“I really don’t want to disappoint anyone with this announcement, not with the decision that I have made,” she said. “All I can ask is that you trust me with this decision and know that it is no more politics-as-usual, and some Alaskans it seems maybe they don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time, but I do. I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor. I don’t know if my children are going to allow it anyway.”

She also reasoned that the attacks on her family, especially on her son Trig, contributed to her decision.  She inferred in her speech that she will still be involved in both Alaskan and national politics.  While Palin did not give any details as to what her political future will include, there has already been much speculation.

“My choice is to take a stand and affect change, not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new political environment. Rather, we know we can affect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities – so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.”

It has been widely known that Sarah Palin has had her eyes on the 2012 presidential election, but some say with this move, a presidential campaign in 2012 looks dim.  However others speculate that this move now frees her to put all her focus on 2012.  Sarah Palin has never played “politics as usual” and she enforced this in her concession speech.

At this point in time the three biggest potential GOP 2012 candidates are Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin.  Palin has probably noticed that Gingrich and Romney have had a head start because they are not tied down to a political office.  Sarah Palin loves Alaska, but she loves America more.  Palin is somewhat isolated in Alaska, and now that she will no longer be governor, she has the freedom to travel the United States, and travel the world gaining support and knowledge on issues she was not strong on in 2008.  She should spend the next year campaigning and fundraising for GOP 2010 candidates.  Palin has the unique power of getting out her message better than anyone.  Everything she says is spread by the media, comedians, and blogs faster than anyone else.  Many do not agree with her message, so they mock her, but by doing this they spread her ideas to Americans who agree with her.  She has a voice to the everyday American that President Obama can only dream about.

Sarah Palin is currently working on a book, but she needs to do more.  Any politician serious about 2012 has a blog, a youtube channel, and is on the news daily giving their opinion.  Now that Sarah Palin can leave Alaska more, she needs become a regular contributor to Fox and other news stations.  She can now go on a speaking tour, and the 2010 election in the perfect platform.  Any conservative running for election or reelection would love to have her speak at a rally or fundraiser.  She has the national following that can help the Republican Party take back congress.

By stepping down, Sarah Palin can grow her already enormous following.  Palin prides herself by breaking the political mold and going against the status quo.  Sarah Palin is arguably the most favorable conservative in America right now, and is unrivaled in her ability to command an audience and articulate the Republican message.  Now that she can more freely travel to the lower 48, Palin’s audience can only grow.  This is not the end to Sarah Palin; it is only the beginning, and anyone who writes her off now only denies the inevitable, Sarah Palin will change America.

Americans now must decide how much our country should voice our support these brave Iranians, and their quest for the freedom and democracy that we have enjoyed for more than two centuries.  In the past, Americans have called it our duty to support any nation seeking freedom.  This does not necessarily include sending in tanks and armies to fight for freedom, although often it is required.  But simply the acknowledgement of support from the United States, the greatest beacon of freedom in the history of mankind, gives enough hope to those citizens to fight for the rights God has given us.

In 1989, just by calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire” President Regan gave the Polish people the hope and support that eventually led to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.  International support of freedom has again and again helped countries seeking a democracy, or preserving one that is in jeopardy: In Georgia, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, the Philippines, South Africa and Taiwan — just to name a few.

The United States of America needs to make it very clear to every single country that we stand for freedom.  No matter what, we support any nation seeking freedom.  We must always voice this message, and when needed, defend it at any cost.  The Iranian people are risking their lives for a chance at freedom, the very least the American government can do is publicly support them.  So why does it remain silent.  In Iran they took to the streets, and the American government remained silent. Both Iranian and non Iranian Americans have taken to our own streets in support, but our government still remains silent.

