Posts (page 2)

Congrats to the Baltimore Blast for their win of the 2009 Championship against the Rockford Rampage.

Delegate Tony McConkey's brother (Bowie native Scott Buete) is on the team. Congrats to him and his teammates for another great win! This marks the 6th championship the Blast has won since 1984. It is also the new National Indoor Soccer League's debut championship contest.

Does anyone else see the sad, cruel irony in the fact that the Obama girls new dog is a "water dog" given to them by Ted Kennedy??

It's almost as ironic as Martin O'Malley quoting (during his State-of-the-State speech) from a lady who was afraid of not being able to pay her electric bill. Now I'm sure he'll spin a defeat of his re-regulation legislation as an excuse not to really reign in such electric bills.

What other irony will Sine Die bring us?

FYI...

Contact: Dave Schwartz, (443) 797-5144

ANNAPOLIS- Grassroots free-market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will kick off its newest state chapter in Maryland with a press conference at the State House on Thursday, April 2nd. AFP National President Tim Phillips will join AFP-Maryland State Director Dave Schwartz in laying out the organization’s vision for the Free State.

“A Catonsville native and seasoned veteran in campaign politics, Dave is well equipped to lead the charge for free market issues in Maryland,” said Tim Phillips President of Americans for Prosperity. “We’re proud to welcome him as the leader of AFP’s 24th state chapter."

AFP is a national organization with state-based chapters committed to educating citizens about the benefits of living in a society with a limited government and a free market and mobilizing those citizens to become advocates in the public policy process.

“Maryland taxpayers are ready to hold their legislators accountable,” said Schwartz. “AFP-Maryland will urge Governor O’Malley to reign in wasteful spending and get a hold of the state’s budget. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but the principles AFP fights for are more important now than ever before.”

AFP Maryland just launched NoStringsMaryland.com, a website with an online petition urging the state to reject any stimulus money with strings attached from the federal government. AFP received national attention when nearly 500,000 Americans signed its online petition, NoStimulus.com, against the stimulus package proposed by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Over 4,500 of those signers were residents of Maryland.

On Thursday, April 2nd the over 1,500 members of AFP-Maryland will join a grassroots network of over 200,000 AFP activists from 23 states.

What: AFP-Maryland “Chapter Kickoff” News Conference
When: Thursday, April 2nd
Time: 1:00pm
Where: Lawyer’s Mall

A Video You Can Believe In... by Mike Church.

Even a depressed sourpus like me needs some LOL...

Check out this cool video over at Big Hollywood.

It's funny, and sad, at the same time.

March 9^th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today praised Congressman Frank Kratovil for voting against H.R. 1106, a bill that gives bankruptcy judges the power to reduce mortgage principals and rates, "and that forces responsible U.S. taxpayers and homeowners to compensate delinquent borrowers and irresponsible lenders that took out and made the bad loans in the first place."

In a statement, Wilson said, “Congressman Kratovil deserves his constituents’ thanks for voting against forcing them—who pay their bills—to also pay for those who won’t."

The legislation passed the House of Representatives 234-191.

“The American people do not support this out-and-out robbery,” he added.  “And Congressman Kratovil’s opposition to it is praiseworthy.”

Wilson, in a letter to Congress last week, warned that the legislation would further weaken and distort the housing market.

“Congressman Kratovil understands that it is his constituents who will ultimately pay for the mortgage cram-downs,” Wilson said.

“It forces banks to eat the costs when the principal owed on the mortgage is reduced, and then the banks that face insolvency then turn to the government for more bailout funds,” Wilson explained.

“The taxpayers then wind up paying twice: first to bail out the borrower who can’t afford their house, and then the bank that was forced by government to make the bad loans in the first place,” Wilson added.

Wilson also warned in detail that the bankruptcy courts would become overwhelmed, “There were about 2.3 million foreclosures in 2008, and Congressman Kratovil knows 368 bankruptcy judges nationwide cannot handle that sort of caseload.”

“This is going to be a disaster,” Wilson predicted.

Wilson believes that most Americans do not support President Obama’s plans for mortgages. 

“It’s very simple: the American people do not want to reward those who made bad decisions in the first place.  And Congressman Kratovil thankfully stood in the way of paying off those who took out loans they could not afford and subsidizing banks that were forced by government to make loans that could not be paid back,” said Wilson.

“Now Congressman Kratovil must go a step further and persuade his colleagues to do likewise and stop the bailouts once and for all,” Wilson concluded.

###

Americans for Limited Government is a non- partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free market reforms,private property rights and core American liberties. For more information on ALG please call us at 703-383-0880 or visit our website at www.GetLiberty.org.

Dear friend Brian Griffiths calls out Jack Cafferty, and in the process I guess others of us who have all but given up the ship.  I respect Brian and wish I had a smidgen of optimism left, but I really don't. 

Sorry.  Please, PLEASE prove me wrong!

Here's my response to those who chastise people who want to crawl into a hole and hide for the next 4 years, or forever... (Read Brian's post first).

Some of us are all dreamed out, we have awoken and seen the nightmare that is reality, and it s*cks!  The city isn't shining any more, and we frankly don't see how to turn the light back on.  We are indeed in a warped world, the very fact that Marxist Obama was allowed within 100 miles of PA Avenue proves it.

We haven't abandoned the dreams in our heart-of-heart, but we have heart failure.  The rest of the country, those who elected him, have killed the dreams.  We can't dream anymore, we just can't.  Would love to, but don't seem able.  

The other & darker side has won, and I'm not just talking about an election.

