Upcoming talks in Geneva with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose anti-Israeli rhetoric about wiping them from the face of the earth evokes an eerie feeling of dejavu. What immediately comes to mind is the image of Hitler and the naiveté of Neville Chamberlain in believing he could talk with a madman and win him over with concessions. This then puts for the question of who will it be that walks in the failed footsteps of Neville Chamberlain?

We have seen the leader of Iran come to the United Nations to speak of his right to have nuclear research, followed by a celebrity tour of New York City. We have heard him state numerous times that he would like to see Israel wiped off the map, and we have seen him test rockets and thumb his nose at the international community. He is clearly driven to make this his legacy and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

I suppose that world politicians believe that sitting down and talking with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will accomplish something, I believe that they are deluding themselves or searching for a photo-op. This man is singularly focused on his goal of the extermination of Israel and will gladly meet with anyone as long as it buys him more time to develop nuclear weapons. Make no mistake; meetings like the forthcoming talks in Geneva will yield more concessions in favor of Iran and no steps to prevent his nuclear development. Which of the great global leaders attending this meeting will take credit for the latest appeasement of Iran and cement his legacy as the modern day Neville Chamberlain?

Having lived through the 1970’s oil crisis, I watched misstep follow misstep as the nation endured a torturous period of gas lines, and hoarding. Just think if we would have allowed more drilling in this country and build more nuclear power plants. How much better off would we be now?

I refer to the 1970’s to put the common Democrat response to the lifting of the ban on off shore drilling; they say we won’t even see a drop for a decade. Had we drilled three decade’s ago we would be that much closer to the energy independence everyone talks about. 

Why not build more nuclear power plants? Are they still afraid of the Three Mile Island accident decades ago? Technology has progressed in this field despite the typical American politician’s inability to do so. Increases in safety and efficiency would dictate that new nuclear plants would product higher output, more efficiently, and under safer conditions than ever in the history of nuclear power.

How about the 20+ blends of gasoline that is refined because of the number of states that have customized emission’s standards. When you go to your local gas station, chances are you will see 3 grades of gasoline to choose from, not 20+. Now, given that we have not built new refineries in this country in over 20 years, would it not be more efficient to standardize three blends across the nation? I have driven across the country and can tell you my car works on the blend in every state I have visited. The only thing preventing us from streamlining the refinery process is the individual state’s one–up-man-ship and their perceived need for custom gasoline for their boutiquish emissions standards.

The final group I believe to be driving the price of oil is the speculators. I have often noticed how the latest breaking news will drive a market up or down, this applies to all markets. In this case speculators perceive that the mounting tension in Iran to be huge to the flow of oil so the price goes up as they buy all the futures they can. The media reports the market jump and gas stations across the Nation raise gas prices 15 to 20 cents for gas that is already in the ground! The gas in the tanks was already bought at lower money but because the speculators think the price will be higher moving forward, they raise their prices.

We are a free market based economy and I do not believe that the government should step in and stop speculation, however I do regret the lifting of the Glass Spiegel act buy President Bush a few years ago. I believe that the only way to gain stability over the oil market is to drill for our own oil. By taping into the oil we have, we may not be having this discussion in another 10years; the Democrats saying that we won’t se a drop for another 10 years.

$888 Million is the proposed tax increase for Cook County in Illinois.  This is not a Federal tax increase, it is not a State tax increase; it is the tax increase proposal for one County in Illinois.  

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants to triple the sales tax and double the gas and parking taxes to pay for 1,130 new county jobs and cover rising costs. 

The taxes are part of a $3.2 billion budget Stroger unveiled Wednesday, including a 2 percentage point hike in the sales tax that would bring Chicago to a combined rate of 11 percent—a proposal rejected by the County Board two weeks ago. Taken together, by 2009 the proposed tax increases would generate $888 million. Stroger's $888 million tax hikes

Chicago is a microcosm of life in a Democrat controlled world.  The Windy City has been dark blue for so many years that cronyism is a way of life.  It is no wonder that the City of Chicago and Cook County are going broke and that the response of Democrat leadership is RAISE TAXES!  What Democrat leaders fail to understand is that if the tax burden gets high enough, a concept that they will never understand, there is considerable risk of mass exodus by people looking to live in an affordable community.  

The Democrat leadership in the Chicago area, Cook County, and the state of Illinois as a whole will never grasp this; until it is too late.  They believe that the people who live here consider it a privilege and will put up with anything.  They are unable to conceive of people moving to Wisconsin, Indiana, or farther in their search for relief from the excessive tax burden laid upon them by Democrat politicians.  We have been called a “donor state” because we pay so much in taxes and get so little in return:

CHICAGO - What is it about Democrats and raising taxes?  They simply can’t seem to get enough money from the hardworking men and women of Illinois for their liberal agenda. 

