35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE
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IT WASN'T THE FUNDING, STUPID!-- Hours after the 35W bridge collapsed, DFLers were blaming the "No Tax Crowd". The final NTSB report puts an end to this myth.
• OBERSTAR: KING OF PORK -- Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten reveals that, until the I-35W disaster, Congressman Jim Oberstar's funding focus was NOT on bridges. The Wall Street Journal provides a revealing look at DFL Congressman Jim Oberstar and the politics of transportation spending.
• OF BRIDGES AND TAXES -- Strib columnist Katherine Kersten laments Democrat attempts to politicize every human tragedy. Matt Abe says those who demand light rail lines are leading us to financial disaster.
• MINNESOTANS CONTINUE TO OPPOSE GAS TAX -- According to a new KSTP survey, only 38 of Minnesotans support a gas tax increase. The message is no new taxes. Let's find out what caused the bridge collapse -- and then let's find out what Minnesota did with its $2.2 billion annual MnDOT budget instead of discovering and repairing the problem with the 35W Bridge.
• DID MINNESOTA'S "LOW TAXES" CAUSE THE BRIDGE COLLAPSE? -- Poweline's John Hinderaker responds to Nick Coleman's disgusting commentary. UPDATE: The Department of Transportation reports that federal transportation spending has increased 46 percent in the past six years.
 

3RD DISTRICT
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• TAX CREDITS CAN ENCOURAGE LIFELONG LEARNING -- Representative Erik Paulsen favors education tax credits to encourage workers to set aside money for college -- not for their children, but for themselves.
 

AL FRANKEN
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• FUNNY BUSINESS IN THE MN SENATE RACE -- Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations of Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and a meek state Canvassing Board, Mr. Franken may emerge as an illegitimate victor.
• MORE AL FRANKEN BUSINESS WOES -- Al Franken has finally admitted he failed to comply with workers comp and disability benefits laws. Now we learn that a Franken owned business didn't file taxes from 2003 to 2007.
• THE CONTINUING SCANDAL AT AIR AMERICA -- The New York Sun takes on the Air America story and advances it by leaps and bounds, talking with the president of the non-profit which had its money taken by Air America founder Evan Cohen. It turns out that Cohen didn't just get money for Al Franken's liberal radio network, but also managed to get plenty for his own pockets. Now we have potential wire fraud, forgery, fraud by deception, and probably much much more.
• AIR AMERICA STEALS HALF MILLION DOLLARS FROM BRONX KIDS CHARITY -- From the Wash Times: Did thousands of dollars earmarked to help the elderly and inner city youth get diverted to the bank accounts of Al Franken and his liberal radio network? So far no explanation from Franken. Voters in 2008 would be wise to remember this when certain U.S. Senate candidates come looking for their vote.
 

BIG LABOR
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• BAILING OUT THE AUTO UNIONS -- The feelings of many taxpayers are humorously expressed in this advertisement. For further discussion, see this short video from the Cato Institute and this commentary by James Sherk of Heritage, who points out that the widely-cited $73 per hour figure for labor costs does NOT include legacy medical and retirement benefits. And on WSJ reader comments: “To force us all to pony up billions upon billions of dollars to save these companies is to force us to buy what we have already decided we do not want. That's about as un-American as you can get.”
• EXTRA-CONSTITUTIONAL LABOR UNIONS -- In 1992, the voters of Washington state declared that unions could not use member dues for political purposes without explicit authorization from the person. Somehow the Washington Education Association (WEA) convinced the state Supreme Court that this was an undue burden on their freedom of speech. Now, in a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court has smacked down that decision.
 

PRESIDENT BUSH
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• PEGGY NOONAN STATES THE OBVIOUS -- Former Reagan speechwriter says President Bush has torn his conservative coalition asunder. Old news but a good read.
• BUSH: "WE MUST NOT FAIL IN IRAQ" -- Transcript of the President's State of the Union Speech. Many lawmakers used the occasion to catch a nap. Some suggest that it was Nancy Pelosi's nonstop blinking that lulled them into a stupor.

CBS
NEXT SUBJECT      See also: CNN and Media Bias

• CBS POLL IS A LIE -- More "fake but accurate" news from our mainstream media. Mitch Berg exposes the fraud behind the new CBS poll that supposedly shows President Bush's approval rating at an all-time low.
• PEGGY NOONAN: After the Dan Rather scandal, American journalism will never be the same.
• FLASHBACK #1: The DFL website "Minnesota Republican Watch" criticizes SD42 Republicans for claiming that the CBS memos were fake.
• FLASHBACK #2: The Democratic National Committee releases their "Fortunate Son" ad based on the fake CBS memos literally hours after the story went out.
• MEDIA DISGRACE -- Thomas Sowell argues that when media integrity is missing, it's far more dangerous than missing explosives.

BUSTED! CBS TRIES TO STEAL ELECTION WITH FAKE DOCUMENTS
• THE PROOF: This short flash animation shows how CBS faked the documents. • THE COVER-UP: NY Times takes CBS apart. Washington Post says the documents were almost certainly forged. New Republic calls CBS an embarrassment to the profession. ABC News reports CBS ignored its own experts.
• CBS SOURCE CALLS BUSH "HITLER" -- Houston Chronicle says source of Dan Rather's forged documents has a "long history of Bush loathing." Meanwhile the father of Dan Rather's producer, Mary Mapes, says "I'm really ashamed of what my daughter has become."

CIVIL RIGHTS
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• RACISM OF THE LEFT -- Democrats in Maryland say that racism is ok if your target is a black conservative. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says that Supreme Court Clarence Thomas is not a true black person because he isn't a liberal Democrat.
• LINCOLN: HYPOCRITE OR STATESMAN? -- Anyone who has a negative opinion of President Lincoln (or believes the stuff spewed out of the mouth of Barack Obama) needs to read this essay by Dinesh D'Souza.
• ADAM SPARKS: The "GOP won't let blacks vote" myth..
 

COURTS
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• DEMS CONTINUE TO BLOCK JUDGES -- Stuart Taylor, Jr. argues that the Democrats would make a big mistake to turn down Leslie Southwick.
• BUSH DERANGEMENT SYNDROME -- Senator Russ Feingold explains to Chris Wallace that while's there no actual evidence of wrongdoing after a six-month investigation in the US Attorneys flap, he just has a gut feeling.
• GINSBURG VS. THE CONSTITUTION -- John Hinderaker, a Minneapolis attorney, discusses a recent speech by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg where she argues that foreign law should sometimes override our constitution.
• ALITO AND THE ANGRY LEFT -- Bill O'Reilly explains why secular progressives are very angry today.
• Peggy Noonan says that Democrats don't understand that the Alito hearings were, for them, not just a defeat -- but a disaster.
• Dan Gerstein reports that the left wing bloggers view the Alito hearings from an alternate universe.
• Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee would not pass THEIR OWN TEST for confirmation.
• Daniel Henninger says that Judge Alito, like Judge Roberts before him, came to discuss the law rather than Coke cans, which puts their Democrat questioners on unfamiliar ground.
• Statistical proof that Senators on the committee prefer the sound of their own voice than to actually hear answers to questions. Worst offender: Joe Biden (D-DE).
• Democrat smears take a human toll as Samuel Alito's wife leaves the hearing in tears.
• Wall Street Journal explains how the politics of personal destruction is backfiring on the Dems.
• The American Bar Association -- the Gold Standard in determining judicial qualification -- gives Judge Alito its highest recommendation.
• INTELLIGENT DESIGN DECISION -- A judge ruled that any theistic point of view presented in a public school as potentially valid is unconstitutional. Hugh Hewitt gives the highlights of the judge's decision.
• NY APPEALS COURT REJECTS GAY MARRIAGE -- A NY state appeals judge threw out a ruling that would have allowed gay couples to marry in New York City, saying it is not the role of judges to redefine the terms "husband" and "wife."
• CARRYING WATER FOR THE LEFT -- Rick Noyes of the Media Research Center compares the news coverage of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito with the coverage of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's nomination. The result is as you would have expected: outrageous liberal media bias. Powerline's Paul Mirengoff argues that the major news outlets have become nothing more than mouthpieces for liberal interest groups.
• MORE LIBERAL LUNACY FROM THE NINTH CIRCUIT COURT -- In California, parents have no right to protect their seven year old kids from school sponsored sex surveys. But in Wisconsin a college student has been ordered to stop having private Bible Studies with a group of his friends because he is an employee of the state.
• ACTIVIST JUDGES -- Mark Steyn ponders the legal mess that was created by recent Supreme Court decisions on Eminent Domain and the Ten Commandments.
• THEY WERE AGAINST IT BEFORE THEY WERE FOR IT -- The Star Tribune has been campaigning fiercely in recent weeks in favor of using filibusters to block President Bush's judicial nominees. But, as the Weekly Standard points out, that was not their position when Republicans were the minority.
• TEENAGE GIRLS SUED FOR BAKING COOKIES -- In one small Colorado town, being kind to your neighbors can cost you $800. Read the story and then decide whether or not we need litigation reform.
• One reason it costs so much to live in New York City: You have to pay for people who make stupid mistakes.
 

CRIME
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CULTURE WAR
NEXT SUBJECT      See also: Religious Freedom

• JUDICIAL ACTIVISM VS. TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE -- Kenji Yoshino explains why the recent California Supreme Court did more than legalize gay marriage. Powerline's Paul Mirengoff reports that Barack Obama's reaction is predictable.
• Few ideas are more harmful to this country than the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Senator Fred Thompson: Democrats want laws that “force radio stations to air their views.” Ed Morrissey: Democrats want to “dictate the content of political speech.” Rich Lowry: “After five years of opposing most assertions of government power to fight terrorism, these liberals are ready to wield it to fight conservative talk radio.” Radley Balko: Democrats “don't like that people are allowed to criticize them on public airwaves.”
• The University of Minnesota has announced it will not play any sports teams from the University of North Dakota because of their offensive "Fighting Sioux" nickname.
• In Washington DC, it took an Eagle Scout to restore the word "God" to flag certificates.
• DEMOCRATS PASS "THOUGHT CRIMES" BILL -- The vote in the U.S House was 237-180. President Bush promises a veto.
• DFL SENATE VOTES FOR SAME-SEX PARTNER BENEFITS -- Is this what you thought you were voting for last November? Did this appear on any of their campaign literature?
• RUSH STILL NUMBER ONE -- Here is the list of the top 250 radio talk show hosts.
• UNPROTECTED -- Sexual freedom is damaging to students. But health officials must not judge.
• MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS GONE WILD -- School administrators COULD step in and set standards, but that would be asking too much.
• SINGLE MOMS, MANY PROBLEMS -- In a country where almost 40% of children are born out of wedlock, some commentators are cheering our tolerance for diverse "lifestyle choices". Yet, experts who have looked closely at the phenomenon continue to insist that a married household is still the best way to raise kids.
• UND WINS A ROUND IN COURT -- UND is fighting the NCAA over the use of its nickname. Katherine Kersten explains the proud history of how the University of North Dakota came to be known as the Fighting Sioux.
• NY TIMES: NEW YORK PLANS TO MAKE GENDER A "PERSONAL CHOICE" -- Does your son Robert feel like Roberta today? No problem. In New York, there's no surgery necessary.
• THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE -- One of Peggy Noonan's best columns ever. We live in a nation that values free speech. That means hearing opinions that you agree with. But it also means hearing opinions that you DO NOT agree with. That's the price we pay for freedom and "it is a really a low price for such a great thing."
• DEMOCRAT WAR ON WALMART REVEALED -- A Wall Street Journal article digs into the cozy relationship between the Democratic Party and two of the most prominent anti-WalMart groups.
• KHANG AND QUEEN -- At St. Cloud State, the new homecoming queen is the lovely Fue Khang. Woops -- Khang is a man. Tradition doesn't seem to matter to our sanctimonious liberals -- it's just another forum to press their political points.
• YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK -- If your returning University of Minnesota student avoids getting mugged or beaten, they may be in for an exciting surprise. The U of M Women's Studies program has been renamed in order to be "more inclusive of students who don't identify with a gender." So if your son or daughter's gender is missing or unidentified, they'll now feel right at home.
• ARE YOU A REDNECK? -- If it never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase "One Nation Under God", you may be a redneck. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy.
• FIGHTING THE PC CROWD -- The University of North Dakota refuses to give up its sports nickname, the Fighting Sioux. Eric Fettmann in the NY Post argues that it is actually the NCAA, not UND, that is behaving "hostile and abusive."
• FIGHTING SIOUX FIGHT BACK -- The President of the University of North Dakota explains why the Sioux may have to sue the NCAA.
• Ben Shapiro reports how the California legislature is trying to require public schools to promote the homosexual lifestyle.
• A Wisconsin public school sex survey asks kids questions like: "Have you ever seen a man naked?" and "When did you decide you were a homosexual?" Creepy liberals again showing that they are fascinated by your kids.
• BROKEBACK HIGH? -- Gay activist organizations are being invited into Eden Prairie High School to have a word with your kids. Bonnie Gasper reports that their one-sided presentation is leaving out some fairly significant details.
• DEATH OF THE WEST -- Everyone seems to be commenting on this piece by Mark Stein. If you haven't yet done so, you need to read it.
• CAMPAIGN AGAINST WAL-MART -- If you've been wondering about the increasing volume of anti-Wal-Mart stories you've been seeing recently, Bloomberg's Kevin Hassett notes that a lot of them are the product of "a highly coordinated and heavily financed campaign."
• POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE WILD -- CNN now refers to blacks in other countries as "African American" whether or not they are American.
• IS WAL-MART GOOD FOR AMERICA? -- It is a testament to the public relations success of the anti-Wal-Mart campaign that this question is even being asked.
• WHY DEFEND MARRIAGE? -- If someone tells you that same-sex marriage won't affect your marriage, tell them to look at the mess they're creating in Canada.
• HOW THE LEFT HARMED AMERICA THIS WEEK -- Not a week goes by that some part of the Left does not make America less free and less safe. Dennis Prager gives three examples that especially stood out this past week.
• GETTING WORKED UP OVER TEAM MASCOTS -- The NCAA now says it will reconsider its ban on Florida State University's use of an American Indian mascot.
• WE SHALL OVERCOME? -- PETA whipped up a world of trouble during a recent demonstration when it placed images of tortured black Americans next to pictures of captive animals to in an attempt to gin up controversy for its animal rights campaigns.
• ACLU'S JIHAD AGAINST THE BOY SCOUTS -- The ACLU has won another victory against the Boy Scouts of America. The Pentagon can no longer sponsor jamborees.
• Three high schools in Maryland have bowed to pressure from a handful of parents and will stop using local churches as venues for graduation ceremonies because the ubiquitous Christian symbols make them uncomfortable. Will Minnetonka High School be next?
• Activists from PETA want an aquarium in California to stop serving fish in its cafeteria, saying that "serving fish at an aquarium is like serving poodle burgers at a dog show."
• ANYTHING ELSE? -- San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution banning comments that are deemed insensitive to people based on their race, religion, color, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, weight, height or place of birth. Board President Aaron Peskin assures us the move is not, however, an attack on free speech.
• DEMOCRATS DISCOVER A WIDE PARENTAL GAP -- Latest study by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, warns Democrats that their extreme positions on cultural issues are even alienating members of their own party. For example, the study finds that 91 percent of Howard Dean supporters support gay marriage compared with only 38 percent of Democrats.
• GOD FORBID -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the ACLU has stepped up its assault on scouting by insisting that the pledge “to do my duty to God and my country” makes the group ineligible for any sort of government funding or support. After being dumped by public schools and others, the Scouts are busy scrambling for sponsors.
• HATE MONGERING? -- A Florida resident who runs a website which allows people to report violations of immigration law is being accused of fomenting racial hatred.
• DENNIS PRAGER: Blue America: "The land of the easily offended."
 

