We Won: Must Hold Their Feet to the Fire

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My lovely wife and I shared a victory toast and a kiss in front of the fireplace in the lobby of the hotel that we are staying in Colorado, upon the announcement that the GOP won the Senate. Our Conservative Campaign Committee team has been here for weeks working to elect Cory Gardner for U.S. Senate. Gardner won!

Folks, please do not get me wrong: I am elated that the GOP has won control of the Senate. Despite their faults, the GOP is closest to our principles and values. Also, we desperately needed to dethrone evil madmen Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader.

However, I must confess that it was annoying to watch Karl Rove on TV pounding his chest in victory about how he and his group pushed the Tea Party nut candidates out of the race. Rove had the nerve to say he and his people wanted the best electable conservative candidates. That simply is not true.

Chris McDaniel, to name one, in Mississippi was an awesome extremely electable Tea Party conservative who was pushed out of the race with GOP dirty tricks which included race-baiting. Yes, you heard me correctly. The GOP establishment machine engaged in the Democrat-gutter, tried and true, despicable tactic of race-baiting to screw McDaniel. I know. I know. You’re saying, C’mon, Lloyd, that’s in the past. We won. Celebrate and get over it. Sorry, folks. I expect better from our side.

Rove and his deep-pocketed homey’s strategy of the GOP keeping a low profile and letting Obama hang himself worked okay. Unfortunately, exit polling revealed that the GOP is still viewed unfavorably by a majority of voters. Given the horrors and scandals of the Obama regime, the Republican wave should have been a tsunami. What if the GOP had offered an agenda inspiring people to vote FOR them rather than AGAINST Obama? What if the GOP boldly articulated why conservatism is the best and most direct path for each and every American to achieve their American dream?

Two remarkable things happen this election that strongly suggest that blacks are open to hearing what Conservatism has to offer over Liberalism. A video of urban blacks in Chicago trashing Obama and the Democrats went viral.  My lifelong Democrat 86 year old black dad called from Maryland to tell me that he did not like any of the candidates, but voted Republican. Folks, that is huge. Dad has always believed that a vote for a Republican is a vote for the KKK. So something is up.

Republicans now control the House and the Senate. Praise God! Now what? Word on the political street is the GOP plans to give the Tea Party the finger.

Patriots, we must be more mobilized and engaged than ever. We must do everything in our power to push the GOP into doing what we worked our butts off for them to do: Stop Obama’s Agenda!

D.C. insiders say that the GOP strategy is not to push back too soon or too hard against Obama’s agenda as not to be called arrogant, aggressive and mean by the MSM. The game plan is to play nice with Obama as not to hinder our chances of winning the White House in 2016.

These D.C. insiders also say repealing Obamacare is impossible and the best that we in the Tea Party can hope for is for the GOP to fix it. Mitt Romney said upon the GOP winning the Senate an immigration bill would be top priority. You see where this is headed folks? The GOP plans to go swishy on us and implement a Democrat-lite agenda.

We can not and will not allow them to get away with it. I am proposing that the united forces of the Tea Party launch “Operation Hold Their Feet to the Fire”. Every individual, group and organization must use their gifts, talents, skills and passion to force the GOP to do the right thing.

Folks, we have brilliant minds on our side. I have met many of you traveling on over a dozen national bus tours, attending over 400 tea party rallies. I challenge you to think of strategic ways to turn the GOP’s agenda to our agenda; repeal Obamacare, secure our borders, fiscal responsibility, restoring our freedom and liberty and turn us back to one nation under God.

Ronald Reagan: “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Patriots, I am calling for an all hands on deck drill to save our country by holding the Republicans’ feet to the fire. Frankly, I do not care which Tea Party group, organization or individual that leads the charge. Let’s just get it done!

Everyone pulling together is how we (Conservatives) won big in 2010, shocking Washington D.C., despite being ignored by the MSM.

As I said, we are in Colorado, too busy campaigning to enjoy the world renowned hot springs. In celebration of the Republican wave, America’s push back against socialism, we can relax a bit. Mary and I plan to enjoy a few relaxing therapeutic soaks in the sulfur smelling hot springs.

Then, we will be ready to pack our bags and hit the road on a “Hold Their Feet to the Fire Tour”. I have even written a soon to be released theme song.

I thank God for our victory. But, there is still much more work to be done; miles to go before we sleep.

Congrats patriots, taking the U.S. Senate is a major step in the right direction.

I don’t know why, but I feel compelled to end with this video of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America”.

No, Ted Cruz is Not Eligible to be President

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On October 31, 2014, MinuteManNews.com published an article by Greg Conterio, titled, “Yes, Ted Cruz is Eligible to Serve as President,”  Over the past seven years, since the day Barack Obama crawled out of the political cesspools of South Chicago, I have written numerous articles on the question of his eligibility to serve as president… the longest of which is a comprehensive 13-page analysis of the term “natural born Citizen” titled, “The Obama Eligibility Question .”

Now, as we enter the 2016 campaign season, with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), mentioned as potential presidential candidates, a great many Americans remain confused about the definition of the term “natural born Citizen.”  Although each of these men are eligible to serve as governors, as U.S. Senators, as members of the U.S. House of Representatives, or even justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, none are eligible to serve as president or vice president because they are not “natural born Citizens,” as required by Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.

Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father; Jindal was born in the U.S. to a father and mother, both of whom were citizens of India; Rubio was born in the U.S to parents, both of whom were citizens of Cuba; and Santorum was born in the U.S. to an American mother and an Italian father.  Under provisions of the 14th Amendment, all are “citizens at birth,” but none are “natural born” citizens because of their non-citizen parentage.