President Obama said in his speech in Cairo “the various rights that we possess are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.”  So why wont President Obama acknowledge his support for the Iranian people?  No matter what the reasons for the silence, the Iranian people are begging for support.  They write their signs in English hoping to get their cries to the American people.  The American government must publicly give their support for the Iranian people wanted freedom if there is any chance of success.  If it doesn’t, countless lives may be lost, and our reputation of hope and freedom will be damaged.

I am in no way in favor in the United States taking action against the Iranian government.  Right now, that is not our place.  But I believe whole heartedly that every American should voice support to the Iranian protesters wanting what every human wants, a chance for a better life, a chance for freedom.

What do you think the American government should do?  Do we give our support to the protesters, or do we wait it out and see if this becomes a full revolution, or just dies out.  Please voice your own opinion on the debate!

Editor of the Harvard Law Review, Senator from Illinois, US President, and now…Used Car Salesman. His résumé already commands respect, but with General Motors filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday morning, Barack Obama can finally add sleazy auto dealer to the top of his career list.

As if the $20 billion bailout GM inhaled earlier this spring wasn’t enough, at least $30 billion more American taxpayer dollars will be injected into the beached automakerover the coming months. Will the absurdity ever end?

If one jogs memory back, say, two months ago, one remembers the vehement political outcry against letting the “iconic” General Motors give way to bankruptcy. “Whatever it takes,” they screamed, “if GM fails, they all fail!” These assertions were part of the economic doomsday hysteria that consumed this country since markets tanked in September.

Well, despite the $20 billion – yes billion, with a B – that was already wasted in this corporate quagmire, GM still found a way to fail. What a surprise…rewarding an outdated, inefficient company with billions of free dollars without demanding any internal restructuring was hopeless from the start.

Today, GM stands where it would be if it had never received the bailout – forced to streamline management and answer to its creditors. The scary thought is that the federal government, famous for doing absolutely nothing efficiently, is now charged with returning GM to its old glory.

Instead of answering to a private bank, as GM would have done if it had filed for bankruptcy before the bailout, GM is now under the sole jurisdiction of Obama, Congress, and the US Treasury. Not only have these parties spent with reckless abandon since the inauguration, neither Obama nor Congress has much incentive to make GM an efficiently run, profitable business again.

Congress’ blank checks are far too accessible for Obama to risk alienating the United Auto Workers and his other protectionist comrades by cracking down on GM. The private sector would have forced GM to streamline its operations and stand up to unions months ago in order to remain competitive in the global auto market.

The end result shows that both GM and the Fed come out of this debacle as losers. Detroit’s former auto titan will likely be worth nothing in a matter of days and the American public is now saddled with this worthless carcass’ $90 billion debt.

Weren’t the bailouts a great call?

Turns out however, history offered fair warning to those who supported Washington’s backing of GM several months ago. The parable goes as such: Britain nationalized two of its own automakers, Rolls Royce and British Leyland, in the early 1970s. As the New York Times aptly pointed out, neither government takeover helped Rolls Royce nor British Leyland regain its dominance in the European auto industry.

According to the Times, Leyland “went through £11 billion of inflation-adjusted British taxpayer money, or $16.5 billion, in the ’70s and ’80s before going out of business.” Think, GM has already gone out of business and Washington is still dumping cash into it. Unbelievable.

Obama and the Congressmen who backed the bailouts still need to learn what we Free Marketeers have known all along. Don’t throw good money after a bad product.

It seems like a simple concept because it is. American capitalism is built upon the ideas of smart investments, innovation, risk, and reward. Make a savvy investment, make more money. Make an economic faux pas, lose money, learn from your mistake, and do better the next time.

But when the Fed absolves a floundering automaker from the natural
consequences of its own incompetency, it undermines the very free market system it was founded on. Without overhauling management and taming the UAW, the Fed’s continued involvement in GM will only further insulate Detroit from the results of producing highcost, low-quality automobiles. Simply throwing money at a problem never solved one. I decry Obama’s Government Motors on two counts. One, for gashing a raw economic wound in Washington that will hemorrhage taxpayer money for years to come. The other, for fundamentally threatening our nation’s loyalty to free enterprise.

