More On Big Money In Politics

Although it seems utterly contrary to their customary agenda the NY Times has a story on Big Money in Politics - Immigration Division:

The Big Money Behind the Push for an Immigration Overhaul

The calls started shortly after President Obama’s news conference on the day after the midterm elections. He had said he would go ahead with action on immigration before year’s end, in spite of warnings from Republicans that he could wreck relations with the new Congress they will control. White House officials were calling immigrant advocates to talk strategy and shore up their support.

The officials wanted to reassure them, several activists said, that the president, after delaying twice this year, was ready to take the kind of broad measures they had demanded to shield immigrants here illegally from deportation.

The White House calls — and the president’s decision itself — reflected the clout the immigrant movement has built up in recent years, as it grew from a cluster of scattered Washington lobbying groups into a national force.

A vital part of that expansion has involved money: major donations from some of the nation’s wealthiest liberal foundations, including the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Open Society Foundations of the financier George Soros, and the Atlantic Philanthropies. Over the last decade those donors have invested more than $300 million in immigrant organizations, including many fighting for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

And lest you wonder, yes, they hope to buy (or at least rent) our democracy:

“The good news was that the funders really got the idea of building up a movement that could press for change at all levels,” Mr. Sharry said. “We were really talking about a movement that could win the grand prize, legislation that puts 11 million people on a path to citizenship.”

Critics are, well, critical:

Some opponents accuse the foundations of blatant partisanship.

“The whole apparatus has become the handmaiden of the Democratic Party,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, which opposes legalization for undocumented immigrants. “These foundations fund activist organizations designed to create ethnic identity enclaves and politically control them for partisan purposes.”

Left unmentioned - there is lot of Silicon Valley money pushing for an expanded H-1B visa program. It's trickier to accomplish that by Executive action alone. And the legislative path is difficult because the Democrats want to hold the tech visas hostage to broader reform; oveer to Slate:

Separately, there is now broad bipartisan support for high-skilled visas, including a new class of visa for startup founders. For years, Democrats have held back high-skilled-only reform because they believe the country will only get one shot at immigration.

An obvious strategy for Boehner and McConnell would be to pass an expanded H-1B program and see whether Obama vetoes it.

Comments

[DrJ]

First?

[henry]

H1-B, because a lot of Silicon Valley is already from Hyderabad.

[NKontheNovreboot]

The voter pool replacement act is proof that all the progs want is permanent power. They know the USA voters won't give them that, so they demand millions of poor ignorant Dem voter plantation hands. That's the simple truth.

[narciso]

cumulatively, the 4 million comes from his whole panoply of consulting dues,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/11/14/did-jonathan-gruber-earn-almost-400000-from-the-obama-administration/

[Jack is Back!]

I am slow, according to Frederick, but I didn't know I was so slow to not realize how much Mary Landreiu looks like Ms. Piggy!

[Extraneus]

Baby captured smiling in the womb by ultrasound

And on the outside.

[Jack is Back!]

Ex,

We have a sonogram of Frederick smiling at 7 months. That is why his nickname is Sparky.

[Danube on iPad]

I find it nearly umpossible to believe that any legislation providing a path to citizensjip for border-jumpers could ever pass the House. (Notice I said nearly.)

[NKontheNovreboot]

Whata racket that Gruber con man pulled. He gets $3+M from the feds and states and then he mocks the taxpayers who paid him.

[Extraneus]

I keep seeing $400K. Was that to him personally, or did the gov't fund his grad students, too?

Was it really $3+M?

[Captain Hate]

JiB, check out the 1964 video at the top of this:

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/11/cleveland_browns_1964_champion_9.html

John Carroll's most famous alumnus is still remembered fondly around here.

[DrJ]

Ext,

Gruber was paid $400K by the Feds for his consulting work for them. He then turned around and charged many states about the same amount as a consultant to that state. The total amount paid was about $4 million.

[Extraneus]

Sweet. I know some profs who'd kill for that kind of funding, even if they weren't able to deposit it into their personal accounts.

I'd take his word for who's stupid.

[DrJ]

Ext,

*I'd* kill for that kind of funding.

