Archive for June, 2011

Lucia de Vernai

The recent release of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s picture—shortly cropped hair, blue wire frames and that million-dollar smile—were inspiring no matter your party affiliation. Her near-miraculous survival of a point-blank shot in the head a mere six months ago, and the media-documented recovery, gave the nation a new hero.

But the media emphasis has been mainly on the positive aspects of her story, while the realities of her circumstance go ignored by those closest to her politically.

Years prior to the shooting, Arizona Democrats had been eyeing Giffords as the favorite represent the party in next year’s race for Jon Kyl’s Senate seat. The plan had potential and, in the eyes of many, it still does. The current chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, Andrei Cherny, said, “All of our hopes and faith were geared towards her.”

There isn’t a close second among Democratic alternatives, and the clock is ticking. The pressure is still on Giffords, and even in the face of the most horrendous events, the show must go on.

Raul Grijalva, the Democratic congressman representing a district adjacent to that of Giffords, has said of her entering the race, “I think it’s kind of important to find out what their decision is going to be, because the more time that goes by, the lower the tier of candidates gets.” Certainly a quandary for the Democratic Party in a overwhelmingly red state—the one hope to shift the balance of power is in jeopardy.

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Jill Ciminillo

I have to admit, I don’t quite understand the point of the 2011 Honda CR-Z. It’s supposed to be sporty. And it’s supposed to be a hybrid. But with all the compromises involved, it kind of fails at both.

Fuel economy for this 3-door coupe is rated at 31 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway. A 31 city number is nothing to sneeze at. If you could actually achieve it. Which, in a city like Chicago, is difficult. And you might think 37 mpg for the highway is pretty good, until you remember this is a compact 2-seater that weighs 2,650 pounds (EX model with the MT).

When non-hybrids like the Hyundai Elantra and Chevrolet Cruze Eco are rated at 40 and 42 mpg respectively on the highway, you’ve got to look at the CR-Z and give it a bit of a “Huh?”

Might be time to rethink that mild hybrid  vs. full hybrid thing, Honda.

Automakers like Toyota and Ford create “full” hybrids, which means that the vehicles have the ability to drive in electric-only mode as long as the battery is charged and you don’t go over a certain speed (somewhere in the 30 to 45 mph range). But Honda creates “mild” hybrids, which means that the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) gives an electric boost in power when accelerating and enables the engine to turn off during braking and when at a complete stop. In some instances, Civic and Insight hybrids are able to operate in electric-only mode while cruising — but only when maintaining a constant or decelerating speed. As soon as soon as the gas pedal engages for active acceleration, the gasoline engine kicks in. The CR-Z can’t drive in electric-only mode at all. And that is why a midsize car like the Prius is rated at 48 mpg on the highway, and a compact car like the CR-Z only gets 37.

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Dan Calabrese

The first thing you thought to ask was: Why didn’t the media ask for e-mails from Barack Obama from the days when he was an Illinois state senator? Or from Hillary Clinton when she was First Lady?

For that matter, why haven’t they asked for e-mails from the governorships of Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty? Or congressional e-mails from Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann?

But of course, these would be rhetorical questions, because you know the answer perfectly well. The media asked for Sarah Palin’s e-mails because they are on a search-and-destroy mission to find something damaging about her, and only her. No one bought it when they tried to hang “blood libel” and Paul Revere on her, or when they tried to blame her for the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords. And even though they want to carp long and loud about “death panels,” they have to be careful because a lot of them are fully aware of the fact that Palin was correct about that too.

So . . . to the e-mails! Surely that would provide something definitive to demonstrate that Palin is an incompetent moron.

Oops.

All the headlines offered by the egg-on-face media tell us that the e-mails were full of mundane, day-to-day governing stuff, but held no bombshells or major embarrassments.

Now, what does that tell us about what they consider to be news?

You’ve got 24,900 e-mails, many of which contain Palin’s correspondence in the course of governing her state. That’s not news. But if she said something idiotic, shallow or religious, that would be news?

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Brett Noel

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Herman Cain

A senior Obama Administration official said recently that the private sector will have to lead this economic recovery. He’s right! But the private sector cannot do it unless government gets out of the way. The Obama Administration’s policies have increased the size of the federal government, increased regulatory barriers and dramatically increased the national debt.

