By: Chuck Muth
Citizen Outreach

SURVEY SAYS!

Do you support the President’s decisions on Afghanistan as outlined Wednesday night?

• Yes
• No

To cast your vote in today’s online survey, click here!

LIBERTARIANS: CONGRESS SHOULD END BARACK’S WAR

“Congress should re-assert its authority in matters of war, by passing legislation that terminates the president’s authorization to make war in Afghanistan, and that calls for an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan. If the president vetoes it, Congress should override the veto.”

– Libertarian Party Chairman Bill Redpath

TROOPS DIED WHILE OBAMA DITHERED

“One hundred and sixteen U.S. troops died in Afghanistan between August 30, when Gen. Stanley McChrystal first reported that reinforcements were needed, and Tuesday, when President Barack Obama prepared to announce that he will send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. There were 58 U.S. casualties in Afghanistan in October alone, making that the deadliest month of the war. There were 37 U.S. casualties in Afghanistan in September, but in November, U.S. casualties in Afghanistan dropped to 17.”

– CNS News, 12/2/09

CLUBBING NAVY SEALS

“Last week, Fox News reported a jaw-dropping story about how our war on terror has now become a war on ourselves. In September, a team of Navy SEALs captured terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed, the architect of the vicious and deadly attack on four American contractors in the summer of 2004. But instead of hailing the SEALs as heroes for bringing this vicious murderer to justice, three of them have been brought up on charges – for allegedly punching the man who shot, burned, and then desecrated the bodies of the four contractors. It’s time the American people started getting very vocal in their outrage.”

– L. Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center

VOTING IN IGNORANCE

“When I came to America in 1980 and experienced life in this country, I thought it was fortunate that those living in the USSR did not know how unfortunate they were. Now in 2009, I realize how unfortunate it is that many Americans do not understand how fortunate they are. They vote to give government more and more power without understanding the consequences.”

– Svetlana Kunin, a retired software developer from Connecticut, who emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union (Hat Tip: Political Diary)

UNITED AGAINST HUCKABEE

Only last Sunday former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee told ‘Fox News Sunday’ that it was looking ‘less likely than more likely’ he’d run for president again in 2012. Republicans, he said, would have to show themselves more ‘willing to unite behind’ him than they did during last year’s campaign. Only 24 hours later, he became embroiled in a scandal for having commuted the sentence of a convicted felon who’s now accused of murdering four police officers in Washington State on Sunday morning. Though Maurice Clemmons has been killed in a confrontation with police, chances have become nil that Republicans might ‘unite behind’ Mr. Huckabee in 2012.”

– John Fund, Political Diary, 12/1/09

A TALE OF TWO MCCAINS

“John McCain? Co-sponsored McCain-Feingold, wants to control the ‘gun show loophole,’ soft on immigration, drank the climate change Kool-Aid with Newt (Gingrich), among other transgressions, yet still maintains a respectable 70 percent or so voting record with the American Conservative Union, is a hawk on big spending and foreign policy, opposes Obamacare and this Cap and Trade Bill – and he’s why we’ve heard of Sarah (Palin). . . . What accounts for McCain’s political inconsistencies requires psychological insights deeper than I possess. Suffice that they are about to cause him a tough fight for re-nomination by his own party.”

– Talk-show host Emil Franzi

STRIKING FEAR IN RINO HEARTS

“Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R) — two of conservatives’ favorite anti-illegal immigration firebrands and potential 2010 candidates for statewide office in Arizona — have teamed up to raise more than $100,000 as part of a holiday party being held Dec. 5. A recent poll from Rasmussen Reports showed Arpaio leading all comers in the Arizona governor’s race, while Hayworth is in a statistcal tie with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a hypothetical primary match-up. Both men have been coy about their intentions but any sort of electoral alliance between the two would strike fear into the hearts of centrist Republicans in the state.”

– CQ Politics, 12/1/09

AN ACORN BY ANY OTHER NAME JUST AS CORRUPT

“ACORN is in the process of changing its name and has already transferred many of its resources to other left-wing advocacy and political groups, according to a report released Tuesday by Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. While the Justice Department has said that federal housing funds should continue flowing to ACORN, several congressmen are calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the group’s use of taxpayer dollars.”