We won't have to go to hell, hell is now here.  We are torn between the doldrums (Jimmy Carter's Malaise) to "meekly accept the situation", and being mad and not wanting to take it anymore (like in "Network").

It is one thing to be ticked, and another to be able do do anything about what ticks us off.  Since armed rebellion is off the table, and the educational system raised idiots willing to vote in these lack of freedoms, how do we undo a generation of decay?  Are we not too late? I'd love to believe we aren't, but what I see tells me otherwise.

It will take a lot more than being chewed out to get us to dream again, we need OUR inspirational speaker, OUR leader with vision who can inspire us, to make us think that there is "hope".  Without that inspiration, we are doomed to wallow in this muck.

Our dreams are smaller, if they exist at all. Once we dreamed for a McMansion, cool cars, and a way to provide the best for our families.  Now we hope we can cling to more than a cardboard box for our home, and the childless among us are glad we do not have to find a way to feed extra mouths.  Some of us are downtrodden, lost, miserable, and in despair.  If I was single, and only responsible for myself, I'd seriously consider becoming voluntarily homeless and live at my work to reduce expenses, taxes, and to make ends meet.  I have actually contemplated how I could get away with it so as to build a nest egg, rather that have to spend more and more for less and less.  Of course, then if I lose my job I'd also lose my home immediately, instead of waiting for a foreclosure.

You asked "are we in an America worth living in anymore"?  Well, we are still in the greatest country in the world, but not for long.  It is fast becoming something much less than it once was.  It may well be a one-way trip.

The problem is there is no place for us to go.  If a new country was formed, one that adopted our founding documents and promised to actually follow them, it would be tempting.

We are stuck here, and can either gleefully accept and embrace it (not a chance), reluctaltly and pragmatically hate and loathe it but still accept the reality (where I am), or kick butt to get our country back (where I wish I could be).

Don't hate me Brian, I'm just being honest with where I am right now.  I hope I don't stay down forever.

Thanks! 

Tired of paying your taxes like a responsible citizen, just to bailout others? Don't Worry...
... Harry Reid says you don't have to pay your taxes, they're "voluntary"! (Sort of)

Crossposted

No, I am not talking about Warner Brother's Marvin the Martian, but yesterday's hearing about the possible demise of the death penalty in Maryland did have me wondering.  Just who would a (CASA-supported?) alien meet if he asked us to take him to our leader?  Would it be Martin O'Malley, or Marvin Mandel?

Governor O'Malley got loads of press yesterday for his testimony in favor of sending the death penalty to the gas chamber, but another Governor testified in favor of keeping it as a final sanction against the most vermin-like murderers in our midst.  His story needs telling as well.

After Martin asked us to not care about retribution or fairness to victims, Marvin talked about the need for the final option to remain a tool for Justice.  The Ex-Governor recounted going to the jail when prisoners had taken over and threatened the life of the guards in the tower.  Against the wishes of others, he went to talk to the prisoners.  I say talk, not to merely "hear them out".  He gave them 3 minutes, they started with their demands, and he told them they had only 2 left.  He would release the dogs on them if they did not free the guards.  Now note that this was during a time when the Supreme Court had ruled against the Death Penalty, before we reinstated a court-approved version of it.  The prisoners asked why should they care about killing the guards, they were already sentenced to death. The no-nonsense Governor at the time said if they killed the guards he would call a special session the next day and pass a death penalty law just for them.  They let the guards go.  Years later Mandel would meet a man who had been trying to see him, to thank him for saving his grandfather, a guard in that tower.

Another instance that Governor Marvin Mandel recounted was seeing a prisoner in his cell, who complained that they never let him out, even for exercise.  Mandel talked to the Warden, who informed him that the prisoner was not allowed out because he would kill the first person he got hold of.   Gov. Marvin went back to the cell, staying further away from the inmate this time, and asked the prisoner if this was true.  The prisoner acknowledged that yes, he would kill the first person he could.

Former Governor Mandel also talked about a Judge he appointed who was against the death penalty.  The Judge changed his tune when he had a case that was very horrific.

Say what you want about Marvin Mandel's history, but in this case I wish he were still maintaining an office on the second floor of the State House. On this issue, he is more a leader than Marty, who is evidently both afraid to sign a death warrant, and also afraid to not kill those on death row. You see, if the current Governor doesn't carry out his duty he may get blamed if they kill again. Doing away with the death penalty, he can blame it on the legislature if an inmate kills a guard, or another prisoner, or if they escape to murder the public. Abolishing the death penalty is the easy way out for him, but have we ever known him to really do the hard things his job requires? Take me to your leader... indeed!

Crossposted on Maryland Chesapeake Blog & Red Maryland

If we HAVE to have a Dem as Governor...
... Why, Oh Why Couldn't It Have Been Doug Duncan?

After reading his comments about certain unnamed (cough...o'malley...cough)
"Maryland state or local elected officials facing reelection in 2010" one hopes that he, or someone like him, might consider giving MOM a real contest. If Bobby Ehrlich doesn't run against O'Malley, any chance we can recruit Doug to our side?

His complaints against politicians apply to some of our own as well. Too often those in power of any & all persuasions care more about getting along 'til the next election, when they should be more concerned with radically re-evaluating every program and expense. Do any have the 'nads to actually cut the ones that do not work. If not, maybe we should cut their's off at the polls!

It reminds me of something heard at last night's Help Save Maryland rally at Lawyer's Mall, something along the lines of... "Politicians care about the next election, Leaders care about the next generation".

Crossposted on Maryland Chesapeake Blog & Red Maryland