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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Steinberg folds his tent -- 8 and counting

Alan "Doogie" Steinberg has called it quits on his stunningly unremarkable "race" for CD22. Alan had almost no voter support, no money, and no chance. He lives at home with his parents, never held a real job but has a VERY large ego that matches his immense naivete:
....as I have undoubtedly inspired a greater youth involvement in the political process.

Ironically, although Alan was calling for a "new pace" in Washington, he has thrown his "support" to Pete Olson -- the one candidate in the race who is an exclusive Washington insider being almost entirely financed by K Street interests.

With Alan's departure, the slate is down to 8 again.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Talton thinks Castle doctrine may favor Horn

State Rep. Robert Talton (R-Pasadena and CD22 candidate) is on the record suggesting a Pasadena resident who shot a pair of suspected burglars was justified in doing so based on the new Texas law known as the "Castle Doctrine."

The Castle Doctrine, which was co-sponsored by Talton and signed by Governor Rick Perry into law in March, states a victim may use any type of force against a suspect who breaches their home, vehicle, or place of business and does not have a duty to retreat.

Two men, both illegal aliens, were fatally shot by 61-year-old computer consultant Joe Horn. The incident has made national and even international news.

When Horn, a 61-year-old retiree living with his daughter and her family in a growing subdivision in this Houston suburb, saw two burglars breaking into the house next door on Nov. 14, he called 911 and grabbed his shotgun.

Moments later, after what the police say was a confrontation on Horn's front lawn, the two men - both illegal immigrants - lay dead on the winding Timberline Drive, leaving behind a pillowcase stuffed with jewelry and about $2,000 in cash.



As the case unfolds, it will not only be a legal test of the new law -- but a good opportunity for Talton to score points with conservative voters concerned about crime and illegal immigration.

Say what you will about Tom DeLay, at least he knew how to run the joint.

Great op ed today in the Wall Street Journal on continuing dem dysfunction on Capitol Hill.
Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid are letting their left-wing troops and interest groups run all over them, with the result that their signal achievement this year is a higher minimum wage. Considering most of their policy goals, this failure is good for the country. But the dysfunction amply shows that democrats are attempting to govern with an agenda that is too far left even for many in their own party, never mind the country.

Big Surprise: democrats lead the way in Congressional pork spending

USA Today reports this week that 20 freshman members of Congress (ALL democrats) led the way this year racking up $70 million in special-interest spending, or "earmarks," in the House and Senate spending bills.
dems lead in pork-barrel spending










Slick Nick Lampson, of course, made the list. What a proud "conservative" moment for him (not.)

What was that democrats were saying about changing the culture of corruption in Washington? What was that about draining the swamp? Yeah, right.

Source: USA TODAY analysis based on data from Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

You know the libs are in trouble when...

Even the Pope thinks Algore and his religion of global warming is stupid...

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology.

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.


Amen, your Excellency, Amen.

Who do you trust to cut taxes more?

Great article here from The Hill detailing exactly why you can't trust democrats with your money. Some juicy excerpts:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has spent $16,000 on flowers since taking office, one reason why she spent 63 percent more in her high-profile inaugural year than her low-key predecessor (Rep. Dennis Hastert,R-Ill.) did last year.

By comparison:

(Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio) Boehner will be refunding more than $1 million to the treasury from the money he was allocated.

Pelosi (whom our emporary Congressrat Nick Lampson voted for) felt entitled to spend more of your money because of her "historic" election as the first woman speaker. (Ask yourself: Can we really afford another "historic" election of a freespending liberal woman in 2008?)

The increase from Hastert to Pelosi was driven largely by a surge in travel (to meet with known terrorists, for example) and a heavily fortified payroll. Pelosi has more people working for her. Hastert employed 35 people during the third quarter of last year. Pelosi, by contrast, had 51 people on her payroll during the same time period.

What else did Prissy Pelosi feel entitled to?
• A $10,000 contract to former Clinton White House speech-writer Heather Hurlburt to write the speech Pelosi delivered to the Israeli Knesset.
• Nearly $20,000 to Washington attorney Richard Meltzer to help with Pelosi’s transition.
• More than $2,400 to hire a makeup artist for the week of her swearing in. (Under fire, Pelosi later reimbursed the entire cost from her personal funds.)

