Stay Classy McCain

NBC News reports that Sen. John McCain "has specifically asked his former aides not to do interviews rebutting Palin's charges in her book -- to avoid escalating the feud between her and the campaign staff. Most are complying with his wishes, hoping it will die down."

Chris Dodd Continues to Fall

I have been saying for months that Sen. Chris Dodd (D) could be on his way out. More evidence from Quinnipiac:

Former Connecticut Congressman Rob Simmons has an early lead in the Republican primary race for the 2010 U.S. Senate contest and runs better than any other challenger against Sen. Christopher Dodd, topping the Democratic incumbent 49 – 38 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon gets 43 percent to Sen. Dodd’s 41 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Even potential Republican contenders with almost no name recognition and almost no Republican primary voter support give Dodd a run for his money.

Massachusetts & The Stimulus

As I stated last week, the number of jobs saved by the stimulus bill is a highly suspect figure. A new study by the Boston Globe (a PR arm of the Democratic Party-wink-wink) agrees. Some highlights:

While Massachusetts recipients of federal stimulus money collectively report 12,374 jobs saved or created, a Globe review shows that number is wildly exaggerated. Organizations that received stimulus money miscounted jobs, filed erroneous figures, or claimed jobs for work that has not yet started...

But in interviews with recipients, the Globe found that several openly acknowledged creating far fewer jobs than they have been credited for.

One of the largest reported jobs figures comes from Bridgewater State College, which is listed as using $77,181 in stimulus money for 160 full-time work-study jobs for students. But Bridgewater State spokesman Bryan Baldwin said the college made a mistake and the actual number of new jobs was “almost nothing.’’ Bridgewater has submitted a correction, but it is not yet reflected in the report....

“There were no jobs created. It was just shuffling around of the funds,’’ said Susan Kelly, director of property management for Boston Land Co., which reported retaining 26 jobs with $2.7 million in rental subsidies for its affordable housing developments in Waltham. “It’s hard to figure out if you did the paperwork right. We never asked for this.’’...

Robert Ercolini manages a 201-unit affordable housing development in Plymouth. After being notified his annual rental subsidies were classified as stimulus spending, Ercolini renewed a request to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for more than $1 million to fix up the property, reasoning he would be creating jobs by hiring contractors. He was refused.

“After HUD denied me money to make needed improvements and actually create jobs,’’ Ercolini said, “it’s really funny to find out in September that I’ve been receiving stimulus funds all along and they want to know how many jobs we’ve saved or created.’’

By his count, the answer is: “No jobs.’’

Pessimism Grows

AP-Gfk poll finds 56% of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. This is a significant change from April when 48% thought the country was going in the right direction and 44% it was on the wrong track.

Is this due to the increased anxiety over the economy or the governement's continued focus on health care?

Political Correctness VS. Treason

I am posting this short editorial from The New Hampshire Union Leader. It broaches a topic that may be uncomfortableto talk about, but one that needs to be investigated with open eyes. I am interested in readers thoughts on this one.

Did 13 American soldiers die at Fort Hood because officers were afraid of appearing insensitive to Muslims?

In 2001, the alleged shooter, Nidal Hasan, apparently attended a Virginia mosque led by a radical cleric -- the same mosque attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers. He openly opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because the United States was fighting Muslims. A doctor who studied with Hasan recalled him justifying suicide bombings and accusing the United States of waging war against Islam.

"His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasan's 'anti-American propaganda,' but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint," The Associated Press reported over the weekend.

U.S. intelligence officials knew that Hasan had tried to contact al-Qaida, ABC News reported on Monday.

Patriotic Muslims have given and continue to give valuable service to this country. That is not the question the Fort Hood shooting raises. The question is whether kowtowing to political correctness prevented the Army from expelling a known enemy within its ranks. At the moment, that appears to be the case.

Dems Clash on HCR

Don't hold your breath on HCR just yet.

