PrairiePundit

It is a pretty good ad.  It gives you an idea of why he is ahead of Feingold.

Houston Chronicle: The Obama administration is inching closer to lifting its moratorium on deep-water drilling, but even when the ban ends, it will be a while before drill bits resume burring into seabed, a top U.S. regulator said Monday. The speed of resumed drilling depends on how quickly oil companies comply with new offshore regulations, including a broad set of mandates set to be issued later this week, said Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. "Even when the moratorium is lifted, you're not going to see drilling going on the next day or even the next week," Bromwich told a national commission investigating the oil spill. "It is going to take time." Although Bromwich refused to make a specific prediction about how quickly rigs would be back up and running, he speculated that "probably very few" drilling projects would resume within a month of the ban's end. ... The regulator...

Stephen Meister: President Obama and Democrats in Congress haven't moved to stop subprime lending -- they've just taken it over. They've created a federal subprime-lending monopoly by seizing control of the financial apparatus -- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration -- and lending 100 percent of the home price to borrowers who can't afford it. Private lenders can't make these loans -- they need to get paid back. On Sept. 9, I reported that Fannie had forged a subprime partnership with state housing-finance agencies called "Affordable Advantage": Fannie agreed to buy loans from housing-finance agencies for which the buyer puts down $1,000 or less -- in at least one case, just 67 cents. On Sept. 15, the House Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee held a hearing on Fannie and Freddie. Since these two GSEs have cost the taxpayers $148 billion (so far), Reps. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) took thei...

Rasmussen Reports: Republican John Raese has edged ahead of West Virginia’s popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin for the first time in the state’s special U.S. Senate race. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Raese earning 48% support to Manchin’s 46% when leaners are included. Two percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. These findings move the contest from Solid Democratic to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings. This race has been closer than expected for weeks as Manchin, despite his popularity with voters in the state, faces an electorate that is even unhappier with the national Democratic agenda than voters in most other parts of the country. ... I think this explains why Manchin recently said he would vote to repeal the Democrats' health care monstrosity. Still it is a surprising turn of events and suggest the GOP still has a chance for t...

Politico: Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal are virtually tied in the Connecticut Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. McMahon trails Blumenthal, 46 percent to 49 percent — a 3-point difference that is within the poll’s margin of error. Only 4 percent of voters surveyed reported they were still undecided. Blumenthal was considered a shoo-in for the open Connecticut Senate race earlier this year because of his high marks from voters as the state’s five-term attorney general. Blumenthal still has a high approval rating — 68 percent in the poll — but he is quickly losing ground in the Senate contest to the wealthy political newcomer. ... McMahon has the momentum. but she is going to have to change some minds or get all the undecideds to break her way to win. I suspect she will get most of them, but whether it will be enough is an open question. The race does show how troubled the Democrat party is since Blumenthal was a...

Dan Balz, Washington Post: In a surprise move, the Democratic Governors Association has decided to up the ante in Texas, with plans to launch an attack ad against Gov. Rick Perry (R ) that assails him as a career politician who has lost touch with the people of the Lone Star State. The audacious action comes in a state that has been a Republican stronghold for more than a decade. But Democrats have concluded that, even in a year that tilts strongly toward Republicans, Perry is more vulnerable than he has appeared in his race against Democrat Bill White, the former mayor of Houston. The DGA has already contributed $2 million to White's campaign. The new ad buy, which is scheduled to begin running in the Dallas area Tuesday, represents an independent expenditure on behalf of White. A Democratic strategist said the DGA would spend about $650,000 to $700,000 a week on its ad campaign. The latest poll in Texas, conducted by Blum & Weprin Associates for a consortium of Texas ...

Image via Wikipedia The Hill: Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) might use Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-La.) playbook to force the White House to clarify its policy on oil-and-gas drilling off his state’s coast, telling reporters he hasn’t ruled out blocking an administration nominee over the issue. “I will use whatever means necessary to get them to respond to this. All we are asking for is a very simple thing: Tell us what the rules are and give us a timetable. That is not complicated,” Begich said Monday after testifying before a presidential commission probing the BP oil spill. Landrieu is blocking a Senate vote to confirm Jacob Lew as White House budget chief until the federal ban on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling is lifted or modified. Now Begich – another pro-drilling Democrat – said he’s looking at the procedural options that the Senate rules allow too. He wants a clear signal from the Obama administration on allowing companies to move ahead with exploratory drilling. ... See the...

