Looking Back and Forward

Without a doubt, 2004 has been one of the most exciting, and certainly the most nerve-racking years I've ever experienced. A presidential campaign that began nearly as soon as the '02 mid-terms were over came to a successful conclusion on November 2. In between then the campaign was full of it's ups and downs, from the bleak months of April and May, to the period of September and October where the president gained a lead that he never really relinquished.

Having served in the president's campaign since February of this year, the victory that was achieved on November 2 was sweet in so many ways. For one, it was gratifying to know that the efforts of Michael Moore, Hollywood, and the MSM to defeat the president failed in every possible way, with the president receiving a majority of the vote for the first time since his father's victory in '88. It was also sweet to see the shock and dismay of the Europeans and those haters around the world who couldn't believe that we would reelect a man such as George W. Bush.

But the sweetest part of the president's victory was the fact that a man who believed in something so strongly, and was willing to risk everything on behalf of that belief, was rewarded by the American people for having that courage of conviction that most political leaders lack. President Bush is a great man and a great leader, and I will always fondly remember 2004 as the year that my efforts, and the efforts of so many others who believed in the president, paid off.

Looking forward, the challenges that we as a nation face will only grow. The war on terror is at a critical stage, with everything hinging on victory in Iraq. As 2005 arrives and the January elections in Iraq draw closer, the enemies of freedom and human decency will only grow increasingly more desperate, and in turn more deadly. But knowing the heart and soul of America as I do, I know that we as a nation will remain strong and resolved and persevere onto victory. Fighting for freedom and democracy is what Americans do best, and we will continue that fight into 2005 and beyond.

With each new year there is always renewed hope, and this time around is no different. With 2005 only hours away, I am hopeful that we will accomplish great things in 2005, both domestically and abroad. And who knows, maybe the Seahawks will get to the Super Bowl!

Have a Happy New Year and God Bless the United States of America.

The Effectiveness of Attack Ads

In a new article in the Washington Post, E.J. Dionne argues that the key reason President Bush won reelection was his relentless attack ads against John Kerry. There are two major things wrong with this assertion:

1. Attack Ads don't work unless they are valid. Democrats argued the same thing following the '88 election, saying that Bush Sr. won because he went so negative on Gov. Dukakis, citing the infamous Willie Horton Ad as an example. But the reason the Horton Ad hurt Dukakis is because it was valid and went to how Dukakis governed. The same is true for ads criticizing Sen. Kerry. Charges of flip-flopping resonated because it was backed up by the senator's record, summed up by his infamous quote, "I actually did vote for it before I voted against it."
2. For the left to claim victim status in this matter is totally duplicitous. Senator Kerry was only able to overtake Dean in the primaries because he sank to criticizing the president as much as Dean was, and this went on straight through to election day. This doesn't take into account the millions that were spent by liberal 527's to slander the president, or all the lies that were put forth by Michael Moore and Hollywood, or the fact that the MSM was the most negative towards President Bush than any other presidential candidate in history. The fact is, the left went much more negative than the Bush Campaign or Republicans did.

Grooming Brother Jeb

There has been a lot of speculation that the reason President Bush sent his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to South Asia to evaluate the damage down there as part of a U.S. delegation headed by Secretary Colin Powell is to groom him for the GOP nomination in '08. There might be some truth to this, but I have to take Governor Bush at his word when he says he's not interested in running. Also, I don't know how receptive the country would be to another Bush Administration directly after his brother's two terms. If Jeb wants to run, he should probably wait until 2012 or 2016, because I do think he would make a very good president judging by his record in Florida.

I think the real reason the president sent his brother down is to demonstrate how concerned he is with the crisis down there. Sending a member of one's own family gives the message to those observing that you are deeply concerned and involved in the situation. Sending Governor Bush down was a good move by the president.

117, 000 Now Dead In Tsunami Disaster

As the casualties continue to rise and the crisis deepens, my thoughts and prayers go out to all those that have been, and currently are being affected by the recent tsunami in South Asia. Those being affected can rest assured that the United States will continue to do all she can to assist those in need.

Wake Up Liberals!

The American Left has needed to be slapped in the face and brought to their senses for some time now, and that's exactly what Victor Davis Hanson has done here. His analogy of Democrats as dinosaurs is humorous but completely valid at the same time.

Understanding The Tax Code

Here is an interesting analogy for how the tax system, and tax cuts work:

“Understanding Tax Cuts”
by: David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D

Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal left exclaim; “It’s just a tax cut for the rich!” and it is just accepted to be fact.

But what does that really mean?Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully.

Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.” Dinner for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to workout the amounts each should pay. And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings). The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings). Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got $10!”“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than me!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison.“We didn't’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen
Ph.D Professor of Economics University of Georgia

Good little lesson for all those who claim tax cuts are for the wealthy.\

Hat Tip: PoliPundit

The U.N.'s Moral Authority

I guess some are now a little P.O.'d that President Bush has organized a four country coalition of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia to coordinate relief efforts in the tsunami ravaged regions of South Asia. Supposedly, it is the U.N. that should be coordinating such efforts because, "It is the only body that has the moral authority," said former International Development Secretary Clare Short.

Any organization that gives a wink to the Oil-For-Food scandal or sits on their hands while genocide takes place in Sudan does not have moral authority. The U.N. forfeited any shred of moral authority they had long ago.

Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs.

Apart From All The Rest

Joe Lieberman has always been one of the more credible, level-headed Democrats around, always following his conscience and not partisan motives. Though he is by no means a fan of President Bush (he did after all seek the Democratic nomination to challenge the president), he does not let that cloud his judgment and sense of reality, something that cannot be said for most of Senator Lieberman's Democratic cohorts.

On a recent trip to Iraq, Lieberman stated his belief that the elections must go forward, that we are defeating the terrorists, and that the majority of Iraqis want to be free. These comments are the reality of the situation, not what Michael Moore and the rest of the Democratic Party would have you believe. It is this adherence to principle that separates Senator Lieberman from most of his party, and he is a model of the type of person Democrats will need if they want to start winning elections again.

Hat Tip: Blogs For Bush

What's The Big Deal?

I was watching a segment of Scarborough Country tonight, and as a guest Joe had Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-NY. Congressman Weiner was incredulous as to what the big deal was over the Democrats filibustering of a few of President Bush's judicial nominees. He's gotten 90% of his nominees approved, so what's the big deal right? Wrong.

Too often nowadays, activist judges are legislating from the bench, whether it be outlawing the Pledge Of Allegiance or declaring gay marriage legal. Congressman Weiner said that we need non-ideological judges, ones that are not to the left or to the right. He is correct in this, however the problem is not conservative judges, but far left judges trying to coerce their ideology upon the rest of the nation, whether their rulings have any basis in the constitution or not. Nominating conservative, constructionist judges to the bench is vitally important to not only preserving the constitution, but preserving the proper role of the judiciary, which is to interpret current law, not make new law. This is why Democrats in the Senate must stop this practice of denying any judicial nominee what they rightly deserve, an up or down vote on the Senate floor.

Rossi Calls For Re-Vote

Moments ago Dino Rossi called for Christine Gregoire to join him in support of a new gubernatorial election. He correctly cited the point that she will be viewed as illegitimate in the eyes of Washingtonians and that the only way to insure a legitimate governor is to put the decision back into the people's hands, not in the hands of the King County Canvassing Board or the state Supreme Court.

Having a new election is the only way that Republicans should contest this election now, for simply trying to re-overturn in it in Rossi's favor will put us in the same boat as the Democrats. If there is no new election, than we must move on and prepare for '06 and '08.

New Year Resolutions

Here is a list of ten new years resolutions from one very angry liberal. He does make a good point on resolution #8, but the rest only provides ways in which to doom the Democratic Party into oblivion for years to come.

Hat Tip: Blogs For Bush

Rossi In '08!

Dino Rossi has filed papers with the Public Disclosure Commission, registering himself a candidate for the gubernatorial race in '08. This can mean one of two things really. One, it allows him to raise funds for the current recount fiasco, or two, he has no intention of running for Senate in '06 and plans to take what is rightfully his by defeating an illegitimate Gregoire in four years. I hope it is the latter, for a gracious concession now will put him in great shape to defeat a weak Gregoire in four years.

UBL Weighs In On Iraqi Elections

Usama bin Laden's recent call for Iraqis to boycott the upcoming elections in January provides further reason to insure that those elections are held on schedule. Usama's desperate plea reiterates the fact that his way of terror cannot survive in a democratic Middle East, and he knows it. Terrorism can prosper because it profits off of the poverty, oppression, and hopelessness that exists in the region. When you remove all that with freedom, terrorism quickly dies at the root.

The terror in Iraq will only get worse between now and the election, but thanks to the comments from UBL we know that we are winning this war on terror, and that we will win a great victory when Iraqis go to the polls and reject forever that oppression and hopelessness that they have lived through for so long. UBL and his fellow terrorists see this and it terrifies them.