And as a consulting assignment, I'd bet much or most of it went into his bank account (ignoring taxes for the moment). I'm sure he funded a few students or post docs from it, but they usually cost about $80K or $90K fully loaded. Four million would fund students from the entire department.

[Lukomo]

In politics, there are huge amounts of money and it is no cheating in this regard.
http://www.londonescortsconfidential.com/escorts-fulham-london.html

[Extraneus]

Not all of the contracts could be found on public Web sites, but here is a sampling. In some cases, Gruber worked with other consultants, so the fees were shared. These figures also might not represent the final payout, and of course these are gross figures, before expenses. But it’s safe to say that about $400,000 appears to be the standard rate for gaining access to the Gruber Microsimulation Model.

Michigan: $481,050

Minnesota: $329,000

Vermont: $400,000

Wisconsin: $400,000

Gruber has also earned more than $2 million over the last seven years for an ongoing contract with HHS to assess choices made by the elderly in Medicare’s prescription-drug plan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2014/11/14/did-jonathan-gruber-earn-almost-400000-from-the-obama-administration/

[Janet - I wish my family had a poncho]

Here's a bit - http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/13/editorial-jonathan-grubers-payday/

[Extraneus]

Wisconsin?

[RickB]

"That's the simple truth."

NK,

Perhaps a little too simple. The concentration of the Hispanic Horde just ruins the gruber driven demographic model right from the start. In Texas, Cornryn received 48% of the Hispanic vote, Abbott took 44% while in California, Governor Moon Beam took 73%. Nationally, Hispanics gave Republicans 36% of the House vote.

ICE estimates about 40% of the illegal Hispanic Horde is located in California. California has no more value to the Republican Party than do Illinois or New York. The prog wastelands are on their own.

Perhaps the prog slavers shouldn't have put a bounty on black babies?

[RickB]

"That's the simple truth."

NK,

Perhaps a little too simple. The concentration of the Hispanic Horde just ruins the gruber driven demographic model right from the start. In Texas, Cornryn received 48% of the Hispanic vote, Abbott took 44% while in California, Governor Moon Beam took 73%. Nationally, Hispanics gave Republicans 36% of the House vote.

ICE estimates about 40% of the illegal Hispanic Horde is located in California. California has no more value to the Republican Party than do Illinois or New York. The prog wastelands are on their own.

Perhaps the prog slavers shouldn't have put a bounty on black babies?

[Ben]

A Revelation worthy of St John the Divine.....Big money in politics. But then it's dumbed down to unpopular conservative dogmatics. And some people are even making money on it. Imagine that.

[Orina]

And is it weird? I do not blame yourself.

[Jane on Ipad]

More Gruber please! And thanks TM for the new thread. Scrolling 5 pages every time is a deterrent.

[Jane on Ipad]

Janet, that's one hell of an editorial!

[pagar]

Remember:

"There’s stupid. There’s really stupid. Then there's Democratic stupid. More"

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/11/_ultimate_in_schadenfreude_democrat_is_twice_bitten_not_shy.html

[henry]

Well July 2011 report date -- probably contracted by the Doyle branch of the Chicago Machine before Walker was sworn in. I guess Act 10 missed one budget correction.

[Danube on iPad]

I suppose John Carroll's second most famous alumnus would be John Thompson.

[Ben]

Who's Who Grifter Butcher Bill.

http://news.yahoo.com/the-2014-midterm-election-will-be-the-most-expensive-one-ever-183733619.html

The 10 most expensive state contests through Nov. 1:

1. North Carolina Senate Total cost: $113,409,103

In North Carolina, outside groups have spent more than $81 million and the candidates themselves have spent in excess of $32.39 million through Nov. 1.

More than $42 million has been spent by outside groups in support of incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan and/or against Republican Thom Tillis. More money has been spent by these groups against Tillis — approximately $35.6 million — than against any other Senate candidate.

Through the last Federal Election Commission disclosure by candidates on Oct. 15, Hagan had raised $22,945,496 and spent $21,989,527, leaving her $980,155 on hand. Tillis had raised $9,055,347 and spent $7,925,168, leaving him $1,130,179.

2. Colorado Senate Total cost: $96,835,541

In Colorado’s close Senate race, outside groups poured in more than $68.9 million through Nov. 1 in an attempt to capture the seat held by incumbent Democrat Mark Udall.

