Reason Bell

Stage two - round robbin of NW Indiana blogs

2010-11-24T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm really making this up on the fly, with a goal of writing on all 29 sites in less than an hour today.

What are the Northwest Indiana Conservatives Coalition? Not sure, made that up. Although there has been lots of talk over the last few years of forming a PAC and using those funds to not only fund campaigns but also train and recruit candidates. The Porter County GOP at least is pretty poorly funded and managed. Right now everyone has to wait around for the Valpo GOP to step up and fund and manage things.

Have you noticed that conservatives have a hard time collaborating? I've written about this a few times on regional and national platforms. We're so ruggedly individualistic that we tend to beat up even those closest to us.

Today's question - are you a conservative? tea partier? liberty caucus? Paulie? Bircher? Republican? How do you label yourself?

Next stop a Northwest Indiana Politics site, one that hasn't really been used or as widely read as the big one!

Young Republicans - Dan Coats is a tough sell

2010-02-17T14:22:00.001-08:00

Not my words, but I have to agree with the concept. Let Hoosiers choose their own Senator.

clipped from rtv6blogs.com

For young Republicans, Coats a tough sell

For the 40 and under crowd, the name Dan Coats carries with it little more than inherited admiration borrowed from those who recall his nearly two decades of public service. I respect Dan Coats because people who I respect, respect him. But at a time when the Republican Party is reinventing itself and ushering in fresh candidates who bring new energy and ideas, the hopes for a successful Coats campaign rest with a generation of voters on Medicare. That’s not exactly the post-Bayh future I was hoping for and it’s hard to see how Coats can effectively attract broad support and turn it into electoral success.

Republicans needed Coats to raise the profile of this race and put it in the national spotlight against a political giant. Now an open seat, it is among Republican’s top targets. Coats had his time, and I’m told he served his state well. Let’s thank him for his service and move on.

Conservatives move on Digg

2008-12-29T09:54:00.001-08:00

Although dominated by liberals, conservatives today announced a major development in taking on Digg

clipped from www.techpresident.com

Digging Conservatism: Some of the digs against Digg, the community-ranking site, is that it's biased against women and weighted in favor of liberals. On the latter, enter #diggcons, an effort under the banner of the conservative #dontgo movement that aims to aggregate the weight of the right-leaning to promote their preferred content on not only Digg, but StumbleUpon as well. Twitter messages marked with the diggcons hashtag will sound the alarm on stories that could use a thumbs up. Will even the amassed voting power of online conservatives be enough to lift conservative content out of the ever-churning cauldron of Digg content? We'll see. But along with Top Conservatives on Twitter, it's another smart attempt to conquer social media from the right -- efforts largely unmatched on the left.

Real Estate Recovery predicted for 2009

2008-12-21T19:00:00.001-08:00

Watch for a massive and rapid recovery in housing and real estate in 2009 according to blogger (me) Steve Dalton and a list of Carnival writers

clipped from synergyhomes.blogspot.com

RE.covery Carnival of Real Estate

clipped from exitrealestate540.com

I LOVE A PARADE - Especially a PARADE of REAL ESTATE POSTS about a RECOVERY!

THE 2009 REAL ESTATE RECOVERY ... RE.COVERY

Real Estate Recovery in 2009 from The Real Estate Bloggers has the Governor of California predicting that 2009 will see the real estate recovery. I for one agree. This post wasn't submitted but I took some liberty and included it to start things off.

#TCOT targets Pigs wanting gov't cash

2008-12-17T07:10:00.001-08:00

GM, Chrysler and UAW still want cash handouts even though Ford says it can make it thru 2009

clipped from michellemalkin.com

Operation Three Little Piggies

Top Conservatives on Twitter have launched a new action project targeting the “three little piggies” — UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli. I know I’ve got a lot of fabulous Photoshoppers out there. This one sounds fun. So go and check out Operation Three Little Piggies here.

And if you haven’t opened a Twitter account (or haven’t figured it out yet), make sure to join TCOT.

Lessons from Campaign 2008

2008-12-16T05:35:00.001-08:00

McCain campaign staffer Ben Porritt on what happened and what worked, and of course what didn't work in the campaign

clipped from chrisfaulkner.wordpress.com

Lessons from the 2008 trenches, Part 1

As promised I am bringing you part 1 of our series on Lessons from the 2008 trenches. Our first contributor is Ben Porritt. Ben served as the national spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign and a co-founder of Outside Eyes strategy group in Southern California.

CF What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective use of New Media?

Chris Faulkner

Top 200 Conservatives in US on twitter

2008-12-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

You asked and now the list is fully automated

clipped from www.topconservativesontwitter.org

Welcome to the new TCOT !

Welcome to the new, fully-automated Top Conservatives on Twitter !
The site is still very much a work in progress, so stay tuned as we evolve further...

