Tuesday, July 07, 2009
CNN Talks Michael Jackson Media Coverage
Part 2
Michael Jackson was a cultural icon on the level of Elvis, John Lennon and Princess Diana. People whining about any media "overcoverage" need to quit yapping.
Democrats Admit Cap And Trade Bill Is A Job Killer

USNews.com:
In her remarks bringing the debate over the climate bill to a close, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California urged her colleagues to vote in favor of the cap and trade bill, saying the measure was about four things: "jobs, jobs, jobs, and jobs."
She was right—the House-passed version of cap and trade is all about jobs: jobs lost, jobs never created, jobs sent overseas, and, unbelievably, jobs people will be paid for doing long after they cease to exist.
According to Friday's Washington Times, the legislation includes language that provides, should it become law, that people who lose their jobs because of it "could get a weekly paycheck for up to three years, subsidies to find new work and other generous benefits—courtesy of Uncle Sam."
How generous are these benefits? Well, according to the Times, "Adversely affected employees in oil, coal and other fossil-fuel sector jobs would qualify for a weekly check worth 70 percent of their current salary for up to three years. In addition, they would get $1,500 for job-search assistance and $1,500 for moving expenses from the bill's 'climate change worker adjustment assistance' program, which is expected to cost $4.2 billion from 2011 to 2019."
Instead of being a the source of millions of new jobs of "green jobs"—as House Democrats are fond of saying over and over again—the provision is a hidden admission that their effort is a job killer, not just a massive new tax on energy.
Building a safety net into the legislation is probably the responsible thing to do. The government is going to be directly responsible for the destruction of millions of jobs if the bill passed by the House becomes law—anywhere from a net loss of .5 percent of total jobs over the first 10 years, according to the liberal Brookings Institution, to 3 million by the year 2030, according to the industry-backed Coalition for Affordable American Energy. But wouldn't it be better to leave the jobs alone in the first place? It would certainly be cheaper.
Joe Scarborough On Sarah Palin's Future
This is probably the best synopsis I've seen on what may be Sarah Palin's future. I still think it's lame that she quit her term ahead of time, but yeah, she's definitely got mega-dollar deals coming at her with FOX News most likely being one of them.
Monday, July 06, 2009
7th Grader Sues School Over Right To Wear Pro-Life T-Shirt

FoxNews.com:
Well, obviously this 7th grader didn't learn that rights to free speech are only designed to protect immoral, leftwing loons beholden to the radical, liberal agenda. Or else, why isn't the ACLU jumping on this case?A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.
Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.
The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.
GOP Pol Peter King Spits On Michael Jackson's Grave
Newsmax.com:
A New York congressman says in a YouTube video that Michael Jackson was a "pervert."
Rep. Peter King said society is "glorifying" a "low-life" while ignoring the efforts of teachers, police officers, firefighters, veterans and volunteers.
In the video, the congressman says the "day in and day out" coverage of Jackson's death is "too politically correct."
He conceded that Jackson "may have been a good singer" and "did some dancing."
King is among the possible Republican contenders for the seat held by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (JILL'-uh-brand.)
King has said in the past that he represents the interests of "blue-collar conservatives."
First of all. while Michael Jackson has been accused by quite a few people of child molestation, he's never been convicted of anything. Secondly, this is a reach as the media's coverage of Michael Jackson has nothing to do with dissing our troops. And yeah, at a time when the GOP is struggling, barely getting mention on the national radar, dissing a cultural icon is just the kind of lift it needs. Any wonder too why Blacks stay away from the GOP?
Former Democrat Mayor Marion Barry Charged With Stalking

CBSNews.com:
Marion Barry used to be addicted to crack cocaine. Now, according to police charges, his latest addiction might be a female friend who accused him of stalking her.No surprise here. Marion Barry has been a walking train wreck his entire life, which in turn makes him a hero to Black liberals. After all, it was black liberals who supported and got Barry re-elected as mayor of D.C. despite all his past problems, which of course, includes the infamous video of him being caught smoking crack cocaine. Amazing that.
Barry was arrested Saturday and charged with stalking a female acquaintance. It’s the latest in a long string of troubles for the politician, who was once videotaped smoking crack cocaine.
U.S. Park Police said Barry, a current D.C. Council member, was arrested after a woman flagged down an officer and claimed that Barry was stalking her. He was charged with misdemeanor stalking and released.
Politiks As Usual: In The News 7/6/09

