Contact 'Blue Dog' Democrats

With liberal Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, the self-styled moderate-to-conservative Blue Dog Democrats have the power to curtail the excesses of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi agenda.
Human Events has posted the list of Blue Dog Democrats that you need to contact NOW!
These are the more moderate Democrats that MAY vote against Obamacare if we can win them over.
CLICK HERE for the complete list.
You will find all of the names, e-mails and phone numbers.
Contact as many of them as you can. Tell them: "Hands off my health care!"
Don't delay. Do it now. Keep those phones ringin and keep those e-mails comin!

Obama's Jobs Record: Dismal

Unemployment under President Obama has soared from 7.6% when he took office to 10.2% now.
In less than one year, Barack Obama and the Democrat Congress have nearly doubled the unemployment rate.
At the same time, on their watch, the deficit has tripled.
The President and his allies have no one else to blame but themselves.
They control the White House, the House and the Senate.
And, let's face it: Their stimulus plan has not worked.
Now, Congressman Mike Pence and the House Republican Conference released a statement on this news: “The American people want to know why Congress is forcing through the Pelosi plan for a government takeover of health care instead of a plan that will help create jobs.”
Charts courtesy of Gateway Pundit

Kalas' Poem For Philly Fans

Some time ago, someone anonymously posted Harry Kalas' poem in our comment section and now I once again present it here for everyone to enjoy:

This is to the Philadelphia Fan
To laud your passion as best I can
Your loyalty is unsurpassed
Be the Fightins in first or last
We come to the park each day
Looking forward to another fray
Because we know you’ll be there
We know you really care
You give the opposing pitcher fits
Because as one loyalist shouts, ‘Everybody hits’
To be sure in Philly, there might be some boos
Because you passionate fans, like the manager, hate to lose
Your reaction to the action on the field that you impart
Spurs us as broadcasters to call the game with enthusiasm and heart
We feel your passion through and through
Philadelphia fans, I love you.

-Harry Kalas

Beautiful Amalthea Cellars Winery

Through the good graces of the South Jersey Tourism Corporation we recently visited the beautiful Almathea Cellars in nearby Atco, New Jersey (about midway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City).
We had a wonderful time and learned so much about wine, wine making and the wine industry in the Garden State.
Our teacher and guide was Almathea Cellars founder Louis Caracciolo. Lou is a man with a passion for wine and wine making. What small batch beer is to brewing, Almathea Cellars is to wine making. The wine makers here are artisans.
Louis Caracciolo’s infatuation with wine making began as a young boy making wine in the cellar of his Italian immigrant grandfather, Emilio. In the early 1900s, at the age of 13, Emilio brought the art from the Old Country to the southern New Jersey town of Blue Anchor. Caracciolo often says of his philosophical grandfather, “I came on the scene with an unlit torch and my grandfather passed the flame.”
While attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York for his degree in Food Science and Technology far from Emilio’s “Old World techniques” Lou began to work on his style in small batches of wine in his dormitory room! He used his never ending respect for archaic winemaking techniques to study modern enology still unaware that Amalthea would be in his future.
In 1972, he bought the farm where Amalthea is located and the rest as they say is history.
Here's how Lou explains his approach:
At Amalthea, we embrace the philosophy that "wine is grown in the fields." To ask a farmer/winery to severely reduce crops to intensify fruit is to ask a lot but that is how superior wines are made. The finest wineries in the world insist this practice is the secret to their greatest wines.
Being "le vigneron" (wine growers), we at Amalthea know that the wines are grown in the fields, not made in the cellars. In the cellar the winemaker is only the custodian of the natural process from vine to bottle.
Blending, one third of the art, is something under the winemaker's artistic control. In France the blending of between two and six different grapes has evolved the finest wines in the world. Our intention is not to mimic the wines of Bordeaux. We are selecting the finest grapes from Southern Jersey and blending them in proportions dictated by the three century-old, time-honored techniques of Bordeaux. Now our customers can judge which blend showcases our local regional grapes in the best possible light.
Almathea Cellars can be found at 209 Vineyard Rd. just off the White Horse Pike (Route 30) in Atco, NJ. Call 856- 767-8890 for more information or visit amaltheacellars.com.
For more information on the wineries of New Jersey and the growing wine industry in the Garden State click here.

Baseball Dynasty? Which One?

I must admit that the talk of a new baseball dynasty after the Phillies won the first game of the world series made me a bit nervous.
Not that I'm not wishing and hoping -- even now.
But the whole thing was fueled by premature euphoria.
In my lifetime, there's only ever been one baseball dynasty. Only one.
And we all know who I'm talking about. They've just won their 27th world championship and goodness knows how many pennants they've won. That's what you call a dynasty.
As a wordsmith I learned long ago that words have to mean something. You can't just toss a word like dynasty into the broth for no legitimate reason.
Sure, we can be proud of our Phillies -- and we are. They're a great team. And I'll even take a moment here to reaffirm my faith in Cole Hamels. He'll be back. It'll be OK.
But the dynasty will have to wait.
From here on in, let's satisfy ourselves with one win at a time -- not just for the Phillies but for all the Philadelphia teams.
Avanti!

