Pressure mounting on Montana Democrat

An Editorial yesterday morning in the Billings Gazette:

Gazette Opinion: Fallout from Baucus’ poor judgment

What was Max Baucus thinking?

That his personal relationship with his state director, Melodee Hanes, wouldn’t matter when he forwarded her name for consideration as Montana’s U.S. attorney?

Whatever hope of privacy Baucus and Hanes may have had vanished when he recommended her for an important appointed office... the conflict of interest or at least the appearance of conflict is inescapable. All of Hanes’ legal and organizational credentials have been obscured by the label “senator’s girlfriend.”

Thus, for this lapse in good judgment... Baucus gained a scandalous distraction while he is working to shepherd major health care policy legislation through the Senate.

Editorial, Billings Gazette, Dec. 9:

There is no longer a fine line between acceptable personal and public behavior of our politicians. Voters expect them to act responsibly both in out of public view. Sen. Max Baucus has now had to reveal that he used his significant influence to recommend his lover Melodee Hanes for the U.S. attorney for Montana position.

This was happening while both of them were married and carrying on their illicit affair with impunity. His belated admission that this relationship began in the summer of 2008 is simply unacceptable on its face. In the statement issued by Ty Matsdorf, his spokesman, he says that Hanes and Thomas Bennett, her ex-husband, divorced in December 2008. Baucus and his ex-wife, Wanda, announced their divorce in April 2009.

Baucus has now exposed himself to be heartless as well as a scoundrel.

Sen. Ensign was forced to resign his Senate Republican Policy Committee chairmanship for doing the same thing. I am calling on Baucus to immediately resign from the chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee. Your personal and public life is an open book and you are ridiculing the voters of Montana by staying in office.

Meanwhile, the GOP Chairman Will Deschamps from Helena sees the scandal growing back home.

From the Billings Gazette:

Montana Republican Party Chairman Will Deschamps insisted the issue was "gathering more and more steam."

"Ethics and morality still count," he said.

However, Baucus has his defenders outside of Montana.

Democrat Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada quipped to reporters "it's a non-scandal."

And Newsweek defends Sen. Baucus. From Kate Daily, Columnist, Dec. 10:

Look, I’m all for ethical standards, and obviously this raises many eyebrows. But it also reveals a nasty habit of denying the intellect, experience, or merit belonging to the sexual partner of someone in power. There seems to be the impression that Hanes is a piece of ass totally unqualified for the position, and that Baucus nominated her in lieu of shelling out for concert tickets or a tennis bracelet. The phrase “staff-member girlfriend” makes it sound like she earned her taxpayer-funded paycheck by providing back rubs and listening to Baucus talk about his day.

In fact, “girlfriend” is not Hanes’s primary identity... As Baucus's office points out, she’s an expert on child-abuse prosecution, and has tried more than 100 jury trials.

Hanes sought a position for which she was a qualified candidate... sometimes, the best person for the job also happens to be the person on the other side of the bed.

Palin/Paul because of "their libertarian philosophies"

Thousands showed up in the "single digit cold," to wait for another Palin book signing. This one at the Costco in Salt Lake City.

One guest columnist Peg McEntee described her experience waiting on line. She interviewed a number of those in line, including a Ron Paul supporter.

From the Salt Lake City Tribune, Dec. 9:

Those of us standing in line got to talking about Palin and McCain, President Obama (not on the most-favored list) and Ronald Reagan. Most said they'd vote for her in 2012 or 2016.

One guy told me he'd love to see a Ron Paul-Sarah Palin on the ballot in ' 12, given their libertarian philosophies. Which one at the top of the ticket? "Probably Sarah, because she's younger," he said.

Americans for Prosperity Live Webcast event crashed by screaming Socialist Greens

In the middle of opening remarks for free marketeers and libertarians who flew to Copenhagen to voice their concerns on Global Warming, about 20 or so Leftist demonstrators jumped up and drowned out the proceedings. They waved a large banner and chanted slogans. AFP supporters countered with their own chants and surrounded the speakers including Lord Monkton to protect them from the horde. One AFP-er ran and grabbed the Leftist's banner. Monckton called the protesters "like Hitler Youth."

Part of her "career path" says former boss

Excerpt from Google News via AP, Dec. 8:

Baucus girlfriend eyed US attorney post for years

Montana Sen. Max Baucus' live-in girlfriend had eyed the state's U.S. attorney post for years before he nominated her for the job, her former colleagues said.