Outside groups have spent more than $30 million so far against Cory Gardner, which makes him the second-most targeted Senate candidate this election year, behind Tillis.

Both Colorado campaigns developed formidable fundraising operations, according to their Oct. 15 FEC disclosures. Udall had raised $18,323,855 and spent $17,864,959, giving him $536,332 in the bank through mid-October. Gardner, who got a late start in the race, made up his fundraising gap late in the election, raising $10,622,587 and spending $9,212,759 — much of it over the past six months. He had $1,875,029 in the bank at his last disclosure.

3. Iowa Senate Total $85,079,887

In the bid to replace retiring, longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, Democrats and Republicans have funneled a huge amount of cash into the state to prop up their candidates, who over the course of the election, have revealed themselves tohave serious political flaws.

Outside groups spent more than $61.6 million in the Hawkeye State through Nov. 1, with $24.5 million being spent against Republican candidate Joni Ernst. This makes her the third-most targeted candidate by outside groups, behind Tillis and Gardner.

According to her Oct. 15 FEC disclosure, Ernst had raised $9,949,714 and spent $7,705,347. The Democrat in the race, Rep. Bruce Braley, had raised $10,803,793 while spending $10,096,491.

4. Kentucky Senate Total $78,200,173

Kentucky is one of two states in the top five most expensive Senate races where the candidates’ campaigns actually outspent the outside groups. The Bluegrass State has been among the most watched of this cycle, because of the presence of incumbent Republican Mitch McConnell, who is in position to become Senate majority leader if the GOP wins back the chamber.

McConnell, who traditionally raises and spends his own money in his re-election bids, raised $27,956,687 — which is more than any other candidate this cycle. He has spent $25,056,485, leaving him $2,738,176 through his last disclosure in October.

His opponent, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, built a national fundraising operation that is no joke, either. She raised $17,487,650 — more than any other Senate challenger — and spent $15,279,548, giving her more than $2.2 million in the bank as of mid-October.

5. Georgia Senate Total $66,414,822

The Georgia Senate race is already in the top five most expensive races of 2014 and has the potential to move up on the list, as there could be a two-month runoff that stretches the race into 2015.

If neither Democrat Michelle Nunn nor Republican David Perdue wins at least 50 percent of the electorate on Tuesday, the two will face each other again on Jan. 6.

Georgia is another state where the candidates’ campaigns have spent more than outside groups, in part because many political action committees were focused on other races as Nunn pulled closer to Perdue in her bid to take the seat of outgoing Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Outside groups have spent $26.8 million in Georgia. The race joins the Kentucky contest as one of the two in the top 10 where Republican outside groups have spent more attacking the Democrat than vice versa.

According to the most recent disclosures, Nunn raised $14,264,949, spent $13,159,081 and had $1,105,870 left through mid-October. Perdue, a businessman who has, in part, self-funded, raised $11,752,304 and spent $11,082,960, leaving him $669,343 in the bank.

The rest of the top 10:

6. Arkansas Senate Total $59,647,157

7. Alaska Senate Total $58,983,669

8. New Hampshire Senate Total $50,994,999

9. Michigan Senate Total $46,882,926

10. Louisiana Senate Total $42,920,060

[narciso]

so in the recent books section, I picked up a Swedish spy caper, after looking through Bob Baer's latest, which is about his rivalry with Hajj Radwan, who has been involved in everything from the Beirut bombings to the assasination of Hariri, of course you know him as Imad Mugniyeh, it's as if I wrote about Abu Ammar, who was Yasir Arafat,

[daddy]

*I'd* kill for that kind of funding.

I'm ready to kill because of that kind of funding.

[Carol Herman]

Big money is spent on all kinds of advertising! Best way to spread around money. Considering all you've got to hire to make it possible.

Then? You've got to get seen. And, if you're a cereal, get shelf space ... and not get put along the floor.

So far I haven't seen political advertising that measures up to Volkswagen.

Ah, and then there's the fallacy that the candidate needs great hair. Kerry walks around disappointed because he has great hair.

[Captain Hate]

I suppose John Carroll's second most famous alumnus would be John Thompson.

Not Archbishop Carroll High School but the Div 3 university about a mile from my house. I wouldn't say Tim Russert as much as London Fletcher gets the runner up.

