Las Vegas Better Deal Under The Mob?

Above, looking south on the Las Vegas Strip. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I've been catching up on 1990s movies in all genres.

The latest was the 1995 Martin Scorsese movie, Casino. It stars Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone and James Woods.

It is based on real-life events that led to the downfall of the Mafia's control of Las Vegas casinos.

The movie's synopsis:

In early-1970s Las Vegas, low-level mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro) gets tapped by his bosses to head the Tangiers Casino. At first, he's a great success in the job, but over the years, problems with his loose-cannon enforcer Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), his ex-hustler wife Ginger (Sharon Stone), her con-artist ex Lester Diamond (James Woods) and a handful of corrupt politicians put Sam in ever-increasing danger. Martin Scorsese directs this adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's book.

The real-life hotel the Tangiers Casino was based on was the Stardust Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. It is quite entertaining. The senator in the movie (played by Dick Smothers) was based on Sen. Harry Reid (so I've been told). 

My grade on the movie: A-.

The movie got me thinking: Was Las Vegas better when it was run by the Mafia?

Back in 1973, two friends and I spent spring break in Las Vegas and I came home with half of what I brought with me. I did well at the Hacienda Hotel's roulette tables. Food was cheap. I have the feeling that others do that Las Vegas was a better deal when it was run by the mob than with the greedy corporations who run it now.

Here's some snippets on this from an article in the Las Vegas Sun:

Things were better when the Mob ran this town. We hear this often enough to make it almost a cliché, and with last week’s opening of the Mob Museum, er, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, it seems like an argument worth examining.

Also, think of the extreme irony of claiming there was less crime when the Mob ran the town. “They were out doing burglaries!” Green quipped, referring to the “Hole in the Wall Gang.”

As I learned at the museum, which opened Valentine’s Day on Stewart Avenue downtown, the skim at the Stardust was $7 million per year; at the Flamingo, it was $36 million from 1960 to 1967; at the Tropicana it was $150,000 per month. That money was stolen from the community and sent to criminal gangs back East.

(Given the events of the past few years, I can appreciate that, for many people, banks vs. organized crime is a close call.)

As Sloan notes, cocktail waitresses, bartenders and maître d’s made great money in Mob days, in part because the IRS wasn’t as rigorous about collecting taxes on tips. The casinos didn’t have to report when someone won a big jackpot, and let’s remember that there was no competition from Atlantic City or anywhere else.

As for the food? If you look hard, you can still find a $7 prime rib dinner, though I’m not sure why you would. Our food these days is more expensive, but it’s also far better.

From the Texarkana Gazette:

But over the years, the old guys died off and successful prosecutions ran off much of the hidden ownership of the gambling clubs.

And that's too bad-at least in my opinion. The mob knew how to run a casino.

They expected the casino to make money and didn't care if the rest of the place showed a loss. Give enough play at the tables and everything was free. But even the low-rollers who stuck to the nickel slots got a cheap room and cheaper meals. Drinks were free at the tables and machines and didn't cost much more at the bars.

Today, the odds of winning are worsening. One now has to bet more to win less.

From the Daily Mail (U.K.):

Gamblers are wagering more than ever in Las Vegas as casinos increase odds and reduce payouts in some of the most popular games.

Blackjack losses on the Strip were nearly $1 billion last year, according to official figures - the second highest on record after 2007.

The increase comes as casino bosses attempt to draw in 'higher value customers' while players with less cash to wager are priced out.

Roulette has also had odds increased in many places. The number of triple-zero tables - which add another slot to the wheel and increase the odds of hitting a chosen number - has increased.

Minimum bets are also rising, meaning players must risk more cash to play games.

The changes, reported in an analysis by the Wall Street Journal, also come as the overall price of a vacation to Las Vegas increases, with costs at hotels and restaurants also on the rise.

These days, I rarely go to Las Vegas. When I do, I don't gamble as I used to. I rarely go gambling at the local Red Rock Navajo Casino in Gallup. I just go there for their prime rib special on Fridays.

Federal Lawsuit Filed In Nevada By Trump Campaign

Above, Boss William Tweed of Tammany Hall as depicted by Thomas Nast.

