Wow.

I know this is cheap to post something like this, but I found it really interesting.

The past nine days have been nine of the most interesting and hectic days of my life. Most recently, I've been enjoying the fruits of American Electric Power's incompetence, and Governor Strickland's feeble attempts to get a state back up and running. Nearly 72 hours later, and still a little under half a million people are without power in the greater Columbus area alone, including myself. So now I find myself fighting for an electrical outlet at the local Panera.

I don't even know where to start in the world. I suppose it would be wise to start with the most recent events, like the DJI being down 332 points at midday approximately two days after ending down at a record low since 9/11. Let's face the facts, the American economy is beginning to crack, and many of us are wondering if we can fix it before it begins to crumble. The government seems to think that rescuing companies which ran unethically and flat out irresponsibly is the solution. There was a day in America when actions had consequences and that meant that people had to be responsible.

The fault is to be placed in three places:

1. The American Government - for its failure through inaction. The banking crisis and predatory loan debauchle did not come unnannounced. The government knows this, and it is the only reason they are bailing out these companies, because they know they should have done something sooner. Congress, and the President, get a big fat F on this one.
2. The American Banking Industry - for its failure to use ethical business practices, and its incredible greed at the expense of the average American.
3. The Average American - for spending money they didn't have, and not reading their mortgage contracts, for being blissfully ignorant, and finally, for being angry for what we ultimately watched happen and endorsed by our consequenet inaction.

EDIT: Check out this article.

Take a moment to think that all over, I'm not proposing any solutions yet, but rather attempting to get the brainstorming started.

Next, we tackle a headline that seems to be somewhat buried today. Early this morning, the U.S. Embassy was the target of an attempted terrorist takeover. The Embassy successfully prevented the blunt of the charge, but took on 16 casualties due to explosives and sniper fire. This is yet another reminder of the nature of those who wish to take American lives. Add this one to the list of attacks that America wishes not to have to think about or deal with. While this attack was thwarted mostly, it was more successful than any for some time, and let us know that with each success, no matter how limited, the enemy will grow bolder.

In order to ensure this post does not get too lengthy, I now turn to local events. Democratic Congressional candidate Mary Jo Kilroy has, as of late, begun to ramp up some of the most misleading campaign rhetoric I have ever heard. Keep in mind that I spoke earier this week with a straight ticket, life voting Democrat (who is voting for Barack Obama), who told me he intends to vote Republican for Steve Stivers, because voting for Mary Jo would be "irresponsible." So, what is this campaign rhetoric? Let's dive into it.

• Last Wednesday, Kilroy claimed to be a "budget-cutter...and a watchdog," when the facts couldn't be further from the truth. As a "watchdog," Kilroy has overseen a 600 million dollar increase in county spending and even voted to increase spending twice in one day.
• Mary Jo Kilroy recently began airing a TV spot claiming to be "for offshore drilling," when in reality she is only for offshore drilling if it is on land the oil companies already own. So therefore, Mary Jo Kilroy is actually for offshore drilling on land where there is not any oil.

This woman is honestly ridiculous, looking at this as a Republican, Democrat, liberal, or conservative, its obvious. This woman will honestly say what she believes the people want to hear, and then do exactly the opposite when she gets in office, she flat out can't be trusted, and if I didn't think I could trust Steve Stivers, I wouldn't be voting for him.

Electing people like Mary Jo Kilroy is probably one of the biggest and as of late, most frequent mistakes America is making. We elect people based on their campaign rhetoric without researching the worth of their word, and then we don't hold them accountable when they are elected and stab us, the voters, in the back. Let's wise up.

State Senator Steve Stivers recently put out this new TV spot. Enjoy.

The United States government, specifically the Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress has once again decided that the American people do not deserve to learn from their mistakes. President Abraham Lincoln once said,

"You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."

I read the news today, and oh my. Congress, being seated on some distorted, self-conceived moral high horse, has decided to bail out Fannie May and Freddie Mac. Americans got themselves into this problem, not only by allowing these mortgage lenders to become such behemoths in size, but also in their failure to read and learn about the documents which they sign.