DEMOCRATS
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• SHAMELESS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL -- Gerard Baker exposes how Hillary Clinton is attempting to cynically reconstruct her past. John Edwards likes to preach to you about "Two Americas" but, according to the Carolina Journal, his new estate is worth a cool $6 million. And Ed Morrissey covers the latest anti-American rant from John Kerry. Glenn Reynolds adds: “Like Jimmy Carter, he'll never forgive America for rejecting him, and he'll console himself with the approval of America's enemies.”
• COHEN CRITICAL OF DEMOCRAT SMEAR TACTICS -- It is not often that liberal columnist Richard Cohen takes his Democratic Party to task. But, to his credit, he has finally had it with the unfair and stupid attacks on Larry Summers, Tom Delay and William Bennett.

THOSE WEALTHY, ANGRY DEMOCRATS! • HARRY REID: MAN WITHOUT A PLAN -- U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid wraps up a busy week. First his smear letter against Rush Limbaugh backfires badly. Then he gets caught politicizing the California wildfires. Finally, he fails on the DREAM Act, his latest attempt to grant amnesty for illegal aliens. Meanwhile, we learn that the Democratic leadership is not getting its budget work done. No wonder Congress has an approval rating of only 11 percent. • CONGRESSMAN: BUSH AMUSED BY WAR DEAD -- Democrat Pete Stark says that President Bush gets amusement from seeing American soldiers' heads blown off. No matter what your opinion is of the war, comments like this are asinine and wrong." • WORST CONGRESS EVER -- Just 18 percent of Americans approve of the job the Democrat-led Congress is doing -- a new all-time low. The rating is the result of a leadership that has proved more interested in handing out subpoenas rather than governing the nation. • A FIELD TRIP TO REMEMBER -- Just a very sweet story on the difference between optimists and pessimists. • THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DEMOCRAT AND A REPUBLICAN -- Local blogger Matt Abe provides a great illustration. • THE PARTY OF HATE -- Lanny Davis, a devout liberal and former special counsel to President Clinton, discusses the overt anti-Semitism that is beginning to engulf the Democratic Party in Connecticut. • CULTURE OF CORRUPTION -- The U.S. House of Representatives votes to strip William Jefferson (D-Louisiana) of his Way and Means post after $100,000 in bribe money is found in his freezer. • Forbes lists 15 ways to live longer. Democrats might have a problem with number two. • A former aide to Senator Chuck Shumer (D-NY) pleads guilty to stealing the private credit reports of political opponents. Meanwhile Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) demonstrates the Democrats new national security strategy by slugging a cop. • TRIBUTE TO MRS. KING TURNS UGLY -- Democrats use ANOTHER funeral as a pep rally to further divide Americans and twist Dr. King's legacy. What is it with Democrats and funerals? Can't they just pay their respects without turning it into a partisan circus? In contrast, read President Bush's remarks here. • THE "ANGRY PARTY" -- Wash Times observes that all the anger that has been spewing from the Left lately may actually be hurting their chances at the polls. • AN UNWISE OLD OWL -- After 52 years of membership, Teddy Kennedy has quit the Owl Club, a social club that bans women. • HOWLING ABOUT "SCANDAL" -- Very useful post at Astute Blogger: A list of a full two dozen "idiotic phony scandals" the Left and the mainstream media have trumped up in an attempt to smear our president. • DEMOCRAT POPULARITY PLUMMETING -- There is evidence that the hateful face of today's Democrat party -- from Dick Durbin to Howard Dean -- is turning off the voters. • FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY OWES IRS $900,000 -- You would think that a political party that is so anxious to confiscate more and more of your money would at least pay their OWN tax bill! • OBSESSED IN THEIR HATRED -- Check out this photo taken on a St. Paul street. For many Democrats, no election that they don't agree with is ever over. For them, unrelenting opposition is more than a political position - it is a way of life. BUSTED! -- Felony indictments against five Kerry-Edwards campaign staffers (including sons of two prominent Democrats) for slashing tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vehicles on Election Day. The main concern of these folks seemed to center around the prospects of getting caught. The fact that what they were doing was morally wrong or anti-democratic doesn't even enter into the equation. • INSIDE A LIBERAL HATEFEST -- Ever wonder what happens at an anti-Bush rally? A San Francisco area website has the photos (WARNING: Some photos not suitable for children or work). One has to wonder about the mentality of people who simultaneously hate their fellow Americans yet want to rule them. • LIBERAL VALUES? -- Unfortunately, for many on the Left, this is what passes for tolerance and diversity. • LIBERAL HATE SPEECH -- From the Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby reviews the year in left wing looniness (summary: when in doubt, Republicans are Nazis). The list is comprehensive without mentioning Michael Moore even once. • INMATES STILL WANT TO RUN THE ASYLUM -- If you're one of those apathetic conservatives that stays home on election day because you think “it really doesn't matter”who controls the federal government, please keep this scene in mind when 2008 rolls around.

DEMOCRAT DIRTY TRICKS • PHONY SENATORS -- Andrew McCarthy expertly dissects the latest Democrat smear against Rush Limbaugh. • SANDY BERGER UPDATE -- Clinton aide hid classified terror documents in under a trailer. • WETTERLING'S DISGUSTING AD -- Everyone is talking about this ad. But not in a good way. John Hinderaker says Wetterling is "trying to turn the Foley scandal, coupled with her own son's murder, into a political career." • BEWARE THE "REFORMED REPUBLICAN" LIE -- Calling yourself a Republican and then bashing Republicans is a cute little persuasive trick that almost always collapses when you do a little research. • JUSTICE AT LAST -- Democrat saboteurs in Milwaukee get jail time for their election day tire slashing. • WAKE UP CALL -- Another devastating loss. Matt at North Star Liberty has the roundup on the latest Special Election in the West Metro suburbs. Once again we see that dirty campaigning works. • BERGER'S BURGLARY -- Former Clinton Security Advisor Sandy Berger stole secret documents from the National Archives. The documents reportedly showed that America under the Clinton Administration was laid bare to a 9-11 style terrorist attack. But Berger now admits he destroyed the evidence and, even worse, the Democrats don't care. • BEHIND THE DFL EFFORT TO CAPTURE THE MN HOUSE -- Former Representative Jim Rhodes says the DFL ads used against him were so dirty they made his wife sick. • DFL "527" GROUP HIT WITH RECORD FINE -- DFL House Minority Leader Matt Entenza's scheme attempted to cover up $600,000 in contributions. • BEHIND THE DFL'S DIRTY CAMPAIGN -- According to the Star Trib, the DFL spent $400,000 in negative ads and mailings against House GOP candidates in 2004. Defeated fifth-term Nicollet Republican Howard Swenson counted 19 attack mailings against him, with four high-cost, four-page glossy mailings in one day. • Vandals hit the GOP headquarters in North Carolina. • Wisconsin Republicans woke up Election Day morning to learn that 30 vans they had rented to take people to the polls had their tires slashed. • Republican Party headquarters in Spokane were burglarized and vandalized. This continues a wave of violence designed to intimidate Republican volunteers across the country.   • More reports of violence directed against Republicans in 2004: Gunshots in Knoxville. Offices ransacked in Orlando. Burglary in Seattle. Vandalism in Mississippi. Storming offices in Milwaukee. Fires in Baltimore. Trashing signs in Duluth. Urinating on signs in Akron. Even more here. And another here. Having been fed a steady diet of lies by their leadership, Democrats have become completely disconnected from reality. VANDALS HIT REPUBLICAN SIGNS IN MINNETONKA GOP campaign signs on Highway 7 in Minnetonka (on private property) are regularly trashed by those who want to dictate to others how they should think.

AMY KLOBUCHAR • HOW MUCH CRIME IS ENOUGH FOR AMY? -- How many times do you have to be arrested before you start doing serious time in Amy Klobuchar's Minneapolis? Apparently four felonies aren't enough. And four DWI convictions aren't enough. Shawn Louis was arrested 44 times -- apparently that isn't enough. Sunkeria Brown was arrested a whopping 96 times. Not enough. Apparently the number is greater than 100. • KLOBUCHAR: EXTREME ON ABORTION -- Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar says it isn't enough that women have the right to abort their unborn children -- even in the ninth month of pregnancy. She also wants to use your tax money to pay for it. • ANOTHER FAKER EXPOSED -- Just days away from Minnesota's fishing opener comes evidence that U.S. Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar is a recent convert to the joys of fishing -- VERY recent.

MIKE HATCH • Hatch in a bizarre meltdown, lashing out at Star Tribune reporters for a story not yet published. • WHO IS ACORN? -- Mike Hatch declares himself "very proud" of his endorsement by a far left group called ACORN. According to their website, the group advocates massive tax increases, defense cuts, and government run health care. • DEMOCRATS BEHAVING BADLY -- Hennepin County Judge delivers a stinging rebuke of Attorney General Mike Hatch, ending his four year witch hunt at Medica. • HATCH STRIKES OUT -- The persecution of former GOP chair Ron Eibensteiner has always been about Attorney General Mike Hatch abusing the legal system to stick it to the Republicans.

HOWARD DEAN • HOWARD THE COWARD -- The Washington Post reports that Democrats are starting to fear a strong anti-Dean backlash at the polls. Michael Goodwin in the NY Daily News says that Howard Dean is leading Democrats over a cliff. • CHICKEN LITTLE -- Howard Dean runs from a debate with the GOP chairman. Meanwhile he refuses to apologize for Democrat racism in the Maryland Senate race. • SMEARING ALITO -- The source of an anonymous and ugly smear piece against Judge Alito has now been traced directly to the Democratic National Committee. • HOWARD DEAN: SADDAM TREATED WOMEN BETTER -- Another cringe-worthy moment from the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. • HOWIE'S LATEST BIG LIE -- Democrat leader Howard Dean is running around telling audiences that Republicans support Eminent Domain. Question: Does he have no shame or no clue? • MORE FUN WITH DEANO -- Howard Dean on NBC News' Meet the Press: "You know that abortions have gone up 25 percent since George Bush was President?" Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and scores of other Democrats have been running around quoting variations of that particular false statistic. The nonpartisan group FactCheck.Org reveals that abortions have actually DECREASED under President Bush. • QUOTATIONS OF CHAIRMAN HOWARD -- A roundup of favorite quotes from the new leader of the Democratic Party. Some of these are pretty wild.

DICK DURBIN • DURBIN USES THUG TACTICS TO SILENCE CRITICS -- Democrat Senator Dick Durbin caused quite a stir when he compared American troops to Nazis. Now he is threatening to silence organizations who oppose him -- with IRS audits. Oh yeah, nothing says "free speech" quite like intimidation from the IRS! • HOW TO APOLOGIZE WITHOUT REALLY APOLOGIZING -- Chicago's mayor, Richard Daley, refused to play the game. Now, Senator Durbin has finally apologized. Or did he? The Dallas Morning News blasts Durbin's non-apology apology. • READ THE QUOTE -- Taking America-hatred to a brand new level, Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin compares the mild treatment of terrorists at Guantanamo to the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, Soviet gulags, and even Pol Pot's extermination camps. • MARK STEYN HAS THE RESPONSE -- This isn't a Democrat vs. Republican thing. Dick Durbin has slandered every American and has assisted the enemy with his sleaze. • ADL TO DURBIN: APOLOGIZE -- The Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on Durbin to repudiate his racist and bigoted attack and apologize to the American people. • POPULARITY SOARING... WITH TERRORISTS! -- Pro-terrorist network Al Jazeera praises the Senator's remarks. • REMARKS? WHAT REMARKS? -- Wash Times notes that prominent Democrats are refusing condemn the remarks. Hillary Clinton's response was classic.

ALGORE • THE SHAME OF AL GORE -- One Vice President accidentally hurts a hunting companion. Another Vice President intentionally defames the country.

MICHAEL MOORE • FRED THOMPSON SMACKS DOWN MICHAEL MOORE -- Michael Moore is currently working on his latest "documentary" where he trashes the U.S. health care system and praises the totalitarian system in Cuba. Responding to criticism, Moore challenged former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson to a debate. Thompson's reply is short, elegant, and right on. • Michael Reagan: Michael Moore hates America. • Newsweek/Michael Isikoff: Taking apart Moore's unfair movie point by point. • Democrat Ed Koch: Michael Moore's film is "shocking propaganda". • NY Post: "Movie is packed with points that Moore assumes his audience will never check." • Slate Magazine: "Dishonest, demogogic, piece of crap."

GARRISON KEILLOR • Democrat Garrison Keillor needs a lesson in "Minnesota Nice." His latest rant suggests that Republicans should have their health care cut off and left to die "in order to reduce the surplus population."

DEMS TAKE AIM AT FREE SPEECH • Republicans debate the issues. Democrats just try to shout down or censor their opponents. Latest outrageous efforts to censor political opinions Democrats don't like. • Kerry promises to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine" -- a law that places severe restrictions on free speech. • The "Fairness Doctrine" would give the FCC power to ban conservative media outlets: No more Fox News. No more Rush Limbaugh. • Harkin Amendment (the "Hush Rush" bill) would outlaw Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio.

GEORGE SOROS -- MEDIA MATTERS -- MOVEON.ORG • MOVEON VS. THE DEMS -- Punishing Congressmen for reporting what they see in Iraq. • O'REILLY VS. SOROS -- An interesting battle is heating up between Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly and far-left billionaire George Soros. In April, O'Reilly exposed names of several organizations that receive Soros money. Now a Soros-funded website is making O'Reilly the target of their latest smear. • MOVEON SPREADS MESSAGE OF HATE -- The NY Post reports that the MoveOn.Org website is filled with anti-Semitic slurs against Senator Joe Lieberman. • SOROS GUILTY -- George Soros, the billionaire sponsor of the radical MoveOn.Org, has been found guilty of insider-trading fraud by a French court. • FAKE BUT ACCURATE AGAIN? -- You have to see this to believe it. The George Soros group, MoveOn.Org, has been caught in another fraud. • GEORGE SOROS: John Kerry lost me $26 million. • BOUGHT AND PAID FOR -- "Now it's our party" reads the typically arrogant e-mail from left-wing fringe group MoveOn.Org, referring to the Democratic Party. "We bought it, we own it". Sadly, the message is largely true. MoveOn.org and similar so-called "527" groups (named for the section of the campaign-finance law that governs their activities) did all but take control of the Democratic Party this year -- for no other reason than that the Democrats offered themselves for sale. • He wants legal drugs, abortion, gay marriage, assisted suicide, and a world without God. Hungarian tychoon George Soros has pledged his billions to defeat Bush.