A simple history lesson would’ve taught our civil servants that taxpayer money cannot be used as life support for a dead business. Unfortunately, the damage has alreadybeen done – $50 billion times over.

Washington better put a tourniquet on government spending before our country losesits prosperity, and its principles, in the wake.

For myself, I have chosen not to sit around and watch Congress and this new administration kill Capitalism. I will not be still while others move the government towards a welfare state, and past the point where it will become irreversible.

I believe that we, as the future of America, need to return to the principles of our founding fathers.  And so, I have launched pvconservative.com, and blog.pvconservative.com, to spread those principles, along with conservative ideals, and to give people like you and me a place to discuss our beliefs to hopefully make a difference. To start out with, PVC consists of mostly youtube videos and news stories, but from this point forward, I hope to make it personal, where we can all voice our opinions.

No longer can conservatives hide in shame in our community.  We need to join together, and make our opinions known. The basis on which our country was founded, and the principles that make America great are in jeopardy; that individuals are best at making decision for themselves, rather than government making decisions as to what’s best.

With PV Conservative I’d like to create a place where conservatives around the Palos Verdes Peninsula can be heard. We cannot sit around and watch our country “change” into something we strongly disagree with.  We need to stand up for what we believe and stop this slide to a welfare state.  To do this I need your help!

First I need you to spread the word about PV Conservative!! Invite your friends to the facebook group and show them the PVC Blog.  Next, if you are like me and are passionate about the future of our nation, you can become an article writer.  You can write articles on ANY topic about events affecting our country and our generation.  You can also make youtube commentary videos too. Once the site gets running, my goal is to create a weekly podcast.

Please let me know if you would join me in spreading the truth to our generation about the direction our government is going, and offering an alternative solution that will make our country great.

By SERENA NG and DAVID MCLAUGHLIN

New opposition to Chrysler LLC’s restructuring plan emerged as Indiana pension funds holding Chrysler senior debt filed objections to the plan, saying the U.S. government’s involvement had “infected” the company’s bankruptcy.

WSJ Wednesday, May 21 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124286866222141773.html

The news lately has been filled with stories of how Unions are running roughshod over everyone right now. Since the Democrats have been in power, they have been looking out for their friends and backers; the Unions. No matter that it drives up cost of anything exponentially and makes things more complex and less efficient by orders of magnitude. The Democrats are repaying campaign debts and keeping the faithful in line. It’s Union First, no matter what the cost.

This was exemplified in the GM bankruptcy and subsequent takeover by the Obama administration. In their infinite wisdom they decided which creditors should get what value for the GM assets, mostly corporate bonds, they held. And if they didn’t like the decision and decided to go public with their disclosure, they were branded “Speculators” by the administration and in no uncertain terms flogged with the pronouncements that it was the “Speculators” who are the true cause of the financial meltdown, the greed that drove inflated compensation for security traders.

But what if it was another Union who had purchased GM Corporate Bonds as an investment for their members? GM was a conservative investment, right? Pretty save investment, not nearly “Speculation”, right?

Well, that’s exactly what has happened. Turns out that the Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund, the Indiana State Police Pension Trust and the Indiana Major Moves Construction Fund hold GM Bonds and stand to loose a substantial part of their investment. These are the “Speculators” that the Obama administration called greedy: Teachers, Policeman, other government workers for the State ofIndiana. And they’re asking a legitimate question: Why is it fair that the rules of bankruptcy are being rewritten in this case so that these Pension Funds, who have a higher standing in terms of the pecking order of creditors by a bankrupt firm based on the type of asset held, are getting the shaft? Offered only 29 cents on the dollar for their Bonds. At the same time, the United Auto Workers union is getting much, much more and their standing in bankruptcy court is much lower. In essence, this is Brother on Brother inequality. One Union getting the very short end of the stick which the other is making out like a bandit.