Read More

Add Comment (6)

Hits: 42

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 December 2008 22:31

Top Conservatives on Twitter
last update: 12-04 08:15 pm

Calling all RNC Members to Twitter

2008-12-02T20:12:00.001-08:00

Only 7 so far, and a list of over 200 conservatives on twitter, well worth the read

clipped from topconservativesontwitter.blogspot.com

Top Conservatives on Twitter

First SEVEN RNC Members are on Twitter. Only 161 more to go ! Our mission, is to get all 168 RNC members on Twitter by January 28, 2009, the day they will be voting for the new RNC Chair! (as of 7:15 pm CST Dec 2)

(1) @jamesdickey 4,438 Delegate to RNC from Dallas, Texas (Denton County)

(2) @johnculberson 4,016 Tech savvy Republican member of Congress. Definitely not a Brain Dead Luddite.

(3) @brooksbayne 3,159

(4) @lesliecarbone 2,858 Blogger and occasional Weekly Standard contributor

(5) @PatrickRuffini 2,053 The conservative tech geek behind Rebuild the Party.

(6) @daltonsbriefs 1,730 Local Indiana editor for Red County Blogs.

(7) @michaelpleahy 1,665 Author of Rebuilding the Republican Party Despite the Brain Dead Luddites Who Run It. Tennessee editor for Red County Blogs.

Indiana cities and towns slashing budgets

2008-11-26T07:04:00.001-08:00

After HEA 1001 in early 2008 Indiana local governments were put on notice that they would have less money to work with going forward.

clipped from www.howeypolitics.com

Cities and counties across the state are slashing their budgets and will face even more cuts next year when the HB1001 property tax caps come partially into play. The property tax reforms passed in the 2008 Indiana General Assembly followed tax protests across the state in 2007 that came on the heels of the defeat of more than 40 percent of the state’s incumbent mayors that November. A number of municipalities are also preparing to seek a variety of new local option taxes to make up for some budgetary shortfalls, heeding the advice of Gov. Mitch Daniels, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long who made that appeal in 2007 in a rare joint statement. The Lake County Council slashed its budget by $15 million on Tuesday night, cutting 112 jobs.

Gary, facing a huge budget shortfall, laid off 15 firefighters on Monday. The cuts are coming later this year after the Department of Local Government Finance extended the budget deadlines to December.

Buy a toaster - get a bank for free

2008-11-26T06:11:00.001-08:00

I think I saw this last week, but forgot to bookmark so here it is

clipped from mjperry.blogspot.com

FDIC Special: Buy a Toaster and Get a Free Bank

Traffic to Porter County Political Site

2008-11-26T03:57:00.001-08:00

http://reasonbellpundit.blogspot.com

Our most successful site this year, for obvious reasons, was our political site here locally. What's been nice has been the traffic levels continuing after the election. Although I'd prefer to see subscribers growing (with 75-85 right now) and daily traffic between 50 and 120.

For December I'd like to set some goals for the site: 1) break 100 subscribers 2) average more than 100 visitors per day for entire month.

clipped from www.sitemeter.com

24 Redemption and Jack Bauer to Obama

2008-11-24T09:40:00.001-08:00

An fun question, what would Jack Bauer tell Barack Obama if such a fictional conversation were to take place?

clipped from reasonbellpundit.blogspot.com

What would Jack Bauer tell Pres. Barack Obama

I asked on twitter, and then was encouraged to start an open thread: What would Jack Bauer tell Pres-elect Barack Obama about the world? (tonite being the 24 Redemption and all)

Rebuild the Republican Party

2008-11-09T05:58:00.001-08:00

Some aggressive and bold moves this week to start the process of learning from our mistakes and structural problems ... learning from the Obama and Ron Paul movements ... and rebuilding the party. Well worth reading the entire platform.

clipped from rebuildtheparty.com

Rebuild the Party - A Plan for the Future

Submit Your Idea

The Plan for the Future

As Republicans, we face a choice.

Either we can spend the next several months -- or years -- trying to figure out what just happened, excusing our defeat away as a temporary blip or the result of a poor environment, and waiting for Barack Obama to trip up. Or we can refuse to take this defeat lying down, and start building the future of our party now.

2008 made one thing clear: if allowed to go unchecked, the Democrats' structural advantages, including their use of the Internet, their more than 2-to-1 advantage with young voters, their discovery of a better grassroots model -- will be as big a threat to the future of the GOP as the toxic political environment we have faced the last few years.

Endorse the plan and urge the candidates for RNC Chairman to adopt these principles

McCain comes back again - Dead Heat Poll

2008-10-23T15:11:00.001-07:00

After being down and out, with the media reporting it "all over" for the last two weeks, out comes this poll showing the race a dead heat going into the final 11 days

clipped from www.ibdeditorials.com

IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll: Day Eleven

McCain has cut into Obama's lead for a second day and is now just 1.1 points behind. The spread was 3.7 Wednesday and 6.0 Tuesday. The Republican is making headway with middle- and working- class voters, and has surged 10 points in two days among those earning between $30,000 and $75,000. He has also gone from an 11-point deﬁcit to a 9-point lead among Catholics.