When you look at the spending of the whole Republican conference, steering and policy operations to the democratic caucus, steering and policy operations, the dems are still spending like the proverbial drunken sailor.

Money is distributed evenly between the Republicans and democrats for those functions, and the party leaders decide how to allocate them.

Under that calculation, Republicans spent 18 percent less than they did last year while democrats’ spending rose 4 percent over last year. democrats, predictably, say that is not a legitimate comparison. Of course not.

Be afraid, Nick. Be very afraid.

democrats lately (from Queen Hillary on down) have had an air of entitlement about them as in: This is the year democrats can't lose.

Their arrogance is only surpassed by their stupidity. They have done everything they can since taking power in Congress in 2006 to alienate the average voter in America by bashing the troops, the U.S., our economy, our values, etc. They've pandered to the fringe left crazies every chance they got. And voters aren't being fooled by their election year attempts to swing back toward the center (e.g. Nick Lampson & Hillary Clinton).

That's why dems across America woke up this morning with a headache that will likely reach migraine proportions by November 2008. Why? GOP keeps 2 vacant congressional seats in Ohio, Virginia

Now, Ohio and Virginia are a long way from CD22. But the similarities of these elections -- and the results -- mirror our hometown district currently represented by a foreigner from Beaumont as well as serve as a bellweather for 2008.

Republicans maintained control of both congressional seats that were up for grabs in special elections Tuesday in Ohio and Virginia, disappointing democrats who had hoped to extend their gains in the House.

democrats, who won control of the House last year 233-202, had hoped to benefit from the low turnout typical of special
elections.


Like CD22, both of these seats are considered "safe" Republican. As you know, Slick Nick, won in 2006 precisely because there was no Republican name on the ballot and the confusion created by having to vote in both a special election as well as write (dial) in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. That won't happen this year. A well-qualified Republican name, with a big fat (R) next to it, will be on the ballot this year.

Despite having the liberal media on their side, the democrats are in trouble in 2008 and they know it. "Billary" on the ticket will mobilize and bring grassroots Republicans out like never before. (Does anyone really think the Clintonista's aren't going to secure the dem nomination?). With her leading the ticket, dems will likely not only lose the Presidency, but both Houses again as well.

Then Bill really will feel Hillary's pain.
P.S. Chris at Outside Report filed a similar report this morning.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

A funny thing happened on the way to the CD22 candidate forum

Ok -- it wasn't really on the WAY to the forum ... but read to the end for the funny part.

The Fort Bend Chamber held a CD22 Candidate forum during lunch on Friday at the Sugar Land Marriott. It was the first chance in this area to see all (now 9) candidates up close and personal.

Chamber leader Marvin Marcel emceed and new Fort Bend County GOP Chair Rick Miller was on hand to help organize the candidates and the questions. Both did a great job.

No real surprises from any of the candidates in terms of what they said -- most stuck pretty close to what you can find on their candidate websites and adhered to the conservative bread and butter issues of smaller government, less taxation, strong defense, winning the war on global terrorism and getting a handle on illegal immigration.

They were given 3-1/2 minutes each to introduce themselves and then each were asked 2 questions (all different). None of the candidates stumbled but a few stood out in terms of their ability to have a presence on the stage and be heard above the din of clattering lunch plates: Judge Jim Squier, newbie Brian Klock, and former Sugar Land mayor Dean Hrbacek.

Allen "Doogie" Steinberg (really, Allen, we mean that affectionately) also did well and held his own against the much more experienced (or at least older) folks on the dias with him. Note to the nutjobs: The above does not mean we're endorsing any of these candidates -- just reporting what we saw and heard.)

The funny thing
The real fun was what happened "off stage." There is a local weekly newspaper publisher (of the Fort Bend Star), Bev Carter. This woman is as mean and spiteful a person as you'd ever want to meet. Seriously.

Most of the local elected officials can't stand her and the grassroots Republicans in Fort Bend pretty much think she's Satan incarnate. She used to be a Republican of sorts, but now she "believes she is an independent." LOL. She's been kissing up to Nick Lampson every chance she gets and endorsing doomed democrats so draw your own conclusions.

Any way, ol' Bev's HATES (and we don't think that's too strong a word) former CD22 Congressman Tom DeLay. She also HATES CD22 candidate Dean Hrbacek almost as much (has ever since he was mayor). Probably has something to due with Hrbacek suing her a few years back.