Those of you who took political science in college should remember learning about the 19th (and 20th) Century Democrat machines, with Tammany Hall being the most famous of them.

We are seeing that Democrat political machines are alive and well today. The Harry Reid Political Machine in Nevada is hard at work trying to skew the state's votes to Joe Biden.

The Nevada Independent reported:

President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Nevada Republican Party plan to file a federal lawsuit in Las Vegas this morning asking a judge to stop the counting of “improper votes,” alleging that tens of thousands of people in the state cast a ballot despite no longer living here.

Members of the Trump campaign announced details of the lawsuit at a press conference outside of the Clark County Elections Department headquarters in Las Vegas. The announcement came shortly before the release of more election results in Nevada, showing that former Vice President Joe Biden now has a roughly 12,000-vote lead over Trump.

News of the lawsuit was first reported by Fox News. 

Former a ttorney general and Trump campaign co-chair Adam Laxalt said that the campaign believed that there were “many” mail ballots submitted by deceased individuals or by people who have moved out of Clark County during the pandemic. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell also claimed that the campaign was not being allowed to check returned ballots, and that the lawsuit was being filed to “protect legal voters.”

But the campaign did not offer evidence of the alleged fraud or deceased people voting — save for a 78-year-old Las Vegas woman who said she was prevented from voting in-person — and left without answering media questions, instead saying Clark County should be answering the questions.

“We don’t have access to the information,” said Grenell, a Trump campaign official. “They are not giving us access to the ballots.”

Grenell framed the litigation as the remedy to protecting legal voters who cast ballots in this election. He also cast blame on the “Harry Reid Machine,” alleging it recklessly threw ballots in the mail ahead of the general election (the U.S. Postal Service delivers mail ballots in Nevada and other states).

To read more, go here. 

Obama's 'Culture of Intimidation' Seen At The Bundy Ranch

The standoff at the Bundy Ranch last weekend in Nevada seems to be only the tip of iceberg when it comes to threats, bullying and intimidation employed by the Obama Administration's "culture of intimidation."

The Washington Times wrote:

Sending scores of armed agents along with helicopters and dogs to confront an elderly Nevada rancher over grazing fees may seem like overkill, but critics say it’s not inconsistent with the federal government’s recent approach to environmental enforcement. 

The simmering truce between the Bundys and the Bureau of Land Management comes after high-profile raids last year by armed federal agents on small-time gold miners in tiny Chicken, Alaska, and guitar makers at the Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee.

That doesn’t include more subtle threats, such as recent efforts by the Obama administration to raise grazing fees or pressure permit holders to transfer their water rights as a condition of renewal, said Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau.

Thankfully, armed Bundy supporters are remaining at the ranch. They are patrolling the ranch and are on the lookout for a return of the BLM. This may be due in part to Sen. Harry Reid's flapping mouth the other day when he said that "it's not over." Sounds like a not-too-veiled-threat to me.

Considering where Obama is from, Chicago, famous for "Gestapo tactics" that were decried by Sen. Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut in 1968, this really shouldn't have come as any surprise.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/15/culture-of-intimidation-seen-in-nevada-ranch-stand/#ixzz2z51dMBEv

Crooked Dingy Harry Reid Kin Plotting To Grab Bundy Ranch Lands

Reports that the Chinese want the land that was/is the center of the dispute between the federal government (the Bureau of Land Management or BLM) and rancher Cliven Bundy appear to be confirmed. And, Nevada Senator "Dingy" Harry Reid's son Rory is up to his eyeballs involved.

Newsmax is reporting:

The Nevada rancher who forced the federal Bureau of Land Management to back down last week may have been targeted because a Chinese solar company with ties to Sen. Harry Reid's son wants the land for an energy plant, several websites report. 

A report on Godfatherpolitics.com, says Chinese energy giant ENN Energy Group wants to use federal land as part of its effort to build a $5 billion solar farm and panel-building plant in the southern Nevada desert. Rory Reid, the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is representing ENN in their efforts to locate in Nevada. 

Part of the land ENN wants to use was purchased from Clark County at well below appraised value. Rory Reid is the former Clark County Commission chairman, and he persuaded the commission to sell 9,000 acres of county land to ENN on the promise it would provide jobs for the area, Reuters reported in 2012.

