North West Florida Repbulican

Before a speech by Senator McCain on Monday, Howard Dean said this about McCain.

record clearly shows that the only friends he really stands up for are his donors and the lobbyists running his campaign,” Dean said in a statement. - CNN

Strange thing is, the same thing could be said about the Democrat Presidential Nominees. Both of them have donors and lobbyists of dubious background in the oil industry.

What McCain proposes isn’t anything new either. Democrats are quite familiar with most of the proposals. Many of them are in complete odds with the rest of the Republican party.

But the ideas he brings are really what we need. Problem is, that various special interests continue to torpedo any progress towards energy independence. In many cases it is environmentalists who stop the development of new sources of energy, leaving us to continue using the old methods.

Lack of construction of new refineries and new nuclear power plants have caused us to depend more and more on importation of fuel and oil. Environmentalists have also stopped major wind and solar farms because of impact on the environment as well.

John McCain has a better grasp on our foreign oil dependence and alternative energy than either of his two competitors. Maybe his influence, once he is elected, can get some reforms in place to help us develop better sources of energy and make more effective use of our resources.

Howard Dean just doesn’t understand what it is that John McCain is actually trying to do opposed to the two Democrat contenders. His hip shots are completely missing the mark.

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I know many Nutroot liberals and disaster alarmist global warming freaks might have an to find out that Senator McCain might actually care something about the environment. But it is true. Enough so that he would like you to help in your way by purchasing Eco Friendly gear.

As a self professed Naturalist, I find this idea quite refreshing to see from a Presidential Candidate.

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U.S. Dist. 1 Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla, can probably be credited with his work on keeping the test wing at Eglin AFB from moving to Edwards AFB in California.

It has been a year since General Calrson unilaterally decided to save money by closing the 46th Test Wing and moving the testing to Edwards AFB. Fortunately, public outcry and many calls to both Senator Bill Nelson and Representative Miller put an indefinite hold on those plans.

To save money, materiel command has proposed realigning the test wing and two other units under the umbrella of the developmental test and evaluation center. The center would be headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base. - Northwest Daily News

Yesterday, Bob Arnold, a technical advisor for the 46th Test Wing, said that the test wing was officially not moving to Edwards.

“The 46th Test Wing is not moving,” said its technical advisor, Bob Arnold. “No capabilities will be eliminated. No people will lose their jobs.” However, workers would be permitted to move to new jobs if desired.

He stressed that the reorganization of the test wing with other similar facilities would not be a first step towards moving the test wing to Edwards. But it would actually save $200 Million. Only a fraction of what General Carlson wanted to save but far more than what would have actually been lost by the move if it had taken place.

This should be great comfort to those who depend on the jobs provided by the test wing. From the contractors who work with the DoD civilians to the home developers who were facing a glut of homes if the test wing had moved.

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The point of Voter ID laws is to prevent fraud. It is to keep people honest in telling voting precincts that they belong where they do and that they are eligible to vote.

Indiana recently passed a voter ID law that was to help combat voter fraud. Of course the ACLU immediately objected and sued. Fortunately the Supreme Court interpreted the laws correctly and found that the Indiana law did not violate anyones rights.

The state’s American Civil Liberties Union sued, calling the law a poll tax that disproportionately affected minorities and elderly voters, those most likely to lack such identification. On April 28, the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the law did not violate the Constitution. - South Bend Tribune

If you think about it, even the poor have to prove who they are when they go to get that welfare check, have it deposited in the bank or withdraw money from the bank where their check was deposited.

Even if they didn’t, Indiana provided the opprotunity for people to get free identification. Which is why the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the law.

The ACLU and the anti Voter ID people claim that no one has proven there is voter fraud. But if you can’t check the identification of those who are voting how are you going to prove that there is attempted fraud? But reading the article, you can see that there is indeed attempted fraud and it is caught using the ID requirement.

Another woman said she was turned away from casting her first-ever ballot because she had only a college-issued ID card and an out-of-state driver’s license, Perez said.

Well guess what…

That particular person wasn’t eligible to vote because they weren’t a resident of that state as evidenced by the out of state drivers license. How many more people use College issued ID cards as proof of residence in other states?

This is an attempt to circumvent the requirement that you are a resident of the state you are voting in. I would be willing bet this same person actually voted in their home state.

Another tried to use an ID without an expiration date.

one person complained about the voter ID law when he attempted to use a federal identification that didn’t have an expiration date on it.

“I didn’t know who it was put out by, but we couldn’t accept it,” Rice said. “He had a driver’s license, he was just trying to make a point. He wanted to push it and the law is very clear.”

I have been associated with the government in one way or another for 30 years or so. I can’t recall, even once, a valid form of government identification that didn’t have an expiration date.

People really shouldn’t get bent out of shape over the Voter ID laws. They are being put into place to protect your rights. Without them, you could end up showing up at the polls only to find out that someone else has voted in your stead. Who knows if they voted for the same things you did or not. I’m sure you would be very upset about that.

As long as the laws make provisions for providing identification to those who are unable to pay for identification or just don’t have a need for a drivers license then there shouldn’t be any problem.

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A substitute teacher was fired from his job for performing a bit of slight of hand with a toothpick.

Jim Piculas made a toothpick disappear and reappear in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes. School district officials say there were several other performance issues with Piculas, but none of them compared to his “wizardry.”

Piculas says he got a call in the middle of the day from the head supervisor of substitute teachers, where he was told he couldn’t take any more assignments since he had been accused of wizardry. - ABC News

How ridiculous can you get? Slight of hand is considered “wizardry”?

Maybe some of the other performance issues they had with Jim Piculas was when he whipped out the magic wand and turned a couple of disruptive students into toads.