From the top to the bottom, their answer to every governmental issue remains the same: we want your money…and lots of it.

However, it was unfortunate to learn from the Associated Press that Illinois is once again considered a “donor state” – where taxpayers send more money to Washington D.C. than they get back in federal spending.  (Associated Press, October 10, 2007) We Are Illinois

The social programs that are dragging down Cook County are driving the taxes of its residents to the highest levels in the Nation. 

"The increase, which would give Chicago the nation’s highest sales tax, at 11%, was proposed and strongly advocated by board President Todd Stroger…" (Crain’s Chicago Business, October 1, 2007)

On of the biggest drains on Cook County Tax Payers is Stroger Hospital which is County funded.  It would make too much sense to privatize this albatross and have someone run it as a business.  The majority of the people bearing the burden of this money pit will never go their in their entire life! 

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger wants to hike property taxes, gasoline taxes, downtown parking taxes and the sales tax to help pay for the county’s 2008 operations.

Additionally, hundreds of new jobs would be added to the government payroll to improve operations at county hospitals and the criminal justice system. Cook County Taxes

The battle in Cook County is far from over and there are those who are standing against Stroger’s ridiculous push to drive taxes higher:   

Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said it's a sign of Stroger's "insatiable appetite for new and expensive taxes" and shows "no signs of restraint during times of great economic difficulty for many."

Commissioner Forrest Claypool said giving more cash to Stroger would simply "allow him to continue to protect patronage jobs and bureaucracy at the expense of public health and public safety." Sun Times

Commissioner Claypool has hit the nail on the head when he said that this is all an attempt to protect patronage jobs and bureaucracy at the expense of the public.  Despite claiming that his 3.2 billion dollar budget can’t cover the expenses of Cook County, he wants to create an additional 1,152 new jobs!   

Mayor Daley has no shame when it comes to his proposed tax increases:  

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley insists the only way to keep Chicago moving forward is to stick his hand into the pockets of citizens and yank out more hard-earned money than they already pay to keep the city government afloat.

Daley, who's trying to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, deserves a gold medal for the most brazen tax hike request in city history. Hizzoner is seeking a $290 million increase in taxes, fees and fines. That includes $108 million in property tax hikes, a figure that would result in an increase of $100 to the owner of a home worth $225,000.  Chicago taxes

As if this weren’t enough, people considering moving to neighboring Dupage County may not fare any better given that their budget situation is a complete disaster as well: 

Jorgensen and Birkett, along with Court Clerk Chris Kachiroubas and Coroner Peter Siekmann, urged the County Board to place a referendum question on the February ballot asking voter approval for a one-quarter percent sales tax to support public safety. 

County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom also expressed dismay but said revenues are insufficient to meet rising costs, leaving him no choice but to offer a budget with severe cuts. 

"This is not a budget I want. It is not a budget you want," Schillerstrom said. "It is not a budget that will meet the needs of DuPage County or our constituents. ... [The proposed cuts] are deep and they are real, and they will affect every department across our county." 

You have to sense that the real estate taxes will be coming soon: 

The budget proposal calls for a total real estate tax levy of $64.43 million, which is about $3.1 million more than the current levy, and total spending of $375.9 million. Dupage County

Throw in the budget impasse that has been raging at the State level where the Governor is making threats every other week and the Speaker battles him to a stalemate time and time again.  There are big taxes looming on the horizon at the State level that; combined with the County and Chicago taxes will make this area practically unbearable in terms of the tax burden imposed on the people. State Taxes  

The long and the short of it is that the Democrat run bureaucracies in Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois as whole have run themselves into the ground.  They talk about what they have cut and can’t cut and yet they can’t seem to operate with out taxing their residents at unprecedented levels.  This is the typical tax and spend mentality of the Democrat leadership, and anyone who wants to observe a classic example of how this system fails its people they need only look at Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois.  

The question I have is what is the incentive for people to stay?  Why would anyone want to work and live in the state, county, and city with outrageous taxes and little or no return?  Do the Democrats believe that people are willing to pay through the nose to say they are from Chicago?  Time will tell, but I think that the Democrats that run this circus will soon find out that residents and businesses are willing to relocate to areas of the country where they can afford to live.  I fear that Northern Illinois is heading for a watershed moment where the people say enough is enough and a mass exodus from the area takes place.

As Hillary's top campaign strategist, Penn meets and speaks constantly with both Clintons and with other key policy advisers. He is in a position to influence what the candidate supports or opposes. Hillary's Top Adviser Cashes In

The Nobel Peace prize has never recovered it’s prestige after having been awarded to Yasser Arafat & Jimmy Carter.  It suffered another cataclysmic blow to its credibility this year after having been awarded to one of the modern era’s equivalent to old time snake oil salesmen; Al Gore.  The fact that a charlatan of his magnitude can win the Nobel Peace Prize is beyond comprehension.  More and more meteorologists are stepping out and putting in their two cents on the global warming scam, not that you will ever here it from the pandering main stream (what Rush calls the Drive By) media.