Now Bev considers herself a journalist (almost no one else does but this woman is a legend in her own mind). So when she got to the lunch she paraded right to the front of the already crowded room and sat down at the table that was front and center (we don't know if Bev bought a ticket or was invited to sit at that sponsored table or not.. we're guessing not, but could be wrong). Any way.....

The first thing Bev did was find the hotel manager in charge. She was pretty mad that there were some Hrbacek signs (along with some other candidate signs) hanging outside in the lobby directing folks to the ballroom. She demanded to know if Hrbacek had permission to put the signs there. He did and from what we heard from someone who overhead the encounter, the manager pretty much told Bev where to go. (More on the signs later.)

Now, it just so happened that Tom DeLay had been invited to kick-off the luncheon and guess where Tom was assigned to sit? You got it... right next to his arch enemy Bev "B.K." Carter. You could almost see the smoke coming out of this gal's ears. We kept looking to see if they would land any blows... but no such luck.

But Bev must have been sitting there really stewing over those Hrbacek signs in the lobby. Cuz, after the luncheon, Bev was caught red handed ripping them off the walls! No really. She was. Someone from Hrbacek's campaign confronted her and demanded she give them the signs -- and Bev literally threw them at her and stormed away!

Note to Dean: We don't think you're going to get this gossip columnist's endorsement. But then again, that just might help you out at the ballot box. A lot of people we talk to tell us if Bev is against you that's enough reason for them to vote for you.

Note to the other Candidates: You might want to hack Bev off before the primary just so she says some nasty things about you, too. (Just refuse to buy any ads in her miserable little free-delivery paper and that should just about do it.) You don't want to leave Dean with that big advantage. :)

And then there were nine

Nassau Bay resident Brian Klock recently became the 9th contendor to fill the GOP slot in November. He's a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve and serves in the NCIS.
No website we can find yet.. we'll keep looking.

Lessons from the 22nd Congressional district

Jeff Murrah has some interesting observations on her site re CD22. Worth a read.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Lampson and the law of unintended consequences

What happens when you have an over eager liberal dem politician (Nick Lampson) desparately trying to fool conservative voters in his district (CD22) that he's really a moderate "good guy." What to do? What to do? Ah ha!!

Let's do something "for the children." Has a nice ring to it. Who could possibly be against something for the children? But what? What's the most emotionally charged and least controversial thing I could do "for the children"? Ding!!

Got it. Protect them from perverts and sex offenders on the internet. Everyone wants to do that... especially those protective suburban parents in my mainly Republican district. Great plan, Nick.

Except in your typical liberal way, you screwed up. (And now you are in the unenviable position of having to put forth some really weak justifications..)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill sponsored and pushed by Lampson called the Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act, or SAFE Act.

Declan McCullagh has the best write up on the unintended? consequences of this poorly thought out and hastily pushed through mess of a bill that Lampson is running around proudly getting "good press" for.

The bill says that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000.

That broad definition would cover individuals, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, and even some government agencies that provide Wi-Fi. It also sweeps in social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail, and it may require that the complete contents of the user's account be retained for subsequent police inspection. (Can you say Big Brother?)

The SAFE Act represents the latest in Congress' efforts--some of which have raised free speech and privacy concerns--to crack down on sex offenders and internet predators. One bill introduced a year ago was even broader and would have forced Web sites and blogs to report illegal images. Another would require sex offenders to supply e-mail addresses and instant messaging user names.

Wednesday's vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that's supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In addition, the legislation
approved this week has changed substantially since the earlier version and was not available for public review.

Not one Democrat opposed the SAFE Act. Two Republicans did: Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning presidential candidate from Texas, and Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia.


Frankly, we can't see how this will even be enforceable! Will Starbucks have to hire Wi-Fi snoops to prowl their shops looking over the shoulders of unsuspecting customers? Let's just hope the Senate will wake up and clean up Nick's little dog pile before this sees the light of day as actual law. How soon till we can vote this guy out of office?

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Blog for Shelley?

Someone named Joel Hoshkins (no idea who this is) has started a blog for Shelley Sekula (no hyphen) Gibbs. It's called Carpetbagger Blog. At first we thought it was really a "bash Gibbs" site (take a look at some of the initial posts). Lately, however, we're wondering if Joel is for real... but maybe only about 10 years old?

Take a look and let us know what you think...

