Joining the Race42012 Team!

I just wanted to let you all know that, starting today, I will be writing in two different locations. Obviously, things around here are going to continue normally, but I have also been invited too join the team over at Race42012.com (formerly known as Race42008).

Thanks to R4'12 Managing Editor Kavon Nikrad for this opportunity, and I hope that the "Brickyard" crew will join me on this new adventure.

Click here to read my first Race42012 post.

Cao Slams "So-Called Stimulus"

At this point, just looking at this blog should tell you what I think of Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao of Louisiana. He showed great courage by voting against the Democratic "stimulus" package last week, and he's been getting SLAMMED for it in the media and left wing blogosphere. However, he proved he is more than capable of firing back with a strongly worded letter in this morning's New Orleans Times-Picayune (re-posted below). He may be the single shyest man in Congress, but he certainly doesn't seem to pull any punches when it comes to writing.

According to many in the media, Congressman Cao ended his political career by voting on conscience rather politics - and I last personally would love nothing more than to shove those comments back in their faces. As far as I'm concerned, Rep. Cao proved this week that he is the guy we thought he was when he took down William Jefferson in last year's election. So, for my two cents, it's time for us to circle that wagons around Joseph Cao and do everything we can to make sure that, instead of getting bounced in 2010, he gets a promotion to the U.S. Senate.

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Anti-stimulus vote tough but justified, Cao says
Posted by Letters to the Editor February 16, 2009 4:44PM

This past Friday, I voted against the so-called stimulus bill. I wanted a bill that would stimulate the economy without wasteful spending and that would answer the needs of my district. Unfortunately, this wasn't it. Voting no was a tough decision -- my most difficult yet in Congress -- but I believe it was the right decision.

President Barack Obama's intentions with this bill were good, but the result is loaded with big government spending and dubious initiatives that will do little to help the average American. The costs of the stimulus bill far outweigh the benefits. Even the White House's own analysis ranked the 2nd District dead last in terms of the number of jobs created yet the bill will increase 2nd District citizens' share of our national debt to more than $38,000 per person.

The passage of the stimulus bill was neither fair nor transparent. The entire process was characterized by traditional Washington back-room dealing and was intended to ram through a trillion-dollar spending frenzy with as little debate and scrutiny as possible.

Some will say I bowed to political pressure to "fall in line" with the Republican Party. This could not be further from the truth. My first and only responsibility is to the people of the 2nd District; I am committed to working with Republicans and Democrats alike to pass important legislation, such as the critically needed children's health insurance program we passed earlier this year.

As your representative, I have worked tirelessly to bring jobs back home, securing $129 million to assist local hospitals and moving forward the backlog of local FEMA projects to restore basic services like firehouses, health clinics and schools. If we can get even a fraction of these projects off the ground, it will do far more for the 2nd District than the stimulus bill.

U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao

Washington

Enjoy Bottled Water!

I attended a blogger briefing today at The Heritage Foundation, and one of the presenters brought up something that I just HAD to share with all of you. Apparently, the bottled water industry has become the latest threat to humanity in the eyes of radical left wing green groups. It has a carbon footprint, creates solid waste, and (most importantly, in my opinion) threatens government control of our water supply.

Hence, green groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council are now ordering us to drink tap water...despite the fact that, not too long ago, these same groups were lecturing us on the extreme danger of drinking impure, contaminated tap water. But now, in the name of advancing socialism...I mean...uh..."saving the planet", their stance has changed to "by all means, drink the contaminated water, just be sure you have a filter to protect yourself." And to add insult to injury, cities are now banning bottled water from certain functions and placing "sin taxes" on its sale.

Luckily, our friends at the Competitive Enterprise Institute have set up EnjoyBottledWater.org in order to highlight this moronic crusade against clean water. Be sure to check out the site, watch the featured video, and sign their petition.

Video: Bristol Palin "On the Record"

As promised, I am posting links to the videos from tonight's "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren". Click here to go to the "On the Record" video list, where the top video is currently Part 1 of the Bristol interview. Then, be sure to check out Part 2 (with special appearances by Sarah Palin and Baby Tripp) and Greta's interview with Gov. Palin at the finish line of the Iron Dog snowmachine race.

Bristol Palin Goes "On The Record"

TUNE IN TO FOX NEWS TONIGHT AT 10:00 PM EASTERN

Busy day at work today, so full-length posts will be waiting for tonight. That said, I HAD to mention this story quickly. Greta Van Susteren is back in Alaska to check in with the Palins, and she has scored a groundbreaking interview...not with Sarah or Todd, but with BRISTOL Palin.

As far as I'm concerned, sitting down with Greta is a tremendous act of courage for Bristol. Nobody would blame this young woman if she never said another word to the media in her life, so she is really showing some chutzpah by sitting down for a one-on-one interview with a national news channel.

In my personal opinion, Bristol Palin has suffered more degrading abuse by the media than any other person in this country (including her mother and George W. Bush). She deserves our total support, and I think that anyone who reads this blog or participated in the Draft Palin movement is obligated to watch tonight.

Good luck, Bristol...way to show the slimebags that you're not going to be pulled down by their classless lies and smears.

Draft Cao for U.S. Senate

I watched today's stimulus vote very closely - not because the outcome interested me (everybody knew the monstrosity would pass), but to see how which Republicans decided to break ranks. Actually, I was really only watching one vote in particular, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-Louisiana). Most political junkies will remember Rep. Cao as the giant-killer who took out scandal-ridden Rep. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson on his way to becoming the first Vietnamese-American Congressman in history. He was an instant hero for the otherwise humiliated GOP, but there were a few problems...which is why this post was not written months ago.