JOHN KERRY -- JOHN EDWARDS • THE ONION, excellent as usual: "John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011". • PRIDE OF THE CAYMANS -- Democrat John Edwards has a great part-time job. He earns $480,000 per year helping wealthy people like him learn how to avoid paying taxes. • GETTING IN TOUCH WITH "THE OTHER AMERICA" -- Democrat John Edwards raked in millions working for a hedge fund. • REWRITING HISTORY -- There's an argument around -- in some places it's conventional wisdom -- that the Swift Boat Vets' ads that so effectively attacked John Kerry in 2004 have been "discredited". John Hinderaker of Powerline says: Not really. • HAVE YOURSELF A KERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS -- As the Washington Post's Lois Romano observes: "Nothing is ever simple when it comes to John Kerry." Even his Christmas cards are complicated. • AMERICA HATES JOHN KERRY -- Pollster Peter Brown on John Kerry: "Americans know who he is, and have pretty much decided they don't like him." Ouch -- that's gotta hurt. • KERRY: AMERICA'S SOLDIERS ARE LAZY AND DUMB -- Kerry's repugnant commentary is not only insulting to our troops but, according to the Heritage Foundation, he is factually wrong. The Minnesota National Guard has answered the pompous Senator: Their photo is burning up the internet. And don't be fooled by Kerry's "it was just a joke" excuse -- in 1972 he said almost the same exact thing. • VERY SCARY, KERRY -- John Kerry is saying that the current Lebanon crisis would never have happened if he was President. Paul Mirengoff remarks that these kind of statements remind us why Kerry should never be President. Nihilist offers up the Top 11 ways John Kerry would have averted the Lebanon crisis. • 53 PERCENT! -- John Kerry blames President Bush because "53 percent of our children don't graduate high school." But, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, graduation rates just reached an all time high -- 85 percent. Even worse is the fact that this is not the first time Kerry has promoted these bogus numbers. This man was almost your President, folks. • "D" IS FOR DEMOCRAT -- The ever brilliant John Kerry (just ask him), who was such a refreshing change from that drooling dolt George W. Bush was such a stellar student at Yale ... oh, wait. No he wasn't. He was a "D" student. Of course, during the campaign, one of the reasons given by Kerry's staff for his frequent evasions was his superior intellect. We can all have a good laugh now. • Kerry continues his whine about the 2004 election. His latest allegation is that Democrats are too stupid to know that Election Day was on a Tuesday. • John Kerry once again promises to release his military records. Sure he will.

RINOS: REPUBLICANS IN NAME ONLY • DURENBERGER RANTS -- Scott Johnson has an entertaining rebuttal of former Senator Dave Durenberger's criticism of Ann Coulter's recent visit to the University of St. Thomas. Durenberger, in case you've forgotten, also endorsed Kerry for President in 2004.

DEMS ON THE ISSUES • WITH APOLOGIES TO JEFF FOXWORTHY -- Ed Lynch in the Roanoak Times pretty well sums it up in "You might be a liberal if...." • Article in the Rocky Mountain News about how the Democratic Party has lost its way since the days of JFK. • Pioneer Press Poll reveals voters agree with Republicans: They oppose taxpayer funded stadiums, support getting tough on sex offenders, oppose same-sex marriage, support initiative & referendum.

MORE REASONS TO BE A REPUBLICAN • CONSERVATIVE GIVERS AND LIBERAL TAKERS -- Arthur C. Brooks has written a book that concludes religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities -- irrespective of income. In other words, liberals SAY they care about the needy, but make others pay. • DEMOCRATS PAY THE PRICE FOR ANGER -- Another survey has come out showing that Republicans are happier than Democrats. • REPUBLICANS HAPPIER -- A Pew research poll says that Republicans tend to go to church more, have better marriages, and lead much happier lives. The happiness cuts across social, economic and racial lines (ie. poor Republicans are happier than poor Democrats). The lesson is clear: If you want to be happy, vote Republican. • ILLITERATES AND INTELLECTUALS -- According to pollsters, today's Democratic party gets its support from those who are the least educated and those who are the most educated. The American Spectator explains why. • RED STATES/BLUE STATES WHO IS MORE GENEROUS? -- Democrats often talk about "those greedy Republicans" but who gives more of THEIR OWN money to the poor and the needy? Answer: Republicans. • The people of Mississippi, the nation's poorest state, consistently lead the nation in charitable giving. • Connecticut, the wealthiest state per capita, is the seventh worst state for donations. • In fact, every state in the top 25 most generous are red states, all but one of the top 10 least generous (including Minnesota) are blue states. See the original report here. • PURSUE HAPPINESS: VOTE REPUBLICAN -- Peter Du Pont has uncovered the real reason Republicans win.

ECONOMY
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EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
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CASE WINS THE RACE . . . BUT LOSES THE ARGUMENT -- Two years ago, Ron Case passionately argued that high taxes are essential to maintaining a high quality of life. The voters rejected his argument -- he lost. This year, Case sent out a deliberately false mailing, calling himself: “The Low Tax Guy”. By lying to voters -- by posing as a tax cutter -- Case was able to come in second to Councilmember Brad Aho. But in doing so -- he was forced to admit, once and for all, that Eden Prairie voters DO NOT want higher taxes.
EDEN PRAIRIE TAXPAYERS ALLIANCE -- Eden Prairie's tax watchdog group has responded to Ron Case's “Low Tax Guy” pledge by calling for a freeze on city spending.
• PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT -- Good news from the EP City Council: The property tax increase for a median single family home in Eden Prairie will be $11 -- an increase of less than one percent. Thank you to Mayor Phil Young and councilmembers Brad Aho and John Duckstad for finally introducing fiscal discipline to an out of control budget process.
• PROPER ROLE OF CITY GOVERNMENT -- Eden Prairie's Karen Kirchoff applauds efforts of Eden Prairie's city council to reign in property tax increases.
• DO YOU THINK LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN? -- Then do what the Eden Prairie Taxpayer's Alliance did . . . and fix it. Last year, members of the Eden Prairie Taxpayers Alliance (EPTA) -- who had previously focused their efforts on keeping local elected officials accountable for the promises they made -- decided instead to start at the source and endorse a number of candidates for city council. The job, of course, wasn’t easy. But after watching previous EP administrations spend ever-increasing sums of taxpayer money on “historic preservation” and car allowances, they decided it was time to act. And what of their actions? How about a 2008 property tax increase of $9? That’s right, $9. Apparently focusing government resources on the things that government is supposed to do actually works. Congrats to EPTA members (and really, all EP taxpayers) for doing the heavy “fiscal responsibility” lifting.
• NOT ENOUGH SPENDING? -- EP voters approved $6.65 million to improve the Community Center. The costs, we are now told, have reached $8.1 million (a 20% increase!). Who is to blame? Ron Case blames taxpayers who always seem to underfund EP projects (those darn taxpayers!). But fellow councilmember Brad Aho points out that the Parks Commission used faulty data when communicating the real costs to voters.
• EP TAXES OUT OF CONTROL -- Tom Briant and Paul Wendorff of the Eden Prairie Taxpayer Alliance weigh in on the Eden Prairie budget debate.

• SPEAKING UP FOR TAXPAYERS -- Interesting debate is brewing on the Eden Prairie City Council between those who believe that local government should spend responsibly and be accountable to taxpayers (Phil Young and Brad Aho) and those who think Eden Prairie families have "magical wallets" that are always available for pet projects (Lukens, Case, and Butcher). The Taxpayers League has prepared a primer to help explain how much your taxes will be going up and what you can do about it.

• EP BUDGET OUT OF CONTROL -- Did you know Eden Prairie's Social Services budget is increasing 23%? Or that they plan to spend $225,000 just to send their employees to conferences? Randy Foote says it's time EP taxpayers start paying attention to the city's out-of-control budget.
• REPUBLICAN IN NAME ONLY? -- Eden Prairie City Council members Sherri Butcher and Ron Case insist that they are Republicans. Nevertheless they find themselves voting like Democrats again.
• TAMRA HOWICK WAS RIGHT AFTER ALL -- Paul Wendorff joins the debate on Eden Prairie's finances.
• IS THE EP CITY COUNCIL "FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE"? -- Tamra Howick says no and she's got the facts and figures to prove it.
• WHO CARES WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK? -- Eden Prairie resident Paul Gallenberger tells of a particularly disappointing conversation with EP Councilmember Ron Case. He was especially struck by the council's apparently unabashed motives of putting personal self-interests above their duty to serve the public.

EDUCATION
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• WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING? -- While many Minnesota school districts are saving money any way they can, including cutting athletic programs and laying off teachers, KSTP has discovered a pot of money -- an $85 million "diversity program" that is instead being wasted on pizza parties. A local blogger provides more evidence of how Minneapolis liberals waste your tax money. Dave Barry takes a humorous look at where your tax money is going and has discovered that much of it is going to -- and we aren't making this up -- pig manure.
• A NATION AT RISK -- Teachers salaries continue to grow, class sizes continue to shrink, but, as George Will explains, education continues to suffer.
• NCLB -- Chester E. ("Checker") Finn, Jr. tackles five myths about No Child Left Behind, “The education law everyone loves to hate”.
• Senator Hann has penned an wonderful editorial in the Star Tribune challenging the Democrat's lament over the "absence of adequate state funding" of schools. Senator Hann was one of three guest speakers at SD45's recent Chili and Chat in New Hope where he presented an engaging discussion on the history and role of education in Minnesota.Pioneer Press columnist Craig Westover applauds Senator Hann's reasoned editorial and challenges DFL demagogues to do the same.
• SCHOOL CHOICE FAILS IN UTAH -- Pete DuPont says that one reason for the defeat was the work of well organized teacher's unions. Megan McArdle writes a fine, furious reply to the critics of school vouchers.
• HOW TO CUT SCHOOL SPENDING WITHOUT HURTING KIDS -- Phil Krinke has some great suggestions.
• BILL KITTELSON: School officials caused quite a stir at this year's EP High School graduation ceremonies by prominently featuring the flags of several other countries while simultaneously hiding the American flag.
• IS EDUCATION UNDERFUNDED? -- Randy Krebs, the editor of the St. Cloud Times, exposes the lie that education is being cut.
• DFL VS. CHARTER SCHOOLS -- For parents, it's about what's best for their kids. For the DFL, it's about keeping parents on a leash. Mitch Berg smacks down Nick Coleman's latest article.
• WASTING YOUR EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS -- The Education Minnesota teacher's union spent $1.5 million last year lobbying your legislature for more money. That's $1.5 million that won't be going to books or computers or teacher's salaries. Meanwhile, schools are closing as parents and students continue to flee the failing Minneapolis public school system.
• PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS MAKE $34.06 PER HOUR -- Wall Street Journal asks: is that underpaid?. According to the same report, Minnesota teachers are paid even higher than the national average -- $35.19 per hour.
• RONTRELL'S CHOICE -- Why a South Carolina teen is forced to work his way through high school.
• RHETORIC AND REALITY -- Matt Abe discusses the International Baccalaureate controversy currently going on in the Minnetonka School District.
• SCHOOL CHOICE -- Nick Coleman accuses supporters of choice of conducting an "assault" on public education. Mitch Berg responds with a line by line rebuttal. Craig Westover cites evidence that choice is the single best hope we have of closing the achievement gap.
• SCHOOL CHOICE IS GOOD FOR KIDS -- One of the arguments against greater school choice is that parents would be unable to choose their children's schools intelligently. But there seems to be mounting evidence against that hypothesis. The Minneapolis public schools are doing such a terrible job that if your kid is black or Hispanic, odds are they won't graduate. White kids have a slightly better than 50/50 shot. Mitch Pearlstein answers that school choice will close the achievement gap.
• THE PROBLEM WITH JUST "THROWING MONEY AT IT" -- In Minnesota: School spending is up. But test scores -- are down.
• HOME SCHOOLING HAS GONE MAINSTREAM -- A quiet mutiny is underway against America's public schools. Many parents upset with declining educational standards are turning to home schooling instead. One million American kids are currently home schooled and the trend is growing at a rate of 15 to 20 percent per year.
• HIGH SELF ESTEEM AND LOW MATH SCORES -- A Washington Post article says that American kids are getting their butts kicked by other countries in math. But at least they feel good about it.
• COLLEGES DOMINATED BY LEFT-WING PROFS -- But the good news, argues Syracuse professor Arthur C. Brooks, is that they probably won't brainwash your kids.
• IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME -- John Stossel explains how schools can benefit from competition. Plus take this quick five question quiz from ABC News: "How much do you know about public education?"
• DEMOCRATS SUPPORT CHOICE -- Except when it comes to education. A Star Tribune editorial argues that allowing parents to make choices about their children's education hurts public schools. But John Stossel explains how competition actually improves education and lack of choice is cheating your kids.
• WHY WE NEED SCHOOL CHOICE -- The graduation rate in Minnesota is a dismal 79%. But for blacks the figure is an unconscionable 44%.
• DEMOCRATS FOR SCHOOL CHOICE? -- By employing innovative strategies, school choice advocates are finding an unlikely ally: liberal Democrats.
• KING AND KING -- Massachusetts second graders are being read fairy tales with a gay marriage theme. Ace of Spades, a conservative blog, says that the Left's insistence on bringing children into this cultural war is "just plain creepy".
• GEOGRAPHY DEFICIT -- Nearly half of U.S. high school grads cannot find India on a map.
• WASTING YOUR EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS -- The money is not going to your kids. But $215,000 is going to the failed director of the Minneapolis teacher's pension. The money is not going to your kids. But at least $250,000 is being used to replace the failed Minneapolis school superintendent. The money is not going to your kids. But $1,000,000 is going to a misleading ad campaign to promote the Education Minnesota teacher's union.
• MISSPENDING YOUR EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS -- Minneapolis public schools have sold their Cadillac SUV -- originally priced at $48,460 -- for $9,788. Meanwhile the Education Minnesota teacher's union is spending one million dollars on a TV ad campaign that WCCO has labeled "NOT FAIR". Fancy cars and TV ads -- is that how you want your education dollars spent?
• JOBS AWAIT TODAY'S COLLEGE GRADS -- New grads will encounter the best job market in 5 1/2 years. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones index has reached another five year high. And finally, home sales have posted an unexpected gain. Another Democrat "talking point" bites the dust.
• ANSWERING TEACHERS UNIONS -- John Stossel continues to be hammered by unionized public-school teachers terrified by school choice.
• TALIBAN WELCOME AT YALE -- John Fund discusses an incredible story going on at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.
• INNER-CITY FAMILIES DEMAND SCHOOL CHOICE -- In her Wall Street Journal article, Kathy Kersten explains how school choice has led many black families to flee the Minneapolis public school system.
• TEACHERS FORCED TO TOE THE LIBERAL LINE -- Many U.S. schools of education want to regulate would-be-teachers belief systems. Frederick Hess of AEI explains why this is a bad idea.
• IS THE PRESIDENT CUTTING EDUCATION? -- The next time a liberal politician spouts off about how Republicans cut education, show them the real numbers.

