A small programming note

I am going on vacation from tomorrow until Tuesday, September 2, when I’ll be back, better than ever. 

(My co-bloggers may blog, or they may not, so be sure to check back!)

Parnell vs. Young: What’s next?

I woke up this morning to the disheartening news from Alaska:

Republican Rep. Don Young — whose three and a half decade hold on Alaska’s sole House seat was imperiled by political ethics controversies — holds a razor-thin lead over Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell who ran a strong primary challenge against the embattled congressman.

With 98 percent of the state’s precincts reporting in the House contest, Young led Parnell by a margin of just 145 votes. At one point late in the count, Parnell had held a small lead over Young. That tiny gap, if it holds up in the final results, could permit the trailing candidate to call for a recount. Republican state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux received the remaining 9 percent of the vote.

I haven’t yet heard if there will be a recount on the vote, but I will have that information as it becomes available.

As far as Gabrielle LeDoux goes, I hope she appreciates what she’s done by staying in a race she couldn’t possibly win.

UPDATE: According to the results, around 150 votes (or 0.16%) now separate Young and Sean Parnell.  I just received an email from the Sean Parnell campaign saying that they are waiting on the absentee ballots to be counted, and that there will be a recount since the difference between the two candidates is below 0.5%.

A nail-biter in Alaska!

As I write this, with 57.8% of precincts Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell leads Rep. Don Young in the GOP House primary by one percentage point!  Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow morning to good news.

You can keep track of the election results here.

American Energy Security is a National Priority (by Pete Olson)

Pete Olson’s campaign manager passed along this post by his candidate and asked that I share it:

American Energy Security is a National Priority (Texas GOP Candidate Pete Olson)

August 26th, 2008

Another election year conversion from Nick Lampson – this time, he’s changing his tune on energy. True to form, Lampson is running from his 10-year record of voting against American energy independence when the heat is on. Lampson voted against drilling in ANWR five times – two of which included using revenues to support alternative energy research. He opposed funds for clean coal research and then sought to divert that money to the National Endowment for the Arts. He even voted against allowing new American refineries to be built in June of this year.

Nick Lampson helped create America’s energy problems. Now, he’s touting a bill that is a compilation of all of the things he’s opposed for so long – domestic drilling, new refineries, alternative energy technology and the rest. It’s the same tactic he’s taken in the past, and it’s all about politics – not about solving our energy problems. Once this election passes, so will Nick’s new-found love for American energy independence – mainly because he’ll be back at his home in Beaumont.

American energy security is a national priority – not another election year political maneuver. We need a balanced approach that includes expanding offshore drilling and domestic oil and gas production, new nuclear plants, clean coal technology, as well as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other alternative energy sources that will make us energy independent in the future.

Pete Olson couldn’t be more right.  It makes no sense to send $700 million a year–mostly to people who hate us–when we have plenty of homegrown oil right here in the United States.

Also, if Democrats like Nick Lampson cared about the environment they’d want oil to be drilled here in America under our environmental regulations, instead of in unstable, unregulated nations like Nigeria.  Also, if Democrats cared about union workers, they’d put drilling on the fast track.  Imagine how many union jobs drilling would create.

But environmental Marxism trumps all, I suppose.

You can donate to Pete Olson’s campaign here.

In Alaska? Go vote for Sean Parnell!!

If you are an Alaska Republican today is primary day, so make sure to go to the polls and vote for Sean Parnell.  I am confident that Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will relieve kleptocrat Don Young of his post as Alaska’s lone Congressman.

Make sure you help Sean Parnell start his general election race off right by donating to his campaign.

Nick Lampson breaks NASA promises

This is an older video, but the facts still remain.  If you’re an employee of NASA or care about it’s future, you should watch this video before voting to re-elect Nick Lampson.

You can donate to Pete Olson’s campaign here.

Sorry for being MIA over the weekend

Some unexpected things have come up and I haven’t had time to go through my news stack.

And, if you’re like me, you’re caught up in the Obama-Biden news.

Klein whines out the storm

As Tropical Storm Fay pummels the southern United States, someone at Free Republic remembers a promise made by Rep. Ron Klein to help Floridians find affordable home insurance:

On Tuesday August 19, 2008, Rep. Ron Klein (D) took an opportunity to whine about his failure to get a national catastrophic insurance fund bill passed. He blamed John McCain and Se. Mel Martinez for his failure to get the bill passed through a Democrat majority in both the House and Senate. Of course, tropical storm Fay was approaching the State of Florida when he decided to bring the issue up.

Here’s LTC Allen West’s response to Rep. Ron Klein:

Tropical Storm Fay reminded us of a promise by Ron Klein – to ensure access to affordable insurance that would protect Florida homeowners in the wake of powerful storms. Klein blames his Republican colleagues in the Senate for his own failure to pass legislation in a Congress controlled by his own Democratic Party.

Klein has time during his five week taxpayer-funded vacation to complain to the press and assign blame for his legislation’s defeat in the Senate. Similar versions have failed before. Quitting after the first try and whining about it won’t bring much needed relief to Florida homeowners and their families. The people of the State of Florida need a Representative who will be a tenacious advocate for their interests in the U.S. Congress. That means not giving up after the first try.

Make sure to follow the link for Allen West’s plan to help Floridians.

If there’s anything that Floridians understand, it’s that you don’t pack up your bag and leave at the first sign of trouble…or blame everyone else for your personal failings.  They expect the same qualities in their leaders in Congress.

