Virginia Right!

Democrat leaders claim they’re concerned about the high prices Americans are paying at the pump, but they continue to demonstrate that they’re not interested in changing some basic policies that could produce more and cheaper American energy.

According to The Hill, “Senate Democrats will hold firm and reject House Republican demands to include approval of the Keystone oil pipeline in transportation funding legislation, their leader said Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would not in any way help Republicans move Keystone approval across the finish line.  ‘Personally, I’m not — I’m not one of the conferees — but personally I think Keystone is a program that we’re not going, that I am not going to help in any way I can,” Reid told reporters. ‘The president feels that way. I do, too.’”

Meanwhile, another Hill story reports, “Interior Secretary Ken Salazar blasted House Republicans on Tuesday for pursuing ‘fairy tale’ energy policies he said are aimed at scoring political points going into the election. . . . Salazar, echoing comments by the president, stressed that there are no quick-fix solutions to high gasoline prices, which have soared since December . . . .” It’s worth recalling that four years ago when Salazar was a Democrat senator from Colorado, he blocked a bill that would have allowed more offshore drilling as gas prices increased. But Salazar objected to the bill, calling more drilling for American energy “a phantom solution.”

To summarize, we have a president that blocked the Keystone XL pipeline, a Senate Majority Leader who says of the pipeline “I am not going to help in any way I can,” and an Interior Secretary who refers to projects like Keystone backed by Republicans as “fairy tale” energy policies and “phantom solutions.”

Yet other Democrats are not so intransigent. Last week, The New York Times reported, “President Obama is finding himself increasingly boxed in on the Keystone pipeline fight as more Congressional Democrats are joining Republicans in backing the project, which has strong labor support and could generate significant numbers of jobs in economically hard-hit states.” Early last month 11 Senate Democrats voted for a Republican amendment “to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project and provide for environmental protection and government oversight.” Recently, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said, “I’m fighting for construction of the entire Keystone pipeline” and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) declared, “I’m for the pipeline.”

Last week, 69 Democrats in the House voted for a transportation bill that included a provision that would allow construction of the full Keystone XL pipeline to move forward. According to the NYT, “Representative Dennis Cardoza, a California Democrat who voted for the House measure, said he would be happy to vote to override a veto if needed. He said: ‘I think the president has made a very serious mistake here. I’m still supporting the president. But we have to do what’s right.” Asked by The Times if he’d support such a bill Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said, “I would vote for it, yes.”

It’s time for President Obama, Harry Reid, Ken Salazar and other Democrats leaders to stop listening to environmentalist pressure groups and start listening to Americans who want more and cheaper domestic energy, not to mention the growing chorus of Democrats who support the Keystone Xl pipeline. The Keystone pipeline would allow us to import less oil from foreign countries, more efficiently move American oil, and create tens of thousands of jobs. It’s a no-brainer, and it’s long past time for Democrat leaders to stop blocking it.

Article III Section II of the US Constitution created the Supreme Court and reads in part:

“The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States…”

Yesterday, Obama said:

“Ultimately, I am confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress,” Obama said at a news conference with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

“And I’d just remind conservative commentators that, for years, what we have heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism, or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law,” Obama said.

First and foremost, let’s consider the way that the “Affordable Health Care Act” was passed. It was done outside of the normal process of most bills of this magnitude. Ordinarily, the Senate and House create separate bills, make changes and amendments to each respective bill and send the two products to a committee to work out the differences in the two bills and combine them into one. It is in this process that errors, wording and even unconstitutional aspects of the bills are fixed. The resulting single bill then returns to each body for a final vote. Any additional amendments or changes will require the approval of both houses. And if approved, the final bill goes to the President for his signature (or veto).

But something happened in this process that turned the normal procedures on their head. Senator Kennedy passed away and was replaced by a Republican, Scott Brown, who ran on defeating Obamacare. The Senate had already passed their version of the bill, written by Harry Reid. The House passed a version, but the normal procedure of sending the two bills through a committee to work out the differences was now dead because the Senate Democrats no longer had a filibuster proof majority with the election of Brown. So they scrapped the House version of a health care bill and simply voted on the flawed Senate bill in the House. Initially, Speaker Nancy Pelosi planned to use a controversial procedure called “deem and pass” without even voting on the bill! In the end, Pelosi managed to bribe, threaten or bully just enough Democrats to pass the Senate bill.

There were no Republican votes in favor of this bill. And this bill bypassed the normal legislative process. There has never been a bill passed by Congress with less integrity of process and honesty of purpose than the “Affordable Health Care Act”. Period!

So for Obama to pretend that this bill was an ordinary bill passed in the normal course of business using the due diligence normally utilized by Congress is absurd. This bill was an abomination of the process and was passed by hook and crook in full panic mode as the window of opportunity was rapidly closing on the Democratic Super Majority. The American People, in fact, had recalled the Super Majority for abuse of power by electing Scott Brown to replace Teddy Kennedy in the bluest of blue states, Massachusetts.

And for Obama to have the nerve to “remind” conservative commentators of their disdain for “judicial activism” is laughable. Conservatives consider judicial activism to be judges who ignore the Constitution and allow their ideology to decide a case. Should the Supreme Court decide that all or parts of this law are unconstitutional, it will be based on the merits of the arguments and the US Constitution. That is not judicial activism.

And for an Administration that has filed lawsuits against states in unprecedented numbers, who depends on “judicial activism” and legislation from the bench to thwart the 10th Amendment, calling out those who question the constitutionality of a law that was at best a bastardization of process is ridiculously hypocritical.

Should this law be upheld by the Supreme Court, the expense and intrusion of the law will be the least of America’s worries. This would set a precedent that would essentially make any and all bills passed by Congress and signed by the President claiming authority under the Commerce Clause completely unchallengeable. It would remove all limits set by the Constitution on the Federal Government and render the Supreme Court impotent on future decisions on the Constitutionality of laws passed by Congress.

Upholding Obamacare would be the ultimate and final act of Judicial Activism on a scale that would render the US Constitution moot and the power of the Federal Government supreme forever.

Last week, Democrats and President Obama spent the week pushing a bill to raise taxes on American energy producers, even though not a single one could explain how this was supposed to help Americans feeling the pinch of high gas prices. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) held a vote on the measure on Thursday and it was rejected on a bipartisan basis.

