Hey I found your blog today linked from Human Events. I really like what I see. I'll be sure to regularly stop in.

I have a humble little blog of my own (A Voice in the Wilderness) and here's my latest piece:

rjmoeller.com...et-it-obama/

Keep up the good work. Thanks and God bless!
-RJM

"I wonder what Mr. Nee and other members of labor inclined to support a Chafee gubernatorial bid believe that his solutions to the state's continuing fiscal crisis would be"

What fiscal crisis?

The state has over 60,000 people un-employed and massive budget deficits.

But apparently that is not a crisis ...certainly not if you are a Public Employee sucking on the tit and immune and oblivious to the world around you.

How else does one justify George Nee & Co.'s position on furloughs, Pension reform, healthcare co-pays, Teacher pay based on performance rather than passage of time, etc.?

I guess they got Andrew's memo that the Pension system, using the Walshian Assumptions, is indeed viable and sustainable, thus no need to reform.

"Public Employee sucking on the t*t"? Geez, isn't this site monitored for vulgar language?

George,

Stop celebrating your ignorance, of how retirement plans work, or anything else. And Bob is right, it's time to retire the vulgarity from your schtick.

This blog's contributors were absolutely wrong when they tried to predict the last presidential election results. They will also be absolutely wrong in predicting a Chafee defeat if he chooses to run for a statewide office.

OldTimeLefty

OTL,

You're denying me proper credit here. You might say it was the "AR contributors" who butchered the predictions of the 2008 Presidential primaries, but let's face it, it was mostly me (I reviewed my own track record at one point here).

The biggest, all-encompassing mistake I made was buying into the "this election is different" hype, putting too much emphasis on Giuliani (supposedly uniquely able to win in a bunch of early big-state primaries, so he could skip the smaller ones) and Thompson (supposedly uniquely able to promote himself via an Internet guerilla campaign, so he could skip the conventional one). I should have kept it simple, and gone with the equivalents of taking-the-team-with a better record in predicting NFL games, i.e. Republicans pick the next guy in line (McCain) and Democrats go with the fresh new face (Obama over Hillary).

So maybe I’m fighting the last war, but it strikes me that in many ways Chafee's opening position in the RI gubernatorial election resembles that of Giuliani's in the 2008 Presidential primary. Chafee, like Giuliani, is basing his campaign on a belief that his political celebrity obviates his need to play by the rules that usually apply to gubernatorial candidates.

But since primaries were implemented, it's been true that anyone with name recognition could skip the primary process and get their name on the general election ballot. Very few have actually won office in this way and unless Chafee can show how he's really, really different, his candidacy may not be as different from any other independents' as he thinks -- and it's going to be difficult to be some kind of exciting "new way" candidate and be the conventional labor candidate at the same time.

This, of course, is all a step ahead, not fully relevant until candidate Chafee tells the public himself what it is that he actually stands for.

OTL sorta missed the boat on the Us turning into a peoples republic anytime soon.It seems we're not the mind numbed fools the Obama regime was counting on.
Those independent journalists who taped ACORN are heroes-they may have saved the next census from being compromised and thereby laying the basis for dishonest elections.Not to mention that massive voter fraud may have been somewhat derailed.

"they may have saved the next census from being compromised and thereby laying the basis for dishonest elections.Not to mention that massive voter fraud may have been somewhat derailed."

Huh. Good points, Joe, I hadn't thought about that.

Andrew,

As a Pension Plan expert, what's your view on the RI Pension system, it's viability & sustainability given the relatively modest contributions made by the employees in comparison to the Zero risk / Guaranteed benefits that are doled out to them at such early ages?

Does the RI Pension system Provide benefits that are fair and rationale, considering what is contributed by the employee?

Do you think the "reform" passed by the Legislature was adequate? Or do think, using the Walshian Assuptions, everything is working as it should, with no need to be concerned?

It's all laid out here. Why don't you explain which parts of the math you don't understand, and maybe someone can help you. As added bonus, you may come to understand how it's possible to get more out of a 401(k) than you put in.

Andrew, it's not so much about Chafee ducking primaries (which can be said of any indie or third-party candidate), but what kind of campaign he runs.
Hopefully, Linc learned his lesson from the follies of the Guiliani and Hillary campaigns last year. As a Linc supporter, I would hope he does not bring the entitlement and hubris Guiliani (because he happened to be the guy in charge when the planes hit) and Hillary (just because she had a spouse occupy the Oval Office) brought to their campaigns.
The Democratic candidate will have already taken a beating. And who knows what the GOP will run (I'm still not convinced Laffey is passing it up).