Tuesday Mashup (4/12/11)

Is it just me, or has Ken Blackwell had a lot of time on his hands since he rigged the Ohio 2004 presidential election, which no doubt was a contributing factor to his 23-point loss to Ted Strickland in 2006? Blackwell propagandized as follows at The Daily Tucker here…

President Obama made a point of going to al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt to deliver his overture to what he calls “the Muslim world.” Strange, he never talks about a Christian world.

Funny – in response, I give you the following (here)…

"My Christian faith has been sustaining for me over the last couple of years and even more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time," the president said Thursday, referring to his wife. "We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but that we are true to our conscience and true to our God."

And speaking of Strickland, I thought this was a highly interesting development concerning the person he lost to so narrowly last year.

Next, I give you more hilarity from the Murdoch Street Journal (here)…

The best advice we've heard is from former Senator Phil Gramm, who says Republicans should agree that families and nations should always honor their debts.

Of course Gramm would say that, seeing as how, as one of the architects behind the subprime meltdown, he helped create the debt to begin with (here).

And as much as I’d like to take issue with the Murdoch Street Journal headline of “The Tea Party’s First Victory” in response to the budget deal reached last Friday, I suppose, when push comes to shove, I really can’t (leave it to the racist-sign-and-funny-hat bunch, though, not to know when they’ve actually won, as noted here).

In addition, I give you Chuck Norris, of all people, opining as follows on guns here…”low hanging fruit,” to be sure, but I believe this stuff should be addressed…

Obama finally is showing his true colors on this important issue. Let's not forget that this is the same candidate who once espoused a total ban on handguns and more recently supported a nationwide ban on right-to-carry laws.

I know this will come as a shock, but Norris is actually partly right; as noted here, Obama once supported a nationwide ban on right-to-carry laws, which of course poses no issue as far as I’m concerned (see “nut,” “blind squirrel,” concerning Norris I mean). However, at no time has Obama ever called for a total ban on handguns; indeed, the inaction of Number 44 in response to the atrocity in Tucson may unfortunately be his most enduring legacy on this issue.

But as a commenter noted here, perhaps Chuck has taken one too many kicks to the head (maybe the reason why he left his hat on when talking to His World’s Neil Cavuto).

Further, I give you the latest from Mikey The Beloved here…

PENNDEL, Pa.—Congressman Fitzpatrick today joined with local municipal and county officials to announce the renewal of the state Enterprise Zone status for a segment of former industrial sites along the Delaware River in Bensalem Township, Bristol Township, Bristol Borough, Falls Township, Morrisville Borough and Tullytown Borough. Today’s announcement also added Penndel Borough to the Enterprise Zone. The designation will assist these local governments in the formation of public-private partnerships within the Enterprise Zone that will encourage increased manufacturing facilities and job creation.

Interesting, given that, as noted here when he was a Bucks County Commissioner, Mikey voted against tax-free status for businesses at the USX Industrial Park (U.S. Steel sought for the site to become a Keystone Opportunity Zone to lure new companies to its park's 1,259 available acres with the promise of 15 years of tax-free status).

Where are the jobs, congressman??

Finally, I give you the following from the Bucks County Courier Times today (here)…

Considering that Pennsylvania makes up only about 4 percent of the nation's population, do our state representatives and senators employ too many people and are we paying those people too much?

The Associated Press, with the help of newspapers throughout the state, set out to dig up the numbers so people can decide the question for themselves. To that end, reporters asked lawmakers to provide staff names, salaries and benefits, and to disclose the budgets to run their offices. They also had a few questions for lawmakers.

This should have been a pretty straightforward process: Reporters ask for the information and lawmakers get it. Unfortunately, it was anything but straightforward. Although the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Act requires lawmakers to divulge those costs, most Lower Bucks legislators engaged in varying degrees of stonewalling.

That said, three made a commendable effort to satisfy our requests. State Rep. Frank Farry, R-142, promptly provided everything requested; Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, begged off on just one item; and while the chief of staff for Rep. Steve Santarsiero, D-31, said we'd have to go through the state, Santarsiero's staff filed the request for our reporter and interceded to get the information when the AP deadline approached.

If only other lawmakers were as helpful.

Typically outstanding service from our PA-31 State House representative and his office; to contact Steve, click here.