If All You See…

By William Teach October 25, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful place out in nature that would be perfect for wind turbines, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 90Ninety Miles From Tyranny, with a post on the state turning your children against you.

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Surprise: Democrats Are Having Trouble With Key State General Assembly Races, Too

By William Teach October 25, 2022 – 10:30 am

Liberal policies, like their soft on crime ones, are doing wonders

Key state legislature races favor Republicans despite massive Democratic spending

State legislatures are often overlooked in the heat of campaign season, yet the laws crafted there have as much impact, if not more, on the average person’s everyday life as the ones passed by Congress.

But for many Americans, ignoring elections for state legislatures is no longer an option. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer has them focused on state capitols, where abortion laws are now being decided.

But while Democrats are still trying to mobilize their efforts around state legislatures, controlling them has been a leading GOP focus for over a decade. Republicans launched an effort to take power in statehouses in the years leading up to the 2010 midterm elections, which in many cases allowed them to redraw congressional districts in their favor after that year’s census.

Who was vice president back then, when Democrats got blown out in the House, lost a few in the Senate, and lost quite a few in the state general assemblies? And lost more in 2012? And 2014?

And the GOP’s long-term effort is still paying off. Republicans currently control 30 state legislatures to just 17 for Democrats, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures. In addition, the GOP has control of 23 governorships in states where they also hold the legislature, which is referred to as a “trifecta.” Democrats have just 14 trifectas.

It doesn’t appear that Democrats will improve these numbers all that much this year.

Democrats told Yahoo News a year ago that they plan to make an organized push to elect more members of their party to state legislatures. And two outside groups are spending around $80 million to do so this cycle.

But so far, there has been little payoff for Democrats. Only 10 chambers out of 99 across the country were deemed to be competitive several months ago by one analyst, and that number has likely shrunk, according to the latest ratings.

They can say this, but, really, Democrats tend to focus on national politics, forgetting what’s happening locally. Just look at the local news outlets: you don’t see that much about the state general assemblies, but, you do see what’s happening in Congress. Of the four main local outlets in Raleigh, which is a Democratic Party run city, they do not mention general assembly happenings that often. The only one that seems to do this is the NJ.com, which is primarily NJ Star Ledger material.

Of the top five closest chambers, as ranked by CNalysis, four are currently held by Democrats and risk switching to Republican control. These four are the Maine House, the Minnesota House, the Alaska House and — somewhat shockingly — the Oregon Senate.

“Oregon is going to be interesting,” CNalysis executive director Chaz Nuttycombe told Yahoo News. The race for Oregon governor is tilting toward Republican candidate Christine Drazan, and CNalysis even gives Republicans a 26% chance of taking the House there, along with a 39% chance of either winning control of the state Senate or gaining a tie in the upper chamber.

I doubt the GOP will take it over. But, they will cut the numbers.

When it comes to threats to democracy from election deniers, the biggest one likely resides in Arizona, where control of the Legislature looks to be firmly in Republican hands already and unlikely to change, according to CNalysis.

Now do 2000, 2004, and 2016 for Democrats. Sigh. Of course, it’s probably too late for Democrats to worry about the states. Maybe they want to rethink people voting so early and mailing ballots in so early.

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EU To Raise Climate Target In 2023, Putting Their Citizens Into More Energy Poverty

By William Teach October 25, 2022 – 7:15 am

Hey, enough of you Europeans, who’ve given up your liberty and sovereignty to the EU, wanted this with your votes. So, don’t complain when the price of food, housing, and energy skyrocket more. When you can’t afford to heat and cool your homes. Heck, when there’s not enough energy that you’re allowed to use

EU countries agree to hike climate change target next year

European Union countries agreed on Monday to raise their target to curb greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement next year, as the bloc attempts to rally ambition among major emitters ahead of this year’s U.N. climate talks.

EU countries’ climate ministers on Monday approved their joint negotiating position for the United Nations summit in November, which was supposed to serve as a deadline for nearly 200 countries to hike their climate pledges.

Most countries have not submitted new targets. The 27-country EU, the world’s third-biggest polluter, pledged on Monday to upgrade its target “as soon as possible”, but said this could not be done until the bloc finishes negotiating a dozen new emissions-cutting laws.

