California Conservative

While it’s doubtful that Charlie Rangel has served his last day as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, it’s entirely possible that he’ll soon be the subject of an ethics investigation. Here’s why:

Representative Charles B. Rangel paid no interest for more than a decade on a mortgage extended to him to buy a villa at a beachfront resort in the Dominican Republic, according to Mr. Rangel’s lawyer and records from the resort.

The loan was given to him by the resort development company, in which Theodore Kheel, a prominent New York labor lawyer, was a principal investor. Mr. Kheel, who has given tens of thousands of dollars to Mr. Rangel’s campaigns over the past decade, had encouraged the congressman to be one of the initial investors in the project.

The loan, which was extended to Mr. Rangel in 1988, was originally to be paid back over seven years at a rate of 10.5 percent. But within two years, interest on the loan was waived for Mr. Rangel and six other early investors because the resort was generating less income than projected, according to a statement released on Friday by Jose Oliva, director of the resort.

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Since Hurricane Sarah swept the Lower 48, we’ve been hit with a downpour of information and misinformation about Gov. Palin. It’s time we learned with the people of Alaska think of her. That’s why I loved reading this commentary from Butch King, a pilot and guide at Wildman Lake Lodge. It gives us a great look at the Sarah Palin we don’t know about. Here’s the most powerful graph of the entire article:

When Sarah walked into the Governor’s Mansion, she promptly dismissed the State Trooper detachment assigned to the Governor and had her and her husband’s gun case brought in from Wasilla. Then, she got rid of the former Governor’s STATE jet and told legislators that there were no more free rides. They would have to fly Alaska Airlines if they wanted to travel, just like she and her family. Next came the nut cutting (the Barracuda part) and the heads that rolled were too numerous to name. (more…)

I get studies from the Heritage Foundation on a fairly regular basis. Friday afternoon’s email caught my attention more than most, though. This study is why:

Recent projections by the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office reveal that the highway trust fund will run out of money during FY 2009. Unless the fund is replenished soon, federal spending on highways could decline significantly as the fund reverts to a spend-as-you-earn basis until a permanent remedy is enacted. Until then, one solution is to re-concentrate the fund’s focus on highway investment and safety by abandoning the many low priority and non-transportation diversions that now encumber the federal program.[1]

The Democratic majority will instantly demand passage of Jim Oberstar’s gas tax increase. I doubt it’ll make it that far (Senate Republicans would likely filibuster it) but if it gets to President Bush’s desk, he’ll certainly veto the bill.

As with most things, it isn’t that there isn’t enough revennue. It’s that there isn’t any spending discipline. It’s apparent, too, that Congress hasn’t prioritized their spending. They’ve focused their spending on earmarks, aka corruption magnets, aka re-election slush funds, rather than focusing spending on high priority items. If, and hopefully when, a McCain-Palin administration starts, rest assured that they’ll quickly restore order. (more…)

Sometime last night, I got another Obama fundraising letter. after reading it, it’s safe to say that Obama’s audacity is still intact. Here’s what the fundraising letter said:

Friend –

Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people? With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.

Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities.

You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country.

The organizers that Sen. Obama is talking about have a name. That name is ACORN, the voter fraud specialists. ACORN is more than a little shy in terms of getting in front of a camera. Sen. Obama doesn’t want this connection publicized, either. (more…)

Kirsten Powers is one of the rational liberals on the national scene. Her column in this morning’s NY Post is additional proof that she’s got her head screwed on straight. Here’s my favorite line in the column:

Hmm: Palin isn’t running for president; she’s running for vice president. Last time I checked, John McCain isn’t dying. And if experience is your worry, there’s plenty to worry about on the opposing ticket if, God forbid, something happens to Joe Biden.

AMEN, Kirsten. That thought should scare the living bejeebers out of thoughtful voters all across the nation. It’s impossible to forget Sen. Obama’s deer-in-the-headlights look when Russia invaded Georgia. If not for that, Obama likely would’ve picked Kathleen Sebelius as his running mate:

“He really wanted [Kansas Gov. Kathleen] Sebelius,” says one Obama insider with knowledge of the Democrat candidate’s vetting process. “And if our European tour had played better here at home, she might have been the pick.”

But, says the insider, the campaign’s internal polling indicated what the public polling indicated, that Obama failed in his European sojourn to build out his foreign policy credentials. “We needed the foreign policy on the bottom of the ticket more than we want to admit,” says the insider.

That isn’t the only wisdom found in Ms. Powers’ column. Here’s another great tidbit of wisdom: (more…)

Many in the Right Blogosphere have brought up the inexperience subject. To be fair, they’ve done so in a thoughtful manner. Two such people are Kevin at Pundit Review and Allahpundit at HotAir.

Here are a couple of concerns Kevin raises:

McCain turns 72 years old today. When thinking about a VP, I believe voters look at them and think, “can I imagine this person as president”. For all his flaws, Joe Biden passes that test. Will Sarah Palin? I don’t know?

Can she hold her own against a hostile press corps? How about against Joe Biden for that matter? The only honest answer is that nobody knows. I saw her about a month ago on Larry Kudlow’s TV show and I thought she did ok, not great, just ok. If that was my impression watching her in friendly territory, how will she do when really pressed?