The Hill noted, “The outcome of the vote was not a surprise, given that a similar plan failed 52-48 last May. . . . Obama has sought to deflect blame for high gas prices, in part by casting Republicans as allies of big oil companies. He used a Rose Garden speech to urge lawmakers to back [Democrats’ tax bill]”

Despite the president’s attempts to shift blame, the Senate has now rejected Democrats’ calls to raise taxes on American energy producers twice. When Democrats were pushing this same tax increase last year, the Congressional Research Service weighed in and explained that such tax changes “would make oil and natural gas more expensive for U.S. consumers and likely increase foreign dependence.” And of course, Democrats have continually admitted that raising taxes on American energy companies won’t do anything to decrease the price of gas at the pump.

Discussing this nonsensical call from the president on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The issue is the price of gas at the pump. If you raise taxes on the producers of gasoline, you drive the prices even higher. Does anyone think we need higher gas prices when they’re already at $4 a gallon? This is not the way to lower the price of gas at the pump. . . . [The president is] trying to selectively raise taxes on some corporations, and to do that would drive the price of gas at the pump even higher. This is a terrible idea.” He added, “The Congressional Research Service, which is not a polling operation, but analyzes objectively legislation, says if you raise taxes on oil production, the price of the gas at the pump goes even higher. This is an absurd suggestion when you’ve got $4 gasoline. What the President ought to be doing is approving the Keystone Pipeline. This is this massive private sector project that will bring energy down from our friendly neighbor, Canada, to the United States. He’s blocking it. What he’s got to do is increase public production down here. Land within the federal jurisdiction, the production is down 14 percent. . . . The American people know that it’s absurd for the most energy rich country in the world to be locking up such a huge percentage of its resources.”

Today, Senate Democrats and President Obama showcased their misplaced priorities after they pushed for a long series of cloture votes on district court judges instead of moving forward on a bipartisan House-passed bill that would create jobs.

The Hill writes today, “Senate GOP leaders attacked their Democratic counterparts on Tuesday for scheduling action on judicial nominees instead of acting this week on a jobs bill. But the White House came out in strong support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) decision to invoke cloture to break a Republican filibuster to confirm the 17 court nominees. . . . Fresh off the overwhelming passage of the House-backed JOBS Act last week, McConnell called on Reid to forgo the ‘manufactured crisis’ over 17 judges, and move on the JOBS Act. ‘We have a way of dealing with judicial and other appointments in the Senate — this effort to have 17 cloture votes in a row is manufactured crisis. … This is a needless exercise and waste of the Senate’s time,’ [Senate Republican Leader Mitch] McConnell told reporters. Reid noted that he liked the House-passed bill and said it would be acted on in the near future but, at this point, he was resolved to move the judicial nominations.”

Leader McConnell laid out the contrast yesterday: “[W]e should immediately take up the bipartisan Jobs bill the House sent over last Thursday. This bill passed the House on a broad bipartisan basis with a vote of 390 to 23. The President himself supports it. There’s no reason we shouldn’t take it up immediately and do something together on jobs. If the Democrat-controlled Senate turns to something contentious instead, then they’ll be saying two things to the American people: First, that they’re just not serious when they say they’re focused on jobs. And second, that they’d rather spend their time manufacturing gridlock to create the illusion of conflict.”

The Wall Street Journal noted the choice Democrats are making, asking “Are jobs more important than getting federal judges confirmed?” Even a Los Angeles Times opinion piece backing the Democrats acknowledged, “Jobs bills are arguably more urgent than judicial nominations . . . . Compared to, say, someone laid off because of the recession, a judicial nominee waiting for confirmation isn’t a particularly poignant figure.”

Apparently, President Obama’s White House has decided to give “a ringing endorsement” to Reid’s move, despite the president’s insistence that he’s focused on jobs. White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler went so far as to tell reporters on a conference call, “What the president is really asking — what he’s demanding — is that the Senate do its job on behalf of the American people.” The president is “demanding” that the Senate put jobs on the back burner and instead have show votes on district court judges?

Recall that Democrats’ messaging chief, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that “Democrats are focused like a laser on jobs, the economy, and the middle class.” It’s hard to see how setting aside a jobs bill that has support from both political parties in both houses of Congress and the president in favor of a long series of votes on judges.

As Leader McConnell said today, “[T]his is not about making sure the President is treated fairly in his judicial nominations.  In fact, this isn’t about judicial nominations at all. This is about giving the President what he wants, when he wants it.  And what the President wants is to distract the country from his failed policies that have led to soaring gas prices and high unemployment, and instead try to write a narrative of obstruction for his campaign. . . . What the Majority should do is work with us to move these lifetime appointments in an orderly manner . . . . As I suggested yesterday, we could get to the bi-partisan JOBS Act this week and process some judicial nominees. The JOBS Act passed the House by a vote of 390 to 23, and the President says he supports it. . . . So I encourage the Majority to work with us on both legislation and nominations, not to go off on a partisan, and unprecedented, path that won’t get us anywhere, and won’t solve the problems Americans care about.”

Senator Donald McEachin is leading the charge to hold Virginia’s budget hostage in hopes of getting back some of the power voters took away in November.

This is not about funding this or funding that. It’s about McEachin getting a bigger office and having more power, plain and simple.

There is not a dimes worth of difference between the House and Senate budgets. I know it. You know it. And Virginian’s know it.

McEachin and the Democrats are acting like a bunch of Sigma Pi Phi frat boys demanding a larger frat house and free beer.

At the end of the day, Donald, we know this is not about Education spending, Transportation spending and more welfare spending. It is about your inability to accept the will of the people.

And you are just as irritating and irresponsible as Harry Reid who is well past 1,000 days without a budget.

Put away your false righteous indignation and pass the damn budget!

It’s your job!

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up, carved eternally in the akhasic records of cyberspace.

There was a great deal of attention this week from the Council on Th eObama Administration’s attack on the First Amendment via Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius’ fatwa requiring religious institutions like those run by the Catholic Church to provide birth control, sterilization and abortion services to their employees as part of the health insurance requirements of ObamaCare. This week’s winner, Rhymes With Right‘s Should The Catholic Church Go Medieval Over ObamaCare Regulations? proposes that the Church fight back with some ancient strategies. Here’s a slice:

On January 20, 2012, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius issued a regulation which required religiously affiliated employers to provide their employees with free sterilization and contraceptives(including abortifacients) even if doing so violated the religious tenets of the organization. While there was a small carve-out that would allow actual houses of worship to refrain from offering such coverage, the regulation would require Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities to pay for such insurance coverage if they employed or served a significant number of non-Catholic employees. While the regulation is not aimed directly at the Catholic Church – it applies equally to other faith groups with teachings against sterilization, birth control, and abortion – it is clear that the biggest impact will be upon Catholic groups.