• DAYTON LIES ABOUT PUBLIC EDUCATION SPENDING -- Mark Dayton makes the outrageous claim that public school spending in Minnesota is being cut. Education Secretary Alice Seagren sets the record straight. Tom Swift explains why Dayton -- and the Education Minnesota teacher's union -- want you to believe their fraudulent numbers.
• MISSPENDING YOUR EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS -- Of course, just recklessly spending money doesn't make our schools better. The Star Tribune provides one more reason why public schools consume over 50 percent of the state's budget.
• UNSERIOUS IDEAS -- Kevin Carey takes on the NEA's cynical proposal to create a minimum salary of $40,000 for all public school teachers.
• TEACHERS UNIONS VS. YOUR KIDS -- In Florida and Wisconsin, teachers unions crush educational opportunities.
• MISSPENDING YOUR EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS -- Education Minnesota, the state's 70,000 member strong teacher's union, plans to spend ONE MILLION DOLLARS -- money that could be going to educate your kids -- on television ads. Katherine Kersten suggests the ads may be politically motivated.
• THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK -- As predicted, the Star Tribune editorial page is pummeling columnist Katherine Kersten over criticism of the teachers union's million dollar advertising campaign.
• EDUCATION SCHOOLS VS. YOUR KIDS -- George Will thinks that, to improve our schools, the first thing that ought to be done is to close all of the schools that certify America's school teachers. Come on now, George, what do you really think?
• STUPID IN AMERICA: HOW LIBERALS CHEAT YOUR CHILDREN -- John Stossel reveals why schools in Belgium are better than American public schools. John Fund reports on how liberals are working to destroy Milwaukee's innovative school choice program.
• THE 70 PERCENT SOLUTION -- What if you could find a way to cut layers of bureaucracy and get more money for teachers, classrooms and classroom materials (such as computers) without raising taxes one dime? Governor Pawlenty has proposed such a plan. Similar plans are being tried in several states and are finding support among parents, taxpayers, and teachers. According to George Will, if adopted nationally, such plans could mean several billion extra dollars for our nation's schools.
• YOUR EDUCATION DOLLARS GOING TO FUND DEMOCRATS -- The nation's biggest teachers union gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year.
• FLORIDA COURT: SCHOOL CHOICE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL -- The liberal Florida Supreme Court has declared that allowing parents the freedom to get their kids out of failing schools violates the constitution.
• IS MINNESOTA UNDERFUNDING EDUCATION? -- A group of school districts (no bias there, right?) has just issued a report claiming that Minnesota schools are dangerously underfunded. Mark Yost in the Pioneer Press takes the group's findings and runs them through a shredder.
• MONEY ALONE CAN'T FIX PUBLIC SCHOOLS -- Minnesota's schools just got their biggest funding boost in 20 years. Yet the Star Tribune says that parents will see little change in the classroom. Katherine Kersten takes us to one school that is getting the job done at a fraction of the cost of public schools.
• WHY ARGUE WITH LIBERALS? -- Why should one even bother to debate ineducable kooks who spout utter nonsense? Author Theodore Dalrymple explains that when nonsense goes unchallenged, it becomes accepted as truth by default.
• CAN MINNESOTA AFFORD JOHN GUNYOU? -- Gunyou is the former finance director under Arne Carlson and is the current Minnetonka city manager. He frequently contributes articles to the Star Tribune and many of the western suburban newspapers. His neo-socialist matra basically goes like this: "Education is not getting enough money" and "Republicans who break no-tax pledges are heroes". Triple-A from Residual Forces responds to Gunyou's latest rant.
• FREE TO CHOOSE -- After 50 years, education vouchers are finally beginning to catch on. Meanwhile, John Tierney of the NY Times asks opponents of school choice a very uncomfortable question.
• MORE GROUPTHINK -- The New York Sun reports aspiring teachers who attend Brooklyn College in New York are being evaluated based on their politics and shunted aside if they don't toe the multi-cultural line by professing a commitment to "social justice." For example, students in a required language course who challenged the assistant professor's assertion that standard English is the language of oppressors while Ebonics is the language of the oppressed were accused of "bullying" their professor and given lower grades.
• BLUE CAMPUSES -- In case you had any doubt: the politically-active faculty at elite universities are very heavily Democratic. The numbers presented here are impressive.
• LESSONS LEARNED -- How school choice in Wisconsin is working well.
• HOME SCHOOL VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL -- Peter Gordon of USC has a short but powerful post on "the foremost social and economic problem of our time."
• PC ON THE COLLEGE CAMPUS -- The Collegiate Network's annual Polly Awards for outstanding achievement in the area of politically correct nuttiness on American college campuses are out.
• HOW TO RAISE CLASSROOM SPENDING WITHOUT RAISING TAXES -- George Will reports that voters in Arizona voters will soon be voting on something called The 65 Percent Solution -- a mandate that 65% of all education spending go to classroom instruction. On, that is, teachers and students, not bureaucracy.
• DFL BALANCES BUDGET ON THE BACKS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS -- The DFL Senate caucus unveiled their budget plan. Surprisingly it doesn't include any tax increases. Instead, the DFL plans to cut education funding by $3.4 million. Governor Pawlenty calls the plan a "sideshow" and says he was "stunned to see the DFL caucus cut education".
• CLAIMS OF EDUCATION FUNDING CUTS JUST DON'T ADD UP -- Joe Soucheray observes: "There wasn't a kid standing in front of the state Capitol on Monday afternoon, or parent for that matter, who could have passed a test on why they were there. They think they were there because somehow they have it in their heads that the state of Minnesota has abandoned public education."
• ZERO INTELLIGENCE-- New site dedicated to exposing the foolishness of many schools' "zero tolerance" policies.
• THE "INTOLERANT LEFT" -- George Will lampoons the hysterics going on at Harvard. "
• BACK TO YOU NCAA! -- The NCAA has compiled a list of about 30 schools with Native American logos, nicknames or mascots that it wants replaced. But UNC-Pembroke officials said the Braves logo is part of their heritage, and wouldn't ya know it -- they're right.
• ROLLING BACK THE TIDE OF TYRANNY -- Long the melting pot of ideas and free expression, many college campuses are now a place where freedom of speech is under attack. The good news is that some student groups are fighting back.
• AT HARVARD, THE FUN JUST NEVER ENDS -- A speaker at Harvard University is under fire for a speech that was overly "heteronormative" and made gay students feel uncomfortable by not sufficiently addressing their status, reports The Crimson.
• DEMS PLAY POLITICS WITH EDUCATION -- Robert Robb in the Arizona Republic counters arguments that vouchers hurt traditional government schools by draining resources and talent from them.
• MOB RULE IN ACADEMIA -- Deb Saunders comments on how the Intolerant Left stomps on free speech rights at our colleges and universities. Most recent case is of Larry Summers, president of Harvard University.  
• WHY JOHNNY WON'T READ -- The gender gap in reading by young adults is dramatically increasing and political correctness may be to blame
• BILINGUAL EDUCATION LITMUS TEST IN CALIFORNIA -- Susan Estrich (who is no right-winger) explains "why the Democratic Party is in trouble".
• SCHOOL FUNDING: GET THE FACTS -- The Pioneer Press article Legislature 101: School Funding has everything you need to sound halfway intelligent when discussing K-12 funding decisions faced by the 2005 legislature.
• WHY CAN'T JOHNNY ADD? -- School officials in Newton, Massachusetts are wondering why scores on standardized math tests have plummetted in recent years. A local columnist suggests they take a look at recent curriculum changes for an explanation.
• DEMS PUSH BILINGUAL EDUCATION AGENDA -- Califormia Democrats reject school board nominee Reed Hastings, a key donor to their party who is opposed by advocates of bilingual education. "I'm not disappointed for myself," he said. "I'm disappointed for the 100,000 students who are in bilingual education and get less than 2 1/2 hours in English. They will have a hard time catching up and it's not fair."
• Democrats SAY they are for diversity. But how POLITICALLY diverse are the schools? Actually, there is very little political diversity. A large-scale study in 2003 by Daniel B. Klein and Charlotta Stern shows the two least politically diverse academic fields are social studies and the humanities where Democrats outnumber Republicans approximately 30 to 1.
• JOHN KERRY U. -- Are institutions of higher learning truly as diverse as they advertise? Not when it comes to politics. Percentages of Kerry contributions over Bush include: Cornell 93%, Dartmouth 97%, Yale 93%, Brown 89%.
• Clint Bolick politely and calmly gives hell to wealthy opponents of school choice. 
• Dems say we're CUTTING education. It's just not true. Did you know Americans spend over $500 billion per year on education? A new booklet reveals the taxpayer burden for education has more than doubled since 1990.
• Liberals re-route education dollars to help fund political correctness.
• What is "diversity"? According to Kathy Kersten, when colleges talk about diversity, they usually mean skin color. Intellectual and political diversity, on the other hand, is hard to find. (article is in PDF format)
• You couldn't invent a way to throw money down the drain any better than this.
• Is this the new "No Child Left Unbrainwashed" program? The Left is teaching new immigrant children that America is the Great Satan.
• Kathy Kersten demonstrates how liberals would teach kids about an oppressive America.
 

