Monday, October 24, 2005

Power Tends To...

SPUD NOTES: This is an article from Paul Jacobs who heads Common Sense.

Doug Bandow agrees with Lord Acton. Me too. The political commentator believes that the congressional Republicans are bent on proving the truth of Acton's famous axiom, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."Bandow writes, "The GOP began to sell out its principles shortly after seizing control of Congress in 1994, but the abuses continue to grow.

Today, as a few courageous House fiscal conservatives press for offsets against the virtually unlimited spending proposed in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Speaker and his coterie have acted like a woman scorned. Preaching unity, they have trashed any Republican suggesting that free-spending bail-outs are not the conservative way."

Bandow also says the Republicans are worse than the Democrats, having learned to lord it over the rest of us even more riotously during their own tenure in control. Now they're even making announcements about which investors should or should not invest in a DC baseball franchise.Are Republicans really so much more power-mad than the Democrats? Their record, when it comes to porkbarrel politics and dictating the fate of baseball franchises, ain't good, that's for sure.

But maybe it's just that every generation of career politicians finds ever-more ludicrous ways to run riot.Bandow is implicitly making a case for term limits. While ideology may matter on certain questions, it apparently does not matter on the question of which entrenched group of career politicians will spend us into oblivion. Both will, either will, given the chance. Birds of a feather flail and splurge together.

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Cut Idaho’s Gas Tax with Special Session

State tax group supports three month gas tax suspension proposed by Rep. Sali

(Boise) -- Today, Idaho State Representative and 1st Congressional District candidate Bill Sali (R-Kuna) called on Governor Dirk Kempthone to quickly convene a Special Session of the Idaho Legislature for the purpose of suspending the state’s 25¢ gas tax for a period of three months.

Idahoans for Tax Reform chairman Laird Maxwell wholeheartedly endorsed Sali’s call.

“It is time we gave Idaho taxpayers a breather from skyrocketing gas prices,” said Maxwell. “The state’s running a fat revenue surplus and instead of legislators ballooning the already bloated budget; give the folks back home a break.”

“With winter bearing down on us, cutting the gas tax would be a great relief, especially for families that are hit hard by ever increasing energy prices,” said Maxwell.

“Taxpayers were forced to cough up an additional 1¢ sales tax increase when the government was struggling to expand during the recession years, now it is time for elected leaders to return the favor,” added Maxwell.

He predicted that some politicians will “hurrumph” up plenty of excuses as to why we shouldn’t give the taxpayers a break. “But, I believe there will be enough momentum to cut the gas tax from their voters, that many of the big spenders will clam up and not openly object for fear of the backlash.”

Here are some headlines from around the country regarding gas tax cuts:

Democrats Push Bush for Gas Tax Relief
(TALLAHASSEE) -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday urged Gov. Jeb Bush to use his emergency powers to temporarily cut the state's gas tax to give motorists some relief at the pumps. (9-7-05)

Lawmakers Look for Ways to Cut Gas Prices
(AP) -- After prices shot up and panicky motorists topped off their tanks, causing brief shortages, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue last week ordered a month long moratorium on state gas taxes. (9-7-05)

Governors Should Ease Pain at Pump, Act Now on Gas Tax Relief, Nation’s Largest Taxpayer Group Urges
(ALEXANDRIA, VA) -- “Government can’t, and more importantly shouldn’t, try to control fuel prices, but it can and should reduce fuel taxes,” said National Taxpayers Union President John Berthoud. “By taking action now, especially at the state level, elected officials can not only help consumers cope with still-volatile gasoline costs, they can help the economy by easing the squeeze on businesses that need stable fuel expenses to thrive.” (9-20-05)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

White Trash Hurricane Survival Kit

  1. Toilet Paper ...................... check
  2. Bud Light .......................... check
  3. Keystone Ice...................... check
  4. Budweiser .......................... check
  5. Red Dog .............................. check
  6. Misc. other bottles of alcohol ................... check
  7. Piece of plywood and air mattress to float your chick and booze on ................... check

Next time let's all be more prepared.



Friday, October 07, 2005

The Final Numbers are In!

SPUD NOTES: Ann Coulter had this little ditty on her web site dated 10/04/05. She made such an excellent observation, so I thought I'd share it with you ---

Final New Orleans death count: 964

French summer heatwave death count: 14,802

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

You Might be a RINO* If ...

*Republican In Name Only

One of the funniest comedians I know, Jeff Foxworthy, has developed his comedy routine by providing a test for people who are not sure if they are a Redneck. For example he would say, “If you ever took a can of beer to a job interview, you might be a Redneck.” I started to think about the Republicans in my state and others who are not sure if they are RINO's. I was pondering that question and I started to think of ways you can tell if you might be a RINO. Here are some of my random thoughts in no particular order, however they are not meant to be funny.