In addition to the county acreage, the federal Bureau of Land Management at one time was looking at BLM property under dispute with cattle rancher Cliven Bundy. The BLM is headed by former Harry Reid senior policy adviser Neil Kornz. 

According to BizPac Review, BLM documents indicate that the federal property for which Bundy claims grazing rights were under consideration by a solar energy company.

It appears that the plot is thickening! Crony capitalism with the Chinese communists!

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/bundy-ranch-rory-reid-harry-reid/2014/04/13/id/565328#ixzz2yrve60Z2

UPDATE:

RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) -- Senate majority leader Harry Reid hasn't been very vocal about the cattle battle showdown in recent days, but says "it's not over." 

Tyranny In Nevada

“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans.”

- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval

Governor, then why don't you send in the National Guard to defend Cliven Bundy's rights and disperse the BLM thugs?

From the Washington Times:

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s decades-long battle against the federal government over grazing rights has heated to the point where militia groups have joined in and taken up spots against the feds who’ve circled his land — and talk is, they’re not afraid to open fire. 

A spokesman for the one of the militia groups said as much to local 8 News Now: I’m not “afraid to shoot,” he said. 

Margaret Houston, Mr. Bundy’s sister and a cancer survivor, said at a town hall gathering this week that the situation “was like a war zone” and that she felt “like I was not in the United States,” The Daily Mail reported. 

The Las Vegas Review-Journal described it this way: “Serious bloodshed was narrowly avoided,” in a story about how dogs were unleashed on a woman who was pregnant while the rancher’s son was hit with a taser. 

On Tuesday, armed Bureau of Land Management agents stormed Mr. Bundy’s property, escalating a court dispute that’s wound for two decades over the rancher’s refusal to pay for grazing fees.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/11/militias-head-nevada-ranchers-standoff-feds-were-n/#ixzz2yes4XMFr

“Our mission here is to protect the protestors and the American citizens from the violence that the federal government is dishing out.”

- Jim Landy, West Mountain Rangers

From Newsmax:

Tea party groups and Libertarians have joined in the widening battle over grazing rights between Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and federal authorities. 

Elected officials in states ranging from Arizona to Washington were rushing to Nevada on Thursday night after watching a startling video of an angry clash between protesters, including private militias, and U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

The 10-minute video showed Bundy's son Ammon being tasered and Cliven's sister Margaret Bundy-Houston, a cancer survivor, being tackled to the ground by a ranger.  

"Watching that video last night created a visceral reaction in me," said Arizona Rep. Kelly Townsend, a tea party Republican who drove from Phoenix to take part in a protest rally in Bunkerville near Bundy's 160-acre ranch. "It sounds dramatic, but it reminded me of Tiananmen Square. I don't recognize my country at this point."

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/tea-party-libertarian-ranch-ruby-ridge/2014/04/11/id/565102#ixzz2yexrfXcO

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Behind BLM Land Grab At Bundy Ranch!

UPDATE: The Feds back down!

Donate To Matt Bevin's Campaign And Dump Mitch McConnell!

Above, Matt Bevin.  Photo by Bevin for Senate.

Tired of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky?  I sure am and I did something about it!

Thanks to the ineffective "leadership" of McConnell, "Dingy" Harry Reid has taken away the one weapon the GOP had to block leftist/socialist judicial appointments of Barack Obama. Reid's "nuclear option." Now the Democrats can appoint whomever they choose to the federal courts. They will appoint judges who will take away our freedoms and destroy the Constitution.

We can thank Mitch McConnell for letting this happen.

Unfortunately, I don't live in Kentucky, so I can't vote for Matt Bevin, the conservative Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky. I did the next best thing. I sent a contribution to Matt Bevin for U.S. Senate Committee. He is running in the GOP primary against McConnell. In fact, Bevin recently took 80% in a Kentucky straw poll! (See http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/11/25/Matt-Bevin-Takes-over-80-of-Vote-in-Kentucky-Straw-Poll?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)

If you agree with me, I urge you to go to Matt Bevin's campaign website and contribute to his campaign!

To go to Matt Bevin's campaign website, to here.

