Right On The Right

Shoebox from No Runny Eggs posted a great video about Democrats and gas prices, though his commentary on our nominee is a bit off. I'm not a big fan of using this ad for McCain, as I detest the way Democrats are trying to make this about President Bush instead of the real candidate. I don't think we should run a shadow campaign against Pelosi. House Republicans however should be touting this ad from here until November:

Via Freedom Project, here's a nice video reminder about how Democrats voted to raise your taxes by more than $3000 on average per family:

Hank Johnson (D-GA) spent quite a bit of money paying the rent for his campaign headquarters. His rent was so large, that I suggest he go after his landlord for price gouging. The problem is, he is his landlord, and he's the one charging himself a huge sum of cash. The Majority Accountability Project has done some research and chronicles the ethically-shady move:

U.S. Representative Henry “Hank” Johnson, D-GA, pays more in rent for his campaign office than any other member of Georgia’s Congressional delegation, including the Peach state’s two U.S. Senators - a distinction made more dubious by the fact Johnson’s landlord is the law firm that bears his name.

A Majority Accountability Project (majorityap.com) review of the freshman Democrat’s financial disclosure forms, filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), found that Johnson began paying Johnson and Johnson Law Group in Decatur, GA, $1500 a month in “rent for campaign headquarters” in April, 2007. Johnson practiced civil and criminal law at Johnson and Johnson for more than 30 years, where he was a partner with his wife, Mereda Davis Johnson.

A search of business records in the state of Georgia revealed that Johnson and Johnson Law Group was dissolved October 17, 2007, but Johnson again paid the firm a month later.

Johnson's using funds from his campaign, funds contributed by average folks, to line his own pockets. Johnson replaced Democrat Cynthia McKinney, and it's not looking like his ethics are any better. Culture of Corruption?

The Democrats are in a lose/lose/lose situation. If Michigan is seated because of some sort of re-vote or split decision, the party loses it's credibility, Hillary loses a potential coup in getting the results seated as is, Obama loses because Hillary picks up a few more delegates, and Michigan loses because they don't have a real primary. If they refuse to seat them, the party loses lots of good will in the Oven Mitt State. If Florida is seated by re-vote, it costs a bunch of money, Obama gets incredibly angry, and we have similar problems. Failure to seat both gives the GOP a beautiful line of attack come November. Ed Morrissey says the Democrats are knee-capping themselves and quotes the Wall Street Journal:

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidential nomination were deeply wounded by the apparent collapse of do-over primaries in Florida and Michigan this week. The other big loser may be the Democratic Party.

With five months to go before the national convention, party leaders still hope voters will settle the nomination by leaning decisively toward one candidate or the other in the remaining 10 primaries. The party’s superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who aren’t bound by vote results, could then follow the popular lead. With the nomination wrapped up, the party could seat the Florida and Michigan delegates and avoid angering voters in two states that are important to a Democratic win in November.

A muddled outcome in the remaining primaries could force any decision about the nomination onto the party’s nearly 800 superdelegates or the 186-member committee charged with settling delegate disputes, and then onto the convention floor.

My first thought is that 186 people is way too many for a committee. You'd need committees to determine what the committee will do, and committees to govern the committees within the committee. In all seriousness, the Democrats will face even more internal fighting if either state is seated, and will risk alienating voters a huge chunk of population. The donkeys are in trouble.

Democrats in the Senate, and an unfortunately high number of Republicans, failed the earmark test by rejecting a vote for an earmark moratorium. The Democrat Majority has pushed new taxes, and they plan on spending that money on a huge number of new programs. While the Republican Leadership in the House is getting serious about fixing Washington, we find ourselves witnessing the return of the Spendocrats to power. I turned to the Albuquerque Journal to make the point:

“Congress is no longer in session, and can’t inflict any more damage for a while.”

“Democrats in the House effectively raised taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars… Meanwhile, the House ramped up spending on domestic programs, effectively locking in years of higher spending.”

Republican Leader John Boehner's office is covering this tax hike, and they're fighting for strong responsible government in Washington. I'd be remiss not to point out that the Republicans lost their way prior to 2006, doing the same things the Democrats are doing now. Republican Leader Boehner promises that the GOP has changed their ways, and are going back to embracing Conservatism in government. They're fighting the return of the Spendocrats...