Pray for India

Indian commandos finally ended the terrorist siege in Mumbai. The grim reality now is counting the dead and assessing the damages. According to the sole captured terrorist, the plan was to kill 5,000. So far the death toll is around 300. This is truly India's 9/11...

The terrorists targeted whites, especially those who were Americans or Britons, but the goal was to cause as much bloodshed as possible. Again, these Islamic extremists have shown the world what they are capable of and stained the religion of peace.

Mark Steyn of the O.C. Register reminds us: Mumbai could happy just about anywhere. And he's absolutely right. These terrorists focused on "soft targets" such as hotels and train stations. Although they wanted to kill Americans and Britons, they didn't really care who else got hurt. In an open, democratic society, it's nearly impossible to safeguard public places. Think 9/11. Think Spain and Britain. And now India.

Please pray for India and those who're affected by this tragedy. 

Please don't go there: amending the Constitution to include right to health care

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. wants the Constitution amended so that citizens enjoy the right to health care. What's next? The right to employment?

This notion, however attractive, is absurd. The Constitution grants us freedom and capitalism. Those are really the two crucial ingredients to form a sustainable, prosperous society. We live in it. Millions of others leave behind their homelands to come to America. But America is under threat from Big Government and socialistic policies. And guess what? Universal health care is bigger government and socialization.

Legally, health care as a right would spell disaster. What is health care? Besides being treated for illnesses and injuries, what about preventive measures? Would universal health care pay for gym memberships? Doctors and nurses would become government workers, what about gym operators? What about paying for Alcoholics Anonymous sessions? You can see how crazy things could get...

Even if legislators want a nationalized health care plan, amending the Constitution is the wrong way to go about it anyway.

Impeachment to save the economy?

For some people BDS is deeply ingrained in their soul that nothing will cure them. That's the only way I know to describe Rochelle Riley after reading her article in the Detroit Free Press. She's even turning against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and idolizing socialist Rep. Dennis Kucinich, calling him "the bravest member of Congress." Of course, she has to sneak in a wise remark that President Bush "could also pardon every appointee and employee he has ever had -- and their dogs." With reporters like Riley, who needs cartoonists?

Instead of Congress and the White House focusing on the economic crisis at hand, Riley would rather see lawmakers debate and push for an impeachment. Go right ahead. Never mind that the Democrat controlled Congress has an approval rating lower than the President. Voters would love their representatives to argue about President Bush's "crimes" while losing their homes, retirement savings, and jobs. The Democrat Party ought to pick her as a strategist!

Liberals try hard to attack Bush pardons

On Monday President Bush granted pardons to 14 individuals, a power permitted by the Constitution and cannot be overturned. Liberals like Alan Colmes is trying hard to find something to pick on, but this is really a non-story.

Is TARP constitutional?

The Trouble Asset Relief Program was passed by Congress and signed into law to thaw the credit crisis. At least that was its initial plan. But in reality the law gave much broader authority to the Treasury Secretary in using TARP funds, some hundreds of billions of dollars. In drafting the legislation, members of Congress met with Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke to learn more about the problem. It was evident that either Paulson and Bernanke weren't able to adequately explain the situation, or lawmakers had no intention of fully understanding the crisis. The bill was passed within a few days, amid some lawmakers' admission of not really knowing what's going on, but "something had to be done."

George Will writes in Newsweek:

John Locke's "Second Treatise of Civil Government" (1609), which deeply influenced America's Founders, says: "The legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands: for it being but a delegated power from the people, they who have it cannot pass it over to others." And: "The power of the legislative ... being only to make laws, and not to make legislators, the legislative can have no power to transfer their authority of making laws, and place it in other hands."

But that is essentially what TARP has done. It has made Treasury Department bureaucrats into legislators; or perhaps it has made Secretary Hank Paulson the fourth branch of government...

Our lawmakers sort of gave up on learning in detail about the crisis, and just lazily pressed for a vote on TARP. They threw up their arms and decided that letting the Treasury do all the work would be easier. And look at the situation now: more bailouts, more companies and municipalities asking for monetary aid, and more uncertainty from Paulson and Bernanke.

All hail Barney the wise as he ensures our economic meltdown

Reading Michelle Cottle's The New Republic article on House Financial Services Committee chair, Barney Frank, would give anyone encouragement that he's ready to make our economy better in no time. Yet that is far from the truth as the seasoned Congressman had his hands in prompting the financial meltdown we're in today, starting with his false assurance that Fannie and Freddie were doing just fine.

Yes, again we see that journalism is dead. How can anyone do a story on Frank without mentioning the collapse of Fannie and Freddie?

