A “Cash for Clunkers” Program America Can Truly Embrace, by David Teesdale

Grumple Stiltskins here is the perfect embodiment of the career politician. Fortunately, Harry Reid (D-NV) and many other nare-do-wells are getting their ticket home in 2010. Arlen Specter, clean-up on aisle--well, whatever aisle it is that you sit these days, Senator.

Many, in light of Senator Ted Kennedy’s recent demise, may have have expected a deferential, reverent retrospective on the end of Camelot, and a tribute to a foe whom Republicans could truly embrace.  However, given Senator Kennedy’s less than noble actions outside of the Senate, and his outright destructive and mean spirited antics inside the halls of Congress (during Senate confirmation hearing and throughout the abortion debate of the last four decades), it is incumbent upon this politico to refrain from commentary.  I heed the words my mother taught me–if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all–especially after the man has just expired.

Instead, as Massachusetts voters look to replace the Liberal Lion, I would tug your attention toward Rasmussen’s recent poll of Americans, which indicated that 57% of voters, if given the opportunity, would not just replace their own Congressman, but would go so far as to replace the entire U.S. Congress.  If this item were a proposition on the ballot, that amounts to a landslide margin against the incumbents.  This is a resounding defeat for the entrenched forces within Congress currently, who have wrenched their fiefdoms from more qualified candidates by harnessing the power of the purse.

“Snail Mail” Needs a Redux, by David Teesdale

President Obama at his most recent town hall was mystifyingly quoted saying that, “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” Aside from the fact that the president has, in pitching his government-run health care initiative, presented one of the best examples of myopic government-run programs, another thought sprang to the forefront of this conservative’s conscience. The presidents remarks didn’t stir deep within my soul the desire to nationalize our medical industry, as it might for some of my neo-marxist friends within the left-er nether regions of the Democrat Party. In fact, it actually brought to mind the opposite notion. The United States should privatize the U.S. Postal Service.

“Wanted: An Inner-city Legislator with a Backbone,” by StairwaytoKevin

As an elected official or an ordinary citizen, suppose someone presented you the following figures on an education initiative and asked your opinion: graduation rates improved from 51 percent to 66 percent, crime rates within schools dropped 44 percent, and state test scores jumped 20 percent.  Oh, and because the initiative takes place in a large urban center, you are also concerned with the minority achievement gap, which, incidentally, narrowed significantly.   You would be certifiably insane if you were to oppose this initiative or threaten to hold it hostage as a means of furthering your own pet projects.