"In a move that will intensify the coming war over how to treat abortion in the health care bill, more than three dozen House Dems have signed a letter to Nancy Pelosi firmly pledging to vote against the bill if it contains an anti-abortion amendment," Greg Sargent reports.

"A source sends over a working copy of the letter without the signatories, and the source says it currently bears the signatures of 41 House Dems. They're all vowing to vote No on a bill if it contains the Stupak amendment -- enough to sink the bill."

640,00 Jobs sAved...Maybe Not

The well worn adage that you can make statistics say anything was given further proof with last week; saved jobs announcement from the White House. The Associated Press, hardly a right wing operation, reported gross counting errors which inflated the supposed jobs saved to 640,000. Some highlights:

President Barack Obama's economic recovery program saved 935 jobs at the Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, an impressive success story for the stimulus plan. Trouble is, only 508 people work there.... director Myrtis Mulkey-Ndawula said she followed the guidelines the Obama administration provided. She said she multiplied the 508 employees by 1.84 — the percentage pay raise they received — and came up with 935 jobs saved.

"I would say it's confusing at best," she said. "But we followed the instructions we were given."

Turns out pay raises count as jobs saved.

But officials defended the practice of counting raises as saved jobs.

"If I give you a raise, it is going to save a portion of your job," HHS spokesman Luis Rosero said.

Really? Are we seriously to believe this rationalization?

[Ben Allen, the research director at the National Head Start Association] said a cost-of-living adjustment "may not be viewed traditionally as a job saved, but one could interpret it that [way].

About two-thirds of the 14,506 jobs claimed to be saved under one federal office, the Administration for Children and Families at Health and Human Services, actually weren't saved at all, according to a review of the latest data by The Associated Press. Instead, that figure includes more than 9,300 existing employees in hundreds of local agencies who received pay raises and benefits and whose jobs weren't saved.

Auto Bailout Money Lost For Good

Remember when we (the American tax payers) bailed out the auto industry with the idea that we were making a sound investment? We would simultaneously save an industry and get a return on our money when the car companies rebounded. Well, so much for that. From CNSNews:

Taxpayers are unlikely to recover their full investment in General Motors or Chrysler, government investigators said Monday in the latest review to cast doubts that the government will recoup the $80 billion it poured into the two automakers.

The Government Accountability Office concluded that General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC likely won't be valuable enough for the Treasury Department to break even on its investment in the two auto companies that went though bankruptcy earlier this year.

The GAO also revealed that the Obama administration is closely scrutinizing the finances of GM and Chrysler and has set some requirements on production even though it has said it will maintain a hands-off approach on the automakers' daily operations.

Obama Continues to Try To Isolate Fox

The Obama administrations Orwellian moves continue. This from the Chicago Tribune ...

"At least one Democratic political strategist has gotten a blunt warning from the White House to never appear on Fox News Channel, an outlet that presidential aides have depicted as not so much a news-gathering operation as a political opponent bent on damaging the Obama administration.

The strategist said the message was, "We better not see you on again."

Will Obama Lose The Center?

Michael Gerson says it better than I can. Emphasis mine.
Some say....

If only more conservatives were nominated, such as Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd Congressional District, the party might be pure enough to excite the base. Liberal Republicans who eventually endorse Democrats, such as Hoffman's opponent, should probably expect a conservative primary challenge. But this strategy is self-destructive when universalized. Would Republican appeal throughout the Northeast really be expanded by more ideological nominees? Though the Republican Party will remain the conservative party nationally, it is not possible for Republicans to win everywhere with an identical conservative message.

The Republican candidates who won on Tuesday were generally conservative, but not angry. They were supported by the Republican base, but spent most of their time reaching toward the middle. It was a center-right victory in a center-right country....

...Now comes Obama's largest test, which will determine the ideological atmosphere for the 2010 election. If the president -- opposed by a majority of Americans, with almost no support from the other party -- imposes an ideologically divisive health reform, it will smack of radicalism, reinforce polarization, and may cede the ideological center to Republicans for years to come.