Image via Wikipedia NY Times: The C.I.A. has drastically increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in recent weeks, American officials said. The strikes are part of an effort by military and intelligence operatives to try to cripple the Taliban in a stronghold being used to plan attacks against American troops in Afghanistan. As part of its covert war in the region, the C.I.A. has launched 20 attacks with armed drone aircraft thus far in September, the most ever during a single month, and more than twice the number in a typical month. This expanded air campaign comes as top officials are racing to stem the rise of American casualties before the Obama administration’s comprehensive review of its Afghanistan strategy set for December. American and European officials are also evaluating reports of possible terrorist plots in the West from militants based in Pakistan. The strikes also reflect mounting frustration both in Afghanistan and the United States that Pakist...

Bill Gertz: The radical Islamic cleric who is the target of an Obama administration kill-or-capture order played a major role in directing the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day and in other terror plots, a senior U.S. intelligence official has revealed. Anwar al-Awlaki, who has dual U.S.-Yemeni citizenship, was involved in "preparing" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in the attempted midflight bombing of a Northwest Airlines jet traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit on Dec. 25, Director of National IntelligenceJames R. Clapper said in a court statement made public on Saturday. In addition, as a leader of the Yemen-based terror group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Mr. al-Awlaki has played a key role since late 2009 in "planning attacks on U.S. interests," Mr. Clapper said. "In November 2009, while in Yemen, Mr. Abdulmutallab swore allegiance to the emir of [AQAP] and shortly thereafter received instructions from Mr. al-Awlaki to detonate an ex...

Image via Wikipedia Mark Tapscott: Officials of a dozen top Big Green environmental groups contributed more than $14.5 million to congressional and presidential candidates in 2008 and through the second quarter of 2010 with 96 percent of the total going to Democrats, according to an Examiner analysis of federal campaign data. The data was compiled from the Federal Election Commission and included only donations by individuals who listed one of the 12 groups as their employer or listed themselves as an officer or director of one or more of the groups. This analysis does not include contributions by individuals who did not list an employer. The groups included the Audubon Society , Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife , the Environmental Defense Action Fund, Friends of the Earth , League of Conservation Voters , Natural Resources Defense Council , Nature Conservancy , Ocean Champions, Sierra Club , the Trust for Public Land and the Wilderness Society . ... He gives the brea...

Arab New: Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia was successful in foiling 230 terrorist attacks plotted by Al-Qaeda militants. He said Saudi Arabia would continue its efforts to defeat terrorism with all its might and authorities. Saudi security forces have arrested hundreds of terror suspects over the past years. ... Prince Naif urged the university staff to inculcate the values of tolerance and moderation among their students. He agreed to the establishment of Prince Naif Chair for Moral Values. Actually Saudi intelligence has been pretty good at spotting these guys and taking them down. I suspect they are also helping Yemen with those attacking that government. They are patting themselves on the back here, but I will join in that. They will still have to be vigilant to stop all of those who are not tolerant and moderate.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife Independent: The "daisy chain" of nine explosive devices had been hidden at the base of a wall flanking a narrow alleyway. Two deafening blasts came within seconds of each other, spraying shrapnel and debris in an arc as the patrol came alongside. It was the second time in five days that the American and Afghan forces had been targeted in Malajat, a notoriously violent area used by bombers and gunmen as a base from which to strike into Kandahar City . The attacks illustrate the difficulties faced in attempting to clear the militants out of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. There are, however, signs that the tide may be turning following a series of military operations in an area which, not so long ago, was regarded as "lost". The offensive launched yesterday – one of "the most difficult and most important" to be carried out since the start of the war, according to Western commanders – comes at a pivotal time...

Guardian: Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, paid the state-owned Iranian oil company at least $1.5bn (£0.94bn) for crude oil this summer, increasing its business with Tehran as the international community implemented some of the toughest sanctions yet aimed at constricting the Islamic republic's economy and its lifeline oil business. Sensitive trading documents seen by the Guardian show the UK-registered company stepped up its orders of Iranian oil at a time when other major buyers, including BP and Reliance Industries, India's largest conglomerate, halted orders amid impending trade sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran's perceived desire to acquire nuclear weapons. Shell is not accused of acting illegally because the sanctions – enforced by the US, UN and EU – stopped short of banning the import of Iranian oil. But its trades with the state-owned oil company, a major contributor to the finances of a government which has made its nuclear programme a priority, are likely ...