Sarah Palin Threatens To Sue Leftist HuffPo Blogger
Ousted President's Plane Circles Honduran Runway, Can't Land
Attorney General Holder Picks Homosexuals Over Priests
4th of July Holiday Marked By Anti-Tax Tea Parties
When Color Trumps Christianity
Save Pat Buchanan!
Gates Looking For 'Flexibility In Law Banning Homosexuals From Military Service
New Documents Connect Sotomayor To Leftist Agenda
Biden Gives Green Light For Israeli Iran Attack, Officials Backtrack
General Electric To Use Embryonic Stem Cells For Testing, Phase Out Lab Rats
Charles Rangel Criticizes Obama For Butting Into NY Primary
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Cash4Gold Offers To Purchase U.S. Gold Reserves; Sell Your Metals Now!

With the ever-increasing demand for gold and an economy that continues to be in the toilet, precious metals, like gold and silver, remain a hot market item. Investors both large and small maintain their business acumen by taking up any precious coins that they can find. And that's where Cash4Gold comes in.
At Cash4Gold, America's premiere buyer of precious metals, you can take advantage of rising prices on gold, silver and platinum. Considering that investment companies are promoting that the market will continue to rise, Cash4Gold is the place to go to sell your precious metals, earn tremendous return and diversify your portfolio. After all, Cash4Gold has the experience (60-plus years in the business), know-how and reputation (high grades from the likes of Inc. 500 magazine) to make sure that sellers make profits from your metals.
Further emboldening their stellar reputation, the Treasury Dept. has also announced an offer Cash4Gold to purchase the U.S. national gold reserve--a move that will certainly make Cash4Gold the country's standard in gold and silver investments. Indeed, the Deputy Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner thought up the idea after viewing one of Cash4Gold's commercials! So hold on to your coins and precious metals for a few years so they can yield the best returns. Your metals have the potential to provide much greater returns in the future. So if you can be patient for say a period of 5-10 years, take your goods down to Cash4Gold and you'll overcome the spreads while realizing potential profits.
Sarah Palin's Hypocrisy On Media Criticism
Does Palin have a leg to stand on complaining about media criticism now after doing this interview just a year ago? Of course, maybe this was just an extension of her dislike for Hillary. Of course, considering that this interview took place before she was pucked into the national spotlight as a VP nominee, one could argue that at the time Palin was clueless about the media's treatment of Hillary. Either way, it makes her look bad. And I still say that media criticism was not reason enough for Palin to quit being governor of Alaska.
Joey Chestnut Sets New Record In Hot Dog Eating Contest!
True championships like Joey Chestnut are rarely made nowadays, let's hope that there isn't any steroid scandal on the horizon.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
They Won't Have Sarah Palin To Kick Around Anymore

YahooNews.com:
I don't know about this one. Sarah Palin has always stated that she's not a quitter and what does she do now? Quit. Pretty lame move if you ask me. Granted, constant ethic complaints (most of which have been dismissed), controversial remarks in the press and increasing hate by leftwing loons would stress anyone out. But what about the people of Alaska who voted for her? Palin had two years left in her term as governor, how can she just abandon her post like that?The announcement caught even current and former Palin advisers by surprise. Former members of the John McCain campaign team, now dispersed across the country, traded perplexed e-mails and phone calls.
But personal pressures have been mounting — scrutiny on her family, legal bills, ethics investigations and a running, public fued with McCain's camp that has flared up again.
In a hastily arranged news conference at her home in suburban Wasilla, Palin said she will formally step down July 26, and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks. She said she had decided against running for re-election as Alaska's governor, and believed it was best to leave office even though she had two years left to her term.
"Many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit that road. They draw a paycheck. They kind of milk it. And I'm not going to put Alaskans through that," she said.
The 2008 vice presidential nominee was seen as a likely presidential contender in 2012 and had proved formidable among the party's base. But the last week brought a highly critical piece in Vanity Fair magazine, with unnamed campaign aides questioning if Palin was ever really prepared for the presidency. The backbiting continued with follow-up articles recounting the nasty infighting that plagued her failed bid. Her advisers sniped with other Republicans, underscoring the deeply divided GOP looking for its next standard bearer.
Sarah Palin didn't ask for all the national fame and ridicule she's gotten over the last year, it was John McCain who plucked her out of relative obscurity by picking her to be his VP running mate last year. And sure she made a few stumbles out of the gate, but she quickly uprighted herself, galvanized her party and stood on her record and principles in facing off against hostile liberals who think a woman should apologize for being strong and conservative. For that she earned lots of people's respect, and rightly so. Of course, I feel bad that some insane liberals can't let their utter hatred for Palin go. I feel bad that they continue to attack her family and kids. And who knows, maybe she is setting up a run for President--either way still, this move just doesn't sit right. It's certainly doesn't seem like the kind of play the Sarah Palin I thought I knew would make.
STUDY: Black Reporters Are More Likely To Give Michelle Obama Favorable Coverage!