Wallace appears to be backing Manlove

It's not an official endorsement yet, but it looks like Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace will be backing his singing buddy, former Pasadena Mayor John Manlove in the CD22 race.

Wallace is forwarding around an invitation to a Manlove fundraiser in Sugar Land being hosted next week by Dr. V.N. Vijayvergiya and J.R. Redding.

Vijayvergiya is the owner of Geotest Engineering, Inc. a geotechnical engineering and materials testing company that serves private sector clients and government agencies. Redding is President & CEO of S&B Infrastructure. Both companies compete for local government contracts on a regular basis.

Wallace, in his capacity as real estate developer, was trying to get a town square project (similar to Sugar Land's and the one he's trying to get going in Waco.) off the ground in Pasadena while Manlove was still mayor there. Latest word on that is that it won't happen. But it seems Wallace is still humming with Manlove.

Wallace's seeming (if unofficial) endorsement of Manlove is interesting in that speculation had been strong that Wallace would back Pete Olson who moved to Sugar Land a few months ago from Washington specifically to run for the CD22 spot. Olson is closely aligned with many DeeCee insiders and most folks 'round here know Wallace has aspirations of a higher government appointment of some kind.

Wallace, of course, tried unsuccessfully in 2004 to get the GOP nomination to fill Tom DeLay's seat-- but was rebuffed by the party faithful. He decided not to join the crowded GOP field this year and many speculate some skeletons in his closet that have come to light as well as some ethics concerns is the main reason why. Wallace has announced he will not seek reelection as Sugar Land mayor.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Shelley Ranks in CQ Top 10

This is a little dated, but we just noticed it on Shelley's website and thought we'd pass it along.

The “incumbents’ advantage” in fundraising is a source of common complaints from those who believe the escalating amount of money needed to run a serious congressional campaign inhibits competition. In the vast majority of House contests in each election cycle, the incumbents use their established campaign organizations to outraise their opponents, often by overwhelming margins. But not always.

A CQ Politics survey of campaign finance reports for activity through Sept. 30, filed with the Federal Election Commission in mid-October by House candidates for 2008 races, found a number of challengers who entered the final quarter of 2007 with sizable campaign treasuries — including a few who even raised more money than the incumbents for the year so far.


Shelley doesn't have more than Slick Nick. She'd raised $607,000 raised with $465,000 cash on hand; Nickster had raised $833,000 with $679,000 cash on hand. That made her #8 on CQ's list.

The article continues:
But she has plenty of opposition in the field for the March 4 Republican primary, including Pete Olson, a former chief of staff to Texas Sen. John Cornyn ($218,000 raised, $181,000 cash on hand); Dean Hrbacek, a former mayor of Sugar Land, the largest city wholly within the district ($159,000 raised, $120,000 cash on hand); state Rep. Robert Talton ($35,000 raised, $28,000 cash on hand); and Jim Squier, a former family district court judge ($13,400 raised, $13,400 cash on hand). John Manlove — the former mayor of Pasadena, which is partly in the 22nd — just filed a statement of candidacy with
the Federal Election Commission.

Global Warming madness... where will it stop?

The Global Warming nutzo's are at it again: a group of Israeli environmentalists is encouraging Jews around the world to light at least one less candle this Hanukka to help the environment. Really. We can't make this stuff up. But it helps to illustrate how completely craazzzzy the enviro whackos and their willing political dupes (socialists) are.

This just as the U.S. Senate is poised for "an historic vote" this week:


On the Federal level, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday is expected to debate amendments to a bill proposed by Sens. Lieberman of Connecticut and Warner of Virginia that would create a "cap and trade" system designed to cut total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. These systems require industries to pay fees when they emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouses gases above a set limit, with the money going to reward cleaner businesses.
Note to Congress... this has been tried and failed.

Europe tried a pollution credit trading system to curb carbon dioxide emissions after it passed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and power companies worked the system to make billions in profits. Electricity customers paid higher bills, thinking they were contributing to a cooler planet. But their money just went into the pockets of the electric companies, which didn't end up actually cutting down on their carbon dioxide emissions.

Maybe the fees paid could go to the same company Algore (whom our Congressman Nick Lamspon adores on this issue) pays his carbon offsets to... himself. Global warming scam artists unite.

Reality Check here.

How much is a carbon offset for Divorce?


Really funnnny story today: Divorce bad for the Earth, study says...Splits may lead to greater energy, water consumption.