Indiana State Treasure Richard Mourdock said Wednesday; “As fiduciaries, we can’t allow our retired police officers and teachers to be ripped off by the federal government.” and has filed charges that the overturning of more than 100 years of established law by redefining “secured creditors” to mean something less has caused significant loss to other government workers.

However, when you  have friends in high places I guess that means you can get away with almost anything. Oh wait, I thought that was only in Chicago politics. I guess that way of conducting business

has migrated to Washington with the Obama administration.

WASHINGTON — In a sweeping order Wednesday, President Barack Obama called for a rollback of Bush administration regulations designed to protect companies from product-liability lawsuits in state courts.

WSJ Wednesday, May 21 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124285702885340713.html

In an apparent gift to anyone who profits from product-liability lawsuits, the Obama administration will now enable the filing of separate lawsuits in each of the 50 states against the same company for a single product. The Bush administration enacted regulations that federal product liability lawsuits and judgments would pre-empt state lawsuits for the very same product and liable company. It appears that each state can have its own rulebook that regulates product liability in that state. There have been cases where a product abides by all the regulations in one state only to run afoul of regulations in a neighboring state. And lawsuits which clear or convict a company of product liability issues in one state are invalid in another.

In cases such as these (indeed in most cases of this nature) you only have to take a quick look behind the curtain at who benefits and who gets hurt by the change in order to figure out why it’s being enacted. In this case it’s everyone who gains from the product-liability challenge process. It’s not just if you win the case, it’s if you benefit by the process no matter who wins. However, it’s the Trial Lawyers Lobby which is hailing this the loudest. So you have to conclude that this is a financial windfall for those attorneys who file class action lawsuits (or threaten to) on behalf of millions of poor, unsuspecting and underrepresented product consumers such as you and I.

In fact, you don’t even have to actually start the process in order to benefit. It’s more like a regular shakedown by a strongman, a practice that’s been going on ever since the first bully discovered that a threat of a fight sometimes was just as effective as a fight itself.

What company would willingly engage in 50 separate product-liability lawsuits, a very expensive and time consuming process not to mention all the PR landmines along the way, when they can settle out of court with whoever the “injured” party is. When the threat was one federal lawsuit, the downside wasn’t so scary so the threat was less effective. But if faced with 50 long, expensive lawsuits each one with a different judge, jury and local sentiment it makes it a very different prospect. Much easier to come to the decision to settle, even if very expensive, rather than risk a whole lot more by going through the process.

So who wins? Those in the legal profession.

Who really looses? The consumer because product companies will not be held hostage by class action lawsuits with questionable claims. What about those with legitimate claims? They will be ignored or swept aside because the issue will be settled. Who will pay the costs of the shakedown? The consumers of course! In higher prices for the product.

And tell me how this is a step in the right direction to get us out of this economic ditch we’re in?

Hey! In the past few weeks I have watched some scary events happening around this country. Congress’s move away from Capitalism is in motion, and could be getting to the point where it becomes irreversible.

I refuse to just sit around and watch this happen. I am in the process of launching PV Conservative.com. Right now it is just a blogspot but I will purchase a domain name once I get the site up and running.

This is the land of the free, and the home of the brace, and I intend to do something to keep it that way. One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all are the principles we were founded on. As a nation, we need to return to those principles.

For my senior project, I am trying to prove American Conservatism. How can you help? Right now I just have youtube videos and some stories of fox news, but I want the site to be much more than that! I am looking for people who are, like me, passionate about preserving the ideals our founding fathers had, and preserving conservatism and Capitalism. I am looking for people who want to help me by writing articles, participating in videos on youtube, possibly making a podcast, and more! I refuse to just watch our congress and this administration kill the American Dream. Will you?

Let me know if you want to help, before it is too late! Help me get the word out to anyone you think might be interested too!

Thanks,

David Dry