Aware that Senator Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father, Conterio relies on language contained in 8 USC §1401 to support his contention that Cruz is a “natural born” citizen.  That statutory language defines a “citizen at birth” as “a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the birth of such person, and the other of whom is… not a citizen of the United States.”  At no point does the statute mention the term “natural born Citizen,” nor does it attempt to show that the terms “natural born Citizen” and “citizen at birth” are synonymous.  To the contrary, when the Founders inserted the words “natural born Citizen” in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, as a principal qualification for those who wished to serve as president of the United States, it was their intention that all those born with any taint of foreign allegiance should be barred from the presidency and the vice presidency.  Hence, the term “natural born Citizen.”

Under the 14th Amendment, all those born in the United States to American citizen parents, as well as those born to foreign nationals or parents of mixed nationality, are “citizens at birth.”  In other words, all “natural born” citizens are “citizens at birth,” but not all “citizens at birth” are “natural born.”  However, Conterio contends that the terms “natural born Citizen” and “Citizen at birth” are synonymous, just as the terms “dog” and “domestic canine” are synonymous.  That simply is not true.  Those terms are no more synonymous than the terms “apple” and “orange.”  But then, Conterio goes on to argue that, “Based on U.S. law, the terms ‘natural born Citizen’ and ‘Citizen at birth’ are synonymous.”  However, in the next breath he reverses course, saying, “The Founders said ‘Natural Born Citizen,’ and the U.S. Code says ‘Citizen at Birth,’ which mean two completely different things.”  So which is it?  Either the terms are “synonymous,” or are they “two completely different things?”  They can’t be both.

What many who support the eligibility of Cruz, Jindal, Rubio, and Santorum refuse to consider  is that there are only two jobs in all of America that require the incumbents to be “natural born” citizens.  Those jobs are president and vice president of the United States.  Every other job in America, in government or in the private sector, can be filled by natural born citizens, by citizens at birth, by naturalized citizens, or, in some cases, by non-citizens with work visas.  Those who agree that there are several categories of citizenship, but then argue that the Constitution puts no unique requirements on candidates for president and vice president, have an obligation to explain what they see as the difference between a “natural born” citizen and any other kind of citizen.          

In his analysis, Conterio relies heavily on an April 3, 2009 memorandum prepared by attorney Jack Maskell of the Congressional Research Service (CRS).  The Maskell memorandum, which has been widely discredited, was produced for one reason and one reason alone: to give political cover to members of Congress who voted to certify Obama’s Electoral College votes, knowing or strongly suspecting that he was not eligible for that office.

The gist of Maskell’s argument is that “…there is no federal law, regulation, rule, guideline, or requirement that a candidate for federal office produce his or her original birth certificate, or a certified copy of the record of live birth, to any official of the United States government… Furthermore, there is no specific federal agency or office that ‘vets’ candidates for federal office as to qualifications or eligibility… ”

No specific federal agency or office that “vets” candidates for federal office as to qualifications or eligibility?  Upon being sworn into office in early January, following each biennial General Election, all members of Congress are required to swear the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

The congressional oath of office clearly requires all members of Congress to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”  That includes all those who would seek to gain access to the presidency without the necessary qualifications.

The presidential selection process provides three vetting opportunities for president and vice president.  Unfortunately, all three vetting opportunities failed miserably in 2008-09.  The first occurred at the close of the Democratic national convention, in Denver, when the convention chairman, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and the convention secretary, Alice Travis Germond, certified Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the 50 state election boards so that ballots could be printed.

Because Hawaii has specific certification requirements under Hawaii Revised Statutes §11-113, Pelosi and Germond certified to the State of Hawaii, as follows: “THIS IS TO CERTIFY that at  the National Convention of the Democrat Party of the United States of America, held in Denver, Colorado, on August 25 though (sic) 28, 2008, the following were duly nominated candidates of said Party for President and Vice President of the United States respectively, and that the following candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are legally qualified to serve under the provisions of the United States Constitution.” 

The certifications sent to the other 49 states read, simply: “THIS IS TO CERTIFY that at the National Convention of the Democrat Party of the United States of America, held in Denver, Colorado, on August 25 though (sic) 28, 2008, the following were duly nominated as candidates of said Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively.”  Affixed were the names and home addresses of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  The phrase, “… and that the following candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are legally qualified to serve under the provisions of the United States Constitution” was purposely omitted.

Other than that, all of the documents were identical… even to the misspelling of the word “through” in the second line of the certifications.  The only reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that Democrats knew when they nominated him that Obama was not a “natural born” citizen and, therefore, ineligible to serve.  Pelosi was aware that certifying falsely to Obama’s eligibility was a criminal offense, so the question arises, what did she know, and when did she know it?

The second vetting opportunity occurred on December 15, 2008, when the Democratic members of the Electoral College met to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  Even though most electors had been warned in advance that Obama did not meet the constitutional requirements to serve as president, all 365 Democratic electors, anxious to have another Democrat in the White House, violated their electoral oaths and cast their ballots for Obama.

The third and final vetting opportunity occurred on January 8, 2009, when the Congress met in joint session to certify the votes of the Electoral College.  Prior to that date, essentially every member of Congress had been advised that Obama’s citizenship status was seriously in doubt.  So, if a member of Congress suspected that the Electoral College had erred, it was his/her solemn obligation to make those suspicions known and to object to the certification of the Electoral College vote. Yet, all 535 members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, purposely violated their oath of office by failing to demand an examination of Obama’s qualifications.

