MASON CONSERVATIVE

Do We Have Standards Anymore?

Timothy Giethner can be be treasury secretary and not pay his taxes.   Now, too, apparently Tom Daschle gets to be HHS Secretary even though he had to pay back taxes.

But hey, what Obama wants Obama gets right?  Forget standards.

Politico has more that makes this even scarier.  Not only is Daschle a tax-evader, look at how he pulled in over $5 million in income . . . by taking money from health care companies that stand to win or lose on his job.

Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader who President Obama has tapped to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system, was paid $220,000 to give speeches to outfits that have a vested interest in the result the work he would do once confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Among the companies and groups paying thousands of dollars a pop to book Daschle were some that stand to gain or lose the most depending on the results of Obama’s efforts to enact universal health.

For instance, the Health Industry Distributors Association plunked down $14,000 to land the former Senate Democratic Leader in March 2008. The association, which represents medical products distributors, boasts on its website that Daschle met with it after he was nominated to discuss “the impact an Obama administration will have on the industry.”

This week, the group began openly lobbying him, sending him a letter urging him to rescind a rule requiring competitive bidding of Medicare contracts

Another organization, America’s Health Insurance Plans, paid $20,000 for a Daschle speaking appearance in February 2007. It represents health insurance companies, which under Obama’s plan would be barred from denying coverage on the basis of health or age.

There was a $12,000 talk to GE Healthcare in August, a $20,000 lecture in January to Premier, Inc., a health care consulting firm, and a pair of $18,000 speeches this year to different hospital systems, among other paid appearances before healthcare groups.

The speaking fees were detailed in a financial disclosure statement released Friday, which showed that Daschle pulled down a total of more than $500,000 from the speaking circuit in the last two years, and $5.3 million in overall income.

That includes more than $2 million in consulting fees from InterMedia Advisors, a private equity firm.

What happened to changing the Washington revolving door of government-private sector-lobbyist?  Looks like that door swings right into HHS.  Obama made a huge deal about stopping this, but he is putting in control of his health care program a man who has benefited signifigantly from taking money from groups and companies that he will now work with in government.  

Then there is this:

He also became an adviser to the law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird, which paid him $2.1 million in wages last year and also provided him a 401k and profit sharing plan worth between $100,000 and $250,000, according to the report.

In his three years at the firm, it’s earned more than $16 million lobbying on behalf of some of the health care industry’s most powerful interests before the department he’s in line to lead. Though Daschle, himself, did not register to lobby for the firm, he has advised the firm’s clients on health care issues, according to the firm’s website.

And think about how important HHS will be in an Obama Administration who is more than willing to spend money we don't have on massive amounts of pork "stimulus", imagine what he has in mind for health care!  If your going to spend money we don't have, can we at least get someone who hasn't been paid millions in the private sector by powerful interests he is now in charge of.  

John Ashcroft was almost not confirmed as Attorney General because he was too much of a Christian.  But here's Daschle, who has become a millionaire by the interests he now controls if made HHS, and probably people will just shrug and Obama pressures Congress to look past this for the sake of change.

The Man Of Steele

The Republican Party took a huge step forward today in electing Michael Steele its chairman.  Not only does it prove that this is a party for everyone, but its gives us a likeable, charismatic, outside-thinking leader for this party.  His race for the US Senate two years ago might have been unsuccessfull in deep blue Maryland . . . but he ran an exciting, different, and clever race.  That kind of race are the kind that we need to wage now.

UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn preview

"I don't believe there is pleasure in life.  I believe there is only a relief of pain, that we have to suffer to be on top.  I don't have pleasure training.  I train in the fear that my opponent trained harder than I.  But this is good, thats what keeps me sharp."

~UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre

"When you walk into the ring its really one of the most honest moments you can be with yourself.  Its almost like a sense of calm and then something just switches.  Just like you crossed that barrier and your not the same human being anymore."

~UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn

I can't hype this fight any more than it already has been, but if you haven seen the UFC Primetime specials, do check them out below the jump.  Not much else can be said that hasn't already been said about Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn.  All I can do is make a prediction now.