Liberal Media Bias slammed by author

2008-10-22T14:52:00.001-07:00

Oh this one is good, make sure you go and read the entire article by author Orson Scott Card

clipped from indyhardball.blogspot.com

Are there any journalists left still worthy?

Here's the genesis of this artice: Rush Limbaugh read it today on air, I posted a tweet about it and then got quite a few requests for a link to the article from friendfeed followers. So I went searching, and (update) found the article on the author's blog.

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know. This housing crisis didn't come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush Administration.

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Military Vote will go to McCain

2008-10-20T19:20:00.001-07:00

Not much poll manipulation available here, the military vote is McCain's

clipped from www.redcounty.com

Troops Support McCain by 3-1 Margin

A recent Military Times poll found that active duty U.S. military members support John McCain over Barack Obama to be their next commander-in-chief by a margin of 68%-23%.

Obama's support among the services is lowest in the Marine Corps (18%.) And, paralleling observations Michael has made previously, 79% of African-American service members support Obama.

Don't look now - Obama is tricking you

2008-10-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

If you don't want to know, then don't listen. If you want to like him, and his ideas anyway, then go vote your emotions. But, if you actually care to reason and think, if you are undecided because you really do want to know what's best ... then read

clipped from mortgageindiana.activerain.com

Obama is fibbing - 50% of Americans don't pay any taxes

I'm a little confused, like many Americans I was starting to believe Barack Obama's claims that he would lower the taxes on 95% of Americans, he said it enough times. But now the truth comes out - many of the people would get checks who didn't pay any taxes in the first place. That's ridiculous

Northwest Indiana Mortgage - Steve Dalton

We would love to talk about residential and business developments, job creation, neighborhood celebration, and the power of real estate ownership. You can own a home, and now is the time to buy.

State polls show Ohio and Florida back to McCain

2008-10-20T09:47:00.001-07:00

With the media spending all day talking up Obama, and talking about the Colin Powell endorsement, not much talk about Ohio and Florida where the polls have gone back to McCain.

This site is patently pro-Obama and was forced to show the poll results, even though they still show the electoral college with Obama getting both states. A little misleading at the least

clipped from www.electoral-vote.com

We have nine presidential polls today.
Florida and Ohio, the two biggest swing states, are still swinging.
Today's polls put McCain ahead in Florida 49% to 47% and also ahead in
Ohio 46% to 45%, both statistical ties. Somewhat surprising is a new
poll in Montana in which McCain is leading by only 4 points in a state
Bush won by 20 points in 2004 and by 25 points in 2000. Together with
the statistical tie in North Dakota, it looks like a number of solid
Republican states may not be solid at all. Of course, a 4-point win in
Montana is as good as a 20-point win, but given the amount of money
Obama has and how cheap television time is in Montana, he could afford
a real blitz there.

Let's discuss Indiana's FSSA privatization

2008-10-15T12:15:00.001-07:00

Obviously the big reason it's making any news right now is that Democrats and Unions were against the initial privatization. The "spokespeople" are a bit suspect coming from virtually non-existent ACORN like groups. I'd be curious where they're support comes from.

If you know something about the actual services provided, I'd love to hear your comments.

But to argue that something won't work primarily because it's being done with less money and less workers, is pretty 1970 liberal.

Key words in Mr. Cardwell's quote "more money" ... for what? More money is no solution. Oh yeah, one more misleading thing: Nancy Griffin is his wife, not necessarily another prized expert, not sure that was divulged at this mock press conference to attack Mitch Daniels.

Come one step right up and tell me about the actual services being provided and actual people we're helping, not the people who are mad that they used to do the work more expensively.

clipped from www.jconline.com

The opponents included John Cardwell of the Indiana Home Care Task force; Nancy Griffin, a volunteer investigator; Jim Wallihan of United Senior Action; Andrea Smothers, a resident ombudsman with Indiana Legal Services in Lafayette; and Katie Bunder, executive director of Food Finders Food Bank.

"Humpty Dumpty has been pushed off the wall. It will take a lot of money and duct tape to get Humpty Dumpty back together again," he said.

