The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Barney Frank’s Pals Fannie and Freddie Helped Cause the Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 16 Comments

A very simple question: “[A]ren’t there a lot of seat-warmers at Fannie and Freddie who collect their salaries for the express purpose of reading mortgage documents?”

Doug Ross calls our attention to the role of these “government-sponsored entities” in the massive screw-up of mortgage paperwork that now threatens to freeze the entire U.S. housing market:

Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters and the rest of the social engineering geniuses who protected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from regulatory oversight . . . should be serving life sentences in Leavenworth.

OK, but first let’s get them out of Congress.

SEAN BIELAT for U.S. CONGRESS

Category: Congress, Economics, Election, Massachusetts, Sean Bielat

Satisfying Company

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

by Smitty (via Insty)

My reply to the Stanford Daily is halfway down the page. Do a search for ‘Smith’. This was in response to SD’s ludicrous attack on Victor Davis Hanson, documented here.

Hopefully SD’s whiplash isn’t too severe from all this.

Category: Uncategorized

NY-25: Ann Marie Buerkle

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 12 Comments

Several friends have been urging me to support the Republican challenger in New York’s 25th District. She’s awesome:

The 25th District around Syracuse has sent Republicans to Congress since the 1970s. In 2008, eight-term Republican Rep. Jim Walsh retired and, in that year’s Obama-led surge, Democrat Dan Maffei got elected. Now the latest poll shows the district is swinging back to the GOP, and Ann Marie Buerkle is a fine candidate. Go give her $20.

Democrats are pretending to be worried that there won’t be as many women in the next Congress. Yeah, ask some of those Hillary supporters how much Democrats care about electing women. When it suits their purpose, Democrats are atrociously sexist. How about some of you PUMAs go give Ann Marie Buerkle $50?

Pete Da Tech Guy and I are planning a r0ad trip together and hope to visit the 25th District next week. The Cook Political Report just downgraded Maffei’s seat from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat,” and if you’ll go support Ann Marie Buerkle, it might be rated a “toss-up” by the time we get there.

ANN MARIE BUERKLE for U.S. CONGRESS

Category: Ann Marie Buerkle, Congress, Election, New York

A Public Sector Union Is A Mutiny Awaiting Its Moment

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

by Smitty (h/t BlueGrass Pundit)

Private sector unions would seem a simple application of the First Amendment. Fine. The government needs unions about like the US Navy, in my opinion. Particularly in the light of tripe like this:

Category: Unions

Can’t Score With The VFW? If You’re Jim Moran, There’s MOAA. Or Not.

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

by Smitty

Do we need to call in Mr. Wolf, The Cleaner, from over at BlackFive? Hardly. We’re only talking about “Gentleman” Jim Moran here. As, according to Wikipedia, Moran was beavering away in school during Vietnam, we couldn’t expect him to shoot for a VFW endorsement. The Military Officers Association of America, MOAA, on the other hand? I’ve just seen an email to MOAA members objecting to this campaign literature (click image for full size .pdf), along with what could be called a rather curt memo. Oops:

The reason for the objection? MOAA has a strict no-endorsement policy, for tax reasons. Probably just an administrative oversight. Let’s envision the staff meeting, shall we?:

Moran: I’m looking at this pamphlet, Kleinewimper, and I don’t see any military endorsements. We need something to paper over my pasty beaurocratic flesh and make me appear patriotic. I’m beginning to get just a little worried about Patrick Murray.
Kleinewimper: Heh. Heh. Yes, boss. Should we go through PMA?
M: Too much scrutiny. We have to make sure that the usual people do the standard thing and rebury that zombie scandal. Who at the VFW owes us a solid?
K: Uh. . . uh. . .Boss, there is some blowback building over the VFW endorsing cretins over veterans. . .
M: Are you saying I’m a cretin? *whack*
K: Owwwww! No, please don’t hit me, boss! I meant that some of the other VFW edorsements went to cretins.
M: Well! See that you remain respectful. Who should we get? Find some reservist association, I don’t care. All I want is this pamphlet to have a bit of military flavor. What’s so hard about that?
K: My neighbor is in MOAA. I’ll talk to him.
M: Yeah, sure, NOAA. I don’t care. Just get my stupid pamphlet filled in. If NOAA squawks, I’ll have Gore tell them to lay by their dish.

Thanks for doing the right thing, MOAA. This blog is fairly sure which way the organization would break between a tool like Moran and a veteran like Murray, were it to offer endorsements. Moran and his ilk represent the worst of a century of Progressivism. VA-8 does not need someone committed to Murtha-ism (i.e. dying in office), who thinks that the country exists to serve a few like him and his cronies. Rather, someone with a proven track record of serving the country.

PATRICK MURRAY for U.S. CONGRESS

Category: Jim Moran, Patrick Murray, Virginia

VIDEO: Barney Frank ‘Debates’ Bielat

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 21 Comments

BOSTON — Here are two segments from last night’s 4th District debate on New England Cable News. First, on Social Security:

Next on economic policy:

Now, there are a couple of things we need to point out here: First, the host Jim Braude is about as neutral and objective as John Kerry. You’ll notice that Barney is allowed to ramble on and on without any apparent limit. Second, Barney has an awful habit of describing his opponent’s position in tendentious ways: “What he wants to do is so-and-so” — a complete distortion, but when Bielat tries to point out the distortion, Barney gets all offended, as if Bielat has no right to speak for himself.

As I noted of Monday morning’s radio debate, Barney kept filibustering and complaining about Bielat interrupting him. Jonathan Strong of the Daily Caller counted eight different occasions where Barney did his “don’t interrupt me” act. Ed Morrissey has video of the WRKO radio debate.

