Are the Democrats determined to give the House back to the Republicans in 2008?  It sure seems that way with Nancy "The Shrew" Pelosi's petty vindictiveness on such national display that already there's Democrat talk of replacing her as Speaker.

And now right on the heels of her Jack Murtha/Steny Hoyer, Jane Harman/Alcee Hastings debacles comes Charlie Rangel riding to the Republicans' rescue by advocating a return to the military draft.

The extreme hate-America left-wing Democrat from Harlem will be Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in the 110^th Congress, a position of extraordinary influence and power.   His is one of the key public faces of the new Dem Majority.

And he has handed the GOP Minority a diamond-studded opportunity to explain to every young voter in America the Democrat threat to their personal liberty.

How would most Americans and Congress react if a foreign government passed laws regulating U.S. businesses and people in the United States?

Probably with justified outrage. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA is U.S. financial imperialism at its worst.  It's causing great resentment in much of the world, which is hurting U.S. interests.

The administration and many in Congress seem to have learned nothing from the Obamacare disaster. Now that they have destroyed the world's best health care system, they are in the process of further destroying what was at one time a very functional global financial system.

In its place, they would erect a tax law whose costs were far higher than its benefit, that may drive hundreds of billions of dollars of job-creating foreign capital out of the United States, and that could trigger a global financial crisis.  Only the Democrats could do something so sinister and masochistic -- and try to stymie any Republican effort to repeal it.

The worst fears of conservative Republicans in Congress came true this Monday (11/13), six days after their November 7 wipeout.  The tapping of Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) as RNC Chairman is confirming evidence that George Bush is intent on destroying the Republican Party.

The most stunning defeat the GOP suffered on election day was that of Michael Steele for the open Senate seat in Maryland.  Here is a black Lt. Governor who is really smart, really articulate, and really conservative Republican.  The Dems were desperate to see him lose and they succeeded.

Outgoing Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Ken Mehlman immediately recognized the value of Steele to the GOP and asked him to be his successor.  Rove and Bush squashed the offer like a bug.  Steele has been humiliated and is infuriated - he may drop out of politics now to the GOP's great loss.

Bush and Rove instead forced their choice of Martinez upon the party.  Why?  Because Martinez, a Hispanic, is a fierce advocate of amnesty for illegal aliens.

Oil prices have fallen to a nine-month low, with surging supply from OPEC - the Saudis have opened the taps - the US flooding the market, and fresh demand wilts, leading to an "oil glut" in the Atlantic region despite the twin crises in Iraq and Russia.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the leading oil think tank, said yesterday (8/12) that the world will consume less crude than experts had thought this year. Saudi Arabia's supplies are running at the highest level since last September and crude from Libya is back on the market.

The IEA cut its forecast for the rise in global consumption to just 1m barrels a day (b/d) this year due to near recession conditions in Europe and as pervasive weakness in the world economy disappoints.

This comes as supply rises by a further 300,000 b/d beyond what was already planned. The warning sent Brent crude prices tumbling to $104 a barrel, the lowest this year.  US crude is now at $96.

The sudden shift in the balance of the market has allowed the OECD club of rich states to build up their oil stocks at the fastest rate in eight years, creating an extra layer of protection against any possible supply shock from Russia and Iraq.  This good news is disastrous for the Kremlin.

Is this the most fabulous 30-second political ad you've ever seen in your life?

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Joni Ernst is a 43 year-old state senator, a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa National Guard who served in Iraq, and a rock-solid conservative - see her issue positions - who is a Republican candidate for the US Senate.

On Monday (3/24), she released the ad above that's been hailed by NRO as having "The Greatest Opening Line in the History of Campaign Commercials."  To wit:

"I'm Joni Ernst... I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm, so when I get to Washington, I'll know how to cut pork."

On Wednesday (3/26), the front page headline in Iowa newspapers was "Sarah Palin Endorses Joni Ernst." 

That evening, Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show showed the ad in his opening monologue, then commented:  "I don't know what she's running for but just give her the job."  On Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert endorsed her, explaining:

"Joni, you had me at 'castration.' Folks, it does not matter what else she stands for. I'm pulling for her whole-hog, or whatever is left of the hog when she's done with it."