ENVIRONMENT
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• BLOOMINGTON CLOSES SCHOOLS BECAUSE OF BIODIESEL -- You can't make this stuff up. Minnesota law requires Bloomington buses to use a fuel that congeals at temperatures below 10 degrees. Thanks to your idiot legislature, kids were left to freeze because their school buses couldn't pick them up. Minnesota school children enjoy a rich tradition of schools closing because of "snow days." Now they have "biodiesel days."
• SUSTAINABLE POWER HAS ITS PROBLEMS AS WELL -- Currently, high-efficiency solar needs indium, hydrogen cells need platinum, and biofuels need arable land. There is no free lunch.
• CLIMATE CHIEF TIED TO SOCIALIST GROUPS -- Obama's new “Climate Czar” may be interested in more than just climate.
• FIVE PHYSICS LESSONS FOR OBAMA -- Example: It's no accident we rely on gasoline so much -- gasoline contains, pound for pound, 15 times the energy of TNT.
• THE PRICE OF DISSENT -- What happens when a green environmentalist that campaigns against the destruction of the Earth's biodiversity questions global warming.
• GROUCHO MARX KNEW BIG GOVERNMENT -- Must-read article about the no-drill Democrats. As Groucho once observed: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
• DOES 400 YEARS OF OIL SOUND LIKE A BAND-AID? -- Democrats want you to believe that drilling for oil won't make a difference in the price of gas. Your U.S. Congress recently voted to make it illegal to develop U.S. oil shale resources. However, according to a Rand Corporation study: “Present U.S. demand for petroleum products is about 20 million barrels per day. If oil shale could be used to meet a quarter of that demand, 800 billion barrels of recoverable resources would last for more than 400 years.”
• CONGRESS SHOULD TAKE A PERMANENT VACATION -- Letter writer notes that many families have either canceled or changed their vacation plans because of high gas and food prices. But not your Democrat-led U.S. Congress! They went on vacation rather than taking a vote to increase domestic oil production. Next time you have the privilege of paying for $4 gas or higher grocery prices or even cashing that unemployment check -- please remember to thank your Democrat representatives.
• “I AM TRYING TO SAVE THE PLANET” -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi explains why she is blocking a vote on oil exploration -- why she wants gas prices to go up -- why she wants a recession -- why she doesn't care if you lose your job. The reason? She is trying to fight global warming. Third World countries may suffer from widespread disease and mass starvation and -- but they produce very little carbon.
• LUST FOR POWER -- Several House Democrats are responding to the President's call for more oil drilling by proposing that the government take over and nationalize the oil companies. James Hansen, one of the top spokesmen of global warming hysteria, says anyone who disagrees with him should be put on trial. Sadly, that is the goal of unrestrained liberlism: Control people's lives, even control what people are allowed to think and say..
• DEMOCRATS OUT OF TOUCH ON GAS PRICES -- While Democrat Nancy Pelosi says "we can't drill our way out of this crisis" and Democrat Barack Obama says he wants gas prices to go even higher, Republicans are offering real solutions. Congressional Republicans say when you have a supply-and-demand problem, it's time to increase the supply. Even Minnesota's Norm Coleman is becoming more receptive to the idea of more oil drilling. Rep. Roy Blunt offers this handy chart which explains that, if you really want to do something about oil prices, vote Republican in November.
• OBAMA'S COMMENT ABOUT OIL DRILLING -- Blogger Warren Meyer concisely takes it apart.
• SENATE POWER GRAB -- The Wall Street Journal calls the Warner-Lieberman cap and trade bill “the most extensive government reorganization of the American economy since the 1930's.” By indirectly taxing any activity that generates CO2 -- except perhaps breathing -- the bill is guaranteed to raise prices and gives politicians immense power over our lives. Some U.S. Senators warn that the legislation could increase gas prices as much as $6, $7, or even $8 a gallon.
• BANNING LIGHT BULBS -- Eden Prairie resident Crystal Kelley explains how the recent ban on light bulbs puts all Americans in danger.
• SMALLER CARS! COLDER HOMES! -- Barack Obama delivers his malaise speech.
• CAN'T EAT ETHANOL -- Food costs are rising at their fastest rate in 17 years due in part to the rising cost of corn. The Boston Globe explains why ethanol is not a green alternative. The UK Telegraph is reporting that global warming hysteria is leading to growing world starvation. The NY Times reports on the global backlash building against biofuels. An Indian government official says that using food for biofuels when people are starving is “a crime against humanity.” Even the U.S. Congress is rethinking its extreme position on ethanol. Betsy Newmark says Washington's addiction to ethanol may go down as “one of the biggest political blunders of all time.”
• WHY NOT DRILL FOR OUR OWN OIL? -- The average price of gasoline in the United States is now $3.95. This is 75 cents more than a year ago. As gas prices continue to go up, Democrats in Congress continue to blame others while ignoring practical steps they can take to stop the pain at the pump. Mackubin Owens, in the Wall Street Journal, says: Congress has done almost everything in its power to push gasoline prices into the stratosphere.
• TEN QUESTIONS FOR U.S. SENATORS -- The percentage of oil we get from foreign sources is now 50% (up from 28% in 1973). Mike Flannery explains how greedy politicians -- not the oil companies -- have given Chicago the highest gas prices in the nation. Q&O asks ten questions for U.S. Senators about what they are doing to bring down the cost of oil.
• WCCO meteorologist Mike Fairbourne says the sun -- not human activity -- is the primary cause of climate change. There are at least 31,000 other scientists who agree.
• OOPS! -- A NASA report that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation has “flipped to its cool phase”, meaning that for the next decade or two the planet may cool.
• A NATION OF DIM BULBS -- Congresswoman Michele Bachmann discusses her proposal to un-ban light bulbs.
• AL GORE IS A LIAR -- Scientists now say that we need to forget global warming. Due to recent sun-spot activity, we need to start preparing for a new ice age. Meanwhile Mark Steyn puts the current biofuels craze in a nutshell: “In order for you to put biofuel in your Prius and feel good about yourself for no reason, real actual people in faraway places have to starve to death”.
• THE MYSTERY OF GLOBAL WARMING'S MISSING HEAT -- You just can't make this stuff up. From National Public Radio: “Global Warming has taken a breather.”
• A NATION OF DIM BULBS -- A ban on the common light bulb? Andrew Ferguson exposes the nasty little surprise hidden in the new energy bill.
• TEN IMPOSSIBLE THINGS LIBERALS BELEIVE -- Don Feder identifies ten items that are preposterous, illogical and impossible that all good Democrats are required to accept without question.
• QUICK! PUT MORE CO2 IN THE AIR . . . -- Temperature monitors from all four temperature tracking outlets are reporting widescale global cooling. A new website tracks how Minnesota politicians are dealing with the global warming issue. The founder of the Weather Channel advocates suing Al Gore to expose "the fraud of global warming".
• BAD SCIENCE -- The Top 10 Things mentalists Need To Learn.
• KERRY BLAMES TORNADOES ON GLOBAL WARMING -- Nothing like blaming the weather on your political opponents. George Will has a great article in Newsweek entitled: “The Biofuels Follies” on the unintentional consequences of America's mental policies. In short, they're killing the ment.
• TIME TO BUY A CAR . . . IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT -- From the Detroit News: “New fuel rules will hike GM vehicle prices by an average $6,000”. David Freddoso adds: “It's not enough to thank Democrats in Congress, who wrote and passed that ludicrous energy bill -- after all, what about the President who signed it?”
• BAD SCIENCE -- The Top 10 Things mentalists Need To Learn.
• KERRY BLAMES TORNADOES ON GLOBAL WARMING -- Nothing like blaming the weather on your political opponents. George Will has a great article in Newsweek entitled: “The Biofuels Follies” on the unintentional consequences of America's mental policies. In short, they're killing the ment.
• GLOBAL WARMING IRONY -- A monster arctic storm is pummeling California. Due to frigid temperatures in Florida, the Walt Disney World water park Blizzard Beach has been closed. The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby asks: “B-r-r-r . . . Where did all the global warming go?”
• JOHN MCCAIN AND GLOBAL WARMING -- George Will explains what John McCain means when he says: "The debate has ended".
• THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW -- Pat Sajak says he has the solution to man-made global warming.
• EVERY HOME A SUPERFUND SITE? -- Democrats are mounting a campaign to ban conventional light bulbs and force you to buy compact flourescent lightbulbs (CFLs). The problem is when CFLs break, they release harmful amounts of mercury. A powerful neurotoxin, mercury is especially harmful to children and pregnant women.
• CONGRESS BANS THE COMMON LIGHT BULB -- If only Microsoft could claim that its competitors hurt the ment.
• DON'T LOOK TO GOVERNMENT TO COOL THE PLANET -- ABC's John Stossel says advocates of costly carbon taxes and emissions trading talk about reducing CO2, but promise only a miniscule reduction in temperature. Meanwhile, he warns, we are giving up our freedom and our money to fulfill the grand schemes of big-government alarmists. John Christy (a member of the U.N. panel that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore this year) writes in the Wall Street Journal that the economic and human cost of forcing drastic cuts in carbon emissions is not worth it.
• SEVEN WAYS YOU CAN HELP THE MENT -- Real, common sense tips (minus the hysteria) on how you can save the planet.
• BURNING OUR FOOD -- The shine is off ethanol. Chicken farmers hate it. Pork producers hate it. Dairy farmers hate it. Food producers hate it. Hunters hate it. Even many mentalists hate it. As the cost of corn skyrockets, many are demanding Congress find a new biofuels religion.
• STICKER SHOCK -- A California program to encourage hybrid cars is having some unexpected consequences.
• BUSH VS. GORE: WHO IS MORE GREEN? -- AlGore wants government to force you to change your lifestyle. Meanwhile he enjoys a posh estate in suburban Nashville with a $30,000 utility bill. The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto calls AlGore pathetically hypocritical. Meanwhile, President Bush lives in a modest ranch in Texas that stores rainwater and uses passive solar energy. Which one -- Bush or Gore -- walks the walk when it comes to energy conservation?
• ETHANOL: CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS -- Three must-read articles about ethanol. Popular Mechanics demonstrates that ethanol gets significantly poorer gas mileage than regular gasoline. The Wall Street Journal reports that reaching the President's target of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017 would require the entire U.S. corn harvest. Finally, the Cato Institute explains why ethanol actually makes gasoline costlier . . . and dirtier.
• CONFUSED YET? -- New study suggests that air pollution combats global warming. Meanwhile Australia experiences a 50-year cold snap just as Al Gore visits.
• TIME FOR ALGORE TO COOL IT -- Investors Business Daily says its time to shine light on the Al Gore's Global Warming fear mongering.
• IS ETHANOL WORTH IT? -- How about it? Should you go out and buy an E85 vehicle to do your part for the ment and energy independence? Consumer Reports has the answer.
• MIT'S INCONVENIENT SCIENTIST -- Boston Globe article about an MIT scientist who has been shunned because he dares question Al Gore's theories on Global Warming.
• SACRIFICE FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME -- Liberal millionaire Al Gore is touring the country telling us to get rid of our cars and start learning to sacrifice (for the sake of the planet). Meanwhile, according to this USA Today article, he and his wife are living like royalty.
• GORE'S INCOHERENT TRUTH -- More and more scientists feel compelled to speak out against Gore's global warming propaganda.
• DON'T BUY THE HYPE -- Richard Lindzen, an atmospheric science professor at MIT, insists there is no consensus on global warming. ABC's John Stossel offers some reasons why the Left wants you to believe their Chicken Little warnings.
• BE LIKE BRAZIL -- Jerry Taylor at the Cato Institute takes on the issue of how Brazil achieved energy independence.
• THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH ABOUT AL GORE -- Scientists respond to his alarmist message about global warming.
• RADICAL MENTALISTS THREATEN FARMERS -- John Stossel demonstrates how extreme mentalists are like religious fanatics.
• "THEY'VE BEEN BRAINWASHING US FOR 20 YEARS" -- Gray is the world's foremost hurricane expert. But his criticism of the global warming makes him an outcast.
• The Wall Street Journal sets the record straight on Global Warming
• DEMS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT ENERGY POLICY -- Now that Americans are outraged about gas prices, Democrats have seized the moment to propose a toothless energy plan.
• TIRED OF HIGH GAS PRICES? -- Here are the top 11 ways the Democrats plan to bring down the price of gas. Meanwhile, legislators are protesting the high price of gas . . . while driving gas guzzlers.
• CLIMATE OF FEAR -- Global warming alarmists intimidate dissenting scientists into silence. Meanwhile an article in the London Daily Telegraph claims global warming was stopped in 1998.
• THEY USED TO WARN ABOUT COOLING -- George Will's latest article cites numerous examples where mental doomsdayers warned of global COOLING.
• In "Kyoto No Go", Pete DuPont demonstrates that Ted Kennedy is hypocritical on energy independence.
• MIXING SCIENCE AND POLITICS -- Michael Fumento exposes the truth behind several recent "scientific findings" ranging from global warming to stem cells. His lesson? Don't believe everything you read.
• MORE GLOBAL HOT AIR -- Steven Hayward asks: "This is more than just a problem of having cried wolf too often; there seems to have been little introspection or second thoughts among mentalists about why their Malthusian alarms rang false in the past. Given their track record, why should anyone believe that this time the alarmists have it right?"
• BRRRR! IT'S C-C-C-COLD OUT THERE! -- Good time for a debate on global warming.
• ENERGY INDEPENDENCE BY 2020? -- Every year or so, Democrats decide that stating a lofty goal of “achieving energy independence”polls pretty well, so they make a big deal of proposing a “plan”. Of course the “plan”never includes actually exploring for gas and oil in the U.S.
• YIKES! MORE JUNK SCIENCE -- Say goodbye to global warming. Now British scientists warn of a coming ice age.
• MORE GLOBAL HOT AIR -- Steve Milloy reviews how scientific evidence seems to be a secondary concern for promoters of the global warming agenda.
• CONGRESS AT A CROSSROADS -- Moderate Republicans are trying to force the majority to cave in on oil exploration, extending the tax cuts, and cutting the exploding deficit. On the subject of oil, Charles Krauthammer calls ANWR the “poster child of cake-and-eat-it-too eco-petulance.” Hugh Hewitt is angry and naming names.
• THE RELIGION OF GLOBAL WARMING -- James Schlessinger, America's first Secretary of Energy, warns in the Wall Street Journal that global warming theories are being pushed by politicians, not scientists.
• LIMOUSINE LIBERALS VS. THE MENT -- Jonah Goldberg presents an entertaining story about Teddy Kennedy and Walter Cronkite.
• MORE PC SCIENCE -- From the Chicago Sun-Times: Scaremongers from Minnesota make news by trying to "prove" global warming. Meanwhile, scientists on the other side are having trouble getting media attention.
• PC SCIENCE? -- Political correctness is a nuisance, but probably a tolerable one, when it just infects English lit and sociology. But when it distorts the hard sciences and public policy, it's a much bigger problem. If this article is even half true, it's very dismaying.
• TOWARD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE -- Chicago Sun-Times editorial claims that new refineries would reduce foreign oil dependence.
• On February 16 the treaty on "global warming" known as the Kyoto Protocol went into effect. At the bargain price of $100 trillion, the treaty promises to lower the world temperature by one degree by 2050.
• Op ed by Gregg Easterbrook in the NY Times: The President's "Clear Skies" plan will reduce sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury emissions as well as reduce litigation costs but the plan is being denounced by Democrats and some mentalists.
 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH
NEXT SUBJECT

• SHOULD KATHERINE KERSTEN BE FIRED? -- A prominent DFL Senator tries to censor the Star-Tribune's only conservative columnist.
• FAIRNESS DOCTRINE RETURNS -- More evidence that a vote for a Democrat is a vote against freedom of speech.
• NORM COLEMAN TAKES ON DICK DURBIN -- See what Senator Coleman has to say about the Fairness Doctrine. GREAT job, Norm -- you could not be more right.
•At several colleges, visiting speakers (who happen to be conservative) are shouted down and not allowed to speak. Many colleges enforce speech codes which discriminate against conservative points of view.
•A new "Fairness Doctrine" being pushed by Congressional Democrats threatens to shut down conservative talk radio.
•Global warming extremists routinely try to eliminate dissent.
•Efforts are underway to limit what kinds of political ads you can buy and even what you are allowed to say on the internet. The Wall Street Journal argues that opponents of free speech are now "at the heart of today's Democratic Party."
 

HEALTH CARE
NEXT SUBJECT

HOLLYWOOD ELITES
NEXT SUBJECT
 
• WHAT GEORGE CLOONEY DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT LIFE -- Peggy Noonan pens a great article about the decline of Hollywood and the Oscars.
• WHAT WILL ALEC BALDWIN FIND IN CANADA? -- Hollywood liberals are moving to Canada because they're still mad about the election. John Leo warns them about what they will find when they get there.
 

IRAQ
NEXT SUBJECT      See also: United Nations, War on Terror, and Remembering 9/11
 