The uproar was immediate and loud. On February 10, President Obama himself seemed to offer a compromise option, but reality is that the changed wording and presentation did not constitute a substantive change of law or policy. What’s more, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked efforts to introduce and vote on legislation that would have blocked any regulation of this sort, ensuring that President Obama’s allies would ensure that there was no chance to undo the “compromise” – which the President has indicated will be implemented this August. This means that the American people will not have the ability to install new leaders before religious organizations are forced to surrender their principles, pay crippling fines, or shut down.

As I’ve examined the current situation, it strikes me that this attack on religion is unprecedented in American history and that it flies in the face of the guarantees found in the Bill of Rights. But attacks upon the faith are not unprecedented in the history of the Catholic Church. From Apostolic times through the Middle Ages and Reformation and up to the present, there have been political leaders whose lust for power and personal glorification have led them to seek to undercut the teachings of the Church and its spiritual prerogatives. The faithful died in the arenas of the Roman Empire rather than burn incense at the altars of the emperors, popes engaged in political and military conflict with enemies through the ages, and courageous bishops and priests spread the great encyclical letter Mit Brennender Sorge in the face of the Nazi regime in 1938. And if Pope John Paul II had the ability to undermine Communism in Poland and the other nations behind the Iron Curtain, what might his friend, co-worker, and successor Pope Benedict XVI be able to do regarding this effort by Barack Obama to force the Catholic Church to act contrary to its teachings?

Some might ask Josef Stalin’s question – how many divisions does the pope have? But one need only remember that the Church has survived conflicts with greater men than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that Christ himself promised Simon Peter that the gates of Hell will not prevail against him and his successors – a promise kept for some two millennia. All that is necessary is for Benedict to deploy the full force of the spiritual weapons in his arsenal. It would not be unreasonable for him to follow some of the historical precedents for their use in this case. Indeed, I’d argue that the Pope might consider taking a course that has both modern precedent and roots in the medieval period.

To this end, I believe that an encyclical letter, with its definitive version written in English, ought to be issued. In doing this, Pope Benedict would be following the precedent of Pope Pius XI in issuing Mit Brennender Sorge in 1938. The young Joseph Ratzinger would have heard as this denunciation of Nazism was read from the pulpit of his church on Palm Sunday, 1938, as it was in virtually every German church. Benedict should act in kind now, speaking as pastor to his flock and as head of state challenging the misdeeds of the American government — and require that the encyclical be read in every Catholic church on the same Sunday.

What should be included in this encyclical? I would suggest several elements. The first part would be a restatement of the teachings of Vatican II on the proper relationship of church and state, and an analysis as to how the Obama Regime mandate is incompatible with that relationship. It should be made clear that this is not a claim of special privilege, but a function of natural law that applies to all who claim the title of Christian and to non-Christians as well. No government, whether democracy, monarchy, or dictatorship, has within the scope of its authority to direct a faith community to commit actions that are at odds with its fundamental teachings.

The second part of the encyclical should lay out the consequences of the promulgation of this new regulation and its successor. This should begin with an announcement that Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is immediately excommunicated, as are any other Catholics within the senior staff of the department. In addition, immediate excommunication should also fall upon any Catholic member of Congress who voted for ObamaCare. Lest there be any confusion on the matter, the individuals excommunicated should be listed by name. In addition, latae sententia will be incurred by any Catholic who directly enforces or causes to be enforced the requirements of the new regulations. Similar sanctions should be directed at state officials in the 28 state with similar provisions in state law. At least as regards the public officials, the lifting of the excommunication ought to be reserved to the Holy Father himself. The second consequence contained within the encyclical ought to include the imposition of interdict upon the United States if the regulation is not rescinded by a certain date, with the interdict to be lifted only upon the lifting of the regulation and the return of any and all property seized as a consequence of failure to comply with the regulation.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Victor Davis Hanson for Iran 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 submitted by Joshuapundit.

Here are this week’s full results. New Zeal was unable to vote this week, and was affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes! Rhymes With Right – Should The Catholic Church Go Medieval Over ObamaCare Regulations?
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit-President Obama Demands All Bow To His New Religion
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – New Zeal -Econonomic Sabotage? A Case for the FBI? Occupy Wall Street and the Cuban Connection
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Noisy Room-The Day the Music Died
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Right Planet-In Memory of Kevin Eve: The Last Breathing Hole
• Third place *t* with 1 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey-“Good to know these folks are on our high court”
• Third place *t* with 1 vote –The Razor -Does Romney 2012 = McCain 2008?
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – It’s still a free world, is it?
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Mellow Jihadi –German Sailors Support Occupy Wall Street?
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Independent Sentinel – Obama And The Global Push To Ban Small Arms In The United States.
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Bookworm Room –White House takes down petition asking it to stop pretending that Catholic institutions aren’t being forced to pay for ideologically offensive products
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right! –Ron Newtorum Wins CPAC 2012 Straw Poll With 62%
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Gay Patriot – Is Obama expecting economic crisis to last until 2018?
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Glittering Eye –

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 3 1/3 votes! – Victor Davis Hanson-Iran 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 submitted by Joshuapundit
  
• Second place with 3 votes – The Daily Caller – Inside Media Matters: Sources, memos reveal erratic behavior, close coordination with White House and news organizations submitted by The Glittering Eye
  
• Third place with 2 votes – Sultan Knish A Tale Of two Warsubmitted by The Political Commentator
• Fourth place with 1 2/3 votes - Wolf Howling –A historical perspective on religion and Obama’s HHS mandate submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fifth place with 1 1/3 votes - Promethean Antagonist –Snippets…(rants on Leftdom) submitted by The Razor
• Sixth place with 1 vote - Michelle Malkin – ‘To Stop the Multiplication of the Unfit’ submitted by The Right Planet
  
• Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote -Christian Aid Watch – Why Did They Go?submitted by Simply Jews
• Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Compass –Is Terrorism OK If Israel Does It? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote - The Jersey-Texan –The Racism of Daily Kos for GOP Candidate Mia B. Love submitted by Va Right!
• Eighth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Rush Limbaugh –Obama Didn’t Cave on the HHS Mandate; He’s Making an Unprecedented Power Grab submitted by The Noisy Room
  
• Eighth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Enterprise Blog –How Romney can start to energize conservatives submitted by Gay Patriot

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Senator John McCain has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Liberal losers stick together. If anyone was confused enough to wonder if maybe, just maybe Romney was now a Conservative, this endorsement should serve to remove all doubt. Mitt is a true New England RINO big government liberal. McCain’s kind of guy.