Those Stingy Americans

The State Department was put on the defensive today following U.N. humanitarian aid chief Jan Egeland's comments that many of the world's wealthy nations were being "stingy" in regards to supplying aid to the tsunami ravaged countries of South Asia.

"It is beyond me why we are so stingy, really," were Mr. Egeland's exact comments.

There is no doubt that this comment was directed towards the United States, and is really absurd. To back up his claim of American stinginess, Mr Egeland cites the fact that the preliminary aid being supplied to the region is only a few tenths of a percentage of our GDP. This number is misleading, for what Mr. Egeland doesn't take into account is the fact that America provides more international aid than any other nation, or any other combination of nations for that matter. Nor does he take into account the billions of dollars we spend defending not only ourselves, but the rest of the world as well. He also ignores the existence of our free trade laws, which allow the less wealthy nations such as Mexico to profit from America, sometimes at the expense of Americans (textiles moving to foreign nations for cheaper labor being an example).

An interesting sidenote to all of this, while the U.S. has promised $35 million in aid so far, our friends the French have only promised $135, 000. Now that's stingy.

UPDATE (10:58 p.m.): Tom Bevan provides some perspective on the tsunami and the fight in Iraq.

'Baghdad Jim' Comes Under Investigation

Rep. James McDermott, D-WA, is now under investigation by a four member sub-committee in the House of Representatives for allegedly leaking a taped phone conversation between two Republicans to the press. The phone conversation and the subsequent leaking dealt with the ethics investigation into than House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.

This is just another blotch on the Seattle liberal's already shaky record. Mcdermott if you will remember, sparked public outrage when he criticized the United States during a trip to Baghdad a few years back, though this was undoubtedly applauded by many of his far-left, Seattle constituency. Mcdermott's conduct over the years has proven that he is simply a far-left hack, willing to do and say anything that makes not only Republicans look bad, but the United States as well.

UPDATE (2:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 29): Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics provides further analysis on the character of Jim Mcdermott.

Panel On Tax-Reform

President Bush has announced he will appoint a "citizens" panel to look into tax reform. It will likely take this panel months to come to it's conclusions and therefore it doesn't look like the President will be tackling this issue in 2005. Instead he will probably focus on Social Security Reform as his main domestic goal for the year. President Bush and his administration need to be careful about putting of legislative goals for too long however, for it will only be a couple years until Bush assumes lame duck status and will lose his influence with congress.

Sri Lanka Rejects Tsunami Help

Even with thousands of deaths as a result from the recent tsunami, as well as the prospect of even further deaths as a result of disease, Sri Lanka has rejected the offer of Israel to send a 150 member mission that was to set up an emergency medical center in the country. Though Sri Lanka has accepted blankets and such from the Israeli Military, they are not willing to put aside anti-Israeli feelings for the good of their people, who are still in grave danger. What is so puzzling about this is the degree to which so much of the world dislikes and even hates Israel, to the point where they will reject much needed help from them.

Hat Tip: Powerline

America's New Divide

John Podhoretz provides some interesting perspective on the Military Times Poll Released yesterday. He points out that there is a growing divide between Democrats and the military. While Democrats are against the war effort by a 80 to 19% margin, the military overwhelmingly supports it, especially those who have served in combat. It's interesting how most of the left, which is disconnected from reality in so many ways, uniformly opposes what we are doing in Iraq, while those who are actually putting their lives on the line support it.

Gas Prices Continue To Fall

According to the Energy Department, gasoline prices have once again gone down, dropping to a national average of $1.791. This represents the eighth straight week gas prices have dropped, with the most recent drop a 2.7 cent drop from the previous week. I thought President Bush had made a secret deal with his friends the Saudis for gas prices to drop before the election, not after? Or could it be that the Mideast dictators weren't real big fans of President Bush's efforts to spread democracy in the region, causing them to possibly raise gas prices to hurt the President's re-election chances?

Somehow, I think the latter is what really happened.

Armed Forces Support Efforts in Iraq

In what is sure to be a shock to the liberal establishment in America, a recently released poll shows that 63% of the military approve of President Bush's handling of the Iraq situation. Other notable results from the poll are:

• 60% believe war in Iraq is worth fighting, which strikes a hole in the argument that Iraq is another Vietnam, where most who were fighting there didn't believe the war was worth fighting and disapproved of the political leadership.
• 2/3 of combat vets believe war is worth fighting.
• 87% satisfied with their jobs, while only 25% would leave the service if they had the choice.
• 60% blame congress for the lack of body armor, not Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush Administration. This also explains why the military didn't go for Kerry in the election, who voted against supplying them body armor.
• Only 12% believe Pentagon should be held accountable for Abu Ghraib.