ONE of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".

Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth. Story

What is the impact of this farce of an award going to Al Gore?  If the lunatic Left in the United States decides to jump on his back and try to ride him as a late entry to the White House it could really make for an interesting Democrat primary.  Hillary ahs been pandering to the center so much that the extreme liberal faction of the Democrat Party likely feels like it has been ignored.  Therein lies a pool of voters that Gore could easily steal from the former first lady. 

If this were to happen the likely winner would be Obama as Clinton-Gore would split votes among themselves and possibly open the door for the Senator from Illinois to walk right into the nomination.  This would be reminiscent of the way Senator Clinton’s husband walked into the White Hous e after Ross  Perot siphoned votes away from Bush 41.

The republican Party needs to get together and get on message and present an organized and cohesive plan for the Nation.  With the turmoil on the horizon in the Democrat party the Country is looking for some direction and the GOP should be presenting a solid platform and a unified program for taking this Nation forward.  We have had 20 years of Bush, Clinton, Bush; the last thing we need is another 4-8 years of Clinton.  The GOP must step up and seize the goldne opportunity that may present itself in the next few months.

I settled in last night to watch NBC Sunday Night Football.  My family and I love to watch all the pre-game activities, especially the video to the tune of the Mellencamp song this is our Country” in which there are clips of kids, average adults, and professionals playing football.  NBC plays this before their Sunday night game and tops it off by saying “this is our game”.  All in all it sets the stage very well for the Sunday night game and brings families together to watch what is widely regarding as the premier American sport.

Imagine my family’s surprise when during a commercial break in the first half we see the new Madden ’08 video game being promoted but we hear nothing but Spanish!  We were not watching the SAP broadcast, the network had aired this Spanish only advertisement over its primary broadcast and Americans across the nation were treated to what is probably the first, but not the last, advertisement in a foreign language during a domestic broad cast. 

We were outraged and my wife fired off an email to the network stating that this is the United States and we should be able to watch television in English.  The dust had barely settled when ANOTHER commercial in Spanish aired later in the telecast.  This one showed a Hispanic couple sitting with a counselor and it was in Spanish with English subtitles!  At the end of the ad the commentator said in English something to the effect that Hispanics across the Nation are coming to terms with their addiction to football.

How does NBC start out a telecast with a very patriotic video showing American football being played by people of all ages and say that this is “Out Country” and this is “Our Game” and then hit the viewing public with Spanish advertisement?  It is times like this when I wonder what is next in a country that is seemingly doing everything possible to make English a second language.  For now I just thank God for the person who invented the DVR so that I can record the game, start watching it 15 minutes late, and fast forward through the Spanish portion for the broad cast of “Our Game” in “Our Country”!

The latest “potential” attack on marriage is coming from . . . California, where else?  Since the pro-gay marriage lobby has been voted down in its unrelenting attempt to redefine marriage, they have garnered potential support for abolishing the institution of marriage all together:

In legal briefs submitted to the California Supreme Court regarding same-sex marriage, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown both stated that a future legislature could abolish marriage and remove the rights now enjoyed by a husband and wife, a pro-family group charged on Monday.

In Brown's document, filed on Aug. 17, the attorney general stated that "the words 'marry' and 'marriage' have no essential constitutional significance under the California Constitution. Thus, the legislature could change the name of the legal relationship now known as 'marriage' to some other name without any constitutional impediment." Newsmax

This is getting ridiculous, and the tendency to dismiss this as yet another example of the lunacy that is California must be put a side.  If this ever comes to fruition it could be cited as a precedent and used by other states.  Do we want to become a nation without marriage?  Do we want to give up the very building blocks of our society, the families of this great Nation, to appease an immoral segment of society?  We need to make sure our leaders know that preservation of the institution of marriage is extremely important and that we will not let it be killed off, even by the Terminator.

Looking back to May 2006 we can recall that the witch hunt that surrounded the firefight in Haditha Iraq . Congressman Murtha, D-Pa and a former Marine, publicly seemed to make it his personal mission to bring the Marines involved in the firefight to justice for allegedly killing innocent civilians in cold blood.

On May 31, 2006, the Los Angeles Times editorially bellowed, "What happened at the Iraqi My Lai ?" The charge was that on Nov. 19, 2005, the Marines of Kilo Company, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, had gone on a killing rampage in the town of Haditha in Anbar province. The rampage was said to be in response to the killing by IED of one of their comrades.