WaPo.com:
While Michelle Obama was meeting with doctors and patients at the Upper Cardozo Health Center, nearly two dozen journalists stood behind a white rope in a small room upstairs, most finally growing so tired during the hour-long wait that they sat on the floor.No surprise here. Despite the fact that Michelle Obama has used her First Lady status to speak out on issues concerning gays much than she has those concerning Blacks, her minions in the black press at large could care less and will continue to kiss her ass with nary a word of criticism. The last thing Black reporters want to do to piss Michelle off--they know what happened when Vera Baker did.
Finally the first lady emerged, read a short speech about releasing federal stimulus money for community health clinics -- including $2.5 million for the Northwest Washington center -- and greeted a handpicked audience with handshakes and hugs. Then she turned and left, and the press pool quietly filed out.
Rachel Swarns of the New York Times and The Washington Post's Robin Givhan were among those herded behind the rope Monday. They and the other main beat reporters -- Newsweek's Allison Samuels, Darlene Superville of the Associated Press and Politico's Nia-Malika Henderson -- have something in common: They are all African American women. Perhaps this gives them a richer cultural understanding of Obama as a trailblazer.
Indeed, most write with enthusiasm, in some cases even admiration, about the first lady as a long-awaited role model for black women. "Without a doubt, I identify with her as a brown-skinned African American woman," Samuels says. "Now we have Michelle and see her as a mother, a lawyer, a wife, and she's doing it fabulously." Samuels got to interview Obama during the campaign and "we had a girlfriend-to-girlfriend moment. We did connect."
But if their bosses hoped these staffers would receive special access, some secret-handshake entry into the East Wing -- or even a casual wave at a health clinic -- they were mistaken, at least thus far. None of the beat writers has been granted an interview since the inauguration. Instead, they must piece together a mosaic from glimpses of Obama, who has a limited public schedule and a staff that fiercely guards her privacy and her image. (Other reporters, of varied ethnicities, dip in and out of writing about the first lady.) Whether racial and gender identification produces a gauzier, more favorable portrayal of Obama is perhaps too early to judge. After all, no one raises questions when an Irish American male reporter covers a pol named Murphy. And with her carefully crafted focus on her children, affordable fashion and such reduced-fat apple pie issues as healthy eating, Obama has done little to warrant sharp criticism.
The GOP Can Attract Minorities -- If They Can Stop Being Bigots