[narciso]

So a larger purse doesn't necessarily assure the positive result, I think McTurtle was the exception,

[pagar]

Finally the truth:

"He may as well pile up $3 billion in cash on the White House lawn and set a match to it."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/11/obama_to_throw_away_3_billion_to_the_green_climate_fund.html#ixzz3J5jJayWC

[daddy]

Never able to catch up today so apologies for non-replys and never getting on topic.

Thank goodness I had my Blood Pressure taken prior to spending a very aggravating last hour erecting our huge artificial Christmas Tree and trying to connect properly the 10 Million twinkling light cords. Thank goodness Momma tells me that this is the last year we have to drag the damn thing out, since the kid's'll both be in college next year and we won't have to do this again.

Do I believe her? Not in a million years:)

I'm also aggravated trying to find a TV Channel or website giving me up to the minute news on the Election Ballot count.

Arghhhhhh!!!

To the dogs.

[Old Lurker]

Can you imagine the carbon pollution from burning that much cash, Pagar?

[Ben]

Artificial trees are a travesty for adults as well as children.

And you live in Alaska? Holy moly.

[daddy]

Gretta interviewing Gruber's colleague, and my takeaway from listening to Gruber's colleague, is that he is proving to America that he is as much of an idiot EggHead as Gruber, and possibly even stupider than Gruber.

This new moron is saying that all the Health Care problems were well debated in the Media and in the Public, and if Gruber is saying these things its because he was angry with the arguments put forth by the opposition. What a dimwitted, uninformed moron.

Thanks Gretta.

Keep showing us stupid American people these genius Professors from our brilliant Universities, so we can get a good idea of these liars and dimwits who know better than we do what's good for us.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of John Carroll, big Div 3 match tomorrow:

http://www.bennettrank.com/collegefootball/d3-football-undefeated-oac-title-mount-union-at-john-carroll/#

[GMax]

The stupid that Gruber is talking about is exhibited by Ben( ne Dana Ward ), nearly daily. Cut and pasting a old article speculating on a runoff in Georgia is exhibit A. I wonder if he needs us to speak slower and only use words with single syllables?

[Miss Marple]

daddy,

Exactly my reaction!

I am afraid I am beginning to believe they are all like that!

Cut university funding! Let them try to find real jobs!

Good grief!

[Danube on iPad]

Help me out here, people. Let us suppose the new congress passes a CR (or a budget) fully funding the government, but expressly excluding any appropriation or spending to put executive amnesty. Obola vetoes it.

Is that the GOP shutting down the government?

God I hate this truculent, petulant ,petty son of a bitch

[daddy]

Miss Marple,

I am amazed that this latest jackass would come onto Gretta's show without at least having taken the time to even read or watch what Gruber had said. He told Gretta that what he had heard about it, he heard from listening to NPR.

Gee-Zus. I am surprised he didn't cite Rowen Farrow from MSNBC as the final word on the topic.

What an ignorant numbskull. Bye.

[Miss Marple]

daddy,

Absolutely! Numbskull is the word!

See you later!

[Ben]

" He told Gretta that what he had heard about it, he heard from listening to NPR."

Well we do agree that NPR has truly taken a Statist pump-and-grind of late. I suggest your threats to defund had an impact. It's easy to be stupid when your paycheck depends upon it.

[Captain Hate]

Is that the GOP shutting down the government?

That is surely the line the MFM will be running with. As crafty as McConnell might be in parliamentary tactics, I hope he has a dependable mouthpiece to saturate the Sunday gab shows if it ever comes to that to counter that line; likewise for Boehner minus the parliamentary expertise. This is why Newt was such an asset. He loved being in front of the camera and forcefully making the case for what he was doing. Is Kevin McCarthy at all qualified to do that?

[narciso]

well there has been some embarassing choices, of late, Voltairenet, the blatherings of Volodya's mannequin, Assuange,

[matt]

What I find interesting is that the media take cash equally from Left and Right. It seems that the left spent quite a bit more this year and got their hats handed to them.

Now the media really should consider perhaps being a bit more evenhanded, since the Right now controls Congress, and has equally buttered their bread. This is on simple economic terms.