If the school board wanted to fire him for his performance, they should have just fired him. Not made up some excuse as contrite as being fired for a magic trick.

I have performed slight of hand and other mechanical magic tricks for scouts and students alike. I have always been complimented. Never accused of being a wizard and asked to never return.

I’m not a big fan of Unions, but this sounds like a classic case where either a Union or a Lawyer needs to get involved if the school board doesn’t come up with something better.

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Illegal Immigration continues to be a problem and a burden on the citizens of Florida and the Federal Government. Some actions have been attempted in the last legislative session but all have failed.

Some of the most notable and should have been the easiest to pass failed.

Immigration proposals that hadn’t passed by the end of the legislative session Friday: Requiring public employers and contractors to check employees’ immigration status and requiring local police to notify federal authorities when they detain illegal immigrants. NorthWest Florida Daily News

This one in particular is similar to legislation passed in other states requiring employers to verify and employees status. This can be easily done on the web through a free service that the IRS has set up called E-Verify.

So what is the problem with this bill? Who knows. Maybe it is the fear that the Democrats have of losing votes. Maybe they don’t have enough people to be a part of their ideal nanny state. There could be a bunch of reasons that they just wont’ back any reasonable immigration reform.

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We have had tax holidays in the past. While the ones we have had have always been a sales tax holiday designed to spur spending, help those who have to buy school supplies or even prepare everyone for a hurricane, this particular tax holiday will not do much for anyone.

What Tax holiday? The Gas Tax holiday that the major candidates are contemplating to help those in need.

This holiday in particular is a very bad idea. It won’t work. It isn’t going to do a darn thing for anyone except for the retailers who sell gas.

First off, this assumes that the tax savings will be passed on to the consumer. While this may well be the case it will be difficult to monitor. Gas prices will not just suddenly drop twenty or thirty cents because a holiday has been declared.

Second, with the prices as high as they are and the price of fuel fluctuating as much as it does there won’t be a huge difference in what we will pay during this holiday and what we are currently paying. Not with pricing going up on a continual basis as it is.

Third, your taxes will be used to pay for this Gas Tax holiday. That means that either we go more into debt, we find another stream of revenue to replace that lost or we drop some programs which are controversial to begin with.

True, you may argue that it will keep the prices from rising as fast. But all you are doing is postponing the inevitable. The price of gas is going to rise and it will continue to do so until an alternative comes about that beats the cost.

While pandering constituents about a Gas Tax holiday may get some votes, in the long run it won’t do anything for the consumer or the economy.

We don’t need a tax holiday that only benefits those who are well off enough to have a vehicle. And a holiday that is basically benefiting those who have gas guzzling vehicles over the fuel efficient vehicles.

Like a housing foreclosure bail out, this is just another bad idea that needs to be forgotten.

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No matter how much he professes otherwise, Senator Obama is quite anti-gun.

Obama’s dance on gun rights is part of his evolution from the radical young Illinois state legislator he once was. He was recorded in a 1996 questionnaire as advocating a ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns (a position he has since disavowed). He was on the board of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which takes an aggressive gun control position, and in 2000 considered becoming its full-time president. In 2006, he voted with an 84 to 16 majority (and against Clinton) to prohibit confiscation of firearms during an emergency, but that is his only pro-gun vote in Springfield or Washington. The National Rifle Association grades his voting record (and Clinton’s) an “F.” - Washington Post

I don’t know who he thinks he is fooling but it sure isn’t me. Anyone who votes that many times for strict gun control or outright banning guns is not for protecting your rights under the constitution. Especially for someone who has taught constitutional law for 10 years. Which I find kind of difficult to believe.

If you visit his website, you will even notice that gun control is not even featured on his website as an issue. No where does he mention the gun control issue that is prevalent on other campaign websites such as John McCain.

It is obvious, with his past voting and policies, that Barak Obama will be an outspoken opponent of Pro-Gun groups. Especially when it comes to the interpretation of the second amendment.

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Iraq Casualties set to Exceed Vietnam Casualties in about 112 years at the current monthly rate. We have a better chance of Exceeding the Korean Conflict Casualties in 106 years. And we probably won’t ever reach the number of casualties that occured in World War II. It would take us over 820 years to even start thinking about exceeding those casualties.

In the last 6 months we have had a casualty rate of approximately 40 dead per month. Though some of those are not unnecessarily combat action. Those casualties include non-combat related deaths as well.

I’m sure this just vexes all of those anti-war, bring-em home, Vietnam comparing liberals.

There is just no way you can seriously compare Iraq with Vietnam. The type of conflict is completely different. The theatre of conflict is completely different. The entire result expected is completely different. And our military recruitment is completely different.

We have a great military complex with equipment that far surpasses any other military in the world. Our Volunteers have much better training and a better moral than any other in the world. And there is no mention of even conscripting people into the military except by the Democrats.

The media frequently tries to use the casualty count to point out how the Iraq conflict is a losing proposition. Of course you haven’t heard that from the media since the casualty rate isn’t high and is either leveling off or falling.

Let’s get off the Vietnam comparison. It doesn’t stick. Democrats need to drop it or it might stick to them like a bad stink.

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According to Senator Harry Reid (D) of Nevada, you do not have to pay taxes because they are voluntary.

Reid’s point, as I understand it, is that taxes are “voluntary” in the sense that the taxpayer can avail himself of ways to minimize his liability — charitable donations, tax shelters, etc. - HotAir

The Government takes your taxes out of your paycheck so you don’t have to deal with it. Our government doesn’t force people to pay their taxes, unlike some European countries. Of course if you don’t pay your taxes you could be fined or confined by the Government. Yet it is completely Voluntary.

I’m confused.

Here is the video. It is good for a double speak laugh.

Senator Harry Reid is a complete moron.

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