That May, Rep. Murtha, D-Pa., vowed at a press conference an investigation would prove "our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Investor’s Business Daily

There is an old saying when it comes to the court system; “the wheels turn slowly, but they do turn”. In this case, the system has run its course and the Marines have been exonerated. Logically this was the only possible conclusion that would have made sense. This is a war in which the enemy is dressed in civilian clothes at all times; they do not wear uniforms or fight with honor. Had this case resulted in convictions of the participants in the Haditha firefight it would have set a disastrous precedent.

Imagine trying to fight a war against an enemy that steps out from the civilian population, wearing no military uniform of any kind, takes a shot at you and then blends back in to the crowd. This, in and of itself, is a frightening scenario which is being played out daily in Iraq. Now, incorporate into this scenario a set of handcuffs that will restrict a soldier’s very ability to fight this war effectively. When your military is more concerned with a possible lynching at the hands of the media and possibly become the scapegoat for political agendas, they will not be able to fight an effective war.

I feel that we should take the hand cuffs off completely and let our military fight this war and win it at all costs. The misguided attempt to fight a delicate has probably prolonged this conflict much longer than necessary. When we went into battle the President had the support of Congress and it seemed as if we were going in strong. Then politics worked its way into the equation and our troops were made to fight political opinion at home as well as the enemy abroad. Take off the kid gloves and fight this war to win already!

Dare we hope that the Democrats will let the issue rest, for a while at least? I’m not that optimistic, I am just glad that cooler heads have prevailed again. If you haven’t guessed what I’m talking about yet, the latest attempt at a premature pullout from the Iraq War by the Democrats was voted down in a 24 hour marathon session orchestrated to produce an exit from the War:

The Senate rejected a plan Wednesday to bring home U.S. troops from Iraq by early next year after spending an all-night session debating whether to demand President Bush change the mission.

The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and move toward passage. Four Republicans voted with the Democrats, but only one new backer emerged after the 24-hour Democrat-orchestrated talkathon: Susan Collins of Maine who is seeking re-election next year. She joined three previously known Republicans supporting a troop withdrawal plan: Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon. Story

Senate Democrats, as well as those in the House have shown that they have a two part agenda:

· Attack President Bush

· Pull out of Iraq

Despite having the majority in both Houses of Congress, they have been unable to successfully achieve either goal. None-the-less, they keep trying; time after time after time. They clearly have not thought of building any momentum going into the 2008 Presidential election on anything as trivial as a party platform, or built up a list of achievements for their prospective candidates to run on; they continue to spin their wheels in a grotesque recurring nightmare.

I suppose that conservatives should be happy to see the Democrats foundering in failure while holding the Congressional majority, but I am still waiting to see a solid Republican candidate step up to the plate and put forth a true conservative agenda. I must say that I am not impressed so far. I sincerely hope that the GOP seizes the continuing failure of the Democrat Congress and puts forth a strong platform that will stand on its own and unite the conservative base going into 2008. Dare to dream . . .

It comes as no surprise that the McCain campaign is falling apart; all but finished for all intents and purposes. The Senator has done everything possible to alienate the conservative base in the years since he lost to George W. Bush in his last bid for the White House and the voters have not forgotten.

We had the McCain – Feingold campaign reform fiasco that has given us the current 527 funding of campaigns; elections for sale to the highest bidder. This misguided attempt to reform the campaign system has left us with candidates who are ranked by how much money they can raise more than where they stand on substantive issues. His primary redeeming quality in the wake of McCain – Feingold was that he has been a hawk on the War in Iraq and that had kept some conservatives by his side. In a political environment bent on failure in the War, he did stand strong in support of our troops. In fact, many thought that he would be the strongest on defense of all presidential wannabes.

The Senator managed, however, to alienate the majority of those who still supported him, and doomed his campaign in the process, by his teaming up with another prominent Democrat and sponsoring the McCain – Kennedy “amnesty” fiasco. His never ending willingness to reach across the aisle and embrace the Democrats to the point that he takes positions that can best be defined as contrarian to that of his conservative base has led to his undoing. There are only so many times that he can walk down the aisle holding hands with the Left and not expect it to affect his presidential aspirations.

It is a shame, really, because I believe he was solid on the war and wanted to reign in spending. He had solid conservative positions on many issues, but they were completely overshadowed by his missteps. Here is an excerpt of the story detailing the break up of his campaign management team:

John McCain's campaign manager and chief strategist resigned Tuesday in a major staff shake-up for the struggling Republican presidential candidate who is all but broke and trails in opinion polls.

In statements, Terry Nelson, a veteran of President Bush's successful 2004 re-election effort, said he resigned as campaign manager effective immediately and John Weaver said he stepped down from his post of chief strategist. Story