2008-10-12T06:20:00.001-07:00

Colorado Governor (dem) totally skips answering question on 2nd homes being used for voting in battleground Colorado on FoxNews

2008-10-12T06:09:00.001-07:00

Testing Disqus for comment interaction on one of my blogs http://www.disqus.com I think I like it so far, still experimenting

2008-10-11T12:50:00.001-07:00

100 social networking site to join today http://ping.fm/fW2dN

Indiana Attorney General

2008-10-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

Who will pursue ACORN and voter fraud? Greg Zoeller will ... Linda Pence will not

clipped from www.redcounty.com

Northwest Indiana Politics - AG Race and Debate

The readers of Porter County Politics will remember the convention competition
early this summer, wherein Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas lost to Deputy
Attorney General Greg Zoeller. It was hard fought, but clean and
professional. After he lost, Mayor Costas not only endorsed Zoeller but
he also asked to chair the campaign. They have worked together seamlessly over the summer and early fall to make sure that Mr. Zoeller wins.

We have wholeheartedly endorsed Greg Zoeller for Attorney General of the State of Indiana, and we hope you can make time to attend the debate, here's the announcement on NWI Connect today:

AG hopefuls to debate in Hammond

2008-10-08T20:00:00.001-07:00

My favorite: ACORN says they cannot eliminate voter fraud, how about shutting down nationwide?

2008-10-08T19:58:00.001-07:00

12% of voters undecided, will choose the next President http://www.redcounty.com/porter/2008/10/the-undecideds-will-decide-our/

2008-10-08T17:05:00.001-07:00

Watching hunt for red october with my kids, now that's classic Americana

2008-10-08T15:09:00.001-07:00

Sun finally came out in NW Indiana, birthday dinner for my daughter tonite.

2008-10-08T11:46:00.001-07:00

Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks and billionaire, is going long in market today http://ping.fm/jIC97

2008-10-08T10:37:00.001-07:00

Newest site from Dan at prayeramedic in NW Indiana http://ping.fm/T3f8d

2008-10-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

Just finished reading http://ping.fm/xVDiZ on sub-primes and securities, much to ponder

2008-10-07T11:12:00.001-07:00

Reading "The Panic of 2007" http://ping.fm/xVDiZ will comment when done, 91 pages

2008-10-07T10:49:00.001-07:00

Sarah Palin: Bless your heart sir, my son is in Iraq fighting for your right to protest http://ping.fm/qpXCb

2008-10-07T10:45:00.001-07:00

Is anyone having success with Squidoo? I go there occasionally but I really haven't figured out the best play. http://ping.fm/RRx4G

2008-10-07T10:15:00.001-07:00

Every conversation today: Will John McCain finally call out Obama on his relationships with shady characters? http://ping.fm/xmRY9

Greg Zoeller for Attorney General

2008-10-07T04:42:00.001-07:00

The solidly conservative Greg Zoeller is by far our best choice for Attorney General

clipped from z4ag.com

• Work with Indiana prosecutors, sheriffs and law enforcement to protect our children against online sex predators

9/17/08 - Greg Zoeller and Tony Bennett Appear in Latest Ad with Governor Daniels

Sarah Palin contributes more than Biden to charity

2008-10-05T07:06:00.001-07:00

Once again we see the hypocrisy in liberalism, so I guess only government money can fix problems in society

clipped from gregmankiw.blogspot.com

Charity and the Would-be Veeps

Mark Perry reports:
Even though the Palins ($294,000) earned only about half the income of the Bidens ($569,000) in 2006 and 2007 combined, the Palins gave almost 6 times as much to charity ($8,205) in those two years as the Bidens ($1,375).

Porter County meets national Red County site

2008-10-01T14:24:00.001-07:00

Some self promotion, our site Porter County Indiana Politics reached some eyeballs, and I was asked to start posting on Red County Blogs.

clipped from www.redcounty.com

My Man Mitch holds 16 point lead

I
have been asking recently: "Will Mitch Daniels' popularity, and the
regained traction of Senator John McCain for President have down ticket
effects on House or Senate races?" Thoughts? Where do you project our
Congressional Delegation to end up? State house and senate?

Follow election tweets on special twitter

2008-09-26T14:59:00.001-07:00

Even though many of the tweets are liberal it does cause some great follow up conversations

clipped from election.twitter.com

JohnMcCain:
I Know, I know. It's the Times.: ABC News reports:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly.. http://tinyurl.com/529f64

BarackObama:
Just launched a "Next Generation Veterans for Obama" video on YouTube. Watch it at http://tinyurl.com/4bfrc4

What’s this?

We’re filtering hundreds of Twitter updates per minute to create a new source for gathering public opinion about the presidential election and a new way for you to share your thoughts.

What do you think?

McCain moves ahead in electoral projections

2008-09-18T08:50:00.001-07:00

After a month of positive movement in polls, electoral projections now who McCain moving ahead in electoral projections. Senate races still look like pick-ups for Dems, though I've suggested a better result of 49 Reps and 50 Dems with Lieberman playing spoiler.

clipped from www.electoral-vote.com

Obama 243
McCain 274
Ties 21

Strong Dem (143)
Weak Dem (45)
Barely Dem (55)
Exactly tied (21)
Barely GOP (90)
Weak GOP (23)
Strong GOP (161)
270 Electoral votes needed to win
Map algorithm explained

We have 38 presidential polls today due to a large number of new ARG polls. The results are given below.
The upshot is that John McCain has taken the lead in the electoral college 274 to 243.