Why did they do so?  Although we can’t read the minds of 535 members of Congress, we can “bet the farm” that most failed to question Obama’s eligibility because they were terrified at what would happen in the streets of America if the first black man ever elected by the Electoral College was turned away at the last moment on a constitutional “technicality.”  Instead, the double-redundant “fail safe” system envisioned by the Founders suffered catastrophic failure.

But now, with the potential candidacies of Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, or Rick Santorum, Republican principles will soon be put to the test.  We will see whether Republicans, who, unlike Democrats, believe in the strict construction of the Constitution and the rule of law, will have sufficient reverence for the words of the Constitution to deny the nomination to a candidate who does not meet the necessary qualifications.  Knowing Republicans as I do, I feel certain that they will distinguish themselves by refusing to nominate an unqualified candidate.

‘A Lesson in Politics’

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The mid-term elections in America have gone the way that most pundits predicted: a Republican rout in the mid-terms. The discussion immediately went on to the next question: what does this mean?

In some ways the answer is ‘not very much’. The mid-terms are the only real opportunity American voters get to voice their dissatisfaction with an incumbent party and incumbent President. Almost all of President Obama’s predecessors have been treated in a similar way in their time – both Republican and Democrat. So the voters may want to register their disappointment with President Obama now but perhaps no more than they wished to register their disappointment with President Bush in his day and so on. It is true that disillusionment with Obama may be more serious because of the unbelievable and impossible to live up to expectations which he and those around him promulgated ahead of his arrival in the White House.

The fact that voters get opportunities to register dissatisfaction is of course one of the healthiest aspects of a healthy democracy. But the manner in which they do so is becoming an issue in all our democracies in the West. America’s electoral system allows only for a switch to the other party with the very very occasional independent thrown in.

Until recently British voters had a similar choice – to rotate between the two main parties but with the opportunity to punish both at once by going with the Liberal Democrats. The latter were for years able to appeal to a certain type of voter not least because they had no chance of holding office and therefore could portray their principles as standing aloft from the grubby concerns of other politicians.

Since going into coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 that stance has fallen apart. And the Liberal Democrats are – all polls show – now no longer the party of ‘opposition’ to the two main parties. Indeed they must now fight to be even the fourth party at the next election. There are many lessons to be taken from this but one is the fact that politics ‘taints’. The process of compromise, bargain, meeting in the middle is something everybody in the business of politics becomes aware of. But much depends on whether publics are encouraged to understand this.

One temptation of politicians is to hide the brute bargaining of power while pretending to keep their principles clean. Yet doing so accentuates the divide between voter and representative. In every part of the political divide and each democracy we must be careful not to develop purist publics and ‘tainted’ representatives. All the populist and in some cases demagogic movements of our time come from the message that all ‘them’ in Washington or Westminster are the same.

Ideals are vital in politics. But should we end up in a position where the public hold ideals the politicians cannot live up to, the result will not be not bi-annual expressions of dissatisfaction but a growing generation of political malcontents.

ELECTION 2014 – Crist Retired, Reid Fired, Obama Tired!

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WOW, the Democrats just took a good ole’ fashion butt-kickin and now the work begins for the Republicans! Join us as we do an election day wrap-up featuring several experts who help make sense out of the chaotic and tsunamic changes that are taking place in the United States Government as the Democrats lose power to the Republicans and President Obama tries to figure out the meaning to life! Also, a live report from Israel on a recent terrorist attack.

Obama’s Revenge

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The Democratic Party that supported President Obama’s agenda for the past six years was dramatically rejected in the midterm elections and the message for the new Republican-controlled Senate and House is to aggressively take action on stalled legislation to improve the economy and address other issues that have suffered neglect.

The GOP is going to be up against the revenge Obama will take on America in the remaining two years. The midterms will not generate any humility in Obama; only anger and resentment.

Republicans were not elected to “work with” Obama. They were elected to stop his agenda and actions that have been harmful to the nation. The big question coming out of this electoral mandate is whether the inside-the-beltway Republicans in Washington will do what the voters want.

Obama promised a “transformation” of America, a nation dedicated to individual freedom and liberty, and it has taken this long for many to realize that his definition of transformation was an ever-increasing Big Government to control every aspect of our lives:

  • the education of our youth who lack knowledge of civics, math, and science,
  • the deprivation and reduction of access to vital sources of energy,
  • the refusal to protect U.S. sovereignty by ignoring our immigration laws and border security,
  • the reduction of our military power to levels rivaling pre-World War Two,
  • the failure to resist the growth of Islamic fanaticism,
  • the historic and dangerous increase of our national debt,
  • the failure to take fundamental steps to revive the economy by cutting taxes and reducing regulations,
  • the destruction of our market-based healthcare system.

Obama will take the electoral rejection very personally and, as we have seen in his contempt for working with Congress and his smears of the Republican Party, no one should doubt he will use the remainder of his term in office to wreak as much damage as possible; to prove he is right and the rest of the nation is wrong.

Much of what he will do was put off until after the midterm elections because he knew the level of rejection would be even greater. Now he is free to misuse “executive orders” unless the new Congress takes steps to defund and legislatively stop them. Investigations into the scandals that have become synonymous with his administration must be vigorously pursued.

What can we anticipate?

Obama will do everything he can to leave American vulnerable to increased illegal immigration including a rumored amnesty that would provide work permits and green cards to millions who would compete with jobless natural born and naturalized Americans. He has already refused to spend funds that have been allocated to secure our borders.

When Attorney General Eric Holder exits the Department of Justice expect Obama to nominate someone even more radical and divisive.

