Garden State Patriot

Today marks perhaps the most disgraceful and wrong-headed decision made by this administration to date. The Justice Department, led by Attorney General Eric Holder, has decided to try 4 Gitmo terrorists – including the evil thug shown above, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad – in civilian court! Thanks to the Obama Administration, illegal enemy combatants now have access to lawyers and the same legal rights as American citizens. And to add insult to injury, the trial will take place right in the shadow of the World trade Center attacks in downtown Manhattan.

WASHINGTON — Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday.

The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning.

The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Bringing such notorious suspects to U.S. soil to face trial is a key step in President Barack Obama’s plan to close the terror suspect detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama initially planned to close the detention center by Jan. 22, but the administration is no longer expected to meet that deadline.

The New York case may also force the court system to confront a host of difficult legal issues surrounding counter-terrorism programs begun after the 2001 attacks, including the harsh interrogation techniques once used on some of the suspects while in CIA custody. The most severe method — waterboarding, or simulated drowning — was used on Mohammed 183 times in 2003, before the practice was banned.

In an op-ed that ran in the Wall Street Journal (which I highly recommend reading), former AG Michael Mukasey explains the problems and dangers of trying terrorists in our civilian courts.  

It makes the location of the trial a target. The defendants might not be charged with the death penalty. Soldiers might be forced to leave the battlefield and come to court to testify. Sensitive information used by intelligence agencies will be disclosed – including names of suspected terrorists as well as our methods of acquiring intelligence – compromising our ability to prevent terrorist acts in the future.

The bottom line is this administration is putting ideology ahead of common sense and the security of the American people. It is an absolute outrage.

By the way, 54 Democrats in the Senate also condoned this. You can see their votes on the relevant amendment here.

And here’s what Obama himself said back in March.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Now, Do These Folks Deserve Miranda Rights? Do They Deserve To Be Treated Like A Shoplifter Down The Block? Of Course Not.” (CBS’ “60 Minutes,” 3/22/09)

[UPDATE] You can also find a petition to the President here. You will also see a letter to the President from the 9/11 Families for America. (h/t Michelle Malkin)

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Benjamin Sherman is another brave American hero who gave up his life for his country. While on a mission in Afghanistan he lost his life when trying to save a comrade who had fallen into a river. Sherman jumped in to save his fellow soldier only for both of them to be swept away. 

In an interview with WCBV-Boston, Sherman’s grief-stricken mother and sister talked of their lost son and brother – describing the kind of person and soldier he was and how he would do anything for his country and his brothers-in-arms. 

But at the end of the interview, Sherman’s mother had some words for President Obama.

“It is time,” she said. “It is time to make a decision. This has gone on too long. They either need to come home or we need to end it.”

You can watch the video of the interview here.

Of course, if this were George W. Bush in office the lamestream media would have been showing this video ad nauseum in order to undermine the President. They would have tried to make Mrs. Sherman the next Cindy Sheehan. But now that Obama is in office, there is no such effort.

Hypocrisy aside, no matter where you stand on the Afghanistan question Obama’s ‘dithering’ on this matter has indeed gone on far too long. It has been two months – two months! -since General McChrystal ’s request for more troops. The men and women we send into battle deserve far, far better. And not one more family should have to experience the grief the Sherman family because their President can’t figure out whether the battle is worth fighting any longer. In fact, the indecision is simply unconscionable and beneath the office. It is time for the President to show some leadership on this issue and prove himself even the least bit worthy of the title Commander-in-Chief.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Sherman family, especially his wife and his unborn child who will never know him.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Here is a video by Dan Mitchell of the CATO Institute explaining the true costs of government-run healthcare. In fact, Mr. Mitchell makes this so easy to understand, even a liberal can get it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oUx0S6Foss&feature=player_embedded#[/youtube]

Check out some more of Dan Mitchell’s videos here: Why Keynesian economics is wrong, How big government hurts economic growth, How big government hurts economic growth, and Making the case against the Value Added Tax.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

According to a Pew Research study, New Jersey is one of ten states headed for a California-esque catastrophe. The study uses several measurements to arrive at their conclusion. This includes factors such as change in revenue, budget gap, unemployment rate and foreclosure rates.

California’s financial problems are in a league of their own. But the same pressures that drove the Golden State toward fiscal disaster are wreaking havoc in a number of states, with potentially damaging consequences for the entire country.

This examination by the Pew Center on the States looks closely at nine states, in addition to California, that are particularly affected by the recession. All of California’s neighbors–Arizona, Nevada and Oregon–and fellow Sun Belt state Florida were severely hit by the bursting housing bubble, landing them on Pew’s list of states facing fiscal difficulties similar to California’s. A Midwestern cluster of states comprising Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin emerged, too, as did the Northeastern states of New Jersey and Rhode Island.

“Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril” makes clear that the recession severely impacted states from different geographic regions with different types of economies, tax structures and political leanings.

Scoring the States

The Pew Center on the States compiled its list by scoring all 50 states according to six measurable factors that contributed to California’s ongoing fiscal woes, using the best available data as of July 31, 2009. The state profiles in this report go beyond the data to give a fuller picture of the recession’s deep and pervasive effects on states’ financial and economic well-being. Read more about methodology for “Beyond California.” 

Certainly, this comes as no surprise to any of us here in the Garden State, but it does serve to reinforce the severity of what we face. The picture simply isn’t pretty – and our new governor will certainly have his hands full come January.

For more information on the Pew study, click the links below.

• Download the report. (Adobe PDF)
• Download the executive summary. (Adobe PDF)
• Download the 50-state scorecard. (Adobe PDF)
• Beyond California full report (Adobe PDF)

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

A year in politics may be an eternity. As each day passes, and more and more of the radical Obama/Reid/Pelosi agenda is laid before us, the wait until being able to turn the lever next November will certainly feel like it.

But just what are the prospects for a Republican takeover of Congress next year? If the Pew Research findings released yesterday are any barometer, one would have to say pretty good. In fact, the anti-incumbent sentiment uncovered by Pew Research is worse than about any time in their two decades of polling. The current climate is similar to 1994 and 2006, which should give Republicans reason for optimism. According to Pew:

The mood of America is glum. Two-thirds of the public is dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Fully nine-in-ten say that national economic conditions are only fair or poor, and nearly two-thirds describe their own finances that way – the most since the summer of 1992. An increasing proportion of Americans say that the war in Afghanistan is not going well, and a plurality continues to oppose the health care reform proposals in Congress.

Despite the public’s grim mood, overall opinion of Barack Obama has not soured – his job approval rating of 51% is largely unchanged since July, although his approval rating on Afghanistan has declined. But opinions about congressional incumbents are another matter.

About half (52%) of registered voters would like to see their own representative re-elected next year, while 34% say that most members of Congress should be re-elected. Both measures are among the most negative in two decades of Pew Research surveys. Other low points were during the 1994 and 2006 election cycles, when the party in power suffered large losses in midterm elections.

Support for congressional incumbents is particularly low among political independents. Only 42% of independent voters want to see their own representative re-elected and just 25% would like to see most members of Congress re-elected. Both measures are near all-time lows in Pew Research surveys.

Here are some key findings from Pew’s polling:

% Who Want To See Their Representative Re-Elected

• 11/94: 58%-Yes vs. 25% No
• 11/06: 55%-Yes vs. 25% No
• 11/09: 52%-Yes vs. 29% No

% Who Want To See Most Representatives Re-Elected

• 11/94: 31%-Yes vs. 51% No
• 11/06: 37%-Yes vs. 46% No
• 11/09: 34%-Yes vs. 53% No

Pew’s research also shows that Republicans are far more enthusiastic about voting next year:

…voters who plan to support Republicans next year are more enthusiastic than those who plan to vote for a Democrat. Fully 58% of those who plan to vote for a Republican next year say they are very enthusiastic about voting, compared with 42% of those who plan to vote for a Democrat. More than half (56%) of independent voters who support a Republican in their district are very enthusiastic about voting; by contrast, just 32% of independents who plan to vote for a Democrat express high levels of enthusiasm.

And the biggest problems for Democrats is how they are bleeding independents (as was the case in last week’s NJ election which saw Christie win this key group 2:1)

Public frustration with Congress may have serious electoral implications for incumbents in the 2010 midterm elections. Only about a third (34%) of registered voters say they think most members of Congress should be re-elected next year, which is on par with ratings during the 1994 and 2006 elections. Meanwhile, just 52% of voters say they want to see their own member re-elected, approaching levels in early October 2006 (50%) and 1994 (49%).

In November 1994, 68% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans favored the re-election of their own member of Congress, which is comparable to the current figures (64% of Democrats, 50% of Republicans). But today, just 42% of independents want to see their own representative re-elected, compared with 52% of independents on the eve of the 1994 midterm elections. 

Partisan feelings about incumbents were the reverse in 2006, when the GOP held majorities in the House and Senate. In November 2006, 69% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 45% of independents wanted to see their own member of Congress re-elected.

