IRAQ SCENERY

Even a war zone isn't all ugly. This photo was taken along one of the many man-made "lakes" within the base complex. The wall separating "us" from "them" is in the background.

One of the villas that dot the lakes. This one is now a task force office.

Here's a sunrise photo taken from my quarters.

HOME SWEET HOME

As a break from the political, here are a few more photos from my recent deployment to Iraq. These are "office" photos from the jobsite.

My office, my car on an atypical rainy day. The wall separating our camp from the rest of Iraq is in the background.



Sentry post along the wall about 100 yards from the office. The sentries have air conditioning now, quite an improvement from my last deployment in 2006.

OBAMA PREPARES FOR TAKEOFF

Via Michael Ramirez and Investors Business Daily.

LAST CHANCE

There is one last chance to defeat this monstrosity of a “stimulus” bill - when it comes out of the House-Senate conference. Contact your congresscritter and urge him/her to vote it down. Here’s my two cents:

The size and variety of all the spending programs in this bill would make a drunken sailor look like a fiscal conservative. But the message is simple: Sign on the dotted line, and now, or All Is Lost. It brings to mind the used car salesman who warns that, if we dare step off the lot, if we don't ACT NOW to grab this souped-up Super Eight with all the trimmings, catastrophe will strike.

Good judgments are seldom hasty judgments, we’re being told to accept this vast, pork-layered "stimulus" bill now. There may be times when action -- and action now -- is needed, whatever the cost, as in war. Yet the voice of experience warns: spend in haste, repent at leisure.

This "stimulus" package is larded with so many bridges to nowhere or the equivalent as to make the old, secretive system of earmarking look open and deliberate. Most of this gargantuan spending package seems devoted to make-work projects, politically correct causes, and even programs that may be worthwhile in themselves but have no discernible connection with economic stimulus.

Please, when this behemoth comes out of conference, vote NO! Then, perhaps we can take a deep breath, step back, and get to work on a meaningful stimulus package - not a grab-bag of Democrat social programs to be passed in the dark of night.

Thanks to Townhall.com columnist Paul Greenberg for much of the wording.

STIMULATED

Nice going, guys. Thanks.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Hat tip: Washington Times

I'M FROM THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT ...

... and I'm here to help you. Treasury Department Secretary Timothy Geithner announces overhauled plan for TARP funds.

BREAKING NEWS

Fox News: Octuplets' Mom on Welfare.

Was there ever any doubt?

I DON'T TRUST YOU

Heh. A liberal talk show host gets his comeuppance.



Hat tip Instapundit

OUR BRAVE NEW WORLD

A new Victor Davis Hanson essay at Pajamas Media.

An excerpt on hyperbole:

So it is unwise to use such hyperbole. Compare the Obama administration’s much ballyhooed “most stringent ethics standards”—ever!—that only leads to 10 (“exempt”) lobbyists appointed to the administration, and at least four tax cheats (an accurate rather than hyped description) nominated to Treasury, government oversight, HHS, and Labor, as well as someone like Richardson imploding, and complete silence about Rangel, Dodd, and Frank.

Likewise it is unwise to keep evoking “patriotic” to describe those who vote for the stimulus package, and cry ‘catastrophic” if opponents disagree and the $1 trillion dollar debt program is delayed. If supporters in congress of Bush and Cheney were criticized for suggesting that to cut off funds for soldiers in the field or to declare a war “lost” was unpatriotic, then surely it is wrong to do the same for an opponent of a stimulus or tax plan.

Read the whole essay.

SHOW US THE BILL

An online petition for Harry Reid and Barack Obama.

Please sign it. I did.

PUBLIC REVIEW?

During his campaign, President Obama pledged that legislation passed by Congress will be placed online for public review for five days before his signature. Will he post the “stimulus” bill online according to his pledge?