Great article by Ruben Navarrette Jr. on PajamasMedia.com the other day:
It’s sad to watch.
Republicans have a good case to make to African American voters about how the GOP is the real party of empowerment and opportunity, and how the Democratic Party is only interested in empowering itself at the expense of minorities. So much so that it will attack those uppity enough to think for themselves.
On education, for instance, Democrats side with mostly white teachers’ unions against black parents who want their children’s schools to be held accountable for student performance — finally purged of what a Republican president called “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” The educational reform law, No Child Left Behind, has the support of the NAACP, but is fiercely opposed by the teachers’ unions.
Many African Americans also find appealing the GOP’s adherence to personal responsibility, lower taxes, smaller government, and traditional moral values.
But Republicans never get around to making that case to the black community, because too many of them are busy making jackasses out of themselves and coming across as thickheaded, insensitive, and mean-spirited racists. The election of the first black president only made matters worse, as some conservatives, particularly at the local level, responded to this historic event by taking political discourse into the gutter with jokes and sophomoric stunts that don’t amuse but offend:
- Rusty DePass, a Republican activist in South Carolina and former state senate candidate, made a crude joke that played off the stereotype likening African-Americans to apes. After a gorilla escaped from a local zoo, DePass responded: “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors — probably harmless.” DePass later acknowledged to a news station that he was talking about First Lady Michelle Obama.
- A Republican legislative aide in Tennessee distributed an offensive e-mail with portraits of all the presidents. President Obama is depicted as nothing more than two cartoonish white eyes against a black background. Sherri Goforth, an assistant to State Senator Diane Black, has admitted she sent the email with the title “Historical Keepsake Photo.” Goforth said that she mistakenly sent it “to the wrong list of people.”
- Last year, before the presidential election, a Republican women’s group in San Bernardino County sent out a newsletter joking that Obama, if elected, would be a president who appeared on food stamps instead of dollar bills. The mailer included an illustration of “Obama Bucks” — a picture of the Democratic candidate surrounded by watermelon and fried chicken.
Certainly, Republicans don’t have a monopoly on racism. It’s a matter of public record that the first slings of racism aimed at Barack Obama came from fellow Democrats, supporters of Hillary Clinton who tried to depict her challenger as a reformed drug dealer, a Muslim, a black militant, a “shuck and jive” political hustler, and — thank you, Geraldine Ferraro — someone who wouldn’t have gotten this far in life if he hadn’t been black.
- A few months later, after Obama was elected, Dean Grose — the Republican mayor of Los Alamitos, CA — resigned after being roundly criticized for distributing an email showing a watermelon patch in front of the White House with the caption: “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Grose later apologized for forwarding the email and claimed that he wasn’t aware of the racial stereotype that blacks like watermelon.
But Democrats get a pass for their sins because African Americans can cite one battle after another when Democrats stood with them, dating back to Harry Truman desegregating the armed forces in 1948. And even though, in the 1950s and 1960s — which served as the defining eras for the black Civil Rights Movement — Southern Democrats were among the chief antagonists, it was Democrat John F. Kennedy who first addressed the nation on the importance of recognizing the civil rights of black Americans. And it was Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson who signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Meanwhile, Republicans are becoming known for bad jokes and racist pranks. If they keep it up, with the United States becoming more diverse and inching towards the day — demographers put it near 2032 — where whites become a statistical minority here, they may soon be known for something else: consistently coming in second.
GOP Says Even Bloodhounds Can't Find Stimulus Jobs
CNN.com:
On the day the June jobs report showed the U.S. labor market shedding 467,000 jobs, House Republicans released a tongue-in-cheek Web video featuring a bloodhound named "Ellie Mae" sniffing out stimulus jobs.
Narrated by Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, the clip shows the bloodhound "on the money trail" visiting AIG's headquarters in New York City and projects in Wisconsin and North Carolina supported by federal stimulus dollars. It was modeled on a campaign commercial run by the current Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in his 1994 Kentucky Senate race.
House GOP Leader John Boehner poses with Ellie Mae at the end of the video. "She hasn't found any stimulus jobs yet, and neither have the American people," says Boehner. "It's time to stop runaway spending in Washington and help small businesses get the economy running once again. Hang in there, honey, we'll find 'em."
"This is a lighthearted web video, but the underlying point is no laughing matter," Boehner said in a written statement. "At a time when Americans are looking to Washington for leadership, the trillion-dollar 'stimulus' isn't working. Americans were promised the 'stimulus' would keep the unemployment rate from going above eight percent. It's now it's skyrocketing above nine percent. Where are the jobs?"
Nadeam Elshami, spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wasn't amused by the video. "Looks like the hound couldn't track down any of the police officers, teachers or nurses who are working today because of the Recovery Act or the construction workers working on more than 1,900 highway projects already under way across the country."
Elshami also said the stimulus law still needed time to show results, and slammed the GOP: "Betting against the American economy is another fairly depressing political strategy from the House Republican Conference."
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Under Barack Obama Unemployment Is Highest In 26 Years
BizJournals.com:
It'd be outright spiteful to say that Barack Obama was supposed to turn around our nation's economic problems in only 5 months, but so far there isn't even a sign of progress. Meanwhile, Barry keeps telling us that his $800 billion stimulus plan is working?!? Including the couple of months as President-Elect, Barry's had almost a year to work on fixing this mess we're in, but instead things are getting worse and millions of Americans are suffering because of it. This isn't "change" we can believe in, it's pure and utter bullshit.Employers cut more jobs in the U.S. in June causing unemployment to rise to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent in May, the highest since August 1983.
The Labor Department report shows that in June employers slashed 467,000 jobs and hourly earnings were flat. In May the economy lost 322,000 jobs.
Factory payrolls fell by 136,000 after decreasing 156,000 the prior month. Payrolls at builders fell 79,000 after decreasing 48,000.
Retail payrolls decreased by 21,000. Financial firms reduced payrolls by 27,000.
In a separate report the Labor Department said the number of Americans filing first time claims for unemployment benefits last week fell in line with forecasts. Initial jobless claims dropped by 16,000 to 614,000 in the week ended June 27.
The average work week fell to 33 hours from 33.1 hours in May. Workers' average hourly wages held at $18.53 for a second month.
Wall Street Journal Admits That Al Franken Stole MN Election