– CNS News, 12/2/09

OBAMA-CARE SUPPORT ON LIFE SUPPORT

“The polling data for ObamaCare just keeps getting worse with each passing week. Gallup’s polling shows that a majority of Americans now want their congressman to vote ‘no’ on a health-care bill. Support has been dropping among all groups since early October: down six points among Democrats, twelve points among Republicans and eight points among independents. The crucial independent voters now oppose passage by 53-37.”

– Stephen Moore, Political Diary, 12/2/09

WHY THE HURRY?

“It’s no wonder [Democrats] are in such a hurry to pass this (health care) bill. The more people get to see it, the less they want it to pass.”

– South Carolina GOP Senator Jim DeMint

UNINSURED MYTH

“Myth: There are 46 million people uninsured. This may surprise you, but politicians tend to exaggerate to get you on their side. This inflated number is about as realistic as an Oliver Stone-directed biopic. I assure you that there are not 46 million people in this country who want health insurance yet are unable to afford it. For one thing, this number includes 10 million illegal immigrants, who should not have access to any government entitlements. After that, you have to look at how many people who don’t have insurance could purchase it if they made insurance a priority.”

– Jeremy Lukens in the Examiner.com, 12/1/09

BACKDOOR INSURANCE FOR ILLEGALS

“The Washington Times is out with a new report warning that, in fact, one million illegal aliens could be covered (by the new health insurance bill) if employers are required to cover their workers. So yes, they might not be eligible for the public option or federal subsidies, as Newsweek pointed out, but they could still benefit through the employer mandate.”

– Ocean State Policy Research Institute, 12/1/09

MUTH’S TRUTHS

In his speech finally announcing that he finally made a final decision on what to do in his war in Afghanistan – implement a Bush-like “surge” – President Barack Obama said, “I will end the war successfully.”

But as our pal Rich Galen of Mullings.com wrote last evening, even non-military citizens will recognize that this means “the President’s goal is not to succeed in Afghanistan, but to end the war in Afghanistan.”

Galen went on to quote Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, who said to Galen, “Imagine if FDR had done a fireside chat during World War II and told the American people he was going to end the war in Europe rather than saying he was going to defeat the Nazis.”

Indeed.

BO is no FDR.

ADDITIONAL READING

Health Care Provisions Still Soft on Illegal Aliens
Amendments Expected to Target Issue

Assurances that the two health-care reform bills would not benefit illegal aliens are not accurate. A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies examines in detail the immigration-related provisions of both the House-passed HR 3962 and the bill now being debated in the Senate, HR 3590. The report concludes that the bills, in their current form, would indeed give illegal aliens access to taxpayer-funded health care well beyond emergency medical treatment.

The report, “Immigration-Related Provisions of Senate and House Health Reform Bills,” is authored by CIS Fellow James R. Edwards, Jr. Key findings include:

• HR 3962 ensures illegal alien access to the exchange and public option. HR 3590 states illegal immigrants are excluded from these.
• Both bills ostensibly bar illegal aliens from receiving the premium subsidy, and both bills use some form of eligibility verification for the subsidy.
• Both bills expand Medicaid eligibility. Both bills lack verification requirements based on citizenship or immigrant status. Both contain serious loopholes to enroll illegal aliens easily into Medicaid. HR 3962 automatically covers anchor babies.
• The eligibility verification process in each bill falls woefully short of protecting taxpayer liability to cover or subsidize people living unlawfully in the United States. Both the House and Senate bills’ verification processes will encourage large-scale fraud and abuse.
• The Senate bill exempts illegal aliens from the mandate that everyone have health insurance or else face a tax penalty. This perverse exemption treats illegal aliens better than the bill treats American citizens.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Every invasion of the plain rights of the citizen has a lawyer behind it. If all lawyers were hanged tomorrow, and their bones sold to a mah jong factory, we’d all be freer and safer, and our taxes would be reduced by almost a half.”

– H.L. Mencken