EU countries agreed to wrap up those negotiations by the end of this year – a tight deadline for the dozen laws, which include a ban on new fossil fuel car sales by 2035 and an overhaul of the EU carbon market

EU officials told Reuters the bloc was racing to clinch deals on three policies in time for the COP27 summit on Nov. 7.

The EU’s current target is to cut its net emissions by 55% by 2030, from 1990 levels. EU officials hope it will be possible to nudge that goal higher, because the package of climate policies was designed in July 2021 to deliver the 55% emissions target – and parts of it have since been made more ambitious.

Well, have fun, Europeans. Well, you working and middle class Europeans, because the Elites will continue to live their modern lives to their fullest, while the peons suffer

Ministers also agreed on Monday that the EU would support putting “loss and damage” – the contentious topic of compensation for the damage floods, rising seas and other climate change-fuelled impacts are inflicting on the world’s poorest – on the agenda for the COP27 gathering in Egypt.

Ah, more redistribution. Guess who’s taxes will rise? It won’t be the Elites who pay.

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Democrat Strategists See Writing On Wall, Want Dems To Talk About Economy

By William Teach October 25, 2022 – 7:00 am

Hey, with the ride wave rising higher and higher, I bet Democrats are pretty upset with early voting and mail in voting, eh? If we all voted on election day, they might possibly maybe have a chance to mitigate some of the damage. Oops!

Steering the conversation toward the economy could actually help Democrats

Biden Brain SuckerWith just two weeks until Election Day, recent polling suggests that support for the Democratic Party is eroding nationally in the final stretch of the midterm campaign.

Republicans have gained more than four points in the generic ballot since last month. Democrats enjoyed a one-point advantage in mid-September, but the GOP now leads by over three points, per RealClearPolitics’ average.

Not only is support for Democrats declining overall — it is also weakening among the very constituencies that the party has been courting for months. Since mid-September, Democrats have lost 9-points in the generic ballot with independents, 13-points with women, and 32-points with independent women, per the latest NY Times/Siena College poll. While we should not extrapolate too much from one survey, this trend is largely reflected in other public polls.

Obviously, Democrats focused on abortion on demand, thinking that was the path to winning, but, they were mostly preaching to the choir, and even losing support from those who saw their price of living ever-rising

The same NY Times/Siena poll finds that 44 percent of voters cite economic issues — either the economy generally (26 percent) or rising prices specifically (18 percent) — as the main problem facing the country, while just 5 percent name abortion. The same trend is true of women and independents.

Pocketbook concerns are clearly dominant, and by not messaging on these issues, Democrats are letting Republicans’ economy-focused attack ads — which are largely concentrated in battleground states and swing districts — go uncontested. Indeed, tracking by AdImpact finds that Republicans have outspent and out-aired Democrats by a ten-to-one margin on ads mentioning inflation.

What have the Democrats really done? The jobs market has essentially gained back what was lost in the pandemic.

Moreover, when Democrats do discuss the economy, they largely aren’t talking about it in the right way, per veteran pollster Stan Greenberg. When the party touts strong macroeconomic metrics such as historically low unemployment rates and the passage of their spending bill — but avoids talking about rising prices — voters perceive it as disingenuous.

They are lying.

What Democrats should instead be doing, Greenberg argues, is making an effort in their advertising to inform voters that the party has a plan to lower the cost of living if reelected, while also highlighting how Republicans have opposed cutting costs for working people at every turn.

What plan? They control the House, Senate, and White House. They’ve had since January 20, 2021, to implement their plan. Let them try this, because that is what ever Republican will ask “why haven’t they implemented the plan? Where is it?”

How can Democrats counter the GOP’s cost-of-living hits? Run ads hammering Republicans for voting against capping insulin at an affordable level and opposing extending the child tax credit, which would have delivered $600 a month to working people. Ramp up attacks on GOP candidates who favor weakening broadly popular entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

None of which brings down inflation. Doesn’t bring down the price of food, clothes, housing, vehicles, energy, etc and so on. I’d like to see them give it a whirl.

Read: Democrat Strategists See Writing On Wall, Want Dems To Talk About Economy »

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Climate Cultists Engage In Friendly Fire, Attack King Charles III Waxwork

By William Teach October 24, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Certainly, Charles has been a huge climahypocrite, but, he’s also been one of the world leaders pushing hard to Do Something about ‘climate change’. These people really are a cult

Madame Tussauds: Protesters throw cake on King Charles waxwork

Activists appear to have thrown cake into the face of King Charles’s waxwork at London’s Madame Tussauds.

