Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) just took to the House floor to announce his new website, "Names of the Dead".  According to the website:

Every year, more than 44,000 Americans die simply because have no health insurance.

I have created this project in their memory. I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives. If you have lost a loved one, please share the story of that loved one with us. Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved.

I'm told this may be an ethics violation because the site was created out of his House office.  Developing ...

Update:

The rules in the congressional handbook House Ethics Manual (p. 131) which it seems to violate are as follows:

Member and Committee Websites: Under rules issued by the Committee on House Administration set forth in the Members‘ Handbook and the Committees‘ Handbook, Member and Committee websites –

-  May not include personal, political, or campaign information; and

-  May not be directly linked or refer to websites created or operated by a campaign or any campaign-related entity, including political parties and campaign committees.

This website is clearly a violation of the above rules. 

The disclaimer says "Paid for by Congressman Alan Grayson," but includes links to his campaign website, etc..

The new ad for Creigh Deeds is clearly not about Creigh Deeds ...



Is Barack Obama running for VA governor?

On the heels of Michael Moore's recent anti-capitalism film, an upcoming documentary seeks to position capitalism as the newest weapon in the fight against global poverty. 

"The New Recruits" -- which is due out in January -- is the tale of three recent business school grads who travel to third world countries and use the principles of capitalism to bring about positive social change.

For example, they spent a year addressing problems like water shortages in Pakistan and the lack of electricity in rural India.  And one of the cast members travels to Nairobi, Kenya to help get pay-per-use toilets in the slums to counter the health and sanitation problems caused by human waste.

... And here's the best part: Emmy Award-nominated actor Rainn Wilson, who stars as Dwight Schrute on NBC’s comedy series The Office, narrates the film.  “I’m thrilled to be doing narration for the documentary The New Recruits,” said Rainn Wilson. “It’s a fascinating and often hysterical study of the challenges of capitalism in the developing world. Plus, I sound amaaaazing.”

Earlier today, I authored a column stating that if history has anything to say about it, Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin will get the GOP nod.

Now, my good friend and colleague John Gizzi, a highly-respected reporter for HUMAN EVENTS, has weighed in on this issue.  John emailed this insightful response to me earlier today, and said I could share it with you:

I liked your article and I agree with you on history being on the side of Romney.  Except for one thing:  wherever I travel, more and more Republicans are fed up with this idea of someone’s turn.  More often than not, you here “Him again?!!” rather than “It’s his turn?” (or “It’s her turn?).

Thus, I would argue that someone who is a fresh face has an advantage.  Which may explain why Govs. Barbour and Pawlenty, possibly Jim DeMint, Gen. David Petraeus, or someone who emerges in 2020—say a Gov. John Kasich of Ohio—could easily be a heavyweight contender in two years.  Put another way, Republicans finally won the House in 1994 when they ran a national strategy; they might well win in 2012 with a fresh face.

[# More #]

I made this analogy at Western CPAC.  From 1930-36, Republicans lost ground in four successive elections.  By 1937, vilified and blamed for the Depression, Rs had 17 seats in the Senate, about a third of the House, and no major governorship except CA.  But then FDR made his first stumbles as President—raising taxes before Depression was over, which short-circuited the recovery, and trying to pack the Supreme Court.  In anger that was not unlike the tea party movement today, voters rallied to Republicans, who won so many House and Senate seats that if the South had not been solidly Democrat, they would have taken Congress.

More significantly, as Lyn Nofziger used to say, the “deadwood was cleaned out.”  Many of the old bulls who were blamed for the Depression were retired or swept out in ’38.  By 1940, it was clearly no one’s turn, as all the major candidates for the Republican nomination for President were people who had emerged on the scene only two years before: a freshman senator from Ohio (Bob Taft), a two-fisted, crime-busting 38-year-old DA from NY (Tom Dewey), and the eventual nominee, who had neither held nor sought office before and was a registered Democrat until a year before: Wendell Willkie.  (I could easily see Dave Petraeus as Willkie).

The point being: overnight is an eternity in politics, as former Secretary of State James Baker likes to say, and 2010 could be a defining moment in Republican politics.

If history is a guide, Romney or Palin will get the GOP nod in 2012.

While I'm on a foreign affairs kick, the Institute for Energy Research is promoting a new study which spotlights the costs of Germany’s efforts to create a green energy industry. 

This a half a trillion dollar outlay has led to German consumers paying nearly 20 percent more for their energy, a wind industry that’s totally reliant on federal subsidies, and “green jobs” that evaporate once the subsidies stop ...

Full study here (PDF).

Just filed my column about my recent trip abroad, titled: Turkey's identity crisis keeping it from Western Europe's Embrace. 

Pajama-clad bloggers irked by White House swipe (00:15-04:57)
Matt shocked by FireDogLake’s blue streak (04:57-07:40)
Did the NFL give Rush Limbaugh the shaft? (07:43-14:47)
“First they came for Limbaugh, and I did not speak out…” (14:47-17:06)
Matt: On a climate bill, Lindsey Graham is an idiot (17:13-25:51)
Meghan McCain shows some skin and catches flak on Twitter (25:51-33:32)

Newt Gingrich's endorsement of liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava for the NY-23 special election has drawn harsh words from RedState's Erick Erickson:

Newt endorsing Scozzafava aligns him with Markos Moulitsas who declared Dede the most liberal candidate in the race.

That aligns Newt with ACORN, which has twice endorsed Dede.

That aligns Newt with Planned Parenthood and NARAL, active supporters of Dede.

That aligns Newt with the SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and a host of other left wing interest groups including the gay marriage lobby.

Today Newt Gingrich stands athwart history and pees on the legacy of 1994, where it is no longer about principles, ideas, ideals, and integrity, but the raw acquisition of power for the sake of power. He aligns with a candidate to the left of the Democrat.

The GOP will not take back power until it repents of its sins that caused it to lose power. And chief among those sins was the abandonment of principle for the sake of power. But when a political party stands for nothing, it fails to stand.

At least we can thank Newt today for declaring himself out of the 2012 race. Or, should he stay in, conservatives at least no longer have to feel under any obligation to stick with him, since he makes clear in NY-23 as he did in MD-01 that he feels under no obligation to stick with conservatives.