Giving Congressional Democrats the Outplacement Help They Deserve

Sure, it’s been a great for those of us fighting Big Government, but since it’s the Christmas Season, have you given any thought to helping the less-fortunate? Has anyone given a thought to all those poor Democratic congressman and staffer who just lost their jobs?

Iowahawk has, and he’s provided a handy outplacement guide for those unfortunates voters have recently retired:

In order to land that good job back in your home district, you first need to understand the ins and outs of the non-Washington economic system. Unlike Washington’s easy-to-understand system of leveraging raw unbridled rulemaking and police power to extract tribute from fearful and/or favor-seeking constituents, non-Washington industries are largely based on the production of “goods” or “services.” It sounds complicated, but the basic idea boils down to making things or doing things that other people will pay for. The complicated part is to remember that they must pay for them voluntarily.

That’s Iowahawk for you: Always looking out for the unfortunate.

God bless us each and every one.

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Bruce Sterling on Wikileaks

Bruce is a lefty sort, but there’s a whole lot of pithy interest and insight in this essay, as there usually is in Bruce’s essays. And also like many of Bruce’s essays, it’s very long. I hope to finish it myself later on today…

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This Week in Jihad for December 23, 2010

Some pre-Christmas Jihad news:

  • Speaking of Christmas, crosses have been banned in Bethleham.
  • UK Islamic group launches campaign against Christmas, saying it leads to rape, abortions, crime, pedophilia and raves. They forgot fruitcake.
  • In the course of a general indictment of Islam, Rule Britannia (a blog I’m not particularly familiar with; a quick perusal suggests a mainstream Euro/Islamic skepticism rather than the swamps of the National Front) cites this death toll for all of Islam from its founding to the current day of 270 million people. I don’t know enough about the history of the regions cited (Africa, India, etc.) to say how accurate this estimate is, but my initial look suggests its on the high side, with extrapolated estimate taken from of single data sources, which tends to result in distorted figures. Still, Will Durant called the Islamic conquest of India the bloodiest episode in all of history (though that was in 1935, which Hitler and Mao still to come, and the sizes of Stalin’s crimes still largely hidden).
  • Somalis unite for the time-honored pastime of burning christian books.
  • Iranian truck drivers go on strike due to an end to diesel subsidies in port of Bandar Abbas. This would suck if it was happening in a European country, but I’m just fine and dandy about it happening in Iran…
  • The Washington Post says there are similar problems in the rest of Iran. Faster, please.
  • Australian muslims found guilty of plotting to attack an army base.
  • Kosovo’s Prime Minster involved in organ trafficking. Sadly, this does not appear to be an urban legend, and The Guardian is hardly known for their fierce anti-Islamic agenda…
  • Here’s another Greek Orthodox prelate going off the deep end. Sayeth the Metropolite of Piraeus Seraphim: “Adolf Hitler was an instrument of world Zionism and was financed from the renowned Rothschild family with the sole purpose of convincing the Jews to leave the shores of Europe and go to Israel to establish the new Empire.”
  • Everyone and their dog (including Fark) has covered this story about a Gitmo detainee claiming that “Jewish guards used witchcraft on prisoners, made me feel a cat was trying to penetrate me.”
  • Spanish teacher reprimanded for merely mentioning ham.
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Linkswarm for December 22, 2010

A few bite-sized links of interest for the holiday season:

  • Michael Barone digs deeper into the census data. Among the tidbits: Five of the seven states with no state income tax gained the most population, and the other two each gained the most within their region, and immigration seems to have slowed in the last decade.
  • More on redistricting from lefty election wonk Nate Silver.
  • China’s housing bubble is worse on a percentage of GNP basis than the U.S. or Japan.
  • California’s Treasurer claims that the state economy is not in trouble, but is merely resting. He also asserted it has beautiful plummage.
  • We’ve got spirit, yes we do!/I killed a buck, how about you?

(Hat tips: Instapundit, mostly.)