We also have a House poll in PA-11, where challenger Lou Barletta is leading incumbent Paul Kanjorski.
This may be the only House race in the country where an incumbent Democrat loses.

Union blogger says Dem commissioner disrespectful

2008-09-18T05:02:00.001-07:00

It's a tough year when 45 days before the election, union bloggers are turning on the Democrats and calling them out for elitism and disrespect

clipped from charlieaverill.blogspot.com

Porter County Commissioners Disrespectful

The other day I attended a meeting of the Porter County Commissioners.
The experience was not pleasant.
There was not a working sound system, but the room was so small that they shouldn’t have needed one anyway.
There were many people in attendance, mostly senior citizens, and yet these Commissioners spoke in such soft voices that nobody could hear what the heck they were saying.
They gave no consideration to the people in attendance and spoke so softly that nobody could hear a thing that was being said.

This is what sometimes happens to people once they get a job in government. They think all of a sudden that they don't have to be considerate or polite anymore.
Sickening.
I'll blame the guy running the meeting. His name is Robert Harper, I believe. What a joke.

Polls shows McCain wins election

2008-04-14T05:35:00.001-07:00

Contrary to major media reports, McCain is winning in the general election polls

clipped from americasbestchoice.blogspot.com

H/T ARRA News Service - Rasmussen Reports, Presidential Tracking Poll
(4/13/07): Sen. John McCain leads both Democratic
presidential contenders in the latest daily tracking poll compiled by Rasmussen
Reports. McCain, R-AZ., the presumptive Republican nominee, outpolls both Sen.
Barack Obama, D-IL, by 50% to 42%, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, by 49% to
41%. McCain now leads both Democrats among unaffiliated voters. . . . Rasmussen
Reports is surveying voters this weekend for reaction to Obama’s remarks.
Preliminary indications from interviews with 400 Likely Voters suggest that the
comments are troublesome for Republicans and unaffiliated voters. However, there
is less of an impact among Democrats. That tends to confirm the growing
consensus that the comments may have more impact on the General Election than
the Primaries.

Strong Reformers move to McCain

2008-04-13T05:35:00.001-07:00

Although the message is strong, and perhaps more sonservative than John McCain, Ron Paul's followers have moved over to support fully John McCain and his straight talk.

clipped from joinordie08.com

Reform ‘08
for the freedom and choice in healthcare
for state rights
for closing Guantanamo Bay
for capitalism
against new taxes
against new subsidies, new programs, new pork spending
against government forced moral revision to the institution of the family
against the punishing of profit and private innovation

Yes, We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For, Not The Government. I’m Voting Republican!

Why does GOP get less youth vote?

2008-04-10T05:27:00.001-07:00

Why do you think? The delivery? The method? The message?

clipped from techrepublican.com

Why the GOP Lost the Youth Vote

I came across an article by David
Frum in this morning's USA Today, entitled Why
the GOP Lost the Youth Vote.
Don't get me wrong, I think David Frum is one smart political strategist, but
I figure I'll insert my two cents on this one.
Frum argues that the GOP is losing the youth vote for several reasons, which
you can read in his article, but they all have to do with current environmental
& political conditions and little to do with the way the party is
communicating with this changing generation of voters.
I'm interested to hear more about how Frum views the role of the Internet as
a means to communicate with youth voters.
Is it really that the GOP's issues don't align with youth priorities, or is
it more a failure to communicate effectively?
What do you think?

Reminder - Character Matters

2008-04-10T04:30:00.001-07:00

John Mccain shows once again that character, sadly lacking in candidates nationwide, still matters.

clipped from mccain08olc.blogspot.com

In a great piece from Slate.com, Michael Lewis
reminds us of why so many people admire and support John McCain.

And then, for maybe the third time that morning, McCain spoke of how it affected him
when Udall took him in hand. It was a simple act of affection and admiration,
and or that reason it meant all the more to McCain. It was one man saying to
another, We disagree in politics but not in life. It was one man saying to
another, party political differences cut only so deep. Having made that step,
they found much to agree upon and many useful ways to work together.

This is the reason McCain
keeps coming to see Udall even after Udall has lost his last shred of political
influence. The politics were never all that
important.

Read the rest of this great piece HERE.

Costas to run for attorney general

2008-04-09T05:33:00.001-07:00

Another step in the NW Indiana's move to renew, led by Jon Costas

clipped from www.thetimesonline.com

Costas enters GOP attorney general field

Mayor Jon Costas hopes to appear on the Republican ticket in November as the
party's nominee for Indiana attorney general, the two-term city leader announced
Tuesday.