In the next two years you can expect the Environmental Protection Agency, already producing more regulations than any other element of the government, to go into overdrive to shut down as many power plants as possible, reducing the production of electricity on which the nation depends.

Obama has done little to respond to the growing global Islamist movement, showing favor to terrorist groups such as Hamas, but his greatest effort has been to provide Iran with the approval to advance its nuclear weapons capability by opening negotiations that, if agreed to, would put it within mere months of being able to put nuclear warheads on missiles and in bombs. It would change the balance of power in the Middle East and threaten the rest of the world.

Expect Obama to try to close Guantanamo despite legislation forbidding this action. In keeping with his tilt toward Islam, he has already released five Taliban leaders in exchange for an alleged U.S. Army deserter. Others who were released rejoined the Islamic holy war.

He will, of course, do everything he can to protect his namesake legislation, the Affordable Patient Care Act otherwise known as ObamaCare. It must be dismantled before it does even more harm to the nation’s healthcare system. He has waited until after the midterms for Americans to learn that their ACA premiums will rise dramatically. Ultimately, it must be repealed.

In these and many other ways, he can continue to harm our national interests. The one prediction that can be made with certainty is that he will spend even more time playing golf and indulging the many perks of the office.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

John Morgan — Wrong on Marijuana, Wrong on Charlie Crist: Can FL Dems trust his judgement?

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As Florida Republicans bask in the sunshine of victory on November 5th there is one man who is not very happy. His name is John Morgan of the Orlando based firm of Morgan & Morgan. Morgan may be in hiding trying to avoid Florida’s Democrats. Why? Because Morgan sold the Florida Democratic party on putting marijuana and Charlie Crist on the November 4th ballot.

Ana Cruz, former executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, said, “I wish that it didn’t take medical marijuana on the ballot to motivate our young voters. But listen, we’ll take it any way we can get it.” Cruz didn’t get it.

Ben Pollara, a Democratic fundraiser and campaign manager for the United for Care group, stated, “We want to be able to have our stereotypical, lazy pothead voters to be able to vote from their couch.” Ben, it appears the lazy potheads stayed home to smoke a joint or two or three.

Hopes were high, no pun intended, that legalizing marijuana in Florida under Amendment 2 would bring out the millennials. It was Morgan’s long time ally and employee Charlie Crist who had the overwhelming support of the trial lawyers, of which Morgan is one. Both marijuana and Crist when down in smoke.

Can the Florida Democratic Party trust the judgement of John Morgan?

As Florida Democrats are licking their wounds, it is perhaps time for them to rethink the political savvy of John Morgan.

Morgan sold Florida Democrats on Amendment 2. Shame on him. Morgan sold Florida Democrats on Charlie Crist, shame on them.

RELATED VIDEO: John Morgan’s profanity laced interview about the defeat of Amendment 2. His diatribe is filled with hate for law enforcement, those who do not think like him and the older voters of Florida.

Arkansas elects the youngest US Senator to enter the 214th Congress: Rep. Tom Cotton

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Just prior to last night’s resounding GOP mid-term victories in the US Senate, the House and a host of gubernatorial contests, I had an opportunity to speak with Shoshana Bryen. She is the executive director of the Washington, DC – based Jewish Policy Center. We were preparing for last Sunday’s Lisa Benson Show, which had a midterm election theme of “Vote to Protect America and its Ally Israel”.  We talked about a wide range of issues.  In addition to Shoshana, we had as other guests on the show, Ken Timmerman, veteran Iran watcher and author of Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi, and Navy Seal veteran, Ben Smith.  Listen here to the discussion on the November 2, 2014 Lisa Benson Show.   

When I asked Bryen about emerging figures in the mid-term elections, she pointed to Rep. Tom Cotton (R-4th CD AK)  running a competitive  campaign against incumbent two-term  US Democrat Senator Mark Pryor. Pryor was the scion of a long serving Arkansas political dynasty.  His father David before him had served as both Governor and US Senator.

Cotton, I knew from reading a profile of him by retired Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had a career that resonated. He was a highly educated double Harvard graduate who voluntarily served as an Infantry officer in the US Army during the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict.  Wisse’s WSJ op-ed   was an unabashed endorsement, “Vote for Tom Cotton—and Redeem Harvard”.   So, I asked Bryen on last Sunday’s broadcast to talk about Cotton and another Army veteran Lt. Col.Joni Ernst of Iowa both running for the US Senate in their respective states.

 Cotton and Ernst won their respective Senate races last night. A colleague called last night from a cheering Iowa GOP celebration to give me the news about Ernst’s victory. Cotton trounced Pryor by running against “Obama’s failed policies”. He won by 16 percent. His campaign played up his Army service. Cotton, 37 years old, will enter the 314th Congress in January 2015 as its youngest member.

 Cotton is a sixth generation Arkansan from a cattle raising ranching family in the small community of Dardanelle, Arkansas. A graduate of both Harvard College and Law School, motivated by the events of 9/11, he rejected a JAG Commission. Instead, he volunteered   to go through OCS at Fort Benning and trained at both the Infantry and Ranger Schools.  Cotton served from 2005 to 2009. He had two tours, one in Iraq and a second in Afghanistan with the famed Screaming Eagles, the 101st Airborne, rising to the rank of Captain and received a Bronze Star for his combat actions. At 6’5″, he was selected as Platoon Leader at the Old Guard that provides the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery.

