UbiquitousPoliticalCommentaries

While speaking to the Congressional Black Caucus on Friday, Hillary Clinton floated the idea that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 “baby bond” from the government to help pay for the future costs of college or buying a house, so long as they’re 18 years of age and a high school graduate.

“I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time, so that when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that down payment on their first home,” she said.

It’s interesting that when it comes to growing your account using privatized social security she feels a little different - interesting - but not surprising given the audience. At the August, 2007 AFL-CIO Forum she said “We’ve got to make sure that nobody ever tries to privatize Social Security, something that I’ve fought tooth and nail.”

She told the CBC that one way of building a stronger economy is “more savings, starting with the so-called baby bonds idea where every person born in this country would be given that kind of account because we want to make an investment in America’s young people.”

In other words, it’s for the children, but screw the 20 somethings, the 30 somethings and 40 somethings - you can fend for yourself when it comes to your retirement. And just to be fair, I’m ok with that because it’s not the government’s role to coddle us and wipe our noses every step of the way. However, I’m not interested in trading one for the other.

There are no real “details” that she had to offer for this plan as she addressed the CBC, it’s just an idea that she floated in front of them because well, this is the kind of thing that makes them feel good, this is the kind of thing that they like to hear. It feeds the entitlement mentality, it bolsters the need for and the dependency on Government, and it’s page one in the Democrat playbook, with a slight twist - suck them in, and suck them in early.

Clinton presented no official numbers, didn’t suggest how this would be paid for and her campaign made sure to point out afterward that this is not an official policy proposal but simply an idea that is under consideration, it’s also one that mirrors a similar proposal by Time Magazine.

Approximately 4 million babies are born in the US each year.

$5,000 per x 4,000,000 babies = $20,000,000,000

Thanks Hill …

Representative William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana 

Remember him ? 

Rep. William Jefferson, who represents New Orleans, redefined the meaning of cold cash when FBI agents found $90,000 hidden in a freezer in his northeast Washington home in August of 2005. He had been the focus of an FBI bribery investigation when in July of 2005 he was videotaped accepting $100,000 in $100 bills from an FBI informant.

On June 4, 2007 Jefferson was indicted on 16 counts in a 94-page indictment that included charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of 235 years.

On June 8, 2007, Jefferson pleaded not guilty to the indictment. After the hearing, Jefferson said, “I am absolutely innocent of the charges that have been leveled against me. I’m going to fight my heart out to clear my name.” He further explained, “The $90,000 was the FBI’s money. The FBI gave it to me as part of its plan – part of their plan – that I would give it to the Nigerian vice president, but I did not do that. When all the facts are understood, I trust that I will be vindicated.” The trouble is, especially with that statement, the FBI didn’t even know that Jefferson was working with them on this because, well, he wasn’t. However, one of his investors was, they were wearing a wire in cooperation with the FBI, not Jefferson.

Following Jefferson’s indictment, both Republicans and Democrats moved to initiate formal House Ethics Committee investigations into the charges but in August, 2007, the investigative subcommittee suspended its investigation into Jefferson after the Department of Justice expressed concerns that the committee’s investigation might interfere with the FBI’s criminal investigation. More specifically, the committee agreed to temporarily cease the interview and deposition of witnesses, but said it would continue to monitor the FBI’s investigation.

If you have some free time, Congresspedia has all of the details surrounding Jefferson’s antics.

From The News Journal …

DOVER — After a 27-year career in the state Senate and a life in public service that started in 1943 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps at the height or World War II, Sen. James T. Vaughn announced Wednesday he was retiring from the Senate. Vaughn, D-Clayton, one of the Senate’s most powerful and outspoken leaders, said he was leaving because his health would not allow him to continue serving with the energy that marked his time in Legislative Hall. Vaughn, 82, who refused interview requests, resigned his seat in a letter to Lt. Gov. John Carney Jr., the Senate’s president.

“My constituents have been my No. 1 priority and they continue to be today,” Vaughn wrote. “My mind and my heart are as committed to them as ever — but in recent months my body has not been as cooperative as my mind.”

Carney has 30 days from the effective date of Vaughn’s resignation — Friday — to call for a special election to fill the seat. The election must he held within 11 days of the end of that period, probably in early November. The news of Vaughn’s resignation was broken by Senate President Pro Tem Thurman Adams Jr., one of Vaughn’s closest political and personal friends.

“This is a sad day for me, personally, for the Senate and the state of Delaware,” said Adams, D-Bridgeville “Sen. Vaughn was one of the most knowledgeable and best informed members of the Senate, and he always spoke his mind.”