Costas said he began considering the statewide post three weeks
ago, after Republican Attorney General Steve Carter announced he would forgo a
third term

Four other prominent Republican lawyers have expressed interest in the
nomination. But one of them, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, on Tuesday
said he'd step aside for Costas

2008-03-05T11:23:00.001-08:00

John Mccain is open to debate

2008-03-03T20:17:00.001-08:00

The whole point of blogs, to debate, but Obama and Clinton aren't allowing it

clipped from www.techpresident.com

McCain's Unfiltered Blog
By Ari Melber, 03/03/2008 - 4:18pm

Barack Obama may be the hottest politician online, but when it comes to unfiltered Internet commentary, nobody beats John McCain.

While McCain's Internet audience href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=286563 ">lags
far behind both Obama and Clinton, his official websites allow more dissent
and tough feedback than the Democratic candidates, according to an unscientific
comment experiment conducted by The Nation. We posted about 50 comments
on the candidates' websites and YouTube accounts, ranging from bland
encouragement to policy criticism to sharp complaints. Only the McCain Campaign
posted every comment

Meanwhile, McCain's comment threads were most likely to turn critical. The negative comments may not only reflect the campaign's unfiltered format, but also the Senator's touchy relationship with party activists, who often dominate discussion on campaign sites. Either way, McCain deserves credit for letting the "straight talk" flow in both directions.

Gun BuyBack Flop

2008-02-25T05:07:00.001-08:00

In what can only be called classic liberalism, a city buys back cheap guns to create more security, and gun dealers profit. That's called capitalism.

clipped from www.marginalrevolution.com

Gun Buyback Misfires

Imagine that instead of guns, the Oakland police decided, for whatever
strange reason, to buy back sneakers. The idea of a gun buyback is to reduce the
supply of guns in Oakland. Do you think that a sneaker buyback program would
reduce the number of people wearing sneakers in Oakland? Of course not.

All that would happen is that people would reach into the back of their
closet and sell the police a bunch of old, tired, stinky sneakers.

Gun buybacks won't reduce the number of guns in Oakland. In fact, buybacks
may increase the number of guns in Oakland.

Oakland's recent gun buyback was especially ridiculous. The police offered
up to $250 for a gun "no questions
asked, no ID required." The first people in line? Two gun dealers
from Reno with 60 cheap handguns. Fortunately the buyback did manage to
get some guns off the street, too bad they were turned in by a bunch of senior
citizens from an assisted living facility.

Kosovo some research and independance ideas

2008-02-24T21:28:00.001-08:00

I didn't know enough about this story, so I did some research on my own

clipped from kosovodaltonsbriefs.blogspot.com

Kosovo

Kosovo History Study

First off I figured I'd do a little research into the whole issue, you can look over my shoulder while I do:

Ok, so I jumped over to Wikipedia to get the basics, sure I know they can be manipulated, but the basic historical details will be a starting point. First thing I notice is that the region has fallen on that fault line of Orthodox-Catholic Christendom and Islam, eerily similar to Turkey.

See the Wikipedia notes from the time period of the Ottoman Empire and just thereafter:

So China is worried if one group gets to make up their own minds who will rule
them, then their own despotism will come into view. Good, then it's high time
that we increase the pressure on their ridiculous regime too. That one I
like.

Al-Queda losing grip in Iraq

2008-02-10T06:04:00.001-08:00

According to their own diaries, seized in raids by US military, they are losing their grip in Iraq. The surge is working, the President of Iran plans to travel to Iraq for the first time in a sign that even he knows that a democratic Iraq is here to stay.

clipped from abcnews.go.com

US: al-Qaida in Iraq Weakened

US Military: Documents Seized During US Raids Show al-Qaida in Iraq Weakened

A diary and another document seized during U.S. raids show some al-Qaida in Iraq leaders fear the terror group is crumbling, with many fighters defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups, the U.S. military said Sunday.

"We lost cities and afterward, villages ... We find ourselves in a wasteland desert," Smith quoted the document as saying.

The documents tell "narrow but compelling stories of the challenges al-Qaida in Iraq is facing," Smith told reporters in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone.

Wall Street Journal: McCain best for Supreme Court

2008-02-04T13:43:00.001-08:00

If you are a true conservative, and you care about the make up of the Supreme Court, then according to the Wall Street Journal, your choice is John McCain

clipped from blogs4mccain.com

The conservative movement has made
enormous gains over the past three decades in restoring constitutional
government. The Roberts Supreme Court shows every sign of building on these
gains.

We believe that the nomination of John
McCain is the best option to preserve the ongoing restoration of constitutional
government.