Watch this mini-documentary on Senator-elect Cotton:

Like Louisiana’s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, he also is a McKinsey & Co. alumnus. Most importantly as a first term Congressman from the (4thCD- AK) he was assigned to House Foreign Affairs. During his Senate campaign he consistently strove to educate Arkansans about the dangers of isolationism.  He has also proved to be a good friend of Israel in Congress during his initial term in the US House of Representatives. The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECFI head, Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard,  said this about Cotton in a Washington Free Beacon report on their purchase of a spot ad for him, “We’re for a strong Israel and a strong America. So is Tom Cotton. He’ll be a great senator.”

Just before his Senate electoral victory, Cotton weighed in on the West Wing campaign against Israel and PM Netanyahu with a statement released on October 29th:

I’m appalled at recent media reports suggesting the Obama administration is seeking ‘détente’ with Iran, while unnamed administration officials disparage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with vulgar ad hominem attacks.  I call upon President Obama to renounce these reports and disclose the names of these officials and fire them.  Iran remains our worst enemy and Israel our closest ally.  The Obama administration’s weak behavior will only embolden Iran to continue its headlong rush to nuclear weapons and terror campaigns against America and our allies, while destabilizing the region and further eroding our interests.

Finally, for the record, I must note that Prime Minister Netanyahu in his youth was a member of Israel’s elite special-operations forces, where he displayed great courage.  He and his family have made grave sacrifices in the fight against our common enemies.  On behalf of all Arkansans, I want to thank Mr. Netanyahu for his bravery and service.

I asked Bryen during the preparation for last Sunday’s show where Cotton might be assigned in the newly organized US Senate under the leadership of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the presumptive GOP Majority Leader in the 214th Congress in January 2015.  She thought that Cotton might end up on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  I told her that would be an historic antidote to the legendary Arkansas Democratic Senator William Fulbright who opposed the Viet Nam War during the era of President Johnson after voting for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964.  Cotton’s Arkansas constituents realize the importance of US leadership on national security interests and support for Israel. That will stand him in good stead.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on the New English Review. The featured image of Senator elect Tom Cotton is courtesy of the New English Review.

Republican sweep, Bill and Hillary Documentary resurfaces — first shot fired for 2016!

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The Republicans will on January 20th, 2015 control both houses of the U.S. Congress. Eric Erickson notes that Americans “had a taste of socialism” and have spit it out. The Republican sweep has reached every state down to the lowest levels. Conservative Republicans have won up and down the ballot in Florida, including the historic re-election of Rick Scott as governor.

Red State’s Erick Erickson writes, “Republicans are going to have the largest House majority they’ve seen since 1946. They have won gubernatorial races, congressional races, and Senate races in blue territory. The GOP not only held Florida, Kansas, and Maine, races they were expected to lose, but they gained Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts. They picked up the State House in Minnesota. The GOP did very well in a wave. I was actually kind of wrong. I expected a wave at the state and local level, but did not think there would be one at the national level. There sure was.”

Erickson notes, “[T]he Democrats have a real problem. It is clear now that the Democrats’ coalition is actually Barack Obama’s coalition. As I have said repeatedly, that coalition turns out for Barack Obama, but not for Democrats.”

Time for celebration among Republicans to be sure. But some are calling for the Republican leadership at every  level not to blow it.

The first shot fired for the 2016 race for the White House is making its way across the internet. It is a documentary of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s rise to political power. In many ways their rise is not unlike that of Barack Obama. The results of that rise are eerily similar.  With Hillary 2016 bumper stickers already appearing in Florida, it is time to reflect on the Clinton’s history.

Will Barack Obama’s unpopularity impact the 2016 Democrat primary? Will Obama’s collectivist policies, not unlike those of Hillary’s, haunt Democrats in two years? Clearly, Hillary and Obama are inextricably tied one to another. Will 2016 be a second referendum on Obama’s policies? Time will tell, but in the mean time perhaps it is appropriate to remember what Bill and Hillary did during their time in the White House.

Watch this YouTube documentary titled “Bill Clintons Rise to Power”, the first shot fired for the 2016 Presidential primary:

RELATED ARTICLE: How a Conservative Congress Could Make a Huge Difference in Next Two Years

Why Vote?

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Every election is “the most important” for the simple reason that it has the potential of making our lives better or worse.

What makes elections scary is that votes are cast by people who often have paid little attention to the events, issues, policies or the candidates involved. Casting a vote requires knowing something about the times in which one lives and the persons promising to make them better.

“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.” That’s John Adams, our second President, a Founding Father, and though I suspect he was joking, I also suspect he was half serious.

It is our nature to never be satisfied with whomever we elect to high office. A nation is very fortunate to have someone come along to truly demonstrate a vision and leadership. It doesn’t happen that often.

The political pundit, Larry J. Sabato, said, “Every election is determined by the people who show up.” He is about to be proven right again. The reason Barack Obama was reelected was that Republicans stayed home. If you recall, it was a close election.

It has brought us to Tuesday’s midterms and they are likely to demonstrate that it has taken six years of Obama for his incompetence, his far Left ideology, and his lies to have finally penetrated the skulls of those who thought it was a great idea to elect a black President no matter who he was. These idiots will replace that thought with how great it would be to elect the first woman President whether she is qualified or not.

Too many people think there is no real difference between the candidates and the parties they represent. We never seem to learn how wrong that is. Jarod Kintz, writing in “99 Cents for Some Nonsense”, said “Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. Next time, go all out and write in Lucifer on the ballot.” Candidates and the policies they support do matter. Not voting is to concede victory to those who you don’t support.

As Peggy Noonan, a former aide to Ronald Reagan, author of seven books, and columnist for The Wall Street Journal reminds us, “Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities show up in the polls.”