In Montana, Yellowstone County Attorney Dennis Paxinos described Hanes as an accomplished criminal prosecutor. Being named U.S. attorney "was the career path she was working on" since at least 2002, said Paxinos, a Republican and Hanes' former boss.

That year Hanes left her deputy county attorney job to work on Baucus' re-election campaign. The move into politics was based on the assumption that it could lead to the federal prosecutor's job, according to Paxinos.

Local Media query on Affair quelched the Nomination

Montana blogger Jodi Rave of Buffalo's Fire, is a former journalist for the Missoulian. She has just released this information on her blog:

My entry into this story begain around February 2009 when a source called me with information about the beyond-professional relationship between Baucus and Hanes. I made a few phone calls to follow up on the lead. After I had sufficient information, I called Kaiser Barrett, the spokesman for Baucus. I had two questions. First, would Baucus confirm his romantic relationship with Hanes? Second. Did the senator see a conflict of interest in nominating his girlfriend as U.S. attorney? The story stretched out for weeks before I finally placed a final phone call to Barrett around March 11, 2009. I said we’re running the story in the next day’s paper. He then sent out a statement via e-mail saying Hanes was NOT a candidate for U.S. attorney. This was around the same time she apparently withdrew her name, according to recent press reports. I quit working at the paper in May... Amazingly, the Baucus story is breaking more than nine months later. I’d be surprised if it went away any time soon.

Rave goes on to report on her meeting with the former husband of Melodee Hanes. Continuing:

A source tipped me off about the Baucus and Hanes relationship. I tracked down Hanes’ husband, Thomas Bennett, a doctor who lives in Billings, Mont. Bennett and I talked on the phone several times. He said his wife was having an affair with Baucus. He was upset because so many people knew about the affair before him. Bennett and Hanes divorced in December 2008. In February 2009, I arranged a meeting with Bennett in Missoula in which he showed me an e-mail his wife sent to the senator. Hanes called Baucus her ”furnace.”

In a media availability late last Friday, Baucus spokesman Ty Matsdorf in announcing the affair, said of his boss, "Senator Baucus is currently in a mature and happy relationship with Melodee Hanes."

From Rasmussen:

Rasmussen Ohio Gubernatorial Survey

John Kasich 48% (46%)
Ted Strickland 39% (45%)
Other 3% (3%)
Not sure 11% (7%)

Rasmussen notes that incumbent Democrat Strickland faces a trifecta of difficulties: High unemployment in the State now at 10.5%, a $851 million budget shortfall, and an unpopular proposal to boost taxes to overcome the shortfall. Continuing:

Add it all together, and it’s a tough environment for the incumbent Democratic governor who now trails his expected general election opponent by nine percentage points.

BREAKING NEWS OVERNIGHT!!

From the Political Hotline:

Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) announced his retirement tonight, becoming the third Dem in a vulnerable seat to announce his departure in the last few weeks. "The time has now come to pursue other options, other ways of serving. Hence, I am announcing today that I do not intend to seek reelection to Congress in 2010," Baird wrote in a statement. "This is not an easy decision to be sure, but I believe it is the right decision at the right time."

Baird's District is in Southwest Washington, and includes Olympia, and Vancouver.

Already announced for the seat is Republican State Rep. Jaime Herrera of Battle Ground. She's been known as a "Jobs First" legislator, and a staunch fiscal conservative. Back in April she criticized Gov. Gregoire's budget (Vancouver Business Journal):

"The only thing I'm proud of with this budget is that Republicans fought against tax increases on working families and employers, and won. However, this budget does not fix the fundamental problem that got us here -- overspending.

The leftwing HA Seattle site says that the GOP "may have the advantage" for the seat, in this mostly rural district, particularly with an attractive candidate like Herrera. The political site goes on to note, "there is a large and boisterous conservative movement and a well-organized Republican Party machine [there] that utilizes talk radio and newspapers to the fullest advantage."

Editor's Comment - something tells me that southwestern Washington State voters will be much happier being represented in Congress by a fiscal conservative Hot Latin chic, rather than a pale-faced Leftist. Just sayin'.

Dramatic Drop in just last Two Weeks

Obama's approvals have dipped below 49% for the first time, now at 48.9% for the culmultative average run by Real Clear Politics. The RCP rating includes all the big firms, including CBS/NY Times, NBC/WallStreetJournal, Rasmussen, Gallup, Marist, Ipsos, McClatchey, and Bloomberg.