Video footage posted on social media showed two protesters wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts throwing cake in the King’s face.

The Metropolitan Police said four people had been arrested for criminal damage.

Madame Tussauds said: “At approximately 10.50am today (24 Oct), protestors entered the ‘World Stage’ Zone at Madame Tussauds London and appeared to throw what is believed to be cake at our figures of The Royal Family.”

“Our security team dealt with the incident quickly and we are working closely with the Metropolitan Police on this matter. The attraction remains open, with our Royal Family set closed temporarily.”

The PA news agency reported the protesters were calling for the government to halt all new oil and gas licences and consents.

How many of them took fossil fueled trips to Tussaurds? How many are wearing clothes and using smartphones that required fossil fuels to manufacture and ship?

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If All You See…

By William Teach October 24, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a waterfall that will soon dry up due to ‘climate change’, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 357 Mangum, with a post on 80% of Philly murder victims being black, so, of course this is called raaaaacist.

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Pelosi: “The fight is not about inflation”

By William Teach October 24, 2022 – 10:30 am

This is just days after Queen Nancy said that Democrats need to get better at talking about inflation

Pelosi says election fight ‘not about inflation’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said the midterm election fight should be focused on cost of living rather than the global problem of inflation.

“When I hear people talk about inflation… we have to change that subject. Inflation is a global phenomenon,” Pelosi said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan. “The EU, the European Union, the UK, the British, have higher inflation rate than we do here… The fight is not about inflation. It’s about the cost of living.”

Inflation drives the cost of living. How do you drive down the COL without reducing inflation? Do you plan to simply give people monthly checks to offset the cost of living increases? And, yet, inflation is worldwide, thanks to the Chinese coronavirus, along with the responses to it. All those lockdowns did not help. The shuttering of businesses, especially food, energy, and chip makers.

“If you look at what we [Democrats] have done, to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, to bring down the cost of- of energy and the rest in our legislation, you will see that that has been opposed every step of the way by the Republicans, and they have no plan for lowering the cost of living or helping with inflation,” Pelosi added.

The prescription drugs thing only effects a small number of drugs and doesn’t kick in till 2023/2024 at the earliest, and much only applies to those on Medicare. Has anyone seen their cost of energy go down? Well, maybe if you can afford solar panels for $20K+ or a new EV. Of course, you spent more to eventually reduce your energy cost. No one on Face The Nation challenged her talking points. No one made her defend them with facts. The primary GOP plan to reduce inflation is to reduce energy costs, which starts with allowing more domestic drilling and allowing more refineries. Then you get things like reducing government spending

At the end of the day, Democrats have had control of Congress and the Executive Branch since January 20, 2021. What have they specifically done to reduce the cost of food and energy, two things that citizens will see, at worst, every couple of days?

Read: Pelosi: “The fight is not about inflation” »

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Surprise: Connecticut Residents Hit With Home Heating Sticker Shock

By William Teach October 24, 2022 – 7:15 am

Why are they surprised and upset? This is what they vote for

Connecticut residents grapple with sticker shock of home heating oil prices

stop global warmingVincent Ukleja orders heating oil for his Quaker Hill home when his tank is down to half full, and when he saw the price for a delivery Monday, he was shocked. With oil at $5.19 per gallon, he spent $601.

“We’re on a fixed income, and last year, when the prices were sky-high, we barely made it through,” said Ukleja, 68. He and his wife are both retired, with Ukleja retiring as Quaker Hill fire chief earlier this year due to medical issues. With rising fuel costs, he’s looking at cutting back on food and entertainment.

“It’s just going to be a rough winter,” he said.

Jim Harmon of Montville said he and his wife ? both in their 80s ? “managed to make ends meet until the increased price of heating oil changed it all.” He said in an email they shop at Walmart to save money on groceries, started canceling magazine subscriptions, and stopped visiting family members elsewhere in the state.

“Clean energy will not heat our homes next winter, and the costs are uncertain,” he wrote in the spring. Harmon said this week his home uses about four gallons of oil a day when it’s cold ? meaning at current prices, heating costs could average out to more than $23 on a winter day.