As I have said before it is bad business to piss off half of your potential clientele.

But, nevahgonnahappen.

It's time to break the media mold.

[GMax]

a sixth video? Ya gotta admit, the smug and arrogance is especially strong with this Gruber character. Between his heavy lifting and Zero's lying, it looks like one of the two phone booths will be unnecessary for the next caucus meeting after the 2016 election...

[Ben]

The Trojan Horse has many occupants, few ill-at-ease with their company.

Salon and Politico are brothels attracting a certain class of people who shall go nameless. But that honey-trap was formulated after much market research and thereby deserves a Pharma reward for public service excellence, which usually entails scores of zeroes in the projected column. NPR is just now discovering their own pleasure centers and wish to split the cost of dinner .

Salon is just another Politico rope-a-doping their readers to augment traffic and ad revenue. Kristen Soltis Anderson is one of my favorite Fox contributors. They know where the greatest return lies in future growth of capital; the NPR's of the nubile consenting adults who have yet to be fully exploited.

[GMax]

Anyone got the decoder ring? Sheesh

[Captain Hate]

narc, did you know Paige Turco has been showing up on NCIS N'awlins?

[Iggy]

-- This is why Newt was such an asset. He loved being in front of the camera and forcefully making the case for what he was doing.--

Hate to disagree Cap, but it was Newt who first started a game of chicken he was not ready to finish with Clinton.
That failure of nerve allowed the Dems to live inside the GOP heads for twenty years on the test of wills.
It is hard to see how they can avoid that game again. Barry will likely force it on them even if they don't want to play it. The only way to get someone out of your head is to play the game to the death, win or lose.
Quitting is the only way you lose.

[Ben]

Maybe you should have spent more than a minute reading it, genius.

[bud]

The expanded H1-B will do for Silicon Valley what "undocumented aliens" did for the black community. The level we already have is depressing salaries in the tech fields, more H1-B's will collapse tech pay rates.

Since both the black community and SV have voted consistently Dem, my Schadenfreude cup would runneth over.

[GMax]

Compared to you, the entire occupants of the short bus would be tagged geniuses...

[henry]

Bud, SV already "strongly recommends" an Indian on your management team to get funding. They are past redemption.

[narciso]

Yes, it's about time for Graham Chapman, to pipe in, because Gruber has certainly gone 'Dead Parrot'

I did not know that about Paige, is she a guest star?

[Iggy]

Matthew Continetti on what the GOP should do to counter the criminal in the WH on immigration.

[narciso]

well it Dole, Bob Dole, who pulled the plug back then, as McTurtle did last year,

[Iggy]

Gmax,
I think he's saying Salon et al are not of the body and have been booted out of the revolutionary vanguard because of their running dog lackey capitalist jack bootery.

Apparently Nov 4th has kicked off a rerun of the great Menshevik/Bolshevik schism.

[clarice]

ABC breaks radio silence on Gruber:http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obamacare-architect-jonathan-gruber-fire/story?id=26919286

[narciso]

Are they Aaronson or Rutherford, I can't keep the unperson's straight any more,

[Miss Marple]

http://ricochet.com/left-turn-rick-santorum/

Titled "When did the Left turn into Rick Santorum?" this is a discussion of the snit fit several lefty female bloggers threw because of the shirt worn by one of the scientists involved in the comet landing.

His girlfriend designed it! No matter. He must be bullied and shamed!

Speaking as someone who was a science major, I think the shirt would not keep women from majoring in the sciences, and furthermore, it proves that the supposed feminist Left is nothing but a bunch of joy-killing harpies.

[Danube on iPad]

I see the Blue Demons got by the Blue Stockings of Presbyterian, 113-44" well done, boys.

[Captain Hate]

A quick goggle said she was Scott Bakula's wife so that sounds like a steady gig.

[Captain Hate]

Hmmm this wonderful software rejected a comment where I was talking about the Zuckerberg POI page being a good source of data.

Hate to disagree Cap, but it was Newt who first started a game of chicken he was not ready to finish with Clinton.

Hate to disagree with you Iggy, and this is just opinions anyway, but it was hard for Noot to be at full strength with all the GOPe shivs in his back. On top of his overbearing ego, I'm sure term limits being part of the Contract didn't endear him to the lifers who were more than comfy in their positions.