CBS/NY Times still has Obama at 50% approvals to 39% disapprovals. However, that's down sharply from the last poll two weeks ago that found 56% approval to 34% disapprovals.

CBS/NY Times rates Obama the highest of all the polls. Ironically, it was the CBS/NY Times decline that put Obama below the 49% mark culmulative.

RCP Poll (includes RCP graph of polls)

Note - graph of poll shown above includes only Rasmussen.

BREAKING NEWS!!

From Eric Dondero:

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has just escaped impeachment. A House panel voted against a resolution in favor of impeachment for unethical conduct.

From The State:

The seven-member panel, instead, voted unanimously to censure Sanford, which means the General Assembly would admonish Sanford for his behavior. But, Sanford would get to serve the rest of his term, which has roughly one year remaining.

Lawmakers said that while Sanford may have used a 2008 Argentina trade trip as a cover to initiate an extramarital affair and that his use of state aircraft deserved an S.C. Ethics Commission review, the charges did not meet the high standard they felt was necessary to remove Sanford from office.

This clears a big hurdle for Sanford. Though, the fall-out from his personal relationship with an Argentinian woman and his troubled marriage, will likely rule out a Presidential run for 2012.

Sanford had been the clear early favorite for Libertarian Republicans. While most conservatives condemned Sanford and his behavior, libertarians, including Libertarian Republican blog, stood by him, and remained virtually his only supporters in recent months.

In fact, Michigan Republican Liberty Caucus Chairman and RLC National Board member Dan Sheill recently remarked, "I am still supporting Sanford for President 2012, and hoping that he runs."

"Compromise Plan" still forces Individuals to buy Coverage

The Health Care plan just released by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is being billed by the mainstream media as a big compromise package between liberals and moderates. Libertarians are opposed to any form of government involvement in health care. However, one measure that libertarians find particularly offensive is the Individual Mandate. According to CNN, the Reid plan includes mandated coverage with harsh penalties for non-compliance.

From CNN "House, Senate versions grow farther apart":

Under both plans, individuals would be required to purchase coverage, but the House bill includes more stringent penalties for most of those who fail to comply. The Senate plan would require individuals to buy health insurance, with a fine for noncompliance of $95 in the first year that would escalate to $750 by 2016. Parents would be responsible for providing coverage for children up to age 18.

The House bill would impose a fine of up to 2.5 percent of an individual's income.

Still not clear on possible Jail time?

Full details of the Reid plan have still not been released. It is unclear at this point if criminal penalties for failure to purchase insurance includes jail time in the Senate version as are included in the House version.

But notably, Republican Rep. David Camp of Michigan, in response to his query about the mandate, received a letter from the IRS dated Nov. 5, confirming that a "fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years," could be imposed on any American willfully disregarding the IRS requirement of tax liability.

Liberal media have since been writing this off as unnecessary "Republican fretting."

The LA Times had a lengthy Q&A "What the Health Insurance mandate means," Dec. 6. Among the questions:

Will I be forced to buy health insurance? Will I go to jail if I don't?

The short answer is yes, you probably would be forced to buy insurance, but no, you aren't likely to be locked up if you don't, unless you're a big-time tax cheat.

National Public Radio echoed that sentiment stating that only serious offenders would be jailed. From NPR, Nov. 18:

imprisonment of tax evaders is usually reserved for the most outrageous cases. The letter to Camp notes that the Internal Revenue Service usually pursues unpaid taxes through the civil process -- meaning no jail time. In 2008, fewer than 500 people were incarcerated because of the penalties the Republicans are fretting about.

New Rasmussen numbers out of Connecticut. All three major Republican contenders against embattled and scandal-ridden incumbent Democrat Chris Dodd are polling ahead. Two of the three are comfortably ahead. The third, a Libertarian Republican, leads by a smaller margin.

From Rasmussen:

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Connecticut now finds Dodd attracting just 35% to 40% of the vote against three possible Republican challengers.

Former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons is still his toughest opponent, leading Dodd 48% to 35%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate in this contest, and 11% are undecided. Those figures are a slight improvement for Simmons since September.

The newest Republican in the race, Linda McMahon, the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, earns 44% of the vote to Dodd’s 38%. Eight percent (8%) opt for another candidate, with nine percent (9%) not sure.