The priorities in the midterm elections come down to the economy, national security, healthcare, and a list of others on which “climate change” does not even appear. The cliché is that “people vote their wallets”, but that is exactly what they should do. A President and/or administration that does not govern in a way that generates more economic growth and jobs is doing harm to the nation.

The Democrats have failed to generate a healthy economy, preferring one entirely dependent on the federal government. President Obama’s assertion that “you did not build that” to the nation’s business owners and managers, along with Hillary Clinton’s notion that jobs are not created by corporations and businesses should tell everybody just how absurd and insulting the views of these two Democrat “leaders” are.

That is why the midterm elections will be about which party offers candidates who will take steps to save the nation from the Great Recession that has been around since 2008.

For anyone paying any attention it is clear that the Democratic Party has swung heavily toward a purely socialistic mode of politics. Increasing the role of the federal government has given us Obamacare which is currently destroying what was the finest healthcare system in the world. Earlier administrations—yes, some of them Republican—have extended the federal government’s control over education, energy, housing, and virtually all other aspects of the nation’s economy.

The result has been bureaucracies that do what all bureaucracies do, act arrogantly and with indifference. Examples over the past six years include the Internal Revenue Service, the Veterans Administration, the Justice Department, and, most dangerously, the Environmental Protection Agency whose torrent of regulations, most based on false science, are crippling economic growth and property rights.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

He was referring, of course, to the Civil War and the voters chose to put him in office and keep him there for a second term. He was a Republican, a party that came into being for its opposition to slavery. The Democratic Party had sought to expand it and, after the war, sought to disenfranchise freed slaves. It is astonishing that the Democratic Party proclaims itself the one with which African Americans should identify and support. The midterms, however, may reveal that its appeal has diminished.

In a similar fashion various groups, demographic by race, ethnicity, age and other factors will be analyzed for the way they voted, but what matters though, is that they showed up to VOTE.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

More than 1,000 Florida Felons Voted in the 2012 General Election

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According to the Florida Division of Elections’ own records a minimum of 1,000 felons cast a vote in our 2012 General Election.

If the Division wasn’t aware of this, they should have been. Because it was discovered via a simple public records request for voters removed from Florida’s voter roll, their date of removal, and the removal reason.

The data from the that single public records request shows that in the 60 days following our 2012 General Election, more than 3,800 registrations were removed from the voter roll because they were felons.

And more than 1,000 of those 3,800+ removed voter registrations cast a ballot in our 2012 General Election.

Given our government’s self-mandated requirements, the possibility that these individuals were convicted of a felony following the general election and removed from the voter roll in less than 60 days is highly unlikely.

A number, and more likely many, were identified long before the election. And somehow our government has found its way to not doing its job. Again.

Because according to this article from 2010, the Florida Division of Elections has had too much difficulty keeping felons off the voter roll since at least 2008.

And now, a couple years after more than 1,000 felons voted in 2012, how many convictions have you heard of?

So, to those who claim there’s “not even a smidgin” of voter fraud, the most polite response might be:

“Here’s your sign”.

Predicted Voter Fraud Underway on a Massive Scale — With Examples

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In the 2008 Presidential election, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) had 1200 neighborhood chapters with 500,000 members  in 100 major cities across the nation; ACORN was funded by Congress to register voters.  ACORN employed massive  Voter Fraud to get Obama elected.  In 2009, in the wake of the production of video tapes portraying members of ACORN engaged in the registration of illegal aliens, a nationwide controversy erupted.  ACORNwas found to be falsifying then filing voter registration forms in Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, Indiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Texas, Arizona, Florida, California, Wisconsin, Washington, New York, and Illinois, resulting in felony convictions in Federal Court in those states for Voter Fraud.   As a result, millions of illegal votes were cast by illegal voters, and the previous funding for ACORN to register voters was terminated by Congress.  ACORN was disbanded following multiple convictions for felony Voter Fraud in Federal courts  in multiple states.  The Obama administration morphed the 1200 ACORN chapters into many newly named organizations in 50 states, and those newly named organization employed the same ACORN operatives who are being well funded by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, as they continued perpetrating massive Voter Fraud in the 2012 Presidential election.

It was reported in the below listed article, that in the 2012 Presidential election, that 6.4% of the 124,026,000 votes cast by voters, or 7,937,664 vote cast, were cast by illegal aliens.  For 6 years Holder, following Obama’s instructions, has been aggressively filing law suits against any state that passes a voter photo ID law to preventthem from opposing the massive Voter Fraud again in 2012, like they did in 2008 and the number of illegal aliens voters grew in to over 7 million voters in 2012.  States have been passing voter ID laws requiring that voters present a photo voter ID, in order to vote at the polls for comparison to the list of registered voters.

Even when states offered to  pay for the issuance of those voter photo IDs, Holder still filed suits against the states to oppose the requirement for a photo voter ID, by saying those ;laws were designed to suppress minorities from voting. The long term goal of Obama and his leftists and Marxist supporters appointees in the bloated bureaucracy is to CHANGE the Republic into a one party Socialist State.  Obama’s leftist supporters are continuing the employment of Voter Fraud to register more illegal aliens than the 7.937,644 illegal aliens that voted in 2012.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL-Senate) addressed the US Senate in a 30-minute floor speech and alerted the nation to the fact that after the November 4th election, Obama is preparing, once again, to unilaterally circumvent Federal Immigration Laws by issuing an Executive Order in order to violate Federal Immigration Law and the US Constitution, without the consent of Congress.  Obama had previously violated Federal Immigration Laws, without the consent of Congress, by issuing an Executive Oder to prevent ICE from deporting nearly 1 million illegal aliens, termed Dreamers, who are now protected from deportation by the Obama administration’s ill-conceived Deferred Action-Childhood Arrival Program (DACA).