The Looney Left Report: MoveOn.org Petitions To Arrest and Try GOP Leaders

Just when one may think the Left can't get any nuttier, they come up with something that shatters that illusion.

MoveOn.org has set up a petition to arrest and try House Republicans, Sen. Ted Cruz and others for sedition over the two-week shutdown (actually, a slowdown as 83% of the government was still functioning).

The petition's statement:

MoveOn.org is a far-left website of radical left-wing kooks. This petition is basically akin to someone on the extreme right-wing fringe petitioning for the assassination of President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It is that stupid!

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says MoveOn.org is "absurd and irresponsible" in trying to "improperly" use the criminal prosecution system to punish political opponents. He calls them "a bunch of radicals" (and Dershowitz is a liberal). To hear Dershowitz discuss the petition, go here.

In their article on this, Examiner.com wrote:

It's almost enough to make one believe liberals really do want a second civil war in America in their effort to stifle any disagreement with Barack Obama.

Deal Made: Utah's National Parks To Reopen

Above, Bryce Canyon National Park.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

President Obama may be refusing to negotiate a deal with the GOP to end the shutdown (i.e., slowdown, as 83% of the federal government is still operational), but that isn't stopping Interior Secretary Sally Jewell (at least for now, unless the leftist wackos in the White House and Dingy Harry Reid decide otherwise) from making a deal with Utah's leaders.

CNN is reporting:

(CNN) -- Leaders in Utah say they found a way to get around the government shutdown. 

Utah will reopen its five national parks by Saturday, as well as three other nationally run locations. 

Utah's Governor Gary Herbert made the announcement Thursday, saying a deal had been reached with the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. 

"Utah agrees to pay the National Park Service (NPS) up to $1.67 million— $166,572 per day—to re-open eight national sites in Utah for up to 10 days. If the federal government shutdown ends before then, the State will receive a refund of unused monies" an official press statement explained.

This deal will reopen Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion National Parks. Other areas to be reopened are Natural Bridges and Cedar Breaks National Monuments and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

At least someone in the Obama Administration is willing to make a deal. Kudos!

To read the full story, go here.

Obamacare: The Costly Lie Is Exposed

Back in 2009 and 2010, the Obama Administration, along with the Democrat-controlled congress led by Nancy Pelosi in the House and Harry Reid in the Senate, told us that Obamacare would save us billions over the years once it is fully implemented. Those of us students of history (or any learned rational person) knew that this line of b.s. wasn't true and that the socialist legislation would cost us dearly.

We were right.

Forbes reported:

No serious policy person ever believed the original CBO [Congressional Budget Office] gross cost projection of $938 billion (over 10 years) made when the bill was rammed through Congress in March of 2010. Working to achieve an acceptable CBO “score” (i.e., cost projection) is just part of the game Washington plays with legislation—and the American people.

To begin with, the costs in the legislation were back-loaded: Many of the costs won’t emerge until the latter half of the initial 10-year projection, ending in 2019. And sure enough, when the CBO issued its update in March 2011 the 10-year gross cost projection through 2021 jumped to $1.44 trillion. The just-released 2012 projection tags the gross cost at $1.76 trillion through 2022—nearly twice the original cost. Surprise!

Surprise (!) indeed. In a nutshell, Obamacare is nothing but a fraudulent utopian scheme. All it does is expand government control over nearly 7% of our economy that will worsen medical care, not improve it. We were lied to about the costs.

Unless we elect a Republican president along with a Republican Senate to go along with a Republican House to repeal it, or the U.S. Supreme Court (it begins hearing arguments later this month) rules that Obamacare is unconstitutional, we are headed for a major disaster.

Did you notice that there has been no word from the Democrats after the CBO report about "fixing" Obamacare? Surprised?

McConnell's Hare-Brained Scheme

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed a "Plan B" measure giving President Obama around $2 trillion-plus in debt limit authority.

The Wall Street Journal Online reports:

The so-called Plan B is taking shape in quiet discussions between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), away from unhappy House Republicans who don't favor the approach.

It would link a package of spending cuts to a plan Mr. McConnell proposed earlier this week that would give the president the power to raise the debt limit through 2012 in three installments, unless two-thirds of Congress voted to block it. It likely wouldn't include any tax increases, a senior Democratic aide familiar with the discussions said.