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Texas to Gain Four House Seats in Redistricting

The census data has finally been released, and Texas will gain four seats in the U.S. House. (Here’s a map breaking down which districts have gained or lost population, and by how much.) Keep in mind that at least one or two of those seats will have to be “majority minority” Hispanic seats to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

The only other state to gain more than one House seat was Florida, which gained two. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington state each gained one.

Ohio and New York will each lose two seats, while Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will each lose one.

The total U.S. population is now 308,745,538, a 9.7% increase from 2000.

The states gaining seats are predominately Republican, while the states losing seats are predominately Democratic, a trend that’s been going on since at least the 1980s. This, along with newly Republican majorities in many of the statehouses that will control redistricting, is the reason some analysts believe that Republicans will control the House at least through 2012, and possibly beyond.

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Breakdown on how the DREAM Act Illegal Alien Amnesty Failed

This post from Roy Beck of the anti-amnesty NumbersUSA, which is further analyzed by Mickey Kaus here, goes into detail about which Senators flipped from pro- to anti-amnesty. Short version: Republicans were a lot more scared of a Tea Party primary challenge in 2012 than Democrats were of general election challengers. Sayeth Kaus:

Score one for losing Delaware Tea Partier Christine O’Donnell, who knocked off establishment pick Rep. Mike Castle (who voted for DREAM) in the GOP primary. Even score one for Alaskan Joe Miller. He probably alienated Republican Lisa Murkowski by beating her in the primary, and ultimately she won reelection anyway as a write-in. But that’s just one lost Senate vote. By my count, Miller’s primary coup may have helped gain around ten votes by terrifying GOP incumbents who might otherwise have been tempted by the prospect of a feel-good, bipartisan, MSM-approved pro-DREAM stand.

Beck also noted at least two Democrats, Conrad of North Dakota and McCaskill of Missouri, who voted for an amnesty despite coming from deep red states and being up for reelection in 2012. Those two seats should be big, juicy GOP takeover targets two years hence…

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DREAM Act illegal Alien Amnesty Fails

Cloture vote fails 55 to 41.

Democrats Max Baucus of Montana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pyror of Arkansas and Jon Tester of Montana (all Senators from deep red states) all voted against the bill. And boy, the head Kossack is sure pissed about Tester, who had previously been his bestest of buddies.

Kausfiles has the blow by blow.

Still, despite being defeated, the DREAM Act has already fulfilled its primary mission: getting Harry Reid reelected.

(Hat Tips: Instapundt and Mickey Kaus)

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Dallas Jury to Rebecca Aguilar: No, You Can’t Have a Successful Lawsuit. Not Yours.

Dallas Reporter: Gun owners exercising their 2nd Amendment rights by killing home invaders are evil. Here, let me badger one on camera.
Dallas Station: You’re fired.
Dallas Reporter: I’ll sue.
Dallas Jury: Get stuffed

Bonus: Ms. Aguilar simply can’t stop digging: “I knew it was also an uphill battle with a jury made up of 11 white people.”

Bonus 2: “He also compared Aguilar to former Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, whom Shaunessy said “‘was a lousy employee and he was an inconsistent player who couldn’t be trusted.'”

Ouch.

(Hat tip: Instapundit.)

Posted in Guns, Media Watch, Texas | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

House Democrats Cave, Pass Deal to Extend Bush Tax Cuts

The Bush Tax Cuts passed the House by a margin of 277 to 148. I guess the public outcry over the biggest tax increase in history finally got through their reality bubble.

Also good news is the fact that Harry Reid pulled the pork-and-earmark laden omnibus budget bill off the floor, due, in large measure, to Tea Party pressure.

These are just two small steps toward restoring fiscal discipline and reigning in a gargantuan government, and Tea Partiers and other taxpayers are going to have to keep up the pressure to keep Washington from resorting to its old ways (and expect a lot of backsliding and heartbreak along the way). But both these victories prove one thing: elections matter. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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This Week in Jihad for December 16, 2010

Lots of Jihad news of note this week:

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