CHANGE in Obama's economic plan

Clintons Have A New Grip on Everything, now even in Obama's choice for economic posts: Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers as senior White House economics advisor, Christina Romer as chair of Council of Economic Advisors, and Peter Orszag as budget director. All these folks are apprentices of Robert Rubin, Clinton's Treasury Secretary.

Can there be change in public education?

The economy has trumped other issues in being the central focus of Congress, the outgoing administration, and the incoming administration. Nobody is talking about the sad state of public education. Yet education is one issue that both political parties claim to care about, and an issue that has a generational impact.

Public schools in America are in trouble. Children are kept in underperforming schools. Ineffective teachers are keeping their jobs. The government keeps throwing money into the system, but improvements are hard to come by. Why?

With the Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, there is a golden opportunity for the party to tackle America's education problem, if the Democrats are willing to break some bad habits, mainly its close ties with the teachers' unions.

Finally, peace in Iraq

What a great report about Iraq shared by Michael Yon. This is something you won't see on the mainstream media!

Bailout of Citigroup proves we are screwed

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Fed will rescue Citigroup with a bailout package of a few gazillion bucks (that number is subject to change without notice). According to the Fed, Citigroup is "too big to fail." So the lesson in American capitalism is to do whatever you can to become big, then you are virtually guaranteed never to go bust.

This is ridiculous. I'm with Bill Kristol: just admit we don't know! Paulson and Bernanke and members of Congress have no idea how to save the economy. What next? Why not just let capitalism work? Do we have any other choice, really? All the bailouts are clearly not effective.

PDS sufferers gasp at slaughtered turkeys

Do liberals celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends eating turkey? I wonder...

Gov. Sarah Palin pardoned an Alaskan turkey then gave an interview to a local news channel, but the PDS crowd is troubled that in the background there's a man slaughtering turkeys.

The man's doing his job. He works at a turkey farm. He feeds turkeys so they turn plump, then he kills them so others can enjoy turkey meals. In turn, he's compensated and uses his paychecks to take care of his family.

Besides, it's not like there was blood splattering everywhere or turkey pieces flying in the background. The PDS sufferers are reacting as if a serial murderer was captured on TV committing his gruesome crime.

Academic debates about conservatism are useless

All right, enough is enough. Why are conservatives still debating their future? Why is there still talk about how Republicans failed in the past two elections? The future is now, and it'll be over in a blink of an eye.

It's really simple why Democrats are in power now. They got more votes. They registered more new voters. They increased their base significantly. Young people, old people, women, minorities, and even white males are voting blue like never before! Why? Because the Democrats promise to take care of them: college education, medical care, child care, affirmative action, and job security.

Conservatives understand that these government programs will be implemented at the cost of higher taxes, a bloated government, depressed economy, and inflation. But you know what? Voters don't care. If young people are getting free college tuition from Washington, then the young mothers want free daycare.

The question is, Why aren't the voters keen on conservative ideas? The answer is straight forward: education. The teachers unions are destroying the nation's education system. Unionized labor has endangered airlines and automakers. Our education system is in need of serious help just like General Motors. Schools and academia are filled with liberal "educators" and activists. Children aren't being educated, they are being indoctrinated. Worse yet, indoctrinated with liberalism. They learn to be less of an individual, less independent, less driven, and less intelligent.

And when voters are dumbed down, guess who wins? The political party that promises to help them in any way, shape, or form! There is a generation of young voters who graduated from these schools, and they want their piece of the government pie. This is also a generation of instant fame, where one can become famous with a viral video on YouTube. They do not see Obama as a leftist. They see Obama as a celebrity, and they love him, just like how they idolize other Hollywood entertainers.

If conservatives are serious about turning the tide, the movement has to start with re-education. Major efforts should be aimed at countering the grip of teachers' unions and the Department of Education. The failures of the education system should be exposed constantly. More conservative material has to enter the schools, be it textbooks or after-school programs. Something has to be done so our children understand that government does not make America great.

So forget all the talk about Traditionalist and Reformist and Neocons. Each and every conservative is important. Each and every conservative needs to educate the next generation on the ideals which founded this great country. Only then can conservatives retake power and steer the nation to the right path.

No love from anyone for Big Auto

Wow, even the Democrats are giving Big Auto a hard time! The CEOs have appeared before Congressmen to beg for a bailout loan to no avail. Then today the Democrats voted to oust John Dingell (D-Mich.) from chairmanship of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce, replaced by Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

Dingell was chairman for almost 28 years and one of Big Auto's best friends in Congress. His removal from the committee sends a clear signal that Pelosi and friends are ready to impose stricter regulations in the auto industry and align with the environmentalists. Rep. Waxman has always been a supporter of legislation to curb global warming, and this latest move in House politics will be welcomed by many environmentalists.