And just like McCain pretends to be a Conservative when he wants to win elections only to reach across the aisle and embrace every loony far left entitlement program to the delight of people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

Apparently, the reach across the aisle is not so far when you are already sitting in a liberals lap.

People need to pay attention not only to the Romney record, but also to the record of the friends he excites.

In a normal world an endorsement from John McCain would be a kiss of death to anyone pretending to be a Conservative.

Wow! What a year 2011 was!

Once again, Virginia has blazed the way in the State Political arena and set the stage for what we anticipate will be another historic Republican victory in Washington in November. Following the Virginia Republican surge in 2009, Republicans took over the US House in 2010 and got a lot closer in the US Senate. We look forward to replacing not only Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader, but President Obama as well in 2012.

And the many events of the year allowed Virginia Right! the opportunity to provide coverage of these events. And we try to provide not only coverage, but opinions and thoughts as well. While we have a decided right lean to the blog, we do our best to provide fair coverage and honest opinion without spin and hype. This is not always an easy task and we will not always win friends and stroke the egos of people and groups who happen to align themselves on the same (right) side of center as we are.

Much to the consternation of some who believe we should simply accept their version of reality, no one gets a pass. We will continue to respect honesty and integrity in our political leaders and we plan to continue to call those out who are (in out opinion) less than forthright in their actions and policies. When we believe criticism is earned and deserved, then criticize we shall.

Much of the media today has taken sides. And the result has been a free pass for noteworthy misdeeds from those with similar alignment. It is much more prevalent on the left than on the right, but it exists at both ends of the political spectrum.

If you seek pablum and shill-like affirmation of everything that emanates from anyone right of center, Virginia Right! may be of limited appeal to you. But if you seek honest coverage and honest opinion of people and events, that is why we exist. And we will continue to do our best to break down and analyze anything from polls to statements to political platforms.

That is what Virginia Right! has done and that is the path we will continue to follow.

And it is obviously a point of view that people find valuable. And Virginia Right! has appeared on the radar of a number of people and places worldwide. And while that notice and recognition is welcome, we consider it an award earned, not by those who blog or guest blog here, but by those who take time to read and consider the views and opinions expressed here. And who offer comments and opinions. And especially to those who disagree with out posts. While the opinions expressed here are our own, we respect and celebrate any and all opposing opinions. And we always appreciate anyone taking the time to agree or disagree.

So, we call your attention to a couple of accolades Virginia Right! has been granted and attribute them, not to ourselves, but to those who read and find something of value to add to the political discussion on this site.

And here is what you, our readers, have accomplished:

As of January 1, 2012, Virginia Right! is ranked in the top 100 in 3 categories at Technorati:

• #41 in US Politics
• #44 in World Politics
• #55 in Politics (in general)

And  I think it is fair to say that without the contributions of my co-blogger Sandy Sanders, Virginia Right! would not be in the top 100 in any of the three categories. Sandy’s uncanny knack of uncovering the hidden purposes of ICLEI and Agenda 21  along with his United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and Ron Paul coverages has added a depth and dimension to Virginia Right! that broadens the scope and appeal of this blog and brings readers that can experience and provide a great many more viewpoints and expose all readers to a far wider range of ideas than no single writer could ever hope to do.

And posts by Michelle Stanley have added yet another voice to the dialog.

In addition to the triple ranking at Technorati, Virginia Right! shares an award with the members of the Watchers Council where all 15 blogs in the council (including Virginia Right!) were named to the 2011 Fabulous 50 Blogs in the “Best Blog Ring” category.

And if you are not aware of the work done by the Watcher’s Council, I will tell you that this is one of the most outstanding assemblies of first rate bloggers in the world and Virginia Right is humbled and honored to be a part of this amazing and outstanding group of individuals. You may have seen the posts here on Virginia Right! with nominations posted mid week and winners announced at the end of each week. The way it works is, each Tuesday all 15 members submit a post of their own and a post from any other blog or non-mainstream site. These are compiled and posted and then on Thursday, we vote on two posts by other members, a first choice and a second choice, and then the same for two non-council posts. The winners are tallied and posted.

What this does is create a friendly competition each week among a group of right leaning writers to produce high quality posts and then face judging by other writers every week! It is like an exam on a weekly basis.

I believe this makes us all reach a little higher and work a little harder to produce high quality posts that will be judged by our peers. Pressure? You bet! But this is such a talented group of people that none of the members have a problem not making the top posts. The competition is stiff and winning is not easy. And it keeps us on our toes!

And Virginia Right! is also syndicated which helps with our National and International exposure. Before It’s News publishes stories from a number of sites, including Virginia Right! where every post on Virginia Right! is simultaneously posted on this very large site. And many of Sandy’s posts are syndicated at Freedom’s Phoenix, another highly popular news site.

In addition, Virginia Right! is syndicated at NewsTex where our posts may be legally purchased and re-posted on other sites.

What will come in 2012 is anyone’s guess at this point, but Virginia Right! plans to be in the thick of things and we have big plans for 2012!

One of the most amazing things to me is how rapidly this blog has grown. It seems like I have been doing this forever, but the fact is, Virginia Right! will celebrate only our third birthday on March 9, 2012! I don’t know yet what we will do to celebrate turning 3 years old, but some bit of a festive nature will definitely be in order.

We don’t know exactly what 2012 will bring, but we expect big things. And we wish one and all a safe, successful and happy New Year and please accept our sincere gratitude to all those that read Virginia Right! Sometimes it is a lot of work, but it is truly a labor of love and what we do is not for personal accolades or recognition, although those are a welcome thing, but to truly make America something that we can proudly pass on to future generations. And the America of today is not the legacy I or my generation would be proud to pass on.