• NY TIMES REPORTING GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ? -- “More Iraqis now drive between Sunni and Shiite areas for work, shopping or school, a few even after dark. In the most stable neighborhoods of Baghdad, some secular women are also dressing as they wish. Wedding bands are playing in public again, and at a handful of once shuttered liquor stores customers now line up outside in a collective rebuke to religious vigilantes.”
• WHAT DEFEAT IN IRAQ WOULD LOOK LIKE -- NY Times editorial demands immediate withdrawal from Iraq and accuses President Bush of lying. But, as happens so often, it is the NY Times, not the President, that fudges the facts. Victor Davis Hansen delivers an excellent line-by-line rebuttal.
• GOOD NEWS IN IRAQ . . . is bad news for Democrats.
• DUCKING THE QUESTION -- ABC News: "Senator Reid, do you think the Iraqi people will be safer with the U.S. gone?"
• "WORSE THAN VIETNAM" -- Victor Davis Hanson says a civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists. Josh Manchester explains "why intellectuals love defeat."
• WOOPS: WMD'S FOUND IN IRAQ -- According to a search of the Lexis-Nexis database (one of the most comprehensive sources of U.S. news publications), the phrase "no weapons of mass destruction" has appeared in print at least 1,000 times in the past 6 months.
• The Wall Street Journal sets the record straight on Iraq.
• THE WAR WITHIN THE WAR -- Christopher Hitchens explains that civil war is and always was the chief tactic of al Qaeda in Iraq.
• THE OTHER IRAQ -- Victor Davis Hanson explains how almost every media stereotype about Iraq vanishes when you actually see it for yourself.
• DFL TO THE TROOPS: “SHUT UP!”-- Minnesota Democrats are trying to silence Gold Star Families -- families of soldiers who died in Iraq. Why? Because they support the war. Remember when we were told that we had to let Cindy Sheehan speak -- no matter how bigoted and hateful her comments were -- because she lost her son? Apparently, that freedom of speech only exists for the anti-war crowd. So far KSTP is the only local TV station to to the DFL's demands.
• A DAY TO BE PROUD -- President Bush delivers a message of hope for the American people about Iraq. Read the entire speech here.
• NEW RNC AD -- The RNC ad criticizing Democrats for their policy of immediate surrender in Iraq can be viewed here.
• SEVENTY-ONE PERCENT OF IRAQIS SUPPORT U.S. TROOPS -- Latest ABC poll refutes Democrat assertions that Iraqi citizens support a cut-and-run strategy.
• DEMOCRATS SURRENDER IN IRAQ -- Yeeeearghhh! Democrat chair Howard Dean offers more ugly catcalls to the troops. John Kerry continues his loser talk, calling the U.S. a terrorist nation.
• RUNNING SCARED -- Wash Post reports that Democrat unity on Iraq is splintering.
• LIEBERMAN: WE'RE WINNING -- Democrat Senator Joe Lieberman speaks for those who support our fighting men and women in Iraq, a stand his party once supported but has now shamefully abandoned.
• PRESIDENT BUSH: AMERICA WILL NOT RUN -- Transcript of the President's speech in Annapolis
• BOOBYTRAPPED DOLLS -- Terrorists are distributing bombs disguised as toys in order to blow up Iraqi children.
• JOHN KERRY VS. THE TROOPS (THE SEQUEL) -- John O'Neill writes in the NY Sun that it would be a mistake to let John Kerry do to the soldiers in Iraq what he did to the soldiers in Vietnam. O'Neill, you may recall, was one of 254 veterans who served with Kerry in Vietnam and then formed the group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" during the 2004 Presidential election.
• 403 TO 3: HOUSE DEFEATS "CUT AND RUN" STRATEGY -- As Hugh Hewitt writes: "Many Democrats were emotionally undone by the exercise of having to confront their own rhetoric, and the anti-war left must be stunned this morning: Only three votes? All that work? All those marches? All those posts at the fever swamp bulletin board? For three votes?" The bottom line: Our nation -- at least for now -- remains committed to victory in Iraq.
• TED KENNEDY: PUNK'D -- A favorite Republican trick: Show a Democrat a statement supporting the Iraq War, get them to slam the statement as a lie, and then reveal that it had been made by Bill Clinton or Al Gore. This trick was played to perfection on Teddy Kennedy on Sunday.
• WHO IS LYING ABOUT IRAQ? -- Norman Podhoretz says it's not the President. Senator John McCain says it's not the President. Even Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller proves unable to defend his own attacks against the President.
• FORMER MARINE ADMITS LYING ABOUT IRAQ -- For over a year, the anti-War crowd has considered Marine Staff Sgt Jimmy Massey to be a hero. He came back from Iraq with wild stories of atrocities committed by American soldiers. Our mainstream media -- including the Star Tribune -- dutifully printed his stories. His book, "Kill, Kill, Kill", became a best seller in France. Now, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he has been discovered to be a liar. Why do you suppose the media was so eager to print his lies?
• DEMOCRATS IN WORDS -- If the Bush Administration lied about Iraq, then so did these people.
• AGENDA JOURNALISM -- Jeff Jacoby contrasts the good news coming out of Iraq with how the media is choosing to cover it.
• YES, LET'S TALK ABOUT IRAQ -- The Democrats have set their strategy for the next year: Keep hitting Bush on Iraq. But Powerline's John Hinderaker explains why this is a debate that Republicans will win. The Wall Street Journal details how Democrats are lying about Bush lying. And James Lileks warns that Democrats have learned nothing and forgotten everything.
• UNDERSTANDING THE PLAME CASE -- Did Karl Rove "out" CIA operative Valerie Plame? Did Joe Wilson lie about his trip to Africa? Victoria Toensing offers one of the best ever summaries of the “The White House's legal Katrina”
• TRIBAL IGNORANCE -- What you think you know about Iraq's factions is all wrong.
• AL QAEDA SPEAKS -- Bin Laden's #2 man and President Bush agree on one thing: Iraq is the central battlefield on the global war on terror. An intercepted letter (recently released) reveals terrorist plans for global domination and how much they are counting on help from the American liberal media.
• THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH -- President Bush delivered one of his most cogent speeches on the Iraq War ever. It is well worth reading. He identifies the source of the terrorism we fight against, explains what is going on in Iraq today, and describes what will happen in Iraq if we were to fail. Michael Barone provides a great analysis here. You can read the entire speech here.
• CUT AND RUN DEMOCRATS -- Brendan Miniter asks: Why are liberals so eager to give up in Iraq?
• EIGHT ANTI-WAR MYTHS -- John Hawkins debunks eight common anti-war myths about Iraq. Myth #1: Bush lied about WMD's.
• GITMO PATRIOTS DESERVE OUR RESPECT -- Rep. John Kline responds to the recent Star Tribune editorial which compared American soldiers to Nazis.
• A SOLDIER'S TRUE FEELINGS REVEALED -- It's not a hoax. An American soldier shakes hands with Hillary Clinton while secretly signaling that he is not so happy to meet her. (Click on photo for larger view)
• IRAQ INSURGENTS SEEKING "EXIT STRATEGY" -- According to the Financial Times, Iraq's insurgents were dealt a crushing blow by the January 30 elections. Now they are desperately seeking a way to end their two year war against the United States and Iraq's army.
• TWO YEARS LATER: WAS IT WORTH IT? -- Amir Taheri takes on - and refutes - the top three arguments against the Iraq War.

• A PECULIAR COMBINATION OF CYNICISM AND DELUSION -- Mark Steyn brilliantly dissects the "Democrats' concern with "exit strategy" and takes a much needed shot at a Washington Post reporter.
• ALGERIAN LESSON FOR IRAQ -- Amir Taheri is an Iranian exile and an unrivaled expert on Middle East culture. In his latest article on Algeria, he shows how terrorists can disrupt the life of a country but with the most powerful weapon a people has at its disposal -- the vote -- they can eventually be defeated. That is exactly why Iraq's terrorist insurgents are throwing everything they have left to thwart the January 30th national elections. They know the people are not on their side. This is good stuff -- a must read.
• Democrats once vowed they would force regime change in Iraq....but did nothing whatsoever to accomplish this goal. It's something that a lot of them would like to forget.
• Why does the media keep getting the war in Iraq wrong? A rare behind-the-scenes look at the Washington Post newsroom in Baghdad.
 

LOBBYING/PORK
NEXT SUBJECT

• UNIONS DUES SPENT ON POLITICS, NOT WORKERS -- Robert Novak reports some revealing union spending disclosures. The AFL-CIO spent $49 million (27 percent of its total annual budget) on political and lobbying activities but only $30 million (or 16.5 percent) to represent its members.
• LIBERALS CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH -- Washington Post (hardly a friend to Republicans!) clearly shows that Abramoff bribe money went to BOTH parties. The article generated so much foul hate mail from scandal hungry liberals that the Post had to suspend the reader comments section of their website.
• CULTURE OF CORRUPTION -- 40 out of the 45 U.S. Senate Democrats took Abramoff bribe money. Chief among them is Minority Leader Harry Reid. More on the Harry Reid corruption at Wizbang and Country Store.
• FOLLOW THE MONEY -- A concise explanation of why McCain-Feingold will not and cannot work.
 

MARIA RUUD
NEXT SUBJECT

• YOU'RE NO FISCAL CONSERVATIVE, MARIA! -- MPR article about the SD42 legislative race. Maria Ruud wants voters to think she's a fiscal conservative. But facts are stubborn things. As Bill Cullen points out: "Maria, your voting record is 88 percent aligned with Matt Entenza, and 83 percent aligned with Keith Ellison. That's not a conservative voting record!" The MPR article goes on to point out that Ruud's 46-percent lifetime rating from the Taxpayers League is "lower than any House Republicans' rating." Yikes!
• MARIA RUUD AND GUNS -- A NY Times article attacks the Minnesota Personal Protection Act. Joel Rosenberg provides a wonderful rebuttal. Self protection is a basic human right but, in 2005, Rep. Maria Ruud was one of a handful of radical DFL legislators who voted to take that right away.
• SOUTH MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENTS "CONCEAL AND CARRY" -- In the wake of DFL indifference to the exploding crime problem, residents of South Minneapolis are beginning to arm themselves. Self protection is a basic human right but, in 2005, Rep. Maria Ruud was one of a handful of radical DFL legislators who voted to take that right away.
• RUUD CHOOSES TEACHERS UNION OVER WEST METRO SCHOOLS -- Matt Abe reports that Rep. Maria Ruud is helping raise health insurance costs for west metro schools -- to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• WHAT YOU WILL GET WITH A MORE DFL LEGISLATURE -- Rep. Maria Ruud continues to parrot the DFL line that your property taxes are going up because the state of Minnesota is passing off costs to local government. Wrong. Taxes are going up because government spending is exploding at all levels. With the DFL in charge, you can expect more of the same.

MASS TRANSIT
NEXT SUBJECT
 
• HOW NOT TO SPEND $40 BILLION -- The LA Weekly examines mass transit plans for several cities and concludes that in every case the hype and promises exceed the final results. “Cities with extensive light-rail systems have been unable to take more than 1 to 2 percent of the cars off the road.”
• TRANSPORTATION AMENDMENT COULD CRIPPLE ROADS -- Hastily approved in the last legislative session, the so-called "Transportation Amendment" promises to dedicate a maximum of 60% of motor vehicles sales taxes for road construction (and no minimum). North Mankato mayor Gary Zellmer says approval of the poorly worded amendment could leave rural roads crumbling.
• LIGHT RAIL'S FIRST YEAR -- Local newspapers are filled with breathless stories proclaiming the success of the Hiawatha Line. Light Rail is a winner! Unless, of course, you actually look at the numbers. A trip on the LRT will cost you $1.25. Operating costs, however, come in around $9.73. Guess who makes up the difference?
• TAKE THE PLUNGE, SAVE THE PLANET -- P.J. O'Rourke says there are only two problems with mass transit: "No one uses it and it costs like hell."
• LIGHT RAIL WARNING FROM NORTH CAROLINA -- We have been critical of Light Rail in the past, but nothing matches this article by Bernie Reeves in Metro Magazine. "We didn't fund it, we didn't vote to have it, and we are left with the consequences: massive taxation to maintain it."
• TRAFFIC CONGESTION DOWN 96 PERCENT! -- Thank you Governor Pawlenty and Republicans! For commuters along the I-694 corrodor between Maple Grove and Brooklyn Park quality of life has just gotten a whole lot better.
• The St. Louis Dispatch says Light Rail has a Heavy Price.
• Eden Prairie resident Scott Gorman says "Transit users should pay for it."

MINNESOTA'S BILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE
	LT. GOV. CAROL MOLNAU: Light rail is not worth it.
	FAST FACTS 1. A 50% increase in transit use will save the average commuter 22 seconds per commute. 2. Light Rail is 24 times more dangerous than driving. 3. Metro Transit currently runs at only 18% capacity. 4. Transit costs are increasing faster than health care and education. Source: Taxpayer's League of Minnesota

MEDIA BIAS
NEXT SUBJECT      See also: CBS
 
• FAIRNESS IS FOUL -- Liberals vs. the first amendment.
• ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO FABRICATE -- Here is a useful list of "all the recent fallen journalists, journalistic mistakes and major and minor screw-ups in the media." The lesson is: If it sounds too good (or too politically correct) to be true, take it with a grain of salt.
• THE GREAT DIVIDE -- Reporters contribute to Democrats over Republicans by a 9 to 1 margin. A survey of college professors reveals that they too are overwhelmingly pro-Democrat.
• NBC CONTRIBUTES FREE AIR TIME FOR DEMOCRATS -- When a conservative appears on talk radio, Democrats scream for the Fairness Doctrine. But when Al Gore gets 75 hours of free air time from NBC, we don't hear a peep.
• A TALE OF TWO PROTESTS -- See how WCCO-TV totally played up a small Global Warming protest and totally ignored the much larger Taxpayer Rally held on the same day on the steps of St. Paul's capitol.
• CENORSHIP AT PBS -- A 52-minute documentary, "Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center", tackles the issue of how religious fundamentalists are stifling the voice of moderate Muslims in the West. Sounds like an interesting topic, and given the tax dollars spent to produce the film, one would assume a sure-bet for airing. But, bowing to political pressure, PBS has decided to muzzle the film.
• STAR TRIBUNE SPREADS MORE LIES -- A recent editorial accuses Republicans of increasing poverty, dirtying the air, and slowing economic growth. John Hinderaker demonstrates -- using charts and graphs -- how every single one of these charges is a lie.
• POWERFUL FORCES WANT TO INFLUENCE YOUR VOTE -- Bill O'Reilly explains how the Iraq situation, the Foley scandal, and the Woodward book all have one thing in common: November's election.
• DEMOCRATS OPPOSE FREE SPEECH -- In Washington state, Democrats move to shut down conservative talk radio. If they are successful there, could this trend go national? FLASHBACK: Key Democrats threaten to revoke ABC's broadcast license if they air the miniseries "Path to 9/11".
• ALL THE FAKE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT -- Would the NY Times intentonally fake a photo in order to make the U.S. troops in Iraq look bad?
• UCLA STUDY: MEDIA BIAS IS REAL -- Latest study shows an extreme liberal bias in the major U.S. media. We're shocked... just shocked!
• You have to see it to believe it. Michelle Malkin discovers that USA Today edited a photo of Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice to make her look like a demon.
• STAR TRIBUNE AGREES: AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE NAZIS -- Those wondering why newspaper circulations are rapidly falling need look no further than the Star Tribune's vile defense of Senator Durbin's Nazi comments. Here is the contact info on the Strib. To cancel a subscription, call 612-673-4343 or 1-800-775-4344.
• MEDIA LOSING CREDIBILITY -- According to Gallup, only 28% of the American public have any confidence in the TV news and local newspapers. John Hawkins explains why with his collection of the 29 looniest quotes from the major news media.
• FOX SURGES, CNN CONTINUES TO FLOP -- Meanwhile David Letterman lists the Top Ten Other Changes at CNN.
• WHAT MEDIA BIAS? -- Lorie Byrd comes up with her top seven signs that media bias has ended.