Don’t hold your breath. From the White House blog:

Since a few questions have come in, we want to update you on the President's campaign commitment to introducing more sunlight into the lawmaking process by posting non-emergency legislation online for five days before signing it. This policy will be implemented in full soon; currently we are working through implementation procedures and some initial issues with the congressional calendar.

I’m sure the “stimulus” legislation will be far too important for us “little people” to read, understand, and comment on before implementation.

ANOTHER REASON TO SAY “NO”

Senator John Kerry explains the Democrats’ view:

I've supported many tax cuts over the years, and there are tax cuts in this proposal. But a tax cut is non-targeted.

If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America.

They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest.

Mary Katherine Ham: “Kerry betrays the fear that haunts every good liberal— that the American people won't spend their money on exactly what good liberals would spend it on. Good liberals must, therefore, advocate for forcibly relieving the American people of the better part of a trillion dollars of their own money to fund things like STD education, welfare programs, and water parks.”

Note the irony here. This recession was caused by the American people spending more than we could afford for the last many years, so the solution is for the Government to spend trillions of dollars beyond its means for the next many years to get us out of this recession

FINDING HIS INNER EASTWOOD

David Ignatius has an amusing column in the Washington Post arguing that President Obama needs to find his inner Dirty Harry:

Obama needs to make Washington politicians fear that if they cross him, they’ll pay a penalty .... Obama needs to tell GOP leaders what he expects, and make clear the political consequences of obstruction.

Well, yes, except that Ignatius got the parties wrong - substitute Democrat for GOP and he'd have it right.

Jules Crittenden comments:

[His inner Eastwood] That’s what Ignatius wants Obama to dig deep for as he stumbles through his economic stimulus standoff.

A man has got to know his limitations. But it starts with not caring if you’re liked, not living to be admired. Which is where this script falls apart.

RebeccaH, commenting on Crittenden’s website, nails it:

Frankly, so far the Obama Administration is coming off less like Dirty Harry and more like the Pink Panther.

SALARY CAPS

Hmm. If salary caps on are good for corporate CEOs, then why not extend the idea?

Hollywood stars, anyone? Let’s say $100K/movie, with a strict restriction against expressing political opinions. Wouldn’t a salary cap on Hollywood salaries make movies more affordable for the “middle class?”

And while we’re at it, how about one for politicians? Say expenses only while in office, with Government “stock options” tied to the Gross Domestic Product that can only be exercised after the politician leaves office? Seems like it would align the politician’s self-interest to that of the country as a whole ... and it might even encourage them to leave office sooner.

The idea extends itself: Professional sports? Media?

This sounds better and better.

IT'S A SPENDING BILL

So says President Obama:

So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill. What do you think a stimulus is? (Laughter and applause.) That's the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That's the point.

At least the fiction that this is a "stimulus" bill is over.

God help us; the Democrats sure won't.

GREENHOUSE GAS

President Obama just flew Air Force One to Williamsburg for a 30-minute address to the Democrats' Congressional Retreat -- a trip that takes me an hour and a half on the freeway.

I wonder how many tons of CO2 were expended for his excellent adventure?

STIMULUS?

This is what we're being asked to pay for?

Las Vegas wants $2 million for neon signs.
Austin, Texas says it could use $886,000 to build a 36-hole Frisbee golf course.
Shreveport, Louisiana has asked for $6 million for three aquatic centers with water slides.
Chula Vista, California wants $500,000 to create a place where dogs can run without a leash.

Four more reasons to vote “NO!” on the stimulus package.

WHERE IS AL GORE?

It was subzero in Manassas when I rose this morning. The current temperature is 27 degrees, with a wind chill of 17 degrees.

I'd like to throw Al Gore in the fireplace for some extra heat, but I don't think snake oil burns very well.

KILL THE BILL

Here's what I sent:

Even the Congressional Budget Office says the stimulus bill will be harmful over the long term. I'd much rather suffer a little now than have my grandchildren suffer even more.

Kill it. Now. Please.

Call or email your Senators. Now.