Long-shot candidate Peter Shiff, the widely-known president of Euro Pacific Capital, is essentially even with Dodd and holds a one-point edge, 40% to 39%. In their race, eight percent (8%) like some other candidate, and 14% are undecided.

Note - McMahon, while not a "movement" Libertarian like Schiff, is a strong fiscal conservative and has a relatively libertarian view on cultural matters.

For Immediate Release:
December 8, 2009

BOSTON - Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour released the following statement this evening:

"Today voters chose State Senator Scott Brown as their Republican nominee for Massachusetts' U.S. Senate special election. I congratulate Scott Brown on his official primary victory and I enthusiastically support his candidacy.

"From the very beginning of this race, Scott Brown established the clear distinction that he is the candidate who will bring jobs to Massachusetts and keep taxes low. As a military officer serving in the National Guard, Scott Brown has the experience to make decisions critical to the safety of his fellow troops and security of his fellow citizens.

"Scott Brown's opponent, Attorney General Martha Coakley, has exhibited a clear pattern throughout her career of not standing tough on political corruption and crime. From House Speaker Sal DiMasi to State Senator Dianne Wilkerson's indictments, Coakley has treaded lightly as Attorney General, simply because she didn't want to step on the toes of other Beacon Hill Democrats in her long-waged campaign for U.S. Senate.

"Elections this year are about jobs, personal freedoms and opportunity, and this seat belongs to the people of Massachusetts and does not belong to one political party. It is time to send an independent voice in Washington, D.C. to fight for the interests of the voters of the Commonwealth. Scott Brown is that person, and I ask you to support him."

From the Editor: State Senator Brown is a close friend and ally of Libertarian Republican Sen. Bob Hedlund of Weymouth. Scott leans libertarian on both economics and civil liberties. Libertarian Republicans are extremely excited about his victory last night, and his prospects for January and pledge our full support.

Send your $$$ Contributions today! BrownforUSSenate.com

Libertarian Politics Live!

Listen to Eric Dondero on Blog Talk RadioGuests on "Libertarian Politics Live" Dec. 8:

SPECIAL GUEST

Bryan Preston, Communications Direct, Republican Party of Texas

Andre Traversa, Co-Host - Chicago

Jim Lagnese, Iowa, Right Guy blogspot
Dave Nalle, Austin, TX, Republic of Dave blog
Wes Wessamore, Tennessee, Humble Libertarian
Dan Sheill, Michigan, Republican Liberty Caucus rlc.org

Or, more precisely a "Republican-Libertarian-Republican" and a "Libertarian-Republican"

From Eric Dondero:

It gets confusing I know. But follow me here.

I caught this piece by the Huffington Post last week. Now regular columnist Garry Reed of the Dallas Libertarian Examiner has picked up on it. From Dallas Libertarian Examiner:

Libertarians generally take it as a point of unquestioned fact that the Tea Party movement was a grassroots uprising begun at the local level by libertarians and later co-opted by the Republican Party.

But the left-eye-view can't seem to figure out who started or co-opted what from whom or what the difference is between a libertarian, a conservative, and a Republican.

A pair of Huffington Post pundits, Alex Brant-Zawadzki and Dawn Teo, teamed up to produce "a multi-part series, Reading Tea Leaves" which attempts to untangle the Tea Party beginnings and expose its political ambitions for 2010.

Then it gets interesting.

Republican-turned-Libertarian-turned-Libertarian Republican

Continuing:

the pair identifies Eric Odom as "the man most often regarded as the founder of the Tea Parties."

They then tell a tangled tale of how Odom left the Republican Party, joined the Libertarian Party, rejoined the Republican Party, and along the way "effectively hijacked" a Facebook Tea Party group created by the Libertarian Party of Illinois and launched his own Tea Party movement.

The Tea Party, in this version, was founded by a Republican-Libertarian-Republican hijacker.

Okay. Got that? Odom is the official Founder of the Movement, as we've often said here at LR. However, Odom was "on to the outs" with the GOP at the time of the founding, and was a Libertarian Party member. Of course, a mere few months later he switched back to GOP.

Wait a moment. The HuffPo video goes on to rase the spector of "mysterious GOP money" backing Odom at the time of the founding of the Movement. So, even though he may have been a Libertarian Party member at the time, he was secretly backed by Republicans.