[Danube on iPad]

Newt succeeded in making "government shutdown" synonymous with the GOP, and that reputation got cemented in the more recent showdown. All for naught.

[RickB]

"Apparently Nov 4th has kicked off a rerun of the great Menshevik/Bolshevik schism."

As interpreted by Dumber and Dumbest.

[MarkO]

Duke wins. I don't care whom they beat.

[Captain Hate]

All for naught.

As in subsequent GOP electoral gains? I've been patiently waiting for the first tangible bit of data that suggests voters care about shutdowns as much as the MFM does.

[Iggy]

As I predicted; the supposedly dead and/or mangled big cheese of IS is apparently alive and well and kicking sand in the face of the 98lb colossus astride the western world.

[narciso]

She was on this other show, the 100, I haven't watched recently, so they might have killed her off that one, so she could be on this one, similar to the way, that Saul Rubinek, in an homage to POI's sources, the Equalizer, was on several episodes,

[Iggy]

--I've been patiently waiting for the first tangible bit of data that suggests voters care about shutdowns as much as the MFM does.--

I don't think they do. It's the weak kneed GOP that needs to learn that.

[Stephanie accidentally OnT?]

If the republicans have enough votes to override any of Obama's vetoes, what enforcement mechanism do they have to require the executive branch's department of whichever applies (AKA prezzy's personal flying monkeys) who would control said bills implementation to actually begin to implement it?

[Captain Hate]

I think she's still going strong on the 100 from illustrations on her Zuckerberg page. I have no idea what that show's about but she looks great in a feral kind of way.

[narciso]

history does have a way of rhyming, this is not unlike what the '98 tomahawks strike, managed to do, bring Zawahiri and Bin Laden together,

[Ben]

"I think he's saying Salon "

Well er, no, if you had bothered to read beyond the first sentence.

NPR has just been enrolled, whereas the Salon/Politico Brothel was designed as such.

[Iggy]

--Well er, no, if you had bothered to read beyond the first sentence.--

I read the whole thing. It was the usual combo of gibberish and sophomoric wordplay.

If clear writing is a reflection of clear thinking, then I guess we can deduce what impenetrable, turgid writing is a reflection of.

[Ben]

"If clear writing is a reflection of clear thinking, then I guess we can deduce what impenetrable, turgid writing is a reflection of."

To say nothing of the selective perception you have worked hard to master.

[Miss Marple]

Stephanie,

I think that is a good question. With someone like George Bush, the president would grumpily give the order.

But it depends on the president, and I think even an override he will ignore.

[Iggy]

--To say nothing of the selective perception you have worked hard to master.--

Have you ever once acknowledged an inadequacy or fault on your own part? I can't remember you ever doing so.

Isn't just possible people don't perceive what you're saying because it's junk writing and often intentional, convenient junk?

[Ben]

Omidyar's intercept is an example of the Salon market plan.

Tie up all the best investigative journos from around the world with tidy contracts and promises of historic import. Bog them down in the mire of bureaucratic efficiency with legal inquiries for cw law and copy-editing disputes and you have fundamentally changed the environment if only successful for a few months. Ask Marcy Wheeler and Matt Taibbi. No. Don't ask. They are under a contract for muted speech wrt employer.

[Miss Marple]

Nytol.

[Ben]

"Isn't just possible people don't perceive what you're saying "

Yeah, but I doubt you are the one who should be attempting to interpret.

[narciso]

You know, I might have to catch up, with that show,

https://twitter.com/itspaigeturco

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-100/the-100-interview-paige-turco-55093.aspx

[daddy]

Just in from the Dog Walk and the last few minutes had Alaskan Lt Governor Mead Treadwell, the guy overall with responsibility for State Elections, talking on Talk Radio about the latest results from today's count, and I scribbled them down:

Treadwell says that all of the votes to be counted today are counted and they totaled about 22,000. Sullivan leads by about 7,600.

Of the guestimated 14,000 votes still outstanding, about 8,000 are Absentee Ballots. 5,700 of the not yet counted votes are not Absentee but are coming from 3 districts from SouthEast Alaska. Down in that general area Begich did fair, winning at about a 3 to 2 ratio, but Begich's strong area, Native Western Alaska, has all been counted, so for that reason Treadwell says it looks rather unlikely Begich can pull it out.