This is nothing but a hare-brained scheme that gives Obama more power. McConnell is known as a Washington "wheeler-dealer" and is hell-bent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. This also would saddle the GOP with blame over the economy.

Let's face it. This whole debt limit matter boils down to two positions:

1. The Democrats (led by Obama) want tax increases and they want more spending.

2. The Republicans want spending cuts and low taxes.

On Friday, the fiscal conservative group, Club for Growth, voiced strong opposition to McConnell's debt ceiling plan, calling it a "backroom deal."

"The American people didn't send more Republicans to Washington so they could give President Obama more power," said Club for Growth's President Chris Chocola. "This backroom deal is just another sellout of the free-market principles that make America strong."

McConnell seems to be in a panic for no reason. If an agreement isn't reached by August 2, the Obama Administration says that the government will be in default. That is utter nonsense. The treasury has plenty of money to meet obligations. It is just a scare tactic.

If McConnell and other "wobbly" Republicans can't show enough spine, then it is time to get new GOP leadership.

At least one senator is willing to put up a fight against McConnell's scheme: Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

"I'll use every tool in Senate to stop passage of 'Plan B' blank check debt limit increase," DeMint said in a Twitter Tweet. "No Republican was elected to give President Obama more power and that's what this plan does."

Gas Prices Jump Nationwide

Above, the rest of the country will be soon seeing these prices.

Looks like the price of gasoline is jumping higher.

According to ABC News, the country will be seeing $4/gallon at the pump soon. We in California already are paying over $4/gallon and have for several weeks. The rest of the country is catching up.

ABC News posted:

The average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. is now within a dime of $4.

Drivers in 22 states are paying more than the national average of $3.91 per gallon. In Alaska, California and Connecticut they're paying $4.20 or more.

With one day left in April, gas prices are up 30 cents for the month. On average, the increase has been slightly more than a penny per day. At that rate, the national average for gas would reach $4 on Sunday, May 8. In 2008, when gas hit a record of $4.11 per gallon in July, it didn't cost $4 until June 8.

Analysts predict gas prices will actually start falling toward the end of May, as refineries increase production and more gas becomes available. That remains to be seen: Many analysts failed to predict the prices drivers are paying now, caught off-guard by surging oil prices.

And, they state the reason:

The main reason gas is up is the high price of oil. It rose again Friday, boosted by a weaker dollar. The dollar hit a three-year low against six major currencies. Since oil and other commodities are priced in dollars, they become more attractive to buyers with other currencies and prices rise.

Benchmark crude for June delivery rose $1.07 to settle at $113.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

We can all thank President Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the dollar's loss in value due to their $14+ trillion spending spree and the Obama Administration's oil drilling policies.

How's that hope and change working out for you?

To read the full article, go here.

Obama, The Town Whore Preaching Chastity

Well, I just got done spending about two hours doing my daughter's federal and state tax returns through TaxAct.com (used them for years and never had a problem).

In case you weren't aware, we have three additional days to file our tax returns this year. It seems that April 15 (the normal tax day) falls on some East Coast (or something) holiday celebration of some sort. So instead of just giving them the extra days, the kindly government gave it to everyone. So we have to April 18 to file our taxes. Ain't that nice of them?

Speaking of our government, President Obama spoke on reducing the federal deficit today and said (Source: MoneyNews.com):

“We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt,” Obama said at George Washington University in the capital. “And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery.”

Uh-huh. This is coming from the guy who ran up (along with the Democrats in the House and Senate led by Pelosi and Reid) the biggest deficits in history!

This is like listening to the town whore preaching chastity.

Hugh Hewitt: McClellan Republicans

Above, Gen. George B. McClellan.

As soon as I read the title of this article, I immediately knew what Hugh Hewitt was talking about.

You see, I took Civil War history in college and learned a great deal about President Abraham Lincoln's exasperation over Gen. George McClellan's inaction at the start of the Civil War. At one point, the frustrated Lincoln remarked, "If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time."

As Hewitt put it:

George McClellan was the dashing commander of the Army of the Potomac at the start of the Civil War, whom the troops loved but whom Abraham Lincoln scorned as timid and quick to retreat.

