From Stacy McCain:

Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard points out the irony of the union-orchestrated protests:

According to the state of Wisconsin, the average teacher salary in Wisconsin is $49,093 annually. (With benefits, the average total compensation is $77,857.) With 190 school days per year, Wisconsin public education employees make about $258 per day. So in an effort to avoid contributing to their own pensions and funding 6 percent more of their own health care premiums, teachers have taken unpaid leave to protest and have given up nearly $500 – so far. . . . .

What’s more, Wisconsin teachers pay as much as $1100 each year in compulsory union dues. If the legislation passes, they will no longer be required to pay those dues – returning that money to their own pockets.

The unemployed, the under-employed and regular folks trying to pay their bills aren’t likely to have a lot of love for people who (a) have jobs, (b) work at taxapayer expense, (c) get paid more money than the average taxpayer, and (d) go on strike because they don’t want to pay a dime toward their own generous benefits.

Editor's note - Stacy has a whole host of recent pictures and a video from the protest up at TheOtherMcCain.com

Did Christine O'Donnell inspire the Takeover?

Excerpt from report by Angel Clark, The Examiner, "Sussex GOP faces their fears… the Tea Party" Feb. 17:

Christine O’Donnell stated recently on a local radio show that although she had not planned the events currently going on in Sussex County, Delaware, she approved of what was happening.

Tea Party activists in Sussex County tried to take a stand with the local establishment GOP. Last night’s Sussex County GOP meeting was the culmination of those efforts to date and almost left me speechless…

Sussex County GOP Chairman, Ron Sams, knew he was going to be asked to resign tonight... Sams and the Vice Chairman were both absent last night allowing for a unique circumstance. Local activists were able to vote in a temporary chairperson

Brent Wangen, Libertarian turned Republican, was voted in to head the new committee in charge of the new Rules Committee... [it] is in charge of making the new rules of the Sussex County GOP... this is a huge accomplishment in itself.

A motion was officially submitted and voted upon for Ron Sams to resign.

Clark describes herself as a DE Poli Sci student living in Rehobeth Beach.

From Eric Dondero:

A sign of things to come, perhaps? The Muslim Brotherhood has a prominent place on the committee set up by the Egyptian military to review the constitution, and suggest changes. At the same time, Christian Copts and women have been completely shut out.

From AFP, (via News24) "Copts criticise Egypt constitution panel":

"Millions of Copts object to the committee formed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces," Nagib Gibrail, head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights, said in a statement.

"The inclusion of elements from the Muslim Brotherhood without any Copt negates the principles of the January 25 revolution, in which Coptic and Muslim blood intermingled," the statement said.

In related news... Pundit Press is reporting (via Reuters) that Iranian warships are now passing through the Suez.

Not even a week after the resignation of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, the region is again becoming more tense. This time the trouble emanates from the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is sending warships through the Suez Canal, right near Israel.

Identified as Osama Hassan El-Darandaly

From Eric Dondero:

A San Diego woman barely escaped having to have her leg amputated after a cab driver mowed down over 30 partyers in a busy SD nightclub area.

The suspect has been identified as Osama Hassan El-Darandaly, 52, of San Diego. (Note - SD media - 760 AM KFMB NewsVideo - are deliberately anglicizing his name to "Sam Daley".) He worked for the Makmar Enterprises cab company.

According to KFMB His roomate Dan Rose describes El-Darandaly as a "'pretty solitary man' who is devoutly Muslim."

Daly’s plan was to move back to his home country of Egypt, Rose said.

Bankrupt, House in Foreclosure, "very irregular behavior"

NBC News San Diego discovered:

Rose, told us Daly has been having financial and personal problems.

"Just very irregular behavior, kind of up and down, a little bit recluse, depressed type of behavior," said Rose.

The cab driver owns the house in Linda Vista but told his roommate the bank is foreclosing on the property.

There is no motive given for the attacks. However, according to SignonSanDiego.com:

Stingaree club owner James Brennan has said that Daly had a pair of scissors in his hand and took a swing at one of the club’s managers.

Has a prior arrest for "Misedemeanor Battery"

El-Darandaly does have one prior charge for "misdemeanor battery" according to NBC.

22 of the 32 injuries were "very serious," including crushed bones, and cuts. However, as signonSD reports one woman was critically injured when she was pinned against a wall:

Dominique Gambale [The 45-year-old mother of two from Encinitas] suffered multiple breaks in both bones of her lower-leg

Surgeons through extensive surgery, have managed to save her leg.