Our own sheer failure to educate ourselves and our peers has been screaming at us for years, but is only now slapping us in the face. America is a great nation for education and learning, but somewhere along the way we forgot what was truly important. Too much focus has been put on expanding knowledge in our area of expertise, and/or in relation to our career. We must place higher standards on ourselves as Americans to educate ourselves and our peers on things as simple as fixed-rate mortgages and how to know what you can and can't afford.

As a result of this though, we find ourselves where we are today - deep in debt. But that's not even the scary part, the scary part is that we don't believe we can pull ourselves out individually. Instead of attempting to fix our own problems, take risks, and work hard, we look to the United States Government for help. Keep in mind people, that this is the government that could not get water to New Orleans for nearly a week. If we can't rely on our government for something like that, what makes us think we can rely on them for something so grand as this?

So, I believe the point that President Lincoln was making is that while perhaps the government can bail us out yet again as they are doing now, it is just exactly that. They are bailing us out YET AGAIN, meaning, the last time they bailed us out it didn't work. I don't have the perfect solution, but I do know that asking the government to pull us out of a hole we dug ourselves and climbed into is foolish.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ohio, America, tonight truly is a historic night. Tonight, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin spoke to a nation not as just another politician, and not as just another vice presidential candidate. She spoke as one of the strongest women America has ever known, as a maverick, and as one hell of a tough woman.

Not only was the stage national and the pressure incredible, Sarah Palin and her family respectively has had to endure what is quite possibly the most brutal and flat out embarassing attacks I have ever seen not only by the American news media, but by her fellow Americans.

First things first, let's talk about the issue of Sarah Palin's experience, after all, this is the hot button issue of the week. An article by The Hill wrote yesterday about the pretentious cries by none other than Barack Obama himself claiming to have more experience from running a political campaign than Sarah Palin's time spent as Mayor of Wasilla and Governor of Alaska. Let me remind you that Sarah Palin officially entered politics at the local level in 1992, and Barack Obama officially entered politics in 1997. Please feel free to check my math, but I believe 1992 came before 1997. Plus, I don't even want to delve into the issue as to just what in the world a "community organizer" is.

Let me remind you, that while Governor Palin has held her office for two years, and Barack Obama his for three, we should recall how long Senator Obama has been running for office full time. We should also review the Senate record of Mr. Obama, which shows no accomplishments whatsoever, and please, correct me if I am wrong, but last time I checked, experience was not measured singularly by time. Experience is something that one gains from doing something with the time one is given.

The claim can be made that Sarah Palin has been given less time by the voters I suppose, but Barack Obama has been given more time and done less with it. Just to clarify, Mrs. Palin has accomplished more in her time as Governor than Mr. Obama has in three as a Senator, and in addition, as Rudy Giuliani reminded us earlier this evening, "Sarah Palin got more votes for Mayor of Wasilla than Joe Biden did for President."

Now, to finish, I'm not going to delve into details, but the personal attacks on Sarah Palin and her family truly embarass me that we, the American people tolerate a news media that acts in such a manner. Us Weekly, albeit a tabloid, is still a member of the news media ran such contrasting cover stories on Mrs. Palin and the Obama family that my face turned red with ange, and in case you didn't hear, earlier today, Sarah Palin's social security number was stolen.

Have we really stooped so low, and the more important question to ask, is why are we tolerating this?

In the end, the message is clear. Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin will make history not only as the first woman to occupy the American Vice Presidency, but she will make even bigger waves stirring up a culture of entitlement and greed by Washington Democrats, and yes, some Washington Republicans. The time has come in America for real change, and you can be sure that Sarah Palin is the perfect one to lead the charge.

Yes that's right, County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy was booed just yesterday at the recent Clippers game. The first of three county commissioners introduced behind the third base line before the game, it appeared as though Mary Jo Kilroy was expecting thunderous applause for "fighting for the working man (of Pennsylvania of course)" by making the decision to utilize out of state union labor for the new ballpark in the Arena District.