Perhaps now even Steelers fans will understand why I have taken to calling the House Republican the McClellan Republicans –always preparing to fight but never quite getting to the political battlefield that is the great spending debate.

Why does Hewitt refer to the Republican leadership as "McClellan Republicans"? Here's part of the reason:

Speaker John Boehner, GOP Leader Eric Cantor and GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy have been in their saddles since November 2, and even though their formal power only arrived in January, they have had more than four months to prepare the debate over the CR, the debt ceiling and the FY 2012 budget.

If they prepared at all they prepared poorly, concentrating on symbolic gestures and focusing on procedural niceties like “open rules” rather than closing with the Democrats and forcing the first of the many showdowns ahead on spending. The phony cuts assembled thus far –the GOP talking points say $8 billion has been sawed from the federal budget—have not resulted in a single lay-off or program closure. One could look for months and see no effect from these paper cuts.

These Republican "leaders" don't seem to want to wage a battle with the Democrats. They were put into their leadership positions because the voters had enough of Obama and the socialism of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

So far, although the Democrats' numbers have been greatly diminished in the aftermath of last year's elections, they are still bringing artillery to the battle while the GOP leadership seemed to have shown up to the fight with fly-swatters.

By the way, George McClellan went on to become Lincoln's Democrat opponent in the 1864 elections.

To read Hewitt's full article, go here.

February's $223 Billion Deficit Bigger Than Entire 2007 Deficit

The damage that the Obama Administration, the then-Democrat-controlled congress (led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) did continues to mount up.

The Congressional Budget Office, in a preliminary report, said the federal government posted its largest monthly deficit in history in February at $223 billion.

This is bigger than the entire 2007 deficit! (Go here.) That's right, folks! The one-month deficit is bigger than the ENTIRE 2007 deficit!

For more on February's deficit, go here.

We can also thank all the loonies who voted for Obama and the Democrats in 2008 for this!

House Votes To Repeal Obamacare 245-189

Breaking News from Newsmax.com:

House Votes to Repeal Obamacare

The House of Representatives voted 245-189 vote to repeal President Obama's health care plan passed by Congress last year, with 3 Democrats joining the majority. This vote is seen as the first step in Republican efforts to repeal and defund the program. To fully repeal the program the Senate must pass the repeal legislation, followed by President Obama's approval.

Senate Majority Leader "Dingy" Harry Reid says there's "no plans" to take up the House measure in the U.S. Senate.

According to Politico.com:

The bill will head next to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised to block it. If it did receive a vote, the repeal bill would be unlikely to draw support from even a majority of senators. Even so, House Republican leaders have challenged Reid to give the bill a vote since Democrats, who control the chamber, have little to fear.

And, showing how Democrats are sincere about civility, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said this* on the House floor:

They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels. You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing.

The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it--believed it and you have the Holocaust. We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care. Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover.

*Source: ABC News

GOP Takes House of Representatives

Right, Mark Reed supporters catching the night's election returns.

The election results have been interesting, to say the least. The Republican Party (as of this writing) gained 53 seats in the House of Representatives and are neck-and-neck for control of the U.S. Senate.

There were some disappointments, particularly in California and Nevada. The only good thing about Harry Reid's win is that even if the Democrats retain control of the senate, his powers are greatly diminished.

At present, the only results for the 27th Congressional District (San Fernando Valley) is that Mark Reed is behind Brad Sherman at 41% with 5% of the precincts reporting. That is still respectable, considering the make-up of the district and that it is badly gerrymandered.

I am pleased to report that Greg Smith won his race for the Kansas House of Representatives by 2%. His late daughter Kelsey is, no doubt, smiling down on him. His district is in the Overland Park area. He'll be a great asset to the Kansas legislature!

From the Kansas City Star:

In House District 22, Republican Greg Smith, a social studies teacher, beat Democratic incumbent Rep. Lisa Benlon. Smith is the father of Kelsey Smith, who was kidnapped at an Overland Park Target store and murdered in 2007. Smith received 51 percent of the vote to 49 percent for Benlon, who was seeking a second consecutive term.

Congratulations Greg!

Above, yours truly with Mark Reed.