I've gone back and forth.  As the challenger and the man who lost the previous fight, BJ Penn comes in with the fire of revenge and the need to finally validate his greatness.  At times it has been unquestionable, but at other times it has.  But St-Pierre is no normal champion content to hang onto his title.  He is driven to be the greatest ever, never content with his skills.  While Penn has relied on his natural skill that is perhaps the greatest ever seen in MMA, GSP his built his skills brick by brick.  

So where does that leave us?  As I write this I remain undecided to an extent.  But the entire thought process has been trying to find ways Penn will overcome St-Pierre.  That tells me something right there.  I think in every aspect of the game, St-Pierre is better right now.  Penn's recent tear has been at 155 lbs, and his cardio problems all came when he was at 170.  St-Pierre is a huge welterweight, he has to drop to get to 170 and probably hits the ring at 185 come fight time.  He's stronger, faster, more creative with his strikes, and smothering with his wrestling and ground n' pound.  St-Pierre has been haunted by his shocking upset loss to Matt Serra in 2007.  When you've lost like that, you never want to lose again.  Since then, he outwrestled former four-time NCAA wrestling champion Josh Koscheck, submitted Matt Hughes, and then absolutely destroyed Serra in the rematch to win back his title.  Then in his first defense, he took tough-as-nails Jon Fitch five rounds, destroying him round after round leaving Fitch a bloody mess.  

Make no mistake, this is a true toss-up.  By my pick is that GEORGES ST-PIERRE will withstand Penn's onslaught and then wear him out for five rounds.  He'll either end it late or take a unanimous decision.  But I've got to be honest, I will be rooting for BJ Penn.  

Other fights?

Light Heavyweight:  LYOTO MACHIDA will defeat Thiago Silva

Light Heavyweight:  STEPHEN BONNAR over Jon Jones

Welterweight:  DONG HYUN KIM over Karo Parysian

Lightweight:  CLAY GUIDA over Nate Diaz

Welterweight:  JON FITCH over Akihiro Gono

Lightweight:  MANNY GAMBURYAN over Thiago Tavares

Welterweight:  CHRIS WILSON over John Howard

Light Heavyweight:  JAKE O'BRIEN over Christian Wellicsh

Welterweight:  DAN CRAMER over Matt Arroyo

New Look

So what do you all think?  

I finally broke done and decided to go with one of typepad's fancy pre-made templates.  I wanted to jazz it up, make it look classy.  But I'm probably the least tech-savy blogger out there so I have now idea how to make banners and all that stuff that makes other sites look cool like Bearing Drift and Too Conservative, so this is the best I can do.  I want to look clean, nice, and have green in it.

I'm going to run with it for awhile and see how I like it.  

Losing The Moderates?

President Obama seemed pretty serious about pushing for moderate Republican support, but it seems that for now both Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have been able to keep their forces marshaled together must strong than I thought.

The Tim Geithner fiasco, a tax evader enforcing America's tax code, shows a lot about media and political double-standards in this country.  John Ashcroft almost wasn't confirmed for Attorney General because he prayed a little bit too hard and too much for Senate Democrats tastes.  But this guy actually did not pay his taxes and he gets to be Treasury Secretary?

But what was more stunning is who voted against him in the GOP caucus:  Susan Collins, John McCain, Richard Lugar, Jon Kyl, Mel Martinez, and Arlen Specter.  A serious blow tonight to Barack Obama, as Republicans seem to have gathered themselves together to fight this terrible stimulus package that will do nothing more than blow up the size of government.

Its pretty rare you have Jim DeMint, John McCain, Robert Byrd, and Russ Feingold all voting the same way.  I guess thats bringing the party's together, no?