With all due respect to Kevin, Joe Biden only passes the test stylistically. That isn’t nearly good enough for me. It’s why I ignored statements like this or that candidate “looks presidential.” When Sen. Obama took his overseas trip, especially after his meetings with President Sarkozy and PM Brown and in his ‘Citizen of the World’ speech in Berlin, the press practically wet their pants in talking about how presidential he looked. (more…)

Pundits all across the country are buzzing about Sarah Palin and the impact she’s having on the Obama-McCain matchup. This represents typical inside-the-box thinking. I think it’s also out of step with a new matchup that’s taking center stage: the Palin-Obama matchup.

People across America still understand that the presidential matchup is still McCain-Obama but they’re starting to notice that, when it comes to reform, it’s really a Palin-Obama matchup.

Prior to Gov. Palin’s entry into the mix, people generally thought of Sen. Obama as a change agent, a reformer. Now that people are finding out how Sarah Palin took on the powers-that-be within the Republican Party of Alaska and how she ran out the Republican Attorney General before thrashing the sitting Republican governor in a GOP primary, people are taking a second look at Sen. Obama’s reformer’s credentials.

The closer the scrutiny, I predict, the less impressed voters will be with Sen. Obama. The reason for that is because his reformer’s credentials are largely nonexistent. While he made his way up the food chain in Chicago’s crony-laden political system, Sen. Obama didn’t utter a peep about the corruption that dotted Chicago’s political landscape.

Instead, he picked friends like Jeremiah Wright, a racist, and William Ayers, a terrorist. While those relationships with radicals prove that Obama isn’t an inside-the-box politician, those relationships don’t prove that he’s got an ambition to change the status quo when the status quo is corrupt.

In fact, what it really proves is that, putting it charitably, Sen. Obama’s judgment on personal matters is suspect. It also calls into question Sen. Obama’s priorities. Based on this information, it’s difficult to prove that reforming Washington is a priority. (more…)

John Forbes Kerry, one-time Democratic presidential nominee and career politician who lost to George W. Bush in 2004 and still remains bitter, has just returned to insult our intelligence. Again. This time, he’s done what I didn’t think possible. Here’s what he just said:

“With the choice of Gov. Palin, it’s the third term of Dick Cheney,” Kerry said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “He’s chosen somebody who doesn’t believe climate change is man-made.”

Kerry added that Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters should be offended if people suggest Palin was selected to draw some of the female vote away from the Barack Obama-Joe Biden ticket.

“It’s almost insulting to the Hillary supporters,” Kerry said, calling Palin a “Cheneyesque social conservative who’s going to satisfy the base. John McCain is a prisoner of the right wing, not a maverick.”

Comparing Sarah Palin to Dick Cheney is like comparing a pistol to a rifle. They both shoot, but they’re entirely different. Calling the comparison a stretch is an understatement. Calling Kerry’s remark idiotic would be redundant.

Actually, I shouldn’t call Sen. Kerry an idiot. I don’t want to demean idiots that way. That isn’t fair.

UPDATE: Just when I thought liberals couldn’t get more stupid than Sen. Kerry, I get an email from the DNC. Here’s the spin they’re selling this morning: (more…)

Friday evening, Mort Kondracke of the Beltway Boys said during the roundtable portion of Special Report that Sarah Palin wasn’t qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. I took offense with that, especially considering the ineptitude and qualifications of Sen. Obama, who wouldn’t be “one heartbeat away from the Oval Office”.

This morning, I wrote an email to Mr. Kondracke. Here’s the text of that email:

Mort, You’ve really outdid yourself this time. Saying that Gov. Palin, who’s visited Kuwait to talk with the troops from Alaska’s National Guard deployed in the Gulf, who’s rooted out corruption within her own party, isn’t qualified is uninformed opinion. It’s also irresponsible journalism.

Why haven’t you talked about Obama’s lack of qualifications? As you know, he chairs a subcommittee with oversight on Afghanistan. As you know, that subcommittee hasn’t met under his control. He’s been to Iraq twice. The last time he visited, he couldn’t even admit that the surge had worked because his hyperpartisanship wouldn’t allow him to admit that.

Who’s qualified to be commander-in-chief? It isn’t the junior senator from Illinois. (more…)

The editorial board at the Wall Street Journal have posted their thoughts about Sen. McCain’s picking Gov. Sarah Palin. The entire editorial is up to their high standards and well worth reading. I want to focus on something that will become clear in the days and weeks ahead.

Here’s the key paragraph in the editorial:

Experience?

For starters, we’d say Governor Palin’s credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama’s. Mr. Obama rose through the Chicago Democratic machine without a peep of push-back. Alaska’s politics are deeply inbred and backed by energy-industry money. Mr. Obama slid past the kind of forces that Mrs. Palin took head on. This is one reason her selection, despite its campaign risks, seems to have been so well received by Republicans yesterday. They are looking for a new generation of leaders.

Sen. Obama likes talking the talk but his reform accomplishments are thin to nonexistent. In fact, I haven’t seen proof that he’s ever even attempted to spearhead a reform movement. Perhaps it exists but I’m not betting on it. Instead, I’d bet that reform isn’t a priority with any Chicago machine-style politician. (more…)