GOP Decries 'Shocking' Obama Appointment

Fox News is reporting that President Obama has "outraged Republicans by directly appointing six officials this week without the consent of Congress, including his pick for deputy attorney general, who once compared the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to the drug trade."

Here's more:

Obama appointed four new U.S. ambassadors, along with the U.S. public printer and the deputy attorney general. 

The latter, James Cole, had been in limbo since he was nominated in May, though his name did clear the Senate Judiciary Committee over the summer. Republicans had questioned his past consulting work with bailed-out insurance giant AIG but had been particularly critical of his stance on prosecuting terror suspects. 

That concern flared up again after Obama installed Cole on Wednesday. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, accused Cole of wanting to pursue terror suspects as a criminal matter in civilian courts. He cited a 2002 Legal Times column in which Cole called the Sept. 11 attacks "criminal acts of terrorism against a civilian population" -- like the Oklahoma City bombing.  Cole went on to write that the United States has faced "many forms of devastating crime," from the drug trade to organized crime to rape and child abuse. "The acts of Sept. 11 were horrible, but so are these other things," he wrote.

Rep. Peter King of New York has called Cole's appointment "shocking."
Click here to read more at Fox News.

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Will Casey Work With Toomey? Will He?

Toomey says he's ready to work together -- and ready to go to work for the people of Pennsylvania in accordance with his platform.
And yes, Casey says he's ready, too.
Let's see what the days and weeks ahead bring.
Pay attention, everybody.

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Now, 'Lockstep' Joe Sestak Says He's 'Independent'

Congressman Joe Sestak’s new television commercial is laughably titled “Independence,” despite the fact that Joe Sestak has voted nearly 100% of the time with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Joe Sestak supports the entire Obama-Pelosi agenda from the bailouts to the stimulus, the bloated budgets, the cap-and-trade energy tax, and the government-run health care bill, and the only time he criticizes his party is when he thinks these job-killing bills should go further.
The only example of “independence” Congressman Sestak cites in his ad is when he ran against Senator Arlen Specter to further his own political career.
“Throughout this campaign, Congressman Sestak boasts about his sham independence, but he votes in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi on every major policy issue,” Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik said. “What exactly is ‘independent’ about that? Pat Toomey is surging in the polls because voters are rejecting Joe Sestak and his extreme liberal agenda.”
From a man known principally for standing with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, it appears that Congressman Sestak may not know what the word “independence” means.

Joe Sestak and Nancy Pelosi: Two peas in a pod:

* The continuation of the Wall Street bailout (RC #27, 01/22/09).
* The auto bailout (RC #690, 12/10/08)
* The stimulus (RC #70, 02/13/09)
* A second stimulus (RC #991, 12/16/09)
* Cash for clunkers (RC #314, 06/09/09) (RC #682, 07/31/10)
* Government-run health care (RC #165, 3/21/10)
* The cap-and-trade energy tax (RC #477, 06/26/09)
* Raising the debt limit to $14.3 trillion (RC #46, 02/04/10)
* The FY 2009 Omnibus bill (RC #86, 02/25/09)
* The FY 2010 Omnibus bill (RC #949, 12/10/09)
* President Obama’s FY 2010 budget (RC #192, 04/02/09)
* Card Check (Thomas.gov, 03/10/09)
* 2007: Joe Sestak voted with Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time (Congressional Quarterly).
* 2008: Joe Sestak voted with Nancy Pelosi 95% of the time (Congressional Quarterly).
* 2009: Joe Sestak voted with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time (Congressional Quarterly).
* 2010: Joe Sestak voted with Nancy Pelosi 94% of the time (Congressional Quarterly).

Congressman Sestak on himself:

* Sestak: “I absolutely do say I’m a progressive” (RJ Harris, WHP 580 AM, 05/14/10).
* Sestak: “I want to be Obama’s strongest ally” (The Valley-News Dispatch, 03/01/10).
* Sestak: “I think that the strength of my beliefs and convictions in democratic principles, which land me on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party” (AlterNet, 06/04/10).
* Sestak: “I'm a Democrat out of core beliefs and core convictions” (MSNBC, 05/18/10).
* Sestak: “I’ll compare my voting record for Democratic principles, any day, any time” (Primary debate, 02/05/10).
* Morning Call: “Sestak said the major difference is that he’s the real Democrat” (Allentown Morning Call, 05/02/10).
* Morning Call: “Sestak ran a TV ad that said: If you have a problem with Joe Sestak's record as the real Democrat go ahead and attack that” (Morning Call, 04/29/10).
* Philadelphia Inquirer: “His [Sestak’s] core message: I'm a real Democrat; Specter is not. You can’t trust him” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 04/11/10).
* The Times-Tribune: “Mr. Sestak said he's the only ‘real Democrat’ in the race’” (The Times-Tribune, 08/05/09).

