Politics Blog

The pro-amnesty Republicans said it could not be done:

Leaving President Bush’s proposed immigration overhaul in disarray, Republicans on Friday won congressional approval for fencing nearly one-third of the Southwest border and prepared to head into the November elections with a tough border security message.

Rushing to finish work before leaving on a six-week campaign recess, the Senate passed, by a vote of 80-19, and sent to President Bush a bill for more than 700 miles of fencing. The House approved the bill in mid-September.

The part of the article I like best:

Fox has condemned it as “shameful.”

Hmm, I also liked:

Leaving President Bush’s proposed immigration overhaul in disarray,

The question is what is next for Florida’s 16th Congressional District. Fortunately, there is much detail spelled out in Florida law, so Republicans are in a better position in Florida compared to Texas.

The first question is who goes on the ballot and who picks that person. Here is the Statute:

In the event that death, resignation, withdrawal, removal, or any other cause or event should cause a party to have a vacancy in nomination which leaves no candidate for an office from such party, the Department of State shall notify the chair of the appropriate state, district, or county political party executive committee of such party; and, within 5 days, the chair shall call a meeting of his or her executive committee to consider designation of a nominee to fill the vacancy. The name of any person so designated shall be submitted to the Department of State within 7 days after notice to the chair in order that the person designated may have his or her name on the ballot of the ensuing general election. If the name of the new nominee is submitted after the certification of results of the preceding primary election, however, the ballots shall not be changed and the former party nominee’s name will appear on the ballot. Any ballots cast for the former party nominee will be counted for the person designated by the politicalparty to replace the former party nominee. If there is no opposition to the party nominee, the person designated by the political party to replace the former party nominee will be elected to office at the general election. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “district political party executive committee” means the members of the state executive committee of a political party from those counties comprising the area involving a district office.

So, the local Republican Party Officials pick who will be running for office. The bad news is that Foley’s name stays on the ballot.

As a Party we have l;earned some things from the Delay fiasco in Texas. Because of the problems with a write in candidate campaign, Governor Perry called a special election to coincide with the General Election. Governor Bush can do the same thing:

(2), a special election or special primary election shall be held in the following cases:

(4) If a vacancy occurs in the office of member from Florida of the House of Representatives of Congress.

Here are the mechanics of calling that “special primary election:”

(3) Whenever there is a vacancy for which a special election is required pursuant to s. 100.101, the Governor, after consultation with the Secretary of State, shall fix the dates of a special primary election and a special election. Nominees of political parties other than minor political parties shall be chosen under the primary laws of this state in the special primary election to become candidates in the special election. Prior to setting the special election dates, the Governor shall consider any upcoming elections in the jurisdiction where the special election will be held. The dates fixed by the Governor shall be specific days certain and shall not be established by the happening of a condition or stated in the alternative.

URGENT: The Republican Party can fix this mess and get Foley off the ballot. Governor Bush can call for a “special primary election” no later than October 24, 2006. That should then allow for the removal of Foleys name!!! Foley stays on the ballot because he was on the prior primary certification. This District needs a special primary called by Governor Bush. Please help get the word out.

Latest VA poll from SUSA:

In an election for the United States Senate in Virginia today, 9/29/06, incumbent Republican George Allen maintains an advantage over Democrat challenger James Webb, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WUSA-TV Washington DC and WDBJ-TV Roanoke. In a 3-day rolling average of interviews conducted Tuesday 9/26/06 through Thursday 9/28/06, Allen leads Webb, 50% to 44%. On 9/27/06, SurveyUSA released poll results based on interviews conducted Sunday 9/24/06 through Tuesday 9/26/06, which showed Allen ahead 49% to 44%. Day-to-day volatility remains very high. The 6-point Allen lead in today’s results may change - but it appears as likely to change in one direction as the other.

From this morning’s San Francisco Chronic, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein say (I’m paraphrasing): “The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Produce rotting in the field! $5 for a stalk of broccoli! Mass starvation! We are doomed!”

The truth? Low-paid illegal work force has little impact on prices.

You might assume that the plentiful supply of low-wage illegal workers would translate into significantly lower prices for the goods and services they produce. In fact, their impact on consumer prices — call it the “illegal-worker discount” — is surprisingly small.

The bag of Washington state apples you bought last weekend? Probably a few cents cheaper than it otherwise would have been, economists estimate. That steak dinner at a downtown restaurant? Maybe a buck off. Your new house in Subdivision Estates? Hard to say, but perhaps a few thousand dollars less expensive.

The underlying reason, economists say, is that for most goods the labor — whether legal or illegal, native- or foreign-born — represents only a sliver of the retail price.

Feinstein’s numbers are laughable. $5 broccoli? Instead of hiring illegal aliens at $5 an hour, let’s say you had to hire American teenagers at $10 an hour –or workers from Manpower at $15 per hour. You’re telling me they’ll only be able to pick 3 or 4 heads of broccoli in an hour? American workers might be slow, but that’s a joke!

This is an interesting article about “progressive” efforts to develop new messaging and electoral strategies. However, I enjoyed this part the most:

Asurprise guest at the meeting wasBill Clinton, whose agenda seemed to be protecting his wife. But things didn’t work out quite as planned. When Guy Saperstein, a retired lawyer from Oakland, asked Clinton if Democrats who supported the war should apologize, the former President “went fucking ballistic,” according to Saperstein. Forget Hillary, Clinton said angrily during a ten-minute rant; if I was in Congress I would’ve voted for the war. “It was an extraordinary display of anger and imperiousness,” Saperstein says.