As with all polls, this is just one snapshot in time. But barring a 180 degree turn by the Democrats in Washington, as well as in the economy, 2010 is shaping up to be a bloodbath for blue nation.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

By now we have all heard the mantra from liberals and other pro-Obamacare people that we need reform because the insurance companies all too frequently deny claims. Well, what do the facts say?

I thought you would find these statistics from an AMA Report Card quite interesting. This data is for claims filed during the period 3/1/07-3/10/08:

Yep, that’s right. The carrier with the highest rate of denial of claims is none other than government-run Medicare! The only private insurer remotely close is Aetna.

So much for the argument by the single payer proponents that we need the public option to prevent this kind of abuse by the insurance companies. This data tells us quite clearly that under a government-run system we can expect the number of denied claims to increase – not decrease.

Shocking, eh?

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!

Yesterday I posted about which senators to target in the upcoming healthcare showdown. In addition, I mentioned that there were two State Work Periods coming up which, presumably, will mean that our senators will be back in New Jersey and available to their constituents.

This prompted me today to call Senator Lautenberg’s and Senator Menendez’ offices to see what their schedule and agenda was for these two breaks. Their answer? Neither office knows what the senators are doing. They don’t know if they are going to be in New Jersey, let alone if they have any events scheduled. Considering that the first break begins tomorrow, this seems a little suspicious to me (albeit not surprising). 

So, here we are with one of the most serious and important pieces of legislation to come before the Senate in our lifetimes and our two senators are MIA. They have no known plans for giving the people they represent a chance to speak with them about an issue that will impact their very lives before a potential vote in December. For all I know they will be on their way to St. Bart’s to console their fallen comrade, Governor Corzine.

Frankly, I think it’s time our two senators stopped hiding behind their desks. It’s time both of them showed some guts and faced their constituents.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

When this…

Led to this…

It’s amazing what can happen when you have a President who actually promotes the cause of liberty, isn’t it?

With H.R. 3962, aka the Socialize and Destroy America’s Healthcare System Act, having passed the House all eyes are now turning to the U.S. Senate. While I am of the opinion that Harry Reid will pull every trick out of his hat and use every underhand tactic to pass the Senate bill, this will be a tougher road to hoe for the Democrat leader.

The Republicans have a lot more leverage in the Senate than their colleagues in the House. This, of course, starts with the filibuster. Republicans would need one other senator (assuming they can keep RINOs like Olympia Snowe on the reservation) if they are to successfully filibuster the healthcare bill that emerges from behind Harry Reid’s closed doors. Senator Lieberman, as Michael pointed out, plans to filibuster any measure with a public option.

Should the Republicans fail in their effort to filibuster, they would need 11 senators to defeat the bill. Which begs the question, which senators should we target? I asked that very question to one of my contacts on the Hill. And according to this Senate GOP source, the following senators would be the ‘most important and persuadable’: 

• Blanche Lincoln – Arkansas
• Michael Bennet – Colorado
• Ben Nelson – Nebraska
• Evan Bayh – Indiana
• Mary Landrieu – Louisiana
• Mark Pryor – Arkasnas
• Mark Warner – Virginia
• Mark Begich – Alaska 

My source considerd these senators ‘less persuadable, but still possible’: 

• Kent Conrad – North Dakota
• Byron Dorgan – North Dakota
• Claire McCaskill – Missouri
• Tim Johnson – South Dakota
• Jim Webb – Virginia 

And lastly, these senators were described as ‘probably not persuadable, but couldn’t hurt’: 

• Bill Nelson – Florida
• Kay Hagan – North Carolina
• Mark Udall – Colorado

As we know, this entire process has utterly lacked transparency, with Republicans shut out of the process and Harry Reid working behind closed doors to merge/cherry pick from three Senate measures. This process is apparently taking longer than Reid anticipated and my understanding is that the Senate bill may not be voted on until December.

When the bill finally reaches the Senate floor, the first important vote will be on the Motion to Proceed. Like any bill, this requires a majority vote but can also be filibustered. If the Motion to Proceed passes, then the bill comes up for debate.

Aside from any potential filibuster, Senate Republicans will use all parliamentary procedures at their disposal. There is talk of actually having the entire bill read on the Senate floor. Republicans also would propose a ton of amendments, all of which would require debate.

In sum, there is more reason for optimism that this could be stopped in the Senate. However, Democrat Senators will also be under immense pressure from their caucus to support Obama’s top legislative priority. Thus, it will require an even greater amount of pressure from all of us. And the senators listed above are are where we need to start.

Also, I would point out that, according to the Senate calendar, two breaks are upcoming in November which would offer people the opportunity to see their senators back in their home states. They are as follows:

For Senate contact information click here.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!