Much to the dismay of Mrs. Kilroy, Mary Jo was greeted with a nearly unanimous, thunderous, and vindictive booing from the crowd. I've written on this several times already, and I wouldn't be bringing this up again if it wasn't so important.

I think we all can agree on the fact that while the economy may not necessarily be in a recession, times aren't exactly easy. Therefore, those in charge of our various levels of government are charged with stimulating the economy and creating jobs in order to end the tougher times and pave the way for the better times. So, it would be logical to assume that those at the local level like, let's say, oh I don't know, county commissioner should be attempting to create local jobs in order to stimulate the local economy correct?

Mary Jo Kilroy apparently never heard this concept, which by the way is so rudimentary to understanding basic economics, its laughable that she blew this one. Let's go over the figures again.

• $215,000 for the contract to Tomko, the Pennsylvania Union workers. Last time I checked, Pennsylvania was out of state, construction manager Turner Construction (who is world renowned and currently working the Burj Dubai aka, they know construction), Nationwide Realty, AND even Paula Brooks recommended local nonunion TP Mechanical for a much lower sum.
• ~$150,000 for perhaps what could be called one of the biggest blunders in Columbus construction history, by what Kilroy claimed to be the superior union workers. The construction blunder was so severe that workers almost tore the entire facility down in order to allow them to start over.

I don't know about you all, but I don't want to foot the bill for this kind of thing, and obviously Clippers fans don't either.

The Columbus Dispatch article can be viewed here.

Ladies and gentlemen, one thing is for sure, and that's our common surprise in the VP pick by John McCain today.

Immediately upon arriving at the Nutter center in Dayton, Ohio this morning, I started to hear rumors of Sarah Palin being flown out to Dayton on a privately chartered flight. My immediate reaction was one of disappointment, but as the morning progressed I came to understand the strategy employed in the choosing of Sarah Palin for McCain's VP. I read up on her credentials on my Blackjack while listening to a less than mediocre band attempt to warm up the crowd, and the more I read, the more impressed I became.

Sarah Palin seems to be a true conservative, fiscally and socially. With one son deploying to Iraq shortly, the dems can't cry "send your kids." In addition to her eldest son, she has four more children, one of which is only four months old.

What impressed me most I think though, was when she finally began to talk. She's articulate, and doesn't appear to be reading a script. Her words sound as if they come from the heart - it seems that she is a true believer in true conservatism. She has a fairly lengthy record of fighting corruption, cutting taxes, and staying the hell away from dirty Washington politics.

This is all not even to mention the fact that Barack Obama completely undermined his message of "Change," in Washington when he picked the third most senior democratic senator in the United States. Plus, its obvious that Biden is not Hillary, and therefore is not a woman. I think that Palin will garner many undecided democratic voters who placed their bets on Hillary in the primaries.

So, in short, after an initial reaction of disillusion, I think that Sarah Palin is a flat out ballsy yet brilliant poltical move on the part of John McCain. Now, we're just waiting for the Sarah Palin poll boost.

I'm up an at an obscenely early hour waiting to leave for Dayton to go see McCain announce his VP pick. I just wanted to get on and make my guess prior to the announcement so I can hopefully come back and write a long and detailed post as to why I was right. If I'm not write, I'll probably still come back and write a long and detailed post as to why or why not McCain made the right call.

My call? Mitt Romney.

I apologize for the late silence, I've been in the process of moving, and therefore getting cable/internet hooked up, which we all know takes forever. There are just about a million things I'd like to post on today like the fact that Obama is down in the latest Gallup poll, his wife's reinvention of herself to America, John Edwards being a scumbag, John McCain's appearance on Leno, and the fact that we're heading into The Second Cold War.

Unfortunately, I'm extremely tired and think that everybody should watch Steve Stivers' new advertisement.

As Mary Jo Kilroy obsequiously panders to union bosses with her YouTube video pledging her adoration for card-check in exchange for campaign support, former Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern – a self-described “longtime friend of labor unions” – courageously denounces card-check as an undemocratic payoff to union bosses that will lead to worker harassment, intimidation and reprisal.