Pretty bold stuff. Kudos to the WSJ for having some balls:
Even if he didn't think that he had a chance in hell, Norm Coleman should've at least tried to take this up with SCOTUS--he owed that to the Minnesota voters.The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of last year's disputed Senate race, and Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's gracious concession at least spares the state any further legal combat. The unfortunate lesson is that you don't need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.
Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat's strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in a way that would discover votes that could add to his total. The Franken legal team swarmed the recount, aggressively demanding that votes that had been disqualified be added to his count, while others be denied for Mr. Coleman.
But the team's real goldmine were absentee ballots, thousands of which the Franken team claimed had been mistakenly rejected. While Mr. Coleman's lawyers demanded a uniform standard for how counties should re-evaluate these rejected ballots, the Franken team ginned up an additional 1,350 absentees from Franken-leaning counties. By the time this treasure hunt ended, Mr. Franken was 312 votes up, and Mr. Coleman was left to file legal briefs.
What Mr. Franken understood was that courts would later be loathe to overrule decisions made by the canvassing board, however arbitrary those decisions were. He was right. The three-judge panel overseeing the Coleman legal challenge, and the Supreme Court that reviewed the panel's findings, in essence found that Mr. Coleman hadn't demonstrated a willful or malicious attempt on behalf of officials to deny him the election. And so they refused to reopen what had become a forbidding tangle of irregularities. Mr. Coleman didn't lose the election. He lost the fight to stop the state canvassing board from changing the vote-counting rules after the fact.
This is now the second time Republicans have been beaten in this kind of legal street fight. In 2004, Dino Rossi was ahead in the election-night count for Washington Governor against Democrat Christine Gregoire. Ms. Gregoire's team demanded the right to rifle through a list of provisional votes that hadn't been counted, setting off a hunt for "new" Gregoire votes. By the third recount, she'd discovered enough to win. This was the model for the Franken team.
Mr. Franken now goes to the Senate having effectively stolen an election. If the GOP hopes to avoid repeats, it should learn from Minnesota that modern elections don't end when voters cast their ballots. They only end after the lawyers count them.
The Israelis Have Kidnapped Crazy Cynthia McKinney!

Reuters.com:
The Israeli navy intercepted and boarded a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in defiance of an Israeli blockade.Hey, not that I'd ever support Americans being kidnapped, but would anybody here be upset if they just....yunno, kept Cynthia?"No shots were fired during the boarding of the boat," the Israeli military said in a statement, adding the vessel was being taken to the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod. "The boat crew will be handed over to the appropriate authorities."
The small ferry had set off from Cyprus with activists from the U.S.-based Free Gaza movement and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, territory ruled by Hamas Islamists.
"Yesterday evening the Israeli navy contacted the boat while at sea clarifying that it would not be permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in the area, and the existing naval blockade," the military said.
"Disregarding all warnings given, the cargo boat entered Gazan coastal waters," the statement said, promising that humanitarian goods found on board would be transferred to the Gaza Strip "subject to authorisation".
On its web site, the Free Gaza movement said among the activists on the vessel, which it dubbed the Spirit of Humanity, were Irish Nobel peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
"We are outraged, they just stole our boat and kidnapped our people," said Greta Berlin, a representative of the movement in Cyprus.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Helen Thomas Pwnes Robert Gibbs
Woah! Helen Thomas may be an old relic who pissed many conservatives off with her vile treatment towards George W. Bush for 8 years, but as seen here, at least she plays fair. Robert Gibbs is an arrogant prick who long had this coming, leave it to Helen to do the job.
Newsbusters has more.
John Stossel Whines About Michael Jackson Coverage....Where Was He On Media's Princess Diana Obsession?

