During a commercial at another station, turned to MSNBC to get the democratic talking points.  I was surprised to see a segment by the New York Times campaign edition.  I was able to get many democratic talking points anyhow.  Apparently, the democratic New York Times and the democratic MSNBC have joined forces.  Should I be surprised?  Of course not.  NewsWeek has been a democratic carrier of news for some time – hired the originator of DailyKos.  MSNBC, NewsWeek, and the New York Times have been losing readers and viewers dramatically for some time.  Don’t you think the Obama campaign should pay them as well as all the campaign spots he puts out in other areas of media?

I was glad to see that the Gray Lady’s quarterly earnings were down 82%.  I will be glad when the Gray Lady shows her true colors and goes dark.  The only people who read the New York Times and watch MSNBC are rabid Democrats, and not even the most rabid.  The real rabid Democrats read DailyKos, Moveon.org, Huffington Post, and other slimy outlets.

Oil and gas efforts by the oil companies have been stopped dead by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and the majority of people harmed by the high prices for gas at the pump are those in flyover country, and these are people who are mostly ignored by all the politicians.  I would hope that all those in flyover country would call their representative and Senator (plus Nancy and Ole Harry) and let them know what you feel about this.  Someone has to take on the Democrats and environmentalists, in their unpatriotic fervor,to keep this country from becoming completely independent on energy, and that does not set well with the U.N. lovers and those who want an international flavor to our country, even if it’s a detriment to our country.

The Republicans in Congress and any Democrats who want to lower prices of gas, get behind the small town of Elk Point, South Dakota with their desires to get their new refinery on line that will process 400,000 barrels of oil daily from our next door neighbor Canada with their tar sands.  I would think this would be good for NAFTA.  Efforts should be made by the Republicans to take away the obstacles that the Democrats and environmentalists will place in their way, as usual.  Also, they should try to encourage other towns to follow Elk Point’s lead.

Notes of Interest:

• Bob Novak says how reprehensible it was for the McCain campaign to hint they were about to put out their Vice Presidential pick and didn’t.
• Bob Novak ran over a pedestrian in D.C. and continued on his way.  A bicyclist caught up with him and informed him that he had hit a pedestrian – Novak says he didn’t know that – celebrity pays.
• The Democratic National Convention Committee has been fueling their vehicles at Denver City’s gas pumps, thus avoiding paying state and federal taxes.  GM is also loaning the committee vehicles – has there been any political crookedness?  See attached:

DNC host’s tax-free gas evaporates

Angry reaction brings a halt to use of city pumps

The committee hosting the Democratic National Convention has used the city’s gas pumps to fill up and apparently avoided paying state and federal fuel taxes.

The practice, which began four months ago, may have ended hours after its disclosure. An aide to Mayor John Hickenlooper released a statement Tuesday evening saying that Denver 2008 Host Committee members would pay market prices for fuel and would also be liable for all applicable taxes.

However, Public Works spokeswoman Christine Downs told City Council members just hours before that host committee members were fueling up at the city pumps. The city does not pay taxes on the fuel for its fleet, and Downs said the host committee would not either.

The disclosure brought immediate scrutiny. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the practice “would seem” to be illegal and referred the matter to the state Department of Revenue.

Nonprofits, such as the host committee, are subject to state and federal gasoline taxes, according to the Department of Revenue.

The issue arose during the regular weekly meeting of Hickenlooper and City Council members. Downs requested authorization for a contract so the Public Works Department could be reimbursed by the host committee for use of “fueling facilities, fuel and car washes.”

Downs said the contract with the host committee started in March and that $9,700 in fuel and services had been purchased from the city so far. But the committee has yet to be billed. The city anticipates $466,125 in total revenues from the contract, Downs said.

City Councilman Charlie Brown raised the question of whether the host committee would be paying fuel taxes, and Downs said it wouldn’t.

“There’s something there that just doesn’t seem right to me because, in a sense, you’re saying then that the officials who pass the laws are not willing to live by them,” said Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz.

