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February 21, 2008 |
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Story #1: McCain Moves to Right on Waterboarding
RUSH: Looks like Senator McCain is trying to move right a little bit. "Sen. John McCain said President George W. Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects." Now, does that surprise you people? Senator McCain's been railing against waterboarding and torture for quite a while. Now all of a sudden he says President Bush should veto a bill that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding? He "voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual. His Senate vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding -- a simulated drowning technique that McCain" --
You know what this is? McCain doesn't want the CIA bound by the manual and it is prohibitions. He said, "I knew I'd be criticized for it. I think I can show my record is clear. I said there should be additional techniques allowed to other agencies of government as long as they were not torture. I was on the record as saying that they could use additional techniques as long as they were not cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. So the vote was in keeping with my clear record of saying they could have additional techniques, but those techniques could not violate [international rules against torture]." So, I mean, we do detect signs here, ladies and gentlemen, that the senator is moving right.
 Story #2: FEC Questions McCain Campaign Loan
RUSH: "The government's top campaign finance regulator says John McCain can't drop out of the primary election's public financing system until he answers questions about a loan he obtained to kick-start his once faltering presidential campaign. Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason, in a letter to McCain this week, said the all-but-certain Republican nominee needs to assure the commission that he did not use the promise of public money to help secure a $4 million line of credit he obtained in November. McCain's lawyer... said Wednesday... that McCain has withdrawn from the system and that the FEC can't stop him." The lawyer also said that the campaign "did not encumber the public funds in any way."
Now, we all know that Senator McCain is a longtime advocate of stricter limits on money in politics -- which led to more money in politics. I mean, CFR gave us the 527 organizations! We also know that Senator McCain was one of the few leading presidential candidates to seek Federal Election Commission certification for public money during the primaries. "The FEC determined that he was entitled to at least $5.8 million. But McCain did not obtain the money, and he notified the FEC earlier this month that he would bypass the system, freeing him from its spending limits. But just as McCain was beginning to turn his attention to a likely Democratic opponent, Mason, a Republican appointee to the commission, essentially said, 'Not so fast.' By accepting the public money, McCain would be limited to spending about $54 million for the primaries, a ceiling his campaign is near. That would significantly hinder his ability to finance his campaign between now and the Republican National Convention in September."
In his letter to McCain, "Mason said the commission would allow a candidate to withdraw from the public finance system as long as he had not received any public funds and had not pledged the certification of such funds 'as security for private financing.'" And that's what this thing is all about -- his little snag here regarding public money and whether or not McCain used the insurance that that's coming in order to get a $4 million line of credit.
Story #3: Exonerated Duke Lacrosse Players File Lawsuit
RUSH: Thirty-eight Duke lacrosse players are going to file suit with Duke University -- and the city of Durham is about to get hit with another Duke lacrosse case lawsuit this afternoon." Thirty-eight players and their parents plan to announce this afternoon the filing of a lawsuit against Duke and a number of other entities and individuals. Charles J. Cooper, an appellate lawyer and litigator in the capital area, will provide details of the suit at the National Press Club... The exonerated players have alleged that former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others associated with the case conspired to falsely charge the former Duke students with rape. The charges stemmed from a team party in March 2006," as you remember. It was unclear today what allegations the 38 players would bring against the city and Duke. Lawyers plan to wait until this afternoon to reveal the details of the case.
Go for it! I mean, get everything this school has got! I am not kidding. Get as much out of this university as you can possibly get, you guys. The utter travesty that happened to these players and their families... you know, Mike Nifong has filed for bankruptcy, but that's also to insulate him from being liable in circumstances like this.
Story #4: Huckaboom-boom: Janet Hangs at Vegas Hooters
RUSH: Janet Huckabee was in Vegas for a middleweight prize fight, and she stayed at the Hooters Casino Hotel. Well, that's what it says here.
Story #5: No Political Progress in Clinton's Kosovo War
RUSH: Kosovo is blowing up right now, folks -- all kinds of revolution going on over there. Tanks, people in the streets, fires, US embassy has been attacked... but no reports of injuries. What was it we were watching, Snerdley? MSNBC? Yeah, MSNBC decided to get expert commentary on what's happening over in Kosovo. Of course, this was the situation that was "fixed" by President Clinton, and so who did they go to? They went to Ashley Wilkes! Yes! Wesley Clark, part of the Hillary Clinton campaign team to discuss what's going on in Kosovo. Now, General Clark, of course, was the commander of NATO forces during the war in Kosovo. And, you know, ladies and gentlemen, it's very obvious, is it not, that the Clinton-brokered deal in Kosovo is not making much political progress. Yep: Political progress is desperately, sorely needed on the ground in Kosovo. Well, let's just apply the same requirements to Kosovo that Pelosi and Reid have applied to the situation in Iraq.
Story #6: Solar Panels on Homes: Economic Loser
RUSH: You know, on many occasions on this program I have voiced my opinion about solar panels and solar energy on your house and so forth. Remember the arguments we've had that solar panels can cause your electric meter to run backwards? And I have shared with you my experience as the owner of a house in which I was forced, in California, to have panels up there on the roof. I was assured that they were going to lower my electric bill, but, of course, I had nothing to compare it to because you couldn't turn the damn things off under fear of jail and penalty.
Well, from the San Jose Mercury News: "Installing solar panels on homes is an economic 'loser' with the costs far outweighing the financial benefit, a respected University of California-Berkeley business professor said Wednesday. The technology, using photovoltaic panels to generate electricity, is not economically competitive with fossil fuels and costs more than other renewable fuels, said Severin Borenstein, who also directs the UC Energy Institute. 'We are throwing away money by installing the current solar PV technology,' he said. Not surprisingly, the solar industry reacted strongly to the report. Neal Lurie with the American Solar Energy Society called the study 'a publicity stunt.' 'Borenstein doesn't give proper credit to the important role that competition and economies of scale play in driving down costs,' he said. And Julie Blunden, a vice president with San Jose's SunPower, said Borenstein's analysis was 'deeply flawed.' 'He seems to be disconnected from the empirical data in the market,' she said. 'He doesn't seem to have much peripheral vision from his ivory tower.' But in his 38-page paper, Borenstein attacked several arguments made by solar proponents[; that] solar systems provide energy on hot, sunny days when the strain on the grid is the highest. That's true, Borenstein said, but the ability to provide power during peak periods of demand increases the economic value of PV solar only slightly, perhaps up to 20 percent more.... [He says] solar as a power source on people's homes cuts the cost of transmission and distribution. But in California, adding solar has 'not significantly' lowered these costs 'and is unlikely to do so in other'"--
Folks, let me tell you how this works. You remember in California when they encouraged all these new cars, these little puddle things out there that get all this new mileage, supposedly? Well, when people started buying these little lawn mowers with seats on them and their gas mileage went up, it meant they were buying less gasoline. And guess what the state of California -- which, of course urged all this to happen -- found? That their gas tax revenue was plummeting, and so they were going to have to go out and raise gas taxes in order to compensate for their loss -- over people doing what the state had said to do to save money! All of this is a scam, and when the state's telling you to do something to reduce your use of it, and if they tax it, they're going to eventually figure it out that your less use, your decreased use, is going to cost them money and they're going to have to find a way to get the money back -- ergo, your savings, if there are any, go down the tubes.
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