Most Americans sitting around the kitchen table knew that we could not spend and regulate our way to prosperity. But the president and the Democrat-controlled Congress at the time did it anyway. And now, after nearly $1 trillion in government spending, the economy is still stalled. Namely, 1.8 percent growth in Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2011is anemic, and a 9.1 percent unemployment rate continues to be disappointing to the nearly 15 million people who are still unemployed.

Our national GDP could easily be growing at 5 percent or more, with the top tax rates for businesses and individuals set at 25 percent and made permanent until we replace the entire tax code mess. And taking the capital gains tax rate to zero is just the fuel that the small business part of our economic engine needs.

It sure would be nice to hear an unemployment rate report of under 5 percent again, which would mean at least 7.5 million people could be back to work again. It would be more than just music to their ears. They might even have some real hope again.

“Hope and change” became spend and regulate in the Obama Administration. And now, the president and the Democrats want us to “watch and hope”. Simply extending the tax rates for two years with a 2 percent one-year payroll tax holiday for employees is not going to tickle this economy back to prosperity.

With all due respect, Mr. President, there is no hope that this economy will turn itself around. It will remain stalled because there are no meaningful tax cuts, there is no regulatory relief and there is still the uncertainty about what tax rates will be in 2013.

The rollout of ObamaCare is adding to the uncertainty. Thousands of companies and several states have asked for waivers from trying to comply with ObamaCare, due to its adverse effect on their current health care costs. At the same time, many of the bureaucratic rules are still being written.

There’s a better way to increase access to health care and reduce costs, using patient-centered and market-driven principles. ObamaCare is the exact opposite. It must be repealed and replaced, but that will not happen with this administration.

When the National Labor Relations Board tried to intimidate Boeing Corporation into not expanding a production facility in South Carolina because it is a “right to work” state, some businesses simply put expansion plans on hold. They are not going to be bullied into expanding their businesses into union-dominated states.

The private sector is the engine of this economy, but putting more spending and regulations in the caboose of the train is not going to fuel the engine. So expecting this economy to grow faster by watching and hoping is an empty expectation.

Much of the public has been deceived into thinking that cutting tax rates reduces revenue into the Treasury, and that it only helps the rich. The experience of the 1960s and 1980s, when Kennedy and Reagan were in the White House, respectively, debunks that notion.

Watching this economy struggle over the next 18 months is going to be especially painful for the unemployed, and those businesses that are barely holding on for survival. And yes, the private sector will have to take the lead when we properly boost the engine.

Until then, we might as well watch grass grow, because that’s about all the green this economy is going to see.

Lucia de Vernai

TO:  Representative Anthony Weiner

FROM: Citizens for Better Sexting

It has been brought to our attention that you have engaged in a practice known as “sexting”, the results of which are potentially threatening your closest personal relationships and political career. Upon reviewing your case file, our organization would like to address some of your practices and offer a brief critique of your sexting practices, along with a set of humble suggestions with the hope that in the future you engage in smarter and savvier sexting.

First, we find you in violation of the first rule of sexting: You cannot unring a bell. Once you have clicked “send”, “submit” or “post” the image is forever out of your hands with the possibility of dissemination, publication and reproduction by any and all parties not named in the “To” field. While a man in your position should know better than most that any expectation of privacy using an electronic medium is naïve at best (see Patriot Act, The), you should consider applying that knowledge when deciding recipients of your communication. Porn actress Ginger Lee, in our humble opinion, does not meet this standard.

Second, we also find you in violation of the second cardinal rule of sexting: Send only attractive images of yourself. The point of the practice is to arouse sexual interest in the receiving party. Your choice of undergarments and choice of body parts to feature evoke more of an “ew” than an “ooh la la.” We strongly suggest softer lighting and more creative choice of angle.

Third, we encourage you to ask yourself “Is it worth it?”  If you are going to jeopardize your marriage and bright political future, conduct a brief but honest cost-benefit analysis. Because in all honesty sir, there is something embarrassing about being involved in an incredibly public sex scandal . . . without having sex.

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Dan Calabrese

Of course Sarah Palin was right. She usually is.

But you realize the facts don’t matter in the slightest. Even though a parade of historians are coming forth – some reluctantly, it seems – to back Palin up on the substance of her Paul Revere comment, those who want to believe she made a historically ignorant statement will continue to believe it.

No one can tell them otherwise. Once the media jumped on her case, that was all they needed.