Allen West is the principled leader that the people of Florida’s 22nd District deserve.  Let’s hope they get it this November!

You can donate to Allen West’s campaign here.

WA-GOV Debate News

If you are in Washington, mark your calendars:

Gov. Chris Gregoire and gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi have agreed to an Oct. 1 debate in Yakima.

The Democratic incumbent and her Republican challenger will face off at the Capitol Theatre and take questions from a panel of journalists. The Yakima Herald-Republic is sponsoring the debate, along with KYVE-TV in Yakima.

Gregoire and Rossi had agreed to a Yakima debate earlier this month. Both campaigns signed off on the date this morning.

We’re not sure what time the hourlong debate will begin, but it’s likely to be about 7 p.m.

I’ll have an update when they finalize the time (if I receive that information).

You can donate to Dino Rossi’s campaign here.

SUVs for me, but not for thee

As Americans all across Pennsylvania and the rest of the United States struggle with the high cost of fuel, Rep. Paul Kanjorski is riding high–literally–in an SUV furnished by you, the taxpayer:

In his first attack television commercial, Republican congressional candidate Lou Barletta slams U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski for funneling $10 million to a now-bankrupt technology company owned and operated by his nephews and daughter.

The commercial, which began airing Wednesday, also accuses Kanjorski of “spending thousands of your tax dollars” driving luxury sport utility vehicles. The amount was almost $100,000, the Barletta campaign said.

[...]

“For the community, it is free money,” Kanjorski told CBS News. “It is the taxpayers of the United States’ money, but it doesn’t cause any difficulty to the community to take the money.”

In the commercial Kanjorski says, “In the Congress we have our own rules.”

Yeah, they have their own rules, so lighten up!  Rep. Paul Kanjorski understands that there’s no need to show concern for the little people in his district.  So let him drive his taxpayer-funded gas guzzling SUVs while he tells Pennsylvanians to inflate their tires and conserve energy as a way to get through the crisis.  He’s a Congressman!  He’s entitled.

The people of his district deserve a Congressman like Lou Barletta.  Someone who is running to represent Pennsylvanians, not to get some free perks.  You can donate to Lou Barletta’s campaign here.

Georgia matters, and Jack Hoogendyk knows it

Down the Ticket-sponsored Senate candidate Jack Hoogendyk is calling for more Congressional attention to the situation in Georgia and Russia:

The Republican who’s running for the U.S. Senate from Michigan this fall says he supports calls to invite the president of Georgia to address a joint session of Congress as a means to support the beleaguered Caucasus nation.

“I think it would be a great way for us to show support for the country of Georgia,” said state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk of Kalamazoo. Hoogendyk is challenging five-term Democrat Carl Levin in the fall.

Hoogendyk’s statement on Georgia comes as Carl Levin’s preferred presidential nominee Barack Obama blamed the United States and the War in Iraq for the neo-Soviet Russian move against a stalwart ally of the United States and the West.

Jack Hoogendyk knows that, as the left in this country often state, we need to stand up for our allies in Europe.  How telling is it that they are so lax in standing up for a pro-American European ally?

You can donate to Jack Hoogendyk’s campaign here.

Noted cult (of personality) leader Ron Paul weighs in…

In Alaska’s GOP House primary, Ron Paul has chosen to put friendship and incumbency ahead of his libertarian principles and endorse kleptocrat Rep. Don Young:

Paul, the 72-year-old congressman from Texas whose maverick presidential bid drew wide support in Alaska, sent out a letter to his supporters here urging them to vote for Young.

“Don and I have served together in Congress for many years, and I consider him a friend,” Paul wrote in the letter. “Don has been an outspoken voice against environmental extremists over the years and has strongly opposed the types of federal regulatory overreach advocated in the name of environmentalism.”

Don Young is rEVOLutionary?  Who knew?

In issuing this endorsement, Rep. Paul bypassed both small government conservative Sean Parnell and libertarian Republican state representative Gabrielle LeDoux.  But I can’t say that his refusal to endorse my candidate, Sean Parnell, bothers me, as I would be more likely to vote for the GOP candidate Ron Paul didn’t endorse.

You can donate to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell’s campaign here.

Will Bush stump for Wayne Parker?

Apparently, there are some rumblings to that effect, although neither camp has confirmed it.

You can donate to Wayne Parker’s campaign here.

Chris Hackett releases first TV ads

An article on the ads can be found here.  The ads focus not only on Chris Hackett’s background, but his positions on energy and earmarks as well.  Here they are.

The first one is called “New Direction”:

The second is called “Plan”:

Good job, Chris!  You can donate to Chris Hackett’s campaign here.

What’s so scary about the cornerstone of democracy?

Big Labor’s top goal is passing legislation called “card check.”  This would take the right to a secret ballot away from workers as they vote on whether or not to unionize.  In the state of California, they are seeking to take this right away from farm workers.  Luckily, workers have people like Tom McClintock there to fight for them:

“What is it about the right of a secret ballot that bothers you?” Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, asked his Democratic colleagues during the debate. “An election in which someone is looking over your shoulder as you cast your vote is no election at all it’s a sham.”

While I was interning in DC, the organization I worked for pressed hard against this legislation in the House of Representatives, where it appeared under the Orwellian name of “The Employee Free Choice Act.”  It was stopped there, but in 2008 we elect new representatives and a new president.  Make no mistake, with a Democratic Congress and a President Obama, this legislation will pass.

Representatives like Tom McClintock will help serve as a firewall against draconian Big Labor legislation.  You can donate to Tom McClintock’s campaign here.