The judiciary is different. On Jan. 20, 2009, six of the nine Supreme Court
justices will be over 70. Most of them could be replaced by the next president,
particularly if he or she is re-elected. Given the prospect of accelerating
gains in modern medical technology, some of the new justices may serve for half
a century. Even if a more perfect candidate were somehow elected in 2012, he
would not be able to undo the damage, especially to the Supreme Court

The debate continues on the South Shore Expansion

2008-01-30T06:27:00.001-08:00

Blue County Red State has tended to poke some holes in the argument, and as always Buzz likes to suggest that government always lies by saying it will cost one thing and then spending a ton more. Good points and worthy debates to join over at his site.

clipped from bluecountyredstate.blogspot.com

The South Shore Expansion STIF is ROLLING.

Despite
opposition from Democrats Charlie Brown and Vernon Smith of Gary, the South
Shore Extension funding through a STIF propoal passed the house.

The House of Representatives adopted Rep. Chet Dobis' funding
package by a 54-41 vote, with 15 Republicans joining 39 Democrats in voting for
it.

I have to admit, I am impressed that this has gone
as far as it has. I would never have bet that it would pass either
house.

I don't like Democrats, but you have to be impressed with Chester.
He had a good idea and he sold it to both downstate Democrats and
Republicans.

Of course, as a heterosexual white male, he should be a
Republican anyway.;)

McCain wins another state - Onward to Florida

2008-01-24T11:26:00.001-08:00

Although not reported widely, John McCain won the Louisiana Caucus last night. Reports from the state suggest that Fred Thompson would have fared well, and many of his supporters swung to McCain. A trend?

clipped from www.johnmccain.com

John McCain Wins Louisiana Caucus

Today, The Republican Party of Louisiana announced that John McCain won the
Louisiana Caucus. This important caucus, coming on the heels of South Carolina,
is more evidence of the momentum behind John McCain. This victory is a huge
defeat for other candidates who poured many resources into the state and failed
to register amongst Republican voters. On to Florida!

Who's at fault for fraud in Region politics?

2008-01-24T10:37:00.001-08:00

Jerry Davich suggests that its the voters, the ones that keep sending the same exact people back into office for decades.

clipped from blogs.suntimes.com

I don't blame crooked pols... I blame you

Jerry Davich
Observations from the edge

don't blame crooked politicians, or even those pols who may not be "crooked"
but who have obvious "lapses in judgment" or whatever. They're going to cheat,
lie, and bamboozle as much as they can get away with, regardless of public
office. For them, it's partly human nature at work, and partly region politics
as usual.
No, I blame you - the region's voters and citizens who elect 'em
into office.
I blame you for keeping 'em in office year after year, decade
after decade.
I blame you for choosing to whine about it, joke about it, or
make hollow threats about it rather than actually do something about it. I see
it year after year, pol after pol, election after election.

Conservative Media endorsing McCain everywhere

2008-01-19T04:38:00.001-08:00

Have you noticed that media, no matter the state, tend to endorse John McCain? Why? Because he says it like it is.

clipped from blogs4mccain.com

Blogs for McCain
The Internet home of bloggers supporting John McCain.

Other South Carolina papers endorsing McCain include the Columbia-based State and the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

AIKEN, S.C. – Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., today won the editorial endorsements of two more South Carolina newspapers: the Charleston Post and Courier and the Rock Hill Herald.

McCain is the comeback kid

2008-01-17T06:25:00.001-08:00

After losing South Carolina in 2000, losing Michigan on Tuesday, now John McCain looks poised to "win" South Carolina on Saturday and comeback yet again. He is the energizer bunny.

clipped from politicomafioso.blogspot.com

Reuters: McCain Takes Early Lead In South Carolina: Poll

McCain, an Arizona
senator, leads the former Arkansas governor by 29 percent to 23 percent. Former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was in third place with 13 percent.

South Carolina's
Republican primary on Saturday is the next battleground as both parties choose
candidates for November's election to succeed President George W. Bush. Nevada
also holds Republican and Democratic nominating contests on that
day.

Reuters: McCain Takes Early Lead In South Carolina: Poll

Sim City like game download

2008-01-12T17:09:00.001-08:00

clipped from lincity-ng.berlios.de

LinCity-NG is a City Simulation Game. It is a polished and improved version
of the classic title=http://www.floot.demon.co.uk/lincity.html
href="http://www.floot.demon.co.uk/lincity.html" rel=nofollow>LinCity game.
Within the scope of the title=http://happypenguin.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1243
href="http://happypenguin.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1243" rel=nofollow>GoTM
project at href="http://happypenguin.org" rel=nofollow>happypenguin we have created a
new iso-3D graphics engine, with a completely redone and modern GUI.

Please see at the Download/Installation page.