The attack came Friday night. And as Wizbang blog summarizes:

a devoutly Muslim man from Egypt named Sam Hassan Daly slowly and methodically drives a cab into a crowd of bar patrons injuring 36 then emerges from the cab with scissors in hand swinging at the club's owner, the incident occuring within hours of Mubarak's ouster in his home country.

UPDATE! The very latest AP story, has not a single mention of Hassan's Islamic background, or even the fact that he is an Egytian national. Here is the benign headline: "Cabbie out of hospital after crash that hurt 35."

Photos of Stingaree Nightclub in SD's Gaslamp District.

Injured "men and women lying on the ground, everywhere"

From Eric Dondero:

Early morning last Saturday, as Egyptians were celebrating in the Streets of Cairo the overthrow of Mubarak, an Egyptian man identified as Osama Hassan El-Darandaly, drove his Taxi-Cab onto the sidewalk, plunging through a crowd of American nightclub goers, in San Diego's downtown Gaslamp District. According to various reports, the man then jumped out of his cab and started wielding a pair of scissors, lunging at the owner of the Stingaree nightclub and others nearby. 32 were injured, 22 serious, including one woman pinned against a wall, had her leg fully amputated below the knee.

NBC San Diego described it as a "shocking scene":

At 1:54 a.m., an Emerald Cab driver jumped a curb and plowed through a group of people standing outside the popular Stingaree downtown nightclub... of what firefighters and police officers described as a “melee.”

“It was so scary when I realized what had actually happened,” said Guy Handy, a nearby resident.

A witness who wished not to be identified said "there were women and men just lying on the ground, just everywhere."

From Eric Dondero:

Elections matter. The number of Republicans increased in the AR House of Reps in 2010 to 44 out of 100, (soon to be 45 with special election in a solid GOP district.)

Now this from ArkansasBusiness.com:

The Arkansas House has approved a cut in the capital gains tax, HB1002, brushing off warnings from [Democrat] Gov. Mike Beebe that it and other cuts could threaten the state's budget.

By a 53-43 vote, the House on Wednesday passed the proposal by Republican Rep. Ed Garner of Maumelle to eliminate the capital gains tax on new investments in Arkansas companies and property.

Painting Arkansas Red at ArkansasGOP.org

by Clifford F. Thies

If President Obama doesn’t kill us by denying us access to health care, he’ll kill us with tax increases. His new budget proposal includes nearly two trillion dollars of new taxes. According to Obama, while it would not exactly be against the law to work or to save, these are bad things and need to be heavily taxed. And, besides, we’re not doing enough for the moochers in society. People have a right by being born in this country, or not, to their fair share of what the evil people create through their work and their creativity. Equal pay for equal work, and for no work at all!

The combination of tax increases and increasing the retirement age yet again means that for the productive people in society, Obama wants them to work until they drop dead, for nothing more than what the moochers get as their right, and, then, when they drop dead, to take any wealth they had accumulated. And, talk about domestic terrorism, what do you think expanded IRS audits is all about? If it was not already clear that we need to completely abolish the IRS tax code, and replace with something like the flat tax or the FAIR tax, it should certainly be clear now.

Even with these tax increases, and the still scheduled elimination of the Bush tax cuts after next year, the federal budget is projected to be in deficit by more than a trillion dollars a year for as far into the future as they project the budget. Plus, entitlement spending remains out of control. So, maybe we shouldn’t take much of this seriously, since we’re on a path to complete financial ruin. Obama, it seems to me, is better associated with Andropov, Milosovic and Mobutu, those who presided over the collapse of their countries, than with Marx, Engels and Lenin those who were in the vanguard of socialism.

Let’s total up the proposed taxes:

1.Raising tax rates and limiting itemized deductions $1,030 billion
2.Raising taxes on gasoline and on “the oil companies” 374 billion
3.Raising taxes on the dead 121 billion
4.Raising taxes on international income and investments 129 billion
5.Taxing phony inflation-induced profits by repealing LIFO accounting
and the like 84 billion
6.Raising taxes on those who work to subsidize those who are
unemployed up to 2 years 61 billion
7.Expanded IRS audits 55 billion
8.Raising taxes prudent financial institutions to subsidize the
TARP-assisted ones 30 billion
9.Raising taxes on all manufacturers to subsidize the clean-up costs
of those that pollute 21 billion
10.Raising taxes on private insurance 14 billion

TOTAL, including many items not specified above $1,931 billion

Dr. Thies is a professor of econo-metrics and statistics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia

UPDATE! INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL WILLIAMS RESCHEDULED FOR NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT

8 PM CST

National and New Hampshire Leaders Named

ST. CHARLES, MO. -- Decorated Iraq War veteran Nick McLaughlin of St. Charles, Missouri, has announced the formation of a grass-roots, all volunteer organization to draft New York developer Donald J. Trump for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination.