Telegraph: Britain's so-called "dash for wind" means that it is now the biggest off shore generator – producing as much as the rest of the world put together. But costs of building the farms have doubled due to spiralling prices for steel and the drop in the value of the pound. The running costs are also increasing. The report found that costs have risen for all kinds of generation but off shore wind farms remain by far the most expensive – 90 per cent more than fossil fuel generators and 50 per cent more than nuclear. ... This means they will be paying more for less. We should remember that when Obama or Thomas Friedman tout "alternative" energy. Someone may come up with an efficient approach to alternative energy, but this is clearly not it.

Image via Wikipedia BBC: Pakistan has voiced anger at rare Nato-led raids at the weekend which crossed over its border from Afghanistan. Apache helicopters are said to have taken part in the operations which killed more than 50 insurgents. Pakistan's ministry of foreign affairs said the raids, launched from the Khost region of Afghanistan, were a violation of its sovereignty. Continue reading the main story Taliban Conflict Who are the Taliban? Q&A: Fighting the Taliban Foreign troops in Afghanistan Drone and militant attacks Nato has again insisted that it was operating within its mandate and troops had a right to defend themselves. The BBC's Adam Mynott in Islamabad says Pakistan's comments were mainly aimed at a domestic audience, among which US military activity is often unpopular. The International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said it had crossed over the border into Pakistan after coming under fire in the Khost region of Afghanistan. It said...

Wesley Pruden: ... "There's little doubt that the Midwest is the Democrats' toughest region this year," says Democratic pollster Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling. He finds excitement and anticipation among Democrats down dramatically, a full 10 points from two years ago. The pols and their consultants call this "the enthusiasm gap," and the learned professors of gapology say it's far more fearsome than gaps of elections past, such as the once-fashionable and now mostly forgotten "gender gap." "If the election was held today, the party would almost certainly lose the governorships it holds in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania," he says. "It's also more than likely at this point to lose the Senate seats it has in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Indiana, miss out on a once-promising pickup opportunity in Ohio, and quite possibly lose [its] seat in Illinois as well." Worse, because the party is ...

NY Times: Women in Chechnya are under pressure to adopt Islamic dress, according to human rights activists and an Islamic fundamentalist video circulating on the Internet in the latest example of deteriorating women’s rights under Ramzan A. Kadyrov , the president of the restive southern Russian republic. Activists in Chechnya, where Russia has waged two wars against separatists in the past 16 years, said intimidation reached a peak during the fasting month of Ramadan. There was also a crackdown on violations of Islamic law such as the sale of food before sundown and any sale of alcohol, they said. The activists who spoke from Chechnya insisted on anonymity because they said they feared reprisals. Threats tapered off, they said, as Ramadan ended in mid-September. Men in Islamic clothes had been approaching women whom they deemed unsuitably dressed to pull them by the arm, an offense according to Chechen custom. A woman activist said that incidents she recorded in August i...

Strategy Page: An Israeli firm (IAI) recently revealed that it had developed a tilt rotor UAV. Named the Panther, the UAV has two electric props. The engines swivel for takeoff and landing, as well as for hovering. IAI plans to offer a range of models, with wingspans of from 2 meters (6.2 feet) to 8 meters (25 feet). The working prototype has six meter (18.6 feet) wings and fuel cells that give it an endurance of six hours. This model has an eight kilogram (17.6 pound) payload that can carry day/night vidcams and a laser designator. The electric motors mean that the UAV is very quiet, an important consideration if the UAV is hovering at low altitude to keep an eye on something. This is important for use in urban areas, where a hovering UAV can view things concealed from a high flying UAV. The tilt rotor capability eliminates any difficulties in takeoff and landing, and makes this UAV ideal for operating off warships. ... It sounds pretty cool.  The US Marin...

Politico has a new poss out and the reelect numbers are only one piece of the bad news for the President and the Democrats.  It is pretty clear that his policies are the problem.

Houston Chronicle: Bitter climate puts major energy legislation on ice