Registration Scammers?

Appears Coloradoans are going to be "assaulted" by people forcing Obama registrations. Here is a link to a local news story from KKCO. Word of advice... register at clerks office, there are criminals scamming people everywhere and some of them don't just work for the Obama campaign.

You May "Fly Over" but you Cannot Stop a Train

In Fruita, Colorado, on a sunny day you can look overhead and see the paths that  large aircraft have taken as they rushed their passengers and cargo from one coast to the other. Air travel is an amazing American invention where hundreds of people can climb into an metal tube and in hours travel across this great land.   A journey which took months on horse and wagon, weeks in a train and days in an automobile. A sure sign of progress. The trip is fast, relativity inexpensive (for how many miles are traveled) and efficient.

Also in Fruita, Colorado several times a day you can hear the rumblings of  hundreds of tons of locomotives and train cars passing through town. They are also efficient, but  it is a different kind of efficient. While an aircraft can get you from one point to another quickly a train can carry more weight from "point A" to "point B" than an airplane can, even though this mode of travel is much slower.

This is analogy is representative of how I think the American political spectrum is shaping up the last 4 or 5 years. The liberal left is representative of the pretty, new, and shiny aircraft. The conservative right is representative of the mechanical, aged and dark locomotive.

Four years ago the country wanting a quick escape from economic hardships, and trials of battles fought abroad they leaped at the chance to board the "Hope and Change" airliner that promised to whisk them out of their current doldrums and take them to a new and exciting place. A place where all things promised were shiny and new and the their problems could be solved in a speedy journey into the "wild blue yonder".

As the 747 zipped across the country the passengers could look out the sealed windows from the climate controlled cabin and witness the checkerboard pattern of rural American farms as they zoomed to their promised destination . Unquestioning his abilities and experience, they trusted their pilot and let him take control of their journey.

At train stations located 30,000 feet below there was another type of American boarding the "Liberty Special". A 100 ton steam locomotive, billowing black smoke and cinders.   The "Liberty Special" passengers boarded feeling confident that the locomotive would arrive at their destination safely and securely because the Liberty Special had made the journey many times over a hundred years.

As the Liberty Special  lurched forward to start her journey, the Hope and Change airliner had already traveled hundreds of miles passing legislation like the "Stimulus bill", the automaker bailout, "Cash for Clunkers" and "Obamacare". The pilot rushing to his destination, never opened the cockpit door to check on the status of his passengers. With the high speed of the aircraft and the lack of experience of the pilot the passengers were getting ill. They started to realize they had made a mistake on how to travel to the destination.

The Liberty Special was slowly creeping to speed in 2009 when Chris Christie was elected Governor of New Jersey, Scott Brown elected to the Senate and the birth of the Tea Party movement. By 2010, the Liberty Special was approaching full speed with the sweeping Congressional election. The passengers of the train know that the safest way to arrive at your destination was to rely on Liberty. The path they take is trusted and secure.

While it is true that the passengers on the Hope and Change may be on approach to land, the passengers are violently ill then they realize that one of the large engines on the plane had failed due to poor spending habits of the airline company. The pilot, in an effort to comfort his ill passengers, let them know that the reason for the failure of the engine and reason for their illness was due to the negligence of a locomotive engineer that was was operating a train four years ago. Then through the window the pilot notices a large flock of Canadian Geese.....


The moral of the story is take your time, enjoy the trip and always take Liberty over Hope and Change

A little video of the Silverton Train with music by C.W. McCall both in the Great State of Colorado.

R. Lee Ermey on Obama

If you are one of those mamby pamby socialists out there, this clip is not for you. For the rest of you I believe you can relate...

Will the Democrats Ever Understand?

I look at the news stories since the election, I just keep thinking to myself; "will the Democrats ever understand or live forever in denial?" The Democrats got their collective "clock cleaned" and yet they proceed like the people never said anything, for example...

Harry Reid creates a leadership job for Chuck Schumer. Evidently more overhead was required to tell the American people they don't understand the legislation that is passed by Congress. So they made a Senator with very poor communication skills in charge of communication. Brilliant.

Nancy Pelosi creates a job for Jim Clyburn Jim Clyburn gets to be "Assistant Minority Leader" so he doesn't get his feelings hurt or his perks taken away. I wonder what an Assistant Minority Leader would do, oh I know... spend money. I wonder if Clyburn and Schumer's jobs count as two jobs "created or saved"....

Nancy Pelosi expected to retain leadership The people hate her, Democrats fled from her during the elections so who else should be the leader of the Democratic Party?