Libertarian-turned-Republican financier

And then there's this:

But Alex Brant-Zawadzki, in a follow-up article under his own byline, discovered yet another Tea Party progenitor: David Koch.

"Koch claims to have founded the Tea Party movement," says Brant-Zawadzki, "at an October conference held by Americans for Prosperity."*

Koch, the ninth richest man in America, is indeed sugar daddy to countless conservative and libertarian groups, including libertarian's two iconic organizations, the Cato Institute and Reason Foundation.

So now it's a tie between Republican-turned-Libertarian-turned-Libertarian Republican and always backed by Republicans, and former Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential candidate now Republican benefactor David Koch.

I happen to agree with that assessment. I can remember the very beginnings of the Movement, late 2008; we followed it very closely, and reported on it here at LR. However, I would hasten to add, that there were two other groups involved at the very beginning: A Libertarian Party group in Seattle, and a Ron Paul meet-up group in Denver (or it may be the other way around - an LP group in Denver, and a Ron Paul group in Seattle??)

All sounds oh so complicated. Here's a solution. Why not just say Eric Odom and David Koch are the official Co-Founders of the Tea Party Movement? Forget all the intrigue - Libertarian-turned-Republican, Libertarian backed by Republicans then turned Republican, Libertarian who left the Libertarian Party and then backed Republican groups, ect... ect...

One can simply say, "The Tea Party Movement was Founded by Libertarian Republicans."

Editor's Note - As luck would have it, just last night I attended my local Houston Tea Party Patriots meeting at a tavern near downtown Houston. HTTP meets every other Monday at Sherlock's on West Gray St. 7 pm. You can always catch me there. http://www.teapartypatriots.org

RAW FOOTAGE

Two-day long Protest at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

From Cliff Thies:

According to Al Arabiya, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, says he has documentary proof that the United States is trying to prevent a return of the Mahdi, the 12th or Hidden Imam, believed by Shi’ite Muslims to be the Savior of the World.

Al Arabiya (via Fox News):

“We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” Ahmadinejad said during a speech on Monday, according to Al Arabiya.

"They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Could he really be that crazy?

And be developing nuclear weapons?

Of course not. Just like Major Nidal M. Hasan couldn’t be that crazy. He’s just saying these things for domestic political consumption.

The Tippecanoe County Libertarian Party plans to walk in the Lafayette Christmas parade  this coming Sunday, December 6, 2009. The parade starts at Noon, and wiill air on local TV, radio, and will be covered in the local newspaper.
 
The party is looking for local Libertarians to walk in parade and pass out candy. They must be there by 10 AM, location to be determined. To participate, please contact Dan Church at 1-765-491-1441 or Michele Edmonds Blaas at 1-765-409-0100.

Editor's Note: Originally released by the NRA.

On November 30, 2009, the Bloomington Herald-Times made the following announcement:

“This week, HeraldTimesOnline.com will launch its new gun permit database. You’ll be able to search gun permit records by county, city or town and street."

The Herald-Times has begun receiving calls and emails, and their response is a defiant defense of their online gun permit database. Anyone who visits the newspaper website will be able to search the number of permits on a given street or neighborhood. Although at this point the names and house numbers are not listed, the newspaper’s website treats law-abiding Indiana gun owners like sex offenders on a searchable database.

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Reason Magazine's Nick Gillespie put together a fantastic post on Reason's Hit & Run blog, covering several different angles that lead up to a handful of conclusions, but mainly: the majority of American don't want to see a sweeping solution that could hurt the economy.

I'm no expert, but I find it reasonable to believe that man's pollution could impact climate globally. However, I don't believe that capping emissions in the USA at the rates frequently discussed are worth doing. Just as Bush's pre-emptive war struck me as a huge, out-of-proportion response to a low probability possible future catastrophic outcome, the usual cap solutions I see strike me as parallels.

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(Originally posted by Eric Schansberg at his blog Schansblog🙂

Wow...a lot of good stuff from TownHall.com the last few days on this amazing story.

As someone who has thought and written about politics as a means to various ends, I find it fascinating to consider the use of illegal means to air out unethical and illegal behavior.

Here are some of the TownHall nuggets that got my attention:

From Jonah Goldberg at TownHall.com...

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To the Editor of the Herald Times,
 
This letter is in reference to your creating of a database showing information about gun permits.  What did you hope to accomplish when creating this database?  Here are a few points that I don’t think you considered that I would like to point out to you:
 

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