The 8,000 or so estimated Absentee Ballots are ballots that can still arrive at the latest via US Mail, tomorrow. They had to have been postmarked No Later Than something like 10 days ago (Election Day), and then you consider how long it takes for mail to get from position A to position B, and in their determination that allowable time ends at mail delivery closing time tomorrow.

Treadwell says they believe they will have a rough overall total by Monday or Tuesday, after which there will be an audit, and any necessary recounts will then occur, as there are 2 local Alaskan races already mandating recounts due to their closeness. Official final numbers to be posted on 28 November.

So that is what I get from Talk Radio.

I will now see if the News and the websites confirm that or report something different.

7,600 for Sullivan is a big sigh of relief for me, whereas the earlier reported 6,100 was disturbing, and I have to think that Treadwell knows what he is talking about.

[DrJ]

Yeah, but I doubt you are the one who should be attempting to interpret.

I haven't blocked "Ben" on this computer yet, so I have read a few of his latest "contributions." They make no sense to me at all. Following rudimentary rules of English grammar and usage would help him a lot.

[daddy]

Yay! Here is confirmation from local channel 2:

ELECTION UPDATE: Friday ballot count does little to change Walker, Sullivan leads

UPDATE:

Another batch of votes have been counted, more than 11,600 tallied since noon, and the results show gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker and Senator-elect Dan Sullivan with a strong hold on their leads.

As of 3:30 p.m., Sullivan leads Democratic Sen. Mark Begich by 7,663 ballots with 264,997 votes counted. Walker's lead over Gov. Sean Parnell is holding at 4,478 votes.

[Iggy]

Angelo Codevilla's latest at the Federalist on why the Dems only get worse from here on out foreign policy-wise.
They've cast their lot with our enemies and emasculating our power and they're sticking to it.

[RickB]

The Emerging Turtles should consider having the first question to any administration member before a committee start with "Tell us, Dr. Gruber, in your expert opinion..."

Governor Walker should consider asking the Wisconsin AG to look carefully at Gruber's consulting contract to determine if fraud charges are warranted. MIT might even wonder if the damage done to its reputation by a tenured fraud might exceed that done to HLS by Tribe.

[Iggy]

--The Emerging Turtles--

Heh. Word picture for the day.

[Frau Westgotin]

'Cleo was always unhinged the closer it came to the weekend.

[daddy]

DrJ,

My youngest is down south interviewing at Harvey Mudd yesterday and today for acceptance as a College Freshman next year. We are proud of her for getting the call. Definitely interested in the Sciences, (Math, Computers Science and Aero Engineering fields) and hoping also to hear from CalTech.

Any personal opinions on Harvey Mudd? I know it's expensive as heck. Also, given your druthers, of MIT, CalTech, or Harvey Mudd, would you have a preference, or are they all basically each as good as the other 2?

[Steve]

Going Viral Now: Sainsbury's OFFICIAL Christmas 2014 Ad - video

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/11/sainsburys-official-christmas-2014-ad.html

[Eric in Boise]

Having a leftist dillweed camped on an overnight thread is like having a dead mouse in one of your walls:

1) It stinks up the place and makes everyone miserable.
2) There's no way to make it go away, all you can do is try and ignore it.
3) Ignoring it is extremely difficult, and
4) Eventually the stench goes away on its own, but it seems to take forever.

[Iggy]

The founder and dean;

[Danube on iPad]

"I've been patiently waiting for the first tangible bit of data that suggests voters care about shutdowns as much as the MFM does."

The only evidence we can go on one way or another is the polls, which pretty much tied the can to the GOP's tail. Had neither of those useless acts occurred, I believe the GOP would not be as weak-kneed as it is this time around. If they were writing on a clean slate, I think they would be much more likely to force Obama's hand.

[Some Guy]

The only evidence we can go on one way or another is the polls, which pretty much tied the can to the GOP's tail.

Who then won overwhelmingly in the next election...

So I guess I don't see what the problem is.

[Some Guy]

Following rudimentary rules of English grammar and usage would help him a lot.

So would not being a dickhead, but baby steps I guess.