CHANGE we can believe in

CHANGE is starting to mean "Clintons Have A New Grip on Everything," as Obama continues to tap personalities close with Clinton for his cabinet. The next four years may turn out to be the Clintons' third term.

But seriously, is this any surprise? This not only underscores Clintons' influence in the Democrat Party, but also reflects Obama's dire need for experienced politicians to help his administration.

Ted Stevens loses senate race

Sen. Ted Stevens has lost re-election in Alaska, defeated by Democratic challenger Mark Begich. Sen. Stevens was the longest running Republican senator in Washington.

Now the Democrats have 58 seats in the Senate. The Georgia runoff race between Saxby Chambliss (R) and Jim Martin (D) is attracting attention from the top. Former President Bill Clinton is said to be in Georgia to rally for Martin, while Republican heavyweights John McCain and Mike Huckabee are gathering support for Chambliss.

Big Auto is desperate, but still arrogant

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner is now begging the public for support of the bailout package for Big Auto. On cost-cutting he presents these facts:

...we have been streamlining our U.S. operations while simultaneously improving quality and productivity. Since 2000, we have reduced our U.S. hourly workforce by 52%, from 133,000 to 64,000, through buyouts and other programs. During the same period, we have cut our U.S. salaried employment from 44,000 to fewer than 30,000, and reduced our U.S. executive ranks by 45%.

But wait, what about that luxurious corporate jet you took to fly to Washington begging for taxpayer money from Congress? First class airfare on a commercial airline would be much cheaper, considering your company is on the brink of going bust, wouldn't it?

Sorry, Big Auto. Americans do not have deep pockets and have seen through your incompetency. The best solution to your problems isn't more cash, but a "managed bankruptcy" as Mitt Romney puts it. Your executives deserve to join the millions of other unemployed Americans.

More chatter about Hillary as State Secretary

I agree with most of what Thomas Friedman writes in NYT, except his description of the effectiveness of Condoleezza Rice's diplomatic efforts under President Bush: "Condoleezza Rice had a close relationship with Bush, but Bush had no coherent worldview to animate her diplomacy, so all her travels added up to less than the sum of their miles." On the contrary, Bush had a clear worldview, it was just one that many like Mr. Friedman doesn't agree with. Bush vowed to promote democracy around the globe, fight terrorists in any way, and if other nations weren't on board with us, then they weren't our friends. What's incoherent about that?

And it seems that Hillary is taking her sweet time in giving Obama an answer. Can't really blame her -- now she failed to become president, she's planning on what to do for the next few years.

Al-Qaeda insults Obama

Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, has released a message calling President-elect Obama and other black officials "abeed al-beit," literally translated as "house slaves." The terrorist leader warns Muslims and Arabs that Obama's victory doesn't mean a change in American foreign policy of supporting Israel.

This is a clear message that al-Qaeda continues to be the greatest terrorist threat against the country, no matter who enters the White House.

Calls against Hillary as State Secretary

Hillary is being vetted as a candidate for Secretary of State in the Obama administration, but there are many out there who do not like the idea. David Ignatius explains in the Washington Post blog:

The game changer in foreign policy is Barack Obama himself. Traveling in Europe earlier this month, I was stunned by the excitement he has aroused. The day after the election, the French newspaper “Le Monde” carried a cartoon atop its front page that showed Obama surfing a red, white and blue wave. Above him, it said: “Happy New Century!” You can sense the same enthusiasm around the world -- in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Even among the followers of radical groups, such as Hamas and the Taliban, Obama has inspired a sense of change and opportunity.

Furthermore, Ignatius worries about Hillary stealing Obama's thunder in foreign policy should she become Secretary of State. I hate to say it but with Obama's thin resume, almost any Washington politico would steal Obama's thunder if appointed to a post.

I applaud Obama's effort to unify his party, but I can't help but wonder if this move is to keep his enemies closer? Besides, we all know that Hillary voted for McCain/Palin, right?

Paulson, Bernanke grilled in the Hill

The House Financial Services Committee plans to hear testimony from Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke today about their U-turn decision in using the $700 billion bailout money. Originally the money was for rescuing bad mortgage loans, but now Paulson wants to alleviate the pain in consumer debts. He's even taking his cause to the media with an op-ed in the NYT.

Congress gave Paulson overwhelming power with TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), but now it realizes that things aren't improving much, especially with the doomsday talk from Detroit automakers and stock markets continue to plunge. Lawmakers now want some answers as to how Paulson's new focus would help the economy.

I really don't think Paulson and Bernanke know what they are doing. Either the scale of the problem is beyond their control, or they are just incompetent. Whatever the reason, I think the only sure way we know will work is through capitalism without government interference. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but it'll help with the recovery. I'm afraid that the government's help isn't really helping and will only prolong the pain.