering 10 pork project a day from the Democrat’s porkulus bill. Some highlights:
#6. $632,000 for the Hungry Horse Project
#8. $143,000 for the Historic Jazz Foundation in Kansas City, MO
#10. $3,806,000 for a Sun Grant Initiative in SD
#4. All 13 earmarks for PMA group, which has been raided by the FBI for corruption, totaling over $10 million -THE BEST GOVERNMENT $ CAN BUY
I have to give McCain kudos for highlighting this garbage. I’ll be honest, though, there’s a part of me that feels like the sooner Obama bankrupts the government, the sooner the political class that’s run this country into the ground will be thoroughly discredited. The shame is that they will likely drag the rest of us down with them.
Busybodies vs. the Productive
Richard Fernandez had an interesting post at the beginning of this week that discussed what I’ve long thought is the fundamental problem with preserving liberty:
Paradoxically, maybe Barack Obama is right about one thing. Capitalism is too preoccupied with doing things. It leaves governance as an afterthought. It puts the “pursuit of happiness†front and center and goes about its business trusting to the existence of a civil society or the continued maintenance of a social contract. People working one hundred hour weeks have no time to think about Roland Burris II. But the problem is that people like Roland Burris II have lots of time to think about them. People like Blag probably think of nothing but. And therein lies the rub. Capitalism has this blind spot. Obama is right about that. While government was small and largely charged with keeping the bandidos at bay and collecting the garbage it was possible to leave governance to take care of itself, except for the time just before and after elections. But with the increasing power of the state and its growing propensity to tax, perhaps it is no longer possible for the productive people in America to simply go about their tasks while leaving Washington to amuse itself.
Read the whole thing. It’s excellent. Activism is very time consuming. During the run up to the 2008 election, it was like having a second full time job. My weekends were spent working gun shows, and weeknights talking to gun clubs and gun owners. If not that, then making calls for the local pro-gun politicians. If it were not for the fact that Bitter was not employed, I doubt I could have dedicated as much to it as I did. The 2010 elections will be much harder on our time if, God willing, we’re both employed.
Activism is difficult for the productive, and people with families. It’s easy for those who make their careers as community organizers. We on the right need to start thinking about better ways to organize, that reflect the reality that most of us have jobs and families. Richard is right. We can’t afford any longer to leave Washington and the left to their own devices.
Is CeaseFire New Jersey Defunct?
How the mighty seem to have fallen. I first wondered when a few months ago a friend of mine noticed that their domain was in redemption, basically meaning they hadn’t renewed it, and the registar was giving them a grace period where they could get the domain out. We had designs on grabbing it and using it to promote a pro-gun message. Alas the folks at New Jersey Coalition for Self-Defense got it before we did. We’re happy it at least ended up in the hands of a pro-gun group and not a domain farm. Their previous page can be found here, in case you were wondering.
Of course, this could just be some carelessness on the part of a volunteer, or on Bryan Miller’s part. I know he’s been rather busy lately losing in Trenton on his gun rationing scheme, so renewing the web site might not be much on his mind.
But a quick look through GuideStar shows they haven’t filed a form 990 since 2000, which means they are below the $25,000 income threshold for years. A quick search of New Jersey’s public charity search turns up nothing. The last address listed for CeaseFire turns out to be a church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
But a quick check of their incorporation status turns up something interesting. From 2003 to 2008, their incorporation status was listed as suspended. They reincorporated last June, using a law office as their agent and mailing address for the corporation. Bryan Miller is listed as the incorporator.
I now believe CeaseFire New Jersey to either be entirely the creation and pet project of Bryan Miller, or very close to it. This likely means that CeaseFire is, in fact, effectively defunct as a political entity, even if it remains incorporated in name. In short, there is absolutely nothing backing up Bryan Miller, except perhaps his relationship with the media. For the “Garden State’s leading organization devoted to reducing gun violence,” their grass roots look an awful lot like a barren field of dirt. Legislators in New Jersey fearing Bryan Miller can threaten their seats should fear not. CeaseFire New Jersey truly is a paper tiger.
Earmark Reform
McCain introduced earmark reform in the Senate, and look who the Republicans are who opposed it:
Nine Republicans voted with Democrats against Mr. McCain’s amendment: Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Robert Bennett of Utah, Christopher Bond of Missouri, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. More here. (Via Tennessee Free)
It gores my goat that I’m going to have to help Specter out in 2010, in my capacity as EVC, because he’s likely to carry an NRA endorsement. But given that NRA stays out of primary fights, I will absolutely back any actual Republican who wants to run against Specter in the primary. Seriously, we might as well have a Democrat. First the stimulus, now this.
Hat Tip Instapundit