Massachusetts Miracle

The Democrats will not give up easily. You know the stakes. What are you doing in the next three days to ensure a Scott Brown victory?

The Coakley Treatment

Our Attorney General and wannabe senator showing her common touch. Ms. Coakley, may I be so bold to suggest that the next time one of your campaign thugs decks someone, offer the guy a hand up.

Commonwealth of Burma

Everyone is familiar, or should be, by the recent statement of our appointed Senator, Paul Kirk:

"Absolutely," Kirk said, according to the State House News Service, when asked if he'd vote for the bill even if Brown captures the seat. "It would be my responsibility as United States senator, representing the people and understanding Sen. Kennedy's agenda and the rest of it."

Now that the initial outrage has passed, along with the temptation to light out for Utah. It occurs to me that this should be a teachable moment in our history. This election is now no longer just about Scott Brown vs Martha Coakley; it's about whether or not the will of the people expressed in a free election will be respected.
Simply put, have we become like Burma, where elections that go against the desires of the ruling junta are simply ignored?

Governor Patrick installed Paul Kirk because he is a party hack that could be depended on to follow orders. In his mindless obedience to the Democratic machine, Kirk is simply doing what he believes is expected of him. Every dog trainer worth their salt will tell you not to blame the dog, blame the owner, in this case, Governor Patrick.

So Governor Patrick, you have eight days to train Kirk to respect the Democratic process. That should be ample time to teach him to recuse himself from voting for a health care bill that the voters of the Commonwealth don't support. Make no mistake about it, if the voters of Massachusetts elect Scott Brown to the US Senate next Tuesday it will be because he OPPOSES what the Democrats are trying to do. The voters screaming NO at the top of their lungs must be respected, even by a Senator who owes his seat to a dubious appointment. This Senate seat belongs to the people of Massachusetts, not to Ted Kennedy and certainly not to the Democratic party. The results of this election must be respected, whoever the people of this state decide will serve their interests best.

Coakley's Soft Spot: Cap and Trade

We've all seen Rasmussen's numbers, Brown's winning independents 65-21 and still down to Coakley by 9. Which means that Rasmussen doesn't see many independents turning out to vote on the 19th. If you've made calls for Scott, I can guarantee you the folks who've responded " I haven't thought about it" when asked if they'll be supporting Scott are independents. So how do we energize(no pun intended)independents to get out and vote in numbers big enough to carry Scott to victory? My suggestion, Martha Coakley's support of cap and trade legislation.
We need the voters' of MA to know that Martha Coakley wants them to pay more to heat and light their homes, watch the Pats,C's,B's and Sox on the big screen and fill their gas tanks.

A sample ad: I'm sure the folks who get paid to do this kind of thing can come up with something much better.

A shot of a furnace as it comes rumbling to life. A sound all too familiar to Baystaters' this winter. Announcer, "Martha Coakley wants you to pay more to heat your home".

A shot of a lightbulb going on. Announcer, "Martha Coakley wants you to pay more for electricity".

A shot of someone pumping gas(it could even be Scott filling up his truck). Announcer, "Martha Coakley wants you to pay more for gas". Remember, then candidate Obama claimed to be fine with $4 gas. His only complaint is that it happened too quickly.

Then some quick numbers on the screen of the economic impacts of cap and trade(I recommend using those from Heritage).

End with Scott saying something along the lines of " Until the scientists' are 100% positive that it will do any good, I don't think Baystaters' should pay one penny more than they have too to keep warm this winter".

I believe that if we get independents' thinking voting for Coakley is going to cost them money every time the furnace kicks on, they'll show up at the polls and vote for Scott. Call it a benefit of having the election in the middle of winter.

Vote For Balance

There is an old adage that making legislation is like making sausage. Meaning the squeamish best look away if they want to enjoy the end product. However, there are and must be limits in both processes. What Majority leader Reid (D-NV) did to the process of legislating to get the health bill through the US Senate would turn even a strong-stomached butcher green at the gills.

Gone were the promises of open debate on C-Span. Instead we had a rushed debate against an arbitrary Christmas deadline. Why the rush? Because this bill is a monstrosity unworthy of the term reform.

For the first time in our history, Americans will be mandated to purchase health care or pay a fine to the federal government, the House version even has provisions to send people to jail. Once the government assumes the power to mandate behavior we are on a very slippery slope. Today they will mandate we purchase healthcare, tomorrow it could be mandates to buy a hybrid vehicle or fines for eating fast food.

This bill also engages in accounting that would make the folks at Enron blush. From the Congressional Budget Office(CBO):
"To describe the full amount of hospital insurance trust fund savings as both improving the government's ability to pay future Medicare benefits and financing new spending outside of Medicare would essentially double-count a large share of those savings and thus overstate the improvement in the government's fiscal position." That's called cooking the books. When you combine it with the 21% cut in payments to doctors' to the tune of $210 billion that they will then "fix" in seperate legislation, instead of modestly cutting the deficit in its first 10 years it actually adds over $300 billion. And the real kick in the pants, again from the CBO, this legislation will cause insurance premiums to increase faster than they would if Congress does nothing at all.

The aspect of this process that has justifiably received the most attention is Harry Reid's outright buying of votes with taxpayer money. Sen. Mary Landrieu received $300million for her vote, not bad considering Thomas Jefferson only paid the French $15 million (in 1803 dollars) for the original Louisiana purchase. In what has been called the "cornhusker kickback" Sen. Nelson (D-NE) has ensured that Nebraska will have its Medicaid tab picked up by the Feds forever while the other 49 states are facing a financial tsunami. Last but not least, ethically challenged Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) was allowed to sneak in a provision at the last minute for a mere $100 million for a little homestate pork to aid his flagging re-election chances.