Collectively, we can all be a small part of correcting the course of the country and returning sanity, prosperity and, most importantly, God to the Country!

Forward!

Senate Democrats are moving forward with yet another stimulus bill this week, this time a $60 billion infrastructure stimulus (including $10 billion for an infrastructure bank), despite the fact they know there are bipartisan concerns about the bill and that they know it can’t pass.

According to The Hill today, “Obama will try to ramp up pressure on Republicans by visiting Washington’s Key Bridge on Wednesday, one of many bridges around the country eligible for funding if the infrastructure bill passes. . . . Democratic operatives are quick to note that they never expected to pass the jobs bills through the Senate, adding that the multiple roll calls will put Republicans on the defensive and force them to explain on the 2012 campaign trail why they voted no on measures that poll well with voters.”

So it appears Democrats are finally admitting what was obvious all along: these stimulus bills that couple ever more spending with job-killing tax hikes are designed to fail in order to score political points, not create jobs. In fact, Politico pointed out last week, “[Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid has pushed the president’s agenda when it has had no chance of passing. Reid has pressed for passage of the president’s $447 billion jobs bill and individual pieces of it, even when some of his own rank-and-file Senate Democrats, like [Nebraska Sen. Ben] Nelson, have stood in opposition.” And today Politico notes that Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) “expressed frustration that Senate Democratic leaders continue to bring pieces of the president’s plan forward even though they know full well the proposals will fail.”

Meanwhile, the White House has been awfully candid about how this pattern is all part of a campaign strategy. The Hill reported, “David Axelrod… released a campaign memo on Tuesday signaling that Obama would make his American Jobs Act a major component of his reelection strategy, pummeling Republicans who obstruct his attempts to revive the economy.” Vice President Joe Biden simply came out and admitted, “People say we’re campaigning. We sure as heck are campaigning.”

Bob Woodward, no Republican partisan, recently explained to Chris Matthews that “Barack Obama wants to win so badly, as I understand it, everything in the White House is driven by the election.” Other journalists have noted this, too, with CNN’s Kate Bolduan observing, “The reality in Congress is this bill has virtually no chance of passing and Democrats know that.” And Carl Bernstein said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “[F]irst of all, Obama knew that bill couldn’t pass when he formulated it.” Politico acknowledged last month, “Winning in Congress was never really part of the plan. President Barack Obama didn’t do much to bring along lawmakers on his jobs bill — and it showed . . . . [T]he relentless focus on the American Jobs Act wasn’t about racking up a legislative win. It was always about laying the foundation for . . . 2012 . . . .”

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said today, “We know the President’s strategy. His so-called jobs bill has one purpose: to divide us. Just this morning, I read a story that quoted some Democrat operative almost bragging about the fact that they don’t expect any of the legislation the President’s been out there talking about on his bus tour to pass. They openly admit these bills are designed to fail. It’s not exactly a state secret that Republicans — and yes, some Democrats — don’t think we should be raising taxes right now on the very people we’re counting on to create the jobs we need to get us out of a jobs crisis. And yet the one thing that every single proposal Democrats bring to the floor has in common is that it does just that. So the Democrats’ plan is to keep putting bills on the floor they know ahead of time we’ll vote against, instead of trying to solve the problem.  And they don’t even hide it. The President’s top strategist actually issued a memo a few weeks ago saying the President would use this legislation not as a way to help people but as a way to pummel Republicans.”

Leader McConnell explained, “What we’re witnessing in Washington right now is two very different styles of governance: a Republican majority in the House that believes we should actually do something about the problems we face, and which has put together and actually passed bipartisan legislation that would help address those problems. And a Democratic Majority in the Senate that’s teamed up with the White House on a strategy of doing nothing — all for the sake of trying to score political points and spread the blame for an economy that their own policies have cemented into place as they look ahead to an election that’s more than a year away.”

The folks at the Republican Party of Virginia have been working really hard to find a single Virginia Democrat that will stand proudly with Obama and his mess. Seems there are none to be found.

They have looked high and low, and alas, nada!

Now, to be truthful about it, these Democrats ACT like Obama and Harry Reid, making up new rules when they are unable to do things the right way. You know, that pesky Constitution thing. The Virginia Senate has done the exact same thing as the US Senate, only worse!

I would HATE to play a game of football or tennis with these losers.

Here is the contest rules, and these rules will not change – after all, these guys are Republicans!) and the prizes are pretty sweet!

– Can you find a Virginia Democrat proudly campaigning with President Obama?  —  

Holding the White House should be a huge advantage for any party during off-year elections, as candidates at the state level can bask in the reflected glory of the leader of the free world. But for some reason, we can’t find many Democrats running for the state Senate eager to associate with President Obama.

Find any general election direct mail piece from a Virginia Democrat running for the state Senate – or one from a Democrat committee – that uses a picture of President Obama in a positive light, i.e. “Supported/Endorsed by Barack Obama” or “Supports Obama’s policies.”  (Note: Democratic primary mail pieces do not count!)

If no one can produce a winning mail piece by October 28^th (which seems highly likely), we move on to phase two of the contest:

The initial idea for this contest was to see how many different pieces of direct mail we could find in which Democrats running for the state Senate used the phase “worked with Governor McDonnell,” or included a picture of themselves with Governor McDonnell… but we’ve seen several of those piece already, so that wouldn’t have made for a very challenging scavenger hunt.

 On your mark, get set, GO!  The ‘Proud to Stand With Obama’

Direct Mail Scavenger Hunt has begun!

How many times did the debate moderator, the senile Charlie Rose et al refer to the paralysis in Washington, DC? Rose and the other moderators seem to think this gridlock is a bad thing.

Well, it’s not. And it is by design.

To use a network terminology, the gridlock is an intentional firewall designed to protect Americans from government. And it has worked well, until recently.

Harry Reid has constantly poked holes in the protection scheme that the founder installed. And as a result, our nation has suffered a breach in security. And the result is as expected – bad.

Gridlock (or paralysis) is always seen as a bad thing, something to be “fixed” by taking some type of action. When you are dealing with traffic, gridlock is usually caused by too much traffic going in different directions.  You either need to build more roads, or force the traffic to go in the same direction.