Heard It Here First

Right here, on this blog at the beginning of October I told you that Corzine was NOT closing the gap between himself and Christie and that Christie continued to hold the edge among the electorate.
And right here, back in September I told you that Obama & Co. would begin muscling in and playing a bigger role in the Corzine campaign and that Obama himself had a personal interest in the campaign and a personal stake.
And now (after the election is over) the Bergen Record is reporting that Democrats were disenchanted with Corzine last summer and that they not only wished they could change candidates but even conducted a poll to see if some Democrat other than Christies could win.
But, guess what? I told you that right here back in June in an exclusive first-time report where I said: A well-connected Democrat told me that the state Democrat hierarchy really didn't want the Governor to run again. "They feel he's a liability," this person said. "But he controls the purse strings, so what can you do?"
And also in June, right here I warned that it was actually Corzine, not Christie, who did not embrace the values and the aspirations of the typical New Jerseyan. And I warned that the values disconnect would resonate in November.
I also told you that Chris Christie would avoid ideology and wage a tough, common sense campaign that would stress practical solutions and straightforward approaches to the state's problems. Now, the mainstream media are praising Chris for taking that approach.
But that's not what big media said all along. No, they engaged in hindsight.
But I'm talking insight here. For insight, you had to come here.
So, don't leave now. Keep coming back -- for more more news, more analysis, more exlusives. And bring your friends along as well!

EIGHTY THOUSAND BLOG VISITS!

What a great day
to celebrate
80,000
blog visits
as we also approach
200,000
page views.
THANKS EVERYBODY!

Toomey Hails Election Results

Last night, election results around the country and in Pennsylvania demonstrate that the tide is turning against big-government, big-spending policies. In Pennsylvania, six out of seven Republican judicial candidates were victorious in their state-wide bids.
“Congratulations to all of our great Republican candidates who won yesterday in Pennsylvania,” U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey said. “That tells us there is real energy in our state party, which will only continue to grow into next year.”
Toomey also applauded the results from the neighboring state of New Jersey. In that state, as well as in Virginia, President Obama won by wide margins in 2009; yet yesterday, Republicans were victorious by impressive margins. “For nearly a year, the one-party monopoly in Washington has been pushing extreme policies on the American people, including government-run health care, unprecedented spending increases, and record deficit and debt levels. Yesterday, voters made their voices heard. It’s time we stopped the parade of bailouts, government takeovers, and record-breaking spending, and replaced it with commonsense reforms that do not bankrupt our country.”

Democrats' Long Jersey Drought

Here's a fact that the media conveniently overlooked:
Since Brendan Byrne left office nearly thirty years ago no Democrat Governor of New Jersey has succeeded himself. None have managed to be re-elected.
Yes, I know we have been hearing over and over again that Joisey is solidly Democrat -- the bluest of blue states -- but facts are funny things.
And these are the facts: Democrat Jim Florio was turned out of office by the voters. Democrat Governor Jim McGreevey resigned from office in disgrace. Democrat Acting Governor Dick Codey was forced to step aside for zillionaire Jon Corzine. And Democrat Governor Jon Corzine was turned out of office by the voters.
This is not a pretty picture.
On the other hand, over the same period of time Republican Governors Tom Kean and Chrsitine Todd Whitman were both re-elected.
So, don't let anyone ever tell you that Jersey is a slam dunk for the Democrats.
It isn't
Not then, not now and hopefully, not ever!

The Man And The Moment

I'm instinctive.
So I make up my mind about people fairly quickly. And my first impression counts for a lot.
I first met Chris Christie back in May at a rather quiet campaign stop in the picture-perfect town square in Medford, just on the cusp of the Jersey pines. The day was exceptionally warm. The sun was bright.
And the crowd of no more than 30 or 40 people was mostly composed of party loyalists.
I didn't really know anybody there at Medford that sunny afternoon. They were all pretty much strangers to me.
And then Chris Christie arrived.
And he came right up to me, shook my hand and before I knew it we were chatting.
I liked him instantly.
Sure, I knew about Chris Christie. I knew he was a tough prosecutor who put a lot of corrupt politicians in jail. I knew he was a crime-fighter and probably a damned good lawyer. But I didn't know a heck of a lot more than that.
And maybe that led me to expect someone who would be more formal, less engaging, more intimidating.
That's not what I found at all.
Instead, I encountered this big, gregarious, affable guy who joked quickly, laughed easily and seemed to be totally at ease with himself -- the type of guy you want to have on your side. He exuded an open, friendly confidence.
I watched him as he interacted with others. He took time with each person and no topic or person was too small or insignificant not to warrant his attention.
And then he spoke to the small crowd and he was every bit as confident and at ease with the state budget and school taxes as he was with yesterdays baseball boxscores or last weeekend's trip to the shore. From one-on-one to small group, he was seamless. The guy knew his stuff. And he knew how to connect the dots: he knew that everything really is related to everything else.
It was clear to me that he understood that politics is about people and that your message, your goals and your vision have to relate to real people and connect with who they are and how they live.
So, my mind was made up.
And right then and there I became a Chris Christie fan.
Many things will now be written about Chris. But here's what most of the media have consistently missed and here's what you must remember above all: Chris Christie understands you, New Jersey. He knows what makes you tick. He understands it all, not because somebody has shown him poll results or focus group findings but because he lives it.
Jersey's pulse is his pulse. Jersey's (sometimes wounded) pride is his pride. Jersey's dream is his dream.
So now the man and the moment and the masses have met.
And I like to think that it all happened because somewhere along the way a lot of New Jerseyans came to know Chris Christie at one level or another in the same way that I did. And they simply decided: This is my guy. This is the man for New Jersey.
I've got to believe that this is the greatest accolade Chris Christie can imagine -- that you've placed your trust and confidence in him.
And I've also got to believe that he'll do us proud.