We Need This Man In The US Senate

Michael Williams, who I have blogged about before, is running for the US Senate in Texas in 2010 when Kay Bailey Hutchinson bolts town to lose to Rick Perry.  But no matter, Williams has already has said he's in.  I know, I know, perhaps I can be accused of falling for identity politics because Williams is black . . . but face it, our party needs to promote more women and minorities in our ranks to so we can reach out to all Americans with our message.  And with Williams, the current chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, leaves nothing behind when it comes to being a conservative.  Watch this speech he gave this summer from the Texas GOP Convention:

UFC 94

George St-Pierre, 

UFC Welterweight Champion

Vs

BJ Penn 

UFC Lightweight Champion

EPIC

Rush Responds

Byron York tracked down Rush Limbaugh and got a comment on Barack Obama's recent statement that Republicans who listen to him won't get the ear of the president.  El Rusbo speaketh:

There are two things going on here. One prong of the Great Unifier's plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters and supporters by making the argument about me and not about his plan. He is hoping that these Republicans will also publicly denounce me and thus marginalize me. And who knows? Are ideological and philosophical ties enough to keep the GOP loyal to their voters? Meanwhile, the effort to foist all blame for this mess on the private sector continues unabated when most of the blame for this current debacle can be laid at the feet of the Congress and a couple of former presidents. And there is a strategic reason for this.

Secondly, here is a combo quote from the meeting:

"If we don't get this done we (the Democrats) could lose seats and I could lose re-election. But we can't let people like Rush Limbaugh stall this. That's how things don't get done in this town."

To make the argument about me instead of his plan makes sense from his perspective.  Obama's plan would buy votes for the Democrat Party, in the same way FDR's New Deal established majority power for 50 years of Democrat rule, and it would also simultaneously seriously damage any hope of future tax cuts.  It would allow a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves going forward.  It would burden the private sector and put the public sector in permanent and firm control of the economy. Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing "eternal" power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy. If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of this TRILLION dollar debacle.

Obama was angry that Merrill Lynch used $1.2 million of TARP money to remodel an executive suite. Excuse me, but didn't Merrill have to hire a decorator and contractor? Didn't they have to buy the new furnishings? What's the difference in that and Merrill loaning that money to a decorator, contractor and goods supplier to remodel Warren Buffet's office? Either way, stimulus in the private sector occurs. Are we really at the point where the bad PR of Merrill getting a redecorated office in the process is reason to smear them? How much money will the Obamas spend redecorating the White House residence? Whose money will be spent? I have no problem with the Obamas redoing the place. It is tradition. 600 private jets flown by rich Democrats flew into the Inauguration. That's fine but the auto execs using theirs is a crime? In both instances, the people on those jets arrived in Washington wanting something from Washington, not just good will.

If I can be made to serve as a distraction, then there is that much less time debating the merits of the trillion dollar debacle.

One more thing, Byron. Your publication and website have documented Obama's ties to the teachings of Saul Alinksy while he was community organizing in Chicago. Here is Rule 13 of Alinksy's Rules for Radicals:

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."

Weekly Standard Profiles Bob McDonnell

Good write-up.  TWS is the best conservative periodical out there right now, its good to seem them helping the rest of the country find out who Bob McDonnell is.  For us to win, we are going to need to marshall the resources of every Republican we can find, in and out of Virginia.  

"Change George W. Bush Can Believe In"

Good article by the NRO Editors everyone should check out about the emerging style of the Obama Administration.  Of course, who is surprised that as president Barack Obama would do exactly what he did as a candidate, substitute style for substance.  There has never been a politician that can say nothing and make it sound so important.  

Refreshingly, President Obama acknowledges that we are “a nation at war”—a proposition disputed by many of his core supporters, who see Islamist terror as a mere law-enforcement challenge. As a candidate, he railed against indefinite detention and praised the Clinton-era approach of trying terrorists in civilian courts. Now responsible for national security, Obama has come around to the understanding that there are people who, though known to pose grave danger, cannot be tried because our intelligence is not usable in civilian court. So while his administration studies this conundrum, he will continue to hold those detainees indefinitely. And though he will burn up the diplomatic phone lines trying to repatriate them, Obama must realize that other countries are not tripping over themselves to take on the vexing problems he’d like to unload.