The willingness to challenge Clinton at least temporarily reassured progressive Democrats that partners in the Alliance had a spine and wouldn’t be a front group for “Hillary ‘08.” But Clinton’s response was a not-so-subtle warning to partners to avoid divisive issues, like the war, that might harm his wife in the next presidential election. Hillary herself has had a number of one-on-one sit-downs with members of the board, as has Howard Dean.

Oh, and note how Democrats are truly the party of the rich.

Right now, the Republican Party in Florida is working to determine who will go against the “token democrat” who is running in Florida-16. Yes, Mahoney is/was the “token Democrat” put in that race.

According to The Corner, the Mahoney Campaign has $226,000 of debts and only $343,755 of cash. So the Republican nominee will be starting off “no worse off” than the Democrat.

Here is some background on this token Democrats business from his website:

Tim Mahoney is the co-founder, Chairman and COO of vFinance, Inc and the founder and President of The Center for Innovative Entrepreneurship. Since its inception five years ago, vFinance has grown to become a $26 million provider of financial services in the Retail Brokerage, Investment Banking and Institutional Service businesses. The company manages in excess of $1 billion of client assets and has over 200 employees located in more than 30 offices nationwide.

Tim has over 25 years of experience in the computing and financial service industries. He was a pioneer in the personal computer business where he is regarded as an expert in the commercialization of technology, its production and mass distribution on a global basis.

My initial observation is that there was probably little opposition research performed on him because he was a long shot to begin with. That said, in todays environmentit is impossible to be in the “financial services industry” without a whole lot of litigation against you. I am confident that NASD records along with court filings and there will be a wide assortment of intersting reading.

I have seen refernces that he was a “former Republican.” This may have an effect on the race as well with respect to the leftnuts providing support.

It is very important that the local republicans in Florida quickly unite around a single candidate and present a united front. It appears that is happening and we have a solid nominee in waiting:

“Joe Negron has lined up a lot of support,” agreed state Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter. Domino said he probably would not run, but wouldn’t decide until today.

Negron said he has about $1 million in his bank account from his race for attorney general. He dropped out of the race in July after concluding that he could not beat former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum in the GOP primary.

Negron would not be allowed to transfer that money into a federal race. But he would have a strong potential contributor base for a campaign in which the Republican candidate will need to raise money quickly.

Earlier, I wrote “(URGENT) Foley CAN Be Removed From The Ballot” in which it appears that Governor Jeb Bush can thread the needle on this and push for a “special primary election” in an effort to get Foleys name removed from the ballot. This is very important for two reasons. First, it will generate tremendous local media coverage that “Foley does not belong on the ballot” and “__________ is the Republican nominee.” This will end up in Leon County Circuit Court which tends to interpret election law liberaly. The Republican Party can offer to pay for the printing of new ballots, though there a very few to be printed because of electronic voting. Further, existing election law already allows, and in fact requires, that the new nominee gets the votes of the old nominee which covers the overseas ballots that may have been sent out.

But a Dad can teach his 13 yr old daughter about polygamy:

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A father may teach his young daughter about his religious belief in polygamy despite his ex-wife’s objections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Thursday.
The 5-1 decision by the state’s highest court said Stanley M. Shepp, whose Mormon fundamentalist beliefs endorse polygamy, has a constitutional right to express his beliefs about plural marriages and multiple wives even though bigamy is illegal.

“Where, as in the instant matter, there is no finding that discussing such matters constitutes a grave threat of harm to the child, there is insufficient basis for the court to infringe on a parent’s constitutionally protected right to speak to a child about religion as he or she sees fit,” Justice Sandra Schultz Newman wrote.

But a Rhode Island gay couple can marry in Massachusetts:

A gay couple from Rhode Island has the right to marry in Massachusetts because laws in their home state do not expressly prohibit same-sex marriage, a judge ruled Friday.

Wendy Becker and Mary Norton of Providence argued that a 1913 law that forbids out-of-state residents from marrying in Massachusetts if their marriage would not be permitted in their home state did not apply to them because Rhode Island does not specifically ban gay marriage.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly agreed.

“No evidence was introduced before this court of a constitutional amendment, statute, or controlling appellate decision from Rhode Island that explicitly deems void or otherwise expressly forbids same-sex marriage,” he ruled.

Nice job, Ahnold:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, saying the state should wait for federal regulations designed to combat terrorism.

Schwarzenegger said his administration was working with federal officials to develop the federal guidelines for the REAL ID Act of 2001, and to get money to help the state pay to comply with them.

The bill’s author, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, said his legislation complies with the federal law, although he acknowledged it goes beyond what federal law requires.

His bill would provide for security measures and a special mark showing that the license is held by an illegal immigrant.

A 1993 law bars the state from issuing licenses to drivers who cannot prove they are in the country legally.

But a Muslim student gets to wear her Islamic attire in gym class, while everyone else has to follow the dress code rules:

CNSNews.com) - A Muslim ninth-grader in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington will be allowed to wear Islamic attire in gym class, thanks to the intervention of an Islamic civil rights group. The Maryland and Virginia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it intervened after the gym teacher warned the girl she would flunk the class if she didn’t dress out in the nylon shorts that other students are required to wear. According to CAIR-MD/VA, the teacher allegedly told the girl that the law required her to wear shorts. The student’s family contacted CAIR-MD/VA for assistance, and following CAIR’s discussions with school officials, the student was moved to a different gym class and will be allowed to dress in attire that meets her religious needs, the group said.

Here comes the “sensitivity training” card:

CAIR-MD/VA said it will conduct “diversity training for some of the school’s newer staff.” CAIR-MD/VA has also plans to visit other middle schools and high schools - “to review their policies for accommodating the religious needs of Muslim students during Ramadan, Eid and throughout the school year.”

You know what happens when you keep bending over backwards for someone?, you snap, and that is exactly what is happening to our society. We are about to bend and break.