 

PAWLENTY
NEXT SUBJECT

“I still have an important tool to restrain taxes and spending. I call it the taxpayer-protection pen, otherwise known as the veto pen. As you know, I will not hesitate to use it to stop government from digging into your wallets.” -- Governor Tim Pawlenty, February 13, 2008, State of the State address

• THE PAWLENTY PARADOX -- Wall Street Journal features KTLK's Jason Lewis discussion of the pros and cons of Governor Tim Pawlenty's possible run for vice president.
• KUMBAYA, AL GORE, KUMBAYA! -- With temps hovering around -20 degrees, Chad “the Elder” Doughty reports that Governor Pawlenty is lending his voice to a new Global Warming radio ad
• PUTTING THE GENIE BACK INTO THE BOTTLE -- Governor Pawlenty warns that the state is over-emphasizing social services. Current programs are growing out of control as even more new programs are being added. If we do not get a handle on social welfare spending, he says, “within 15 years it will consume a vast majority of the state's budget.”
• SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO SAY "NO" -- Governor Pawlenty gets some love from the Wall Street Journal for standing up to the tax-obsessed DFL majority. The article suggests that President Bush might go to T-Paw for tips on how to handle Nancy Pelosi.
• PAWLENTY . . . OF NEW SPENDING -- We're spending $3 billion more, in fact. The Governor's $34.4 billion budget raises spending by 9.3 percent. Did YOUR income go up 9.3 percent? Forget about the surplus -- it's gone. One-time money that should have been refunded to you has been spent assuring huge tax increases the next time we don't have a surplus (maybe two years from now). Meanwhile the DFL leader, Larry Pogemiller, says that it's time that Minnesota finds new ways to tax wealth.
• GOVERNOR JUMPS SHIP ON SOCIALIZED MEDICINE -- Katherine Kersten suggests Pawlenty will make an excellent Vice Presidential running mate in 2008 -- for Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Britain's top medical ethics expert has recommended that doctors there let most premature babies die. Socialized medicine . . . it's for the children.
• WHAT HAPPENED TO TPAW THE REFORMER? -- "The era of small government is over," opines Governor Pawlenty in a Saturday Strib article, causing many of his strongest supporters to cringe. Katherine Kersten and David Strom both share their concerns.
• THE VISION THING -- King Banaian offers an open letter to Governor Pawlenty. Craig Westover worries that the state GOP has become philosophically adrift.
• WIPEOUT -- The latest two special elections both go to the DFL. Meanwhile our governor continues to crusade for taxpayer funded stadiums (with NO REFERENDUM) and higher cigarette taxes. Yikes.
• TOO PAINFUL TO WATCH -- Governor Pawlenty's infamous cigarette tax has been struck down. David Strom says “I told you so.”
• PAWLENTY PESSIMISTIC -- Andy at KvM reports that Governor Pawlenty is warning his Republican base to prepare to be disappointed with the upcoming legislative session.
• A MISSED OPPORTUNITY -- It's no secret that some of Governor Pawlenty's strongest supporters feel betrayed over the 2005 budget deal. Unfortunately, his latest fundraising letter fails to address their concerns.
• John Hinderaker and Ron Eibensteiner say Governor Pawlenty did the best he could with a divided legislature.
• Doug at Bogus Gold wonders why Pawlenty campaigns on a theme of "we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem" but spends so much energy fighting for Racino.
• Gary Miller of KvM worries about Pawlenty supporters who take out their rage on fiscal conservatives.
• Craig Westover tackles the "it could have been worse" argument. Is simply giving the DFL less than everything they want really a victory?
• Speed Gibson presents an excerpt from Pawlenty's interview with Eric Eskola. See if you can figure out why a cigarette tax is a "fee" but a gas tax is still just a tax.
• A "FUN TAX" ?? -- Margaret Martin apparently doesn't care for the Governor's new stand on taxes.
• IT'S THE SPENDING, STUPID! -- By advocating a tax and calling it a "fee", has Governor Pawlenty created unnecessary problems for himself? For example, the DFL is now trying to repackage its infamous gas tax hike by calling it a "wholesale fee". Word is that this post by Margaret Martin has quite a few party activists talking.

PENSIONS: AMERICA'S TICKING TIMEBOMB
NEXT SUBJECT        See also: Social Security  

Remember the 2006 State of the Union address when President Bush scolded Congress for doing nothing to fix Social Security and all of the Democrats stood up and wildly applauded? Now an MSNBC article warns America's pensions are spinning out of control. Here come the really scary numbers:

"If the United States government conducts business as usual over the next few decades, a national debt that is already $8.5 trillion could reach $46 trillion or more."

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
NEXT SUBJECT          See also: Culture War
 
• HO, HO . . . NOPE -- The political-correctness police are at it again. Florida Gulf Coast University has banned Christmas displays. One New York town banned the word “Christmas” from its annual boat parade. In Claremont, CA, the school board has decided to use kindergarten kids to make a political point about Thanksgiving. And the nitwits in the State of Washington think nothing brings out the hope and joy of the season quite like a message from the atheists.
• TEACHER BREAKS WALL OF SILENCE AT MUSLIM SCHOOL -- Katherine Kersten reports on one Minnesota public school that is using public funds to create a school exclusively for muslims.
• THE "C" WORD -- With style and humor, the Strib's Kathy Kersten follows the antics of two University of Minnesota Grinches as they continue their quest to stamp out Christmas.
• CHRISTMAS IS OFFENSIVE? -- A teacher in Kentucky was forced to remove a Christmas tree-themed display from her classroom bulletin board because diversity extremists thought the phrase "Santa's Helpers" would be offensive to non-Christian kids. A high school choir in California performing at an ice-skating exhibition was asked by organizers of the show not to sing Christmas carols during the show in case someone is offended.
• ORIGINS OF KWANZAA -- An alert reader describes the unique "Winter Party" imposed by his kid's Twin City-area public school this year -- Kwanzaa yes, Christmas no. He makes a good point: The media tells you about Kwanzaa, but surprisingly very little is told about the origin of this made-up holiday. Paul Mulshine digs into the violent history of the Marxist professor who invented it. William Bennetta blows up the myth that the holiday has anything to do with African heritage.
• WAR ON CHRISTMAS? Bah! Humbug!
• NATIVITY NOT WELCOME IN CHICAGO -- A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. No, they're not kidding.
• MARCH OF THE THEOCONS -- Mark Steyn writes about people who fear a Christian takeover of America.
• A Maryland 7th grader is told that she must stop reading her Bible during her lunch break. A Florida high school teen is told to stop rehearsing her lines for her school's annual Christmas pageant.
• THE TAXMAN GOES TO CHURCH -- Why is the IRS in the business of reading sermons?
• BULLYING THE PULPITS -- Why the IRS may soon be closing down your church.
• GOD FORBID -- "Proselytizing" is forbidden in some radical Islamic countries but it seems to be banned in parts of the good old USA as well. A Nevada valedictorian's commencement speech microphone was yanked for mentioning God. A Colorado valedictorian's diploma is being held until she apologizes for mentioning God in her speech. A Texas grade school authorized an enlarged photo of a nickel on this year's yearbook cover, but with "In God We Trust" deleted so as not to cause offense -- but then handed out stickers with those four words so that students could place them on the cover photo if they wished. So much for "celebrating diversity".
• SILENCE THE CHURCHES -- In Ohio, two conservative churches are under attack for actively encouraging their members to be involved in politics.
• JIMMY CARTER: DEMS ARE OUT OF STEP WITH MIDDLE AMERICA -- The Democratic Party has "failed to demonstrate a compatibility with the deeply religious people in this country."
• SEVENTY PERCENT PREFER “MERRY CHRISTMAS”-- New CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll shows that American overwhelmingly prefer the traditional December greeting to its generic counterparts ("Happy Holidays", etc.). So why do the media and some retailers go out of their way to please the 3 percent who object?
• School officials in one Washington state community decided to remove the "Giving Tree" -- (part of an annual Christmas charity drive) because one parent -- one parent -- complained that the tree was too "Christian".• A Missouri high school student was told that the calendar she was making for the school hallway could not include any pictures of Christmas trees. A high school principal in Ohio quickly corrected himself when he accidentally said the forbidden words: "Christmas Tree." Bill O'Reilly details how several liberal newspapers have now joined the fight against Christmas. But according to a Fox News poll, nearly all Americans -- 95 percent -- celebrate Christmas.
• A high school football coach in New Jersey was told he could no longer participate in pre-game prayers with his players even though he has been doing so for 23 years.
• The words "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance celebrate our nation's religious heritage. Once again, a liberal Federal Judge disagrees. UPDATE: The judge is an appointee of -- Democrat Jimmy Carter.
• TABOO? -- A California college student who used the G-word in a term paper against the wishes of her professor was given a failing grade on the project.
• In celebration of Black History Month, a group was scheduled to sing old spirituals during a halftime show at the University of Illinois. But the group was quickly uninvited when officials learned (gasp!) the songs made reference to God.
• DID YOU KNOW... -- All 50 State Constitutions refer to God.
• Reuters has a story just dripping in religious bigotry. The headline is bad enough: "Study finds church-goers growing bolder" but the body of the article is even more offensive. One can only imagine the outrage if the article was about any other group of Americans.
• Jim Geraghty's very thoughtful response to the “You can't say Merry Christmas, you have to say Happy Holidays”crowd.
• NO MORE "MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET"? -- US News and World Report explains the sensitive executives at Federated Department Stores (parent company of Macy's) are victims of the growing campaign to make people feel uncomfortable about Christmas.
• CHRISTMAS IS TABOO IN AMERICA -- But, as the London Telegraph reports, some parents are starting to fight back.
• NO TREES IN ILLINOIS -- University of Illinois officials have removed four Christmas trees in dorm dining halls after one student complained.
• SCHOOL DISTRICT PROHIBITS THE COLORS RED AND GREEN -- A district in Plano, Texas has been targeted with a lawsuit after officials require white-only supplies for "winter" party
• According to Jill Stewart in the San Francisco Examiner: "Most parents don't realize Christmas is being banned at their school because the media don't really give a rip."
• A school district in New Jersey has, for the first time ever, banned even INSTRUMENTAL Christmas carols.
• Officials at an Oklahoma school district removed the Christian bits from an elementary school play about December holidays because they were worried someone might complain.
• A Christmas tree in the lobby of a new federal courthouse in Jacksonville, Fla. was removed for the usual reasons and replaced with a snowman, reindeer and sleigh,
• A Georgia principal who read a satirical ditty about how kids today can elect pregnant prom queens and dress like freaks but can't mention God in school was accused of breaching that pesky line between church and state.
• Peggy Noonan offers friendly advice to Democrats: Embrace the word “Christmas”and stop the war on religious expression in America. It will never happen, Peggy!
• Little girl discovers that her poem about Thanksgiving is censored by the school because it - gasp! - mentions the word "God".
• A school district in New Jersey has, for the first time ever, banned even INSTRUMENTAL Christmas carols. And what do you call a 40-foot spruce tree covered in Christmas lights in Winnipeg? Why, a "holiday tree," of course!
• A California teacher is suing because he has been forbidden from presenting our nation's founding documents to his class. The reason? You'll never believe it. The Declaration of Independence mentions God.
• Officials at an Oklahoma school district removed the Christian bits from an elementary school play about December holidays because they were worried someone might complain.
• Public elementary schools in parts of Arizona will perform Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even some Ramadan music during their winter celebrations (even though the latter has been over for a couple weeks) but they won't be singing about herald angels or towns named Bethlehem or a certain little guy born there.
• Eugene Volokh makes a superb point about right wing religion and politics. Christian leaders keep getting criticized for "trying to impose their religious dogma on the legal system" like trying to change abortion laws or trying to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. He asks those critics: what do you think of the abolitionists? Many, perhaps most, of the people fighting slavery in the 1800's were deeply religious people who were trying to impose their religious dogma of liberty on a legal system that legally protected slavery. Or what do you think about the civil rights movement? Read the whole thing.
 

TAXES/BIG GOVERNMENT
NEXT SUBJECT

• WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NO ONE LOOKS OUT FOR THE TAXPAYER? -- Republicans are often accused of being selfish or uncaring because they want to hold the lid on taxes. But what does unfettered liberalism look like? Take a look at New York where the Democrat governor there wants to raise taxes. He wants a soft drink tax, an ipod tax, a fat tax, a sports tax, a gas tax, a cigar tax, a bus tax, a limo tax, a cable and satellite TV tax, a sales tax, and a movie and theater tax. New York families will get hit with more than 80 new forms of taxes.
• THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS "NO" -- Unable to say no to their precious little snowflakes, parents send letters to toy companies asking them to stop advertising.
• DO THE MATH -- Article blames lack of basic math skills to the public's support for light rail, ethanol, and global warming hysteria.
• HOW DEMOCRATS WASTE YOUR MONEY -- The House Republican Caucus has posted a very useful tool to clearly show the spending problems we have in Saint Paul.
• PREYING ON IGNORANCE -- Two prominent Senate Democrats produced a study claiming that two out of three U.S. corporations do not pay any income tax. They are hoping you won't know that most corporations don't pay taxes because most corporations don't make money. The United States currently has the second highest corporate taxes in world and it is hurting our economy.
• VOTERS: CUT SPENDING, CUT TAXES -- Latest Rasmussen poll shows 62% of voters would prefer fewer government services with lower taxes. Less than a third (29%) disagree and would rather have a bigger government with higher taxes.
• WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RAISE THE PRICE OF CIGARETTES? -- In New York City, the city plus state taxes on a pack of cigarettes have now reached $4.25 per pack. Guess what happens. Go ahead, guess.
• DEMOCRATS = TAXES = FEWER JOBS -- This won't sit well with many beer drinkers: Budweiser -- an Saint Louis icon since 1895 -- has been purchased by a Belgian company. One reason: High corporate taxes. “Things have gotten pretty bad when U.S. companies relocate to Europe to cut their tax payments.”
• “POLITICS WON'T ALLOW FOR THE TRUTH” -- P.J. O'Rourke discusses fairness, idealism, and other atrocities.
• TAX CHEATS -- What is it with liberal pundits and taxes? Keith Olbermann and Al Franken are just the latest liberals caught stealing from Uncle Sam. A National Cultural Values Survey asked: Is it okay to cheat on your taxes? 57 percent of liberals said yes, and only 20 percent of conservatives agree. Isn't it ironic that the same people who want to tax you to death refuse to pay their own taxes?
• MINNESOTA DFL LOVES ITS PORK -- The House Republican caucus has put together a huge interactive website of pork items proposed by the Minnesota DFL totaling over $400 million in new government spending. The next time you gas up, remember you're helping pay for a Polar Bear exhibit in Duluth, a $800,000 fish tank for the State Fair, and a brand new canoe portage in Cold Spring.
• WORST LEGISLATIVE SESSION EVER -- A 9.8% spending increase, more light rail, and a $6.8 billion tax hike. Minnesota Majority cuts through the hype and reviews the Minnesota's 2007-2008 legislative session.
• WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONARE?-- With farm profits at an all-time high, Congress votes away another $300 billion in farm subsidies.
• BUH-BYE -- Northwest Airlines is leaving the state. Jobs are leaving. Our corporate tax rate is 10 percent, while Georgia's is 6 percent. In fact Minnesota's corporate tax is one of the highest in the WORLD (not just the United States). If you owned a business, where would you consolidate your jobs and headquarters? Drew Emmer warns Minnesota's high taxes make it difficult for any business to remain here. Representative Steve Gottwalt (R-15A) writes: “if we ease the burden on our job creators, investment and jobs will flow back to Minnesota”.
• SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE -- Arnold Kling on Fiscal Reality: “Message to the AARP: if Social Security and Medicare continue to be 'untouchable,' then y'all had better buy guns, because in twenty years there won't be any money left to pay for national defense, much less for any 'worthy causes.”
• THERE GOES "EVERYTHING ELSE" -- The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explores "Where do our tax dollars go?". If there are no plans to cut Social Security (21% of the budget) or Medicare/Medicaid (another 21%) or Defense and Security (22%) or "safety net" spending (9%) and we MUST pay interest on the national debt (9%) -- and all of these programs are growing -- then the remaining 18% ("everything else") will get squeezed. What is "everything else": medical research, civil service benefits, transportation, education, national parks, and a lot of other things Americans call "government".
• MORTGAGE BAILOUT -- Randy Krebs, editor of the St. Cloud Times, pleads: “Please don't use my money to pay for your house.”
• LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE: WHO HAS MORE COMPASSION? -- George Will writes that conservatives give on average 30% more to charity than the average liberal household, and donate more of their time and blood. The generosity cuts across all economic classes (ie. rich conservatives give more than rich liberals, poor conservatives give more than poor liberals). When ask about this seemingly hypocritical position liberals find themselves in Rosie O'Donnel shot back “That's the governments job to help the poor”.
• MASS EXODUS -- Taxpayers are fleeing Massachusetts. Transit, government buildings are crumbling. The state has the highest per capita debt in the country. Lawmakers are suggesting . . . more tax hikes (yeah -- that should bring them back!). Meanwhile universal healthcare is bankrupting the state.