McLaughlin saw combat in three tours in Iraq in the US Marine Corp and was hit by shrapnel from a car bomb in Ubush, Iraq. He was awarded a Purple Heart and nine other medals including a Presidential citation.

"Under Barak Obama, America has become a laughingstock around the world," said McLaughlin. "America needs a strong leader like Donald Trump to restore America's economic strength and respect around the world."

McLaughlin, who has never been active in politics before, said he had filed the committee with the Federal Election Commission and that the organization was not directed, authorized or funded by Trump. "I have never met Mr. Trump," said McLaughlin, "But I am certain he is the man America needs."

McLaughlin said the Draft Committee has posted a website at http://www.DraftTrump2012.com and would seek to collect one half million citizen signatures on petitions urging Trump to enter the 2012 contest.

McLaughlin also announced that Lynn Krogh, former Deputy Press Secretary for New York Governor George Pataki and former Executive Director of the Young Republican National Federation would serve as National Political Director of the Draft Trump 2012 Committee with the responsibility for setting up Draft Trump Committees in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, and other early caucus and primary states.

McLaughlin met Krogh at the Conservative Political Action Conference- CPAC.

McLaughlin also said that Mark J. LaLiberte would serve as the New Hampshire Draft Trump Coordinator. LaLiberte is a lifelong resident of New Hampshire. LaLiberte served as the public policy advisor for former Manchester Mayor (now Congressman) Frank Guinta, He also was an editor for Business NH Magazine and the Portsmouth Herald. LaLiberte holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in political science and a Masters of Public Administration degree, both from the University of New Hampshire.

McLaughlin said his group would work to convince Trump to declare his candidacy by the end of 2011 and urged supporters to go to http://www.DraftTrump2012.com to sign the citizen petition.

LR FOLLOW-UP

From Eric Dondero:

The Lara Logan story just got even more interesting. Nir Rosen appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 last night. Rosen had snarked in a Tweet, that Logan would "have to outdo Cooper" in being attacked by the Egyptian mob.

Cooper in the interview zeroed in on what exactly that meant:

You clearly knew that what had happened to her was sexual... In the second one [Tweet] you said it would be funny if that had happened to Anderson, which I can only assume you meant a sexual assault.

Rosen: At the time I didn't know. I just assumed you were roughed up; she was roughed up.

3rd Tweet: Ah fuck it. I apologize for being insensitive, its always wrong. Thats obvious. but I'm rolling my eyes at all the attention she will get.

Cooper: At that point you kind of sound like a bitter jealous reporter, angry at another reporter who is more well-known.

Rosen: It sounds like that. That's not the case. But my point was that dozens of women suffered from this attack, and only one of them is going to get all the attention, because she's a White and she's a celebrity.

Note - Rosen is a Dubai-based freelance reporter, who is best known for stridently left agenda driven coverage of the War in Iraq. Previously he accused Logan of being a "warmonger" for having expressed sympathy for US Troops.

BREAKING...

From Eric Dondero:

Florida's libertarian Republican Governor is in hot water with liberal media outlets, for having consulted a "libertarian" feasibility study published by the Reason Foundation.

Scott on Monday, rejected $2.4 billion in federal taxpayer subsidies for the proposed High Speed Rail project from Orlando to Tampa.

From the Ft. Meyers News-Press "Governor irks many with rail rejection":

Scott said the spending was not merited. He criticized President BarackObama's spending plans while also saying he didn'tbelieve the rail project would meet ridership estimates...

Scott said the money would be more effectively spent on improvements to ports, highways and existing rail systems.

