New Hampshire, Welcome To The Nanny State Part 5
The New Hampshire house voted in favor of a bill that makes releasing a helium filled balloon into the sky littering. You could be charged a $250 fine if your child lets go of their balloon if this gets signed into law. Once again I say to New Hampshire voters, you wanted Democrat leadership, you got it. I hope you are happy.
From the New Hampsire Union Leader:
Imagine you are at the county fair this fall. You buy your kid a balloon, and — oops! — there it goes into the sky. Drying the kid’s tears will be the least of your worries. A nearby police officer steps over, whips out his ticket pad, and suddenly you’re stuck with a $250 fine.
If House Bill 62 becomes law, that could happen. The bill imposes a $250 fine for the intentional release of even a single balloon into the sky. How you will prove that the balloon inadvertently slipped out of your child’s hand is anyone’s guess. Kids, after all, are curious. Sometimes they just like to see how high it’ll go. Satisfying that curiosity ought not result in a fine.
Rep. Kevin Waterhouse, R-Windham, wanted to forbid the release of 26 or more balloons at once. The remains allegedly get choked on by wildlife, (though the evidence is mostly circumstantial). But the do-gooders in the House got hold of the bill, and now little Johnny and Suzie could lose all their allowance for years just for losing their grip.
This outrage has been brought to you by overzealous legislators inspired by (can you guess?) a group of school children.These ones were studying ecology.
Yes, the House has passed yet another dumb bill sponsored by a legislator at the request of school children. That must explain the lopsided vote (215-111) in favor of the bill. Legislators hate to vote against the school children. But the school children are. . . school children. They’re cute, but they really should not be legislating.
In this case, oddly, the original kid-inspired bill was much better than the one the adults concocted. However, neither bill was shown to be justified. And now legislators are halfway to passing a law that would place a grossly out of proportion fine on a littering violation of questionable harm (latex balloons are fully biodegradable) and which, in windy New Hampshire, can be a costly accident. The Senate should kill the bill.
In order to pass the Iraq war emergency funding bill with a timetable for defeat, Nancy Pelosi had to bribe members of congress with billions of dollars in earmarks.
Here is a list of the top ten earmarks as reported on politico.com:
–$165,200 to the widow of Rep. Charles Norwood (R-Ga.), a promoter of patients’ rights legislation who died of cancer and lung disease in February, three months after he was reelected.
–$4 million for the Office of Women’s Health at the Food and Drug Administration.
–$5 million for tropical fish breeders and transporters for losses from a virus last year.
–$25 million for spinach that growers and handlers were unable to market, up to 75 percent of their losses.
–$50 million “for asbestos abatement and other improvements” to the Capitol Power Plant.
–$60.4 million for the National Marine Fisheries Service, “to be distributed among fishing communities, Indian tribes, individuals, small businesses, including fishermen, fish processors, and related businesses, and other persons for assistance to mitigate the economic and other social effects caused by” a commercial fishery failure.
–$74 million “for the payment of storage, handling, and other associated costs for the 2007 crop of peanuts to ensure proper storage of peanuts for which a loan is made.”
–$120 million for the shrimp and menhaden fishing industries to cover consequences of Hurricane Katrina.
–$283 million for the Milk Income Loss Contract Program.
–$400 million for “wildland fire suppression.”
Two days into the new Democrat led congress earmark reform legislation was passed. This leads the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste to comment that the “special-interest goodies” in the war spending bill suggest that “the commitment to reform was short-lived.”
You can read the full article at politico.com.
Democrats Vote To Raid Social Security
Read here to learn about how the Democrats have voted to keep raiding the social security fund, so that the money you pay in social security taxes can be spent however they see fit. Yet when the issue of social security reform comes up it’s the Democrats who try to say the Republicans are going to jeapordize the social security system, and the retirees won’t have the money owed them because of Republicans.
Another Post On The Early Success Of The Surge
General Petraeus’ top counter terrorism adviser is a man named Col. David KilCullen. Col. KilCullen has posted his thoughts on how he feels the war is going right now. They can be read here.