Obama gave temporary lawful status to those illegal aliens in the DACA program, up to age 31, and provided them with identity documents, expediting their rapid pathway to citizenship, without so much as a face-to-face interview with ICE or Immigration officials.  The Obama administration has made it very easy for another 1 million Illegal aliens to obtain drivers licenses and register to vote, when those 1 million Dreamers are added to the 7,937,6644 illegal aliens who violated Federal Lawby voting in 2012, there will be nearly 9 million Illegal aliens violating Federal Law and voting on November 4th.   The Obama administration knows the thatImmigration Service does not have the resources to conduct field investigations of the 1 million DACA Illegal aliens, in order to check their applications, so the Immigration Service could uncover fraud, determine if they have criminal records, or determine if they might be listed in the CIA terrorist data base.   Although Congressional leaders have the power of the purse, they have done absolutely nothing to cancel the funding required to expedite the pathway to citizenship for the DACA program.

After the November election, according to Senator Sessions, Obama is planning to issue another Executive Order, that will provide legal status and work authorization cards to an additional 5 to 6 million illegal aliens in the United States.  Obama plans to issue those work permits to 6 million illegal aliens at a time when 44 million American citizens are unemployed & on food stamps, all American citizens would be required to compete for jobs with the 6 million Illegal aliens Obama plans to issue work permits to.  When those 6 million illegal aliens, are added to the 1 million DACA illegal aliens previously provided with legal status, and the 7,937,664 illegal aliens who illegally voted in 2012. Obama will have been behind and responsible for helping nearly 15 million illegal aliens to register to vote for President in 2016.

Current examples of the massive Voter Fraud:

  • Maryland–Massive voter fraud in Maryland has been uncovered where illegal aliens who say they are not citizens on jury duty survey forms are found to have registered to vote by the thousands.  Early voting just started in Maryland, but there are already accusations that some voting machines are changing Republican votes to Democrat  Now Republicans are calling for an investigation by the State Board of Elections.
  • Illinois—Early voting in Illinois got off to a rocky start last Monday, as votes being cast for Republican candidates were transformed into votes for Democrats.  Republican state Representative candidate Jim Moynihan went to vote at the Schaumburg Public Library.  “I tried to vote for myself and instead it cast a vote for my opponent.”  Moynihan said Cook County Board of Elections Deputy Communications Director, Jim Scalzitti, told Illinois Watchdog, the machine was taken out of service to be tested
  • North Carolina—The North Carolina Board of Elections has found 1,425 registered voters who likely are illegal aliens.  The audit sample 10,000 registered voters in with data provided by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the US Department of Homeland Security.
  • New York—A single Bronx voter listed in official records as being 164 years old led to the Board of Elections officials to review their files—–where they turned up another 849 New Yorkers who were supposedly alive when Abraham Lincoln was President.

Examples of Voter Fraud in Connecticut, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, Minnesota, Alabama, Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, California, Idaho, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, South Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Michigan, Hawaii, Maryland, Rhode Island, etc. can be reviewed by clicking on the link: https://www.rnla.org/votefraud.asp

To prevent the massive scale   Voter Fraud underway being perpetrated by the Obama administration, every state should pass laws to require voters to show a photo ID in order to cast a vote at the polls.  The Republicans in Congress must use the power of the purse to shut down the issuance of legal documents to provide legal status for DACA illegal aliens and the 6 million Illegal aliens that Obama plans to provide legal state to.  The Governors of every state should close down the issuance of drivers licenses for illegal aliens, so they cannot use their drivers licenses as proof of residence, so they can register to vote.

We encourage voters to volunteer to be poll observers or poll workers to assure Federal voting laws are observed on November 4th.

RELATED ARTICLE: WaPo Publishes Scientific Evidence of Voter Fraud on a Massive Scale — As Previously Predicted By This Here Very Blog

RELATED VIDEO: Multiple NC Campaign Workers Willing to Aid Non-Citizen With Felony Kay Hagan Votes

Charlie Crist — A National Security Risk!

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The United West team analyzes the national security capability of Charlie Crist and concludes that he is a national security risk for the State of Florida.

Evidence is presented that proves Crist’s failures on understanding the threat of Islamic jihad, the threat of the cultural jihad and his possible negligence by falling into the control of the Muslim Brotherhood supporters of the Obama Administration.

Before you cast your vote in the 2014 Florida election, be sure to watch this critically important expose.

Light Off or On?

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It’s “that” time of year again – when it gets dark well before dinner time and even before cocktail time! Daylight Saving Time ends tomorrow, so remember to change your clocks. Darkness will continue to come earlier every day for the next seven weeks when Winter officially begins on December 21, the shortest day of the year. But then the cycle will start all over again, and the days grow longer.

As the seasons change so do our environment and our community. About a year ago, I heard this humorous comment about seasonal changes: “Up North, you know Fall is approaching because the leaves change color. Here, you know Fall is approaching because the license plates change color.

Just look around. Every day you’ll see new colors. We accept those changes because there is nothing we can do about them as the pages of the calendar continue to move, and the planets continue to travel around the sun.

But there is another significant event at this time of year. And we can influence the changes that will occur. This coming Tuesday is Election Day. How we conduct our business, how we live our lives, and how we educate our children will be decided by what we do – by how we cast our vote.

Many people have already voted, but for most eligible voters that opportunity is still a few days away.

Unfortunately, many of those people will choose not to vote. What a shortsighted action to take!