So how long do you think it will take Nick Lampson and his good buddy Algore and his liberal running buddies in Congress to propose some sort of special tax for this?

Monday, December 3, 2007

Is the surge in Iraq working or not, Nick?


Question we'd like to see temporary Congressman Nick Lampson answer today:

Which of your craaazzzzzy liberal compadres do you agree with this week? Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one of your party's most rabid war critics... that is until he actually WENT THERE. Came back and declared, "The Surge is working." Amazing what a little first hand religion does for the soul dontchaknow?

Or, will you side with Senate Majority Leader Dingy Harry Reid who is among the few staunch dem rats refusing to abandon your party's sad "Defeat for America" ship.


The Senate re-opened for business on Monday after a two-week Thanksgiving break, during which key Democrats traveled to Iraq and declared that the surge is working, at least from a security and military perspective. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one the top war critics, stunned fellow Democrats late last week with his statement that "the surge is working," even though he added that political reconciliation has been lagging. Murtha's view was backed by Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), who also said the surge worked after he returned from Iraq.


But Reid, in a Monday press conference, ceded no ground.
"The surge hasn't accomplished its goals," Reid said. "... We're involved, still, in an intractable civil war."


Back in February, Slick Nick Lampson joined the liberal, anti-war crowd in Congress by voting FOR a resolution rebuking President Bush over his plan to add 20,000 more combat troops in Iraq (the Surge). What did Nick want to do? In a carefully worded statement he called for:

“strategic change of course in Iraq – one including diplomacy, education, and an honest reconstruction effort,” adding that he is “not here today to criticize the President, or to engage in partisan grandstanding.”


So what say you now, Mr. Lampson? Are you for the troops or against them? Don't bother answering. Your record speaks for itself. Shame on you.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Lampson: Blue Dog, Yellow Dog or just a Lap Dog?

Just what kind of dog is Nick Lampson?

Lampson was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 9th congressional district from 1997 to 2005. After redistricting, he was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Texas's 2nd congressional district in 2004. Since he couldn't get elected there, he figured he'd move over to Stafford in CD 22 (well, at least he has an address here) where he got lucky in 2006 because... well, you know the story.

Now, all those years he was a Congressman in the 9th Nick never really cared about what kind of dog he was. Didn't need to. Before he redistricting took place, the 9th was a pretty safe Democrat bet. He could vote just like the liberal hound dog he is and get away with it.

But CD22 is a whole different kennel. In 2004 Bush whooped up on John Kerry by a margin of 64% t0 36%.

So what does Lampson try to do when he gets to DeeCee? He decides he better start running with a new pack of pooches. The so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats. As you may or may not know, self-proclaimed “Blue Dog Democrats” are a coalition of Democrat legislators who claim to adhere to the principles of fiscal conservatism and balanced budgets.

But they don't. As the Wall Street Journal has pointed out:

Voting records from recent years confirm that the blue dogs are less than consistent spending hawks. The National Taxpayers Union did some checking and found that the blue dogs had an average fiscal score of 24 out of 100, earning them a grade of D as a group. It also found that last year the blue dogs sponsored $145 of new spending for every dollar of budget reductions, for a net spending increase per member of more than $140 billion. The blue dogs are consistent on one fiscal issue: stopping tax cuts.
In reality, what the Blue Dog Democrats are is a cover group intended to help liberal politicians from red states, like Slick Nick Lampson, try to convince their constituents that they aren’t like the big-government, tax-and-spend types from California or Massachusetts. It lets them pay lip service to the principles of fiscal restraint and low taxes and campaign on those things without actually having to support them.

Thanks to Project Vote Smart, however, Ol' Nick can't hide from his liberal big-spending record. Check him out:

Nick Lampson. Just a really scary dog of any color.

What the Democrats don't want you to know



The next time a Democrat starts blabbing on about how weak America is, blah, blah, blah... show them this.

Upcoming CD22 Candidate Events

FORT BEND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CANDIDATE
Friday, December 7
11:30a.m to 1:30p.m.
Marriott Sugar Land Town Square
16090 City Walk, Sugar Land

ROSENBERG-RICHMOND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CANDIDATE FORUM
Monday, January 7
6:00 to 8:00p.m.
The Rosenberg Civic & Convention Center
Highway 36, 2 blocks South of US 59