I spent this evening at Mark Reed's Election Night party at the American Legion Post 308 in Reseda. Here's some photos of tonight's gathering:



Left, Mark Reed greeting supporters.













Right, entertainers making the night a festive one.






Above, candidate Mark Reed addresses his supporters.

Reports of Democrat Vote Fraud

Reports of Democrat election chicanery have been reported.

In Nevada, it has been reported that election machines serviced by SEIU have been tampered so that Majority Leader Harry Reid's name is automatically checked off on the ballot when individuals went to vote.

In Arizona, it has been reported that Mexican nationals are being bused across the border into Arizona to vote or work for Democrat candidates.

There's more! See this article in today's American Thinker.

It is up to Republican/Conservative voters to swamp the polling places so that our votes will be so overwhelming that any efforts of Democrat voter fraud will be rendered ineffective.

Las Vegas' 15% Unemployment Rate Sinking Reid's Campaign

Nevada's GOP U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle pummeled Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid over Nevada's economic problems. The Angle campaign released new ads focusing on Nevada's unemployment news and placed the responsibility into the laps of President Obama and Sen. Harry Reid.




Fox News reports:

As President Obama swung by Las Vegas Friday night to rally support for the Democrat who is the prime target of Republicans this November, fresh economic data showed Nevada's jobless rate held at 14.4 percent, the worst in the nation. Reid might have been able to cast that as an improvement, since it marked the first time since January that number did not rise -- however, the jobless rate in the state's economic nerve center, Las Vegas, soared to a record high of 15 percent.

Angle's campaign released a statement overnight thanking Obama for his visit, claiming it helped her campaign raise $200,000 in online contributions.

Reid's role in passing the massive spending and Obamacare bills is hurting him badly. Obama is not popular in Nevada, particularly in Las Vegas.

Last year, Obama, in a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind., said that executives of failing financial institutions should use federal bailout money responsibly and that they cannot "take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime."

Then, this year, Obama said this about Las Vegas:

"You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college."

Last month, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he recently learned that Obama's comments cost the city over 200 conventions.

Nevadans voters would be idiots to vote to return Reid to the senate.

To read the full article, go here.

EPA Tax

Just received an email on the Senate vote on the EPA Tax bill:

Yesterday, six Democrat Senators abandoned a plan for higher Energy taxes that would cripple the American economy.

Led by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who introduced a resolution to block the EPA from creating a backdoor energy tax, these six Democrats should be applauded for trying to stop the EPA's power grab:

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)

Harry Reid still wants to pass a job-killing energy tax by the end of this summer, and we will need your help in stopping him and his liberal allies.

If you haven't done so already, please call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to stand up against Harry Reid and President Obama in opposing new energy taxes.

We will keep you informed of any new developments.

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Steve Everley
American Solutions for Winning the Future

Yes, those senators should be applauded!

Sen. Ben Nelson Caves In: Will Support Socialized Medicine

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced that he will support the health care package put-together by Sen. Harry Reid and other Democrats behind closed doors and without Republican participation or support.

The Washington Post is reporting:

Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas.

"We're there," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to outline the deal.

Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with him on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. Nelson also secured other favors for his home state.

The package closely tracks the $848 billion measure Reid (D-Nev.) drafted this month, before he entered into negotiations aimed at winning the 60 votes he needs to avert a GOP filibuster, aides said. Since then, Reid has made numerous concessions to moderate Democrats, scrapping an effort to create a government-run insurance plan and beefing up prohibitions on spending federal funds for abortion coverage, a change demanded by the final holdout, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Instead of a public option, the final product would allow private firms for the first time to offer national insurance policies to all Americans, outside the jurisdiction of state regulations. Those plans would be negotiated through the Office of Personnel Management, the same agency that handles health coverage for federal workers and members of Congress.

So it appears that the Democrats are on track to shove this monstrosity down our throats, despite opposition by an average of 61% of the people in recent polls.

My family has property in Nebraska and family connections there. I, for one, will do what I can to see that Nelson is defeated for re-election.

No doubt there will be legal challenges (including the constitutionality of the bill) that could tie this up for years.

UPDATE (12/20/09): A website has been set up seeking the defeat of Ben Nelson in 2012 called Give Ben The Boot.