Candidates Who Invoke ‘Climate-gate’ Could Get Boost in 2010

Climate-gate could further complicate the re-election prospects of congressional representatives from industrialized states who are already playing defense over the economic costs of climate change legislation.

Thousands of  emails leaked to the Internet from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom appear to substantiate a growing body of research that questions the idea of man-made global warming. Climate-gate has the potential to emerge as an unexpected gift to Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections. But there’s the rub.

With the exception of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), and a handful of other elected officials, Republicans have been reticent to engage and debate the dubious claims of human induced global warming, laments Steve Milloy, editor and founder of JunkScience.com.

“Too many of them don’t understand the issue and the extremism that stands behind green activism,” he observes. “They are afraid of being labeled as anti-environment and are just not well-equipped or well informed enough to confront policies that could result in an unprecedented expansion of government power.”

At the very least, 2010 Republican challengers could invoke the email scandal to demonstrate how research has been falsified and distorted to advance a political agenda at odds with the economic well-being of many Americans. This in turn could open the way to a larger discussion of global warming science and the role of the United Nations.

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Tags: American Council for Capital Formation, Bob McDonnell, cap-and-trade, carbon emissions, climate change
Posted Jan 11th 2010 at 7:01 am in Environment, Politics, State Politics | 5792294 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kmooney/2010/01/11/candidates-who-invoke-climate-gate-could-boost-2010-prospects/Candidates+Who+Invoke+%27Climate-gate%27+Could+Get+Boost+in+20102010-01-11+15%3A01%3A15Kevin+Mooney

The Top 5 Lessons of the November 2009 Election

The 2009 elections have come and gone.  New Jersey elected a Republican governor.  That is more of a surprise than the fact that Virginia now has a Republican governor (for the first time in 8 years) and less of a surprise than the Democrats winning House seats in New York and in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mixed results you say?  If so, is there anything to be learned from these elections?  The answer is no, because we should have learned these lessons already.   In case they have been forgotten, however, here they are:

5.   Off year Elections Are Hard on the President’s Party.  The President’s party loses 20 seats, on average, in the House in the mid-term elections.  When President’s approval rating is below 50%, that number doubles.  So it can be of little surprise that voters dealt the Democrats losses this November.

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Tags: Bob McDonnell, Chris Christie, Contract with America, mid-term elections, off year elections
Posted Nov 5th 2009 at 9:13 am in Congress, Politics, State Politics | 2583852 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tdelbeccaro/2009/11/05/the-top-5-lessons-of-the-november-2009-election/The+Top+5+Lessons+of+the+November+2009+Election2009-11-05+16%3A13%3A57Thomas+Del+Beccaro

Boots on the Ground Report: Obama Focused on the Wrong Election

In my last column titled “The Cost of Delay,” I highlighted that one of the primary second order effects of the Obama administration’s stalling on the Afghanistan decision was that the Afghan runoff election would necessarily be a repeat of the general election, complete with allegations of fraud and intimidation.

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Afghan President Hamid Karzai Meet With then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

The issues surrounding the general election in Afghanistan were basically that it was poorly administered and security concerns were rampant as the Taliban tried to disrupt and influence the voting. Afghanistan with its 100,000 NATO forces does not have sufficient combat power to secure all of the provinces. It’s that simple. We had twice that amount to secure elections in Iraq, a country 1/3 smaller than Afghanistan, with 8,000,000 fewer citizens, and with far more infrastructure. For the Afghan runoff, there would have been no measurable difference in troop levels or international assistance from the first election, and so Abdullah Abdullah, the only viable contender to Karzai, pulled out believing the fix was in. Allegations of corruption and intimidation are just that, allegations, but should have been addressed. They weren’t.

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Tags: Abdullah, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Bob McDonnell, elections
Posted Nov 4th 2009 at 7:29 pm in Defense, Obama | 2573433 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ajtata/2009/11/04/boots-on-the-ground-report-obama-focused-on-the-wrong-election/Boots+on+the+Ground+Report%3A+Obama+Focused+on+the+Wrong+Election2009-11-05+02%3A29%3A11Brigadier+General+%28R%29+Anthony+J.+Tata

GOP Takes Virginia Governorship

**UPDATE**: Democrat Deeds Concedes

From the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans wrested political control of Virginia from the Democrats on Tuesday as independent voters swung behind the GOP, a troubling sign for President Barack Obama and his party heading into an important midterm election year. New Jersey decided whether to stick with unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell’s victory in Virginia over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds was a triumph for a GOP looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008. It also was a setback for the White House in a swing state that was a crucial part of Obama’s electoral landslide just a year ago. The president had personally campaigned for Deeds.

Independents—the crown jewel of elections because they often determine outcomes—were a critical part of the diverse coalition that carried the president to victory in Virginia and across the country. But, in the midst of a recession, still early in Obama’s term, they fled from Democrats in a state where the economy trumped all.

Early returns showed that by a 2-1 margin McDonnell was winning rapidly growing, far-flung Washington, D.C., suburbs—places like Loudoun and Prince William counties—that Republicans historically have won but that Obama prevailed in last fall by winning over swing voters. (more…)

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Tags: Bob McDonnell, Jon Corzine, R. Creigh Deeds, Virgina
Posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 5:59 pm in Featured Story, Politics | 2493072 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/11/03/ap-mcdonnell-wins-virginia-governorship-for-gop/GOP+Takes+Virginia+Governorship2009-11-04+00%3A59%3A25Publius

McDonnell Favors Use of State Troopers in Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law

Virginia’s state troopers should have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws against the most dangerous criminal elements, Bob McDonnell, the state’s Republican candidate for governor has argued. This policy stance has larger federalist implications and should curry favor with 10^th amendment proponents, but it has earned little media attention throughout the campaign.

An obscure provision of federal law makes it possible for local and state officials to be trained as federal immigration agents. Section 287 (g)  of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act authorizes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to form partnerships that can be shaped to suit local priorities. Although this option has been available since 1996, most partnerships have been formed in just the past few years, according to ICE.

In an interview, McDonnell said he favors state-wide application of the 287 (g) program  because in his view it would compensate for the lack of resources available to ICE. While serving as attorney general, McDonnell worked with local governments in Prince William, Herndon and Rockingham counties to establish 287 (g) agreements. Tim Kaine, the state’s Democratic incumbent governor, has resisted using the program on a state-wide basis.

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Tags: Bob McDonnell, comprehensive immigration reform, federalism, ICE, Immigration
Posted Nov 1st 2009 at 2:53 pm in Justice/Legal, News, Politics, State Politics | 2365045 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kmooney/2009/11/01/mcdonnell-favors-use-of-state-troopers-in-enforcement-of-federal-immigration-law/McDonnell+Favors+Use+of+State+Troopers+in+Enforcement+of+Federal+Immigration+Law2009-11-01+21%3A53%3A11Kevin+Mooney