Hickenlooper said the practice isn’t unique to Denver.

“I do know for a fact that they’re doing the same exact thing in Minneapolis,” Hickenlooper said, referring to the city that along with St. Paul is hosting the Republican National Convention.

But Teresa McFarland, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul host committee, said its members are getting their gas at public pumps.

“We’re not getting a tax break on fuel,” she said. “That’s not the setup at this end.”

In Colorado, consumers pay 40.4 cents per gallon in state and federal fuel taxes.

“We’re a nonpartisan, nonprofit committee, but certainly, if the city feels that taxes are applicable, we will pay those, too,” said Chris Lopez, spokesman for the host committee. “So we would pay all applicable taxes on any of the fuel.”

The host committee, which is responsible for raising money to put on the convention, is using the city’s pumps “for safety and security reasons,” Lopez said.

“We know the gas is not tainted,” he said. “We use it as a safety and security measure.”

Hickenlooper said GM is “loaning” the host committee vehicles and he expects a large number to be hybrids. It wasn’t clear Tuesday whether host committee members are using those loaners or their personal vehicles.

Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, said the city’s arrangement with the DNC host committee was “appalling.”

“I’m hoping this is not the first of many stories about how Colorado taxpayers are apparently subsidizing the Democratic convention,” Wadhams said.

After the meeting, Faatz said it was wrong for the DNC host committee to get a tax break.

“I am just troubled by not having the payment of taxes for what I consider to be a privately funded party, and that’s what the host committee is: it’s a private organization,” she said.

“If you’ve got a 14-gallon tank, on the average, that’s about $5.66 that they don’t have to pay for fill up,” Brown said.

Brown also questioned the need for car washes.

It also wasn’t clear Tuesday whether the Department of Revenue will investigate.

“We can’t talk about any individual taxpayer’s circumstance,” said department spokesman Mark Couch. “Tax-exempt organizations are not exempt from fuel taxes, so a nonprofit group is not exempt from fuel taxes. As to the individual circumstance involved here, we’d have to look into it and investigate to make any kind of determination.”

Denis Berckefeldt, spokesman for Denver Auditor Dennis Gallagher, said Hickenlooper’s administration has been guilty in the past of doing business before a contract is executed.

“Is it unusual that it happens?” he asked. “No, because they do stuff like this. Do we like it? No.”

In January 2006, Gallagher complained to Hickenlooper in a letter about the “ongoing problem related to work being performed on behalf of the city before a contract for that work has been fully executed and properly signed.”

At that time, Gallagher wrote, an examination of 999 contracts found that in 790 cases – 79 percent – work began before the contracts were “fully executed.”

“We would have a problem with this because they’re clearly selling fuel to the host committee without a fully executed contract,” Berckefeldt said. “We have a real serious issue at the auditor’s office with the city doing business with anyone without a contract.”

• Harry Truman took action on the Berlin airlift against the advice of most of his advisers to ensure the freedom of Berlin’s citizens.  Considered an act of courage by Harry Truman, in historical terms – This will apply to President Bush as to Iraq in the future.  Bush realizes that Iraq is not an American victory, but a HUMAN victory.
• Obama, who didn’t believe the surge worked, would still vote against it, carries Senator Jack Reed and Senator Chuck Hagel with him – two men with military prowess and medals, who are, in actuality, putting down these young troops and the absolutely fabulous job they have done.  I won’t say that Chuck Hagel is a wolf in sheep clothing, but he is definitely a Democrat who posed as a Republican in Nebraska to get elected.
• The International Olympic Committee saying that Iraq’s seven members who wish to be in the Olympics will be denied – I think the U.S. should withdraw from the Olympics unless this is rectified.
• The Victory statue, where Obama spoke, was moved to where it is now on the orders of Adolph Hitler in 1938 – a statue to commemorate victory overFrance, which the statue faces.  Hitler spoke there many times and transfixed large crowds with his oratory… sound familiar?
• Arrogance – Thy name is Obama

May God continue to bless the USA and save us from Barrack Hussein Obama!