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Rasmussen On PA Senate Race: SOLID GOP

Rasmussen Reports has just announced that Republican Pat Toomey now holds a 10-point lead over Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, the widest gap between the candidates since early April in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race:
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Pennsylvania shows Toomey earning 49% of the vote, while Sestak picks up 39% support. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, but a sizable 10% remain undecided less than three weeks before Election Day. (To see question wording, click here.)
The race now moves from Leans GOP to Solid GOP in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

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PA State Troopers Endorse Toomey

Today, Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate and former small business owner Pat Toomey received the endorsement of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association.
This endorsement follows announcements of support from the Fraternal Order of Police, the Pennsylvania Medical Society PAC, the American Medical Association PAC, and the National Federation of Independent Business.
Below are statements from Pat Toomey and Bruce Edwards, the president of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association.
“We are endorsing Pat because he understands that law enforcement must have the tools it needs to protect America’s families and their communities,” Bruce Edwards said. “Pat has the kind of qualities you want in a senator – attentive, principled, and balanced. His commonsense approach to being tough on criminals, standing up to law enforcement, and protecting our national security is the reason we are proud to endorse him. In Pat, we have someone who will do what’s right to protect our families and our communities.”
“I am proud and grateful to receive the endorsement of the State Troopers,” Pat Toomey said. “The State Troopers represent Pennsylvania’s hard working men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities and our families. In a post-9/11 world we rely on our law enforcement officials in new and challenging ways and it is crucial that we support policies that make it easier – not harder – for law enforcement officials to do their jobs. I am honored by their endorsement today, and I look forward to working with them in the U.S. Senate.”

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Toomey: Visit Shows Sestak In 'Lockstep' With Obama/Pelosi

Here's what Pennsylvania US Senate candidate Pat Toomey had to say about President Obama's visit to Philadelphia yesterday:
First, let me say that I welcome the President of the United States back to Pennsylvania. In a way it’s always a good thing for the President of the United States to visit our state and I want to extend that greeting and I look forward to working with the President in the Senate. I’m sure there are areas where we can agree and make progress. I think, in fact, the President has had some good ideas especially on the education initiatives he’s been advocating. I do look forward to that.
However, I have to say that I think his return to Philadelphia to campaign for Joe Sestak is a reminder of the fact that Joe Sestak has been voting in lockstep with President Obama and Nancy Pelosi and pursing a very liberal agenda that’s doing a great deal of harm to our economy. It has been serial bailouts, which are continuing to this day and an unreformed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that will continue to require billions of dollars that Joe Sestak has voted for. In fact, Joe Sestak has proposed his own bailout bill to bailout underwater home mortgages for which he has precisely zero co-sponsors in the house. Apparently there’s just not enough bailout for Joe Sestak.
He’s also supported the massive spending, the staggering stimulus bill as well as other spending measures which would have given us absolutely unsustainable deficits and debt-$1.5 trillion in deficits, a stunning amount of debt that is going to be a real threat to our ability to get this economy moving again. Joe Sestak has supported the cap-and-trade energy tax which if that were to become law would have a devastating impact on Pennsylvania’s economy. He supports card check which is just another of Nancy Pelosi and President Obama’s initiatives to deny workers a secret ballot and impose government bureaucrats between management and workforces in a very counterproductive way. He supported a giant government takeover of healthcare in over $2 trillion in spending, half a trillion dollars of new tax increases and untold new regulations that are going to diminish the quality of healthcare in America.
The combined weight of this whole agenda would, which Joe Sestak has been in favor of 100%, and of which his only criticism is that it did not go far enough, prevent us from having the kind of economic recovery that we should be having. The president and his allies said that if they got their stimulus bill that they wanted the unemployment rate would not go over 8 percent. It went from 7.2 percent at the time of the stimulus to 9.2 percent. We in Pennsylvania have lost 97,000 jobs, that’s net loss, since they got the stimulus bill which was ill conceived in the first place. Friday’s jobs number show we still have very anemic jobs numbers; we’re not generating nearly enough jobs to even absorb the new entrants into the workforce much less to put back to work the millions of Americans that lost their jobs.
The policies that Joe Sestak, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have been inflicting on our economy are actually making things worse. Joe Sestak likes to claim he’s independent but the truth is his only independence has been when he’s been pursuing his own political ambitions. Otherwise, he’s been in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and President Obama and they’re doing a great deal of harm. I think that’s what people will be reminded of when they read the stories about President Obama’s visit to Philadelphia. 
Click here to help Pat Toomey.