Card-check, also (laughably) known as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), would end the use of secret ballots in union organizing elections, thereby allowing paid union organizers to identify and publicly expose workers who wish to remain non-union, and subject workers to intimidation and workplace reprisal. The bill passed the House last year with the support of all but two Democrats, but, mercifully, was killed in the Senate.

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, McGovern calls card-check a “disturbing and undemocratic overreach not in the interest of either management or labor.” McGovern describes card-check as follows:

Hypocritical:

Some of the most respected Democratic members of Congress -- including Reps. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, George Miller and Pete Stark of California, and Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- have advised that workers in developing countries such as Mexico insist on the secret ballot when voting as to whether or not their workplaces should have a union. We should have no less for employees in our country.

Undemocratic:

There are many documented cases where workers have been pressured, harassed, tricked and intimidated into signing cards that have led to mandatory payment of dues…Under EFCA, workers could lose the freedom to express their will in private, the right to make a decision without anyone peering over their shoulder, free from fear of reprisal.

A payoff to labor bosses:

I worry that there has been too little discussion about EFCA's true ramifications, and I think much of the congressional support is based on a desire to give our friends among union leaders what they want. But part of being a good steward of democracy means telling our friends "no" when they press for a course that in the long run may weaken labor and disrupt a tried and trusted method for conducting honest elections.

Well said, but McGovern’s candid plea for common-sense within his party will fall upon the completely deaf ears of Democrats. Big labor has pledged to pony up more than $1 billion in federal, state and local elections – almost exclusively for Democrats -- and check-card is their top priority. And with Kilroy on the hook for more than $1 million in labor money in ’06 and ’08, don’t expect her to climb out of bed with the labor bosses. She sold her soul to big labor too long ago to find religion now.

This week, Barack Obama's energy policy took on a somewhat new face. Obama announced he is in favor of opening up 10% of the Strategic Oil Reserve as a means of lowing gas prices and easing the burden of Americans. Also, in an effort to lower and control gas prices, Barack favors a windfall profits tax similar to the one put in place by the Carter adminstration.

A windfall profits tax is innately contrary to Capitalism. Obama and other supporters of the windfall profits tax claim that oil companies are making too much money, and that the government should take a portion of that profit and redistribute it to lower gas prices. Last time I checked, that sounded like Communism.

Also, last night Barack Obama and John McCain each sat down individually with pastor and author Rick Warren for a conversation of sorts on issues and faith. Barack Obama claimed to be "pro-choice, but not pro-abortion," in what was probably the biggest run-around I've ever heard a politician give. Warren also provacatively asked what America's greatest moral failing is or was, to which Barack believed was our innattention to the disadvantaged. Also, in response to a question about the nature of evil, Obama claimed that much evil has been done on our part when perpetuating the claim that we are fighting evil.

Make what you will out of all this.

Latest Rasmussen polls are showing Obama 47 McCain 45.

I'm sure in the recent day's you all have heard of the Russia-Georgia conflict, along with Russia's statement and promise to pull her troops out of Georgia, and then its failure to do so.

The can be no arguing that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rhetoric has been aggressive, and the new Russian President Dimitry Medvedev is on Putin's leash. This Russian military aggression only confirms some longstanding fears about the Russia that Putin has been building, for it does not seem too different than the Russia we saw in the 1980's.

There is also no doubting the fact that the Russian aggression in Georgia is damaging U.S-Russian relations, which were already shaky. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was quoted in saying the following, "If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the U.S.-Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come." While that seems redundant with my previous statement, it is very simply proof that our government is concerned about this.

In the meantime, there is very little we can do as Americans besides be concerned, and of course, don't buy LukOil.

THIS IS NOT A JOKE. READ THE WASHINGTON POST STORY HERE.

A new website launched by the Kilroy campaign is quite possibly the most desperate and despicable move yet. The website "Kilroyforcongress.com/pets/" is exactly what it sounds like, and let me make this clear, this is not a joke. Mary Jo actually has local area PETS (i.e. dogs, cats) endorsing her run for Congress.