• DFL LEGISLATURE SETS PER DIEM SPENDING RECORD -- Minnesota lawmakers have set a record in 2007 and the proof was in their paychecks. 5 Eyewitness News has learned that last year, State Representatives and Senators took home more than $2 million above their annual salaries. Click here to find out how your legislator voted on increasing their pay.
• THE INCOME GAP IS SHRINKING -- Democrats are fond of telling you that, under President Bush's watch, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. John Edwards talks about “Two Americas”. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the exact opposite is occurring. While the income of the richest Americans has increased 10 percent in the last ten years, the income of the poorest Americans has exploded -- up a whopping 90 percent!
• TRUE LIES -- From the Business & Media Institute: “The Media's Top 10 Economic Myths of 2007.”

• LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN STATE HISTORY -- $6.6 billion in back room deals, almost none of it for metro roads and bridges, despite recent polls showing that Minnesotans opposed the bill. The DFL -- with the help of a handful of foolish Republicans -- has just imposed the largest tax increase in the 150 year history of the state. In addition to an 8.5-cent per gallon gas tax increase, Minnesotans will all pay large increases in registration and license tab fees. The bill enacts a quarter-percent sales tax increase for the Twin Cities metro area -- without a referendum -- and massive new spending for light rail. Jeff Kouba provides a partial list of the bill's many spending boondoggles.
• ANOTHER BRIDGE TO NOWHERE -- Wasteful spending in Washington continues unabated. A city in Florida has decided to take a stand and is returning a $10 million “gift” that they did not want.
• TAX HIKE: WHO'S TO BLAME -- Locally, Rep. Maria Ruud (DFL-42A) continues her ultra-liberal ways. In 2007, she voted against taxpayers 75% of the time. She begins the new year by voting for the largest tax increase in Minnesota history.
• HERITAGE FOUNDATION STUDY: Increasing gas taxes does NOT “create jobs”.
• FEEL-GOOD ECONOMICS -- Bruce Bartlett says we've tried one-time tax rebates before. They don't work.
• BIG TAX INCREASES COMING IN 2008? -- “Transportation” is the new buzz word at the state capitol these days -- and a dangerous one at that. Sue Jeffers writes a wonderful article that explains what Minnesota politicians really mean when they use terms like “comprehensive transportation package” and “appropriate levels of funding.”
• MINNESOTA: ANTI-BUSINESS -- According to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, Minnesota ranks #45 in small business friendliness. Nevertheless, Democrats continue to demand higher taxes.
• CHOOSING TYRANNY -- Russians voted away their freedoms and Venezuelans almost did. Why?
• WHY BIG GOVERNMENT? -- Are Americans a bunch of children (as liberals believe) that need to be taken care of, protected, and told what to do? Or are they adults (as conservatives believe), perfectly capable of making decisions for themselves if only the government would get out of the way? According to an insightful editorial by Chad "The Elder" Doughty, neither view may be correct.
• CUT TAXES: IT'S FOR THE CHILDREN -- Please read Mark Steyn's wonderful commentary. Democrats, he says, use the phrase “the children” like some twitchy verbal tic, a kind of Democrat Tourette's Syndrome. So what is the best thing for America's children? Well it could be to NOT make the mistake of saddling the next generation with a system of unsustainable entitlements that turns the nation into a giant Ponzi scheme.
• HIGH TAXES DRIVE 3M OUT OF MINNESOTA -- One alert reader speculates that the name may soon change to Malaysian Mining & Manufacturing.
• WHAT REALLY BUYS HAPPINESS? -- According to Arthur C. Brooks, it's not income equality, but mobility and opportunity. A terrific article.
• IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CAN FIND WASHERS JUST ANYWHERE -- From the Guardian "Plumbing boss charged Pentagon $1 million for two washers".
• FREEDOM AND BENEVOLENCE GO TOGETHER -- John Stossel takes on Michael Moore and the liberal notion that people who desire limited government are selfish.
• CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: DFL BAD FOR JOBS -- The latest legislative scorecard is out. Congratulations to Senator Hann and Representative Paulsen for their perfect scores. Once again, Representative Ruud stands with big government and against the interests of small business in Eden Prairie and Minnetonka.
• MORE TAXES, FEWER JOBS -- For the first time in history, Minnesota's unemployment rate is above the national average. According to the latest Department of Finance figures, Minnesota ranks #46 in per capita income growth. The DFL continues to call for higher taxes while jobs and capital continue to flee our state.

WAR ON TERROR
See also: Iraq, United Nations, and Remembering 9/11

• AMERICA IS SAFER -- Sometimes in the constant rhetoric we forget the obvious.
• THIS MUST SCARE OUR LIBERAL FRIENDS TO DEATH -- What if force -- military force -- turns out to be moral and noble? What if American soldiers are now winning hearts and minds? Read Michael Yon's eyewitness account (Wall Street Journal, 4/11).
• NY TIMES SMEARS VETERANS AGAIN -- Are soldiers returning from Iraq as violent psychopathic killers? According to the NY Times they are. Mark Steyn takes on the fictional front page story that appears in the NY Times. Retired Lt Col Ralph Peters says that the real message from the NY Times smear is: "Don't hire a vet -- he or she might become violent". John Hinderaker contrasts the latest NY Times attack with their reluctance to cover the military heroism of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• MURTHA EATS CROW ON IRAQ -- One of the biggest anti-war Dems is forced to admit: The surge is working.
• MADNESS IN PAKISTAN -- Only four days earlier, Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe had an article on “The Islamist war on Muslim women.” And now the most famous woman in the Muslim world has been assassinated.
• IMAMS STILL FLYING -- It's hard to imagine a less meritorious lawsuit than the discrimination charge brought by the six flying imams against U.S. Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission in federal court in Minneapolis. But, thanks to one Clinton-appointed judge, the case will go on.
• LIEBERMAN COMMENTS ON THE STATE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY -- “There is something profoundly wrong -- something that should trouble all of us -- when we have elected Democratic officials who seem more worried about how the Bush administration might respond to Iran’s murder of our troops, than about the fact that Iran is murdering our troops.”
• DEMOCRATS SHOULD CONDEMN MOVE-ON -- Former NY mayor Ed Koch urges his fellow Democrats to separate themselves from the recent MoveOn.Org slander of General Petraeus. The Wall Street Journal says that ultra-left hate groups like MoveOn are destroying our national debate by normalizing the practice of accusing anyone who disagrees with them of lying.
• KEEPING THE FLYING IMAMS AIRBORNE -- Despite overwhelming support in and out of Congress, Democrats are blocking a bill that would protect passengers who report suspicious behavior on airlines. In other words, if you report possible terrorist activity, you could face thousands of dollars in legal bills. Wasn't one 9-11 enough for the Democrats?
• JIHAD MICKEY MOUSE -- On Palestinian television, a Mickey Mouse look-alike encourages children to kill for Islam.
• THE FORT DIX SIX -- Six islamic radicals (three of them here illegally) are being held in a plot to kill American soldiers in New Jersey. But the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is quick to demand that we should not link terrorists to Islam. This is the same group that is helping sue passengers who report suspicious activity on airlines.
• HOW DEMOCRATS MAKE US LESS SAFE -- The Democrat chairman was for the troop escalation in Iraq . . . until President Bush proposed it.
• MERCHANT MADNESS -- Target becomes the latest victim of the Che Guevara myth.
• HOW DEMOCRATS MAKE US LESS SAFE -- Silvestre Reyes, the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, does not know that al Qaeda is primarily an extremist Sunni organization. He apparently has never even heard of Hezbollah, the group that blew up the U.S. Marine barracks in 1983. Members of the House Intelligence Committee make $162,000 per year. They are paid to keep us safe from the terrorists. The fact that they do not know even the most fundamental facts about our enemy ought to be a concern to everyone.
• PROBING OUR DEFENSES -- Amazing article by Audrey Hudson that sheds a whole new light on the flying imam incident. Notice that the first reaction of liberals is to always take the side of potential terrorists.
• AL QAEDA SEEKS NUCLEAR BOMB -- Latest warning comes from British intelligence.
• THE TRUTH HURTS -- When "The Path to 9/11" hit the TV screens last week, Democrats had a meltdown. Some prominent Dems even threatened legal action to prevent the film from ever airing (apparently having never heard of the First Amendment). Now the writer of the ABC miniseries shoots back at critics: "My sin was to write a screenplay accurately depicting Bill Clinton's record on terrorism."
• GOOD ADVICE -- How to negotiate with a terrorist.
• SHARIA LAW IN BRITAIN? -- A passport photo in Britain is rejected because a five-year-old girl's bare shoulders might offend Muslims.
• REUTERS PHOTO FRAUD -- Zombie has a comprehensive analysis of the recent Reuters photo scandal. Anti-Israel photos that appeared on the front page of the NY Times and other newspapers -- all fakes.
• “MASS MURDER ON AN UNIMAGINABLE SCALE”-- While Democrats concentrate on getting rid of pro-American Joe Lieberman and fight to give Geneva Convention rights to terrorists and even protest against our troops, another reminder that America's enemies remain ready and willing to exploit our weakness. Even though many Democrats have forgotten we are at war, the terrorists clearly have not.
• DOES "WORLD OPINION" MATTER? -- Dennis Prager says world opinion is worthless and usually wrong. Tony Blankley counters that we ignore world opinion only at our peril.
• IN DEFENSE OF ISRAEL -- From Frank Gaffney at the Center for Security Policy: In its war on terror, the U.S. would never accept the limits being pushed on Israel.
• THOMAS SOWELL: How "peace activists" often make war more likely.
• WHERE IS THE 9/11 MEMORIAL? -- The Wall Street Journal runs a very sad essay by Debra Burlingame, sister of Charles Burlingame, the pilot of American Flight 77, which terrorists crashed into the Pentagon. It describes the sickening infighting and interest group politics that has to date thwarted the installation of any meaningful memorial at ground zero, despite the expenditure -- $2.8 billion and counting!
• CARTOONS AND FREE SPEECH -- Conservative William Bennett teams up with liberal Alan Dershowitz to criticize the decision by U.S. media to censor the Dutch cartoons.
• CARTOON ANGUISH IS A PHONY -- Bill Kristol explains how cartoons printed by one Danish newspaper were turned into worldwide hate fest by radical muslims.
• WHY WE FIGHT -- Debra Burlingame's brother died when Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. She has a message for Democrats opposed to terrorist surveillance: Al Qaeda, not the FBI, is the greater threat to our civil liberties.
• CLINTON SPYING OK -- John Hinderaker recalls that when Bill Clinton authorized spying on Americans in 2000, Democrats and the NY Times said nothing.
• GIVING HOPE TO TERRORISTS -- Pathetic. That's the word Bill Kristol offers for the Republican Senate's shameful cut-and-run resolution on the Iraq War. The thugs now know that all they need to do is hang on a little longer and the United States will quit.
• DEMOCRATS IN PICTURES -- Take a look at the latest photos of the modern "anti-War" movement. Katherine Kersten shines the light on who is actually sponsoring many of these rallies.
• HOW THE MEDIA HELPS THE ENEMY -- Todd Manzi gives specific examples on how the American liberal media is fighting on the side of terrorists in Iraq.
• A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS -- If you want a textbook example of the biased coverage the major media has given to the anti-American protests in Washington one week ago, you need to go to this link.
• STOP THE WAR, IMPEACH BUSH, DESTROY ISRAEL -- National Review's Byron York takes a look at the organizers of the anti-American protests on September 24. Who are their leaders and what are their goals?
• CLINTON WEAKNESS LED TO 9/11 -- President Bush fired back at Bill Clinton's criticisms on Thursday, saying the weak U.S. response to terrorist attacks that took place mostly during the Clinton administration encouraged al Qaida to launch the 9/11 attacks.
• ANTI-WAR PROTEST TARGETS ARMY WOUNDED -- This is pretty disgusting. The protests include signs reading "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton", as well as mock coffins. The protests also take place at peak times of family visitations. And who is behind it all? The "Veterans For Peace" and "Code Pink", two radical far left organizations who have championed Cindy Sheehan's activities in Crawford.
• "HONOR THEIR SERVICE" -- Ronald R. Griffin's lost his son in Iraq and wants you to know why the Bush protesting mom Cindy Sheehan does not speak for him.
• ISLAMIC LAW ENDANGERS WOMEN -- Under the cover of "multiculturalsm", many liberals look the other way when Islamic radicals compromise the most basic of human rights.
• EXPLODING A LIBERAL LIE -- There have been more terror attacks in Britain and Egypt. Unbelieveably, liberals want you to believe that we are to blame -- that by fighting and opposing terror, we actually cause more of it. Australian Prime Minister John Howard answers with a history lesson. Norman Geras says liberals who apologize for killers make more difficult the fight to defeat them.
• HARRY POTTER SUPPORTS WAR ON TERRROR -- Even in Harry's world, appeasement doesn't work.
• WHY THAT'S RIDICULOUS! -- Liberals want you to believe it's all our fault -- that by fighting terrorism, we are causing terrorism. Charles Krauthammer takes their arguments apart.
• MAKING AMERICA SAFER -- NOT! -- Your U.S. Senate is making America safe from terrorism this week by holding hearings on which of the following subjects? (A) The 9/11 terrorist attack that killed 3,000 Americans, (B) The 7/7 attack that left scores dead in London, (C) The recent attack in Iraq where terrorists blew up an American soldier and over 20 children to whom he was giving candy and toys, or (D) Allegations that a terrorist at Guantanamo was "forced to wear a bra".
• CAN WE GET SERIOUS AGAIN, PLEASE? -- What were American politicians doing while terrorists were planning their attacks on London? The House, led by self-described socialist Bernie Sanders, was voting to prevent terror investigators from looking at library records. Rep. Charles Rangel was likening the liberation of Iraq to the Holocaust. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. Senate, was urging the administration to treat al Qaeda terrorists as civilians and comparing American servicemen to Nazis.
• ARE THE DEMS TERRORIST CODDLERS? -- James Taranto wants to know. Meanwhile polls show that only 20% of Americans agree with the Dems about Guantanamo.
• AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DECLARES WAR ON U.S. -- A "human rights" group that can't distinguish between Stalin's death camps and detention centers for terrorists who kill civilians can't be taken seriously. And -- oh look! -- they support Kerry too! What a surprise.
• DEMOCRACY IS CONTAGEOUS -- From Kiev to Baghdad, diverse people are chasing after the same goal.
• Terror has struck out again. Afghanistan holds first election in 5,000 years.
• Dennis Prager: So, we're hated.