Not casting a vote is abdicating responsibility to those who do vote. Non-votes often justify their decision by saying, “What difference does it make?” “They (the politicians) are all alike.” “I can’t be bothered.” “I’m too busy right now.”

But not casting a vote is like getting into the back seat of your car, handing the keys to a total stranger and saying, “Take me anywhere you want to go – and I’ll pay for the gas.”

I can’t think of anyone who would do that. But giving up one’s right to vote is precisely that. It’s giving other people control over what we want, like, plan for, and deserve. By not voting, we give other people our “car keys” and allow them to make decisions that influence our businesses, our finances, and our way of life – and we pay for all the gas. Not voting is abstaining, and in Robert’s Rules of Order an abstention is actually a vote that is given away. It is siding with the majority.

It’s interesting to note we have the Right to vote, but as we learned in school (hopefully) the other side of a Right is a Responsibility. As citizens and as businesspeople we have the duty to behave responsibly toward out society. When we don’t participate in the election process we have no license to complain about outcomes or about decisions.

If someone decides not to vote next week – so be it. That person has given up the option to criticize and to find fault with governing bodies and individuals. Those who shirk the responsibility in essence “give away the car keys.”

Centuries ago, in “Julius Caesar”, Shakespeare had Cassius say, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” That’s true today.
Actions count! Inaction counts just a strongly.

To some, this might sound like “flag waving” but I proudly believe we are fortunate to have the right to vote. Many paid a high price to assure we have that right and it’s irresponsible to ignore it. Too many places throughout the world don’t offer that right, and other places are fighting hard to remove it – to take it away from those who do have it.

I find it hard to understand how anyone can ignore or misuse our powerful weapon of self-determination. Abusing or ignoring that freedom has long tern implications for all of us personally and for our businesses.

Remember this adage next Tuesday, and consider its implications.

“The electorate gets what it deserves.”

In daylight or in darkness next week, I hope to see you at the polls.

Secure Victory: Just a Few More Miles Before We Sleep!

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Are we there yet? Are we there yet? No, the election is a few days away and we have not yet secured the U.S. Senate for the Republicans. I know everyone keeps saying it is in the bag, but it is not over until all the votes have been counted.

It has been reported that voting machines in Maryland are switching Republican votes to Democrat. Rest assured, the Democrats will remain fully engaged through the November 4 election day until every vote has been counted – spending mega millions on ads filled with distortions and lies. Despicably, they are trying to use Ferguson to inspire hate to get out the black vote. They never tire. They never retreat. They never surrender. They will try every dirty trick in the book to steal or win this election by any means necessary. That is how they roll.

Some of you are saying, Lloyd, I am done! You’re saying, I have given faithfully and generously to numerous candidates and still, my in-box continues to stay full. I am sick of all the ads on TV and so on.

Folks, I understand how you feel. But folks, we have only a few more miles to go before we can sleep. Please, please, please hang in there. We have seen rookie football players have a clear run to a touchdown begin celebrating early, only to be tackled on their blindside, fumble or spike the ball before officially crossing the goal line. Secure victory, then relax and celebrate.

While I understand that some of you are political campaign war weary, the world does not function based on how we feel. Feelings rather than adult common sense decisions are making a mess of our country.

For example. ISIS is a clear and present danger because Obama pulled out of Iraq because his base was war weary. Well unfortunately, you can not tell bad guys who are attacking you that you do not want to play anymore and expect them to go away. Continuing his governing by feelings, Obama refused to send in the boots on the ground which military experts say are needed to secure victory. Why? Because boots on the ground would upset his peace-nick base.

Our election battle with those hellbent on fundamentally transforming our country is similar to our battle with ISIS. These people are socialist/progressive zealots. They pray for us to let down our guard, succumb to election fatigue and over confidence.

Our Democrat opponents will not stop their conniving, cheating and below the belt attacks because we Conservatives/Republicans are sick of the campaigning process.

I heard another horrific tyrannical overreach of the Obama regime. The IRS has been confiscating hundreds of thousands of dollars out of taxpayers’ accounts because they “think” it may have been obtained illegally; no trial, no nothing!

Folks, we have got to get these arrogant vile people out of power.

The Bible says the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those who endure to the end. I realize you are tired and battle weary, but we have got to finish this race. Stay engaged. It ain’t over til its over. We are almost there!

C’mon patriots, let’s do this.

Delaware TV gets the hottest U.S. Senate campaign ad: Chris Coons Ebola Zone!

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Kevin Wade

Kevin Wade, Republican for the U.S. Senate in Delaware.

The real battle nationally is for control of the U.S. Senate. Millions are being poured into races to retain or obtain control of that body.

However, there is one key Republican U.S. Senate race that can be a Republican pickup – in Delaware.

Kevin Wade, a self-made business man, believes he can take and put the Delaware U.S. Senate seat solidly in the “R” column.

Historically the Delaware U.S. Senate seat is won with approximately 150,000 total votes. The race will likely hinge on about 8,000 voters changing their voting pattern on the General Election Day. It is projected that the Republican turnout will be 10% higher and 10% lower for the Democrats. That leaves 8,000 voters to be convinced to swing  this U.S. Senate Republican on November 4th.

This is the seat formerly held by now Vice President Joe Biden. That alone must have Delaware Republicans energized.

According to Wade, “It is all in reach. I don’t understand the fascination with ‘big state’ races at the national level. My vote in the U.S. Senate would count as much as California’s U.S. Senator. The yield on a donor dollar and volunteer hour is so much higher in this small voting universe in Delaware.”

This political ad may make the difference on a Republican Senate seat pickup in Delaware: