Congress Yields Again

Proudly, Paulsen, Bachmann, and Kline stood tall tonight to protect our legislative prerogatives. Sadly, Cravaack and Cantor voted tonight with McCarthy, Boehner, and Democrats to streamline Obama's executive appointments. Senate committee review and accountability will no longer be necessary. Rumor has it that Romney encouraged this "bipartisan" ceding of legislative power to the executive.


Roll Call:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/roll537.xml

We apparently need Congressional leadership more willing to guard us against the metastasizing Executive.

Monitor and Contact OUR US Congress

Contact them:
View/Contact US House Members by State
View/Contact US Senators by State, etc.

Monitor bills they are considering:
"Thomas" Database at US Library of Congress.
All sites below source heavily from Thomas.

See how they voted:
US House 2012 Roll Call Index
US Senate 2012 Roll Call Index

Analyze Votes and Bills:
US House Votes at Washington Post and
US Senate Votes at Washington Post The Washington Post Votes Database slices and dices, grouping by Yes-No-Present, Zodiac, etc.

US Roll Call Votes at GovTrack has pie charts, cartograms, and other analytics. Bill tracking, research, blogging, and more at GovTrack.

US Bills at OpenCongress has dashboards of status, cross-references, news, and blogs. News, tracking, commentary, community at OpenCongress by the "Sunlight Foundation".

Rock The Cauc

The 2012 Minnesota Republican Precinct Caucuses will be held on Tuesday, February 7th starting at 7PM. Be sure to turn up, tune it, and make your voice heard. Don't let those rubes in Iowa have all the fun and hog the spotlight with their precious little "first in the nation" caucus. Show people that Minnesota matters too.

The best thing about the caucus process is how easy it really is. All you truly have to do is show up. It's not complicated. It's not a smoke-filled back room with a punch of political hacks trading favors. It's you and your neighbors exercising your civic duty and showing that you care about the course the country is on and want to do something about it. So show up.

Where do you need to go? You can use the handy dandy Republican Party of Minnesota Precinct Finder. If you live in SD44 and know what precinct you're in, here are your caucus locations.

Golden Valley #3-8
Meadowbrook Elementary School
5430 Glenwood Ave
Golden Valley, MN 55422

Hopkins #1-#6
Alice Smith Elementary School
801 Minnetonka Mills Road
Hopkins, MN 55343

St. Louis Park Ward #1 Precincts #1-#5
Torah Academy
2800 Joppa Ave
St. Louis Park, MN 55416

St. Louis Park Ward #2 Precincts #6-#9
Susan Lindgren Elementary School
4801 West 41st Street
St. Louis Park, MN 55415

St. Louis Park Ward #3 Precincts #10-#13
Acquila Elementary School
8500 West 31st Street
St. Louis Park, MN 55425

St. Louis Park Ward #4 Precincts #14-#17
St. Louis Park Junior High
2025 Texas Ave South
St. Louis Park, MN 55425

If you have any questions, please contact Mike Held who is the caucus coordinator for the Republican Party in Senate District 44.

Phone: 952-935-2671
E-mail: mikeheld@hotmail.com

Pundit & Pundette: 2011 In Review via Mark Steyn

In case you weren't paying attention to the Right things, the Pundette has put together a beautiful Mark Steyn Retrospective

Pundit & Pundette: 2011 In Review via Mark Steyn

She and he and he are great in their own Rights, so you may well enjoy Steyn's own Steynian retrospective:
Mark Steyn at NRO: Happy New Year?

Even better, add Pundit & Pundette or Mark Steyn at NationalReviewOnline to your favorites.

Thomas Sowell: Unknown Unknowns

Ever wonder why there are so few new jobs despite so much "idle money"?

The following excerpt from Thomas Sowell's "Unknown Unknowns" at JewishWorldReview.com has a great explanation:

The short-run quick fixes that seem so attractive to so many politicians, and to many in the media, create many unknowns that make investors reluctant to invest and employers reluctant to employ. Politicians may only look as far ahead as the next election, but investors have to look ahead for as many years as it will take for their investments to start bringing in some money.

The net result is that both our financial institutions and our businesses have had record amounts of cash sitting idle while millions of people can't find jobs. Ordinarily these institutions make money by investing money and hiring workers. Why not now?

Because numerous and unpredictable government interventions create many unknowns, including "unknown unknowns."

The quick fix that got both Democrats and Republicans off the hook with a temporary bipartisan tax compromise, several months ago, leaves investors uncertain as to what the tax rate will be when any money they invest today starts bringing in a return in another two or three or ten years. It is known that there will be taxes but nobody knows what the tax rate will be then.

Some investors can send their investment money to foreign countries, where the tax rate is already known, is often lower than the tax rate in the United States and — perhaps even more important — is not some temporary, quick-fix compromise that is going to expire before their investments start earning a return.

Of course, among the biggest unknowns is: How long will socialist executives and their administrations remain in power?

YouTube: Sen. David Hann Sets Record Straight On GOP Balanced Budget Compromise