Barney comes off as bossy, thin-skinned and arrogant. Partisan Democrats, of course, perceive this as Barney being tough — He’s not going to let that stupid Republican push him around! — as if a hectoring self-righteous manner of argument were synonymous with “toughness.”

In any other year, Barney would be cruising to re-election, but when unemployment in some 4th District towns is at 14 percent, all that talk, talk, talk starts getting on people’s nerves.

SEAN BIELAT for U.S. CONGRESS
It’s the Only Way to Make Barney Frank Shut Up

Category: Congress, Election, Massachusetts, Sean Bielat, Video

LIVE AT FIVE10.12.10

Posted on | October 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

TOP NEWS

Karzai Sets Up “Peace Council” To Negotiate With Taliban

Afghan President seeks to separate Taliban from Al Qaeda

Tropical Storm Paula Forms Off Honduras
Will be upgraded to hurricane later today



Unrepentant Paladino Calls Pride Parades “Disgusting”
Asks reporters, “Would you take your children? Would you?”

MIT Econ Prof Good Enough For A Nobel Prize
But apparently not good enough for a job with the Fed

POLITICS

Clinton Stumps For Manchin In Morgantown

Urges West Virginians to get beyond anger and frustration over economy, send governor to DC

Desperate Dems Grab At Social Issues Straws

Blanche Lincoln May Compromise On Bush Tax Cuts

Some Democrats Unhappy With Obama’s Attacks on Chamber of Commerce

THE ECONOMY, STUPID

Foreclosure Flap: White House To Save Banks From Angry Public?

Microsoft Debuts Smartphones With Windows Phone 7 OS

Crude Oil Futures Down As Dollar Rises

PRC To Post Largest Trade Surplus In Two Years

SPORTS

Favre Apologizes To Teammates For Distraction

NYT calls for Vikes QB to retire

Beavers’ WR Rodgers Out For Season With Bad Knee

Browns Could Start Rookie Against Steelers Next Sunday

Mets Interview Former Royals GM Baird To Replace Minaya

FAMOUS FOR BEING FAMOUS

Cox & Arquette: It’s On The Rocks

Separated After 11 Year Marriage

Lohan: This Is All Your Fault, Dad

Esquire: Minka Kelly Sexiest Woman Alive

Matt Damon: It’s A Girl!

FOREIGNERS

Hungarian Metals Plant Director Faces Charges Over Toxic Sludge Spill

Kyrgyzstan Election Over, Negotiations To Form Coalition Government Begin

Abbas Accuses Israel Of Violating “All Agreements”


BLOGS & STUFF

American Spectator: The President’s Nun

Protein Wisdom: And While We’re On The Issue Of Race…

Hit & Run: Citizens United Not The Big Deal Some People Think It Is

Don Surber: Daily Scoreboard

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Category: Live at Five

Where He’s Building Ace a Robot: Inside Sean Bielat’s Campaign Headquarters

Posted on | October 11, 2010 | 35 Comments

BOSTON — As everyone knows, this unprecedented effort to defeat Barney Frank really caught fire Sept. 22 when Ace of Spades coined the Official Campaign Slogan:

Sean Bielat For Congress
When he’s not killing terrorists,
he’s building fuckin’ robots

Although this slogan hasn’t yet appeared on billboards in Massachusetts’ 4th District, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Meanwhile, while the candidate has been busy killing terrorists, building robots and debating Barney Frank, his campaign staff and volunteers keep working hard. Here’s a brief video tour of the Newton office that is main HQ for the Bielat campaign:

The encounter with the fired-up Bielat supporter coming to pick up his yard sign was completely unplanned, by the way, but it certainly is solid proof that there are hard-core conservative voters even in a liberal district like this.

Here you see volunteers manning the phone banks. This photo was taken about noon Sunday, and I’m told that the phone-canvassing operation doesn’t really start cranking up until after 2 p.m. in the afternoon.

Campaign signs adorn the partition inside the office.

This whiteboard shows the phone call totals from Friday. Notice that they called more than 14,000 voters last week from the Newton office, which is one of three Bielat campaign offices in the district. By Election Day, the campaign will probably have made more than 100,000 calls. If you’re in the area and would like to volunteer to help, here are the addresses:

Freetown Office
1 Chace Plaza
Freetown, MA 02717
Norton Office
250 E Main Street
Norton, MA 02070
Newton Office
381 Elliot Street
Newton, MA 02464

Some Bielat campaign swag, with Sunday’s Boston Globe.

No, the campaign isn’t hiring winos to wave signs. This is New Media consultant John LaRosa, who does cool things like running the “Bye Bye Barney” money-bomb.

And this is Terri, the volunteer receptionist who was featured in my American Spectator article Monday. Terri remembers meeting me in Boston’s North End back in January when I was covering the Scott Brown campaign.

Hey, it’s Sean Bielat! He was at WRKO studios for his Monday morning radio debate with Barney Frank, which was pretty cool. But not as cool as killing terrorists or building robots.

SEAN BIELAT for U.S. CONGRESS

UPDATE: Moe Lane reports that Charlie Cook just upgraded MA-4 from “safe” to “likely Democrat,” along with four other previously “safe” Democrat seats, including the AZ-7 seat where Ruth McClung just got endorsed by Sarah Palin. Also upgraded: MN-8, where the Republican challenger is Ace-endorsed Chip Cravaack.

UPDATE II: Welcome, Instapundit readers! Our Massachusetts friend Pete Da Tech Guy says that in three weeks, Charlie Cook will be upgrading MA-4 to “Holy S#$%!”

Category: Ace of Spades, Congress, Election, Massachusetts, Sean Bielat
« go back — keep looking »

    About

    This is an area on your website where you can add text. This will serve as an informative location on your website, where you can talk about your site.

    Subscribe to our feed

    Search

    Admin