The same is true of legislation. When nearly half of the Senators and Congressmen are going in opposite directions, there is a massive collision of ideology, and nothing gets done.

But nothing should be done when we are this deeply divided. That was the intent of the founders.

Most things in the House are decided by a simple majority. Knee jerk legislation and really bad ideas were intentionally allowed to escape the chamber and head to the Senate.

But the Senate was designed to be the anchor that drags the Ship of State to prevent sudden and unwise changes in either direction. Or reverse! The Senate is supposed to be the firewall that keeps bad things from happening, most of the time.

Now when one party has a super majority, as the Democrats did for the first two years of Barack Obama’s term, there is no firewall. As a result, far left wing legislation was allowed to infect America.

By design, when Americans are united in purpose enough to elect a super majority of one party or another, the logical assumption would be that most of us are traveling in pretty much the same direction, so firewalls are not necessary.

And normally that is true.

But the election of Barack Obama is the exception.

A perfect storm of a media infatuated with Obama to the point that they were, essentially, part of the election campaign. A really poor Republican candidate that managed to pick the most controversial Vice President in history, and an electorate convinced that it was time America elected a black man as president, no matter what.

And when Americans sobered up and saw the massive regulations, class warfare, and divisiveness that this man and the Democrats reined down upon America, the firewall was turned back on at the first opportunity – in 2010.

ObamaCare, Dodd-Frank, and a massive desire to raise taxes on the jobs producing sector forced people to realize that they were fooled.

Unfortunately, this was a mistake that will take exactly 4 years to remedy in it’s entirety. And the best that could be done was to erect a firewall until we can replace the Progressive hatred and ambition with something better.

The problem is, the thing that now seems better, Republicans, is the precise thing that sparked voters to run towards Obama in the first place. That is a bit scary for a lot of people, but there is hope.

As much as the Progressive left has tried to demonize the TEA Party, the fact is, they have actually had a powerful effect on the Republican Party. Most people realize that the founders got it right. And that is the guiding force behind the TEA Party.

But the Republicans, if the voters see fit to entrust them to fix the mess that the Progressives have made, will need to adopt similar tactics to repair the damage done by dropping the firewall.

Should the Republicans have a super majority and the White House, rolling back the damage of the Obama years will be easy, although the Progressives will squeal like little girls.

But should the voters not see fit to grand Republicans a super majority, then the Republican Leadership will need to gather their collective cajones and use the tactics Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid used. Change the rules.

And the next president will need to use the same pen Obama has used to bypass the firewalls and enact legislation from the Oval Office through Executive Orders and the misuse of various agencies like the EPA and the National Labor Relations Board.

And once the damage is reversed, legislation must be enacted to place the firewalls up forever and stop the abuses of power from the White House once and for all.

Gridlock never happens when 70% or 80% or more agree. It is just when we are 50-50 and going in opposite directions that Congress grinds to a halt. Mercifully!

Let’s embrace gridlock. If we are in such disagreement, doing nothing until we can agree is the best action. And compromise is not agreement.

According to the AP, President Obama will travel to Texas today to push his $447 billion stimulus bill and Politico reports that Vice President Joe Biden will similarly be stumping for the bill in Florida.

And yet Senate Democrats continue to show little interest in the president’s bill. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has chosen to work on a bill about Chinese currency rather than the legislation President Obama has been travelling around the country, saying, “Pass this bill!”

The New York Daily News reports today, “New York’s senior senator said even the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate was balking at paying for President Obama’s jobs bill. ‘The main hangup is not the jobs bill itself,’ Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday. Obama has been calling on lawmakers to pass his $447 billion jobs bill in nearly every speech for almost a month and proposed paying for it with spending cuts, tax hikes on the wealthy and closing corporate tax loopholes. ‘After [Obama] announced the jobs bill … he proposed ways of paying for it that are probably not the best way to garner the votes,’ Schumer said.”

And Reuters wrote last night, “The bill appeared to be in trouble in the Democratic-controlled Senate as well, where aides from both parties said it will likely fail when it comes up for a vote later this month. . . . Prospects for passage in the Senate appeared doubtful as most legislation needs support from both parties in order to advance. All but a handful of Republicans will vote against it, according to a Republican aide, and several Democrats are likely to oppose it as well. Moderate Democrats in the Senate have objected to some of the tax increases Obama has proposed to pay for the bill.”

Reuters added this kicker: “‘Nobody is all that excited about the president’s jobs bill,’ a senior Democratic aide said.”

Speaking on the floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell expressed his frustration with “the fact that the President’s spent the past few weeks running around the country demanding that Congress pass his so-called Jobs Bill ‘right away’ even as leading members of his own party admit that Democrats wouldn’t have the votes to get it through Congress even if it came to the floor.” He also noted the Reuters report, saying, “As one senior Democrat aide put it yesterday, ‘Nobody is all that excited about the President’s jobs bill.’”

New Stimulus, Same Old Promises

There Are At Least 1.7 Million Reasons To Be Skeptical Of President Obama’s Latest Jobs Prediction

###
SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Did you hear that Eastern Henrico has a new TEA Party group? It really flies in the face of Harry Reid who said yesterday that the TEA Party would fade away.

How wrong is Harry?

As usual, the left wing Senate leader is delusional. Not only are new groups still forming, existing ones are growing.

I was at a Hanover Republican Committee Meeting last week and spoke to Gerry Baugh, President of the Mechanicsville TEA Party, who came to hear Virginia’s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli address the Republican Committee.

“We have a better turnout at the Mechanicsville TEA Party meetings,” Baugh remarked.

And as a frequent attendee of both, I can verify that fact. And this was a pretty well attended Republican Committee meeting.

I realize that the above statements are in severe conflict with Harry Reid’s belief that the TEA Party has “hijacked” the Republican Party. For people like me that travel in both circles, that is absolutely laughable. Only to a left winger does the idea of the TEA Party controlling the Republican Party exist. They are really more of the Constitutional Conscience of the Republican Party, serving as a reminder that the Constitution remains intact, a fact that all on the left and many in the Republican Party are loathe to admit.

But back to the East Henrico TEA Party meeting. From their Web Site:

Our next meeting will be August 16 at 7pm at the Varina Branch Library, located at 2001 Library Road, Henrico, Virginia (on South Laburnum Avenue between New Market Road and Darbytown Road).  There will not be a guest speaker.  Topic will be a discussion between members about education and recruiting.