Vaughn’s stamina was sapped by a string of illnesses that began in the spring of 2006. He didn’t miss a legislative session or a meeting of the Joint Finance Committee while undergoing chemotherapy for throat cancer. But he was hospitalized and then sidelined during his 2006 re-election campaign. And he did not attend a day of this year’s six-month General Assembly session, weakened by two serious bouts of pneumonia.

I am surprised by the timing of the resignation but I cannot say that I’m sorry to hear of it or to see him go. I wish him the best of health and hope that he is able to make progress in his recovery to where he is able to get around, however Sen. Vaughn was absent for the entire first half of the 144th Session of the General Assembly. His constituents had no representation in the Senate regardless of the claim that he was working from home while recovering from his illness. His constituents would have been better served had he not run for re-election in poor health. He served not one day, having never been sworn in at Leg Hall and now the state must pick up the tab for it’s 4th Special Election of the year.

Vaughn is what you would call a Dixie-Crat, a conservative democrat, one of a dying breed in Delaware as the majority of Democrats in the legislature are anything but conservative.

I’ll try to remain optomistic in the hopes that Republicans can pick up the seat, but chances are that’s a long shot. The Democrats have already selected their candidate for the special election in Representative Bruce Ennis of the 28th district. For all intents and purposes he is an incumbent in much of the area which gives an advantage, but there is a chance that folks in that area are ready to make a change. This Democratic Administration isn’t something that people are proud of and again, I’m hopeful that we can make a change. If Ennis does win the seat there will be a 5th Special Election of the year to fill his vacated seat in the House of Representatives, a point that the R’s should focus on when hitting the steets, in their literature, campaigning and knocking on doors. How can the Republicans do that you ask, simple, Ennis is more of the same, an insider and a politcial oppotunist at best. If his heart was really in the Senate seat he could have run for it anytime, why wait until you’re almost certain to have it handed to you? Why vacate your House seat after one year thus causing another Special Election for the taxpayers to pick up the tab?

The Senate voted 72-25 last week to stand up for the integrity of America’s leading military field commander, Gen. David Petraeus. Everyone knew what the Cornyn amendment was really about even though it didn’t come right out and say it - MoveOn.org’s full-page ad in the New York Times that shamelessly attacked the General before he even gave his report to Congress.

The full-page ad that MoveOn.org paid for disgusted more than a few “average” Americans across the country. Even the Democrats in the Senate couldn’t halt a vote to condemn it. One fourth of the Senate did refuse to condemn the attacks, and surprise-surprise-surprise, that included all of Senate Democrats who are interested in becoming the next commander in chief.

Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd voted against the symbolic measure while Sens. Joe Biden and Barack Obama simply didn’t vote.

The nonbinding resolution was simple, it expressed “full support” for the general and “strongly” condemned “personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.”

 That was a little too much for some …

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (President Tom) is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly this week at its 62nd Annual meeting in New York. Mitt Romney, who I am backing for President, has sent the following letter to the UN Secretary General requesting that President Tom’s invitation be revoked. Instead, Romney suggests an alternate welcome, an indictment for violation of a UN statute that prohibits incitement to commit genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It’s a scenario that if looked into seriously, as it very well should be, fits President Tom pretty well because he has called for the destruction of Israel on more than one occassion with statements calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map”. Several religious and political leaders called for similar action last year in a 68 page document that can be found here.

Text of Mitt Romney’s letter:

To His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

With the disturbing news that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad is planning to address the United Nations General Assembly next week, I call on the United Nations to revoke any invitation to President Ahmadinejad to address the General Assembly. The only way he should be greeted in the United States is with an indictment under the Genocide Convention.

The Iranian regime under President Ahmadinejad has spoken openly about wiping Israel off the map, has fueled Hezbollah’s terror campaign in the region and around the world, and defied the world community in its pursuit of nuclear weapons – capabilities that make these threats even more ominous. As General Petraeus testified last week, Iran is also supporting Shia militia extremists and violence that is taking the lives of American soldiers and undermining the Iraqi government.

A failure by the United Nations to take a strong stand against Iran’s President Ahmadinejad would be especially disturbing given the United Nations’ record of failure to prevent genocide in other circumstances and the failure of the United Nations Human Rights Council to confront the Iranian regime and others among the world’s worst human rights abusers. Failure to act would mean that the United States must reconsider its level of support and funding for the United Nations as we look to rebuild and revitalize effective international partnerships to meet 21st century threats.

If President Ahmadinejad sets foot in the United States, he should be handed an indictment under the Genocide Convention. This approach has been called for by experts as diverse as Nobel Prize Winner Elie Wiesel, human rights advocate and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and law professor Alan Dershowitz.

The United States and the world must take a strong stand against the terrorist Iranian regime and the time for action is now.

Sincerely,

Mitt Romney

~~

Oh yeah, I have to attribute “President Tom” to Glenn Beck who says it’s much easier to pronounce, and I agree.