First, Cao is a political novice with few defined issue positions other than a staunch pro-life stance and a commitment to redeveloping New Orleans - not to mention a newly-minted Republican (in 2007, he ran for State Representative as an Independent). He cast himself as a totally open-minded post-partisan, and considering that he represents a heavily-Democratic district, many were rightly concerned that he could become one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress. Secondly, Cao's election was a bit of a fluke - facilitated by the incumbent's scandals and and postponed election (due to Hurricane Gustav). Despite his newfound rockstar status, it seemed highly unlikely that he would even come close to winning a second term. How could we be sure that this guy wasn't going to go liberal, and how could we possibly protect him if he did live up to his promise? Today, I think we may have some solutions to both issues.

I was disappointed to hear this morning that Rep. Cao was one of the only Republicans "leaning yes" on today's stimulus vote. His New Orleans-based district REALLY DOES need infrastructure money for reconstruction (and redevelopment was one of his big campaign issues). So, in order to get the funding his district desperately needs, he was openly flirting with becoming the only Republican to support the bloated, non-stimulating proposal. And then the fight over Cao's vote began.

The White House assigned a staffer to do nothing but hound Cao for his vote, and the Republican team started applying pressure too. Cao asserted his independence when asked whether fellow Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise had been assigned to "whip" him into line against the bill, and I admired his response even if I didn't like what it implied, "Steve Scalise doesn't know kung fu. I know kung fu. He can't whip me." However, Cao proved today that he could also withstand direct pressure from President Obama and pundits who said that he had to vote with the Dems to save his chances of re-election - he voted "no".

Now, while his vacillation may have implied greater moderation, I don't think that anyone can now doubt that Joseph Cao is a faithful public servant who is motivated totally by doing what he thinks is right. He has good conservative instincts, he's honest, he's an upstanding citizen, and he's independent minded - so even if he goes a little moderate sometimes, I like him a lot. More importantly, I think he's a tremendous asset to the Republican Party, and we need to make sure that he sticks around for a while...and, no offense, but running him for re-election in a district that's 70% Democrat would be roughly equivalent letting him water-ski in the bayou (otherwise known as "trolling for gators").

Luckily, we do have one - and ONLY one - shot at saving Joseph Cao from certain political destruction in 2010....we can run him as a primary challenger to U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA). You may remember that, in 2007, Vitter admitted to being a past patron of the prostitution service run by the now-infamous "DC Madam". This guy is vulnerable, and you can count on the Dems to target him in 2010. So, while Vitter may have a strong conservative voting record, I frankly don't think we should be wasting the party's time and money defending his indefensible actions. In fact, it's likely that Vitter's re-election race will make a mockery of the American political process - as there is already a very strong internet movement to highlight his improprieties by drafting porn star Stormy Daniels to run against him (and Miss Daniels is telling national media outlets that she's seriously considering it).

In all frankness, the people of Louisiana deserve better than the oversexualized circus that would result from a Vitter vs. Daniels race. And, considering the other candidates, the soft-spoken, devoutly religious Cao would probably represent a refreshing change of pace. Furthermore, Louisiana is notorious for corruption, and voters have recently become VERY receptive to candidates with a "clean government" message. This is how Cao got into Congress in the first place, and also how Bobby Jindal got to the governor's mansion.

Cao may be a little moderate at times, but he's an upright, downright honest man and a committed servant of the people. So, he could be just what the doctor ordered for both the GOP and the Great State of Louisiana. In fact, he's probably the only way the Republicans can remove the taint of Vitter without handing the seat to a Democrat. If bloggers start agitating for his candidacy now (and the people here know a thing or two about such operations), we could potentially keep Joseph Cao in Congress AND get rid of a black mark on our party (Vitter) in one fell swoop.

So, I guess my next question is whether anyone here is from Louisiana and how many of you might be willing to help kick-start some "Draft Cao" talk on the blogs (I'm not going to be launching a blog on the subject like last time, but I'm definitely willing to help out someone who will).

NY Gov. States the Obvious

Headline on MSN this morning: "Governor: 'SNL' is insensitive" Really?! I would never have guessed. It's not like Saturday Night Live has a history of harsh humor or anything...



That was the first Paterson skit from a few months ago, and there was a second one a few weeks ago (you should watch that one too). Now, I realize that Gov. Paterson is different from most political officials in that he is legally blind, and hence SNL made a number of blind jokes. But seriously, it's not news that SNL employs sophomoric and offensive humor. I also find it ironic that Paterson seems more offended by the blind gags than by the portrayal of him as an incompetent cocaine addict.

However, what REALLY sticks in my craw is that, according to the New York Post, "Paterson said the show's continued parodies hurt disabled people not in a position to fight back". Give me a break. This man is the Governor of New York, and it is more than within his power to fight back on behalf of blind people everywhere! In fact, considering that he is from NYC, it wouldn't bee all that hard for him to make an appearance on SNL and confront his impersonator in a skit (like every other politician who's ever been smeared on that show). That would be much better than his current "I'm a disabled victim" shtick...which will do nothing more than encourage SNL to continue ripping him.

I'd probably be offended too, but seriously, Governor, grow up and confront this thing like a man. I'm sure SNL would be more than happy to have you on (they've already figured out that you're the comedic gift that keeps on giving), and you could show a national audience just how competent a blind man can be. It's easy, it's right in your home town, and best of all, it's not in NEW JERSEY!