· If you get the endorsement of the teachers union, you might be a RINO.
· If you go to political functions and brag about how much money you brought back to your district, you might be a RINO.
· If you’ve been reelected to the same legislative seat more that 3 times, you might be a RINO.
· If you have 2 or more close relatives working for the government, you might be a RINO.
· If you are holding more than one elected office, you might be a RINO.
· If you ever voted to raise your own salary, pension, or benefits, you might be a RINO.
· If you haven’t openly defended Wal-Mart who is under attack by the unions, you might be a RINO.
· If you voted to increase the “minimum wage,” you might be a RINO.
· If you ever voted to preserve open space you didn’t personally own, you might be a RINO.
· If you are endorsed by the Sierra Club, you might be a RINO.
· If you ever uttered something like “Conservatives can’t win in this state,” you might be a RINO.
· If you ever uttered something like “75% of the budget is contractual and nothing can be done about it,” you might be a RINO.
· If you ever said anything like “you have to compromise or nothing would ever get done,” you might be a RINO.
· If you ever abstained from a legislative vote to avoid controversy, you might be a RINO.
· If you use the word “fetus” to differentiate from an “unborn baby,” you might be a RINO.
· If you think property tax relief can't be achieved in the state capitol, you might be a RINO.
· If you describe yourself a “fiscal" conservative, you might be a RINO.
· If you have a solution to the high property taxes and it doesn’t include taking down the Education establishment, you might be a RINO delusional.
· If you never sponsored a bill that eliminates a government program, you might be a RINO.
· If you are endorsed by Planned Parenthood, you might be a RINO.
· If you think a progressive tax is fair, you might be a RINO.
· If you means-test any government benefit, you might be a RINO.
· If you think you can solve crime by passing laws, you might be a RINO.
· If you think gun control make us safer, you might be a RINO.
· If you voted to renew the Patriot Act, you might be a RINO.
· If you think you can reduce the crime rate without returning God back into the public domain, you might be a RINO.
· If you are endorsed by any union, you might be a RINO.
· If you think government can rehabilitate substance abuse better than faith based organizations can, you might be a RINO.
· If you think school choice will destroy public education, you might be a RINO an idiot.
· If you ever voted to form and fund a commission or study, you might be a RINO.
· If you voted to ban cell phone use while driving, you might be a RINO.
· If you think government should subsidize college tuition, you might be a RINO.
· If you support parental notification and banning partial-birth abortion, but can’t declare yourself as Pro-Life, you might be a RINO.
· If you’re politically correct first and practical second, you might be a RINO.
· If you need to take a poll to know how to vote, you might be a RINO.
· If you voted for stricter emission restrictions on vehicles, you might be a RINO.
· If you sponsor legislation for the purpose of telling the public you care, you might be a RINO.
· If you voted for CAFTA, you might be a RINO.
· If you don’t regularly attend religious services, other than during a campaign you might be a RINO.
· If you voted to subsidize private enterprise, you might be a RINO.
· If you are personally against abortion but don’t want to impose your values on anyone else, you might be a RINO.
· If you ever voted for a budget with added debt that has not be approved by referendum, you might be a RINO.
· If you support building a new stadium with public money and say it will not cost the taxpayer anything, you might be a RINO liar.
· If you support gay marriage or domestic partnerships, you might be a RINO.
· If you refuse to help business and residents from having their property taken from them to give to a prefered developer, you might be a RINO heartless thief.
· If you oppose allowing state and local law enforcement to round up “illegal aliens,” you might be a RINO.
· If receive the endorsement of a major newspaper, you might be a RINO.
· If you ever traded your vote to get a vote; “I’ll support your pork, if you support my pork,” you might be a RINO.
· If you ever voted for legislation or appropriations on basis of the Supreme Court’s say so, you might be a neutered RINO.
· If you believe the secret to political success is a “Big Tent,” you might be a RINO.

Once I started these thoughts, they just kept flowing. I’m sure you can think of many more, so if you have additional RINO indicators, I would like to hear them. You can reach me at jonelli@optonline.net.

--- Joseph Tomanelli is President and co-founder of the New Jersey Republican Assembly, “The Republican Wing of the Republican Party;” he has earned a BS degree in Business from Ramapo College and an MS degree in Management and Operational Auditing from NJIT. He is also a CPA, former President of the Mahwah Republican Club, an elected County Committeeman, and a self-described RINO Hunter.

by Joseph Tomanelli