Well, let’s see, I fee bad for some of you, the 39.2% who voted Trump in 2020. The other 59.3%? Pound sand. The last Republican senator was Lowell Weiker, who served from 1971-1989. The current ones, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are massive Warmists. The state hasn’t had a Republican elected in the House since 2009. Governors are a little better, but, do you think a Republican will get elected these days? The general assembly is controlled by the Democrats. You’re getting what you voted for.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of a gallon of residential heating oil in Connecticut was $5.79 for the week of Oct. 17, up from $5.48 last week and $4.64 the week before.

It was $3.28 this time last year.

Richard Funaro, spokesperson for the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General, said the energy price instability caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an Abnormal Market Disruption that allowed the office “to investigate and civilly prosecute price gouging related to home heating fuel and gasoline.” But he said the AMD ended a while ago and the office “does not have the statutory authority to investigate this type of alleged price gouging.”

Of course they’re blaming Putin. But, the price was going up prior to the war. This is what Democrats/Warmists want, and have been working towards.

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ZOMG: GOP Is Campaigning Against IRS, Promising To Slash Funding

By William Teach October 24, 2022 – 7:00 am

This is so horrible!

GOP campaigns against the IRS, vowing to slash its funding

IRS pleas for more funding from Congress — made over the years by one leader after another — finally paid off this summer when Democrats tucked an $80 billion boost for the agency into their flagship climate and health care law.

Fortified with a new funding stream, the IRS is making plans to clear a massive backlog of unprocessed tax returns, upgrade technology that is decades out of date and, yes, hire more auditors.

But, as GOP candidates across the country are making clear, the battle over IRS funding has only just begun. They are making attacks on a larger IRS a central part of their midterm election pitch to voters, warning that the Democratic legislation will bankroll an army of auditors that will harass middle-class taxpayers rather than help them.

“If you pass it, they will come — after you,” says an ad running in an Iowa House race that spoofs a scene in the “Field of Dreams” movie. Instead of baseball players emerging from a field of corn, it’s black-suited IRS agents.

The Associated Press trying to fearmonger over the GOP coming after the IRS is not the Own The Republicans they think it is. I’d bet that even most Democrats, excluding those who want Other People’s money redistributed to them, have a low opinion of the IRS, and are scared of them

The GOP’s warnings are generally alarmist and misleading. The agency is not hiring an army of 87,000 “new agents” to target low- and middle-class Americans. Many hires will be used to replace some 50,000 IRS employee retirements in coming years. Others will become customer service representatives answering taxpayer phone calls.

Some of the IRS hires will be added to the ranks of sophisticated auditing teams that spend thousands of hours poring over complicated returns, but the Biden administration has also made clear that small business or households earning $400,000 per year or less will not see an increase in their chances of being audited.

Right, right, we’re supposed to trust the Biden admin? Trust the IRS? The middle class is an easy target for the IRS. They can get a whole lot more money from them than the Rich who can lawyer up. Remember, a lot of small businesses have a gross over $400k, though their net is much, much lower. Also, why is it necessary to essentially double the IRS budget to replace employees who will retire? Did anyone at the AP consider that question?

Still, some proponents of the additional IRS funding are concerned by the Democratic response to the GOP ads, or to be more precise, the lack thereof. Instead, Democratic groups and candidates are largely focusing their campaign ads on non-economic issues such as abortion rights.

“There’s crickets, is exactly the word, a crickets response from Democrats on this issue,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, a liberal-leaning advocacy group.

First, why would they? Is it really a winning message to defend the IRS? Also, elected Democrats really do want all this audit power, because they believe your money is the Government’s money.

Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said if Republicans are successful in cutting funding for the IRS, “it will seriously damage a fundamental function of the government,” she said “which is really troubling.”

“The reality is that government, through the IRS, plays a critically important role in the lives of Americans every day,” she said. “Pretending that role doesn’t exist to score political points is destructive.”

And that’s what we do not like. So, defending the IRS really isn’t a great political strategy. But, hey, Democrats, go ahead and support the IRS expansion.

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Just Climate Cult Things

By William Teach October 23, 2022 – 3:53 pm

This is painful. And insane

It really is a cult. That could have at least practiced more, like with the barking moonbat COVID nurses

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