Please note that there is an events calendar to the right. If you click on this event (or any event) you will find more information as well as a map!

I plan to visit the EHTP tonight and would love to meet everyone!

And keep in mind, the purpose of the TEA Party is to look at not just National Politics, though that is a big part of things, but also to look at how things are run in your locality. Henrico County just approved a Mosque. The vote was 5-0 in favor. While that battle is over, the push for Sharia Law in Henrico has now begun.

How about your tax rates? Are you happy with those?

Get together with your friends and neighbors and be a part of a better Henrico County, Virginia and United States.

I was watching a press conference with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, I couldn’t believe my ears on a comment that the Progressive Democrat made.

Reid said:

“I was just told Representative Cantor said that he – look I just walked out here, maybe I’m wrong – but someone just told me that Cantor said that revenue very well could be part of what we do with the joint committee.”

As far as I know, Congressman Cantor is supporting the bill, and he does not support raising taxes, so I had trouble believing the accuracy of Reid’s statement. It turns out I was right.

Eric Cantor never made any such statement. After contacting Cantor’s office, I received the following reply which came out of the press office:

 

At a press conference this afternoon, Senator Reid claimed that Leader Cantor said revenue could be a part of the joint committee. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Leader Cantor has said since the beginning of this debate, House Republicans will not agree to tax increases. Period. Senator Reid’s claim is absolutely FALSE.

 Senator Reid: I was just told Representative Cantor said that he – look I just walked out here, maybe I’m wrong – but someone just told me that Cantor said that revenue very well could be part of what we do with the joint committee.  (Press Conference, 8/1/11)

 Be sure to keep up to date at the Majority Leader’s Blog HERE

 

Like I figured, Harry Reid is making things up.

A statement like this could torpedo this bill in the house. Reid knows very well that tax increases will kill this bill in the House on arrival.

So, is the Senate Majority Leader trying to sink the bill in the House and play partisan politics?

I am betting the answer is yes!

Finally. Finally. Finally.

Speaker John Boehner gave a speech a few minutes ago and called out the Democrats and the President for being absent in this debate. We have been holding his feet to the fire, screaming from the mountain top for Boehner to go after the failed leadership of President Obama and Harry Reid. As the childish Democrats in Congress hissed, boehner excoriated the President and the Senate for failing to come forward with even one plan.

The Speaker even admitted that he put taxes (he said revenues) on the table, and Obama still failed to budge.

The Boehner Plan 3.0 is being voted on right now. And it will pass.

And even with a Balanced Budget Amendment embedded, it is still a bad bill. It will not help the debt situation and only kicks the can down the road as our debt will continue to pile up. It does not cut one dime in spending as the cuts are all from the projected increases in spending. Horrible beyond words.

But if this is a turning point in the evolution of the Republican Party from invertebrate to vertebrate, then the bill is no longer important. It has always been about the message and the Republican Leadership’s ability to stay on message. I would have loved to see that speech delivered to Obama – face to face.

I make no apologies for Virginia Right’s tough rhetoric towards the Speaker these last few days. It is doubtful the Speaker is even aware, although a number of Virginia’s Congressional Delegation is aware of these “words of encouragement”.

For far too long Conservatives have sat quietly on the sidelines as our leaders compromised away our future. It is this McCainsian Spirit of Compromise that led to the complete collapse of the Republican Party in 2006 and 2008. And it is the spirit and fire that Speaker Boehner displayed today in his floor speech that fueled the resurgence of the Conservative movement and the successes that followed in 2009 in Virginia and 2010 in the rest of the country.

There were no tears from Boehner, nor were there any from Patrick Henry or the other Patriots who valued freedom over even their own life. It is the passion and determination in today’s speech that makes a leader.

Now the real fight begins!

Harry Reid and Obama will bastardize and neuter the Boehner bill. There is no doubt about that. Their plan is to strip the few real cuts, the Balanced Budget Amendment provision and they will try to get enough money to carry the free spending Obama Administration past the 2012 elections. As I said before, the bill will be slammed back over the net and the press, the Democrats and the President will all try to force an Obama blank check bill down the throat of John Boehner. And their plan has every chance to succeed.

Unless…

Unless Boehner sticks to his guns.

Nobody wants a government shutdown. But the table is all set for the Democrat maneuver to put the decision back into the Republican’s hands.

The Republicans in the Senate must not let that happen! Minority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to pick up where Boehner just left off and demand the Democrats accept or propose something to prevent the downgrade of America’s credit. If they have something better than a balanced budget amendment that will keep the debt rankers happy, go for it. But the Republicans need to make sure that the message that gets out is that the Democrats are only doing half of the job – raising the debt ceiling. The other part of the job that must be done is protecting the credit rating of America with a long term plan. And the Balanced Budget Amendment is a really weak option because it takes so long to ratify a Constitutional Amendment. Even that may not be enough.

And that is the message that needs to get out.

Bipartisanship and Compromise must give way to a real course of action. And it is now or never.

John Boehner must make the same type of speech he made today every hour on the hour. He must make it clear that he will not accept a half completed task. Raise the debt ceiling only with a balanced budget amendment. Nothing else is acceptable.

Period.

It is not about the bill, it is about the direction of the country.

And after the speech by Speaker Boehner today, I owe him a beer.

Not a ‘beer summit’ beer, but a ‘well done, Sir!” beer.

We are still in the first inning and the Democrats have burned Boehner for what looks like the third homer of the inning.

This bill is a mess. Now the Republicans have adopted the tactics that Nancy Pelosi used to ram ObamaCare through. Late night sessions behind closed doors making horrible deals to try to appease those who actually have a conscience.

Pouring honey on excrement may make it less nasty going down, but all of the nasty is still there. Nothing changes. And now, the promised 72 hours before a vote is out the window. We no longer have time for promises, pledges and doing the right thing. Republicans have taken the gun that was aimed at the Democrats head and pointed it squarely at their own head. After shooting themselves in the foot several times. (I offer no apologies for the gun metaphor.)

Cap, Cut and Balance is the ONLY plan on the table that will protect the credit rating of America and bring spending under control. That plan has been passed by the House and is the only viable option.