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Sestak's Ridiculous Phony Claims: Outrageous

Over the past couple of weeks Congressman Joe Sestak’s ads and the ads run by his Washington cronies have been declared “false,” “deceptive,” and “wrong” by independent fact checkers, but that is nothing compared to what Congressman Sestak says about himself. In an interview published today in the Reading Eagle, Congressman Sestak had the brazenness to call himself a “fiscal conservative” who wants to control spending.  He says: “I’m a fiscal conservative.  We have to control spending.” (Reading Eagle, 10/03/10)
Excuse me?  What exactly is fiscally conservative about voting for every single bailout, $3.2 trillion in deficit spending, unprecedented debt, and massive tax increases?
“Congressman Sestak certainly has a warped view of reality,” Toomey Communications Director Nachama Soloveichik said.  “After voting for every major piece of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi’s big-government agenda and then arguing that it didn’t go far enough, Congressman Sestak’s claim to be a fiscal conservative is nothing short of laughable.  With voters across Pennsylvania rejecting Congressman Sestak’s candidacy, it looks like Sestak is the only one who is buying it.”
Over the past year in a half, Joe has voted for trillions of dollars in new spending:
Cap-and-Trade . . . . . . . . . . . $821.2 billion
Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . .  $2.3 trillion
Auto Bailout . . . . . . . . . . . . . $105 billion
Stimulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $787 billion
Wall Street Bailout . . . . . . .  $700 billion
Second Stimulus . . . . . . . . .  $154.4 billion
FY 2009 Omnibus . . . . . . . . $410 billion
FY 2010 Omnibus . . . . . . . . $447 billion
2010 Budget Resolution . . .  $3.6 trillion 
All this spending has led to record deficits and debt levels.  The budget deficit for 2009 alone was a record-breaking $1.4 trillion and projected to hit $1.3 trillion for 2010.  The ten-year projected budget deficit is a whopping $9.05 trillion, and by 2015, the country’s national debt will constitute 73% of GDP.  And still, Joe voted to increase the country’s debt limit to $14.3 trillion. (RC #129, 03/18/10) Congressman Sestak has also refused to eliminate wasteful earmarks from congressional spending bills.  Out of 115 opportunities to eliminate specific wasteful projects and save taxpayers money, Congressman Sestak rejected all but one.  Tell us, Joe, how is this fiscally conservative?
Finally, Sestak has also received near perfect scores from liberal interest groups and failing grades from non-partisan fiscal watchdog groups:
Americans for Democratic Action: 93%
National Taxpayers Union: F
Citizens Against Government Waste: 8%

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Bennet's Liberal Record: Don't Be Fooled!

The Senate Conservatives Fund will begin airing a new television commercial in Colorado on Tuesday, October 5. The new ad highlights appointed Senator Michael Bennet's liberal record in the U.S. Senate. Bennet has voted for record spending and national debt, voted for big government health care, voted to use our tax money to bail out the car companies, and voted for job-killing tax increases. If you would like to help us keep this ad and others like it running, please make a contribution to the Senate Conservatives Fund.

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Toomey Continues To Attract Praise

Here's what people are saying about Pennsylvania US Senate candidate Pat Toomey:

• “Pat Toomey is exactly the kind of candidate that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents can rally around," Mayor Reed said.  "His background as a small business owner and his focus on job creation is sorely needed in today's economy.  I believe Pat's emphasis on policies that will cut taxes, ease the regulatory burden on Pennsylvania businesses and workers, and encourage entrepreneurship will help our state and country achieve the economic recovery our citizens deserve." (Democratic Former Mayor of Harrisburg Stephen Reed, 09/27/10)
  
  
• “Pat is a man of principle and integrity.  His commitment to the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal liberty are unwavering. Pat has tremendous respect for our armed services and a great love for this country.  I know he will always put the security of our country first. I look forward to helping him win his race in November.” (Former Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, 09/30/10)
  
  
• “John Lehman, former Secretary of the Navy and member of the 9/11 Commission, endorsed Toomey earlier this afternoon in Harrisburg…‘The really nice thing about the Toomey campaign,’ Lehman continued, ‘is it’s one of the few not to go negative,’ in the sense of ‘refusing to impugn [Sestak's] motives. Toomey sticks to disagreeing on the issues.’” (National Review, 09/30/10)
  
  
• “It’s hard to blame Joe Sestak for choosing to attend a fundraising party with Sen. John Kerry and Theresa Heinz in Pittsburgh rather than to debate Pat Toomey before the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry this past Monday at Hershey Lodge.  After all, Joe needs the money a lot more than he needs to be slapped around by a far more gifted debater in front of audience of unhappy businessmen.” (Delaware County Daily Times, 10/01/10)
  
  
• “It was disappointing to see Sestak miss this week’s debate in Hershey sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and moderated by Ted Koppel…It’s true that the Pa. Chamber debate was only announced in August. Still, Toomey, Corbett and Onorato all found a way to attend.” (Harrisburg Patriot News, 09/30/10)
  
  
• “…The environment in the Keystone State is going to be tough for Sestak to overcome as neither President Obama nor the national party is particularly popular. This race isn't over yet but today you'd still rather be Toomey than Sestak.”(Washington Post, 10/01/10)
  
  
• “The DSCC's nearly $3 million ad campaign over the past five weeks hasn't done much to budge poll numbers in the Keystone state.” (Weekly Standard, 09/28/10)
  
  
• “…Sestak is clearly being dishonest about his record and shifting based on the political wind.” (American Spectator, 09/29/10)
  
  
• “Beyond the campaign-trail boilerplate, however, Sestak has been a fairly reliable Democratic vote, backing his party more than 97% of the time.” (Time, 09/28/10)

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