Ritter Defends Obamacare Fitting that a leaving Governor would defend a plan that he will not have to implement.


In 2012, the Senate will have 21 Democrats, 10 Republicans, an Independent (Who is a Democrat, really), and a Socialist (Bernie Sanders, who masquerades as a Democrat) that will be running for office. I would say the odds are that Democrats will lose the Senate in 2012. There will also be a pretty good chance that Democrats will lose the Presidency as well (His own party is starting not to like him). Why would Democrats keep doing the things that will get them booted from power? I think the answer is either they are stupid or they are crooked, we just get to spend the next couple of years trying to decide which one.

Stop Huge Jidette's Presidential Try...

Just when you thought we were done with campaign commercials, now we have to deal new "candidate" in a Presidential race...


Rally - HD from Peterson Foundation on Vimeo.


Kissing Babies - HD from Peterson Foundation on Vimeo.


Main Street - HD from Peterson Foundation on Vimeo.

House of Representatives - Republican Freshman Class Occupations

I thought this was very interesting and promising for the Republicans...

Business owner - 28
Attorney - 18
Veteran - 14
Business executive - 11
Doctor/Surgeon/Dentist - 6
Farmer - 5
Nurse - 3
Public office - 3
Political position (non-elected) - 3
NFL player - 2
Pastor - 1


This gives you a general idea of how the freshman class is organized. This is 94 members that are freshmen and some members are waiting recounts. I only listed one job for each member, so if a member was an attorney in the military I only listed them as attorney. I got the information from the Republican Study Committee.

Nancy Pelosi - Thanks for the Memories

Here a new one from Right Change...

The People's House vs The White House

The election is over, the ads have died down before the run-up to the Presidential campaigns, where do we go from here? Realistically and Constitutionally what does that mean? Is the government going to "shut down" or just complete gridlock in Washington D.C.?

The situation...

The People have regained their "seat at the table" in government by taking back the House of Representatives. Conservatives do not have a majority (50 seats) or a super-majority (60 seats) in the Senate. We still have an extreme liberal in the White House.

What can and can't  happen...


Same-o, Same-o

The Republican house could go along with the Democrats in the Senate and pass the same kind of spending bills that have plagued the last two years, in the nature of "compromise". I don't think that will happen, but we do have to keep that in mind and carefully watch our House.

Repeal of Health Care
I don't believe this will happen...yet. The ground work can be laid for 2013. The Presidential veto pen will always stop a complete repeal. We can stop parts of the new law by not funding those (all appropriations bills must originate in the House).  This can also be a little dangerous. First off, if the House Republicans spend the next two years fighting a battle that cannot be won all we have accomplished is nothing and endanger the House elections of 2012.

Secondly if we stop funding some parts of this monstrosity of a law, what are the implications if the law can never be repealed? Do we have an "Frankenstein like" law that is worse than the current law (I know it is hard to imagine but it can happen, and does happen frequently in government). In my view the Republicans have to make a bit of noise like trying to cut out some of the more controversial parts of the law (like government funding of abortion) then let this one "simmer" until 2013. 

Spending, Spending, and Spending

The House of Representatives has the checkbook. This is where the most impact can be achieved.  The House members must send appropriations bills that cut spending. Make the President and Senate reject spending cuts.  Make House rules that stop earmarks. This will help return your reputation as fiscally responsible. Democrats have a real hard time not spending money, so any attempt by the Democrats to stop spending cuts will highlight their inability to manage a budget.


Stop the Insanity

The House can effectively stop the insanity. The crazy bills like cap and tax and card check can and should be stopped cold. Some compromise is good just do not compromise on the principles your were elected to defend. 

General thoughts

I was thinking about the election results and every election I realize how smart the American people are as a group. We elected a more conservative House of Representatives but did not elect a Senate majority. This to me seems very wise.  What I believe this does is; prevents the easy "out" by the President to say that he couldn't do something because "the Congress" wouldn't let him.  Obama is well known for his blaming everything on someone else. If the Dems still have a little power then blaming the whole Congress for a policy not being implemented is now moot. Obama will be held more accountable for his own actions.

One thing for certain is that the people have spoken and all branches of government better start keeping in mind that you work for us or you will be looking for a job.

Vote em Out Boggie

Good Summary Why to Vote

Catch the Wave!

Another fitting song for a wave election...

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

For a political nerd like me this is like watching the championship match...

Colorado Gov and CD7 Move to Toss-up

Real Clear Politics Governor's races

Real Clear Politics House Races

Real Clear Politics Senate Races

Remember November : The Final Act

Remember November: The Final Act from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

Should We Legalize Online Poker?

This is a ReasonTV interview with David "Doc" Sands about legalizing online poker. I just thought this was interesting and I know one reader of Plumb and Square would be interested so, here you go Dad...

Amendment 63

The Crazy Metaphor

The "ditch metaphor" is getting really old. There are many different versions surfacing. Here is one the President used in Minnesota...

"We were at a rally right before we came here and I’ve been using this analogy around the country -- they drove this economy into a ditch. And Nancy and I, we've had to put our boots on -- (laughter) -- and the rest of the congressional delegation, we had to rappel down into the ditch, and we're trying to push to get that car out of there. And the Republicans are just standing on the sidelines watching us, fanning themselves, sipping on a Slurpee -- (laughter.) They’re kicking dirt back into the ditch. (Laughter.) We're getting it into our eyes. Didn’t lift a finger to help -- all they did was point and say, you're not pushing hard enough, you're not doing it the right way.

We finally have gotten this car out of the ditch -- and it’s taken a lot of effort. And, yes, the car is banged up; it is dented, it is in need of some body work and a tune-up, but it’s moving in the right direction. We're about to go forward.

And suddenly we get this tap on our fingers and we look back and it’s the Republicans asking for the keys back. And our basic attitude is, no, you can't have the keys back. You don't know how to drive. (Laughter and applause.) You don't know how to drive.

Now, I want to be clear, they are more than happy to join us for the ride -- but they’ve got to sit in the backseat. (Applause.) Because we want America’s families in the front seat. We want them in shotgun -- not special interests, not the folks who’ve been calling the shots in the past. "

While the Democrats are off playing in the ditch, our country is going to hell. We are having our taxes raised at the end of the year. Ten percent of us are out of work. Millions are getting there homes foreclosed. We will be forced to purchase  health care which we do not want. We are told that we belong in the back seat of their little "car" and speaking of cars we became "investors" in two failing automobile companies!

We are continually told that we are not smart enough to understand Democrat policies by saying that  they (the Democrats) have not explained the issues well enough." We have been called racist, fascists, and Nazi's. Our liberty is being taken away while at the same time you allow for a flood of illegal immigrants access to our services.   We are tired of the garbage. Tired of the metaphors. These are the facts! So while you are off pushing an imaginary car out of a ditch, we are hurting. Quit blaming Bush or banks or insurance companies, or, or, or.... Now is the time pull your head out of the ditch (whatever hole it is in) and to listen to your greatest resource, the American people, and do something about the issues. 

Step Aside Mr. Maes

A letter to Dan Maes...

It is now one week until the election and about 450,000 people have already voted. Now it is time for you to "man up", to use a popular phrase, and drop out of the gubernatorial race. You will have no honor if you stay in this race. Every bad decision that is made by a Hickenlooper administration will be laid directly on your shoulders. You have the power to stop this madness and help a fellow conservative win the Governors race. Do not let your disagreements with Mr. Tancredo stop you from doing the right thing.

These are the possible scenarios:

If you leave the race - Tancredo will win and we stop the crazy liberal tax and spend politics of the left.


If you stay in the race and Hickenlooper wins - You and I and 5 million other Coloradoans will be subjected to a "mini-Obama" regime and Colorado economics will look a lot like Michigan's model economy. You will be called a fool for not leaving the race and never have a chance in the political arena again.

If you stay in the race and Tancredo wins - Colorado gets a conservative Governor and you will be called a fool and never have a chance in the political arena again.

If you stay in the race and you win -This scenario will not happen.

The only way for you to retain some sort of dignity and honor is to gracefully leave the race now. If you are the honorable man you claim to be, now is the time to call it quits.

Sincerely,
Todd Transmeier
Plumb and Square

Did You Know You Contributed to the Bennet Campaign?

I was reading the top 100 contributions to the Bennet campaign on opensecrets.org and here are some contributions that stuck out:

University of Colorado $13,800
State of Colorado $10,805
Denver Public Schools $10,325
US Government $9,700
Colorado Office of Economic Development $9,600

I am no expert on campaign finance but don't these seem a little on the unethical side? We are running in the red in Colorado and the nation and they are contributing to political campaigns? Is that some sort of yard sign stimulus? I sure would hate to tell someone I had to cut their job because we contributed to a political campaign. This is not how I want my taxes spent that is for sure.

Remember what Michael Bennet Said about the Health Care Bill?

I say we take him up on it!