So while we continue to hear Democrats like Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) say things like this, “As we enter the fifth year of the war, Iraq remains in chaos and the Iraqi governmenthas failed to stand up and take ownership of the country.” , remember what some of the people who are over there are saying. It’s amazing people who are over here with no real knowledge of what is going on in Iraq get all the airplay in the MSM, while reports like the one I linked to from people over there get no mention.
From cnsnews.com:
Scientist Calls Global Warming Theories ‘Bunk,’ Cites Errors of Logic
By Kevin Mooney
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
March 15, 2007(CNSNews.com) – Just as Galileo and Einstein transcended the “consensus” of their day, so too will a growing body of scientific evidence eventually vindicate non-alarmist views on global warming, predicts environmental scientist Fred Singer.
The very notion of consensus on global warming is a “laughable” proposition, Singer said during a talk at the Heritage Foundation this week.
Proponents of man-made global warming theories, such as former Vice President Al Gore, claim there is scientific consensus on a link between human activity and rising temperatures.
Singer said he sees “bunk” and “misinformation” at work in the debate. Read more…
Illegal Immigrants Are Allowed 5 Strikes Before Prosecution
From chron.com:
Illegal immigrants allowed at least five strikes
Border-crossings guidelines revealed amid probe into U.S. attorney firings
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Documents released in the controversy about eight fired U.S. attorneys show that federal prosecutors in Texas generally have declined to bring criminal charges against illegal immigrants caught crossing the border — until at least their sixth arrest.
A heavily redacted Department of Justice memo from late 2005 disclosed the prosecution guidelines for immigration offenses, numbers the federal government tries to keep classified. DOJ officials would not say Thursday whether it has adjusted the number since the memo was written, citing “law enforcement reasons.”
The prosecution guidelines have been a source of frustration for years among the ranks of U.S. Border Patrol agents, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. Smugglers can figure out the criteria by trial and error, he said, and can exploit it to avoid prosecution.
“It’s devastating on morale,” Bonner said. “Our agents are risking their lives out there, and then they’re told, ‘Sorry, that doesn’t meet the criteria.’ ”
The memo was written in response to DOJ inquiries at five U.S. attorney offices, including Houston, about immigration prosecutions. The others — San Antonio, San Diego, Phoenix and Albuquerque — cover the 2,000-mile border.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston declined to comment.
In a statement, DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the agency sent 30 prosecutors to districts along the Southwest border in 2006. The added manpower “will permit districts to adjust their guidelines and take in more cases,” according to the statement.
The controversy about the guidelines dates back years, but much of the recent unrest centers on a push by some members of Congress for more aggressive immigration prosecutions, particularly involving smuggling cases.
As part of the inquiry into the firing of the U.S. attorneys, the House Judiciary Committee has posted on its Web site thousands of pages of e-mail, memos, reports and testimony.
The documents offer a glimpse into the overburdened federal court and detention systems, which suffer from a “lack of resources and bed space to detain and prosecute every illegal entry violator,” the DOJ memo states.
With Border Patrol agents making about 1 million arrests annually, the DOJ is forced to prioritize the most serious offense and repeated offenders, the memo states. The guidelines vary from district to district, depending on issues such as staffing and the local crime level.
In 2005, the Southern District of Texas was the busiest in the country, and sentenced 6,414 defendants, including 4,313 for immigration-related offenses, according to data from the Sentencing Commission included in another memo. The West District of Texas was second, with 5,839 defendants sentenced in 2005, records show.
In late 2005, the Border Patrol cracked down on crossings through a 200-mile zone near Del Rio and pledged to prosecute and jail each illegal immigrant arrested there before being deported, a sharp deviation from normal practice.
Repost: War Protesters Burn US Soldier In Effigy
Note: This is a repost from earlier in the week. Not many people seemed to have seen it, so here it is again.
I am tired of hearing Democrats and war protesters say they support our troops, they just don’t support the mission. And they say support the troops by getting them out of Iraq. These people do not support the troops. At a war protest in Portland, protesters burned a US soldier in effigy, as well as an upside-down American flag.