As I have said before, Harry Reid and Obama will propose a horrible bill that will put Republicans in the worst position possible as a response to any bill the House passes. Republicans have gone into panic mode after passing two responsible bills – the Ryan Budget and Cap and Trade. The Democrats have offered ZERO, so the Republicans debate themselves. Democrats must be laughing loudly behind closed doors at the destructive path Boehner has led Republicans down.

The answer is clear.

Republicans should scrap any idea of compromise until the Democrats offer something on paper. Right now, Republicans are compromising with… themselves. Frankly, this is embarrassing.

John Boehner needs to tell Harry Reid “We passed our plan. It is called Cut, Cap and Balance. Offer your own, amend the one we sent you, or shut down the Government”. Period.

Place the onerous on the party that controls the Senate and the White House. It should be up to them to propose a solution. They have not.

If Republicans need further proof that John Boehner is incapable of leading, this should be the proof they need to replace him with another Republican that knows how to deal from a position of strength. Boehner projects weakness and that is a fatal flaw in the climate in Washington today. The Democrats have his number. And he has been defeated on every level by an inferior argument.

Passing a Plan B is not up to the Party who has done their job. If the Democrats do not like the Republican Plan, offer their own. There is no Democratic baseline with which to work. Compromise os impossible is only one side has a plan. Democrats need to put up or shut up.

Is is an absolute mystery as to how the Democrats managed to convince the Republican Party that it is their responsibility to come up with a plan everyone will approve. It most certainty is not!

The future of the country is at stake here and Republicans have surrendered to Democrats who have not proposed a single thing.

The debt ceiling was the third and final battle in the war to save the country. Boehner failed to properly promote the budget and allowed Democrats to have the upper hand and kill it without any repercussions and without a budget of their own. Boehner then caved in on the Continuing Resolution and turned a promised $100 Billion in cuts into $40 Billion that wound up being just over $300 million in reality. Again, Democrats had no serious proposal. And now, the same thing has happened again. A Democrat mob, armed not with a plan, but with criticism and demagoguery have managed to best the Republican Party at every turn.

What coach in the world would leave a pitcher in after giving up two home runs, let alone three?

John Boehner has already sucked the life out of the Republican resurgence. We need a new pitcher.

You really don’t need to be related to Nostradamus to see what is about to happen. The debt ceiling bill proposed by Speaker John Boehner that the Republicans are going to pass today will boost Obama’s sagging poll numbers and give the president a much needed boost in his re-election efforts.

And it will once again prove that President Obama and the Democrats are far smarter than the Republican Leadership.

It is not the putrid Boehner bill itself that will hand game, set and match to Obama. Not at all. It is what Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will do once the bill passes the House and moves to the Senate.

The Democrats have already shown all their cards on this one. Obama and Reid are about to slam this one back across the net right down Boehner’s throat.

Here is what will happen:

Boehner will push through this bill expecting to force another round of debt ceiling talks next year – during election season.

Reid has already played his Dead on Arrival bluff card.

Obama has already played his Veto bluff card.

Harry Reid has an even more hideous bill than the Boehner Bill supposedly in his paws. The only important thing you need to know about this bill is that it gives Obama enough money to keep the dependent class happy and prevents another debt debate before November 2012.

Reid will see to it that Boehner’s bill dies a quick death in the Senate.

He does not need to pass the Reid bill, and will probably let Republicans kill that one.

President Obama will swoop in with the compromise:

“Take the Boehner Bill which I hate and add the Reid timeline to extend the debt ceiling beyond the election and I will sign it.”

This will happen over the weekend and Boehner will have the “compromise” bill back in the House for approval with the $2.4 Trillion blank check Obama wants on Monday morning with only hours to act.

Republicans will be presented with a choice. Pass the “compromise” bill, or choose to shut down the government just so Republicans can “embarrass” the President with an election year fight.

Game. Set. Match. Obama.

Best advice to Republicans: Don’t lob the ball across the net and they can’t slam it back in your face.

The Congressional Budget Office has had a look at the Boehner Plan, and guess what? What we have been saying about Speaker Boehner all along is true! Remember the Continuing Resolution fight a few months back where Boehner and the Republican Leadership promised $100 Billion in cuts, and settled for a plan that cut $40 Billion, which turned out to be $323 Million in real savings?

Well, they have done it again. Only better (for Obama).

The CBO now says that the Boehner Plan that the speaker swears will cut $1.2 Trillion in exchange for a $1 Trillion in debt increase is a lie! The cuts, if they actually happen, will only total $840 Billion, with most of the savings coming nearly 10 years from now.

Even worse, the total savings for 2012 will be about $1 Billion!!!

Ahhh. The art of a Boehner deal.

The Speaker is either completely inept or a world class liar or BOTH! Now that the CBO has exposed the Boehner plan as a fraud and the Republican support is falling like Democrats caught in a sex scandal, Boehner is busy rewriting the bill to “fix” the numbers.

And on top of that, Erick Erickson over at ResState has noticed an eerie similarity between the Boehner bill and the one proposed by Harry Reid. Obama loves the Reid bill, but will veto the Boehner deal. Reid says the Boehner deal is Dead on Arrival in the Senate. Yet they are essentially the same bill with the same Three Card Monte tricks. Erickson speculates that Boehner, Reid and Obama are actually working together to screw the American public and the Boehner/Reid/Obama bill is already a done deal. While Reid and Obama pretend to hate the Boehner plan to give stupid Republicans a reason to like it, Obama gets the blank check he wants.

John Boehner is not doing Republicans or Americans any favors. He is the worst type of Republican and is making Republicans look like fools – over and over again. The pattern has now repeated enough that it is etched in stone.

• Talk Tough and pretend you will not cave
• Act like you are fighting like mad
• Come up with your own plan that “saves America” with huge cuts
• Pass the bill
• See what is in it
• Promise to really be tough on the next fight as America goes down in flames

I have seen enough. John Boehner is even less a leader than President Obama. America has a vacuum for leadership sucking the life out of the country. Boehner cannot lead the Republican Party, but he has proven he is adept at misleading the Party. America will never fix these issues until Boehner is replaced by someone honest. Someone with integrity. Someone who places America above reelection.

There are some of those people in the House. Unfortunately, most are not in the top leadership positions.

Politicians like John Boehner will be the reason Obama gets a second term. Both need to go if America is to survive. The only difference between the current Speaker and the previous one – Nancy Pelosi – is that Pelosi was clear in her intent to grow government and destroy America.