Once you get over the hilarity of Kilroy's desperate, yet weak power play, you want to hear some facts (I hope). Let's take a trip down Kilroy contract memory lane and bring up the $215,000 in taxpayer dollars she just wasted on an out-of-state union contract, rather than an in-state non-union contract. According to the recent ASPCA recent fundraising drive, $215,000 would have done all of the following

• Vaccinated 1,500 dogs or cats
• Provided medical exams for 500 pets
• Spayed or neutered 250 pets
• Fed 500 abandoned dogs and cats for an entire year

Let me also make clear that I would never advocate using taxpayer funds for said things, but if Kilroy's handing out taxpayer money to unions, why shouldn't she hand it out to dogs and cats for their endorsement?

This is politics at its worst, please.

UPDATE: COMEDY CENTRAL PICKS UP STORY

My apologies for not getting this out on Sunday like I said I would, but frankly, Barack Obama has seemingly evaded the news for this past week. All the news with The John Edwards, the Olympics, and the Russia-Georgia conflict has seemed to have buried any news about the presidential race.

The most interesting news on Obama seems to be the McCain ad portraying him as a celebrity, which is virtually irrefutable. The Obamassiah has not changed any positions this week, much to my surprise, but Obama and the Democrats seem to have agreement on healthcare finally. Let me make this clear, that the plan the Democrats and Obama have decided upon, is so close to socialism that it absolutely terrifies me. Read for yourself here.

Ronald Reagan once said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." That is the principle I believe in, and I truly do believe that many Americans believe something similar. Yet on the other hand, Barack Obama and the Democrats seem to be sitting on some high horse, extending their governmental hand of "hope," while staring down at the fallen and beaten American people saying, "trust us," with fake smiles that make me cringe.

Walking lockstep with the leftwing environmentalist lobby, last month Mary Jo Kilroy announced her no-energy energy plan. While the proposal contained a number of no-brainer, me-too ideas like investing in conservation programs and alternative energy sources, the plan was more defined by what it lacked: drilling.

75% of Americans support environmentally safe drilling and exploration off our coasts and within America’s territorial boundaries, knowing that until we create a car that can run on wind, hydrogen, or sunbeams, we’ll need something to put in our gas tanks. But while Americans continue to get hammered by gas prices (up 75% and nearly $2.00/gallon since Democrats took control of Congress), Kilroy responds with an environmental plan, not an energy one.

Kilroy has foolishly positioned herself in alignment with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the environmental lobby. Two years ago, Pelosi promised Democrats would offer a common-sense energy plan, and to date, Democrats have done nothing to address the single greatest threat to America’s economy, savings, and national security. Rather, Pelosi continues to stonewall Republican efforts in Washington to bring a balanced, comprehensive energy package to the House Floor, one that includes drilling, exploration and new refineries in addition to new energy sources.

Kilroy crows about her endorsements from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and the Sierra Club, two lobbyist groups working ferociously to keep gas prices high by pouring money into Democrats who will block drilling. Upon the Presidential lifting of an executive order prohibiting off shore drilling, LCV called it “an option that won’t work and will threaten the physical and economic well-being of millions of Americans.” Similarly, Sierra Club says of drilling, “This is nothing more than an attempt to exploit the suffering of hardworking Americans in order to pad Big Oil’s bottom line.” Nice. As they work to block America’s access to the only proven and cheap energy source, keeping gas prices high and socking it to the poor who can least afford today’s gas prices, they play class warfare.

Kilroy has accepted nearly $30,000 from the environmental lobby in 2006 and 2008, and would work actively in Congress to keep America from utilizing our own energy sources. Meanwhile, we will all continue to get hosed at the pump. So until you’re ready to ditch your environmental lobbyist friends and (like Obama) flip-flop in support of an energy package that includes some energy in it, Mary Jo, spare us the ‘friend of the working stiff’ blather. Your plan hurts them the most.