And just in case you still say we can’t question their patriotism, the held up a banner that said FUCK THE TROOPS. This banner also had a yellow ribbon with a slash through it.
This is so despicable I can’t even put my feelings into words right now. It’s one thing to be against war, nobody want’s to be at war, but it is another to show the utter contempt and disdain for our soldiers fighting for the protester’s freedom. If it wasn’t for the soldiers these people wouldn’t be free to collect their government check while protesting, they would have to get a job like the rest of us.
These people have no respect for the fact they live in the greatest country in the world. They believe we cause all the world’s problems.
Of course there is no media coverage!
SO,I DO QUESTION THEIR PATRIOTISM, as well as their intelligence.
I am so furious right now I can’t write any more about this.
Here are the pictures.
Today Nancy Pelosi manages to bribe enough Democrats to undermine the troop and put them in harms way. The house voted 218-212 on the emergency funding bill for the Iraq war, and setting timetables for withdrawal.
Democrats didn’t have the votes to pass this bill, so 20 billion dollars were added in pork barrel spending in return for Democrat votes. This amounts to a 20 billion dollar bribe for pork that has nothing to do with the war. The Democrats ran on a platform that included cutting out the earmark, then put these earmarks in a bill that will end up putting American troop in danger.
If you don’t understand how setting this timetable puts our troops in danger, I will explain it for you. When the congress passed this bill today they knew full well it will never be signed into law. Even if the senate and house compromise on the bill a veto awaits it from the president. And they aren’t close to having the votes to override the veto. If the emergency funds are not approved by April 15th the military will have to cut back on training missions, and other programs and supplies vital to the troops. This makes fighting the war exponentially harder than it should be and puts the troops in harms way.
The Democrats knew this and they decided to play politics with the soldiers lives, and drag the process out to make a political statement. I guess the slow bleed is alive and well after all.
The fact that so many Democrats that were opposed to this bill would trade the well-being of the troops for money and politics is reprehensible. They decided to make a statement which they know is ultimately going to fail instead of supporting the troops.
The next time you hear Democrats say they support the troops, remember the people they are trying to placate are the same people in the picture below.
Fred Thompson Debuts At 10% In New Hampshire Poll
From the New Hampshire Union Leader:
Manchester – A new poll of New Hampshire voters suggests that Fred Thompson might undermine Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani.
The American Research Group March 19 to 21 telephone poll of 800 likely GOP primary voters included several possible candidates who have not announced their plans.
In a February poll, Giuliani led the field with 27 percent, one point ahead of John McCain. In March, Giuliani slipped to 19 percent, four points behind McCain. Mitt Romney was supported by 17 percent.
Next in line were two unannounced candidates, Newt Gingrich at 11 percent and Thompson, who had not been part of earlier surveys, at 10 percent.
The matching Democratic survey showed little change from February. Hillary Clinton led the field with 37 percent, followed by Barack Obama at 23 percent and John Edwards at 20 percent. Al Gore was not included in the poll.
For more details, visit the American Research Group site.
Why Is Global Warming A Moral Issue?
There is an interesting article here that asks why is global warming a moral issue? As the article points out, liberals have always said you can’t legislate morality, therefor if global warming is a moral issue, we can’t legislate it. Kind of ironic isn’t it.
I believe Al Gore turned this into a moral issue because there is no science on the issue. He had to change the argument because he was losing it. We keep hearing scientists have a consensus that man made global warming is real. As Rush Limbaugh points out, you can’t have consensus in science. You form a theory, perform tests to prove your theory, once proven you have science, not consensus.
The other change I see taking place in the argument is the slowly changing name. We are beginning to call global warming, climate change. This is so we can use our own bad behavior to explain the below average temperature days, and the blizzards. All extreme weather will be explained as climate change.
So as you can see this is an every evolving consensus aimed at drawing us all in. I guess it can’t be fact if it’s evolving.
