Today's Reason NOT To Vote For Obama

According to this mlive.com story, Governor Jennifer Granholm may well be on Barack Obama's short list of nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With three liberal justices now ages 89, 75, and 69, it is nearly certain that the next president will have an opportunity to shape the high court for the better; Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Souter have all been consistently liberal and unconstitutional in their judgments. To elect Obama is to virtually guarantee that any of them will be replaced with someone just as bad...or worse! Jennifer Granholm fits into that category.

Do you want to see Roe v. Wade overturned? Do you want to see the Court affirm private property rights? Don't vote for Obama!

How Smart Is Biden, Anyway?

As if referring to President FDR's famous 1929 TV speech on the stock market crash wasn't evidence enough of his lack of knowledge of social studies (In case you didn't know, FDR wasn't yet president, nor was television yet invented, in 1929)...he misspoke badly about the Constitution's description of the duties of the vice-president during last week's vice-presidential debate.

In this article, you can read what both Biden and Palin had to say about the position. The Constitution says this:

“The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.”

Here is Biden's lengthy quote:

"Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive, and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous."

And here is Sarah Palin's more intelligent comment on the matter:

"Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that's not only to preside over the Senate and [I] will take that position very seriously also. I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chooses to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are."

And did anyone notice that the media doesn't notice Biden's rather frequent mistakes?

Maddening Story of the Day

This piece comes from the Associated Press, and can be found here. Here are excerpts...the ones that irritate me...

EATON RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday signed into law a package that will require more electricity to come from renewable sources, raise residential rates, restrict competition among power companies and encourage energy efficiency.

Granholm held two energy bill-signing ceremonies, one in Detroit and one in Eaton Rapids southwest of Lansing. She said the new measures will create new renewable energy jobs.

She had two ceremonies to celebrate the raising of my electric rates?!?

Residential energy rates are expected to rise now that the measures are law. The state's largest utility, DTE Energy, estimated a typical resident could pay an extra $12 to $15 a month for electricity within five years. Consumers Energy, the second-biggest utility, estimated an average residents may pay $6 to $7.50 more.

And, no, the fact that Consumers serves the Kalamazoo area does not give me any comfort.

Hymn of the Week: I Am Thine, O Lord

Fanny Crosby reminds us in this hymn of our relationship: I am Thine, O Lord.... We do not belong to ourselves. We belong to Him.

That's why the chorus, saying "Draw me nearer," should be the song of our heart. Our penchant is not to be drawn toward God; our flesh pulls us away.

I Am Thine, O Lord

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Refrain

Draw me nearer, nearer blessèd Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessèd Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

Refrain

O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!

Refrain

There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.

Refrain

Obama Blue Day In Public Schools! What?!?

The Virginia state teachers' union has announced that Tuesday would be an "Obama Blue Day"—teachers were to wear blue-colored shirts to school in order to show unity and support for their preferred candidate.

The Virginia Education Association sent out an e-mail on 9/25 with these instructions. However, it said that this was not intended to encourage teachers to use their classrooms for partisan political purposes, although they could use the occasion to encourage their 18-year-old students to register to vote.

I suspect that some of these teachers, however, are Republicans, and are rip-roaring mad that their union, which sucks away their money like so many mosquitoes, has the audacity to slap them in the face like this. I hope they wear red on that day.

This is yet another example of a great problem of public education: It's OK to say or do what you want—so long as it is liberal, or godless. Had conservatives or Christians done something similar (How about a "Wear green for God" day??), would there be outrage?

Not a Good Week in Politics...But You Have To Love This!

It was not a good week on the political front: Congress passed, and the president unwisely signed, a fat bailout bill that will cost me a lot of money over the next however-many years; McCain signed off on the same; and the McCain campaign (after spending a lot of money over the past few months on ho-hum commercials) announced that they are pulling resources out of Michigan. But...

Incidentally, here's an article I read where economists generally agree, left and right alike: The bailout plan is not good policy.

In this foxnews.com article, based on an interview earlier in the day, we got the good news that somebody in the McCain campaign—Sarah and Todd Palin—wants to campaign here! Here is a portion of the article:

Sarah Palin criticized John McCain's decision to pull campaign resources out of Michigan in an interview with FOX News on Friday, saying she and her husband Todd would "be happy" to campaign in the economically distraught battleground state.

The Republican vice presidential nominee, on the heels of her debate with Joe Biden, also took a second stab at questions that seemed to trip her up during recent interviews, declaring that she looks "forward to speaking to the media more and more every day."

Palin said the decision to pull out of Michigan, which was announced Thursday, was "not a surprise" to her since polls show McCain slipping in the state.

But Palin said that when she read the news, she "fired off a quick e-mail and said, 'Oh come on, do we have to?'"

"Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan ...We'd be so happy to speak to the people there in Michigan who are hurting," she said. "Whatever Todd and I can do in realizing what their challenges in that state are .... I wanna get back to Michigan and I want to try."

It's unclear whether the McCain campaign will heed Palin's request. McCain aides said on a conference call Thursday that Michigan had always been the weakest of the toss-up states for them, and that they are still competing in several other battlegrounds like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and moving resources into high-stakes states like Florida.

Dave Ramsey on the Economic "Crisis"

I stumbled upon this one-page summary by Dave Ramsey about how the economic "crisis" should have been dealt with. It is readable and understandable...and it makes a ton more sense than the legislation passed today.

I am thoroughly disgusted by the actions of Congress the past three days. I am displeased with both the president and my own republican congressman for their firm support of a bad idea that will cost me, my family, my loved ones, and pretty much all taxpayers a lot of money to solve a "crisis" that, quite frankly, was avoidable...or at least could have been dealt with more sensibly.

Hopefully these suggestions will someday be incorporated into our financial system.

Lies!

Michigan GOP Party chairman Saul Anuzis sent along the following list...I don't think he will mind if I copy it here.

Sarah Palin did indeed do a fine job last evening in the VP debate! I'd far rather have her than her opponent.

JOE BIDEN’S 14 LIES TONIGHT

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people's health insurance coverage -- they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false.

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska -- she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it's not a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation -- he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.”

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won't pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

Palin-Biden Debate: Something to Make Note of...

Tomorrow evening's vice-presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden will be moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS.

PBS, of course, is a notoriously left-leaning network. Ifill is soon to come out with a new book that is pro-Obama. Ifill was also cited in complaints last month that after Palin's acceptance speech at the RNC, she had looks described as "dismissive" and "disgust" (this, according to the PBS ombudsman).

NOTE: This means that Gwen Ifill has a financial stake in Obama winning the election.

The mainstream media desparately wants Obama to win and McCain (and Palin, especially) to fail. We should not expect evenhandedness tomorrow evening. Sarah Palin will be up against an experienced senator in a hostile environment.

Pray for her success. More details on this story here and here.