Scott is the 4th Republican Governor to reject such federal funding. The others include: Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, newly-elected Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and newly-elected Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. (Source: Infrastructurist)

From WTSP.com, (Tampa/St. Pete) "Gov. Scott didn't consult new rail "feasibility study" after all":

TAMPA, Florida - Despite promises that he would consult a new feasibility study in February before making any decisions on high-speed rail (HSR), Gov. Rick Scott yanked the project off the tracks Wednesday based on a report published on Jan. 6 from a notorious rail opponent.

The governor's office confirmed Scott relied on a controversial report from the libertarian Reason Foundation. It indicated Florida would be vulnerable to cost overruns and overambitious ridership projections - concerns Scott cited in his Wednesday decision.

At issue is the Governor's remark days after assuming office in Tallahassee:

"There's a feasibility study that's supposed to come out, a ridership study, that's going to give me more information," he said. "I think it's in February, that's my understanding."

So, the Governor had the audacity to consult a Reason Foundation study instead, which contained the same fundamental information as the official feasibility study.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! - Matt Welch, Reason's Managing Editor has directed LR to their "first swing" of a response to media criticisms, from Foundation Pres. Bob Poole:

Since the official ridership projections were straight out of fantasyland, there was a high likelihood of the state being stuck providing operating subsidies, as in most of the existing high-speed rail projects overseas. Yet if the state accepted the $2.4 billion from the federal government and built the line, it would be stuck operating it—or else required to give back the $2.4 billion in, by then, sunk costs. So Scott made a responsible decision to protect Florida’s taxpayers, consistent with his campaign rhetoric and his other actions since taking over in January

A 2012 VP prospect for the GOP?

From Newsmax.com interview - "Puerto Rico's Gov. Fortuño Slashes Deficit"

Fortuño [cut] government expenses by 20 percent. He eliminated 17,000 government jobs, modernized government services to reduce costs, and decreased expenditures for official vehicles, cell phones, and credit cards by 10 percent.

Fortuño says Obama’s policies are wrong. “I believe that we need to empower our businesses and our taxpayers, and if we do that, our economy will grow at a much faster pace than we are today,” Fortuño says. “Secondly, we cannot continue printing money to cover our deficit. Thank goodness the states can’t do that. So we have to bite the bullet, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Addtional:

Fortuño is for making the U.S. territory the 51st state. President Reagan favored statehood, as does the platform of the Republican Party.

Note - the Governor was a speaker at the recent C-PAC, audio of his speech.

(Editor’s Note: Instead of spending time debating (in the public) the budget, redistricting, school reform, or job creation/tax reform, the Indiana House of Representatives worked on restricting freedom and trying to control Indiana’s population. This is a recap of Thursday’s “marriage strengthening” debate.) By Evan McMahon, Executive Director of Atlas Liberty PAC On Thursday the [...]

(By Jerry Titus, Part 1 on the Patriot Act deals with the struggle to achieve privacy and property rights. Part 2) Why is the fourth amendment important? Why do we even have it? Why was it important enough for our founders to include this in the Bill of Right? What specific circumstances caused them to [...]

(By Jerry Titus, Howard County Chairman. This is Part Two of a series on the Patriot Act. Part 1) Why do Libertarians dislike the Patriot Act? Sound outlandish? It certainly would be unusual, and unlikely to find an agent sitting at your desk. But the reality of the government’s ability to access and search your [...]

Will you go see it? View the trailer here:

(By Sean Shepard, Originally posted at Shepard on Politics and Policy) Conservatives have a real problem in Texas congressman Ron Paul. Ron Paul doesn’t think the United States should claim to be all about “freedom” and “democracy” while sending billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money to foreign dictators. The people of Egypt just rose [...]

(By Dennis Beatty, Originally Posted at Rhinehold’s Blog) There has been discussion lately about what the government should be doing, can do and is constitutionally allowed to do. But underneath those discussions we need to understand what makes government different from other organizations. Private organizations like the Red Cross, the NAACP, MADD, the Salvation Army, [...]

Dear friend of the Libertarian Party of Steuben County, This message is to provide official notice of the 2011 Annual Convention of the LPSC. Our Convention will be held at 4:30 P.M. on Wednesday, March 30. Once again we will meet at the Steuben County Community Foundation building – 1701 N. Wayne Street.  (This is [...]

(Peter Dunn is an Indianapolis media personality that hosts a radio show titled the “Skeptical Economist.” This is a podcast on his recent show on public pensions, focusing on how Indiana’s pensions operate. With the events taking place in Wisconsin, and Indiana’s own budget discussions, we think the information presented here is timely.) ITunes Description: [...]