The John Edwards is quite possibly the most pitiful politician on the face of the planet Earth, let alone in the United States. Not only has this man ruined countless lives with his work as a trial lawyer and used taxpayer funds to pay for haircuts, the John Edwards has now cheated on his terminally-ill wife with a campaign aide. I don't know how you go any lower.

The story has been around for a couple weeks now, but the media has kept surprisingly quiet even after hotel employees reported running into The John Edwards while he was with another woman. I don't care if his wife forgives him, this is shameful.

What's happened to us here in America? Maybe it isn't just here, maybe the question should be what's happened to us as humanity, when we can't be faithful to our own spouses. If you don't want to be monogamous, then don't get married. I don't know if its just politicians who cheat on their wives, or if this is symbolic of society as a whole. Either way, its despicable. This should be denounced, and The John Edwards should be stripped of all (if any) credibility he has.

Read more here.

Also known as, "The Speech," Ronald Reagan's speech for Barry Goldwater titled, "A Time for Choosing," should help us all familiarize ourselves with the true purpose of government.

According to the latest poll conducted by SurveyUSA, Steve Stivers and Mary Jo Kilroy are statistically neck and neck. The poll brought Kilroy in with 47% of the vote, and Stivers with 44% of the vote with a margin of error of 4.2%, therefore rendering Kilroy's lead insignificant.

This is particularly interesting, because according to a poll released by the Kilroy camp in May, Stivers was down 10 points. That just means that Steve has closed the gap over the past two months, and now has plenty of time to seal the deal.

Kilroy's rampant abuse of power as city commisioner has obviously been taking hold with voters. To put it frankly, voters in the Ohio 15th District are getting to know Steve Stivers and Mary Jo Kilroy, and if the latest trend continues, Stivers seems to be the pick.

There was a day in America when labor unions represented the worker, they gave individual men and women a way to bargain collectively. Now, that age has passed and unions have become the ultimate source of corruption in America.

Democrats always hound Republicans for the donations they receive from big business, but fail to recognize the fact that they receive outlandish amounts of money from unions. In a recent article by The Dispatch, county commissioners, like Mary Jo Kilroy, were criticized for their recent use of Quality Contracting Standards. It is due to these standards that the new courthouse's plumbing and climate control system will cost an additional $1.7 million than budgeted.

So what are these Quality Contracting Standards? These standards, which are in place in Columbus, advise against issuing a contract to any company with three wage violations in the past two years. The same article over at The Dispatch points out two specific misuses of these standards:

• The Painting Co. entered a bid $46,000 lower than the winning offer on the new ballpark. Why? Eleven wage violations were cited despite the fact that all eleven of those wage violations were filed by union official James W. Rarey. It should also be noted that in 2002, Rarey co-authored the Quality Contracting Standards.
  

• Nonunion T.P. Mechanical's bid on the climate control and plumbing systems came in at $215,000 lower than any other bids. The reason? Four wage violations in 2005, which added up to a mere $4,000 when the entire payroll was $5.3 million.

• The plumbing contract was ultimately awarded to W.G. Tomko, a fully unionized shop with a hell of a track record. In 2006 a worker was killed and Tomko was fined $23,000 by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for four safety violations related to the death. The Dispatch also notes that Tomko failed to pay a soldier while he served his tour of duty in Iraq. Last but not least, in 2004, Tomko's president was sentenced to jail for tax evasion. Actually, that was a lie, one more thing. Tomko workers later did roughly $200,000 in damage by digging a trench under an already completed section of the stadium. Quality contracting.

Look, I have more pride in America than anything else, but when I see things like this I feel slightly ashamed. This is a country where you're theoretically enabled to succeed in anything you like as long as you work hard and play fair. What I'm seeing here is dirty politics that discourage these things. Kilroy and her cronies are clearly favoring the union companies in order to give them something in return for all their financial support. If we as Americans continue to support and elect people like this, then we have no reason to whine when America begins to crumble. You get what you vote for, and I sure don't want this in Washington.