I've always been a fan of John Stossel's reporting and writings--he's long been a truth-seeker whose always shown to be one of the few in the leftist media unafraid to take on the slime of liberal propaganda. But joining the growing ranks of conservatives bitching about the news coverage of a global icon, just makes Stossel look dumb in my book:
It just irks me that conservatives are acting like Michael Jackson planned his death ahead of time so as to interfere with their ability to get news. Then too treating a guy, whose death almost literally killed the internet, like he was just your average, run-of-the-mill "pop star" just hints of racism, esp. when you consider the media's over-the-top obsession with Princess Diana's death that went on for weeks on end.Of course, maybe my bosses made the wrong choice. Maybe more viewers would have tuned in for my health care report. But the beauty of the market is that if they regularly choose wrong, they will go bankrupt. Networks better at giving the public what we want will take their business. I’d rather have viewers vote with their remotes than have elites govern our choices, making sure we watch “serious” programming.
Yes, I am sick of the coverage of Michael Jackson. I hate it that ABC didn’t run my piece. Free markets sometimes encourage pandering to the masses. I still say, bless the market. The good outweighs the bad.
Free speech means rude obscenity and hate speech. I treasure free speech too.
Centrist Democrats Will Be No Pushover For Obama

WashingtonExaminer.com:
Despite what the liberal media likes to portray, Democrats are not a monolithic group--indeed conservative Democrats such as myself make up over 20% of the party. So instead of worrying about the Dems now 60-vote majority, the Right should worry more about keeping RINO's like Olympia Snowe in check in the future.Former Sen. Norm Coleman conceded defeat in his eight-month recount battle after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled former comedian Al Franken the winner of the state's contested Senate seat, giving Democrats a 60-vote majority supermajority that could make Senate Republicans largely irrelevant.
While Franken's win will allow Democrats to push some legislation through without the worry of a Republican filibuster, the party will still have to grapple with defections from its many centrists who have the power to derail key legislation, including global warming fees that just passed the House.
"It's not correct to think that the caucus will be unified," said Jake Thompson, an aide to Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who is one of at least a dozen moderate Democrats who meet regularly. "There are a number of independent minds in that group and they will stay that way."
Nelson and other moderate Senate Democrats will likely become key figures in the effort to pass health care reform and a climate-change bill.
Nelson, for example, is opposed to a cap-and-trade plan, which would set limits on carbon emissions and requires polluters who exceed a certain cap to purchase costly permits.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has said she will not "rubber-stamp" a cap-and-trade proposal. President Barack Obama praised the House cap-and-trade bill and is now pushing for the Senate to move similar legislation.
"It's going to be a tough fight," Thompson said. Other Senate moderates include Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
Centrist Democrats are also opposed to aspects of the health care overhaul bill under construction in the Senate, including a plan to create a public health insurance option that would compete and potentially undermine the private insurance system.
H/T: BookerRising
Victory For King Of All Liberals George Soros: Al Franken Wins MN Senate Seat

YahooNews.com:
Al Franken refused his rival's calls for an election night concession last November, choosing instead to begin vote counting and courtroom haggling that stretched almost eight months and ultimately landed him a seat in the U.S. Senate.As most conservatives already know it was leftwing kingpin and billionaire George Soros who threw his mighty dollars behind Al Franken, giving him the wherewithal to rob Norm Coleman of his Senate seat. All I can say now is thank goodness we have the Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats to keep the socialist Obama agenda in check no matter how much the loons think they should be the ones running things now.Franken's victory over Republican Norm Coleman gives Democrats 60 Senate seats, the critical number needed to overcome Republican filibusters. When Franken is seated, which could come as early as next week, his party will have a majority not reached on either side of the aisle in some three decades.
Coleman conceded the election hours after a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Franken — who moved into politics with books poking fun at conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh — should be certified the winner. In doing so, Coleman pulled the plug on a bitter election that was decided by 312 votes out of almost 2.9 million cast.
"When you win an election this close, you know not one bit of effort went to waste," Franken told reporters outside his downtown Minneapolis town house, accompanied by his wife. "The way I see it, I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second senator from Minnesota."