Porter County Indiana News Today

2007-12-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

WBBM780
Indiana Fire Chief Resigns, Faces Criminal Charges After Fight at ...FOX News - Dec 19, 2007South Haven Fire Chief Doug Patton got into an argument with two firefighters who left the party Saturday night, Porter County sheriff's deputies said. ...Fire chief quits, charged after fight at Christmas party WLFI.comChief resigns after admitting to assault Gary Post TribuneFire Chief Resigns, Charged After Christmas Party Fight INDYchannel.comall 16 news articles »

Lake County income tax will be a loss for Porter CountyChesterton Tribune, United States - Dec 19, 2007According to the Indiana Department of Revenue, 4860 Lake County residents work in Porter County and, in tax year 2006, paid $959885 toward Porter County’s ...
Commissioners take stand against tourism merger with Lake CountyChesterton Tribune, United States - Dec 19, 2007By VICKI URBANIK The Porter County Commissioners made it clear Tuesday that they want Lake County tourism officials to keep their hands off their ...Tourism, hospital fund top agenda Gary Post TribunePCCRVC tables resolution on South Shore extensions Chesterton Tribuneall 4 news articles »

Quickly's Neighbors/Porter CountyGary Post Tribune, IN - Dec 19, 2007Lake County is in the toilet, and Porter County is one flush behind. When will people figure out single party politics is the root of the problem? ...

Uninsured Hoosiers may qualify for state subsidized health coverageChesterton Tribune, United States - Dec 19, 2007Applications may also be obtained at these four locations in Porter County: •Porter County Division of Family Services, 152 Indiana Ave. in Valparaiso. ...

Donations sought to help the elderlynwitimes.com, IN - 20 hours agoTo contribute to the Christmas for the Elderly fund, send checks payable to VNA Foundation, c/o the Porter County VNA, 501 Marquette St., Valparaiso, ...

No evidence that coding error caused errors in deductionsChesterton Tribune, United States - Dec 19, 2007Taxpayers need not to panic: A coding error on some Porter County tax bills may have caused confusion, but has not resulted in people losing tax credits to ...Error found in Porter County tax bills Munster Timesall 2 news articles »

Quickly's Neighbors/Porter CountyGary Post Tribune, IN - Dec 15, 2007If people are against having the new Porter hospital built on the north side of US 6 and Indiana 49, why not build it on the south side where there already ...

East Porter schools back TIF reformsMunster Times, IN - Dec 18, 2007BY PATRICK GUINANE INDIANAPOLIS A car load of East Porter County School Corp. officials came to the Capitol on Tuesday to protest a $14 million parking ...

CHS day porters work as a teamCookeville Herald Citizen, TN - 5 hours ago"I feel like I'm part of the fixtures here," laughed Joyce Looney, referring to the seven years she has worked as a day porter at Cookeville High School, ...

Reason Bell

Stage two - round robbin of NW Indiana blogs

Young Republicans - Dan Coats is a tough sell

Conservatives move on Digg

Real Estate Recovery predicted for 2009

#TCOT targets Pigs wanting gov't cash

Operation Three Little Piggies

Lessons from Campaign 2008

Lessons from the 2008 trenches, Part 1

Top 200 Conservatives in US on twitter

Calling all RNC Members to Twitter

Top Conservatives on Twitter

Indiana cities and towns slashing budgets

Buy a toaster - get a bank for free

FDIC Special: Buy a Toaster and Get a Free Bank

Traffic to Porter County Political Site

24 Redemption and Jack Bauer to Obama

Rebuild the Republican Party

The Plan for the Future

Endorse the plan and urge the candidates for RNC Chairman to adopt these principles

McCain comes back again - Dead Heat Poll

IBD/TIPP Tracking Poll: Day Eleven

Liberal Media Bias slammed by author

Military Vote will go to McCain

Troops Support McCain by 3-1 Margin

Don't look now - Obama is tricking you

State polls show Ohio and Florida back to McCain

Let's discuss Indiana's FSSA privatization

Indiana Attorney General

Northwest Indiana Politics - AG Race and Debate

Greg Zoeller for Attorney General

Sarah Palin contributes more than Biden to charity

Charity and the Would-be Veeps

Porter County meets national Red County site

Follow election tweets on special twitter

What’s this?

What do you think?

McCain moves ahead in electoral projections

Union blogger says Dem commissioner disrespectful

Polls shows McCain wins election

Strong Reformers move to McCain

Reform ‘08

Why does GOP get less youth vote?

Why the GOP Lost the Youth Vote

Reminder - Character Matters

Costas to run for attorney general

Costas enters GOP attorney general field

John Mccain is open to debate

Gun BuyBack Flop

Gun Buyback Misfires

Kosovo some research and independance ideas

Kosovo

Al-Queda losing grip in Iraq

US: al-Qaida in Iraq Weakened

US Military: Documents Seized During US Raids Show al-Qaida in Iraq Weakened

Wall Street Journal: McCain best for Supreme Court

The debate continues on the South Shore Expansion

McCain wins another state - Onward to Florida

Who's at fault for fraud in Region politics?

I don't blame crooked pols... I blame you

Observations from the edge

Conservative Media endorsing McCain everywhere

McCain is the comeback kid

Sim City like game download

Porter County Indiana News Today