None of this would be possible if Harry Reid didn't have a super-majority of 60 votes in the US Senate. The voters of MA have an opportunity to restore a bit of balance to our government by electing Scott Brown to the Senate and denying Harry Reid his super-majority. Keeping Harry Reid shy of 60 votes means that he will have to negotiate in good faith with Republicans(he calls us "evil-mongers") and the resulting legislation will be more palatable to the American public.

You can bet that if Reid keeps his super-majority he will use the same formula: hyper-partisanship, shady accounting and corrupt bargains in coming legislative battles. Cap and Trade, which represents a massive tax on energy consumption and comprehensive immigration reform ie. amnesty are already in the legislative pipeline. How's your stomach?

Is A Brown Win Possible?

I believe Scott Brown has a chance, albeit a slight one, to shock the political world on January 19th. Call this assessment one part innate republican optimism and one part observations from Ward 2, Newburyport on primary day.

For starters, the lack of intensity by democrats yesterday was simply stunning. MA hasn't had a Senate vacancy since 1984 and turnout was pathetic. What's behind the apathy? One theory expressed to the Daily News "I think it's because people aren't particularly excited about this race. They don't see a big difference in the candidates. They seem pleased with them all," Erickson said." I agree with the first part of this statement and think the second part is dead wrong. There wasn't a dimes worth of difference seperating the 4 democratic candidates on the major issues of this campaign and that's the problem.

If people are excited about a candidate they are going to express it by volunteering or at least showing up to the polls to vote. Yesterday, the only campaign that had folks holding signs was Scott Brown's. Admittedly, it was a bit chilly out there yesterday, but it wasn't unseasonably cold, it is December after all. This lack of excitement is the canary in the coal mine moment for the democrats and they ignore it at their peril.

The US Senate is currently debating legislation on: health care, energy, a potential second (jobs bill) stimulus and a promise/threat of taking up "immigration reform". If enacted these bills will transfer unprecedented power to the Federal government and registered democrats responded to this by staying home. If the majority of democrats in MA were excited by this agenda they would have voted in large numbers. The truth is that this agenda is only popular with the far left of the democratic party, even here in deep blue MA and independents are scared to death by it.

Some completely anecdotal, unscientific examples from yesterday. An independent voter approached me to tell me that he had voted for Scott. He also told me the guy at the desk told him he was requesting the "wrong ballot", just part of the joy of living in MA. Another told me he works for a small plumbing supply company and if the health care bill passes they will be forced to cut their employees from 55 down to 49. They don't want to do this, they simply can't afford to pay the mandates that will be imposed by this legislation.

So, how does all this help Scott? Martha Coakley will be campaigning on issues that only appeal to a small percentage of voters. If Scott Brown and this is a big if, can convince the independens that are a majority of voters in this state to cast a ballot for a republican, probably for the first time in their lives he has a fighting chance.

To give Scott a fighting chance the republicans in the US Senate need to stand up and fight instead of playing nice guy. This election needs to be fought on big issues. The principal one being a victory by Scott Brown denies the democrats 60 votes for the federal takeover of health care.

Another Big Government Republican

The eyes of the nation will soon focus on Massachusetts. We have it in our power to deny Harry Reid a filibuster proof majority. Which is why it's so disappointing that one of our candidates in the upcoming special election is choosing to act more like a Democrat than a Republican. Massachusetts-style big government is the path we should not follow and any Republican that hasn't been in a coma for the last 60 years should know better. So why is Jack E. Robinson looking to out Democrat the Democrats?

The answer. Mr. Robinson has caught bailout fever. He wants to give all public transportation systems and their riders a bailout. From the Herald:

“(The government) put $185 billion into (troubled lender) AIG. That would fund the T for 40 years,” Robinson said yesterday. “There is money to be used smartly and intelligently.”

Robinson, who is running against state Sen. Scott Brown for the GOP nomination in the race for the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s vacant seat, is suggesting the MBTA bailout as part of a proposal to make all public transportation nationwide free. Robinson aides said there are cities in Washington and Oregon that offer free public transit."

His plan is meeting the typical response. “I think that’s awesome,” 33-year-old commuter Jason Harris of Boston said. “Free is great.”. One would hope that someone who has reached the age of 33 would realize that other Americans would be paying for his "free ride". While Mr. Harris doesn't have the slightest concept of economics, I have no doubt he is one of those smug, more enlightened than thou Democrats that populate the Commonwealth.

We need a Republican that is going to fight tooth and nail against the statist policies of the Obama administration not emulate them. Scott Brown should be our next US Senator.

Senator?

Representative Tierney couldn't find the time to meet with his constituents during the 40 days Congress was in recess. Now he is thinking about asking them for a promotion to the Senate. His audacity astounds. Who knew he had grander ambitions than being a back bench reliable liberal vote for Speaker Pelosi? I hope he realizes that you can't run a campaign for Senate via conference call. We need to send him home to Salem, not the U.S. Senate.

The sad thing is that with his support of single-payer health care, cap and trade and card check he appeals to the far left base of democrats needed to win the primary.

Is it too much to ask that our next senator look out for the taxpayers of this state and not the special interests?