The problem here is not with Palin. It’s with the media, who apparently know nothing of Paul Revere’s ride apart from what was said in Longfellow’s famous poem. This is similar to when Palin told tea party activists to “party like it’s 1773,” and the media – knowing nothing of the Boston Tea Party – ripped her on the baseless assumption that Palin must have been talking about the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Clearly, Palin knows more about history than her media tormenters, but we’ve gotten to the point where facts scarcely matter in situations like this. It is now established media wisdom that Palin committed a “gaffe” and got the history wrong, and even when the facts turn out to demonstrate she got it right, it is still somehow a faux pas because she made a statement that everyone thought was wrong.

There are so many things wrong with this so-called news story, it’s hard to know where to begin. For one thing, even if Palin’s statement had been wrong, so what? Politicians make hundreds of statements every week, and a lot of them are inaccurate in some way. Most of them never merit a headline because they really don’t matter all that much.

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Brett Noel

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Herman Cain

We hear all about America’s problems every day. We can’t get away from them, especially when the bad news is compounded with more bad news about natural disasters. The latest economic and jobs news is yet another indication that this nation’s problems are getting worse and stifling our prosperity.

And every time this administration or Congress tries to fix a problem, it gets worse. That’s because the administration believes more government, more spending and more taxes are the answer to everything.

The real answer is less government, less spending and less taxation.

After nearly $1 trillion in federal “stimulus” spending, the economy is still growing at an anemic rate. The first quarter of 2011 weighed in at only a 1.8 percent growth in GDP. Remember, China is growing at about a 10 percent rate of growth.

Obamacare was supposed to help make health care more affordable and accessible. Instead, it is a bureaucratic nightmare with companies and states trying to get as far away as they can from implementing it through waivers and exemptions.

It would be mismanagement to allow the clock to run out on the debt ceiling, to avoid a crisis, without getting serious about drastic cuts in spending. And not knowing what the tax rates are going to be in 2013 is an unnecessary uncertainty hanging over businesses and investors.

Hope and change is not stimulating the economy. Hope and change is not a job, and the latest jobs report shows that to be so. The administration continues to say that the economic hole was deeper than expected.  If so, they should have stopped digging.

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Lucia de Vernai

On Tuesday, Sarah Palin confirmed that she has purchased a mansion in my home state of Arizona because “not only are we good investors, and it’s a buyer’s market, but we like to thaw out once in a while.” If you want to thaw out, you go to Malibu. If you want to bake cookies in your car four months out of the year and suffer heat stroke from going to your mail box, you move to Arizona. Unless, of course, you have other, less innocuous motives.

The Sarah Palin will-she-or-won’t-she rumor mill starts up every time she makes an appearance in an election-significant state like Iowa. Without a strong leader emerging out of the Republican presidential hopefuls, her name recognition could certainly give her leverage needed in the primary.

But Sarah Palin is too clever to do that, at least this election cycle.

Instead there will probably be a spin-off of her show called “Sarah Palin’s Arizona” with a cute episode about Todd clearing the neighborhood of javelina with his hunting prowess and a very special episode about the scorpion in baby Tripp’s room. The people of Arizona will tune in just for the novelty of seeing familiar places on a cable network (“OMG! I drove past that cleaners last week!”). A guest appearance on Steven Segal’s “Lawman”—also filmed in the area—is only a matter of time. Give it a season and Palin will have public support and devotion Arizonans previously reserved only for Barry Goldwater.

Not that she particularly needs the TV exposure is she were to run for a state office. A May poll by Public Policy Polling shows that she was the Republican favorite for Arizona Senator Jeff Flake’s seat with 35 percent of the vote to Flake’s 33 percent. Beating the incumbent in a senatorial race in a state you don’t even live in yet? That, folks, is what Charlie Sheen would call “winning”.

That’s assuming that Palin is willing to give up the lucrative life of being a private person to return to the far less the glamorous life of an elected official. Judge by her quick and unemotional transition from governor of the country’s biggest state to use the momentum she gathered in 2008 to pursue the American ideals of life, liberty and reality stardom. No public servant salary—even in the highest office—would let her buy a second home for $1.7 million cash.

Her ongoing flirt with public office is by no means a thoughtless tryst, however. America likes being teased by the unbelievably attractive, quotable and impossible to ignore Palin. We’re not sure if we want her to be her constituents, her best friends or Todd. The move to Arizona can be a serious strategic move for her long-term career or a publicity stunt. Her lack of commitment is what keeps the country—supporters and opponents alike—focused on her.

For those of us horrified of her running anything other than a sewing circle, let’s hope that she keeps courting the Tea Party, going on book tours and doing publicity stunts. It may be the only way to keep her away from Arizona and national politics.